For the Love (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

Chapter 8

   A/N: Thank you all for the feedback and support. It's so great to hear, and I would love any ideas/in put.  Also, thanks for being patient! I love writing this, but sometimes my busy schedule keeps me from it.  Thank you for taking the time to read! -S

     Emie sat in her office, her laptop open but nothing on the screen.  She had notebooks and papers strewn along her desk top, but for the past two hours she had been trying to write without much success. She needed to get the next three weeks of her column to Scotty, her editor and manager, before she left for her sister’s wedding.  It was going to be quite a trip.  It was more like a two week long celebration in Bora Bora.  Emie had never been before, but knew it was a completely gorgeous place.  There were about forty people meeting them there for the wedding, mostly close friends and some family.  Their Aunt Erica was coming, but that was really all from their side of the family.  Chris’s parents and brother would be there as well.  The rest were Lucia and Chris’ friends. 
       Emie sighed, leaning back in her chair and staring at her blank screen.  She had notes, and ideas but nothing was happening. Just as she was about to give up and take another quick break, her phone began to ring.  She felt her stomach jump as she reached for it. 
       She sighed softly when she saw it was Scotty.
       “Hi.” She answered, her voice flat. 
       “You know why I’m calling.” Scotty said impatiently.  Emie groaned.
       “I’ll have you the columns by Thursday.” Emie closed the lid of her laptop and began spinning idly in her chair.
       “You said that last Thursday.” Scotty said quickly.
       “Mmm, well I mean it this time.” Emie grimaced.
       “Are you all set for the wedding?” Scotty asked.  Emie had known Scotty for quite some time.  Even before she was a writer, Scotty had been friends with her parents. She was a bit more like family than a manager at times, but Emie usually enjoyed their relationship.  Scotty wasn’t afraid to tell Emie what to do and Emie wasn’t afraid to ignore her.
       “Yes. But Lucia hired the most expensive wedding planner on the west coast, so I didn’t have to do much.” Emie smiled.
       “I wasn’t talking about planning it.  I meant are YOU ready for it?” Scotty asked. Emie sighed.
       “You know me too well.  I’ve already been planning out what to do if I start panicking about the plane.  I’m either going to medicate myself, or be really, really drunk.” Emie said with a laugh.  The flight to Bora Bora left LAX at midnight on that next Friday.  After a quick layover in Papeete, Emie would catch the short connecting flight to Bora Bora.  All in all, it would be about 11 or 12 hours of traveling.  Not only did it sound exhausting, but she was still battling a pretty intense flying phobia.
       “Are you in first class?” Scotty asked.  Emie shook her head.
       “I’m a writer, Scotty.  You know how much I make, do you think I’m flying first class?” Emie laughed.  Scotty laughed as well and made a clucking noise.
       “Your sister is one of the highest paid actresses at the moment.  The least she could do is get you a first class ticket.” Scotty pointed out.  Emie groaned.
       “She offered, but I refused.  It’ll be fine.  I wanted to pay for this all on my own.  Which is why I’m not staying in one of those ridiculous over water bungalows.” Emie said, her eyes getting a bit dreamy at the thought of the hatched roof, luxurious round bungalows nestled directly over the crystal clear blue water.  Scotty groaned, probably picturing the same thing.
       “Those are amazing.”
       “My room has a garden view. That’s fine. It’ll be picturesque.” Emie grunted, flipping through pages of notes. 
       “Speaking of picturesque.  Do you want to talk about the pictures I just saw on the TMZ website?” Scotty asked, referencing a website that notoriously stalked celebrities for gossip.  Emie froze.  She hadn’t told anyone about the pictures of her and Tom at the coffee shop. She hadn’t thought it was necessary.  No one had identified her.
       “What pictures?” Emie asked innocently.
       “The ones of you and Tom Hiddleston.  I had no idea you were seeing him.  You could have told me. He’s literally the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.  You should have at least given me a heads up.  I know you hate talking about that sort of stuff, but it was a little shocking to see you hugging him on the internet!” Scotty said.  Emie yelped, softly.
