Warrior: Tommy & Eliana's Story (Fanfic)

Chapter 5

    "The usual hun?" The lovely old lady at the diner asks me. I've been coming here since I was in high school. My favorite diner. I sit at the same corner booth in the back as always, just so I could people watch. Sad isn't? After a few minutes go by my breakfast is brought out and I dig in. As I'm eating I start to catch up on some paper work for school. Fully devoted and lost to the world around me, I don't even notice the shadow of a person who is now standing right next to me.

  "Mind if I sit wit'chu?" A deep, slightly rasped voice stuns me out of my concentration. He takes my silence as confirmation to sit. I can't find words to say. All I can do is just stare in disbelief. He stares at me intensely and its slightly intimidating. What the hell does he want?

  Why do I get speechless with every encounter with Tommy? I can't let him keep affecting me this way. He doesn't deserve these kinds of reactions out of me.

  "Come to ask how I've been again?"  I answer with a cocked eyebrow. The corner of his lips twitch upward.

  "Well, I did always wonder what'chu were up to all those years." He says as he rolls the toothpick in his mouth to the left side. His gaze as intense as I remember, which causes a cold sweat down my back.

   "There were ways for you to know those things." The hostility evident in my tone. "Do you really think you have the right to know anything about me, after the way you left, Tommy?" He breathes a heavy sigh as he leans back and slouches a bit in the booth. Clearly he doesn't want to hear how wrong he was all those years ago.

  "You knew why I had to go-" He tries to explain, but I cut him off.

  "You still could've said something!" I hiss at him. I noticed a few pairs of eyes on us after my outburst. Lowering my voice again, "I understood why you and your mom had to go, but did I not ever cross your mind?"

   "Nothing I say is gonna make this better. The second I left without seeing you... I knew I fucked up. I was a kid, El." I almost want to give in and stop being a bitch towards him, but I know I shouldn't.

  "Did you know before or after, Tommy?" I see the muscles in his jaw tighten. His eyes show so many different emotions. "Before or after?" I ask again through gritted teeth.

  "Before." Tommy replies solemnly. That answer is all I need to get me moving. I take cash out of my purse and throw it on the table. I quickly gather up my things and rise from the booth and hastily walk out of the diner. I don't even bother to put on my jacket. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse than Tommy leaving without a word to me. He practically guts me with that answer. Hitting the button to unlock my car, I open the door only for it to be pushed shut again. I whirl around to find Tommy invading my space. He places his hands on the either side of my car boxing me in.

  "You can't keep running from me, Eli." My attempt at pushing him away does nothing. He's built like a brick wall. He grabs at my hands to keep me from beating on his chest. "I fucked up. I was a kid back then, Eliana, and I messed up." I finally manage to pull my hands free from his hold.

  "You had every chance to tell me you were leaving, Tommy. Every chance.... before we had sex." I can feel the hot tears running down my face. His hand goes to wipe those tears, but he thinks better of it. "Can you imagine what it was like for me to wake up that morning? For you to not be lying next me or even in philly for that matter. I gave you a piece of me and you made off like a theif in the night.

   "No note, no word, not even a damn phone call!" My voice raises with anger. "You didn't just break my heart... You shattered it, Tommy. You scarred me for life. And now you're back and you want to talk?"

  "I fucked up. I can never apologize enough for what I did. Shit got worse and I couldn't deal. Mom was ready to run- so I came that night to tell you. I swear I did, Eliana, but seeing you and talking to you like we always do... You made me forget the shitty life that was waiting for me when I got home.

  "That kiss? It was suppose to be my goodbye, but one thing lead to another and I never felt more like a piece of shit than I did at that moment. Leaving my safe haven was the hardest fuckin' thing I ever had to do. Apart from watching my mom suffering and dying from cancer." I am a wreck. I am angry but I also feel pain for him having to watch his mom die. My emotions are all over the place. Running wild; back and forth, confusing me as to how I should really be feeling after hearing his confessions.

  "I need to go." I sniffle. I can feel his stare burning holes into my face; trying to get me to make eye contact with him. He doesn't move. "Can you please step away, Tommy? I want to leave." He still doesn't move, only stares. I give him my eyes, just as he wanted and I immediately regret it. There's pain, there's hurt, even a hint of fear- which is a rare sight for Tommy Conlon.

  "I need y... I need you to know how sorry I am Eliana. I hate myself for what I did to you, but you of all people know why I had to leave. Maybe you can- I don't know, can you ever stop hating me?" He pushes off my car, taking a few steps back before turning and jogging away.

   Here I am left in the diner parking lot, my heart beating a mile a minute and just as or even more confused than I was before. Screw you, Tommy Conlon!