Almost Broken

Epilogue

*December 16-121 days apart*

I crouch down by one of my little students' chair. "Delilah, that looks awesome! Remind me to give you a gold star at the end of the day for your good work in class today." I whisper with a wide smile. The little girl with blonde curls' face brightens up at the mention of a prize.

Since I started working here, I've always wanted to make this classroom feel like another home to the kids. I feel deep down that my efforts have succeeded when I see their excited faces every morning as they head to their favorite spot on my colored rug.

I look around to see more scribbles of Christmas drawings since this is one of their last few days here before break.

As I think about the holidays, I rub the small ring that was placed on my finger so many months ago.

Tom and I have tried to FaceTime or call every day, but sometimes we were both just too busy and other times we've missed each other's calls entirely because of the time difference.

Then, I remember what Tom said yesterday and how heartbreaking it was. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it for Christmas, but I'm going to try my best, darling."

Even as I look and see where I am with my dream job, close to my parents, and with a boyfriend that treats me like a queen even from England, but the fact that he's not here with me seems to weigh out all of the other aspects of my current situation.

"Miss y/n?" I snap out of my trance of thoughts to see one of the assistant teachers right by my side.

"Yes?" I answer as I pat my skirt down out of habit.

"There's someone here to see you. I can take over looking after every-" I sadly have to cut her off as two boys begin to fight over the glue.

I give a sad smile towards her direction as I make my way over to them. "Adam, Louis, neither one of you will be able to use the glue if you can't share." I warn with a gentle tone, trying to not make them any more upset.

"He took it from me first!" Adam points towards Louis with narrowed eyebrows.

"No I didn't!" Louis protests before trying to reach for the glue once again.

"Adam, what did I say about pointing and accusing others? That's not very nice, is it?" The little boy lets out a sigh of defeat, knowing I was right.

"Now, how about we do this? Adam, you can use the glue while you sing one of your favorite songs and then after you can give the clue to Louis and then Louis sings one of his favorite songs. Remember that you have to share. If you two can't share, I'll have to move you to different seats and move your card to the yellow slot with five minutes off recess." As I handle the situation, the other woman stands there with blushing cheeks of embarrassment.

"So sorry about that! Now what were you saying?" She simply nods her head towards the door to my classroom where I see familiar dark curls and dark eyes.

I can't help but gasp, putting my hands over my mouth. Tom's smirk widens as we make eye contact and I run up to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the classroom, leaving the little stares of the kids behind and even whispers of: "its spider-man!"

Once I pull him into a chilly stairwell, my tears begin to spill just seeing him, his arms wrapping tightly around my waist.

We don't say anything as his own eyes begin to water before he presses his lips against mine. Feeling his smile against my own and being able to touch those soft thin lips again forms flames throughout my body.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" I whisper through a soft giggle, pulling away to look into his chocolate eyes.

"Well, I got on a plane and came straight here once I landed so I could see you for Christmas." He says plainly, already teasing me like he always used to do. I playfully roll my eyes before kissing him again.

"That whole thing about saying you might not be able to come for Christmas was all a farce, wasn't it?" I ask, still not able to believe that he was standing right in front of me.

"Maybe." He smiles again, taking my hand in his. He bites his lip slightly as a small chuckle escapes his lips while he touches the small promise ring he gave me right where he left it.

"No more goodbyes?" I ask, knowing that that wasn't the case just yet.

"Soon. No more goodbyes." I study his face to see it lit up with excitement. "I'll be back in January to start filming here right outside town. During that time I'm going to try and start the process of moving into one of the empty apartments in your complex." When he says those words, my heart seems to burst with so much emotion that my face goes red.

"Are you serious?" I ask, still searching his face for any doubt. I can't find anything other than that genuine smile.

"I'm serious." He lets out a quiet laugh right as I reach up and kiss him over and over again, my emotions out of control.

"I shouldn't keep you from your class for too long." He confesses, squeezing my hand.

"I'm sure they'd love to meet Spider-Man as an early Christmas gift." I smirk and he knows exactly what I mean as he clears his throat before practicing his American accent, "Yeah, I think they would."

I giggle like a teenage girl, bringing him towards the classroom after wiping the mascara from under my eyes. "Wait here!" I go in by myself and see all of them widen their eyes and frantically look about.

"Are you guys looking for our special guest?" I ask with an excited voice, glancing over to see Tom smiling at me from around the corner.

"Spider-Man!" They shout.

"Oh, but if you're going to meet spider-man, you have to be quiet! He has to be in a disguise so the bad guys don't get him, so don't give him away!" I use this tactic to get them to quiet down and they immediately do.

"Alright, you can come in, Spider-Man." I motion for Tom to come in and he lands a front flip, being able to now that he didn't have a boot on.

At this point, I realize that this is the first time I've seen Tom in person without being injured, which put a bigger smile on my face.

"Woah!" Some of the girls look at him with widened eyes while the boys holler for him to do it again. Letting out a small laugh, he decides to answer some questions, crouching in his Spider-Man pose and seeing him being so good with kids makes my heart melt with an unexplainable warmth.

"Are you dating Miss y/n?" One little girl asks with hopeful eyes. My eyes widen, my cheeks burning a bright red. Tom simply chuckles with a small smile.

"Hmm, that's another secret for you to find out later." He teases her, placing his large hand gently on her shoulder before walking back up towards me to answer more questions.

I can't help but look back at the times we've had. At the time I met Tom, my life had a routine and a goal, but after his accident everything changed.

I realized while being with him during his weeks in the hospital that even though he had the broken bones, I was the one that was almost broken by my routine.

He didn't only bring me out of the dark after James and Philip, but he fixed my brokenness, he fixed me.

When he wraps his arm around my waist and listens to more rambles from the little ones at their tiny desks, he leans over and whispers in my ear, that familiar tingle of warmth shooting through my veins.

"No more goodbyes."
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THE END