Disclaimer: I do not own The Book Thief.
Please note, The narrator, Death, writes in bold.
Update 3/18/20: Done with chapter 18! On to 19 which is still ongoing atm lols!
Update 3/17/20: Hope all is well with the cornavirus. Im out of work for 4 weeks and my university is shut down until the end of the year.. I live in US. Stay safe everyone and have faith in God. Sorry for the late updating! I added more. Writers block on Rudy! I will post more later today and have a new chap up today as well!
AN: Today I'm starting in the chapter: Fresh Air, an Old Nightmare, and What to do with a Jewish Corpse (page 326). I really jump around in chapters when I'm writing. Uploading what I have once again, open to updating and finishing soon. Thank you for reading :) In a bit of a writers block and writing limbo with Rudy atm. Not sure if I should leave him out or incude him at the Nazi School. What do you think?
A/N #2: PLEASE NOTE IN THIS FIC: LIESEL IS NOW 16, BETTINA IS 14, VIKTOR IS 18 AND RUDY IS 16 YEARS OLD!
Chapter 18: Extra Darkness
Liesel brightens when she finally catches a glimpse of Viktor in the distance. She picks up her pace until she eventually reaches him. Her beating heart an uncomfortable presence in her ear. She knows there is red on her skin, her face is hot she feels excited, giddy even to see him. She knows she shouldn't be excited to see him. She shouldn't like him. And yet she does.
"Where would you like to shop today?" Viktor regards her, his murky eyes at a placid calm like just after a rain. Immedietly she thinks of die Frau de Bürgermeister. The mayor's wife. Liesel has stolen a few books from her already. But could she really destroy her library? She tells Viktor about her plan to raid the mayor's library.
"Do you think you can really destroy something so important to you?"
"Of course I can." She lies. She isn't so sure.
Viktor walks beside her, wanting desparately to hold her hand.
Today was the perfect day to "go shopping." It was a dark afternoon midway in March and only slightly bone chillingly cold. No one in their right mind would be walking about in this weather unless of course they wanted to catch me. But these two were still young and had a lot of growing up to do. Their immune systems weren't compromised just yet. The results of starving to death really aided in at least one of their survival. The Book Thief specifically. The Boy with Eyes like the Clouds, not so much. He on the other hand never went a day without bread and butter. At least not yet.
"Are we going?"
"We need our bikes first." Liesel says. "I guess you can borrow Rudy's." It felt weird to say his name outloud now. Like he was the strange thing in this situation. Like he didn't belong. Viktor bristles at the mention of Steiner. He wonders what really happened to Liesel that night. Was it really as horrible as he had been imagining? No matter, the bikes were hidden under the bridge. There was a few stones he had removed in order to hide them better. People were selling scrap metal, scrap wood, cats, dogs and anything they could get their hands on. They couldn't keep their bikes out in the open, no doubt a thief would brazenly just snatch it from their home and melt it down for the black market. Well, maybe not steal bikes from his home. But his mother wouldn't accept something like this being in her home. Maybe a medical journal or something of that sort. Certainly, nothing pertaining to barbaric sports or any kind of fitness. Sports were for the subhuman as far as she was concerned. Only the Jews should be hard at work, not her perfect German son. Always she had to keep up the appearances. This long resented charade of hers.
"Oh, my tire is flat." Liesel comments. "We'll have to just ride tandem." She returns her bike to its hiding place under the bridge. Viktor stands motionless, bike in his hand. "Well, you can pedal. I'm tired anyway." She motions for him to get on the bike. Viktor still stands there. "Viktor?" Liesel asks, her eyes filled with question. It felt weird to say his name outloud. She never addressed him before now that she thought about it. "Ich weiß es nicht." Viktor mumbles his face turning reddish as he breaks eye contact with her. Liesel couldn't believe her ears. "You don't know?" She asks, her voice incredulous. "Ja, I don't know how. What's the big deal? I have ein Auto don't I?" He tries to defend himself.
***ONE TRUTH AND ONE LIE***
The truth was he didn't know how to ride a bike because of his mother.
She never allowed him to partake in activities of the "poor."
The lie was he didn't have an automobile. His father had one that he sometimes stole.
And wrecked on one occassion. Somebody was hurt badly from it.
Of course, that didn't happen yet.
