It's Just Revenge, Darling by DearClara

Chapter 8

Hadrian didn't tell Tom what the nightmare had been about when he'd woken up in the morning, nor did Tom have the chance to ask. But, the look on Hadrian's face when he'd woken up from that nightmare; it made Tom shudder. He looked terrified and not just terrified of the nightmare; Hadrian looked terrified of him.

Tom couldn't get that look out of his mind, even as he watched Hadrian smile and laugh all day as though nothing had happened. The look of pure, unadulterated fear on his face when he looked at Tom sat in the front of his mind, overlaying itself onto any face that Hadrian made, and it hurt because Tom had no idea what he'd done to warrant that reaction. Not to mention the utter mind fuck of Hadrian asking him to stay in bed with him and Tom waking up to him being gone. Not that that was all that unusual, but Tom thought that Hadrian would have at least woken him up.

Tom cleared his throat, "Can we talk?"

Hadrian looked up from where he sat in the library, alone for the first time all day. He gestured to the seat in front of him, and Tom sat down, "What do you want to talk about?" Hadrian asked.

"Well, about last night," Tom said, his voice betraying just how nervous he was, something that Tom wasn't used to.

Hadrian sighed, "I'm going to assume you're talking about my nightmare and not our shag in the Chamber of Secrets?"

Tom huffed out a laugh, "You would assume correctly."

"What do you want to know? Because this seems specific and not general," Hadrian replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You said it was and wasn't about me, but when I woke you up," Tom sighed, "Merlin, Hadrian, you looked terrified of me."

Hadrian scrubbed a hand over his face, "It wasn't you I was terrified of Tom, so don't worry about that."

There was something about the way that Hadrian said 'you' that made Tom pause; it was odd. Like there was some underlying meaning that Tom was supposed to register, but he just couldn't.

"Look," Hadrian continued, reaching out to take Tom's hand, something that made Tom startle, "I've been through a lot in my life. Like a hell of a lot, and as much as I want to; because trust me, Tom, I want to, I can't tell you," Tom made to interrupt, but Hadrian held up a hand to cut him off, "I'm not saying I can never tell you. I'm just saying right now I need you to just trust me and let this go for a bit. Can you do that?" Hadrian asked, his eyes almost pleading.

Tom searched Hadrian's face before sighing and nodding his acquiescence.

Hadrian sighed in relief and leaned over the table to pull Tom into a quick kiss. Tom was shocked for just a second before leaning into the kiss and placing a soft hand on Hadrian's face, running a thumb over Hadrian's cheek.

"Thank you," Hadrian whispered when he pulled back before going back to his homework.

Tom debated for a minute but eventually decided against leaving. He didn't want to bother Hadrian, so he pulled out some of his homework and started working on it. And if he didn't actually get anything done because he was too busy sneaking glances at Hadrian, well, that's no one's business but his.