𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓 ✞𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑘𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑧✞

part eight

"How is it that whenever I'm with you, I somehow get punched?" Tom chuckled from the driver seat, one hand firmly controlling the steering wheel as he leaned back in his seat.

Robyn stayed in silence as she stared out the window, her eyes following singular raindrops as they branched out over the glass.

After remaining silent for half of the drive, her eyes remained fixed on the window but this time, she began to laugh.

It was small at first, but soon escalated into a genuine laugh, one that she hasn't been able to produce since arriving in the city.

From beside her, Tom chuckled slightly as he watched as the girl escalated into a fit of hysterics, her smile radiant beneath the dark shadows. It was a smile he had missed.

Her laughter shortly subdued as she took several breaths. A short silence followed as Robyn turned to face him, her eyes stained with remnants of tears and rain.

"I'm sorry you had to see him like that" she spoke more formally, her eyes scanning over the familiar contortions of his face. His jaw peeking out beneath the shadows as he replied.

Shrugging, Tom turned to face her, a smile tugging on his lips.

"I'm not that great at meeting the parents anyway" he spoke sarcastically, manoeuvring the wheel quickly as he parked outside the hotel.

There was a silence as they smiled at each other.

"Thank you" she spoke softly, genuinely thankful that he was helping her.

"Of course" he nodded in reply, his eyes softening as he faced her.

They remained this way in the parked car for several moments until a blinding flash invaded the passengers window, swiftly followed by an eruption of shouting and clicking. Paparazzi.

"Here, put this on" Tom instructed, lowing his sunglasses onto his eyes as he unzipped and removed his hoodie.

Nodding, Robyn pulled the damp fabric around her, zipping it up to her neck as the flashing photographers continued to competent their cameras into view. Hurriedly, Tom accumulated his belongings and pulled Robyn's duffel from the back seat, slinging the strap over his shoulder. He paused before getting out, turning to face her.

"Put the hood up. Keep ur eyes down and hold on" he spoke seriously, pushing his door open and hopping out into the crowd of paparazzi.

She followed similarly, leaping from the car and pushing past the photographers, their shouting loud in her ears and the flashing bright in her eyes. Her breaths increased in pace as she fixated her gaze to the floor, awkwardly waiting as Tom locked it and hurried around to her side.

They barked questions at the pair as Tom found her waist, one hand interlacing with hers as the other found her hip to guide her through. She quivered at his touch, the memories of their past flooding back to her as he walked closely behind her.

"Here" Tom instructed, pulling Robyn quickly behind the wall of the hotel, seeing how the gates to the parking lot closed and the paparazzi became stuck behind it.

Hurriedly, he pushed her back against the wall, stepping closer to her as he shielded them from the ripped of flashing cameras. Pressed between Tom and the wall, there was a moment of tension as she watched him discard his sunglasses, his eyes serious and shifting as they peered around the wall. Her eyes trailed over his face, seeing how he clenched his jaw and swallowed slightly.

Then, her turned to face her, his gaze meeting hers with a soft smile as their faces grew only inches apart.

"You okay?" he asked, lowering his gaze down onto her glossed eyes.

She swallowed, feeling how he grew closer.

She nodded.

~*~

"You need a shower or clothes or anything?" Tom asked, tossing his key card down onto the dresser as the two entered the hotel room.

It was much larger than any of the motels she had previously stayed in with Kaya. A large glass window expanded over one wall, the speckled raindrops dripping down it distorting the view of the city. It was fairly clean, with only a few scattered clothes across the floor and several bottles of liquor occupying the desk space.

"Robyn?" he repeated from behind her, snapping her from her gaze.

"Hmm?" she turned, seeing how he was already removing his shoes and shirt.

"I'm soaked. I'm gonna have a shower. Do you need anything?" he spoke, his steps already trailing to the bathroom.

"No I should be fine" she spoke bluntly, unsure of how to interact with him after what had just occurred.

"Okay" he smiled, lingering in the doorway slightly as his eyes scanned over her.

"What?" she asked, seeing how he didn't move.

He paused.

"I'm going to explain. I promise" he explained, his eyes remorseful and genuine.

And within a matter of moments, he had disappeared behind the door and flicked on the shower.

Collapsing down onto the bed, Robyn lay there in confusion, her soaked dress dripping beads of water down her skin.

What the fuck was she doing here?

~*~

Robyn was thinking for the entire ten minutes that Tom was in the shower; specifically debriefing how casual and nonchalant Tom was being after everything that had happened all those years ago. He had left her. She needed him, and he left her.

The door creaked open and Tom slipped out, his hair now wrapped up in black silk with only a white hotel towel draped around his lower waist. She sat up immediately from the bed, seeing how his glossed complexion had a dewey sheen over it as he walked in the dim light. Of course, she saw how he had grown more muscular and toned, his body now being that of a man's with angular muscles etched into his torso. He smiled arrogantly as he saw her stare.

"You miss me?" he joked cockily, his expression growing into a smirk as he moved closer.

She wanted to punch him. Again.

"Why are you being like this?" she spoke confrontationally, shooting up from the bed as she felt the frustration grow in her throat. "You left me. And now you're acting as if I'm going to gawk over you like some cheap groupie. I'm not just going to forget everything" she spat, feeling each word grow angrier.

Tom stood in shock for a moment, grazing his brow bone with his fingers before he spoke.

"You think I've forgotten everything?" he remarked, taking a step closer as he argued "I think about that shit everyday"

"Then why did you do it?" she practically roared, flailing her arms at her sides as she faced him.

"You think I had a choice? I had producers and managers and the whole fucking tour breathing down my neck that week" he began "All calling the band 'unprofessional' and 'just stupid kids' when in reality, I was facing one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make"

"You could've said something. You could've told me. You could've came back to town to make sure I wasn't fucking dead" she listed, seeing how his chest rose and fell in growing frustration.

"You don't think I tried?" he roared "I came back like a week later. I got three fucking flights and the only thing I found was that dickhead Jay pathetically lying on your porch- drunk"

Robyn's breath hitched. His face was inches from hers, looming above her as he went on.

"I gave him my number, a fucking letter I wrote you and all he could say was that you took off and no one could find you" he spat, his words angry but passionate.

"I looked fucking everywhere Robyn. I went to the gas station, to see Jesse, to see Olan. All of them, nothing." his tone softened, his brows falling as his eyes now desperate as they clung to hers.

"Don't say I left. Because you fucking left too" he concluded.

Tom went to speak once more, but his words were swiftly cut off as his lips were engulfed by Robyn's, her breaths desperate as she moaned into his lips.