       “I wasn’t hugging him! And I’m not seeing him! Scotty, jesus.  Give me a little credit.  You know I don’t date actors, and you should also know better than to believe everything you see online.” Emie bit her lip.  She wasn’t really lying to Scotty.  She hadn’t been hugging Tom. At least not in those pictures.  And they weren’t dating.
       “You looked friendly.  It’ll only be a matter of time before the media finds out that it’s you in those pictures.  Lucia Harris’ little sister.” Scotty warned.  Emie groaned and thumped her head down against the desk.
       “It was just coffee. We bumped into each other.”
       “Is that what you kids call it these days? Bumping?” Scotty snorted.  Emie groaned loudly. “Ok, ok, I believe you.”
       “Ok, bye Scotty.” Emie rolled her eyes.
       “Fine, Emie.  Well, have a great time.  Just please, get me those columns soon.  And then give me a call when you’re back.  We can talk about the next book.” Scotty said, sounding excited.  Emie grinned.  She had been throwing around ideas for a new book, and was excited to discuss it with Scotty.
       “I would LOVE to talk to you about the new BOOK, Scotty. My wonderful EDITOR.” Emie said loudly, making it clear that she hated talking about personal matters.  Scotty laughed, good natured.  This wasn’t the first time they’d had conversations like this. “Thanks Scotty.  I’ll talk to you soon.” Emie said, hanging up after Scotty said ‘Goodbye’ with a chuckle. 
       Just as she set the phone down, it started ringing again.  This time it was her sister.  Emie considered ignoring it, but answered at the last moment.
       “Hi—“
       “Are you kidding me?! You get fucking coffee with Tom and you don’t even tell me?!” Lucia squealed over the phone.
       “How’s New York?” Emie asked, ignoring her.
       “Screw New York. Emeline, I saw the pictures.  Actually, my make up artist, Bonnie, saw the pictures and asked me if that was you.  What’s going on?” Lucia demanded.  Emie should have guessed this would happen.  She wondered if she should tell Lucia the truth.  She wasn’t sure her sister could handle it.
       “Not much, Luce, believe me.  I went for a run and bumped into him.  We got coffee. That’s it.” Emie sighed.  It depressed her a bit to say it out loud.  Perhaps it was the truth.  Nothing was going on between them.  That kiss had been…something else but she hadn’t heard from Tom in a week.  She had been around long enough to know that if a man was interested, then he would call when he said he’d call. 
       “Why am I just hearing about this? I feel like something else happened.  Both Chris and Tom didn’t say anything to me about it when I saw them a few days ago.” Lucia said, sounding annoyed.  Emie sat up.  Lucia had seen Tom? How?
       “What do you mean you saw Chris and Tom?” She asked.  Lucia groaned.
       “On Skype.  I was skyping with Chris.  He just got to Sydney for the press tour.  Tom is there as well but I think only for a few more days. Neither of them mentioned that you guys had seen each other.”
       “It’s not exactly front page news.” Emie said dryly.
       “It is to me.” Lucia whined.
       “Please, Luce, don’t make this out to be more than it is.” The last thing Emie needed with Lucia overanalyzing every little detail.  Emie could do that fine on her own.
       “Ok, fine.  Are you going to be okay on the flight?” Lucia asked.  Emie sighed.  She felt exhausted.
       “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
       “Okay, well make sure not to miss it.  We have so many plans as soon as you get there.  Tom has already mentioned a big surprise for Sunday.” Lucia sounded absolutely giddy with excitement. “ I’ll be flying in tomorrow to start getting things all sorted out.” She said.  Emie nodded.  She wondered what Tom had in store.  They never had discussed his idea for Lucia and Chris.  And now, apparently, they weren’t really speaking.  She felt like she was going to need a vacation after her vacation.
       “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.” She said with a grimace.
      
      
       She had lied to Lucia, but she hadn’t meant to.  Emie had fully intended to make her flight on time, but there were quite a few things that went wrong.  Of course there were, considering this was Emeline Harris.  Nothing ever went quite right for her.
