Love, Melody, and Counterpoint

Near death experiences, and the birds and the bees.

Two happy parents, and a whole tray of chocolate chip cookies.
Wait...weren't they supposed to be mad at Anna?
"There's the sweet boy that saved Anna." Her mum smiled at Tom.
Oh God.

They had no idea who he was.

"You didn't need to go through all this trouble." He mumbled, still in shock that they had.
"Nonsense! Anna would have been wondering the streets otherwise." She turned around to give Anna an unimpressed look whilst Anna seemed to shrink in her seat.
"I said I'm sorry about 50 million times!" Anna defended herself.
"And after 50 million more times you can be forgiven." Her mum responded.
Silence filled the room, and her dad started to desperately hand out cookies as if they would fix what had happened at their dinner.

With Anna's stomach rumbling, not having had the chance to eat her dinner, she ended up eating many more cookies than she'd like to admit. She felt a pang through her, sensing her mum's disapproval as she sipped her smoothie, but she looked over to see Tom eating just as vigorously.
He had no idea how lucky he was to eat and stay as lean as he was, Anna thought as she looked down at her stomach. She was a 'normal' size, but she scrutinised herself much more because she could see rolls where she wanted air and lumps where she wanted a straight line.

She looked up to see Tom smiling at her. She wasn't sure if he could sense her change in mood but the smile he gave her reassured her regardless and she ate the cookie in her hand with pleasure. And it was delicious.

With everyone sufficiently full, silence filled the room again. But this time it was a comfortable one, filled with the prospect of temporary peace.
Anna thought about a true story she had learned from school. In the midst of World War One, on Christmas Day, the English and German soldiers chose to form a temporary truce for the day so they could play a football game and just enjoy Christmas as people before they had to go back to war. She couldn't remember who had won the game, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that anyone, in any situation, could put aside their differences for a common cause.

And right now she could feel the tangible possibility of everyone just existing for one night. No lectures, no remarks, just the relief that everyone was safe and sound.

"So Tom, I'm going to set up an air mattress next to Anna's bed, is that okay?"

What?

Anna's mum could see their joint disbelief. "Well I'm not going to send him back on the streets, especially since he brought you home! And you've never been one to fool around."

Anna's face turned bright red as Tom and her dad awkwardly coughed. Her life, or lack of one, was not something she wanted to share with anyone. Especially Tom.
"Let's go darling." Her dad thankfully intervened, practically dragging her mum out of the room.

The door closed and Tom couldn't resist a laugh, but he instantly regretted it as Anna's hand once again hit his arm.
"Why must you insist on hurting me?" Tom moaned.
"Because you laughed!" She implored.
"I wasn't laughing at that you knob! Your parents are hilarious if a little scary." Tom nudged her.
Anna rolled her eyes. "My dad with a chainsaw was not a threat to your life Tom."
Tom huffed. "You don't understand, he would never murder you, but he might murder me if he realised who I was."
An evil grin appeared on Anna's face. This would be good bait!
But before she could say so her dad popped round the door. "The bedroom is ready when you guys are."
But he didn't leave.

Dad don't do it, don't make this awkward. Please do not mention the birds and the bees. Anna begged him with her eyes.

"Just make sure you're safe okay?"

Damn it.

Tom choked once more and Anna gave her dad evil daggers as he ran out of the door laughing his ass off.

"I've missed having embarrassing moments like these." Tom confessed.
She looked at him, she never thought he would say that. To be honest she thought he would have run far far away by now.
"You must miss your parents." The realisation dawned on her as she said the words out loud.
He looked down, unable to meet her concerned eyes.
Guilt flowed through her, here she was moaning about her parents like there was no tomorrow to a man who's parents weren't even around to celebrate his successes.
She felt a warmth on her hand, Tom looked into her eyes as he placed his hand on hers.
"It's okay, please don't feel bad for me. I prefer it when you're teasing me." He laughed.
She chuckled shyly as her body reacted to this simple touch. She was stunned at how flushed her face became and was afraid what she may say next. 

She didn't want to embarrass herself. She just wanted to enjoy this moment without making it complicated. And it seemed Tom felt the same way as they stayed that way for a while, no pressure put on either of them to do something stupid, just the pleasure of being together was enough for both of them.

Until Tom yawned.
"You cracked first!" Anna gleefully said as she danced in victory.
"Well I had to rescue your stupid ass so can you blame me for being tired?" Tom smiled.
Anna rolled her eyes once more. It was becoming more of a habit around Tom. "Well I still won, so I am the best."
Now it was Tom's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever you say Anna. Now please take me to bed."

A moment passed, then Anna bursted into laughter as Tom put his head in his hands.
"Can you tell I'm tired?" He grinned as he died from embarrassment inside.
"Sure...tired." Anna mocked Tom with air quotation marks for extra emphasis.
"Shut up." Tom weakly protested. "Just show me your room."
She finally took pity on him and once they had turned all the lights off, she led him upstairs.

The first thing Tom noticed was that her room was small. Not crazy small, but definitely a squeeze for two beds. His much smaller bed was placed on the floor next to her single bed with plenty of cushions that would have been enough for the whole family.
The next thing he noticed was that there were a set of pjs laid out for both of them and that all too familiar ache ran through his heart once again.
Anna knowingly rubbed his shoulder as she saw the pjs and excused herself to get changed in the bathroom.
Taking the opportunity, Tom stripped off quickly to put on his pjs, which he thought looked quite strapping on him, and tucked himself into his own bed.

Anna re-entered the room in her own pjs and as she closed the door behind her, something in the room changed. The tension became palpable as Anna got into her own bed, the pressure that was there before became even worse as they both looked at the ceiling, neither sure of what to say.
"Is the bed okay?" Anna squeaked as she inwardly cursed her voice.
Tom turned towards her. "It's more than enough Anna, thank you. Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath as she started to freak out. Don't tell me he didn't feel what she was feeling!

"Yeah I'm just nervous, that's all." She nervously stuttered as she leaned over to turn her lamp off.
As the darkness enveloped the room and silence filled the air, Tom built up the courage to say what he really wanted to say.
"I liked holding your hand."

God that sounded better in his head.

He cursed himself for not saying something better. But for Anna, it meant the world to her and relief coursed through her veins. It said everything she was afraid to say, whilst keeping it safe enough to not feel forced into anything.
She didn't say anything in return. Instead she extended her hand to the floor so he could reach it.
And he did.

Even when they fell asleep, and their hands weren't connected anymore, they slept better than they ever had before.