Back To You // T.K

Pearl/Tom

Los Angeles.

I opened the door of my old house, - or better, Tom's house, - and all of the memories started floating back in my mind.
It all looked the same, yet so, so different.
The kitchen, where me and Tom spent a lot of time, - most of it not talking to each other, but rather we always ended up with me laying on the table.
The black leather couches, the bar of my left, the door to the gym on my right, - I never realized how much I had missed all of this.
The temperature was significantly higher than Florence, the sun shone right trough the glass walls, the birds were chirping outside, - it was just perfect, absolutely perfect.
I thought I was scared of it, and a part of me still was, but turns out that I could handle the paparazzis way better this time around, - maybe also thanks to all the appointments I had had with Jessie.

Who would've thought that therapy could actually help you move on from your traumas?
Everyone, probably, but not me, - therapy had always been a joke for me, I used to joke around and say that I was so crazy I desperately needed a therapist but I would never actually act on it.
Turns out that it wasn't as bad as I thought to open up to someone who wasn't as close to me as Tom was, - Jessie helped me overcome a lot, even if we still had some things to discuss.

I dropped all of my things on the ground and removed Maggie's leash so that she could've explored her new home, - she looked so happy whilst she sniffed around, her tail wagging.
She ran out in the garden and happily inspected all of the surface, right when Tom entered the house and threw his own things on the ground.
He wrapped his hands around my waist and rested his head on top of mine as he, as well, stared at Maggie running outside.

'She's going to love it here', I said, a smile forming on his lips.
This wasn't the life I left months ago, - it was still the same city, but it wasn't the same.
This time around I felt happy, protected and loved.

'I'm so glad you're both here', he said, leaving a kiss on my cheek.

I smiled and turned around as I wrapped my hands around his neck and looked at him.
His flexed jaw, his smirk, the braids falling just below his shoulders, the way he was gripping my hips so tightly, - he did things to me I still couldn't explain, no matter how many times we had slept together before.

'Where's Bill and Jocy?', I asked, shaking that impure thought out of my mind, but judging by him giggling I wasn't that subtle.

'In their new house', he replied, 'Gustav and Georg are helping them with the furniture.'

'Already? I thought they didn't move in for at least a week.'

'They wanted to be alone as soon as possible', he shrugged his shoulders as he walked to the kitchen's table.
He leaned against it and crossed his arms to his chest, a tired smile on his face.

'You know what that means, right?', he asked.
'We have this place all for ourselves, now.'

He stuck his hand out, which I took in mine and walked to him.
He pulled me closer, crushing his lips on mine and biting my bottom lip.
I was tired, jet lagged and sleepy, but I could never say no to him.

'You didn't ask me to move in with you', I teased him as I backed away from the kiss.

'Come on', he complained, missing the pressure of my lips on top of his, 'I thought it was obvious.'

'Well, it's not', I smiled as I played with one of his braids, 'you still have to ask me.'

'Pearl, baby, love of my life', he sighed, 'will you finally move in with me? Just me and you, no Bill or Jocy or other roommates.'

I shifted my gaze from his braids to his eyes and smiled.
Me and him had been leaving together for a while before I left for Florence, but it never felt like truly living with him.
People were always around, and as much as I loved having Jocy and the band in his house all day everyday, I wanted to build a life with Tom, in our own little world.