Forever and ever 2. The adventure starts now.

Part 78.

Tom's pov~

The cold hit me harder than I had feared. But it wasn't really the cold that made me unfocused. I spun Y/N around with my arm raised, her hair blowing in the wind as she followed the dance movement until we faced each other.

Wide smile on her red cheeks. The cheeks I could barely look at. That's were his hands touched her. I suddenly took a step back, tearing my eyes from her smooth cheeks.

"You know, breathing in the fresh air is so invigorating. Don't you think?" A scarf was wrapped around her neck, coat thick against her body, and yet I saw her chest rise as deeply as she breathed in the oxygen.

But I didn't think much about her question. "Yeah." I said, staring ahead at the cold sea. I hadn't breathed such fresh air in a long time. Maybe it really was something invigorating...

And even now, here, by the sea, I've never been. I know I'd been here for almost a month now, but it never occurred to me to go to the sea. It was too cold for that anyway, but apart from that, I had retreated so deeply into my flat that until I discovered the exit, the strength to get to the sea wouldn't have been there anyway.

But now that I was here, I felt like I had reached a milestone. And that was another reason why I was supposed to be happy right now. But I wasn't. It was difficult when all I could think about was a stupid picture. A picture that had no right to end up on the internet and yet I was glad that I had seen it.
I just wondered what made her feel like she had to hide things from me. Was she afraid? Afraid I would get mad? Or afraid I would loose my temper?

She closed her eyes as she stared out at the sea, and lifted her shoulders with another breath she took. Her eyelashes twitched all cutely and the waves roared in the background.
I wish I had a camera with me to capture the moment, but I wasn't Harry, and I didn't have a camera. Yet, she looked so beautiful, so innocent, she could never cheat on me, could she? So why was I so afraid of it?

I stepped behind her, wrapped my arms around her stomach and placed a kiss on the back of her earlobe. Her hair blew in my face in the process and the smell of the sweet shampoo she used rose into my nostrils. Addictive and contagious, I wanted more. More of her, her smell, and her taste.

I rested my chin on her shoulder and she tilted her head against mine.
"I love you." She whispered, nuzzling the tip of her cold nose into my neck. An intense sting hit my heart, but when it was gone, it felt good. As if it had just charged up my heart for the butterflies to fly.

I rested my forehead against hers, letting the oxygen flow through my lungs before catching her lips in mine. The sweet taste she always carried with her capturing my taste buds, but that was okay. She was my favourite flavour.

I grabbed her chin, slowly turning her in my arms as our kiss carried its meaning and melted us together. She opened her mouth first and I took the permission to let my tongue dance with hers. It felt different than usual, like I had to enjoy the kiss more than at other times. To make it special so that she could think back to it weeks later, and even though I hoped I had achieved that, I couldn't be sure.
Time seemed to stand still, I didn't want to pull back when I realised that the moment was coming to an end, because I had the feeling that as soon as the kiss was over, my thoughts would be swallowed up by other things again. And I was right.
I stared into her eyes and saw the love she felt for me. I moved down to her cheek and saw his hand resting on her jaw. Her eyes now just a cold lie as the image flickered before me again and I soon found myself continuing the walk while she hurried to keep up with my steps.

~

Two days later Y/N had to leave again. I'd never found the opportunity to approach her about the picture, and even if I had, I did not. She had her reasons for not telling me and I trusted her. If she ever cheated on me, she would tell me. Even though I had felt numb for the rest of the day, I knew I was going to be okay.

The next day Harry had dragged me back to the gym again and made sure that I ate enough and would not be tempted to drink even a single drop of alcohol. He also made sure I took my pills, and in return he slept in my flat. Which he seemed to really like, by the way.
When he wasn't taking pictures, he was either hanging out on the huge couch watching action movies or talking to Ciara on the phone in every available room. Whether on the kitchen counter, in the reading chair or the billiard room. Finally, everywhere where there was a good view over the city.

And to be honest, I was jealous. He could talk to Ciara on the phone all day because even the time difference was not that big with only one hour, while I had to take stupid acting classes and had a time slot of 2 hours at 6 am while I had to get ready. Sometimes I even got up at 5 a.m. to talk to my girl a little longer, but she wasn't a fan of that, said I needed my sleep and that was the last time she let me wake up at 5 a.m.

On Tuesday I was back on set for the first time in over a week, not to shoot, god no, but to rehearse. I arrived with a cup of coffee in my hand to wake up my nerves, even though I loathed the bitter taste. It only worked if you added a ton of sugar and even then you had two things.
Cocoa, and diabetes.
So coffee and I were not the best of friends.

"Thomas!" A deep voice called out, but it was too far away to make out who it was until I turned around and heard the thick accent in his voice. "Do you have any idea what deep shit you're in?" Oh Rod. For sure.

I raised my eyebrows, the cup of coffee in my hand suddenly cold to the touch. Starting a riot with me when I had just arrived had to cost Rod some balls. And I was generally not a fan of people talking to me at that time of day.
"Where were you on Thursday and where were you on Friday?!" He growled, the veins at his temple bulging furiously.

"Oh come on-"
"Oh come on...!" He interrupted me right away and mocked my movements, exaggerating my facial expressions. What a son of a- "It was just the script lecture after all, eh?" A sarcastic smile leapt across his face, thrusting a firm fist into my shoulder a little too hard for it to be playful. Nonetheless I tried lightening the mood by throwing one of my charming smiles but to say it didn't work was an understatement.
"No it wasn't, you idiot. All the actors were there to take on their roles and read the script together. And of course you had to be the only one missing! We had to use John, the caterer, for you, and if it goes on like this, he will probably or even most likely take over your role completely. Do you understand me?" I didn't know John, nor had I ever heard the name before but I knew Rod was bluffing. I had been asked to do this film and even though I could be fired from the set at any time, I fit the role too perfectly. For that I would have to go further than missing two dates, so Rod's attempt to scare me had not triggered a single muscle in me. "Now I want you to go to every single actor, plus the director, and apologise in your most sincere and polite manner. Are we clear on that?" He stared into my soul, his fists long since fallen back to his sides.

Having your manager on set to control everything was fine until he starts wanting to control you. There must be over 8 main actors and knowing Rod he wants me to apologise to all of them, which is well over 50 including small part actors.
"Yeah. Go fuck your self." Is what I would have said if it were anyone but my manager. Instead, I just smirked to pull myself together and clenched my free fist. "Whatever." I said before I went into my trailer. The only place where I could retreat to some extent on set. But the coffee tasted even less than it already did and the pill I was supposed to take somehow magically ended up in the bin.

~You all are allowed to hate me because I'm already tearing them apart again, but there's still so much going to happen, otherwise this book would continue for another 10 years...~