𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓 ✞𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑘𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑧✞

part nine

Her fingertips drew small circles over his back as the pair watched the orange flecks of sunlight disperse into the room. Lying on his front, Tom was sprawled with a pillow tucked beneath his chin, his tanned shoulders exposed above the cream comforter. Beside him, Robyn lay on her side with an oversized black band tee and only her underwear on, simply watching as the light transformed Tom's eyes into an iridescent blend of honey brown. His lashes fluttered open every few moments to reassure himself she was still there before relaxing into a blissful light sleep.

On one occasion of opening his eyes, he perched himself further up, causing Robyn to retract her hand from palming his back and wait for him to speak. His attention shot between the sleepy girl beside him and the glossy black guitar that now looked almost wet with how the sunlight reflected from it's polished surface.

"Is that yours?" he motioned towards the guitar stand in the corner of her room, breaking their comfortable silence as his words dried out of his throat.

"No, my dads" she surprisingly replied with the truth.

Tom nodded scanning his eyes once more over its curved body.

"I saw the ones in your room. Do u play a lot?" she almost whispered, too tired to raise her voice much more.

"Yeah a lot. We had a band back home, me and Bill with two of our childhood friends- Georg and Gustav" he explained proudly. She raised her eyes brows and smirked at the surprise of this news, now shuffling up against the headboard to listen.

"Started when we were 10 or so when our moms became friends. Bill always had this idea of being a rockstar or some type of idol" he went on, subtly casting his eyes over through the window towards his house opposite.

"You close?" she questioned, sensing the shift in his eyes when he spoke of his brother. He nodded, looking up at her meaningfully.

"My guitars aren't anything compared to that one. How come he doesn't use it?" he questioned, changing the topic slightly in attempt to find out more about her sheltered and secretive history.

She sighed and looked back at his curious eyes. "He's away on tour right now" she replied, fiddling with the threads on the comforter.

Tom cocked his head to the side slightly and widened his eyes in surprise. "So he's like famous?" his voice cracking slightly as he woke up.

"Used to be. Not so much anymore, just does small gigs and openers for bigger bands" she spoke casually. Leaning over, she grabbed a small wooden photo frame from her side table and flipped it so he could see. Encapsulated within the photograph, there was a young and built man with similar features to Robyn strumming the same black guitar on stage with both an expression of concentration and passion. He looked untouchable.

"When does he come back?" he asked, still looking over the man's pose.

"Two more months. I have my cousin stopping by every couple of days to make sure I'm still alive" she shrugged, placing the frame back down in it's position. At this point, Robyn had swiftly shut down any further questions and nestled her body further down into the bed so that she was now eye level with Tom.

Their eyes connected over the pillows for several moments, exploring each others faces. Disheveled, her braids swept loosely across her hairline, causing them to fall from her face slightly as she moved. Noticing this, Tom raised a gentle hand and pushed them from her natural face slowly, feeling as this moment became more intimate.

Leaning up, she placed a swift and gentle kiss upon his lips and watched as he reacted with a toying smile. Satisfied, she lightly closed her eyes and deepened further into the comfort of the bed, allowing both the drugs and the events of the night to transcend her into a numbing sleep.

Unlike her, Tom lay awake for half an hour or so, watching her chest rise and fall as his thoughts wound into burning questions. He knew that their forbidden actions would have consequences but couldn't help feeling like a mutual agreement had been formed that they wouldn't discuss this and simply act on their impulses. Ignorance was bliss. Transfixed, his questions spiralled as he examined the up close beauty of her face while she slept. Why was she such a mystery? And why was she so addicting?

~*~

She woke to a rapid series of knocks echoing around the silent house. She stirred, pulling her weary frame up into the warmth of the midday light, now noticing as her clock read 12:00am. Five hours of sleep. Groaning, she sluggishly slid from the covers and onto the floor, her joints aching with each small step. Before leaving her room, she glanced back at the sleeping Tom in her bed, seeing as his thick dreads sprawled over the pillow and his lips slightly parted under the light, tainted with the remnants of blood. That was when she remembered the previous night between blurs of intoxication. Because of this, she feared who would be stood on her porch as she clambered down the stairs.

"Rob!" a feminine voice called out behind the wood. Opening the door, Robyn smiled slightly in relief as her cousin Alicia stood before her smiling brightly before pulling her into a tight hug.

"I tried to call but you didn't answer" she explained pulling away and pushing her car keys into her jean pockets.

"Yeah sorry I've just been pretty busy" Robyn lied, stuttering slightly as her morning brain adjusted to the pace of reality.

Robyn wordlessly gestured for her to follow her into the house, aimlessly picking up the small collection of forgotten solo cups and bottles and moving them over to the sink. She figured this was pointless and soon stopped as Alicia gave her a reassuring eye roll to signal that it was unnecessary to hide from her.

"Coffee?" Robyn asked, running her fingers through her sea of braids as she filled the machine with water and a gold capsule.

"Nah, I'm sort of in a rush to do some errands for the new house" she explained, sliding onto one of the barstools. Robyn turned to face her as the coffee machine hummed, resting her back on the counter too as the pair caught up.

"How's that going?" she asked.

"Pretty good, Caleb never does anything but paint and electrics these days" she laughed.

Robyn had always looked up to Alicia and truly needed her during these moments of isolation. She admired how she was so organised and in control of her life she was with a stable job, husband and a new house. All of which made Robyn internally nauseated at the thought of possessing when being twenty-four. But, Alicia was different and it made her happy so it too, made Robyn.

Mind drifting, Robyn recalled the events of the previous night as Alicia's monotonous story became inaudible over her thoughts. The kiss with Tom, the fight with Jay and the drugs.

"Hey, sorry Alicia-" she interrupted "I have a favour to ask"