London Boy (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfic)

Candles

A/N: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL COMMENTS AND FOR ALL OF THE VOTES! I'M BLOWN AWAY, I REALLY AM! THIS CHAPTER CONCLUDES "LONDON BOY" AND I SINCERELY HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING IT AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED WRITING IT.

The next morning, the prying sun seeping through the blinds assaulted Lauren's eyes. She stretched out across the bed as she rubbed the sleep out of them. Tom's voice traveled in from the living room. It was apparent he was trying his best to keep quiet, but Lauren held her breath, trying to hear every word. She knew he was talking about yesterday's events, but she wasn't sure with whom.

Her heart sank as all the memories of yesterday came rushing back. The way Dex had touched her, the way he made her feel. Lauren shuddered in disgust and wiped the tears from her eyes that had welled up from the memories.

She tip-toed into the bathroom, not wanting to let Tom know she was up yet.

Staring back at her reflection, she grimaced at what she saw. Her left cheekbone was bruised along with a small scrape covered by a bandage. She slowly peeled it back to better observe her battle wounds. She wished she had some concealer to improve her poor appearance.

Splashing some cold water on her face to diminish the unsightly appearance of having cried her eyes out a few hours ago, she ran her tongue over her teeth and decided to use Tom's tooth brush to at least improve her breath.

A light knock sounded on the bathroom door.

"Lauren? Everything okay?" Tom asked on the other side of the door.

Lauren quickly rinsed her mouth before opening the door.

Tom leant against the door frame with his arms crossed, looking her over. Lauren hugged herself, feeling a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed by his gaze.

"Who were you talking to?" Lauren spoke up.

"Luke, actually. Word is getting out about last night and he's going to have to provide an official statement on my behalf to the media," Tom reached out to Lauren, took her hands and pulled her into his arms. "The police agree it was self-defense. Now it's just a matter of damage control before rumors get out of hand."

Lauren was so sick of crying but she couldn't keep the tears from betraying her. "I'm so sorry, Tom," she sobbed. "I know you have to be tired of seeing and listening to me cry."

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tighter.

"Not one bit, darling. Not one bit."

***

Weeks passed and Lauren remained at Tom's for the time being. He had gone and bought her some new clothes since she didn't have any with her other than the ones she arrived with. Lauren begged him to return them not wanting him to spend money on her unnecessarily. Yet, he insisted. He also used his sad puppy dog eyes on her. She could never say no to that look.

Lauren went back to work as soon as she felt able. She needed some kind of routine back into her life to move on. She craved normalcy. But considering she was dating Tom Hiddleston, she kissed normalcy goodbye quite some time ago.

The media had finally begun to move onto other topics. Tom and Lauren were the most talked about couple when news of Tom saving her life circulated. He had publicly confirmed his involvement with Lauren and Dex and with her permission, shared that they were seeing each other. Lauren braced herself for hatred from his loyal fanbase, but to her surprise, they were nothing but kind. They praised Tom for being a hero and took pity on Lauren for what had happened.

When she wasn't working, she and Tom were watching movies and eating takeout. Tom would soon be heading to Toronto to begin filming a new movie and he wanted to spend all of his free time with Lauren.