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"Ten years of shadow, but no longer

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"Ten years of shadow, but no longer. Light up the darkness, Majesty." Sarah J. Maas.

As they served breakfast, Alexie grew a little nervous. She didn't really like eating with people she didn't know - it was something that had always made her uncomfortable and insecure. Sure, she knew three out of the five person around her - but two unknown person was enough to make her nervous. Tom knew this about her, he had figured it out when she started accepting his heated up meals at midnight and reluctantly agreed to eat in his presence.

Once everyone settled at the table, Tom grabbed Alexie's hand and squeezed it gently - hoping to reassure her. She turned to look at him and smiled softly at him, which he gladly returned. This interaction didn't go unnoticed by Harrison and Tom's mum but neither of them commented on it.

Tom had ended up explaining to his parents all about Alexie and John Sinclair, leaving out a few details that he felt like were not necessary for his parents to know. But they knew the most of it, like how she didn't have quite an easy childhood- or life for that matter. So they knew not to ask about it. Instead, Tom's mum settled for less personal questions such as hobbies and things like that. Tom actually learned a lot about the woman through his mum's questions and he was grateful she made the effort to make light conversation.

Alexie smiled, a lot. Especially at the mention of dogs. She liked colouring books, they relaxed her apparently. The woman also revealed she first wanted to become a social worker and she had begun her studies in sexual health when she was forced to stop - family matters, she said. Nikki knew what it really was about, so she didn't question it. Instead, she nodded and asked her more about the career she had previously wanted to build for herself. Alexie's eyes twinkled as she answered, it was obvious she was passionate about it and it tore Tom's heart appart. He hated that the ambitious life she wanted for herself had been ripped away from her. She deserved everything she had ever dreamed of and more- absolutely nothing less.

It was the first time Tom saw a very relaxed and laid back version of Alex and he liked it - a lot more than he'd admit. It made him feel more at ease and ultimately relaxed as well. He hasn't felt that way in a while and his change in behaviour were instantly noticed by Harrison and Penelope. They were so used to the tough and rough version of Tom that they had forgotten what he was like before. Tom still held Alexie's hand under the table even if he knew she didn't need it anymore - he did.

He needed it because the situation scared him. Tom was scared because he knew that if he kept going like this he would not only put everything he's worked for in jeopardy, he'd put her in danger as well. And the man didn't want to put her through more pain than she had been through, now that he had seen her genuinely happy - he never wanted to go back.

Nikki and Alexie decided to take on the task of washing the dishes, Penelope and Tom helping by bringing over the dirty dishes and putting everything back in place. Tom kept himself from wincing at every step he took, really not wanting anything to bring down the mood - but of course Penelope noticed.

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