The Darkness Inside

Five

In the master bathroom, Tom ran his fingers through his hair, giving his brown locks a tousled look, the way Bryn loved.  There was always one tuft of hair that did it's own thing, no matter what he tried.  'Did you just wake up or did we just fuck... no one will ever know,' she would tease, kissing him, with her fingers in his hair, tugging on it.

Rinsing his hands of the hair pomade and drying them on the towel, he gave himself a once over, confident Bryn would approve.

Izzy had been hired at the library in town, so they were going to meet Bryn at Roasted Fig for dinner to celebrate.  The weather was perfect, sunny yet breezy, and Tom had made reservations for the deck which overlooked the river.  Izzy and Bryn both needed it.

It'd been two weeks since Izzy joined them, and while there were still plenty of awkward moments, Tom felt things were getting easier.  Bryn made great efforts to reach out to Izzy, and occasionally, Izzy would join her for small trips into town.  After being hired to shelve books for the librarians, Bryn treated Izzy to a shopping spree to ensure she had plenty of clothes appropriate for the job. 

"Ready to go, kiddo?" Tom rapped on the bedroom door belonging to Izzy.  He smoothed his tie down and began to roll the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows so he wouldn't be too hot in the evening sun.

"Come in here, please," he heard her through the door.

He turned the knob, pushing the door open.  A deer in headlights, he suddenly felt sick to his stomach.  An apology stumbled out of his mouth as he shielded his eyes from Izzy who stood in the center of the room, naked. 

Her arms were straight next to her, her palms facing outward.

Still looking away, blocking her with his hand, Tom struggled for words.  "Did you need help or something?"

Izzy didn't reply.  He saw her feet move and his muscles stiffened as he realized she was heading towards him.

"I'll wait for you downstairs," he started to turn when she reached out and took his hand, gently, pulling it away from his face.

"It's okay," she whispered.  "You can look."  A playful smirk spread across her face.  "I won't tell."

Tom just laughed in spite of himself.  "What?" He kept his eyes to the side but he could tell she was right in front of him.  She was hard to miss.  "Finish up and lets go.  We have reservations."

"Touch me," she said sweetly bringing his hand down to the soft flesh above her chest.  His fingers grazed across the ends of her blonde hair that rested there.

Tom jerked his arm back, his heart racing.  "Stop it, Izzy.  Get dressed and let's go."  He didn't wait for a response this time.  He'd grown angry.

Stepping out of her room, he closed the door behind him, a little too harshly.  He felt his ears and cheeks burning with embarrassment.  Different scenarios played through his mind, even the ones he'd never even fathom before she'd been right there in front of him, telling him to touch her.  Shaking his head, ridding himself of such thoughts, he quickly marched down the stairs, the wedding photographs on the wall judging him, and he wondered what the hell he was going to tell Bryn.  Or if he should even tell her at all.

Making his way down the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, heading towards the kitchen to grab the car keys, he nervously adjusted the knot in his tie.  He tugged on the collar of his dress shirt and tried to relax.  The image of Izzy's body stood out in his mind.  He took a deep breath and walked past the living room, glancing over at his niece sitting on the couch, playing with her phone.

Tom stopped breathing, his brows snapping together.  "What- " He looked back down the hallway towards the landing of the stairs, where he just came from.