Unconditionally

20

Henry woke sore and in pain. He forced himself out of his bed to the shower. 'One step at a time Hank' Victoria would tell him. At the thought of her everything from the previous night came flooding back. Everything he said to her and his phone call in it's entirety was right there. "fuck" he said to himself. he quickly showered and changed feeling more like himself but still in pain. His physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain of hurting Victoria. He reached for his phone as he walked through his house looking for his things. "Emma" he said as his assistant answered the phone "Boss, thank god, we need to meet and strategist about last night," "Emma stop, I need you to find me an address in London" "Henry, we need to work on this issue to clean up what happened last night" "No Emma I need you to find me an address first" he said voice a little more stubborn than before. "who's address?" she said reluctantly "Tom Hiddleston's London address"

An hour later Henry was standing at a door ringing a doorbell the didn't really ever thought he would be. the door opened and blue iris met blue "Henry?" Tom said in a confused tone "Tom hello" There was a moment of silence and awkwardness between the men which Henry broke. "Could I come in?" "oh yes I am so sorry mate, come in" Tom escorted him into the living room where the men sat. "I know your wondering why I am here" "I am, I would assume that you would be neck deep in damage control after last night" "Well last night is why I am here" Tom's eyebrows furrowed. "I am so sorry mate I don't know how this ties in to me?" Henry didn't know where to start, this would be hard to get out as it is. "Well, for starters, my friends and family call me Hank..." he said confusion still apparent on the man opposite him face. "Victoria is a friend" It clicked very quickly which Henry was thankful for. "So, you're Hank" he said a look of disdain on his face now. "Well it's nice to put a face to the name" he said sourly. "But I will be honest to say that I really never wanted to." Henry chuckled "I can imagine, I never wanted to know about you either but unfortunately being Victoria's best friend has its drawbacks." "You were more than her best friend I assume, your relationship was more... intimate than that" he said. "yes sort of " Tom rolled his eyes now understanding why Victoria  clear resistance to him completely now. "Well I still do not understand what brings you here today" he said in an clear effort to end this interaction quickly. "the premier last night was not the worst of my actions. After the premier I called Victoria, and I said... well I said things I should not have and I caused her pain. I would reach out to see if she is alright but I am sure she would not respond." "So you want me to check on her for you?" Henry raised his head to look at Tom anger coursing through him "No, I want you to check on her because she needs someone to check on her and I know she won't want to respond to me." Tom took a sip of his tea "Mate, Victoria is a big girl, I am sure she will be alright" he said with a chuckle. Henry pushed his fingers through his hair in frustration and then it hit him. Tom had no idea. He didn't know about her disorder. "Tom, Victoria has borderline personality disorder.  Do you know what that is?" Tom put his cup down and stared at Henry waiting for him to continue. "BPD is a mental health disorder, it affects the way she thinks, her self confidence, her self image, her behavior but more importantly her emotions. It's the psychological equivalent of a third degree burn, She has no emotional skin so every emotion good or bad is heightened, he highs are high and her lows are extremely low." Tom was now concerned "But surely she is medicated?" Henry sighed "There is no set medication for BPD she has to constantly cycle through medication to stay on top of it but even then it is hard to manage and that is IF she takes her medication consistently which she is not very good at." "I had not clue mate" Henry gave him a sad smile, Tom did not know Victoria the way Henry did and that was painfully obvious. Tom stood and walked out of the living room.

Seconds later her reappeared cell phone in hand. He dialed Victoria's number and put it on speaker. Ring..... Ring....Ring... "hello" a soft quiet voice on the other line cause Henry's heart to skip a beat. "Victoria, darling is that you?" "tom?" it was soft and quiet, then the soft sound of piano keys and music. They listened to see what she was playing, soon they decipher the acoustic version of Alessia Cara's River of Tears. " Victoria are you alright?" the song continued  "Victoria" Henry said louder startling Tom "Hank?" the music stopped but then continued once again, her voice was raw  but still beautiful and full of sadness "Vic, you can't disassociate, you need to feel this, I can't walk you through this, you need to let Tom help you" Tom watched their interaction cautiously. There was music then a pause "No...." Henry closed his eyes tight "Victoria, where are you? Are you home? Are you with Alex and Ana?" The music continued and she was now pouring her pain into the music  "Vic, you need to get up and shower darling, you need to move. I am sorry for what I said last night, I was angry and I was drunk, I promise I didn't mean it. You are so important to me, love." nothing but singing, pain and piano"Vic?" nothing "Victoria! stop playing the piano and listen" Henry said again she stopped singing but kept softly playing "Do you love me baby?" she asked sadly. Henry closed his eyes. Victoria had made him promise her a long time ago not to lie to her.. ever. Even in a moment where a lie would do good rather than harm it would eventually lead to more harm that good. But it wasn't a lie, he loved her, but it wasn't something he was willing to admit. "Victoria, Tom is here he is worried about you."  Silence and then the beeping indicating the call had been disconnected. "Why would you not tell her? Its evident that you do love her or at least care about her?!" Henry sighed in frustration " She made me promise a long time ago to never lie to her just to make her feel better or to bring her out of something like this" Tom scoffed "But, it's clearly not a lie mate, if not you wouldn't be here asking for my help" Tom redialed the number that went straight to voicemail indicating she had now shut her phone off completely. Tom stood "I think you should go Henry, I am going to the states to see her I will let you know how she is when I arrive." Henry nodded reluctantly and left

Henry we really need to get you here so we can brainstorm this out. Emma I need a flight to Texas. Seriously boss this is your career in the line, public image is everything. This is about the love of my life Emma, I need to save her more than my sinking career. Silence "there is flight to Texas in two hours.. where in Texas?" "Austin"