His Heart

Chapter 4 (RE)

A/N: Alright so I tried to read the original chapter 4 and I couldn't make it past the first two sentences. It was just so cringy. I don't know how you guys are able to read that without cringing. Anyway, so I am probably not going to read the chapters since they're not really in line with their original chapters. So yeah. I hope you guys enjoy!

I finished changing and once I was done, I said goodbye to my brother and walked down towards the bookstore. I exited from the back door and made my way towards The Waste. I knew it was going to be a bit of a trek so I didn't put on a dress. It just wasn't me anyway. As I was walking along the hills, I was trying to see where this castle was. The sun was starting to go down and I was getting worried that Howl was just making this up. But I shook my head and gave him the benefit of the doubt. I started to walk around a little more until a giant chicken looking thing walked towards me. I moved out of the way to see it walk right past me. The door from the backside opened up and Howl appeared.

"There you are, Y/N!" he smiled and poked his head back into the castle. The castle stopped and Howl jumped out of the doorway. 

"How are you this fine evening?" he asked.

"I was a little bit lost on how I was going to find your castle," I said.

"I probably should have sent Markl out here to escort you. Oh where are my manners. I should have came to escort you," Howl said.

"It's alright. Thank you for inviting me," I said.

"Come on in," he said and opened the door for me.

I walked through the doorway and up the small set of stairs. It had a small interior to it, but it was nice and quaint. There was a small table that was cleared off and had a candle in the middle. There was a small fire place with an almost out fire in it. There was a staircase that led upstairs to what I presume to be where Howl and his student resided. And behind me was the sink.

"This is a lovely little home you have here," I said and walked over to the fire.

"Oh you're a new one around here," the fire said.

I looked at the fire to see two eyes and a mouth appeared along with two arms.

"The fire just talked," I said.

"I can do more than just talk," it said.

"Calcifer here does the most important job in the castle," Howl said.

"I basically run the castle," Calcifer grumbled.

"Run the castle?" I asked.

"He moves the castle," Howl said.

"So that's how it moves! That's amazing! I never thought one fire would do all that hard work! That's incredible!"

"Hear that, Howl. She thinks I'm incredible. Maybe I should take her out," Calcifer chuckled.

"Remember, Calcifer, that if I were to move you from that hearth, you wouldn't be able to move the castle."

"So what! I'm tired of being the salve around here. Calcifer, make my bath. Calcifer, move the castle. Calcifer, heat up because we're going to be making breakfast!"

"What would they do without you, Calcifer?" I asked, smiling at him.

"Oh, you're right. You wouldn't be able to do any of that without me!" Calcifer spat at Howl.

"Quiet down, Calcifer," Howl said. "You'll scare off, Y/N."

"I think he's fine. But he does look like he needs more wood," I said and grabbed a couple pieces of wood and placed them on the hearth.

"At least someone respects me around here," Calcifer said.

"Markl and Lucy do respect you," Howl said.

"I thought you were going to say that you respect me," Calcifer grumbled.

"We all do, Calcifer," Howl said.

"Where is Markl anyway?" Calcifer asked.

"Escorting Lucy here."

"So he went to get his date and you can't even talk to your own? Pathetic," Calcifer chuckled.

Howl sighed and looked over at me, "Mind Calcifer. You know what they say. He can be a bit hot under the collar."

I chuckled a bit, which Howl smiled slightly at me.

"Before they get here, I wanted to show you something."

He walked over to the door and a small dial changed. He reopened the door to show a beautiful ocean side. We walked out towards the shore and admired the view. The wind blew into my face and scattered my hair around a bit.

"Here, let me help with that," Howl said and reached behind my head. He moved my hair from my face and tied it back with a nice little bow. "There we go."

"Thank you, Howl," I said.

"You're welcome. It's the least I can do."

"So is this a date, Howl?"

"If you want it to be," he said and looked over at me. "I am completely fine with calling this a hangout between two friends, a date, or just a get together."

"Alright," I said.

"So it is up to you what you want to call tonight."

"I think it'd be better if we called this just a get together."

"Fine by me."

"I would like to call it a date, but," I looked at my reflection in the water.

"But what?"

"It's my brother."

"What about him?"

"He doesn't trust you for some reason."

"Is it the rumors?"

"I believe so."

"If you're hesitant with getting to be friends with me, I can assure you, I have never eaten another girl's heart. I am not a cannibal. I don't think anything from a human would taste good."

I chuckled slightly, "I heard it tasted like chicken."

"Anything tastes like chicken if you think about it," Howl smiled.

"Yeah," I said and looked at the sky. "Can you assure me of one thing?"

"I can try to," he said.

"If we do get close, like close as friends, can you assure me that you'll be there if I ever need you?"

"I'd be there in a heartbeat, Y/N. It's what friends do," Howl said.

I smiled up at him, "Thank you. It's just that, I've never had anyone come to me when I needed help. And when you came to help me yesterday, it meant a lot to me."

Howl smiled, "Like I said, it's what friends do."

~Hey guys! So sorry it took forever to get this chapter out. August was a bit of a hectic month with trying to get me ready for college and stuff. And then I had move in day and just adjusting to college is work in itself. So I am sorry for the very late chapter. I think the other chapters are going to be a while too since I am trying to prioritize my school work over my writing right now. But thank you guys for being so patient with me!