"Good it's unlocked." Wills said turning the knob.
The smell of dust stung in their nostrils.
Erin sneezed. "This could be trespassing."
"I don't think anyone's lived here in a long time," Wills voiced out.
"Ghosts?" Erin stated the possibility.
Wills grinned. He didn't care.
They parted ways, exploring the house on their own. When they met again Erin commented, "Dust. No electricity. No running water. Toilets don't flush. Great. Just like my house."
Wills noticed a brochure near the telephone. "It's for rent."
"So?"
"Let's rent it."
"You're joking, right? You're not. I was kidding. The toilets work in my house. Where are we going?"
"Plumbing. That's something I always wanted to do," he yanked her out the door. He held the information in his hand. The more he thought about the idea he liked it. The manly urge of fixing things emerged inside him. "It says go to the main house for details," he rang the doorbell.
An elderly woman answered. "Hmm?"
"We're interested in renting the beach house," Wills said.
She looked at the crazy boy and girl. Even without her glasses on she could tell they were teenagers. Only teenagers would be callous enough to wake an elderly woman at midnight. "I'll get my son." she grumbled, letting them in.
"Okay, I need the downpayment and some ID," the young man, who was in the process of putting on a bathrobe, informed.
Erin wondered why he looked so familiar. But there were bigger problems on her mind. The down payment reached into the thousands. It said so on the brochure. She was surprised when she saw Wills take out his wallet. He carried that much cash with him? Instead he handed the man a credit card.
The young man took it from him. The man looked at Erin skeptically. "You- look very familiar," he told Erin.
Erin gave him the same treatment. "Yeah, you too. And your mom," Erin said.
"Erin Parker?"
"That's right and you're-" she tried to recognize the face. She laughed. "I have absolutely no idea."
"Devon Foster," he told her.
"Dev?" she smacked her forehead with her palm "Oh my. It's been like-years!"
Wills coughed to show he was still there. Was he jealous?
"Um," Erin forgot his name for a moment.
"Billy," Wills supplied.
"Billy, this is Devon Foster. He used to live across from me when we were younger. We went through elementary together. Then his family moved out here. But we've kept in touch. Though I haven't been writing lately."
"Erin's the best," Devon said. "How are you? And your parents?" he asked her.
"Great. Never better." Erin smiled.
"That's good. How was-"
"Um, the beach house," Wills reminded.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Billy Baxter," Devon read both names on the credit card and driver's license. He looked at Wills and made sure the face matched the one in the photograph. "Okay, I just need to go in the back to confirm this with the agency." He handed the license back and left.
"Billy Baxter?" she read his fake identification.
"One of my aliases. From Billy the Basher when I was young."
"Aren't you afraid someone would make the connection?"
"No. You didn't." he pointed out.
"Can't they trace you with the credit card?"
"The base of the credit card company is in Switzerland. They know how to keep secrets."
Erin was half-worried and half-hopeful that Wills's family would find him. "But you're underage. Didn't you need an adult's co-signature."
"Yeah, I did. My uncle's. I doubt he knows of my disappearance. My father and he aren't exactly on great speaking terms. Convenient for me at a time like this." Wills said.
Erin wondered if he really meant that or if he was just saying it.
Devon came back into the room. "It's confirmed. Electricity and water should be working first thing in the morning. All I need is your signature."
Wills signed the paper.

Wills took the larger of the two bedrooms.
"What's the first thing we're going to do tomorrow?" he called across the hallway into Erin's room. Swim, he thought of the sea outside. Or watch TV, something they haven't done at all on their road trip.
"We're going to do the laundry," Erin called, yawning.
William laughed.
"I'm serious," Erin told him. "Good night, Your Highness."
"Good night, Erin."

Before the break of day, Wills got out of bed and into Erin's suitcase. He found his old coat and searched it's pockets. He looked at the bottle. He had to ration his supply. He swallowed one pill. But then changing his mind, he took his usual two. When he checked his pockets again his hand brushed metal. His old security device. A faint smiled played on his lips. He flicked it on and off. On and off. Harry would get the message.

