Dinner in Bath

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When I awoke, Tom was already up and getting dressed. "Get ready darling, it's nearly noon," he said, shrugging on a tshirt. 

I grabbed my clothes and toiletries from my bag and retreated to the bathroom. After getting dressed and brushing my teeth, I went back out to find my luggage was gone. While I had been getting ready Tom must have been cleaning everything up.

Just then he peeked his head through the door. "Okay, I took our stuff down to the car. Are you ready to go?" I nodded and followed him back out the the parking lot.

"What, no 20 Questions about our destination today?" Tom grinned wryly at me from the driver's side.

"I've decided to stop asking. I like the surprise."

Tom laughed as we pulled out of the parking lot. I watched the buildings pass by outside my window, taking in the last bits of London before we left. "Oh hey, I almost forgot." I reached behind me, pulling my old iPod out of my bag. "Music?"

Tom's smile was enough of an answer. I plugged my iPod into his speakers and chose a song at random. For the rest of the drive we sang along to the songs, making faces at each other and laughing. 

When Tom pulled into a town two hours later, I was stunned to recognize it. "Is this Bath?"

Tom chuckled. "I thought you said you'd never been anywhere but Cambridge."

I shrugged. "Well, I almost went to Bath University instead of Cambridge. I made the last-minute switch about a month before I was set to leave because I got a late acceptance letter. I've seen countless pictures of this place. What are we doing here?"

"I thought a dinner at the Roman baths might be nice." 

A smile broke across my face. I had always wanted to go to the baths, and I was kind of disappointed that I wouldn't be able to when I went to Cambridge. "How did I get so lucky?"

Tom looked at me, brows drawn together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You," I said, "I've never met anyone like you. What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Tom reached down with one hand and laced his fingers between mine. He sighed, "You don't get it do you? You're the most incredible person I've ever met and it's like you don't even know it."

I smiled again, a warm blush coloring my cheeks.

Our little moment was interrupted as Tom rounded a corner and the baths came into view. "Here we are." We parked and got out, and I stared straight up at the beauty of the facade. America had nothing on England when it came to historical buildings. 

Tom held out his arm and I looped mine through it, before we walked in. He picked up the tickets while I waited in the atrium, mesmerized by the architecture. When he returned, he was followed by a waiter who showed us to our table. 

Pictures had nothing on the in-person view from inside the building; I was in geek heaven. The walls rose up around us and ended in an open ceiling. Night had rapidly descended and I stared up at the beautiful expanse of stars. "This is...amazing," I sighed. 

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After a wonderful meal and a bit of a debate over whether or not the Romans were the best architectural society in history, Tom and I headed out, but this time instead of driving into the city, Tom drove away from it.

"Warwickshire," Tom said from the driver's side.

"What?"

"Warwickshire, that's where we're going next. It's about 2 hours from here."

"And what's in Warwickshire?" 

Tom laughed, "I thought you would have known." The blank look on my face must have been answer enough. "Stratford-Upon-Avon. That's what's in Warwickshire."

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