A New Road ➢ Thomas Brodie Sangster

Raw

I wake up to knocking and ringing. I look at the clock. Who the hell is up at 6 in the morning? I push back the covers and shiver as I try to find my robe to cover myself up because I always sleep in only my bra and underwear. I wipe my eyes as I head to the front door.

It's Thomas. His blonde hair is in messy locks and he's in navy blue sweatpants with a gray t-shirt on. And he's holding a bouquet of white roses.

"Happy Valentine's Day, love." he says while kissing me in the doorway.

I pull away from him and he hands me the roses, "Aww Thomas. They're beautiful, thank you. I was going to yell at whoever woke me up but it was worth it." He walks inside and he makes himself comfortable on the couch while I put the roses in a clear vase in my room.

"Grace is in NY with Blake. They're..prepping for some things. You know, handling their affairs and informing family about their lives." I call out from my room.

"Oh okay. I wondered why it was so quiet in here. Listen, I thought we could spend the day together. If.. that's alright with you." he says while I walk to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

"That would be perfect. Did you have breakfast or anything?" I ask as I take a muffin from the plastic container. He shakes his head. "Eat up, we've got plenty of food."

Thomas takes some cereal from the cupboard and pours it into a bowl. "So, we can watch tv in the morning and then head out somewhere later." he says in between bites.

"Yeah that sounds good, just fit in time for a 2 hour nap." I say as I finish my coffee and muffin and head back to my room, "starting now. Feel free to make yourself comfortable wherever."

I walk to my room and leave the door slightly cracked. I slip my robe off and I'm in the process of climbing under the covers when there's a knock at the door and Thomas' head pokes in. "Can I make myself comfortable in here?" he asks with a laugh.

My face turns red as I remember practically naked right now but I nod and he comes to my bedside. He looks nervous and stands a little awkwardly, "Can I um.. Can I join you or would that be-"

"It's fine," I say and move over so he can lay next to me. He climbs under the covers and I turn to face him on my side and close my eyes.

He kisses me lightly on my nose and rubs his thumb in circles on my cheek as he moves closer to hold me. I snuggle closer to his chest and I can hear his heart beating fast. It's comforting. The silence in the room, it isn't awkward. He continues to stroke my arm, leaving goosebumps behind in its wake.

"Thomas," I say, not opening my eyes.

"Hmm?"

"I forgot to say Happy Valentines Day to you," I muffle into his chest.

He laughs and it tickles my cheek, "We have plenty of time for that later. Go to sleep, love". His voice rumbles.

"M'kay," I say and the beating of his heart puts me to sleep.

~~~~~

I unlock the doors to the dance studio and turn the lights on. Thomas wants to dance a little bit. Just us.

He changed into dress pants and a nice shirt and tie and even picked out a dress for me to wear from my closet. It was a peach dress with a sweetheart neckline and a skirt that was flown. My brown hair came down in waves on my back.

"Any particular song?" I ask as I go through the computer hooked up to the sound system.

"A slow one," he says as he puts the picnic basket on the floor and lays out the blanket we brought.

I pick Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran and kick off my heels. Thomas takes my hand and we step side to side, turning in a circle as I lay my head on his chest.

"Can you believe we've only been dating for about 2 months?" he asks.

"I know. It surprises me everyday." I say as I lift my head up to look at him. His smile fills my stomach with butterflies.

"Can I ask you, what happened in your past? I don't mean to intrude but.. I feel like if we open up and make ourselves raw, that maybe we'll be closer," he says tentatively as he holds my waist.

"Umm.. Yeah. Okay," I say and he leads me to sit down on the blanket as he takes the food from the basket out.

"Where do I start? I guess.. Um yeah. So when I was 17, well you already know, I lost my virginity. I mean, I see no problem having sex when, at the time, you feel like you love the person. The guy it was with was my first real heartbreak. We broke up about 3 after it happened and I didn't really know how to handle that pain. I was always the one who wore my heart on my sleeve but I didn't know that love can bring that much aching. All of my boyfriends since then I've ended up scared to fully commit. Scared that I'll get hurt again once it gets really serious. I would fall but pull myself back always scared to go through that pain again. Ultimately I always ended up hurting myself. But with you, I realize that I'm no longer scared. That I don't have to be. Instead of being in fear, I'm happy." I say and let Thomas soak it all in. He looks overwhelmed.

"Wow. Now I know what your family was talking about. But I'm glad that you're no longer scared and that I really do make you happy," he says with a smile and I give him a kiss on the cheek as a reward.

"I once was in love with a girl named Isabella Melling," Thomas starts, taking in a deep breath, "She was the one I lost my virginity to too. We dated for about a year but we realized that we weren't meant to be and that we truly weren't happy with ourselves. But I take that time in my life as a lesson. And that is to make sure whatever I do in my life and whoever I choose to be in it, everything makes me happy," he says as he rubs my shoulder.

We're both silent for a while, "I like happy." I finally say. Thomas laughs at this, "I like it too."

We eat our dinner and spend the rest of the night dancing alone. It mostly consists of Thomas spinning me around and chasing me, but it was the perfect Valentines Day.