His Heart

Chapter 3 (RE)

As I was walking back towards the bookstore, I kept looking over my shoulder because I had this sense of someone following me. They were hiding it very well in the crowded street. But I had to test if they were truly following me or if it was all in my head. I walked down a back street that led me to the back door of my bookstore. I turned the corner and saw the person was following me then. So they were intentionally following me. I knew I was getting closer to the store and I sped up. They sped up after me and they grabbed me by the waist.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" they asked.

"Please, leave me be."

"Now, darling, don't give me that attitude."

"Get your hands off of me," I said and quickly turned around. I went to strike him, but he caught my fist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I looked behind me to see Howl was there. He walked over to me and removed the man's hand from my fist. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer to him.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked.

"A friend of her's who was looking for her."

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," Howl whispered to me.

"Seems I have found you though. You were always the one sneaking off. Now then, we shall be on our way."

He moved past the man and back towards the street. He walked me up to the bookstore door and opened it up for me.

"There you are," he smiled.

"Uh, thanks," I said.

"You're welcome. I was in fact looking for you."

"For me? Why?"

"Do you remember when I mentioned my student?"

"Yeah. The one who you're teaching how to flirt, right?"

"Yes, him. He is bringing over the girl he likes for dinner tomorrow evening. I was wondering if you would like to come over as well. So I am not there being weird," he chuckled. "For lack of better words."

"I don't think I am doing anything tomorrow evening. Sure, I would love to come."

"Great."

"Where is this place of yours?"

"In the waste. You can't miss it. I live in a moving castle."

"S-So you're the Howl that was on the news the other day?"

"I was?"

"Yeah. They said you and some girl were floating in the sky."

"I was hoping no one would have seen that," he said and scratched the back of his neck. 

"Everyone saw it. You don't know how to be subtle, do you?"

"You see, subtly and I have a very bad relationship," he laughed. 

"I can tell the moment you asked me to come to your place."

He smiled nervously, "Are you thinking I am going to eat your heart? If that is the case, I am not like what the news reporters or anyone says."

"I understand that. I should give you a chance to prove yourself that you're not what the rumors say you are."

"That is correct. Can't judge a book by its cover."

"Oh, ha-ha. Not like I've heard that one before," I chuckled. "What time should I come over?"

"I say, anywhere after three."

"Sounds good," I said.

"Until then," he said and bowed.

"Until then," I said. "Thanks for that save earlier."

"Its what friends do," he said and closed the door and disappeared into the crowd.

I headed upstairs to see Jeff was on the couch by himself watching something on TV. I walked over to him and sat next to him.

"How was dad's visit?" he asked.

"It went alright. I went to see mom's grave first."

"I should have gone out there today with Marcus. I just didn't want him to feel bad or uncomfortable. He was already uncomfortable today with dad."

"Did he head home?"

"Yeah."

"You sound sad."

"I just don't know what to do after what dad said."

"He is right about having a plan for the future, Jeff. But I will tell you this since he told me. Dad said that he approves of your relationship. It took him sometime, but after he thought back on mom, he decided it was time to be more open minded to things."

"Did he really say that?"

"He did. You know dad, Jeff. He would never lie to us unless he absolutely needed to. The last time he lied to us was,"

"When mom died."

"Exactly. And he doesn't want to lie to us again because it tore him up after we finally realized mom had died. So he would never lie."

Jeff nodded his head, "Yeah."

"Are you heading back to your apartment or are you staying here for the night?"

"I told Marcus I would be staying here for the night. And that I'll see him at the fish market first thing in the morning."

"Alright. Just get a good night's rest."

"Got it," he said.

"Goodnight, Jeff," I said and hugged him.

"Goodnight, Y/N," he said and hugged me back.

I got up and walked over to my room. I closed the door and changed from my clothes into my pajamas. I turned on my bedside light and pulled out a book I was reading. I turned off my main light and jumped into bed. I opened the book and picked up where I had left off, eventually drifting off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning and did my daily routine for opening up the shop. Today was a bit slower than normal so when it came to closing time, I didn't have much to do other than stock a few shelves. I headed back upstairs to see Jeff was sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Jeff," I said.

"Yes, Y/N?"

"I'm heading out tonight."

"Where are you going?"

"Meeting up with a friend," I said.

"Are you going to see Sophie?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Good. Marcus and I are heading out tonight as well."

"Have fun with one another," I said.

"Tell Sophie I said hi," he said.

"Will do," I said and headed into my room to change. 

~Hey guys! Sorry for the VERY late update. There is no set schedule for these rewritten chapters since they are just being rewritten to be better. And I may or may not go up to how many I have. So there are currently 20 chapters and I have three done. So that leaves 17 chapters to be rewritten. I might go until 20 or until I feel the story has finished. So it may or may not be 20 chapters. But thank you for your patience. This month is really stressful with it being my first year heading into college. I am very nervous about it and I don't know if I can maintain my normal three day schedule with my stories. If I can, I will be relieved and somewhat surprised. So thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!