now that we don't talk [tom blyth]

7.

My eyes shot up and immediately met the glaring blue eyes beside me. He was daringly close, his cologne tickling the top of my nose. He had a hand placed gently on my shoulder to calm my evident nerves of being around him. The corner of his lip tugged into a gentle smirk, the face of someone who was quite entertained by his ex-girlfriend trying not to break down before him.

I'm glad it was funny for him, but it sure as hell wasn't for me. My heart was desperate to burst from the confines of my blouse and I was struggling to keep my breath under control. My mind was racing trying to find words to say to him but nothing was coming and I could see the smirk on his face growing into a smile before he pulled me into a strong hug.

My face would have said it all to any onlookers, wide with shock and lack of comprehension, and I could see Dean glancing over from the side with a closed-lip grin. I took in the warmth of his embrace, relaxing a little into his arms and letting my breath come back to a reasonable pace. It took me back to those late nights in my apartment where I was run off my feet and hardly able to get a breath in. Tom used to think I was going to give myself a heart attack, forcing me to stop still and hug me. His deep, rhythmic breaths were a model to mine and I would find myself back to baseline within a few moments, simply mirroring the calmness he brought.

He pulled back with a smile and I took a moment to take him in. A back shirt hung over his chest, a printed jacket over the top. The blonde locks from the movie poster behind him were no more, instead back to growing out his brown curls that I once loved running my fingers through. I swear he didn't know how to look bad and today was no different.

"That's better," he whispered, tucking a piece of my brown hair behind my ear. It felt like time was moving so slowly, yet I am certain they only walked into the room 2 minutes ago. Hunter, Rachel and Josh were only just making their way over to us, shaking hands with Dean as they passed. I gave him a smile and nodded, and an unspoken thank you and greeting before I moved around him to the rest of the cast.

"Rachel, Josh, Hunter," I said, introducing myself with a handshake and quick 'hi' to each of them, "it is so lovely to meet you all. This is Dean, my videographer and photographer. I am Kira, from Variety,' they all nodded along to my spiel, Rachel flashing glances between Tom and I.

"We have about 30 minutes here for a filmed interview, then it will be just myself and Rachel and then myself and Tom. Those two aren't filmed but will be recorded and transcribed for the magazine feature. Is that okay?" all of them nodded, flashing smiles to me. I snuck a look at Tom and caught his eyes fixated on me. He had always had a habit of staring, making anyone he shared a room with feel like the most important one there, or the only one. Eye contact was his forté and, in all the time we were together, it never failed to make my knees feel weak beneath me, and now was no different. I remember nights when we would go out and share dinners together, his eyes always fixated on me and absorbed my whole look. We would go away for weekends, spending days on end wrapped wholely in each other. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss it.

I moved them all over to the chairs and the stylist came over and fixed up small bits of hair and clothing on them all. Dean made adjustments to the angle of their chairs and the camera, and through it all, I caught Tom's eyes on mine. His eyes, like glass, felt like they were trying to break me.

Dean gave us a quick countdown before the cameras started recording and I felt myself snap into journalism mode. They say when working in the media industry, you have this alter-ego that you just jump into once a camera is on you or someone starts talking. It takes a lot of professionalism to have this mentality and to keep the act up when your ex-boyfriend's eyes are drilling into yours like it's his last chance to see you.

"Congratulations to all of you on the film, I cannot wait to see it. As a huge fan of the books and the original films, it feels like I am reliving part of my childhood with this new release. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes brings a very fresh perspective to the Hunger Games universe. How do you feel you all worked together to create a cohesive narrative that both complimented and challenged the existing trilogy?"