Liesel is annoyed. She didn't care about what he did or didn't own. She doubts he had one anyway. If he did, why wasn't he driving it then? "You're right it's not a big deal, everyone has to start somewhere. C'mon I'll teach you." Liesel jumps onto the seat, not quite balancing the bike upright. "It's all about the balance. See? I'm leaning on it with one foot." Viktor rolls his eyes at her crude explanation. "I know how to sit on a bike without falling, you Klugscheißer." Liesel blinks at the verbal abuse, it's like they were friends busting eachothers chops. "I'm not a smart ass." She defends herself. She continues to demonstrate just how to sit on the bike and hold balance. Before you know it she takes off. Pedaling like a pro. She makes a full round across the bridge and back. She gets off and hands the bike to Viktor. "Now you try."
"Es ist einfach." Viktor mocks her, his voice smug.
***GERMAN NOTE***
It's easy.
He hops on the bike. He sits still for a good couple seconds to show off his balance and expertise. Possibly to woo her. She doesn't look impresseed. Her face is a blank canvas. Viktor attemps to pedal with his left foot and comes crashing down before he can even lift his right. Her laughter comes tumbling out. It's like heaven to his ears. He actually made her laugh. It felt good to him. He wanted to make her laugh. Make her smile. Make her moan... Now wasn't the time to get horny and he banishes the thought. He glances up at her from his fall of shame. Curse the fucking snow. If it weren't for the cold, he could be seeing well up her skirt right now. Instead, there's ugly wool Strumpfhosen. They were opaque and not at all see through, like a fucking chastity pantyhose. In the ugliest shade of grey too.
"I told you it's all about the balan-" She doesn't continue her sentence as Viktor yanks her to the ground with him. "Omph!" She cries out as her butt makes contact with the cobblestone below. She glares at him and he almost regrets taking her down with him. Almost.
"You're a sore loser." She states. Her brown eyes meld into his.
"It wasn't obvious by now?" He says softly. He wants to kiss her. Her eyes are on his. There's no one and nothing between them. She's not pushing him away and doesn't mind that he touched her when he grabbed her waist without warning. Her waist that he is still holding. Her dirty blonde hair is falling into those doe eyes of hers again and he is feeling himself being drawn in. Her flushed red cheeks. Her soft pink lips. It had been awhile since he kissed her. And he craved to steal her lips once more. He doesn't know who kissed who first. That he gives in to the pull of her. Or she gives into him. He pulls her tight to his body. She closes her eyes and leans in. Finally, his lips are on hers and they share a kiss like no other. Before she would always be stiff in his arms. This time she is melded against his body, like they are one. Her lips part so easily, granting him entrance to her tongue, that he gently swirls against his own. This tongue kissing is new. And oh is it glorious. Before long her hands find their way to the back of his neck, and gently travel higher until they're tangled into his hair. She is breathing harder and so is he. He eventually rips himself from her, his breathing ragged from their passionate kissing. She looks a lot worse for wear though.
"I'm sorry." Viktor offers. "I should have asked first."
Liesel shakes her head. "No... I think I kissed you."
Viktor pauses, unsureness in his feautures. An unusual sight. "Are you okay?" He finally asks. She nods, opening her mouth to speak. "I've been wanting to tell you for a few weeks now... but nothing happened that night." Viktor doesn't know what to say. He is happy to hear that, but that still didn't explain why she didn't want to be touched. At least until today. And why today of all days? And him of all people? As if reading his mind she explains. "He had gotten awfully close, but in the end he didn't go through with it." She whispers shamefully.
"That still doesn't make it okay." Viktor responds, taking her chin in the palm of his hand. He pulls her face toward him and softly kisses her. She sighs against his lips and feels herself melt into his arms as he embraces her. She mumbles into his ear, something he doesn't quite catch. "What was that?" Viktor asks her.
"I said can we get up. My ass is frozen." Viktor stifles a chuckle and gets up, helping her to her feet. Her silence tells him that she has said all she is comfortable telling him. So he changes the subject. He is sure she will tell him more when she is ready. But for now they had a library to destroy. And possibly another kiss to be stolen. "Let's go to that library." Viktor says.
"But you still don't know how to ride a bike properly."
"I can just ride on the back. You can show me another day. Besides, this will give me another excuse to see you again." Viktor winks at her, drawing a blush from her. Liesel lifts the bike from the ground. She takes her place at the front of the bike. She pats the back. "Hop on." She says and Viktor does just that.
