I've Loved You Ever Since

Part 16

They had barely said anything after a hello and one armed hug. The right words just didn't seem to come to their minds as they picked at their lunch. She looked up, but he kept his eyes down. He tilted his eyes up, but she was focused on stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork one time too many.

"So, a public place during your lunch hour, huh." Tom spoke up at last. "Anything you've got to say to me?"

Stevie placed her fork down and reached for a napkin before she replied. "Actually, yeah." She paused to take a sip of her water with a slice of lemon in it. "I've been thinking." She heard him sigh. "We've got a little carried away, don't you think?"

"What does that mean exactly?" Tom leaned back, his arms folded over his chest. 

"Well, I mean, we spent a night together, had that talk and..." Stevie shrugged, finally locked their eyes. "We continued on as if our breakup never happened."

"See, I don't agree." Tom shook his head. "I've let you know that you're the one in control. I'm not being pushy. We see each other, when you're up for it. There's been no talk of us actually getting back together."

True. Everything he said, was true. "I think, things are moving too quickly. Maybe we should slow down a bit."

"What did Lindsey say to you, when he showed up at your place?" Tom asked, she frowned. "I know it was him and you lied. I heard his voice."

Stevie shifted in her seat, she cleared her throat to give herself an extra second. "It doesn't matter. It's got nothing to do with us." 

"And I think it does." Tom challenged. "You were fine, we were fine. You'd just taken me to your bedroom and the moment you see Lindsey, you're telling me that you're not in the mood. You didn't care if stayed, you just... didn't care anymore."

"Lindsey came drunk, he said some things and left." Partly true. "I'm talking about us right now, Tom. All I'm asking you is to take a step back, try and do things the right way. We jumped back into bed and pretended that all our problems were solved." Stevie did her best to steer the conversation away from Lindsey, but Tom didn't take the bait.

"You must think that I'm really stupid." Tom scoffed, shaking his head. "The whole time you and I were together, Lindsey was right there. Don't you think I noticed the way he looks at you? How his face lights up at the sight of you? He's had a thing for you for years." Tom added before she could argue. "Don't try and lie your way out of this."

Stevie was silent for a moment. She wasn't going to because clearly Tom knew more than she thought. "Fine, you're right. He has said some things that are making me rethink the past 15 years that I've known him, that's true." Stevie nodded, leaning in closer. Maybe having this conversation in public wasn't the best idea after all. "But did you hear me say that I'm in love with him or that I want to stop seeing you because I want to be with him?"

"No, you tried lying about it instead." Tom replied, sounding weirdly calm. "Have you seen him after that night?"

"Of course, I have. I see him at work every day." Stevie shrugged, knowing that wasn't what he meant.

"Christ, that's not what I'm talking about." Tom sighed. "Has anything happened between you? Anything at all."

Stevie parted her lips to answer, but then stopped. What was the point in lying? Why was she trying to protect Tom from something? They weren't together. The situation might have been a bit messy, but the she and Lindsey were both single. They hadn't done anything wrong.

"We kissed." Stevie chose to be honest. "I spent Sunday night with him and we talked about a lot of stuff we've been holding back."

"You kissed." Tom repeated. "Like... once? And you didn't have-"

"No." Stevie said. "We didn't." She added, completely ignoring the question if she and Lindsey had only kissed once.

Tom took some time to reply. He seemed to be deep in his thoughts, looking at everything but her. His eyes eventually settled on Stevie. "I'm done. For good this time."

"You're... you're done?" Stevie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because you asked and I was honest with you?"

"No, because I don't want to be involved in a love triangle." Tom shrugged. "Clearly, you're having some thoughts. I do have love for you in my heart still, but I'm not interested in competing. Not with someone, who's know you for so long and so well, who's been your best friend longer than you and I have been in each other's lives. If you and I were on the same page, you would have told me it was Lindsey that night, you wouldn't have gone to see him and you definitely wouldn't have been kissing him."

"But I didn't say that I want to be with him." Stevie repeated herself, her voice a little raised. "What you've heard now, that's enough to throw it all away? Maybe you weren't that interested in trying to begin with." She narrowed her eyes at him, but they widened again after Tom replied, getting up on his feet to leave.

"Maybe I wasn't."

~

AN: Another chapter that's not too exciting, but obviously important to get BN into bed at last. Thank you for reading ♥