The Trial Of Temptation

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"Tom?" You uttered, your heart pumping out of its chest. Tom pulled away from Rennie, pushed him with slight force, and turned to you with a look of horror on his face.
"Payback?" You asked, wondering if he was trying to avenge your kissing of Jerry. He shook his head rapidly and came rushing up towards you.
"Y/n, I can explain, just-" he looked back at Rennie. "We need to go somewhere else." He said to you. You were in such a state of shock that you just agreed and followed him out the door. You got to the living room, where the gang was all waiting around for the news of what happened, but you and Tom pushed past them and grabbed your coats, walking out the front door to outside. You started walking down the sidewalk.
"Y/n, I'm really sorry you had to see that. It's a very complicated and slightly awkward situation that's been going on for a while." Tom said. You shook your head and looked up at him.
"Tom, if there is any sort of relationship there, I need to know. I'll stick around dispite your potential jail time, but I'm not going to have 3 people in this relationship." You said bluntly. Tom nodded slowly.
"Well I'll tell you one thing, it's not a mutual relationship at all. I'm not into Rennie, not in the slightest. Rennie, however, has been kind of doting on me ever since we met and joined the SDS. He's tried to kiss me a few times, but today he succeeded and you walked in at the wrong time. He might've wanted you to catch us, because I know for a fact that he is real jealous of this thing we have going on. He's been vile towards most girls I've had around, even though only one of em was serious." Tom explained. You felt better. Tom was a really honest guy, and you could tell that he wasn't lying to you. You sighed and linked your arm in his, and leaned into the arm on his blue coat.
"I understand, Tom." You said. His shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks. It's something that everyone around us picks up on, im surprised you didn't figure it out, based on how smart you are." He said, nudging your side playfully. You smiled at the ground.
"Yeah well, you make it hard to pay attention to virtually anything else when you're around. It's pretty annoying actually, makes me feel dumber." You jeered. Tom shot a hand to his heart and and gave you an over exaggerated hurt look.
"Ow." He added. You shook your head and laughed softly.
"Wanna get a quick coffee? Gotta head back soon but it's like- 8, so I think places are open by now." I asked. Tom looked down at me and nodded.
"Yeah, sounds good. We should be back by 8:45 though." He stated, checking his leather strapped watch. Prep. You walked to the nearby coffee shop, and walked in the wooden door. The barista, a small brunette, immediately turned bright red when you walked up to the counter. You looked over at Tom, who was focused on buttoning one of the 4 buttons of his pea coat.
"A-are you Tom Hayden?" The girl asked. Tom's eyes shot up and looked at the girl. He paused for a moment.
"Oh- yeah, yeah I'm Tom Hayden." He said awkwardly. What a dork. The girl's face instantly was filled with joy and a large smile crept across her face.
"Far out man! I've read the port Huron statement prolly a hundred times. Anyone who thinks a genius like you should go to jail is a blockhead. You should be president! Or a movie star, you're real handsome in person." She said, leaning forward and batting her long eyelashes at him. You saw Tom's face get bright red.
"Uh- haha, thanks?" He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Is this your assistant?" The girl asked, looking you up and down coolly. Oh how you wished you could deck her right in the face. To your relief, Tom chuckled and placed a hand on the small of your back. You smiled brightly at the girl, perhaps a bit pettily.
"No, no, this is y/n, shes my mistress." He joked in a haughty British accent. I laughed and looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows, the girl fake laughed and looked back at Tom.
"I'm half kidding." He said, pulling you closer. You saw the girl's expression drop as she pointed to the menu.
"What do you want then?" She spat. Tom raised his eyebrows and looked at the menu.
"Black coffee, no sugar, no creamer." He said. Figures.
"I'll have a chai latte, hot." You said. You took out a 5 and placed it on the counter. Tom instantly took it away and placed his own money instead of yours. You kind of expected him to that. You thanked him, and the two of you got your coffee's and started to walk back home.
"So, l/n, I feel like I don't know that much about you before I met you." Tom said.
"Honestly, my life before I came here was just a clusterfuck of sheltered, boring, and sad." You replied. Tom nodded.
"I had a few wealthy friends back in Michigan, they all seemed kinda unhappy, so I get it. What were your parents like?" He asked.
"They were pretty controlling. Didn't let me do anything much other than study until my arms would cramp up from writing so much. My siblings all went to Harvard without working at it, but I had to work my ass off for the grades I got, if I didn't get good grades I'd get punished kinda bad, so I ended up with A's. Wasn't worth it in the end though." You explained. Tom slung an arm around you and pulled you in for a side hug, kissing the top of your head lightly.
"You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry man." He said, slipping his hand down to hold yours.
"Ah, don't worry about it, I'm happy now." You squeezed his hand and skipped up a little. "How about you? What made Tom Hayden turn into an anti war hero?" You asked with a fake booming voice. Tom chuckled.
"Anti-war hero? Okay." He shook his head. "Uhm, I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, my mom was pretty cool, but kind of overbearing if anything. Dad was a dick, super conservative and selfish, used to hit me, and since I pretty much lived to impress him as a kid, I grew up conservative. Shock, I know. Anyway, I got good-ish grades, got a degree and then I met some kids from the SDS right out of college. Changed my ways, said screw you to my dad and now here we are." He said. You nodded. You'd been hit a few times too as a kid, but you knew Tom's situation was worse. You had a friend back home who used to get hit and abused and that friend and Tom shared a lot in common.