"What is going on?" Charles answered the phone.
"We're having a reading on Wills's security device," McGee informed through the phone. "It turned on and off several times in the last half-minute,"
"Then where is he?"
"It stopped before we could get a definite location. But he's still in England."
Charles slammed the phone down. "If he wanted us to know where he was why didn't he leave it on long enough?"
Harry looked at his father. Didn't he see? "Papa, Wills didn't turn his device on so we'll know where he is. He turned it on to let us know he's all right."
Charles turned his face to Harry. "If he doesn't come home soon how long will that be?"

Chapter Twelve
"Last one," Wills told her folding the last of his shirts. "This isn't fair." he muttered.
"Fair?" she asked, placing the folded shirts into the drawers. "I folded my stuff. You folded your stuff. Sounds fair to me."
"They didn't make me do this at home." he complained.
Erin laughed. "Be glad the dryer works or I'll have to introduce you to ironing."
"Ironing," the word sounded ominous.
"Price to pay for freedom. Doing your own chores."
Wills went to the refrigerator and took out the milk. They had gone grocery shopping earlier that day.
Erin leaned against the doorway and watched as he guzzled down the cow juice. "Boy, I'm really de-Prince-Wills-ifying you."
"De-Prince-Wills-ifying me?" he echoed.
"Yeah look at you. You're drinking straight out the carton. You're doing laundry. You stopped wearing shirts around me-" she tossed him one.
He put on to prevent further argument.
She walked over to him. "And your hair. Your hair is... long." she ran her fingers through it. Her eyes glowed. "I'm going to give you a haircut!"
"What?" he asked as she forced him into a chair.
"You heard me," she located a pair of scissors.
"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked, eyeing the glistening metal warily.
"I've cut my friend's hair before. Stop moving," she warned. "I don't want to cut you with this." She scrutinously looked at what she had to work with.
"Not too much," Wills pleaded.
"Stop moving!" Erin warned again. She looked at his face and ran her fingers through his hair several times. Satisfied with her decision she began snipping.
Wills tried to sit still. But how can he when her the tips of her fingers were making glancing touches at his earlobes? Hair dust sprinkled on his nose as she cut his bangs. He sneezed.
She brushed his nose. "Sorry," she apologized.
Erin was careful to cut only a little bit at a time. It was a longer process but better that than hacking a whole side off and the cut ending up lopsided. "Bend your neck a little to the side," she instructed. She snipped.
Wills did as he was told. He could hear the quickness of his own breathing. The house was so silent.
"Now to the left." She moved to his other side. Snip. Snip. She got the comb and ran it trough his hair, parting it in the middle. "There," she said satisfied. She left his bangs a little long so it swept across his forehead in that way which she found so appealing. "Now you don't look so scruffy." she kissed him on the lips and put everything away.
"What?" she asked when she caught him looking at her.
"You kissed me."
"I did."
He gestured with his pointer finger. "You placed your lips on my lips and kissed me." he said quietly.
Erin nodded. "That would be correct."
Wills sighed. "What's for dinner?"

They were making spaghetti. It was a couple of days later. Devon and Wills had just finished putting up a bookcase in the main house and Erin thought they needed a treat. So Devon and his family were going to have dinner with them that night. Plus she was sick of take-out fast food.
"Wills try this," Erin said, taking a bit of spaghetti sauce on the stirring spoon.
Wills tasted it. "Good." he praised.
Erin tried it. She thought. "Needs some more onion." She didn't know how to cook much but she knew how to cook spaghetti. Even if it was from the can. "Here chop this," Erin said handing him an onion.
Wills watched as she bustled around the kitchen. He cut the bulb into sections the way he saw her and his chef do it. He wiped away the tears forming in his eyes.
Erin smiled. She wanted to laugh. All they needed was a couple of kids running around, driving them crazy and this would be a perfect family picture.
"Man!" Wills yelled.
Erin immediately dropped what she was doing and hurried over. "What is it?"
He showed her his finger. There was blood trickling from it.
"Oh you poor thing," she ran for the ointment and Band-Aid.
"It's just a cut," he shrugged, uncomfortable that she was making such a big deal out of it.
It wasn't just a cut. It was a cut on Wills. Let all other guys in the world get cut, bruised and sick. Let Wills stay perfect and unmarred, she thought as she expertly bandaged his finger. She kissed it. "There." she looked at Wills and there was a look in his eye she couldn't analyze. But she gave up analyzing Wills a long tine ago. She returned to her cooking. She didn't want the pasta to burn.

