Ghost • Tom Kazansky

• Chapter Fourteen •

"Hey." Ron greeted with a small smile as he opened the door and stood aside to allow the blonde in. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course." Kara responded with a small smile of her own as she stepped inside.

"How are you holding up?" The RIO asked once he had closed the door.

The blonde shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I'm okay." She replied, giving him a small grateful smile.

"He's in his room." He said, gesturing down the hallway. "He won't let me in."

Kara's gaze trailed down the hallway where they had landed on the closed bedroom door. "Thanks, Ron." She said, eliciting a soft nod from her boyfriend's RIO.

She made her way down the hallway and stood in front of the door for a moment. In that moment, she could hear complete and utter silence on the other side, which made her worry.

Raising her hand, she knocked lightly on the door. "Tom?" She questioned but was met with silence. "Tom, I know you're in there. Come on, open up before I come in there."

Silence ensued for a moment longer before she had finally heard soft shuffling, which made her release a soft sigh of relief.

The door soon opened, and she was met with guilt-ridden icy blue eyes.

Her heart clenched at the sight. "Tom.." She trailed off softly.

"Don't." He said, further opening the door before he turned his back to her and walked back over to his bed. "I know what you're thinking."

Kara stepped inside his bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her before her hazel gaze scanned her surroundings.

His bedroom was relatively neat apart from the items on his desk that had been swiped off to the floor, undoubtedly done out of anger.

She shifted her gaze towards him. He had changed out of his uniform into a pair of grey sweatpants and a white wife-beater, while his usual spiked-up hair looked disheveled - as if he had run his hand through his hair and gripped at it one too many times.

But it was the expression on his face that broke her heart.

The one of pure guilt.

"I killed him." He said as his blue eyes flooded with tears, his lips quivering slightly as he sniffled. "I killed him. Your brother is dead because of me."

"Tom.." Kara scolded softly with a shake of her head as she knelt down in front of him, his glossy, saddened icy blue eyes meeting her hazel as she took his hands into hers. "You didn't kill him."

"It's my fault, Kara." Tom sighed, his voice cracking slightly with emotion as he shook his head. "I'm a horrible person. I destroyed your family. Your nephew has to grow up without a father because of me. How can you even stand to be around me when I--"

Without a word, Kara simply moved and sat beside him on the bed before she pulled him into her arms, cutting his self-loathing off in mid-sentence.

"Listen to me, okay? I'm here because over these last couple of weeks with you have been amazing. You're everything to me, and I'm not going anywhere no matter how much you try to push me away." She began softly as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You are far from being a horrible person. No horrible person would feel guilty about something that wasn't their fault. You didn't kill Nick. What happened was an accident."

Tom tightened his grip on his girlfriend as he buried his face into her neck, closing his eyes to hold back his tears.

"I'm sorry.." He whispered into her neck. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"Shh." She shushed him gently. "I don't blame you. No one is at fault."

Pulling away slightly and opening his eyes, the ice-cold pilot stared into the blonde's eyes. "Can you stay with me?" He asked, showing his vulnerable side.

Kara placed her hand against his cheek with a soft smile. "I'll stay for as long as you need." She said and watched as he took hold of her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.

Together the couple settled down on the bed, with Tom laying his head on Kara's chest as he wrapped his arms around her - the soft beating of her heart bringing him comfort which had soon lulled him off to sleep.