Until Death Do Us Part

Twenty-Eight

~Innocence and Sadness~
Dermot Kennedy

"I'd do anything for smiles,
I'd move heaven and earth.
Nobody told me at the start how heaven can hurt."

*Tom's POV*

My eyelids burned as my body began to wake. I felt numb in most places, but in others there was a sense of fire scorching my skin. I was cold and feverish simultaneously. I wanted to open my eyes, but at the same time I wanted to sleep for a year. Everything felt heavy, my limbs a burden to the rest of my body.

I wiggled my fingers, trying to waken the nerves under my skin. My right hand was being held, and the immediate thought that entered my brain made me not want to open my eyes even more. I hurt her in a way I would always regret. I would have to fight for her trust, but I was willing to fight every day for the rest of my life to gain back what we had.

"Tom?" Her voice echoed in my mind. It was gentle, inviting. I could fix this, couldn't I?

I tightened my eyelids before allowing them to flicker open. Everything was blurry and the light stung at my eyes. When they focused on her face, I felt as if I was imagining the worry that creased in between her eyebrows. She was beautiful. Every time I looked at her, I was stricken again by how lucky I was, and how royally I fucked up.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, her hand rubbing against the back of mine. Her skin was warm and soft, like a soothing lullaby that could put me to sleep again.

I tried to shrug my shoulder, but the movement caused a new flush of hot flames to torch my abdomen. I looked down to see a large bandage wrapped around my body, blocking my view of the wound. It had all happened so fast. I wasn't able to protect her. I was the one that got hit.

"Miles did a great job. You'll have a nice scar, not an ugly one." The sound of her laughter made my heart tighten in my chest. "Uhm, he said you'd need some food and pain killers when you woke up." She got up from her chair, and I watched her hands shake as she searched for the right bottle. She bit her bottom lip, her jaw quivering.

"Y/n?" Her name was quiet on my lips. She turned to face me, tears brimming her eyes. She stood by my side, cupping my face in her trembling hands, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I thought I was going to lose you," she whispered, searching for something in my eyes.

"You could never lose me. I thought I had lost you," I admitted hesitantly. Now I was the one searching. I reached up my hand, despite the hissing pain in my side, and I wiped away her tears. I had seen her cry too many times, and I couldn't continue being the cause of them.

"It's going to take time, Tom," she said, dropping her eyes. "I thought we had lost that time."

"Y/n, I will work to show you that you can trust me every day for the rest of our lives. Until death do us part, remember?" I asked, grazing my thumb along her cheekbone.

"Of course I remember," she replied, a sad smile forming on her lips.

"I love you Y/n Holland. And I will fight with everything I have to make sure you remember that."

*Your POV*

He loved me. I could see it in his eyes. He would never betray me. I had it all wrong, but my past made trusting so hard. Tom was different. I had fallen into trusting him so easily, and then I had forgiven him just as quickly after finding out he tried to have me killed. This was different. I saw him at that club, not Tom, and that terrified me and angered me all at once. I thought it was all happening again, but it wasn't. Tom was different.

"You don't have to say anything. I just need you to know what you mean to me. It's okay to need time, and I will wait as long as you need." Tom's eyes continued to bore into mine, as if his gaze could penetrate my soul and find all of my secrets. His bare chest rose and fell in quick breaths as he waited for whatever it was I was going to do, whether I would stay silent or not.

"I'm willing to try, to fight for us. I just need to work back up to what we were," I said, my voice weak and quiet.

He nodded his head in response. I took a deep breath before getting up with a clearer mind to grab his medicine. I ran to the kitchen to grab a banana so he could have something in his system, and then I sat back in my chair beside him.

"We can start by moving your stuff back into our room," I said as he swigged down two giant pills with whiskey. He refused the water despite my many warnings that he needed to hydrate.

His eyes met mine with relief, his mouth turning into a smile. "Thank you." He whispered, reaching out and grabbing my hand. He paused as he readjusted himself in the chair, his eyes pinching closed in pain. "For starting over with me," he added.

"I think I'm starting to figure out that I'll always start over for you," I said, bringing his hand to my lips and kissing his knuckles. I kept it's warmth against my cheek, taking in his scent, the pulse I could feel in his fingertips. He was here. He was alive. I wouldn't lose him, and we were going to figure this out. We could become what we were again.

"What are we going to do about our parents?" he asked after a short pause.

"I think it's up to you whether we tell them," I replied, tracing my finger along the pattern of the veins on the back of his hand.

"We would have to leave immediately if they found out." We looked to each other for a minute, trying to weigh the pros and cons. "We are being attacked here, though. Maybe we should go home and reconvene, come up with a new plan of action," he said finally. That was probably the best idea.

"Wait until tomorrow?" I asked. "You are not in a state to travel. We should give you two days before having to move about."

"That works, then we could go home and get settled." He looked deeply into my eyes. Settled. That was where we would be established as a married couple. We've been on a few-days honeymoon, and then we'd be officially moved in together.

That's when it hit me. I was moving into his room, his family's house. I was the one having to readjust to everything, all at the same time trying to trust Tom again, and I would be surrounded by his family. It was only temporary, until we could get a place of our own and form our own crew.

But it would be a change, and I had a feeling that it was going to be an interesting one at that.

~ ~ ~

Should I give more of Tom's pov? Let me know if you liked seeing his side of things ;)

Thank you all so much for your continued support, it means the world!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll catch y'all in the next one <3

~Aidan