Darling, save the last dance for me...
*****
"Damn! I guess that's done, then" I say with a chuckle while he holds the door open for me. I walk under his stretched arm, into the coffee shop, "If those girls do their job properly, the world will know about it in less than five minutes"
So far, his plan is unfolding perfectly and right on schedule, which is rather miraculous if we consider the fact that we barely made it out the house; you know, because of all the catching up and such.
But we did. We headed out and we walked, holding hands and strolling without any rush, all the way from his place to our first destination.
By the time the first giant Lion appeared in front of me, I could already tell that the place was overflowing with people, and I could barely hear the water pouring out from the fountains because of the noise of random conversations and the traffic.
I always thought, ever since I moved here, that this was the perfect place in all London, to tell the difference between the people who live and work in the city, and those who are just visiting. The former would walk past the square, phone in hand and a curse ready to be thrown at the air, never minding the beautiful open space around them. And the latter, well... You can see them climbing the lions as if they were the Everest, just to get the perfect selfie with them.
I should know, because I have mine since day one.
Tom was laughing like a kid when I mentioned that to him, whilst playing the Tell the difference between local and tourist game, and he insisted upon seeing it.
I have it on my phone so I thought it was best to be done with it, and show it to him.
"You're such a dork... I adore you" he'd say.
And that was the first time he kissed me in public. Out of the blue, way more naturally than I would've expected considering that it was the very first time we did something like that.
Because no matter how common or natural walking with your date on the streets may be for most people, for us, it was something strangely new.
But it felt good. It felt like, after all of the shit we went down with, we came out the other side; alive and together.
And if he was ready to let the whole world know, then I was too. I guess.
And it was a good thing that we were ready, because the moment he let me go I saw a tourist, or maybe a paparazzi, –with everybody owning a professional camera these days, I can't really tell the difference– snapping a few pictures of us.
At first, I thought to myself that I was being a bit paranoid or somewhat conceited, but considering that the really interesting traits of the square were right behind him, I ended up convincing myself that we were, in fact, his targets.
I told that to Tom but he just waved his hand at me, minimizing the situation and smiling widely while he would slide his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to his side.
I could tell that he wasn't actually as relaxed as he pretended to be, because there was something utterly protective about his embrace. But I just snuggled against him, and we kept on walking.
While we were leaving Trafalgar Square behind us, he began to tell me the story about how the four guarding lions would come to life and come down from their pedestals to pace around the place, if the Big Ben clock should ever chime thirteen times in a row.
Of course, like the proper London obsessed girl that I am, I already knew about that myth but I just let him speak. Because, with that smooth voice and perfectly polished accent, he was meant to sound one hundred times better and more compelling than any other tour guide in this city.
By the time our stomachs really started to grunt and complaint about the lack of sustenance, we were a few blocks away from destination number two, and right when we were about to cross Regent's Street, we got intercepted by a group of school girls that were coming out of a building.
In the swirl of it all, with the girls asking for a picture, or an autograph, or even having a casual conversation with an adorably comfortable Tom, I somehow got left behind. Not that I really had a problem with that.
Those girls couldn't give a rat's ass about me, and I really could not blame them. I know I wouldn't care about me either.
But Tom noticed I was gone the second he was able to look up from the paper he was signing, and I could see his eyes shifting through the people and lighting up when they finally landed on me.
I smiled and I nodded, letting him know that I was fine, but he just reached out for me and pulled me inside the circle that had formed around him.
He didn't say a word; he kept on being famous Tom, and I just kept on observing him in that new scenario.
It was amazing to watch how dedicated he was and how attentive he got to every girl who was asking him a question or telling him a story.
"Is that girl his girlfriend?" I overheard someone ask. I immediately drove my gaze to the ground, suddenly feeling intimidated, and awkwardly interested in my shoes.
"I think so... she's pretty, though. And she seems cool" Another voice followed.
I just looked back up to where the conversation was coming from, and I met two pairs of very curious eyes staring at me.
The two girls visibly blushed, I guess because of the fact that they knew they had been heard, but I quickly smiled at them, as reassuring as possible.
They swiftly returned the gesture and with that, they were back to the real object of their attention.
"That was our mission, after all" Tom says before asking me to find us a seat while he would go to the counter and order us something to eat and some coffee.
Is not that our recent encounter with a few of his fans bothered me in anyway –quite the opposite, actually–, but I try to find the farthest table from the windows and when I spot it, I go straight to it.
When I'm already seated, I just stare at him; leaning nonchalantly against the bar, scratching his ginger stubble while thinking over what he wants to eat, and I just get hypnotized by the movement of his hands.
And I think about the first time we met, and how I couldn't stop imagining how it would feel like to have those hands all over me.
Luckily, it didn't take me long to find that out, and even less for me to become addicted to such feeling.
"You look like you're about to raise some hell," he calls me out when he comes to take a seat in front of me. Apparently, I was too deep inside my daydreaming and I never even saw him approaching, "... and I would give everything up to be inside your head right now"
"I will tell you what's on my mind later, when I get you alone" I say with the naughtiest tone I can manage. I reach for the cup of coffee he just brought for me and, without lifting my gaze from it, as my index finger runs along the rim, I add: "Whatever hell I intend to raise, I'm not planning on doing it with an audience"
I only look up when I drive my hot drink to my lips, blowing at it intentionally. He gasps, pretending to be outraged by my unexpected candor, but also quite agitated because he has a pretty good idea as to what the word hell actually entails.
*****
Walking inside my apartment, even though it hasn't been twenty-four hours since I was here last, feels somewhat strange. Not that I don't find myself at home or anything like that, but it most certainly feels different.
