Apart ~Thomas Sangster Love Story

Chapter 21

"What is the festival about?" Dylan asked holding the card out for me to take.

I sat forward to reach it but, Thomas wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back. With his free hand he reached out and took the card then sat back and handed it to me. The card was all in Spanish and in bright colors.

"Día de Juan Santamaría. Juan Santamaría was a young drummer boy who played a pivotal role in Costa Rican history." I said and put the card down on my lap. "It's just a patriotic festival. It says there will be music, alcohol, and apparently clothing is optional." I said and furrowed my eyebrows as I looked down at the card. "We don't need to wear dresses Britt."

Her and I began to laugh as the boys shot down that idea. Thomas's free arm was resting on my thigh and he lifted his fingers to turn my face towards his. He shook his head as I continued to laugh.

"You guys are no fun."

"Tess you're not going to a festival naked." He said and rubbed his finger across my cheekbone as he pushed hair off my cheek.

I wrinkled my nose at him as Britt and Dylan began to kiss. I stood up and grabbed my water and Thomas's had and pulled him inside. I lead him to our room and closed the door, that joined the two rooms.

I placed my water on the nightstand and let go of Thomas' hand and walked to my suitcase. Thomas sat on the bed and slipped his shirt off. I stood from the suitcase and he held the shirt out to me.

"I had showered just before you came home. Here you can were this shirt to bed."

I took the shirt and walked to the bathroom to shower. My white dress pooled around my feet as I looked at the bruises on my neck in the mirror. They were mostly just yellow now, but they still made it hurt to swallow. The right side sported four bruises and the left had one.

I turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower and washed my hair. Once I was done with the shower I slipped into Thomas's shirt and my underwear and left the room.

Thomas was trying to lay on his back but his sunburn must be bothering him because he kept swearing and turning on his side. Once he saw me he sat up and swung his feet off the bed.

"Tess. I was wondering if, since the couch is very uncomfortable that we could share the bed tonight. I'll but a pillow between us if you're afraid I'll touch you. If you don't feel comfortable then I'll sleep on the couch." He said and looked dow at the ground.

"We can share. Just wait a second."

I walked into the other room and looked for the bag of things I brought today. I found the bag on the couch and pulled the bottle of lotion out and walked back to Thomas, who was again trying to get comfortable on the bed.

He had placed a pillow in the middle of the bed and smiled at me as I sat on the bed. He glanced at the bottle then looked at me confused.

"Roll over on your stomach." I said and moved closer to him.

"Why?"

"I got you lotion to sooth your skin. It will make the burning less painful." I said and grabbed his arm to pull him on his stomach.

"I'm fine Tess."

"Thomas either roll over or I'm sleeping on the couch."

He rolled over and placed his head on the pillow and looked at me. I put some of the lotion on my hand and started to rub it onto his shoulders and along his back.

"It smells bad." He said and covered his nose with his hand. "I'll have to shower again."

"Shut it." I said and but the lotion on the nightstand and went to wash my hands.

I laid back down on the bed and Thomas pulled the covers up and turned the light off. I placed my hands on my stomach and stared at the ceiling.

"Is it less painful now?"

"Somewhat."

I moved the pillow from between us and Thomas glanced at me. I put the pillow on the floor and moved closer to him.

"Can we cuddle, if you don't mind."

"Sure."

He moved closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist and the other was under my pillow. He laid on his side and his breath warmed my neck. I rested my hands on my stomach and just let my fingers touch his arm across my waist.

"Do you only speak Spanish?"

"No. I also speak German and Italian fluently. Some Romanian and very little French, which just consists of swear words."

"Did your mom teach you?"

"Yes. Except for German, my dad taught me that because of his business trips there. I've been to Germany a couple times. That's were he died."

His thumb began to move along my side as he moved closer to me.

"My mother was very good with other languages. She helped immigrants when they moved to America. She was a translator and then helped them learn English. She could speak Spanish, Italian, German, French and Chinese fluently. She was learning Romanian, but stopped when my dad died." I said and turned my head towards him. "She used to swear in French when she was mad at my dad or I. She thought we didn't know what she was saying. But I learned because of google translate. Then her and I used to talk about my dad in Italian because he could not understand it. He used to get so mad, but in reality we would just be calling him a banana or something stupid." I said and we both began to laugh.

"Do you think your parents would have liked me?" He asked as he curled his other around around me and began to rub my arm.

"The kidnapping wouldn't have helped your case." I said and he grunted and I giggled. "My Dad wouldn't have liked you, just because you were a boy and British. He would think that I was only with you for your accent. My mother would have tolerated you, maybe start to like you later on. They would have killed you for hurting me through." I said and rolled over onto my side and he wrapped his arms around me and my back pressed into his chest.

"I wouldn't have blamed them for killing me." He whispered into my neck. "Goodnight my Tess."