Erin looked at the sandcastle Wills and her had just built on the beach. It was a week later.
"Save me! Save me!" Erin said in a high pitched voice as she placed a toothpick on one of the tower's representing a trapped princess.
Wills took a seashell and let it gallop towards the mound of sand. "Here I come princess," he assured.
Erin laughed. "We need to get out more," she told him as she collected the remains of the late picnic lunch they had, just the two of them.
"Where do you want to go?" Wills asked her.
"I've been in London for almost two months. I'm going home soon. how about going to a disco? I'm sure Devon knows some places."
"Do we have to invite Devon?" Wills asked.
"He has the car," Erin reminded. She took the picnic basket into the house. She came out at dusk. "What are you doing? I've been waiting for you to go back inside."
Wills skipped some stones into the sea. "I'm just waiting for the sun to set."
"Oh," Erin said. She sat on the sand.
Wills sat down next to her.
"Devon said he's free tomorrow. If you want to go," Erin said of their disco plans.
Wills shrugged.
They waited for the sun to set. It left in a burst of color. First the faded yellow turning into the dark golden orange and into the raging flame of red. It quieted down into a faint pink that tinged the clouds and faded into the purple of the evening. Then the sun settled into its rest in the sea.
"I'm going to miss it," he said outloud. Yes, he was going to miss this. The sight of the fading sun, the taste of the salt in the air, the feel of sand beneath his feet, the smell of Erin's perfume, the sound of the night wind as it whispered in through the stars. He was going to miss it. He was going to miss living. He breathed heavily as evidence that as of this moment, he could still breathe.
"The privacy?" Erin asked, guessing that's what he meant.
He looked into her eyes. Still the innocence. "Yeah," he said quietly.
"Well I guess the love of the world is worth it."
"The love of the world," Wills echoed. "I lead a life less ordinary. I have guards walking two steps beside me every almost every second of my life to protect me. Why? Because the world loves me. My family's private lives are plastered across magazine all over the country and around the world. Why? Because the world loves them. My mother was killed in a chase too get away from photographers who were taking her picture. Why did they want to take her picture? Because the world loved her. Tell me. Is the loved of the world worth all that?"
Erin couldn't say anything. This wasn't a time to say anything.
Without warning Wills got up and jumped into the surf.
"Wills!" Erin yelled. She was used to his impulses and ran after him till she felt the wave of ice hit her. Shivering, Erin got out of the water. "Wills, come here. The water's freezing. You'll catch a cold." She said in a voice of a scolding parent. "We can do this tomorrow."
But the prince ignored her reasoning and pleas. All his life he obeyed rules. Don't do this and don't do that. They all said it was for his own good. And where did that get him? Limited and counted days waiting for the inevitable. He stayed in the water and swam to his heart's content and didn't come back to the shore till he was good and ready. Afterall, how many tommorows did he have?

