We Invented Love (a Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

Untitled Part 5

Seeing you here brings back memories

Evie stopped dead in her tracks, fearful she may fall over, and the lead casket that had just clamped a vice around her heart, before punishingly beating it against her rib cage, was pumping out the awful truth and not providing her respite until she begged.

She hadn't heard that name for years, and she had not until this very moment realized how much she had enjoyed not looking back over her shoulder to see if he would appear - all muscular finesse, and smart mouthed insolence. She hadn't missed him one bit, if she was being entirely honest. She had an underlying feeling, however, he wasn't about to allow her to go on with her life now some exciting opportunity had marched on in. That just wasn't enough like Thomas, if there was a dramatic band walking straight into her life; he was bound to be the conductor, making sure all the musicians played the wrong notes, just to spite her hearing. And he would waste all that energy just for the satisfaction of seeing her weep - big fat tears of sorrow and hate.

For the last ten years, she had fled any room the minute she heard even the name Tom mentioned, she had made Emma swear over her grandmothers grave never to utter his name in her presence, much to her confusion, and whenever he came to Oxford to visit his parents, she made sure she was half the world away, relaxing on a beach somewhere in Miami, pretending to be on a university trip, lying to herself, convincing herself she wasn't running away. She had dodged more parties than she cared to admit, and she was more a coward than she cared to admit too.

Because she was scared to talk to the boy who inhabited most of her childhood memories and scarred her with years-worth of emotional trauma; she was scared of the boy who reminded her of her parents utter rejection of her in comparison to her brothers; she was sacred of the boy who had indented what felt like her very soul with his childhood wickedness; Because she was terrified of the man he might have become. Because if he had that much power over her a decade ago, she was terrified to find out what sort of havoc he could wreak now.

"Um, perhaps," Evie muttered her reply with a false laugh, trying, but failing, to cower behind a false bravado. "I haven't seen him for years though, we never really talk, well, we never talk at all."

Kenneth looked at her a little more closely at her now, she seemed uncomfortable and he couldn't discern why. Tom had only mentioned her name once or twice, only in passing comment, and certainly nothing that would explain this response. Kenneth only remembered her because her last name was a little more unusual. "Well, he's here this weekend, he's one of the main actors the BBC have asked to participate in the series they are running, he wanted to see how the experts saw the texts or something like that. I just thought seeing as you said it was your first time, and it's his first time, perhaps you could exchange opinions, you obviously know each other, maybe it would be good for you to reacquaint yourselves. If all goes to plan, you may end up talking a lot more than just this one conference, well, that's what I hope anyway." He ended his speech with a smile that reflected his inner hope. But Evie felt something akin to the polar opposite.

She knew, if she was given even half the opportunity, she would run all that way back to Oxford, no questions asked. Wind, Rain, Snow, Hail, Hurricane or Tsunami, nothing would stop her but that one look of hope in Kenneth's eyes. As her hero, he hadn't disappointed, and she was loathed to refuse him now. Evie was staring straight into the open arms of the biggest adventure of her life, a chance to work with the BBC on something she had always loved; a chance to do something outside books, which was still related to books. It was waiting to envelop her life in something so much bigger than the library at Balliol College.

Evie sucked in a breath as she saw Kenneth take a step closer as though to enquire as to her new found silence, and opened her mouth to speak: "I would be honoured to help you Kenneth, but as I said before, I really don't think I can help you. I simply have too much extra work to do, and the course we are completing requires my full attention, I would be happy to recommend Mr. George Evans though, he is just as knowledgeable as I am, and would likely be far better suited to the task." Of course, she didn't mention he was likely to break the set, just the set on a whole, no specific part. He was likely to lose the script, numerous times, and he was likely to do a number of other things that were worthy of getting himself fired or mortally injured. For the sake of the college, Evie was still contemplating which one would be worse. She inwardly winced in sympathy for the crew that would be left to deal with him, but that was by far preferable to the alternative.