       First, she had stayed up the entire night before, stressing over the flight.  She had a bit of a panic attack, went for a run, drank six cups of tea, and then stayed up all night googling plane safety.  She’d managed to finish all her columns, just in the nick of time.  She had emailed Scotty at about three in the morning, with last minute changes and a ranting, rambling email that she was sure she sounded crazy in. 
       The day of her flight, she had cleared out her emails, packed, checked and double checked her luggage.  Her flight was at midnight, and she was planning on getting to the airport around 8, just to make sure she got through customs in time. The problem was, at around 7, after she’d had a sandwich and another hot tea, she had decided just to sit down.  Just for a moment.  The mixture of exhaustion and a full stomach had let her think she’d be fine to just rest her eyes for a moment.  A moment turned into four hours.  Emie woke up at nearly half past 11, panic filling her entire body. 
       “Oh god. Oh god.” She bolted off the couch, checking and rechecking her phone.  Was that time right? It couldn’t be right.  Shoving her feet into shoes, and throwing a sweater on over her flimsy camisole, Emie grabbed her luggage as she made it out the door.  As she clunked her way down the stairs, she desperately tried to call a cab service.
       “SHIT.” She groaned loudly, her hands fumbling as her luggage tumbled down the staircase. Lucia was going to kill her.  There was no way she was going to make this flight.  Even if her cab arrived in seconds, and there managed to be no traffic on a Friday night in LA…she still wasn’t going to make it.  Emie started compiling things she could say to Lucia that would hopefully let her live to see another day.  Nothing was quite coming to mind.
      
      
       Emie crumpled against the airline customer service desk.  After the cab had taken fifteen minutes to get to her apartment, and the ride took another 25 in LA traffic, Emie had made it to the airport falling apart, and trying her best not to cry.  She bit her lip, hard, trying to keep it together.
       “I’m so sorry, honey.  They just closed the gate on that flight.” The woman behind the desk said.   It was 12:15.  Emie felt her eyes burn.  Couldn’t she just do something right, for once?  Wasn’t she an adult? All she had to do was catch a flight but apparently that was too difficult.
       “Ok.  When is the next flight?” She asked, pulling herself up to full height.  If she couldn’t get her flight, maybe she could find a flight an hour or two later.  Lucia would barely notice.
       “Sunday at noon.” The woman said.  Emie’s jaw dropped.
       “Sunday?! At noon?! But it’s Friday right now…how can…” She stuttered. If the next flight didn’t leave until Sunday, then she wouldn’t get into Bora Bora until late, late that night. She would definitely miss whatever Tom’s big surprise was, and Lucia would most likely disown her as a sister.
       “We have a flight leaving in a few hours at 6 am, but it is full.  The best we could do is put you on standby for that flight.” The woman said, her voice full of sympathy.  Emie nodded, and then grabbed her bags and luggage.
       “Ok, I’ll be…back.” She awkwardly lugged her things over to the side, and out of the line.  Her hands shaking, she dialed Lucia’s number.  Lucia picked up on the third ring.
       “Emie! Are you on the plane?” Lucia asked, her voice sounded cheerful and far away.  Lucia swallowed.
       “Oh, Lucia.  You are going to kill me.” She said.  Lucia’s end went silent.
       “Where are you, Emeline?” Her voice was like daggers.  Emie let out a little sob, sinking down onto her luggage.  She sat on the top of the hard suitcase, drawing her knees toward her chest.
       “I’m so sorry.  I fell asleep.  I was so nervous about flying and then I ran like 4 miles and drank a lot of tea, and didn’t sleep and—“
       “EMIE!” Lucia yelled so loud Emie had to hold the phone away from her ear.  Emie wiped her eyes, feeling the sting of tears.  She felt terrible enough as it was. 
       “Lucia, please.  I’m so sorry.  I can be there late Sunday night.  It’s only a day—“ Emie said, her voice shaking.  Lucia started yelling again.  She started rambling about a surprise Tom had planned, and asking why Emie couldn’t just be on time, and not drink so much tea?  Emie sat with her head down, her eyes filling with tears. She heard Lucia stop ranting for a moment and another, deeper voice came through at the other end.  It was Chris.  Lucia mumbled something to him, and then the line was quiet for a moment.
