The Step Brother

26. 5 Years Later.

Willow

She changes a lot in those next 5 years. Guess heartbreak will do that to you.

The break up felt like a bad car accident. So the six months that followed compared to physical therapy. She learned how to breathe and walk all over again. She stopped expecting to wake up to a notification with his name every morning. She climbed into bed each night and journaled her thoughts and feelings, because now there was no one to talk to anymore. When she made plans for the future, it was alone. She listened to Taylor Swift and cried the first hundred nights. The thought of food made her sick and she must've lost 15 pounds. If Mom called and asked how she was doing, she would lie, which made for good practice because she got pretty good at it.

And then one day, she found herself in one of the women's restrooms about to wash her hands, and she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn't recognize the girl looking back at her. Her unbrushed hair pulled into a messy bun, the bags under her eyes, the chewed lips. But mostly it's the Columbia sweatshirt hanging loosely from her wrists. Something about seeing that makes something click. She realizes she can't be sad about Jace forever. She can't continue living in the past.

Before Jace, the only thing that mattered was going to Columbia, getting through school, and getting a job as a big time lawyer. He came in and flipped her world up side down. For the year and a half they were together, she spent her nights dreaming of what color they'd paint their dream kitchen and breakfasts they'd make on Sundays, if there'd be the pitter patter of children's feet throughout the house. That's how deep she had been in it with him.

She realized that day she'd have to become someone completely different, someone stronger.

She buries herself in her school work. She dedicates herself to becoming the best lawyer to come out of Columbia. She becomes top of all her classes, a favorite of all her professors. In the mornings, she practices her arguments and debates in her dorm room. She works through her fears of public speaking and confrontation. Gone is the girl who cries during an argument. She develops a reputation amongst her peers and the university as a natural born lawyer. She's smart. She's quick on her feet and even quicker with her wit. She's 50 steps ahead of everyone else. She's charming and cunning. She's going to win the cases, they all predict.

She develops a routine to take care of herself physically. She sticks to a healthy diet, she runs at night, she starts to see a therapist. The therapist prescribes her sleep medication and something to help with anxiety. She discovers it's the typical dosage for lawyers, especially here in New York. She starts to venture out more and network.

Mom and her talk every week on the phone. Mom seems happy and pleased with the conversations. Will plays the part she needs to. She lets on to as much as she wants mom to really know. She upsells her life here in New York. Mom couldn't be more proud. Sometimes Jack is there. He'll say hi from the back ground. He asks her how she is and when she'll be visiting them next. She always has an answer for why she can't.

In her final year at Columbia, she's making plans to move into the city. She doesn't have a job lined up and she's freaking out a little but she doesn't let on to those around her.

"You were quiet in class today," Professor Bradley observes once everyone's left the class room for the evening. "Are you doing alright?"

She stops amid reaching over her neighbors desk to grab the stapler. He catches her off guard. She expects him to have noticed maybe but certainly not to mention it out loud. She leans back in her chair, running a hand through her long brown hair. "I'm great."