Darling (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

28: the truth, billie darling, family.

A/N: Hello there! Thank you for waiting for so long for this to be completed.  Writer's block and lack of time strike again!! I appreciate all the support I've gotten on Darling. And I hope you like how it is all wrapped up!  Thanks again for so many of you who have stuck with me from the start! Right now, I'm also working on my first original romance, called The Worst Part.  Please! Go check it out!  

Also, if you liked my story Crumbs, if you wouldn't mind voting for it in Wattpad's Story of the Year contest, I'd be eternally grateful.  Link: w.tt/StoryoftheYear 

Thanks again, friends! (Also, I'm on twitter as GermyRunner, so please add me there!)

Here we go....

The night was quiet. Timid, even. The thin, twisted thread that had kept Tom and Billie bound for months, had been haphazardly tied back together. Tom watched Billie as she climbed back into her huge bed, curling up under the covers and onto her side. With one, quiet look from her, he moved to join her. He kicked off his trainers, and pulled his shirt over his head, aware the whole time that she was watching him quietly in the dark

Tom slid into bed next to her, the sheets cool on his skin, careful to leave space between them. This was about her. About what she needed, and what was best for her. It wasn't about him, or his needs and desires. And he had to make sure it stayed that way. From the start, Billie had only ever thought of him. He had to return the favor, when she needed him most.

It didn't take long for Billie to close the gap between them. Tom felt her hand slide up against his chest. He opened his eyes in the darkness to see her face, not far from his. His skin reacted to her touch, his muscles tensed slightly. Billie brushed her fingertips against his jaw. Tom felt her thumb, small and soft, press against his cheek, skin to skin. A touch he'd thought about often, and often wondered if he'd never feel again.

He'd be an idiot if he tried to deny his feelings. The way his heart felt fully alive for the first time since this woman had shown up in his life-- like some siren in the waves. He'd been so stuck on Becca. So scared to disrupt the balance he'd made in his life. All he had wanted, for the longest time, was to give Gemma stability. All he had wanted for himself...he couldn't remember the last time he'd thought about that.

Billie had happened and she'd taken him by surprise. She'd forced him to think about himself. What he wanted. Reminded him that he was a man. And he still had many years ahead of him-- years that could be filled with quiet solitude, or....or something quite different. She reminded him that one day, in the not too distant future, Gemma would grow up, and move on with her own life. And Tom. Tom would be left, just as he'd started. Alone.

Billie was everything he'd ever dared to dream about, and yet there were things that hadn't quite fallen into place. And he'd been unable to get over those obstacles. He'd been blinded by the small things, and had ignored the fact that he'd fallen in love. Truly in love.

Tom took a deep breath then, feeling her hand resting against his cheek and neck. His breath was stilted, and he felt the slight loss of control start in his stomach and move out to his fingertips. He reached up, taking her hand in his, squeezing as he pressed her palm to his mouth.

He felt Billie shift, her fingers curl toward his face as he kissed her palm, and then slowly, each of her fingers.

"Tom." She whispered into the dark. His name on her lips. A sound he never wanted to forget, or live a day without.

"Yes?" His voice came out hoarse, a brief noise in the quiet. Tom held onto her hand, pressing it between his two larger ones.

"Seeing you...with Becca, I..." Her voice broke. Tom felt his chest tighten, and he began to speak, shaking his head.