       “Luce?” Emie asked, unsure.
       “Emie, I will call you right back.  It’ll be okay.” Lucia said curtly, and then promptly hung up.  Emie stared at her phone for a minute, shocked.  Groaning, she pulled her knees up, and pressed her face into her legs.  Lucia was going to be mad at her for a long, long time.  She was going to have to do some serious groveling to get back into good sister graces.
       Emie buried her face in her hands for a moment, wondering why she always got herself into these messes.  Sometimes she felt like she was still a lost 16 year old. She hated the feeling.  The combination of the anxiety of flying, and the stress of the wedding, along with now missing her flight- Emie felt like she was young again, devastated and shell shocked at losing her parents.  She took a few deep, ragged breaths and tried to pull it together. 
        She felt her phone start to vibrate, and without looking, she answered it and held it to her ear.
       “Yes?” She said, her voice shaking as she roughly brushed away tears.
       “Emie, darling, are you alright?” Tom’s voice came through clearly.  She frowned, sitting up and looking at her phone.  It wasn’t his number, but it was definitely Tom.  She felt her heart pound against her chest.
       “Tom?” She asked shakily.
       “Hi. Where are you, Em?” He asked.  She looked around.
       “Sitting outside the Air Tahiti desk, crying.” She said with a laugh.  Tom gave a short laugh as well.  Oh, how she had missed that laugh. It hit her square in the stomach, and made its way up and down her body. 
       “Don’t do anything.  Stay there.” He said quickly, and then hung up.  She frowned, staring at her phone.  What had just happened? Did she hallucinate talking to him? What was going on and why was everyone hanging up on her? Emie grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder.  She stayed seated on her luggage, wiping her eyes quickly and pulling her cardigan around her.  She wondered if she should go back to the desk and ask about getting on standby for the next flight, but she decided to wait.  For what, she wasn’t sure.
       About five minutes later, she saw him.  He was walking briskly through the nearly empty airport, past airline desks.  She could see him looking around, scanning the names of each airline.  He looked rushed, and perhaps even a bit panicked, which was something new for him.  She’d only ever seen him calm and in control.  He was only a few yards away when he saw her, sitting on her bags.  His face immediately softened.
       “Em.” He breathed out, then jogged over to where she was sitting.  Emie watched him, wide eyed.
       “What are you doing here?” She asked, standing up.  She was suddenly aware that she really wasn’t dressed for public.  She had on jeans, but her camisole was lightweight and nearly see through.  Her hair was a mess and the canvas slip ons she’d yanked on as she’d run out the door were hardly going to make it into the fashion magazines Lucia read.  She wrapped her cardigan around herself, holding it closed with her arms.
       “My flight was about to take off when I got a call from Chris, saying you were stranded here.  I had no idea you were leaving for Bora Bora tonight.” Tom said.  Emie took him in.  He looked just as good as she remembered, maybe better if that were possible.  He was wearing slim fitting, dark jeans and a white v neck t shirt.  Over that, he had on a wide waffle knit cardigan in a deep blue. He looked effortlessly handsome, as always.
       “Well, I’m not leaving for Bora Bora anymore.  I won’t be able to fly out until Sunday.” She said softly.  “Lucia is going to kill me.” Her voice wavered, and she looked away.  Being near him again made her feel strange.  Her body reacted without her even meaning to.  Tom just looked at her with those clear, gray blue eyes and she felt a bit lost.
       “Well, come on, then.  Let’s get going before Lucia throttles us both.” He said, reaching down and grabbing her suitcase.  Emie frowned.
       “What do you mean? I don’t have a ticket—“
       “Lucia didn’t tell you? I’m taking a private aeroplane.  It’s just me on it right now, which is pretty wasteful, if you ask me. But it’s actually the film company that is letting me use it.  Otherwise I never would have made it to Sydney and back in such a short time.  I would have had to skip all the press in Australia.  They sort of bribed me, and I accepted the bait.” Tom said with a smile.  Emie stood up, trying not to look a bit shocked.  Tom held out his hand, and as she always seemed to do, she took it.
