You've Only Just Arrived (a Tom Hiddleston fan fiction)

Part 2

You are glad for your ball cap as you can somewhat hide behind it while walking along the street. You were raised to remove hats indoors though, so you place your hat and sunglasses on the table -- happy to see Tom does the same, all the better to see his expressions.

He stubbornly refuses to let you pay for anything, which is both endearing and maddening. Tom had scooped the check up from the table before you even had a minute to reach towards the card held in your pocket.

You can only manage one word in protest, "But..."

He laughs when you scowl at the waiter already walking away with payment. "Not a chance."

"You will relent eventually and let me pay for something..." The number of people who have amassed on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant where you and Tom have stopped for your late lunch has steadily grown during the duration of the meal. You can't help but continue to steal glances out the window to see the crowd. "Tom is it like this everywhere you go?" You reach out across the small table to rest your fingers over his wrist.

Tom now too glances out the window, "Not in the beginning, but sometimes these days..."

You absent-mindedly trace circles over Tom's forearm while you are thinking. "I suppose I knew that. I've seen so many of the photos of you in transit or shopping." You pause and lift your fingers from his skin when you realize what you've just admitted to.

Oh how you love the way Tom laughs. He flips his hand over now and catches your fingers in his. "But then some days are worth capturing on film."

What were you saying? Something about Tom's fingers? No... something about those gorgeous eyes. No that wasn't it either. Breathing. That's important, but no... that's supposed to just happen. Inhale. Exhale. That's right.

You give Tom's hand a squeeze to jumpstart your reply, "Stop that!"

His grin never falters. "What?"

You unclasp your hand from his and maneuver his fingers to find your sporadic pulse at your wrist. "Feel that? Every. Damned. Time. You. Flirt. Makes it feel like a dance party inside my chest." You pull your hands into your lap before you tilt your head towards the restaurant's big bay windows and the cameras beyond. "Unless you'd rather them get a good action sequence of the paramedics rushing in to resuscitate me."

"I make no promises." Tom surveys the crowded restaurant before looking at his watch. "I suppose we should let them have the table back."

"Not to mention their sidewalk."

Tom hasn't yet unfolded himself from behind the table so you remain seated as well. He was the one that mentioned leaving and yet there he sits. Tom grins at your befuddlement and bows his head slightly while he speaks. "I find the more I know of you the more I wish to know." He shakes his head and holds out his hand to you as he stands, essentially escorting you up from your chair. "Shall I walk you home?"

You smile up at Tom as he moves to stand between you and the scores of cameras waiting on the sidewalk. You comment before reaching the door where you know the noise outside will obscure your words. "We have spent all afternoon together, what more could you possibly wish to know?"

A lopsided smirk graces his lips, "Were there but more hours in the day."

The both of you agree it best if Tom merely walked you to the front of your hotel. As tempting as it was to invite him in, the moment is not yours alone. He does wait ensure you are safely deposited with hotel security before cheerfully waving goodbye to you, and the cameras, and making his way on to the house he is renting while in town.