Hearts of Ink (a TID fanfiction)

six

"Do you fancy drinking a coffee with me after school?", Will asked me at lunch. He and James had started spending the break at our table. I had to admit that I was quite surprised at the beginning but, just like the others, I got used to it.

"Uh, yeah sure. Why not?" I tried to ignore the glances from Jess and Sophie that I could clearly feel. Besides, they both knew I hated coffee, which was something I didn't tell Will.

*°*°*
Instead of sitting down in a café like I had done with Sophie and Jess, we ordered our beverages to go.

By now, it had gotten cold in London, fall transitioned into winter even though december was still quite some time away. The cold had been my explanation for taking a hot chocolate and not a coffee.

It turned out that wasn't necessary, for Will himself ordered a tea. How classy. Why am I not in the slightest suprised?

"What plans do you have for Halloween?", he asked me and took a sip of his tea. We had stopped wandering at random and had ended up in a park.

"Oh well, I had planned to lay in my cozy bed with a book and maybe help my host family distribute candy." I sat down on the bench he had chosen.

"But?", he asked further when I didn't continue.

"But I'm afraid that Jess will drag Sophie and me to a Halloween party." I grimaced and looked at him.

Will smirked. "Not a big fan of parties?"

"Absolutely not." After that we fell into a comfortable silence until Will started talking again.

"So I take it, you're a passionate reader?" When I only stared at him, he explained his reasoning. "You prefer reading a book to going to a party. And you're a teenager. It's quite rare to meet that kind of people, by the way."

As I turned away to think about his words, I bobbed my head rythmically up and down. "Yeah, you're right", I eventually mumbled. I took a sip from my hot chocolate and didn't know what else to say.

"When I was little", Will said hesitantly and his voice was incredibly soft, "my older sister always teased me for reading so much. At the time she would always claim that every book I read leaves a mark of ink on my heart." He stared into space but I could detect a small smile on his lips. "Back then it scared me and I even stopped reading for quite some time. Eventually she explained to me that the ink on my heart was nothing bad. She believed that every book I read allowed me another perspective, a new point of view on the world."

I let his words sink in and remained silent for a while, for I had the feeling it was appropriate for the moment.
"If that's how things are, my heart oozes with ink." I giggled a bit but when I noticed that he couldn't manage a genuine smile, I went back to being serious. I saw the melancholia in his eyes. "Your sister sounds rather wise."

Will exhaled a shaky breath. I already thought he wouldn't answer but then, "Yes, I know. That she was."

Oh.