Hi everyone! I'm back, sorry I'm so late, I have had a busy few days and writing this one was like paddling up a river during a storm. But I'm here now and I will update again on time in a little under an hour.
You guys reviewed again! I have missed hearing from you over the last few days, then suddenly everyone reviewed at once and I didn't know where to look first! I am glad you guys liked the fics, even if a couple of them were short, this one is one of the longer ones.
To goopy gilscarbo; I am glad you liked the fics and fem!Cheslock's name, I went through so many before I found one I really liked, I haven't even got a headcannon name for male Cheslock. I hope your work is easing up on you. Thank you for being concerned about me, but I have just been busy, I should be fine now.
To my guest who speaks Russian; I don't know what I should call you but I am glad you liked the fics!
And to Angel597, I am glad you like that ship because I actually really do too. I am glad you like my writing but I am not writing anything more than one-shots/drabbles for Black Butler at the moment becuase I have a nasty habit of losing interest in a fic half of the way through and dropping it, sometimes for years, before updating again.
Thank you all for your reviews!
Ugh, long Author's Note! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!
Paper Hearts:
Ugh, finally! He'd been waiting weeks to re-read this book for his classical literature class and it had finally been put back on the shelf.
Maurice Cole sighed heavily through his nose and took the book to the table where the rest of his papers sat. He didn't even want to read the stupid thing, it was boring, but he'd only thumbed through it the first time (because it was boring) and really needed to refresh his memory on the topics it contained if he wanted to pass this class. So he had to read the book.
Maurice read slowly, as he did when he was bored out of his mind, jotting down notes until he came to something that made him pause with a horrified squeak.
Someone had written something in this book! There were words in ink scrawled in the margin! Who would do that to a book?!
He was horrified, not only at a book being defaced, but at the writer's opinion. They were wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. This was not up for debate, this was fact and they were wrong!
'You are wrong,' Cole found himself writing in the margin beneath the other person's writing. What did it matter? The book had already been scribbled on.
Thinking he should probably explain himself he went on to point out why before finishing his notes and shutting the book, replacing it on the shelf, he didn't really need to take it with him. That was a horrible thing he'd done to that poor book but now, hopefully, anyone else who read it wouldn't be swayed by the other person's idiot opinion.
A week or so later and Maurice found himself back in the library and studying that damn book again, turned out that he needed more information than he had, and this was the only book on the subject that he knew of that he hadn't read cover to cover.
He flicked past the page he'd written on, then stopped and flicked back. He'd just caught it before he turned the page, more writing, someone had written back!
It only took a quick glance at the two sets of handwriting that weren't his own to confirm that a new person hadn't joined their discussion, the same person had written back.
And boy did he have an opinion!
Maurice actually found himself laughing as he scrawled an answer underneath the other boy's writing, even continuing on to the next page, heedless of the paper he was using now. He'd buy the school another copy of this book at the end of the year.
He slipped the book back on the shelf and went to class, smiling the whole day.
The next time Cole was in the library he yanked the book of the shelf and flipped through it and was not disappointed, the other person had written back.
He grew to really look forward to writing back to whomever it was, they were witty and very intelligent and always backed up their opinions with facts. (Even if their opinions were WRONG, and their facts only the bare details of a much more complicated story). It was like having a pen pal but with destroying school property involved.
They only ever really talked about the book and book-related things but you could tell a lot about someone by their choice of literature and their views on it. The boy (and Maurice was guessing it was a student since no teacher would condone this childish and destructive behaviour) was observant, patient and kind but hard on people, while Cole was more likely to forgive the characters of the book their flaws (God knew, he himself had a few) the other boy was quite unforgiving, it made Maurice laugh.
It became the best part of his day until he was almost skipping into the library but all of that came to an abrupt halt when he saw someone sliding the book back onto the shelf and worse, recognized that person.
Cole ducked back around the corner, hiding from view even though it wasn't really necessary, it's not like he could tell Maurice had been heading for that book just because he walked into the room.
Oh why, why, why, why, why did it have to be Clayton. That it was one of the students who knew exactly how bad Cole used to be (he liked to think he'd gotten better) was bad, but that it was his pre-teen crush was even worse!
Yeah, back before his diva transformation, timid little Maurice Cole had possessed a huge crush on the slightly older boy with the dark, dark eyes, who always seemed to get every question right and who had hair that looked as soft as silk and…
Maurice groaned and put his face in his hands. Okay maybe he wasn't as over his crush as he liked to convince himself he was!
But Clayton knew him, actually knew him. He might be enjoying their little back-and-fourth banter now but if he ever found out it was Maurice he was writing to he'd be massively disappointed. Why wouldn't he be? Who'd want to write to Maurice?
Cole exited the library without looking back and over the next two weeks became aware of Clayton checking the book for further writings and looking disappointed every time there wasn't any, but pretended not to notice.
It was better this way. For Clayton.
It was on the third week, when Maurice was reading (a different book! Somewhere else!) that he felt a book gently hit him on the shoulder.
He looked behind him as Clayton crouched down next to him on the grass, the book they had been writing in still in his hand and resting on Cole's shoulder.
Maurice's smiled politely, a questioning look in his eyes, "can I help you with something, Prefect Clayton?"
"Not really," Clayton said bluntly, he'd become a lot more outgoing and out-spoken since his stint in the Funtom 5, "I was just wondering why you'd stopped writing back."
Maurice's eyes widened, well, denial was off the table then, not that Maurice would have lied anyway, he had a pretty strict honesty policy these days since being a lying bastard hadn't exactly worked out for him. But this meant Clayton had already known Maurice was the one he was writing to!
So no harm in telling the truth then, "I didn't think you'd want to write to me," he said frankly.
Clayton gave him a slight smile but it was enough to make Cole's heart flip. "You thought wrong. But maybe instead of disfiguring school property we could talk like normal people? Maybe at dinner?"
Maurice's cheeks turned pink, even as he told himself it wasn't like that, Clayton's smile said it was exactly like that. "Sounds great," he managed.
"Great, can't wait," said Clayton. Before standing back up and walking away he reached out and twirled one of Maurice's perfect blond curls around his finger before letting it slip through his grasp.
He left the book they'd been writing in with Cole who clutched it to his chest, that same lock of hair now brushing his cheek and making his skin burn. He could barely contain his excitement.
And to think; he'd once hated this book.
Done! Hope you enjoyed!
I never meant to write about Maurice Cole as much as I do.
See y'all in about an hour!