Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

37

Tom's POV

"Although I'm sure you don't particularly wish to hear it," I said quietly. "I am sorry, Claire."

"You're right; I don't want to hear it."

"Would you care to talk about it?"

She laughed mirthlessly, the sound sending a chill down my spine. "Not unless you want to tell me what it was you wagered on. How much did you win?"

She smirked slightly when my eyes flew to hers in shock; I rubbed at the back of my neck, feeling my cheeks heat. "You saw that, did you?"

"Yup." She abruptly winced and began to rub circles over her temples.

I was instantly by her side, wrapping my arms around her. "Are you all right, darling? You should've told me you didn't feel well."

"It was manageable until now," she mumbled, swaying slightly.

"That's no excuse for you to be needlessly in pain." I kissed her forehead and took her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. "Let's bid our hosts good night and head home."

Claire lightly kissed my cheek. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked with a half smile, already turning towards her lips. "I haven't done anything special."

"Being you," she murmured, nuzzling my nose.

Claire sighed quietly when I claimed her lips with a disarming gentleness, pleased when she simply closed her eyes and just allowed herself to enjoy the moment. I felt like I could never get enough of her, so we were both breathing hard when she finally pulled back to rest her head against my shoulder.

"Let's go home, darling."

"All right."

Hand in hand, we found Ben and Sophie. Other than her pallid complexion, Claire gave no sign that she currently felt less than perfect as she farewelled Sophie, almost making me second guess myself; while I knew she was a talented actress, I hadn't known that she had that much skill.

"I'm terribly sorry about earlier," Ben murmured quietly. "I didn't see her until it was too late."

"Water under the bridge, mate," I said, clapping him on the back as the ladies approached us. "Thanks again for having us tonight. We'll have to have you over to ours sometime."

I saw Claire's silvery eyes narrow slightly at ours, but she thankfully didn't refute my statement at that moment.

"We'd love to," Sophie smiled, giving me a tight hug. "I'd forgotten how nice it is to have adult conversations with someone other than the nanny or Ben."

"You need to get out more," Ben agreed, giving his wife a fond smile. "Thank you for coming as well tonight, Claire."

"You're welcome," she said, taking the hand he held out and getting pulled into a hug instead. She did her best to hide a wince, and I wished again that she'd allowed me to inform him of her injuries. "Jeez Tom, are all of your friends such huggers?"

"So it would seem," I replied, setting my arm carefully around her in case she needed the support; she was surreptitiously keeping a hand on her ribs. "Although perhaps it's because you're just too darn huggable, darling."

When she only smiled wanly in response as she leaned heavily on me, my concern for her wellbeing skyrocketed; her beautiful face was far too pale for my liking and her breathing shallower than it should be.

"Tom, might I have a word with Claire?" Ben asked as he walked outside with us, shutting the front door behind him.

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