"If I let you ask me anything you want, would you cheer up?" Will asked. Tessa raised her head from her hands and glowered, but she couldn't deny it; the offer was tempting. She nodded, and Will straightened, waiting. A minute of silence passed, and one of his eyebrows raised. Will huffed, becoming impatient. He bowed slightly and waved his hand. "Come along, then," he insisted, "ask your question."
There were so many things she could ask him. Why did he kiss her the night before, yet still allow her to marry Jem, and without a single word? How were they going to find Jem? And why, in the Angel's name, did he use that filthy "curse" as an excuse to treat her as nothing more than dirt? But she asked none of these questions. Tessa exhaled, then looked at the placed between Will's brows, not daring to make eye contact - she never could, not again. "Why do you hate ducks?"
His eyes nearly popped out of his head, and a laughing smile lit up his face. A chuckle escaped his lips, and he looked at her incredulously. "I give you permission to seek out any dark secrets of mine," he said, "and that is what you ask me? Gracious, you never fail to surprise me."
Tessa bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. "Just answer the question."
Will smirked, "Very well. James and I were at Hyde Park…" and he proceeded to tell her the tale of the vicious, cannibalistic mallards. Will reenacted the event, flopping his arms around and wagging his leg as if a duck was biting his ankle and hanging on for dear life. He quacked as a duck would and spluttered out a stream of profanity that Tessa knew must have been far more vulgar at the time. By the end of it, Will was breathless from the effort and Tessa was breathless from laughter. He took the few steps toward her and plopped down onto the bench beside her, already regaining his breath.
Tessa peeked at him from behind the stray strands of hair that fell from her bun. He wasn't looking at her, and normally she would have thought he was angry as he stared ahead, but there wasn't any tension in his shoulders, and there was the slightest hint of a smile on his face - the kind of smile one had when remembering something pleasant. Tessa gently placed her gloved hand over his, and his fingers wrapped around hers.