A Change Of Heart

14

October 13th, 1967

7:37 a.m.

"I'll be back at lunch to check on you kids, and when Tom wakes up he can have two of those Tylenol if he wants ok?"

"Ok, mom." I nodded, watching her grab her coat before kissing my cheek and heading off out the door. I had been allowed to stay home today to help Tom with whatever he may need, this had made me feel somewhat relieved. I wouldn't have to deal with any of the kids and I wouldn't have to worry about how Tom was doing.

Plopping down on one of the kitchen stools, I spun around to look at Tom's sleeping form on the sofa. My heart fluttering slightly when I observed him beginning to wake up and I turned back around quickly. He groaned quietly, rubbing his eyes and cursing under his breath when he rubbed his black eye too hard.

"Hello?" His calm voice even deeper than usual due to sleep, hopping off the stool I was on I hurried into the living room, my green eyes meeting his still sleepy blue ones.

"You woke up..."

"You stayed home?" His eyebrow raised in question while he sat up, motioning for me to come sit on the couch with him.

"Of course, I can't just leave you here alone you're not quite up to par -"

"I'm fine, you shouldn't have stayed on my account." He interrupted, pursing his lips and running a hand through his messy hair. His legs shaky as he tried to stand up quickly, making me nervously reach out to grab his arm.

"Tommy, we both know that -"

"I'm fine, I've just got a headache." His eyes closing while he pinched the bridge of his nose, wincing as he did so.

"Do you want a Tylenol or something? How about an ice pack for your eye?" Changing the subject, I stood back up off the couch watching him nod and lean against the pillow behind him. Rushing off and grabbing the things, I hurried out and handed them to him sitting back down next to him.

"Homecoming is this Friday..." he muttered, flinching when he pressed the icepack on his black eye.

"Don't worry about it, and don't press so hard you'll make it worse..." reaching up to move his hand off the icepack and holding it for him.

"But I told you we'd go." He sat forward, twisting so that he faced me, his dusty blue eyes staring at me without blinking.

"Y-yeah, but you're not feeling too well." My cheeks reddened watching him remain silent and continue to stare at me.

"I'm fine..." he mumbled, leaning closer to me a bit and closing his eye that wasn't covered by the icepack I held over his eye.

"Tom, you were in a fight..."

"I'm ok now though, I promise."

I nodded, my cheeks flushing and my breath catching in my throat when he placed his hand over mine and leaned even closer to me. My eyes closing as I waited for what was to come next, goosebumps raising on my skin when his breath hit my face. Chuckling he ran his thumb across the top of my hand. A sudden feeling of dejavú flooding my senses, except for this time I felt like I wanted it to happen, I wanted to kiss him all on my own volition.

Confusion and excitement coursed through my veins while leaning closer to him. I'd never thought about Tom as anything other than a friend, but last week a lot had seemed to change. Our moment, however, was short lived as we both heard the door slam shut.

Our eyes widened and we pulled back from each other, embarrassed by what nearly happened. Scooting farther down the couch, I avoided making eye contact with him