       “A private plane?” She said softly.  Tom started walking, his long legs keeping them at a brisk pace.  Emie hurried to keep up. 
       “It’s not normal for me, believe me.  In this case, though, it’s perfect.” He looked back at her, smiling his wide, friendly grin.  Emie felt her stomach squeeze.  She knew she should be mad at him, or at least standoffish.  But she couldn’t quite help it.  There was something about him.  A thousand questions ran through her head- some angry, some desperate.  But the only thing she could think to do was feeling infinitely relieved that he was there.
       “Is this okay?”She asked, as Tom led her through a maze of security checks and back hallways.  He had some sort of pass, and paperwork with him that he kept showing people.  He nodded, still moving quickly.
       “Yes, but we were literally about to take off when I got the call from Chris.  So we’ve got to move so they don’t have to wait.” He said, pulling her gently along.  She nodded and hurried, moving at a bit of a jog.  They didn’t speak as they hurried along, Tom pulling her luggage behind him and Emie doing what she could to keep up.  It only took them a few minutes, but they finally made it out to the tarmac.  The night was cool, and Emie was once again reminded of her inadequate clothing choices. 
       A few yards away sat a small but impressive looking plane. She looked up at Tom and he smiled, pulling her along.
       “Here we are.” He said, walking her toward the plane.  There was a small set of stairs set in front of the door to the plane.  Tom handed her luggage off to a man standing nearby, and then he gestured to her to make her way up the stairs.  Emie hesitated only for a moment, feeling the tell tale sign of anxiety hitting her hard in the stomach and chest.  The last thing she wanted to do was have a panic attack in front of Tom, so she pressed hard to shove the feelings into the back of her mind.  She glanced back at him, and he simply smiled up at her.  She turned around and kept moving up the stairs and into the cabin of the jet.
       She was surprised when she walked inside.  It took her a moment to take it all in.  It was probably one of the most luxurious things she had ever seen.  Instead of regular seats, there were large, comfy looking leather chairs.  There was a group of 4 of them, pairs facing each other, as soon as she walked into the plane.  In the middle of the chairs was a good sized, wooden table.  Past those chairs, Emie could make out 2 more chairs and what looked like a sofa that took up the entire long side of the plane.  The whole interior was dimly lit and looked very lavish and comfortable.
       “Wow.” She breathed out.  Suddenly, an 11 hour flight didn’t sound all that terrible.
       “Pretty posh, right?” Tom asked, coming up behind her.  She felt the solid warmth of his body.  Emie nodded, taking a few steps away from him.  She looked around, not sure where she should go.
       “Tom, we should get going.  If you wouldn’t mind finding a seat.” A man appeared for a moment.  He was wearing a suit, and looked rather official.  Tom nodded and thanked him.
       “Where would you like to sit? We can move around once we get going.” Tom asked.  She looked around, and then took a seat in one of the big, comfy chairs near the table.  Tom smiled and sat down in the chair next to hers.   There was an arm rest between them, but it was pulled up at the moment, making the chairs appear as almost a small loveseat.
       Emie took a deep breath, tucking her bag under the chair.  She was trying hard to focus on the fact that she would get to Bora Bora in one piece and she wasn’t going to be late.  She was trying to focus on the fact that she was with Tom.  She was trying to focus on the fact that she should be mad at him for blowing her off for a week.  But none of this was helping to chase away the sudden nagging, aching feeling in her gut.  She immediately buckled herself in, making sure the belt was tight across her lap.  She felt stiff all over, and tense.  She wondered if she could have a drink before take off.  Something really strong.
       “Emie, are you alright?” Tom asked.  She jumped, forgetting that he was sitting right next to her.  Emie was white knuckled, staring at the side window next to her chair. She reached over and pushed the cover over the window, blocking out the blinking lights surrounding the dark airport.