"I'm sorry your dad was mean." You said, leaning into Tom.
"Honestly, I wouldn't be who I am today without him, so I try not to think about it." Tom said with a sad smile. Your heart broke a bit.
"So, how about dudes?" Tom asked, trying to lighten the mood. You laughed.
"Yeah, no I've been fairly unlucky in love this far." You said.
"Cant have been that bad." Tom retorted jokingly.
"Well if you want a scale you are the best thing that's happened to me romance wise, and you suck pretty bad, so it's been AWFUL up to this point." You joked. Tom shook his head and laughed.
"Fuck off," he said through laughs. You raised his hand up to your mouth to press a kiss to the top of it and let it back down, just to make double sure he knew you were kidding.
"Yeah, no, I've pretty much dated exclusively skinny, conservative private school douchebags in my time in the fishbowl. All severely broke my heart, if we are being 100% honest. You are something quite new for me Mr.Hayden." You told him. He smiled.
"I appreciate the compliment." He said with a sharp inhale. "Sorry about the dickheads though, you deserve a lot better, not saying I'm all that much better, but you know what I mean." He added. You looked up and him and took him in for a second. He really was very handsome. He caught you looking and blushed a bit.
"What?" He asked, biting his lip nervously.
"You are very pretty." You replied. Hmm. Pretty had not been the word you were looking for, but it must've been the first one that came to your head because it was very fitting. He sort of looked like something you would find in a fairytale, like a fairy or something. He was quite delicate looking. You worried that the word may offend him despite of that. He blushed and looked at the ground.
"Pretty?" He said, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Well I think so." You said, nudging his side.
"Alright then, thank you." He replied, squeezing your hand.
"So what about you? What's your love life been like so far?" You asked. He shrugged.
"I dunno, I mean I was married for like a year. She was alright, I just don't know if I was really like in love with her if that makes sense. Other than that, a few short things, and a fair share of prep girls to bring home to dad back in high school." He explained. MARRIED? You'd had no idea. No wonder he was so expert at sex. He'd had a wife! It bothered you a bit, because if you'd met him sooner, you'd have tons more time with him, and maybe you'd have been able to fake sick on the night of the convention so he could've stayed safe. But, you remembered, these guys weren't going to jail because of anything other than who they were as people. You felt your heart sink a bit. Tom noticed, as usual.
"What's up?" He asked, placing an arm around you.
"Ah, nothing, just thinking about how pissed I am that someone else got to marry you." You replied. Tom chuckled and rubbed your shoulder.
"Bullshit." He muttered under his breath. You held his hand in response, letting him know that it was half true. You walked for a while in comfortable silence until you saw a man with a camera and a clipboard bounding toward you from around the corner. You jumped apart. This was not the time.
"Mr. Hayden! Mr. Hayden! What do you think of the claims that William Kunstler is a fraud using fake witnesses?" The reporter demanded. Tom froze, his jaw tended. Another reporter must've seen the hubbub, so he raced up to ask a few questions of his own.
"Mr. Hayden, is Abbie tripped out on acid at every court hearing? Is Rennie Davis a homosexual?" The second reporter demanded. Tom started to answer but the first reporter cut him off.
"Who is this? Is this your secretary mistress that you left your wife for?" The reporter demanded. Tom cut in harshly.
"No it is not, that is a false claim. My wife and I were mutually divorced, and this is not my mistress. As for your first questions, no to all of them, and good day." Tom spat, grabbing your hand and quickly walking away. The reporters thankfully didn't follow you, but you were still shaken.
"I didn't leave my wife for another woman, just so you know." Tom told you as you reached the steps of Kunstler's house. You smiled warmly at him.
"I know." You replied. You knew he wouldn't lie to you. It was just a gut feeling. The two of you walked inside to be greeted by Dellinger, who was sipping on some coffee of his own.
"Hey, Tom, y/n." He said with a polite nod.
"David, what's the plan?" Tom asked.
"Leaving at 10, right now the guys are watching the news from the protest last night." Dellinger told him. Tom thanked him and the two of you went to the TV room, where, sure enough, everyone was gathered around the TV watching it intently. You squeezed Tom's hand in goodbye, and crept up to sit by Bernadine and Finn. You looked back to see Rennie get up, and seemingly apologize to Tom, who shook his head and gave Rennie a friendly pat on the back. You did feel bad for Rennie, being actively romantically involved with Tom was painful enough, you couldn't imagine what it must be like being in love with him with no reciprocation at all. Rennie gave you a sad look and mouthed "sorry." You smiled your biggest smile and mouthed back, "it's okay." You were just glad that was settled. After a while, you heard footsteps enter the room.
"Alright guys, it's time." Kunstler said, accompanied by Weinglass. Everyone got up. You grabbed Tom by the hand, pulled him into the other room and kissed him passionately, making sure no one else could see. He gave you a worried hug, clinging to you tightly. You kissed his neck and pulled away.
"You face is beautiful." You whispered. He smiled.
"Yours too." He replied, kissing you again.
"You do great today." You said quietly. He nodded.
"I'll do my best, no promises that I won't severely fuck everything up though." He retorted. You shot him a fake stern look and pushed him out to the other room to join everyone. You watched the guys walk out the door as you waved to them and they waved back. Little did you know, it would be one of the last times you'd see them all together.