All Roses Must Wilt (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

Chapter 30- Shakespeare

About twenty minutes later, Tom puts down his phone. "You ready?" He asks.

I purse my lips, not wanting to stop typing. But it's his birthday. I've got to go see this play with him. "Yes," I reply, shutting my laptop. "You excited?"

He stands up and holds out a hand to me, a big smile on his face. "Immensely. Are you?"

"What play is it again?" I ask.

"Romeo and Juliet," he replies.

"Well I like that play, so yes. I'm excited." Grabbing his hand, he gently helps me up, and I slip on my shoes and a coat before we leave.

Tom gets a taxi. The busy streets were already crowded with cars, and I start to wonder if we'll make it in time. But Tom seems pretty confident that we will.

"You know, I'm sort of broke now. I'll have to find an ATM soon so I can get some money."

"Well you can do that later. Today is my treat," he says.

"I thought yesterday was your treat?"

"It was. They're both my treat to you."

"Well you can't pay for everything," I point out.

"Rose, just enjoy the moment. There's no need to worry about little things like who's paying; worrying makes the day less fun, wouldn't you say?"

Was I making his birthday less fun? I quickly shut my mouth, deciding not to bring up money until tomorrow. Just have to enjoy the moment. But how? "How do you suggest I 'enjoy the moment', then?" I ask.

Tom raises his eyebrows lightly, looking at me. He's about to say something, but the taxi soon stops. I'm guessing his excitement about the Shakespeare play returns, because he pays the driver and practically jumps out of the car. I follow him, and I'm quite amazed by the building in front of us. It's large, that's for sure. The shape seems round, and I can already imagine what the inside looks like. I think we must be early, too, because it's not nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. There's a very small line at the entrance. After we give the man our tickets (don't ask how we got the tickets, either. Tom never said a word about it to me), we enter the large theatre, which isn't even filled up yet.

We have seats in the very center of the theatre, and a perfect view of the stage. I sit next to Tom, crossing my legs lightly. No more than five minutes later, people start to file in, and the entire theatre is filled entirely. I suddenly feel his fingers entwine in mine. I look over at him. And I don't know what to say. He looks... perfect right now. The clothes he wore, the way he styled his hair... The way the light from the stage made the room dark, but not too dark. The way it created a perfect lighting on his face, highlighting his features. And most importantly, the way he was smiling and how excited his eyes were. Then those bright blue eyes of his meet mine, and he grins and he grins even wider, creating small crinkles by his eyes. My stomach explodes into butterflies. Oh, how I loved the way he smiled.

"You shouldn't look at me like that in public, my dear," he whispers to me.

"L-Like what?" I ask, my eyes still meeting his.

"You do it quite often, and not just to me. You stare at something as if you're taking in all of the details, but your mind seems lost in space."

"Oh. Well I don't mean to do it. I'm sorry."

"I don't mind," he replies. "I just like to tease you."

I then realize his hand is still in mine, and I gently pull from his grasp, wiping my hands on my skirt. They were a little sweaty.. That's not at all attractive. Tom, why do you do this to me? Make me so nervous?