Life Is What You Make It (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfic)

Epilogue

A/N: Hi all! Here's the epilogue I promised. I hope you like it, and where it's led Tom and Mia in this story. Thank you again for all the reads, votes, and comments. They all mean so much!

Enjoy!

Our Own Slice of Paradise

The sun sinks slowly so that there's just a soft glow coming through the thin curtains of our bungalow. It rained earlier in the afternoon, the languid kind of storm that often happens in tropical locales - slow and warm with big fat drops. As our bungalow is positioned over a secluded lagoon, the rain made it seem even more like we're in our own private paradise. Now, the sky is clear and turning all the shades of pink, peach, and purple before it finally ebbs into indigo blue.

I roll onto my side to look at my napping partner. Tom is still asleep, and the radiance from the setting sun makes his skin glow like it's turning to gold. The effect is so real that I have to reach out to touch him to make sure he's still flesh and bone.

"Can't keep your hands off me, Love?" Tom asks as he barely opens his eyes to look at me. I catch my breath at the beauty of his golden skin in contrast to his pale blue eyes.

"Always...or never, or whatever the correct response is," I say, running my hand across his bare chest and abs. One of Tom's latest roles called for a high level of athleticism. Athletic Tom is very toned, buff, and sexy (like Regular Tom, only with a more defined six-pack).

Tom chuckles softly and reaches for me. I close the distance for our bodies to intertwine. His scent is intoxicating, a mixture of rain and sea and Tom.

"You know, we're going to have to figure out a way so that our projects are always in the same city. I don't think I can allow you to sleep apart from me again," he says, planting soft kisses on my cheek, neck, and shoulder.

"Do you think they'd let us put it in our contracts?"

"Not likely, but I'll bloody well try," he says.

It's been several months since our fateful horseback ride. Luckily for us, my mom and her friend, Josie, drove by to see Tom and I sitting in the dirt, crying, kissing, and generally looking like we'd lost our minds. Mom and Josie got the horses together and rode them home while Tom and I took her truck, holding hands the whole way like we'd never let go.

Since then, Tom and I had been inseparable. Well, as much as two roving actors can be. I went to Tom's premier for the Avengers/Guardians, and he came to the one for Wonder Woman. In between other projects (Tom's first Broadway play and my first truly serious role filming in and around London), we spend as much time together as possible.

We've racked up a huge number of frequent flyer miles, meeting once for just 18 hours in Nova Scotia when we both had time off. Tom arrived first, stopping at the market on the way to our hotel for food to sustain us so we didn't have to leave our room for our limited time together. When we did emerge to return to the airport, I admit that I couldn't walk properly, and I'm sure Tom was going to sleep 12 hours straight to recoup his stamina. However, we were both smiling like the Cheshire Cat, and we didn't stop holding hands, touching and kissing until forcibly removed from each other to catch our respective flights.

Another time, Tom made it home to London for a few days of downtime. I wrangled my own days off, and we spent that time holed up in his flat. The best part was when we each pulled out our favorite books and read them to each other. Tom, of course, read some of Shakespeare's sonnets to me and, surprisingly, parts of the first Harry Potter book. I read excerpts from a little known sci fi and fantasy author, Tim Powers, and poetry from Leaves of Grass.