Crumbs (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

Liquid Courage & Heat Lightning

A/N: All the support for this story has been incredible. I really love writing it, and hearing your responses to it.  Just as a warning, the following chapter has some "mild" violence in it.  Just be aware if that is a trigger for you.  Thanks again for all your comments and support.

I’m halfway to the big house when I see a figure walking toward me.  I know right away that it’s Tom, and I am pulled from my memory of six months ago.  I falter, for only a second, and then I keep walking forward.  Tom looks infinitely tall, walking down the hill toward me.  He’s wearing what looks like jeans and a light colored shirt.  His hair is still sort of slicked back, and parted at the side, coming up in a high wave.  He looks handsome, and a bit like he walked out of an old photograph.  

If I were the sort of girl to get butterflies, I would have them now. But oh, my stomach is flipping and fluttering, and I am beginning to think I am the sort of girl to get butterflies.  I fight the strange urge to turn and run away, and I meet Tom a minute later.  We both stop, and I look up at him, holding the cake bag in one hand, my other hand is bunched nervously in my skirt.

“Hello.” He says simply.  His eyes are bright blue, and I immediately look at his mouth. 

“Hi.  You look…tall.” I blink.  He gives me a look and then nods and shrugs his shoulders.

“Thank you, that’s what I was going for.” He turns so we are both facing the house, and holds out his arm to me.  I slip my arm through his, and we start the walk toward the house.

“You look short.” He leans down and whispers in my ear, and I let out a burst of surprised laughter.  I squeeze his arm and Tom leans across me, taking the cake bag from me.

“You also look gorgeous.” He adds a second later, and I don’t laugh this time.  I can’t even look at him.

“Thank you, that’s what I was going for.” I recover a moment later, and he chuckles.  We keep walking up the hill.  I keep bunching my hands in my skirt, nervously.  Tom seems to notice, and he keep glancing at me as we walk.

“You need to relax.  That frown is going to stick to your face.  I’ve never seen you so focused on walking.” He says as we near the house. I look up at him and stick out my tongue.  He makes a similar face and then reached forward, taking me by the shoulders and shaking me gently.  I laugh, wobbling back and forth.

“Family is not…my thing.  And you’re here which makes it even more…” Words are not coming to me, and I just sort of drift off.  Tom pulls his lower lip into his mouth for a second and then he purses his lips.

“Don’t worry about me, love.  If I didn’t want to be here—truly want to be here, then I wouldn’t be.  And your family will be fine.  We will stay for dinner, and you can visit as long as you want, and then we can go to the Ink Pot and get totally pissed.  Does that sound good?” He nudges me in the side, and I feel calmer.  Put it that way, anything sounds like it’s possible.

When we arrive at the Oyster, things are a blur.  It is as if the house is bursting full of people.  I immediately see my cousins and my uncle.  My uncle grabs me in a bear hug, exclaiming about how long it’s been.  He’s a small man, only a little bit taller than I am.  I introduce him to Tom, and he seems genuinely excited to meet him.  Laura is next. She looks like I remembered, tall and slim with long, sandy brown hair.  She has her two kids with her—Kyle who is 4 and Lana who is barely 2.  She’s carrying Lana around on her hip, and Kyle is running frantically through the maze like rooms of the house.  My other cousin, Flip, shows up a bit late and he has his fiancé, Veronica, with him.  She seems sweet, and he’s as I remember.  Friendly, loud and chasing the kids around the house like he’s straight out of a monster movie.  Tom and Flip really hit it off, and they start chatting as soon as we gather in the parlor.