A/N: The second season of his dark materials is here and I'm shipping Lyra and Will more than ever! I needed to write a fanfiction to stop shipping them so obsessively. This is set in season 2. I just wanted to experiment with what would happen if they fell in love a bit earlier. This fanfic should be around 2-3 chapters, and I will try to update as soon as possible. Please review and share your thoughts on how it's going so far. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own HDM

The entire town of Citagazze was eerily silent (as would be expected in such a place.) It was evening, a deep rich blue colouring the skies, and it was hard to tell the difference between a post and a person. Rats could be heard scuttling, one of the few souls left in the town, so it was no surprise that if anyone were in 50 meters of the cafe, they would be able to hear the very obviously raised voices.

Lyra and Will were arguing. Neither of them could remember who had started it in the first place, but neither of them had probably ever argued so fervently with someone else. If Will had a deamon, Pan would be poised waiting to attack. Th general point was, thing were starting to get heated.

"Can you not take anything seriously! The police are looking for me in my world, and yet you go there without telling me just so you can play around with dust. Do you not have any sense of how dangerous it is! If I get caught then my mum is in there hands, and that's the last thing I would ever let happen. And then you lose your alethiometer... Do you not have any sense of responsibility. I'm sorry, but if you want my help, you're going to have to grow up."

Lyra's eyes were practically shooting daggers at Will. She had never wanted to punch something so badly in her entire life. "I don't need your help. Just because I don't sit in a corner crying doesn't mean I don't take things seriously. At least you've got a mother who actually cares for you, both of my parents are murderers, and they honestly couldn't care less about me!" Tears were starting to sting Lyra's eyes, and Will looked stunned by the revelation. She went on, "My father killed my best friend, Roger, for the sake of finding out about dust. If Roger hadn't died, then I wouldn't be in this stupid world and you wouldn't have to deal with me. But do you honestly think I don't take thing seriously? Do you think someone who would rather be an orphan than know her parents, someone who's watched polar bears fight for their lives, someone who is the reason that their best friend died..." Lyra had broken into violent sobs by now, "Do you think someone like that doesn't take life seriously?"

For what seemed like eternity, all that could be heard was Lyra's sobs. She was looking at anywhere but Will. He awkwardly stood behind her, without the slightest clue of what to do. He could have never imagined that such a energetic person had such a distressing past. He felt painfully useless, and could feel regret gnawing at his insides. In a soft voice, he asked, "Why do you think you're the reason your best friend died?"

"None of your business." She answered reproachfully through her muffled sobs. He could tell from her body language that she felt slightly embarrassed about her outburst, and she kept her eyes resolutely away from his. Will felt a compelling need to comfort her. Knowing it was probably the last thing she wanted right now, he went over and hugged her.

She flinched as soon as he touched her, and then realising what he was doing, struggled against his iron grasp. Will didn't let go, and she eventually decided to relax into his embrace. They spent a few minutes like that, Lyra realising how pleasantly warm he was. She immediately admonished herself for thinking of such a thought. Will enjoyed the way her head tucked into the crook of his neck. He blushed in half horror half embarrassment at this discovery. He could feel Lyra's erratically heaving chest slow down to a regular pace, and slightly loosened the embrace.

"Do you feel better?" The question sounded so awkward and stupid to his ears that he immediately regretted saying it. Lyra nodded, her eyes still fixed on his chest.

An awkward silence passed. Both knew they had a lot to say to each other, but neither of them wanted to. Lyra eventually broke the silence.

"I told you a while ago that I crossed into this world through a window my father made," she started slowly, "The only way he could make it was using a vast amount of energy. The only way you can do that is by seperating a child from their daemon." She sniffled. "Me an' Roger went to him so I could give him the alethiometer. Turned out he never wanted it. He just wanted a child and I played Roger right into his hands. He cut Roger from his daemon and it's all my fault. He's dead because of me."

"You could never have known." Will said gently, running his fingers through her hair. She finally looked up at him. Will realised just how pretty she was. He had always known she looked pretty, it was just never on the forefront of his mind. He felt an unexplainable feeling take hold of him, and was unable to look away from her chocolate eyes. He wanted to close the distance between them...

Will snapped out of his trance, immediately turning a billion shades of red. What on earth was he thinking? So much for trying to be nicer to her. He let his hand fall back to his sides, mortified by his thoughts.

"I-I'm s-sorry. So sorry. Oh god it's late. W-we best be getting to sleep." Having stammered out the incoherent sentences, Will practically fled from the sight, leaving Lyra more confused and flustered than she had ever felt in the course of her life.