Escape: A Royal Tom Holland Romance

Family Tension

"This is madness! Madness I tell you! Please tell you're not considering this!" Harrison paced back and forth, convinced he too was going mad.

"I don't know." Beth replied somberly. She bit her nails, torn and completely out of sorts. She wasn't prepared to be back in this palace. The air felt wrong, haunting in a way. There was nothing she could do to ease herself.

"Gah—you'd think four boys would've been enough to secure a throne—" Harrison threw his hands up. He paced, resting his hands on the back of his head, tugging slightly at his hair in frustration. "Our Tom knows nothing of palace life, ruling a kingdom—he's got a common education, sure, but that's not enough!"

"Zendaya assured me Sam is in good health and that he has meticulously arranged a curriculum with all of his tutors available that could catch Tom up—but that sounds exhausting. Our kid should be a kid right—"

"Right!"

"This is ridiculous! Heir or no heir, we're going home—"

Just then, Tom burst through the doors, accompanied by Sam. They had just returned from their walk, and Tom was bursting at the seams, running to hug his parents. "Mum! Mum! I'm going to be a prince! And someday king! Can you believe it? I'll be in a history book like the ones from school—"

"Woah now, slow down there son. Don't get carried away—" Harrison stopped him, glaring at Sam slightly.

The look seemed to roll off Sam's back, as he was just overjoyed that Tom was so excited. "Your father is right, it's a big decision. You need to talk it over with your folks."

"There's no need to talk it over Sam, we're leaving." Beth said, grabbing Tom's hand and starting to pull him out.

"But—but Mum!" Tom pulled away from her, not wanting to leave. "We can't leave now!"

"I'm sorry, but we're going home, Tom. We don't belong here—" Beth started, but Tom fiercely fought back like he never had before.

"I do belong here!"

"Harrison get the children—Tom, we're leaving. Now." Beth seethed.

"No! I never belonged at home! All they do there is beat me up, call me names, make my life miserable! Now I know I'm supposed to be here—so I can be someone important—"

Harrison put a hand on his shoulder in attempt to calm him down. "Tom, listen to us. We're your parents and we want what's best for you—"

Tom pulled away from Harrison, his sad pleading shifting to anger. "Only one of you is. But neither of you were going to tell me—"

It stung, but Harrison persisted in trying to get through to him. "Son, it's complicated—"

"Don't even call me that! You knew—all this time. And you kept it from me! You're a liar!"

"Thomas!" Beth intervened, shocked at the change she saw in her once sweet son. But she knew she only had herself to blame for the damage their secret had done. Tom ran off down the hall, and Beth couldn't do anything but stare disapprovingly as he went. She slowly turned to look at Sam, and seeing her glare at him he felt the wrath of his own mother. "I see you covered everything, all without any consideration for our feelings—"

Sam was quick to defend himself, and his wife of course. "Now Beth, that wasn't my intention. I love my wife dearly, but due to our...struggles conceiving she's been a bit—uh—irrational—"

"Of course you'll blame the woman—" She scoffed.

"She's the one who kidnapped him! And she didn't ask my permission!"

"That doesn't give you permission to discuss matters such as those with him!"

"Really, Beth, were you ever going to tell him? You'd let his son go his entire life without knowing him—that would break Tom's heart—"

"Tom's not here!" She screamed in agony, the wound in her bleeding heart still as fresh as it was sixteen years ago. The truth was he was there in every stroke of paint, every picture on the wall. Every echo in the corridors, every single footstep. At any possible twist and turn there were an endless amount of reminders. A memory could flash before her eyes, but in a blink it would fade and never give her the satisfaction of living it again. It is said time heals all wounds, but time makes one forgetful. She never wanted to forget Tom, but remembering like this was too much to bear.

Harrison took her in his arms, where she nearly collapsed from it all. "Sweetheart, you need to get some rest. The day has taken a lot of you."

"I'll see that rooms are prepared immediately. And we'll find Tom and make sure he's accommodated as well." Sam said solemnly before walking away to give them some space.

All Beth could do was sob into Harrison's chest, and he silently held her as she let out every earth shattering cry of pain that had built up over years and years of burying it inside. She didn't notice, but he too began to weep, the familiar feeling of being an unworthy replacement creeping up on him again. He managed to keep those plaguing thoughts at bay most days, but today was just impossible. He couldn't help it. Tom's death was the only reason he had what he had, and there was no denying that there would've been a much different ending had it never happened. He knew Beth truly loved him, but the doubt from the "what ifs" always lingered. But no matter what, he fought with great vigor to do right by his family, for Tom's sake, to fulfill for him what he would have in life even if it haunted him everyday. He pushed back her hair, wet from the tears, nuzzling into her. "Shhh, darling. It's alright. I'm here, I'm here."