Thorns of a Rose #1 (Howl's Moving Castle fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Things Could Always Be Worse

When Lettie opened the apartment door to her older sister standing on the doormat, Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. She had knocked on the door twice before opening, which concerned Sophie, thinking Lettie wasn't home. She needed her sister now more than ever.

Lettie opened the door wider, her face washed with concern. "Sophie, what's wrong?"

Sophie sniffed and lowered her eyes. "Um, is there any way you could... if I... could spend the night here?"

Lettie's eyes widened. "Of course. You're my sister, I would do anything for you." Lettie embraced Sophie softly rather than lunging toward her, as she usually would have done. Sophie was impressed with her maturity. Maybe Justin was teaching her to be more proper.

Or just using her to get to Sophie.

She didn't want to bring that up. She didn't want to be the person who ruined her sister's first love. She would coerce Justin into admitting everything he had done since the day they met, especially his false accusations against Howl. Lettie would eventually know the truth. Maybe then, Sophie could be honest about her true relationship.

Sophie walked with Lettie to the small living room. Her apartment was quite small, about twice the size of the main room back at home. There was a short, two-cushion couch parallel to a coffee table and a quaint fireplace. A brown armchair stood to the right of the coffee table.

"Do you want some coffee or tea?" Lettie asked on her way to the kitchen. "It's no trouble."

"Tea would be nice. Chamomile, please." She took the couch and immediately rested her head in her palm. It had been such a long day - disputing with Suliman and then immediately arguing with Howl. Before, Sophie would have submitted to both of them, but instead she stood up for herself. And she felt more confident because of it.

"Here you go." Lettie snatched a coaster from the coffee table drawer and placed the hot cup of tea on top. She sat in the armchair as Sophie took a quick sip. "All good?"

Sophie set the cup down with a sigh. "Very. Thank you."

"So, is this what I think it's about?" Sophie looked up to Lettie, her eyebrows raised and the side of her lip curled up. When Sophie nodded, Lettie crossed her legs. "All right, what did he do?"

Sophie wished she had said his name because she was wracking her brain to remember the alias she conjured up in place of Howl. She would have to just stick with pronouns to describe him. "He and I are just not getting along very well right now."

"How so?"

"Well, we had an argument today about..." Sophie stopped herself. She knew she had to be as vague as possible, otherwise Lettie would know it was Howl. She gulped before continuing. "He lied to me."

"It must have been a big lie." Lettie stood up to add a couple logs to the fire. "You seem really distressed about what Donald did."

Donald. Right. How did she come up with Donald from Howl? Sophie brushed it off and sighed in relief. It was better to have the name than to guess.

Sophie took a bigger sip of tea. "It was a big enough lie for me to wonder why I trust anything he says."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Lettie returned to the armchair and leaned in close to Sophie. "I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Yes, selfish reasons." Sophie's voice grew in volume. "He only cares about himself most of the time, and his family means nothing to him. He didn't even remember Markl's birthday until I told him because he had been gone for so long. I just wish he would take a moment to consider how I feel about the decisions he makes. But no. It's always about him – not about me or Markl or–" Sophie slowed down again. She tried not to let her emotions get the better of her, but the anger she felt toward Howl was too much to keep locked inside.