JUST BEST FRIENDS

A/N

[I do not own Sky High or any of its characters.

I really liked Layla as a character, but I felt that her and Will ending up together was just cliché. Will and Warren just work together much better in my opinion, and there are a serious shortage of stories on them. This ended up being a pre-relationship story (oops) but I like how it turned out.]

So in the end my girlfriend became my archenemy, my archenemy became my best friend, and my best friend became my girlfriend. Except that maybe what I really wanted was for my best friend to remain my best friend, and my archenemy to become my boyfriend…

Will and Layla happily started dating after the homecoming fiasco with Royal Pain. All their friends were thrilled and the relationship was great. However, it didn't take long for Will to start questioning his reasons for dating Layla.

There was no doubt that he loved her, but he began to realise that he might not really be in love with her. She had always been, and hopefully always would be, his best friend; he just couldn't quite see a future for them as anything more than just that – best friends. He realised that he might actually be dating her more out of obligation than because he wanted to – it was simply what everyone expected him to do.

These thoughts were constant thorns in his otherwise great school life – being the hero was a thrilling feeling after all. Along with these doubts about his relationship with Layla, came the gradual revelation that he might have romantic feelings towards a certain person… The only problem being that said person might not be Layla.

Naturally, Will tried to convince himself that this was not the case, however as he started to think about said person increasingly often, he was forced to concede defeat. Grudgingly he had to accept that the feelings he should be having for Layla, were actually directed to his new best friend and ex-archenemy.

This (somewhat) newfound interest in Warren Peace had Will observing him in a new light, and he began to suspect that maybe, just maybe, his feelings weren't as one-sided as he had initially thought. If his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, that is.

Once Will had come to this conclusion, he knew that he would have to break things off with Layla sooner rather than later. He felt horrible being unfaithful to her - even just in his thoughts.

Of course, Layla wasn't nearly as oblivious as Will when it came to emotions. It had bothered her a little bit from the start of their relationship that he had kissed and asked her out so suddenly after being completely oblivious to her crush on him for years… He clearly hadn't previously even considered the idea of them being romantically involved, so it was strange that he had a change of heart so suddenly after he was told of her feelings.

She realised that something wasn't quite right with Will when he seemed to withdraw into himself and started to pay a lot more attention to everything that Warren did. She could see the guilt in his eyes when he looked at her after staring at his new best friend, and she knew that she had to end this relationship before it seriously damaged their friendship.

Layla allowed herself a day to cherish this relationship that she had dreamed of for years, deciding to break things off after school the next day. That way they would have the weekend to sort things out between them. Friday afternoon Layla met Will at his locker and suggested they go to his house to talk. His eyes grew wide and he nodded quickly before looking at his feet.

Will's parents were busy either saving the world or selling houses, he never knew which. Either way, at least they would have some privacy. After sitting down in the living room, Layla smiled at him sadly before getting straight to the point.

"I don't think we should be together anymore, Will." Layla cringed at how pathetic that sounded, but continued nonetheless. "I honestly don't think you ever did have feelings for me - at least not romantic feelings. You rushed to start dating me after Warren told you about my feelings, but really that was just what you thought should happen. I'm not blind Will, I can see the way you look at Warren…"

Will shifted uncomfortably, "Layla, I'm sorry, I…" He broke off, not knowing how to continue. Taking a deep breath, he said: "You're right, when Warren told me how you felt, I thought that this was the obvious path to take. This relationship was bound to happen, you're my oldest friend. But really, that is exactly the problem – I honestly do see you as more of a sister. I love you so much… just not in this way. And Warren, well I just… He's just so…"

"I get it, Will," Layla interrupted. "I suppose I always did, I just didn't want to admit it. Our friendship is much more important than whatever this is. I love you, but this isn't going to work - never was going to work. I want to end this and try to go back to what we were before."

"I… Thank you, Layla. I'm really sorry. I wanted this to work so badly, but it just couldn't…"

Layla leaned in and hugged him. "It might take a while for things to go back to normal, but they will eventually. You should… you should talk to Warren." Suddenly she smirked. "Seems like going to homecoming with Warren to make you jealous ended up backfiring a little… You became jealous of the wrong person."

"Layla!" Will said indignantly.

She held up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll stop. But seriously, you should talk to him."

"Yeah, I suppose I should. I'm so confused though, Layla. God, I don't think I've ever liked a guy before..." Suddenly he looked horrified. "Oh god, dad is going to kill me… What do I do?"

Layla looked amused, despite the situation. "Calm down and figure things out first. Cross that bridge when you come to it. You should think about your feelings for Warren first, okay?"

Will took a deep breath and nodded. "Thanks Layla, you're the best friend in the world. I'm really sorry though, will you be okay?"

Layla smiled. "You're so sweet, Will. I'll be fine, thanks." She looked at her watch and stood up. "I should go home. See you later, okay?"

Hurriedly, Will also stood and gave her a hug – making sure not to crush her with his still relatively new strength. "Thanks, Layla. See you later."

After homecoming my girlfriend had become my archenemy, my archenemy had become my best friend, and my best friend had become my girlfriend. Now my girlfriend went back to being my best friend, and my best friend became my boyfriend.