Coffee & Biscuits

19|why me?

To be yelled at by an 18 year old wasn't how Tom had planned to start his day but now here he was; in the middle of a forest, watching the young woman he was meant to support stumble and fall her way as far from his as possible. Technically this should be a good thing because it'd make it a lot easier to keep her away from him but it didn't feel as good as he'd thought. They had gotten dangerously close recently and especially when she had showed him that dress and he had stupidly asked her to dance. He had known in that moment that he was breaking his own boundaries and instead of keeping her away he had pulled her closer, too close actually. He had made Aria comfortable enough to confess her feelings to him and that had complicated things significantly. He still believed women weren't in his path yet, not until he had established himself  career wise and now he had a high school student wrapped around his finger. 

All of this was a recipe for disaster that much was obvious but since becoming friends with Aria he had felt more alive than ever. Work was no longer his only purpose in life and not the only thing he looked forward to progress in. Even if he'd never admit it out loud he enjoyed getting to know her and her getting to know him, she had better patience than most. So despite the warning bells that echoed loudly inside him, despite her not being in the path he carved for himself and despite his own denial Tom Landry started running after her. 

He stumbled and fell just as much as she did but he was faster nonetheless and soon he had caught up to her, hearing her panting breaths and how her lungs were desperate for air. Her jeans were soaked by the mist from the moss and leaves, not to mention dirty from having crawled around looking for evidence. Tom never thought they would find anything and then he did, he actually found it and then had been out of line for yelling at her. Perhaps that's why he was running, because of his guilt for pushing her to tears or was it for another reason that he didn't dare to even think about. 

"Stop running--just stop!" Tom grabbed her wrist to slow them both down but Aria yanked toward her again, this time walking briskly past him.

"Drive back on your own, I'll go home once I'm finished here." She said sternly not at all focusing on him but on the lake. 

This side of Aria was one he'd never seen before and it was a tad shocking to him. All this time she had tried to stay so composed, perfect and mature around him but no more - now the young woman, or girl, he saw had truly accepted who she was - a high school senior. Tom's expression softened as he thought of what to say to comfort her from afar while making her see reason. 

"I shouldn't have yelled, but you're being unreasonable. It's not that I don't trust your plan but when you are putting your life in danger, when you don't have to, I get worried. To have found this evidence means you no longer have to do this alone, you can hand it over to the police and let them take it from here--" 

"Let's be honest Tom; you don't trust me or my plan because you see me as a high school student with a silly crush, but I'm more than that. What I do will make a difference some day, I know that, because of my choice to pursue this plan instead of being tossed to the side by policemen who think they have better things to do." Aria was still crying but this time she didn't look sad, just anger mixed with determination.

"Is it a crime to be worried, huh? I'm assuming no one else knows so I not only have to worry that you are healing alright but I also have to worry about you putting yourself in grave danger by running around the forest looking for evidence, while having to see your assailants every day in school. Don't you see how dangerous this is?" Tom pushed on.

Aria was silent and back to looking out over the lake. Tom hoped that she was coming to terms with how right he was and soon would be asking him to drive her to the police station to do the right thing. Her shoulders suddenly slumped and bopped up and down as a signal that she was weeping. Tom sighed for not having made the situation any better but only bring more tears to her eyes. Sometimes he despised his stiff way of being because it didn't allow for many tender moments in his life; always so uptight due to his suit and tie, but no one could see them here and no one could judge him here. Perhaps his supervisor Michael Dubois was right and he should be more personable, in every aspect of his life.