Hearts of Ink (a TID fanfiction)

five

Normally I didn't have a favourite day of the week, I thought that was silly.
Unfortunately I had to discover that friday became my favourite day over the next few weeks. That was to trace back to my English Literature class, and to be more precise to Will Herondale, whom I had made peace with.

As soon as we had stopped verbally beating each other up, we had noticed that we made a much better team when working together. That resulted in me being in Will's group every time we had a group work in English Literature.

Oh, Will, what a surprise to meet you here! No, that sounded way too rehearsed. Will? You work here? Much better. That way he wouldn't think I came into the bookshop because I stalked him. I had promised myself to go to the bookshop I had stumbled upon on my first weekend in London, in order to get to see Will outside school grounds.

I wore black jeans and a gray top which I thought made my eyes stand out. My hair dangled curly to my shoulders instead of being held firmly in the usual chignon. Maybe I had dressed up on purpose but that had probably only happened subconciously. After all, Will and me were only friends, if anything.

I stopped in front of the entrance to take a deep breath. I then opened the door and entered the shop. The number of books sitting on the shelves on the many walls was overwhelming. The sight alone made me happy and I felt a comfortable prickling in my belly. Trying to be discreet, I looked to the left, in direction of the cashpoint, but Will wasn't there.

Slightly disappointed I went so deep into the shop that I had the feeling to be fully surrounded by books. I thieved a random book from a shelf and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs in the backmost corner.

Considering that I had chosen the book at random, it was pretty good. It captivated me and I wasn't able to tell how much time passed. Maybe a few minutes, maybe several hours. In any case somebody with an oddly familiar voice came to a halt in front of me at a certain moment. "Tessa?"

I looked up and realized that Will was standing in front of me. "Hi." I hesitantly smiled at him. He wore working clothes and I slightly frowned as if I just noticed that. "Are you working here or something?", I then asked.

He laughed gently and quietly. It triggered an odd prickling in my belly. "No, I simply enjoy stealing work uniforms and pretend I have a job." Sarcasm. Oh yay.

I softly closed my book to give Will my undivided attention. "A simple yes would have been enough. That's no reason to attack me, Mr. Herondale." I made a grimace to show him that sarcasm was inopportune when facing me. I had enough of it myself.

Will raised his hands in defense. "Okay, understood, Miss Gray." He smiled whimsically and dropped his hands. "Just please don't call me Mr. Herondale. It destroys the illusion that I'll stay forever young. I cling desperately at my youth."

My answer was s snort which, as came afterwards to my mind, couldn't have been very attractive. Will sat down on the seat next to mine and pierced me with his eyes. "What exactly are you doing here?" He leaned onto the armrest, at which he came a little bit closer to me.

I looked at him confused. "Uhm, I'm reading a book?" My uncertainty had transformed my statement into a question.

He laughed and my cheeks became strangely warm. Had I said something wrong? "Thanks for your enlightening answer, Tessa. I can see that. What I actually meant was what are you doing in London. Why did you choose precisely this city?" He leanded back and looked at me, expectant.

I put the book on the little table in front of me and pondered about telling him the truth. Did I trust him? I settled for half-truth. "My brother", I said. "He lives in London."

"Does that mean you stay at your brother's for the whole next year?", Will asked.

"No." I tried to make my answer sound final, but I had a suspicion that it didn't work that good. I could see the interest flash in Will's eyes. I silently tried to inform him that I didn't want to talk about it.

"Why is that?" So much for silent communication. Will raised an eyebrow to get me to answer. I sighed. Why could he convince me so easily?
"We don't have as much contact anymore", I hesitantly answered. "After finishing school he immediately left for London and ever since I haven't seen him that much. I hoped that here I could see him more often." I left out the part about my father. I wouldn't spit that out so willingly.

But Will seemed satisfied with the answer and nodded once shortly. I, on the other hand, was determined to learn something about him as well.
"What about you?", the words bubbled from my mouth before I could think about it. "I'm not an expert with accents, but you're not from London, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. I'm from Wales." A smile toyed at his lips. He probably thought I would let it be, but not with me.

"And why did you move here? With your family I suppose?", I interrogated him. Will stiffened visibly and the smile, that had been there moments ago, was gone.

"There were some family issues at home." He got up abruptly and added: "Listen, I really should get back to work. I'll see you at school." He left without waiting for my answer. A change of mood again. What was going on with him? I sighed heavily and then proceeded to take the book from the table and continue my reading.