       “Yes. I’m great.  Perfect. Perfectly…perfect.” She said, through clenched teeth.
       “You seem upset.” Tom said, frowning.  He leaned toward her and she just tensed up, closing her eyes.  The engines on the plane had started up and a light rumble passed through the plane.  She heard a voice come over the intercom.  It was a low, rather comforting voice, but she was suddenly feeling a bit lightheaded and had no idea what the person actually said. 
       “I just get really nervous flying.” She said softly, as the plane started shaking a bit more.  She swallowed hard, and tried not to picture turbulence and air masks dropping from the ceiling and pieces of the plane ripping off into oblivion.  She knew why she got so anxious.  It all stemmed from her parents.  She had even gone to a therapist for it, which was why she could even get on a plane at all.  For the longest time, flying had been out of the question.
       “Love, you need to breathe.” She heard Tom’s voice in her head, and although it was hard, she took a deep, shaky breath.
       “Again.” He said, his voice a bit of a low command.  Emie took another deep breath. 
       “I’m sorry.” She whispered, her eyes still closed.
       “Don’t apologize.” He said softly.  “Breathe.” He said again, and she obeyed.  She could feel her heart racing, beating as if it were going to take off.  It had nothing to do with Tom, not this time.
       “Oh god.” She whispered, as the plane started moving forward. 
       “Emie, you need to breathe slowly.  You’re going to hyperventilate.” Tom said. She hadn’t even realized she was breathing so quickly and shallowly.  Emie leaned back in the seat as she felt the plane start to move faster. 
       “Oh god.” She managed again.  This was all happening so fast.  Just a moment ago she was sitting, panicked in the airport about missing her flight and ruining everything.  Now, just a few minutes later, she was in a plane getting ready to take off.  She hadn’t had enough time to prepare herself.  She felt the familiar buzzing of an anxiety attack starting to fill her ears.  The idea of it made her panic even more.
       “Em, open your eyes, darling.  Look at me.” Tom asked, his voice gentle and calm above the hum of the plane.  Emie relaxed her scrunched up shoulders a bit and managed to open her eyes. She was met with his clear blue ones.  His face filled her vision.  His kind, caring eyes.  His wavy blond hair. Normally he would be smiling, but now his lips were in a rather perfect, straight line.  He seemed concerned.
       “Hi.” He said simply, searching her face.
       “I’m so sorry.  My heart is beating so fast.” Emie managed through clipped breath.  Tom frowned and leaned toward her.  He reached over, and gently took her face in his hand.  He touched her as if she were made of glass.  He ran his thumb gently over her cheekbone.  Emie melted against his hand, suddenly feeling as if his hands were the only thing keeping her from bursting into a million pieces.  Or maybe they would cause her to burst.
       Emie grabbed his hand, without thinking, and pulled it toward her, lower.  She pressed his larger hand on her chest, right above her breast over her heart.  Tom looked a bit surprised at first, but then relaxed.  His warm, comforting hand on her bare skin was nearly overwhelming but also strangely calming.  Emie breathed in, finding a strange comfort in having him so close.  Having him feel her heart racing, pounding hard against her ribs.  Tom kept his hand against her for a moment, feeling the beat of her heart against his hand. Then, as the plane started rumbling, and moving quickly to take off, he took her hand in his and kissed it.  He pressed her fingers to his lips, holding them there for a minute.  Emie watched him, suddenly feeling parts of her body relax, and feeling her breathing ease a bit.
       Tom gently pulled her hand toward him, and then slipped it under his sweater, and against the soft fabric of his shirt. He held her hand against his chest and Emie felt the slow rise and fall as he breathed in.  She felt his heart beating against her palm, strong and steady.  Tom held her eyes, keeping her focus on him.
       “I’m here, Em.  It’ll be alright.  Steady, now.” He said softly, gently.  Emie nodded, feeling herself relax.  She was breathing normally now, and was so focused on his kind eyes, and the warmth of his body against her hand that she didn’t even feel the plane taking off into the air. 
