Hazel in the Demon's Den

Hazel's curiosity about Will's past burned within her. He never said a word about his life before meeting her aside from a few generalities about college. They had lamented certain aspects of student life together a couple of weeks ago but that was pretty much it.

He knew the basic gist of her past, which was more than anyone else did. Didn't she deserve the same courtesy at this point?

Originally she hadn't minded his avoidance of anything personal but a certain degree of reciprocity was required in a relationship, wasn't there? All she really wanted were the basics.

"Why couldn't you go to school?" Hazel blurted out, unable to stop herself.

Will looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow at her with a slight smirk on his face. "Finally curious about your husband, are you?"

Her cheeks turned pink. "Well it's only fair. You know my scandalous past—no one else does, by the way—so shouldn't I know at least a little bit about you?"

He turned a page in his book very casually. Almost too casually. With a sigh, he put the bookmark back in and set the book down on nearby side table. His eyes, which were browner than usual today, bore into her very soul.

Hazel felt herself blush even harder under his laser-like stare. Had it really been that terrible of a question? Wasn't it a natural follow up for a statement like that?

The intensity of Will's gaze went down several notches and he shrugged. "I spent a lot of time in the hospital when I was young. Genetic disease. I'm perfectly fine now though."

Her brow furrowed in concern. What kind of genetic disease only occurred in childhood? Weren't those things supposed to be lifelong? She could tell he didn't want to talk about it any further because of how he had stared a hole through her before answering.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said a bit uneasily. It might be time to veer the conversation back onto a safer course. "So what's your favorite genre?"

His natural lopsided smile was back as if nothing weird had happened. "You're observant. Why don't you tell me?"

Nearly everything Will had read since they had been married was nonfiction. Some of them, like his current book, were about history but most of them were about places, nature, and science.

It appeared that he, like Hazel, preferred using reading as an informational tool rather than a form of entertainment. Aside from a desire to travel, it might be the only thing they had in common.

"Nonfiction," she said confidently.

A thought dawned on her. When he told her he liked her, Will mentioned he liked her natural curiosity. It was probably because it was something they shared. Both of them were curious about the big beautiful world they lived in.

A small smile appeared on her face. He was more sentimental than he let on. He liked that they had that in common, didn't he?

"Bingo," Will replied. "I knew you'd get it. You're the same way, right?"

Hazel had never said anything about her reading preferences. She supposed he must have noticed the books she checked out about the Mayans after he told her about their trip. So he was observant too. Interesting.

"I am," she admitted. "I guess that's something we have in common."

Will smiled even wider. He must have appreciated her comment about having something in common. Again she couldn't help but wonder exactly how much he liked her for that to be the case.

He changed the subject immediately, asking how her comic and commissions were going. Hazel ended up ranting about Muffincake's ongoing dialogue issues and how it was unfair that Elfie and BB handled her so much better than she could.

He listened intently, nodding along occasionally when she asked rhetorical questions. It occurred to her that he was acting like any husband would toward their wife when she was talking about something he didn't understand.

She nearly laughed out loud when she realized that. Nothing about their marriage had been typical up to this point.

Most married couples met, liked each other enough to date, fell in love, then got married. They didn't meet and marry on the same day with 'like' coming later. Or not at all, in her case. She felt bad for him.

The awkwardness after that conversation in the middle of the night had eased for the most part but Hazel still didn't know what to make of her husband's feelings toward her. He had known she was in love with someone else…supposedly he was too. So why suddenly change his mind?

The frivolous thought that she might have been the one he was in love with all along flashed through her mind before she quickly dismissed it. That would be impossible. For that to have happened, Will would have had to know her before they met in Las Vegas.

Where on earth would she have met him before to make such an impression? She definitely hadn't recognized his face, though his eyes and smile occasionally brought Billy to mind…

The only way she could have been the one he was in love with all along was if he truly was Billy. But wouldn't he have said something by now? Especially the day he told her he liked her and she confessed the truth about her feelings.

He had said before that he didn't have a type because he had only loved one person. Hazel was willing to bet every dime she had that he only liked her because she reminded him of that woman.

It was the only thing that made sense. He hadn't known her long enough to like her for who she was when he said that. And the way he looked at her sometimes…it was definitely a fond, if not adoring, gaze.

Hazel probably looked a lot like that woman. Will was as lost in the past as she was.