Enjoy the second installment in this new MBS fic. I so appreciate your touching reviews, and hope you find this chapter to be most satisfactory. :)

The following morning, Reynie awoke itching to visit the Stonetown library. It had already been too long since he'd visited, and it would do him good to immerse himself in the many books that the library was home to. And although it was summer, he never could go without reading for too long.

Over breakfast, Reynie discussed his plans with the others. Sticky looked rather tired and owlish, having spent the entire night previous skimming through his dictionaries, "for fun."

"The only thing more fun than that," Constance had remarked, "would be getting your toenails pulled out, one by one." She looked as though she relished the thought.

Constance herself claimed that she was busy that morning—composing rude poetry, no doubt. In the end, only Kate was free to accompany Reynie to the library. She seemed slightly reluctant to forfeit the sunny morning for dusty bookshelves, but upon seeing Reynie's hopeful expression, she privately put away her plans and agreed to go along. They strolled out into the midst of cheerful chaos; this normally ensued each morning. The hustle and bustle of noisy automobiles, the shouts of exuberant young children and the faint crash of ocean waves breaking against the docks. Reynie felt exhilarated and expansive as he walked beside Kate. The brightness of the day seemed to give him a message: Failure is Impossible.

So confident was he, that he found himself grinning broadly—much to Kate's frank amusement.

"What are you grinning about, Reynie? Plotting something?"

"No…It's just that the sun is so bright, and the world seems so—alive. I can't help but get swept up in the optimistic atmosphere."

Kate smiled. "Or maybe all that sun is going to your head. I said maybe!" she added, as Reynie frowned at her in mock anger.

They crossed the street, the sprawling library looming into view. Reynie began to walk a bit faster, eager to reach the building.

"Good gravy!"

Reynie smiled to himself; it had been a while since he'd heard Kate use that expression.

"Slow down, will you?"

"Sorry," he apologized. "I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself."

Kate wrinkled her nose and Reynie assumed she was irritated with his bookish enthusiasm. On the contrary, she was staring at a man on an adjacent street corner.

"What is it, Kate?" prodded Reynie, following her gaze. The man was enveloped in a newspaper; "The Stonetown Times."

"For a minute there, I could have sworn that was Crawlings." Kate narrowed her ocean-blue eyes and pursed her lips. "No, no, wait—he has both his eyebrows." She turned to Reynie and grinned. "Close call, huh?"

"Very," Reynie agreed. Despite the fact that the man was just an ordinary businessman, Reynie's heart had sped up a bit, and he felt keen to depart the scene.

"We've had some good times, haven't we?" Kate smiled impishly. "Outsmarting Mr. Curtain, making fools out of the Ten Men—the works."

"And the fact that we found each other," added Reynie. He winced inwardly, realizing how his words had come out. "I mean, everyone in the Society. Think about it, if it weren't for Mr. Benedict, you wouldn't have found Milligan, Constance wouldn't have a father and Sticky's parents wouldn't have located him. We're all immensely lucky."

He looked down at Kate; she was retying her long golden-blond ponytail. It was the little things like this—the familiarity of certain people—that made friendship so satisfying. Though Reynie spent a great deal of time convincing himself that his feelings for Kate were purely platonic, he simply couldn't erase his feelings. He had always loved Kate; like a sister, a good friend. But somehow she had managed to take root in both his mind and heart, and that was disconcerting.

Reynie considered himself a highly intelligent, empathetic person. However, it was more difficult for him to place his trust in people than the others supposed. He trusted Kate with his life, and knew she felt the same about him. There was some invisible appeal about her, a confidence, a loyalty, a brash sort of bravery that Reynie found inexorably irresistible. He often wondered what exactly she thought of him. Did she, too, have feelings for him that extended beyond friendship? Or did this hope exist purely in Reynie's imagination? He hoped not.

"Earth to Reynie." Kate winked at him, and pointed ahead. "Look, we're nearly there." Indeed, the library stood dauntingly before them, its double doors propped open by a wooden chair upon which a guard dozed, his keys juggling with each raucous snore. An elderly woman exiting the library threw him a look of disdain, and tottered off, muttering. Kate and Reynie grinned at each other.

The interior of the library was dim in comparison with the brilliant sunshine outside, and it took Reynie a few moments to adjust to the sudden gloom. It was quite impossible to see beyond the mammoth book cases, so the two teenagers wove between shelves until they reached the back of the library. Here, the air was so saturated with dust, Reynie was amazed he could even breathe. They sat down in two uncomfortably low armchairs and stared at each other.

"Sorry about these chairs," Reynie said with a rueful smile. "It feels as though my head is level with my knees."

"Oh, stop looking for trouble. I'm not mad, you know." Kate said this with her usual brusqueness, so that she did not seem angry. "What now? Don't tell we came all this way to a library just to talk."

Reynie shrugged. "Now that we're here, I don't really feel like opening a single book." He shifted in his seat, to see Kate better. "So, tell me something."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"What do you think you'd like to do after this summer? I mean, what do you want your future to hold?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Kate began. "I'd love to help Mr. Benedict with his work—"

"As would I," Reynie interjected.

"But Milligan might agree to let me travel a bit, too. I really want to see the world, Reynie. The world outside Stonetown!"

"I feel the same way," Reynie agreed. "But, Kate—if you left us to travel, I'd miss you. We all would," he concluded sadly.

"I'd send you a postcard now and then," Kate joked. Seeing that Reynie was sincerely unhappy, her expression became more somber. "Listen. We've fought a war together—and won. No amount of distance will ever really keep us apart. Not really."

Reynie leaned forward, his lips curving into an appreciative grin. "When did you become so wise, Kate Weatherall?"

"I learned it from the brown haired goof sitting across from me."

There was a pause.

"I see," said Reynie, with a smile.

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-Spark Writer-