       Tom leaned forward, pulling her arm against him, and then pulling her body into the crook of his arm.  Emie relaxed against him.  He smelled like something she’d never quite known before.  Something new, and exciting, but also… he smelled so familiar.  He smelled like his jacket from the other night.  The jacket that still hung from the coat rack in her apartment. 
       Emie let Tom hold her for a few moments.  His body so close to hers.  She closed her eyes, relaxing against him.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt like this.  Completely at ease with someone.  Trusting.  Letting herself relax. 
       “I didn’t know you were afraid of flying.” His voice came through quiet, and steady.  Emie opened her eyes, but didn’t look at him.  Tucked underneath his chin, she stared at his hand that was entwined with hers.  It was hard to distinguish where his long fingers started and her smaller ones began.  His other hand rested on her leg, comfortably as if it was always supposed to be there.
       “My parents died in a plane accident when I was 16.” She said softly.  “I’ve had an issue with flying ever since.” She sat up then, pulling away from him.  Tom’s eyes followed her.  She looked at him, and saw the pain he felt. 
       “I didn’t know.  You shouldn’t have been flying alone.” Tom said matter of factly.  Emie felt somewhat relieved he didn’t immediately break into sympathetic sayings and ramblings.  She’d heard that her whole life.  She wasn’t looking for sympathy.  Maybe just some understanding and acceptance.
       “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” She said, though her voice wobbled.
       “I know that. But it’s not a terrible thing to depend on someone else sometimes.” He countered.  Emie swallowed and looked away.  Like she had depended on him to call her? It didn’t seem like the time or place to bring that up.  He had just sort of…saved the day.  And she still wasn’t quite sure if she should be mad or not.  He hadn’t really promised anything to her.  She had just hoped. Maybe that was the issue.
       “Em.” Tom said.  He was a bit different than the other few times they had met.  Much more low key, and yet still so sincere.  His voice was low, and deep.  Emie turned to him, meeting his eyes. 
       “Thank you for coming to find me.” She whispered. He nodded.
       “I’ve been dying to speak with you since I last saw you.” He said, speaking quickly.  She raised an eyebrow, surprised.  “I left for Australia the day after we met up. I lost my phone somewhere in the Sydney Airport.  It was such rubbish.  I had to go without for the entirety of the tour, which really messed up a lot of my appointments.  I wasn’t able to get a new phone until just the other day when I got back to LA. I saw Chris the last day of the tour, and he gave me so much shit about all the messages I’d missed from him.” Tom sighed, sitting back in his chair.  He seemed stressed just speaking about it.
       “I see.” Emie nodded, slowly.
       “Do you believe me?” Tom asked, tilting his head back against the head rest.  Emie nodded.
       “Yes, of course.” She said. She felt a bit relieved, actually.  “You have a crazy schedule, I understand.  I didn’t really expect much, Tom.” She said.  It came out harsher than she had meant to, and she saw Tom’s mouth bunch a bit in displeasure.
       “Emie—“
       “No, really, Tom.  We’re friends, remember?  It’s fine.” She said softly.  Tom opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, without saying anything.  She pressed her hand to the side of her face, suddenly feeling exhausted.  The adrenaline from the evening, mixed with the lack of sleep was making her feel a bit dizzy and sick.  Emie closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
       “Are you tired?” He asked. As if on cue, Emie fought back a huge yawn.
       “Yes.” She nodded.  Tom unhooked his seat belt and walked over to the other side of the plane.  He started rummaging through a closet just across the way.  He pulled out a pillow and a blanket. 
       “There’s a button on your chair that will let you set it back.” He said, handing her the pillow.  Emie felt her whole body getting heavy and her eye lids fighting to stay open.  Her chair went back to nearly horizontal, and she slipped the pillow under her head.  Tom settled the blanket over her, tucking it around her feet.  She had slipped her shoes off, letting them fall onto the floor.
       “Thank you.” She managed, closing her eyes and feeling the heaviness of sleep and exhaustion weighing down on her.
       “Sweet dreams, Em.” She heard him whisper.