Ripley's Return

The beginning of a relationship

Melly, who was also in love with Peter earlier, allowed Tom. She knew how Peter felt, he had already made it clear to her back then. The only thing she wanted was for him to be happy, and he was, she thought. That was most important. Peter and Tom, still sitting under the old willow, took it easy to get noticed. Before going for a swim, they ate their bread with Melly and Grace.

When their first day as a couple ended, Tom moved into Peter's bedroom. Maybe it was too early because despite the beautiful experiences in Loughgall Tom had nightmares the following night. "What's going on, Tommie?" Peter asked drowsily and in a gentle voice as he heard Tom whimper. At first, he was not sure what it had to do with, but eventually, he was in a new vicinity and life situation. "It's just ...", Tom was still drawn to the nightmare. "I'm scared to lose you, Peter. Maybe one day you'll think I'm not the right one" "No, certainly not", Peter tried to comfort him and snuggled up against him. Tom caught up with his self-doubts so often, but especially now, and it was good to have someone to convey him the opposite, someone who is firmly on the ground with both legs. As a child, he had never experienced love and now everything went so fast, too fast. Love does not mean to need a person, but to want to be with him and to go through thick and thin. For this, Tom had to first learn to deal with himself and leave his past behind. A relationship was not easy for that reason. But he wanted to try as best he could because he knew that Peter loved him and Tom wanted to give him the deserved trust, although he did not want to talk about his last years, but there was no way around telling him about his difficult childhood, He could not hide everything, he told himself. He had to open up to him.