Chapter Thirteen
"You're sick."
No he wasn't sick, Wills was tempted to correct her. He was dying.
Erin took the thermometer out of his mouth 103 degrees Fahrenheit! "I need to take you to the hospital," Erin decided. She reached for the phone by the bed.
"No!" Wills said weakly placing his arm on her wrist. Even that slight movement hurt. "No hospitals." he insisted.
"Wills, this isn't a cold. It could be pneumonia. I told you to get out of that freezing water and-" her voice trailed off. It didn't matter now.
"If we go to the hospital my father will find me," Wills pointed out.
Erin cursed male pride. "You're sick," she stated. "What is it that you want me to do?"
"Let me drink some orange juice, have some chicken soup and aspirin and then I'll be fine."
"Big baby," she said, getting out of the room.
"Where are you going?" he called, lifting his head. The pain made him grimace. If only he could get to the medicine cabinet. But his body didn't seem to have enough energy even for that.
Erin reappeared, a coat and hat on. She placed a cool wash cloth on Wills's head and handed him the last glass of juice. "I'm going to London to get some orange juice, chicken soup and aspirin. And if you get out of that bed before I come back I will slap you!"

Erin fed him chicken soup for dinner. She wondered if his mom ever fed him chicken soup when he was sick like her mom did for her. Or had a servant done it? She shrugged. Why? Why? Again she thought. Let all the other boys in the world be sick. Wills shouldn't be.

Wills had fallen asleep after she had given him the suggested dose of the over the counter medicine. The fever hadn't risen. Nor had it lowered. It stayed the same. She wondered what she should do. Going to the phone she dialed a number she heard only once but could remember in a lifetime. The phone rang and was picked up on the other end.
"Hello? Wills?" Harry's voice was hopeful.
Erin gulped. "Um, no, it the girl who's with Wills. I-uh- I just wanted to call because- because- I just need someone to tell me he's going to be all right."
Harry paused. "What do you mean?"
"Just say it please," Erin pleaded. "Tell me he's going to be all right."
There was a sigh. "As far as I know my brother has risen to every challenged he's faced."
"Thank you, Harry," Erin told him. The words had given her the comfort she needed. "That's all I need to know." she hung up not bothering to say good-bye because undoubtedly they had attempted to trace the call.

Erin got dressed to go to the disco that night. Devon was going to pick her up in a couple of minutes. Wills was on the road to recovery. The fever had mellowed down to a 100. But he still had to stay home. She felt guilty leaving Wills confined to a bed while she had fun but she was going back to the US in a week and a London nightclub was something she wanted to experience.
The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Erin said, answering the door, still combing her hair. "Hi," she greeted Devon.
"Hi," he greeted back. He was wearing black jeans and a white buttoned shirt. "You look good," he said. He laughed. "You know, this reminds me of our first dance."
"The sixth grade one?" Erin laughed. "My fake fingernails fell into the punch bowl. You had sweaty palms all night and you ditched me later in the evening to kiss Carlotta what's-her-face."
"That's the one."
Erin smiled at the memory. "I'm almost done. I just have to get my coat and purse."
"Fine. I'll be waiting in the car."
Erin got her coat, she checked her purse. Brush, extra cash, Wills's cellphone in case he calls...
"I'm ready," Wills announced.
Erin looked at him. He was wearing those tight blue jeans they bought for him and a buttoned down shirt in a darker shade of blue. "Why are you out of bed?" Erin said.
"I'm coming with you," he said.
Erin gestured that he come closer. "Let me feel your forehead," she placed her palm there.
Wills shrugged taking her palm off. "It's warm. We're warm blooded animals." He didn't like the look she was giving him. "I feel fine."
Outside Devon honked the car horn.
Erin didn't want to argue with him. "Okay, but first sign of weakness I'm bringing you back."
"Deal," he agreed. He waited till she was out of the house. He felt his own palm to his forehead. More than warm. So he had lied. But he had been doing what he vowed in the first place NOT to do. Which was stay in a room while life passed him by. He checked his reflection in the mirror. Erin hadn't noticed the sweat on his forehead. Or the red rivulets in his eyes. He splashed his face with cold water. He opened the medicine cabinet. He took his usual two pills though Erin had already given him two aspirin. It didn't work. The pain was still there.
"Billy, are you coming or not?" Erin called.
"I'm coming," Wills called back. He swallowed two more pills and placed the bottle back in the cabinet.

Secret: Chapters 13-end