The last time I set a foot out of this door I was another woman; broken, defeated, violently angry with my own self and definitely self-destructive. And now, as I walk through the threshold, and the smell of yet another home-cooked meal from my personal Cupid comes to greet me, I take it in as a sown back together, all around fixed and happy person.
"Tom Hiddleston and mystery brunette get cozy in the streets of London" Chris is coming out from Ally's room and he is attentively looking at his phone while he talks, "Congratulations, man! You know is not official until Hollywood is buzzing over it, and now it is" he adds, stretching his arm to us, holding the phone straight to our faces.
I try to be cool about it, because it is not like I am actually panicking over it, but I guess I can't help but to feel a little dazed.
With a quick move, I snatch the phone from his fingers and I start to read what's on the screen.
I recognize the picture and the website immediately and I roll my eyes at the originality of the tittle, or lack thereof.
"Mystery brunette... I guess I can live with that" I finally declare, giving the device back to his rightful owner.
"Don't you worry, love. They will soon discover your identity" Tom says, sliding his arm around my shoulders and kissing me softly on the top of my head.
I shrug under him, not entirely desperate about being revealed just yet. But I guess it's bound to happen sooner rather than later, considering that being the daughter of a famous actor already puts me on the map.
"If you're done with the gossip session, can you please join me in here and lend a hand?"
Ally's head is poking out from the kitchen pass-through window and her cheeks are visibly blushed.
Her call for help is clearly addressed to Chris, but since the boys never really had much time to hang out and catch up with each other, I let go from Tom's hold and I rush over to where she is.
As soon as I step inside the kitchen, I notice the reason why Ally seems so heated up and I can start to feel how my face begins to redden as well.
"Is really hot in here, Ally... How come you have not fainted yet?" I say as I grab a napkin and I start fanning myself with it.
"Is it? I didn't notice" she answers absentmindedly while bending over to check on whatever's cooking inside the oven. I take it that she is well accustomed to the discomforts of cooking, but I am definitely not.
"Here..." I hand her a bottle with water that I retrieve from the fridge. She giggles at my frown of concern but when she notices how serious I am, she accepts the water and she takes a few generous sips.
"Thank you"
By the time dinner is ready to be served, the guys already went through all of the topics they could come up with and they even got to the first sets of an old tennis match that was being broadcasted on one of the sports channel I never even noticed I had on my programming.
As for us, girls, we drank wine and we had a very nice, long conversation about pretty much everything.
But the thing that we talked about the most was the news she broke on me, which still have my head spinning like Regan fucking McNeil.
"I think you have some pretty big balls, Ally. And I can't do nothing but admire you for that" I say when I am finally able to process it all, and I pull her in into a tight hug before she notices that my eyes are already watery, "But I will miss you like crazy!"
"Me too" she says with difficulty. I let her go, thinking that maybe is my grip what's causing her choking but when I look at her, she is clearly tearing up a little, "But we'll talk every day and, this..." she says with both hands on my shoulders and a very serious look on her glossy eyes, "... our friendship is forever. You know that, right?"
Another hug answers her question for me. Of course that this friendship is forever.
How could it not be, when that's what pulled me through every single thing that happened to me since I met her?
When we make our way to the living room, setting the table and calling the boys to join us, I look up and I see Tom is heavily patting his friend's shoulder. A big, luminous grin is plastered in his face and Chris looks all excited and proud.
I realize in that moment, he is being congratulated over the same thing I just hugged my roommate about.
"Well done, mate!" I hear him say, and I laugh.
We are seated around the dinner table, me and Tom on one side and Chris and Ally right in front of us.
They are telling us about how hard the last couple of weeks have been for them because of the distance –though that part I already knew since I was here to witness how happy Ally would get whenever she was expecting a video call from him, and ready to pick up the pieces when the chat would be over, sometimes hours later–, and how they finally got to make the decision of Ally moving all the way to Los Angeles with Chris.
I am so genuinely blissful about it, so I decide to keep my opinions about the city of angels to myself. But I can't say that I wouldn't rather for them to move to a different place.
That city, if not prepared, can eat you alive and turn you into a fucking robot with a perfect tan and a weird obsession with hiking.
"Well, as happy as I am for the two of us... I can't help but to feel a bit upset" I declare with a harsh tone, rising my glass of red up to my lips, "Not only am I losing my best friend, but finding a roommate that is not a cheater or a serial killer, let alone that cooks so damn well, is kind of tricky!"
"Well, lucky for you, I am none of the above. And I can make a pretty decent oatmeal"
Despite all of my efforts not to choke on my drink when he so casually talks about moving in together in front of our friends, he has to lean over to me to actually pat on my back a few times.
When I recover, I stay quiet for what seems to be an awfully long time. As I scan all the three faces staring at me, and waiting for me to speak, I keep thinking that this idea is wild.
I want to say that it is too soon for us to take such an important leap, especially since we've only got back together twelve hours ago; but the more I think about it, the more all of the reasons I may have to refuse become weaker.
Too soon is how we do it. Rushed is who we are. Crazy is what define us and our story. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
"No... You are most definitely not" I finally say, and I can almost hear Ally letting go of the breath he was holding, "And I'm a sucker for a decent oatmeal"
"Then, it's settled" Tom beams with an evident expression of relief, and he leans even closer to seal our deal with a way too passionate kiss, "You've found yourself a roommate"
Both of our friends clap dramatically from the other side of the table, making me burst into a fit of laughter because of how ridiculously childish they look.
"I told you..." Ally says with her hazel eyes locking on mine, "Too bloody perfect to let it go to waste"
And with a wink of her eye, she reaches for her glass to make a toast.
A/N:
I just couldn't resist and I uploaded it before I finished the epilogue. It is coming... tomorrow, I think.