My Darling [2] || tom holland

Four - For the First Time

October 20, 2017
Carlingford, Co. Louth, Ireland

WARNING: Contains sexual themes and mature content

Halfway down the motorway between Dublin Airport and my family home in Carlingford, I could see all the classic signs of nervousness radiating from Tom. He tried to play it off but his body language was giving it away. Bitting his fingernails, moving from one foot to the other when he was standing, knees bouncing up and down, rubbing his hands in his trousers.

I tried to distract him by telling him about the family, who everyone was, what they did and what they were like. He wasn't really listening but the fidgeting stopped whenever I started talking so I guess it was working. Mom was driving us to the house in our rental car. It was a battle to get out of the airport with fans bombarding us for photos and autographs. We managed to evade some of them and go straight to the car but it only made Tom more agitated. I just held his hand and rubbed his knuckles until he simmered down.

As we drove through Carlingford town, I pointed out all the shops, pubs and people I recognised on the street. Mom accompanied my introduction of random people on the street with a story of an interaction she's had with them or a piece of useless information that Tom really wasn't interested in. He seemed to laugh it off and was actually intrigued with the surroundings. He even pointed out a few things and asked me what they were.

"So all of this is your family's land?" He repeated.

I smirked. "Yep, all 200 acres down this road and when we turn left, down that road until you hit the beach."

"You don't own the beach, do you?" He asked.

"No. No one owns the beach," I told him.

Mom drove past a stone driveway that had a sign for the strawberry farm we always visited whenever we came to Carlingford.

"Oh, and that's Kearney's farm!" I pointed excitedly at the driveway. "Down there is Rob and Dave Kearney's family farm. Everyone around here worked at Kearney's back in the day and my great-uncle Tommy drove the only combine harvester in Louth."

"Wait, the Kearney's? As if the rugby players?" Tom asked.

"Yep. My great-uncle Henry taught them how to play rugby," I told him.

Tom shook his head and let out a small laugh. I furrowed my eyebrows at his reaction and questioned him on it.

"I love it when you get passionate about your family. It's cute," Tom said.

"I'm waffling, aren't I?" I said nervously. I bit my lip, dreading the answer.

He chuckled and shook his head.

"No. It's cute, like I said," he said.

I glanced out of the window and saw we were pulling into the driveway of my great-uncle Tommy and great-aunt Mary's farmhouse. I sat up straight and waved at the Border Collie puppy Lucky barking at us from his kennel where he was chained by the collar. Mom parked outside the house opposite the dogs pens and the remaining dogs came out and began barking at the unfamiliar car.

We unbuckled our seatbelts and climbed out of the car. As soon as the dogs saw me, they started jumping up and down in excitement. I giggled and waved at them.

"Hello boys!" I squealed.

The American White Shepherd called Bandit hopped up against the pen and out his two paws over the edge. His tongue hung out of his mouth and he panted frantically. I stroked his head and leaned into him so he could lick my face. Tom appeared at my side with his hands shoved in his pockets, watching our interaction.