Hunted by the mafia, memories and secrets in Rome/Tom Kaulitz story

Chapter 23

Taylor’s POV

I sniffled as low as I could. The tears were still running down my cheeks as I angrily tried to continuously wipe them away from my face. I don’t know how long I had been crying but it was to the point I almost felt like I needed to drink water not to get dehydrated.

My eyes felt tired and my face was dry. I was cold and uncomfortable and I felt miserable as I sat in the chair. Stressed out I ran my fingers through my tussled hair, feeling the straightness of it had disappeared into my naturally wavy hair instead. Had I made the right choice or was it stupid?

Hesitation started building up in me as I sniffled again and decided this was the last time I would wipe my cheeks.

A low groaning sound erupted in the quiet room as I shot my head up and looked at Tom who shifted in the bed, flicking his eyes up. He glanced around in the dark room, probably not seeing me since it almost was pitch black in here. I didn’t want to light up the room as I sat in a chair in the corner of the room in complete darkness.

"Who is it?" He mumbled and stretched for the night lamp on the desk next to the bed.

I kept quiet as he winced when he stretched out his arm and he retracted it quickly, unable to light up the lamp. I crawled together in my chair without any sound as Tom grunted and sat up a little bit in the bed.

"I know someone’s in here" he clarified sternly but I heard his voice was husky and tired.

I clenched my jaw and looked down onto my socks, unable to think of anything to say.  Before I could prevent it, a small sniffle left me and Tom sharply pulled for his breath.                  

"Taylor?" He asked as I could see in the dim light from the window next to him that he was glancing from side to side in the room, unable to see me.

"Hi" 

"Where are you, I can’t see you. Can you please turn on the light?" He stated softly.

I didn’t even dare to move my position in the chair for some reason. It felt like I wasn’t really prepared to move out from my safety zone right this moment.

Tom seemed to sense my uneasiness for some reason as I could hear him shift in the bed once again.

"What’s wrong? Why don’t you want to turn on the lights?"

I didn’t want to answer him but I knew I had, to keep him from getting out from the bed.

"I’m not just sure I’m prepared just yet" I said, glancing up on him as he had fully sat up, frowning.

"Taylor, it’s just me" he stated.

I didn’t respond as he sighed and leaned his head back against his up-pulled pillow, making it comfortable and closed his eyes. I inhaled a small breath as I realized he was willing to wait me out.

It took me a good 20 minutes before I felt brave enough to move. I unwrapped my legs and put my feet on the wooden floor as I stood up. My sniffles had stopped but one or two erupted from time to time. The sweater I had wrapped around me that I had borrowed from Hirato was a little too big for me but it was one of those comfy sweaters as I had the zipper down on it.

I glanced at Tom who hadn’t moved since he spoke to me, as if he was meditating or something. I would never be able to pull it off to just sit still for a longer amount of minutes.

I walked up to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. It was quiet for a few more moments as I could feel the tension between us. It wasn’t comfortable in any way, it was edgy and nervous for some reason.