A Thousand Oceans Wide

It was a warm summer afternoon during the end of the first week of the summer vacation when Tom and Heidi were outdoors eating ice cream. They were meeting up once a week during the break, but partly because Tom thought she could be the one. Heidi was a nice girl; she had the looks and the character of a perfect little girlfriend. He tried not to think of it as using her like that because he really didn’t think of it that way, so he figured he’d act like a real boyfriend if she allowed. If the timing was right, he would have her within two months. Okay, so maybe he was using her a bit. He quickly shrugged the thought off. It was either now or never. In the middle of a long silence when the two were enjoying their ice cream, the boy made his move.

“Be my girlfriend?” Tom asked Heidi. Bill had a small talent show at the local community center and he couldn’t hang out with them. The two were at Heidi’s front porch eating ice cream. Heidi was shocked. She didn’t know what to say. She never really expected that coming from Tom, ever, and was really surprised.

“Are you serious?” she asked, blinking a bit, her ice cream lowered from her lips. She wasn’t sure what made her ask that. She liked Tom a hell lot, and she should have just said yes. “I mean, really?” She wondered if she had heard him wrongly.

Tom smiled to himself and looked at his ice cream as he licked it up. “Why would I lie to you? If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t ask you something like that, would I?” He had thought about it for a while but he never really did anything about it, and he figured that this day would be perfect especially with the absence of Bill. He finally had some time alone with Heidi. She was cute, really.

Heidi immediately blushed, looking down at her feet as she stretched them down the few steps beyond the front door. The summer heat was on, and it didn’t help her get over the inner heat spreading throughout her. “So you like me,” she said softly, trying to conceal a smile.

Rolling his eyes, he answered. “Of course I do,” he said. He looked down at their free hands and held hers with his. Heidi looked up at Tom and smiled where he continued, “You’re pretty.” With that, he rested his case with an affectionate kiss on her cheek. He made sure he had licked his lips clean before doing so. Heidi blushed.

“I like you, too, Tom,” she said, biting her lip shyly. She didn’t bother about the part where he merely commented on her looks. She really liked him and it was obvious. Without another word, she lay on his shoulder as soon as she interlocked their fingers. She had seen a girl do that to a boy when they confessed their feelings for each other, but that was on TV. She figured it was the right thing to do, or they wouldn’t have done it. Tom, on the other hand, never really considered Bill’s reaction if he told him they were going out. He remembered Bill telling him to stay away from Heidi because he had a crush on her. Bill hadn’t been talking too much about Heidi, so Tom took it as the feeling had faded. There, it was simple as that.

A week later, the three met up again. This time, they were going to the local public swimming pool for a splash, and Tom’s friends were there; Georg, Gustav, Alex and Rudolf. Gustav’s girlfriend, Charlotte, was also there. And so was her older sister, whom Rudolf was eyeing, according to Alex. “Hello!” the blonde exclaimed when they all met up outside the complex. There were a whole bunch of people there, and the sun was shining as brightly as ever.

“Hi,” the sisters answered, followed by a few more introductions and greetings. Rudolf was quite shy because Charlotte’s sister, Carol, was a stunner by his standards. Alex secretly told Bill that she looked a bit too old for her age, making the younger laugh out loud much to the other’s surprise.

“And who is this?” Georg asked, eyebrows rose when everyone’s eyes shifted to the quiet Heidi.

Tom bit his lip, not knowing what to say. They were officially together for a week now, but he still had this kept as a secret from Bill. This was the first time since then Heidi had seen Bill, and so she never had a chance to let Bill know. “This is, uh…” Tom started, fading away at the last bit.

Bill frowned at the poor introduction. “She’s our friend, Hei—”

“Heidi,” the girl smiled, giving a small wave, incurring a few grins and smiles from the rest of the older kids.

“So whose girlfriend are you? Tom or Bill Kaulitz?” Rudolf asked jokingly. Bill laughed at that, feeling awkward himself. He was self-conscious, more like. He hadn’t really made a move on her, so he figured he’d just let Heidi answer that for herself.

Tom bit his lip as he gave Heidi as small glance. They were standing close with Bill on her other side but she wondered if they should tell. Since Tom was keeping quiet, she didn’t make a single sound.

“Mine,” Tom suddenly said. He gave a small, awkward smile. “She’s my girlfriend.” Heidi blushed lightly, preparing to attribute it to the heat if asked.

Out of those three words, Bill couldn’t believe a single one of them. “Since when?” Bill asked, bewildered, as he looked straight at Tom.

He never ever fought with Tom over a girl before, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of jealousy towards his brother at that moment in time. The others looked at the twins in an awkward way. A pair of thirteen-year-old twins getting all heated up over a girl? It was a first for every one of them.

Tom glanced at his younger brother. He knew he had this coming at the back of his mind, but he didn’t think Bill would take this so openly.

“Last Friday,” he answered, smiling to show that this was all normal. Alex had a look going on that showed he was entirely amused. The others just looked on in confusion.

“I thought you told me you didn’t go out with Heidi,” Bill said. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Heidi’s face; it seemed like she was pleading. She was trying to tell Bill not to make a huge fuss out of it. There was something about her face that made Bill simply get over it. It was that easy.

“Look, Bill,” Tom started. He gave a small sigh. By then, Heidi felt most awkward. She never really expected a reaction like this from Bill. She never knew that he would act this way. Tom looked at his brother. “I don’t think we should be—”

“Yeah, come on. Let’s go in before it rains,” Bill said suddenly, smiling like as if he really meant it.

The others all nodded along, deciding not to let something trivial spoil their summer fun. It obviously looked far from going to rain, and they instantly took it as sarcasm in a way. Charlotte and Carol took Heidi with them, leaving Tom to probably talk to Bill. Alex and Georg tried to hide their amusement while Rudolf and Gustav decided to ignore it. Tom just went ahead and jumped into the pool like he had intended to originally.

During the next few hours, everything was as normal as it was. Bill didn’t seem to act like something happened. Everyone acted like nothing happed. Laughter, pranks and lots of water helped pass the time well. The younger twin saw how Tom carried Heidi around on his shoulder, and he saw how the girl loved every minute with his brother. He figured maybe Tom was being mature, finally. Gustav and Charlotte were splashing around at Rudolf and Alex. Soon enough, Bill joined in with the rest, and all nine of them had a blast. For once, Bill figured he’d just let bygones be bygones. That was Bill; he was easily forgiving, especially towards Tom, but he didn’t really forget. Tom stole the girl he was dying to go out with for the past few months. He almost always won, anyway. Bill just had to learn to live with it. He just hoped Tom would actually treasure her like he would have.