✔️ Midnight Sparks『 T.H. 』✧･ﾟ:*

Chapter 17: Can't stay away

And I know these scars will bleed

But both of our hearts believe

All of these stars will guide us home

- Ed Sheeran

- - -

Everything seemed to have slowed down. Even as I blinked once at Tom, then twice, it felt like someone had hit the slow-motion button.

Did I hear it right? Had he really said that he owed me a huge apology?

Is it because you're actually engaged to be married to some aristocratic lady back home and this was just a fling – your one last hurrah in America? Are arranged marriages even still a thing in these times?

"I've – I've been keeping things from you," Tom revealed quietly. "Things that I should've told you earlier."

I looked at Tom with a renewed sense of dread.

Things like how you're part of a sinister secret society that forbids you from forming romantic ties with anyone? And now you'll be punished severely by said secret society and I'll never get to see you again?

My thoughts had gone wild and there was no stopping them.

I swallowed. "Well, I'm listening if you're ready to tell me now."

Tom nodded. Emitting a sigh, he said, "Okay, well. I'm not sure how to begin. But I guess the first thing is that – I know more about you than you think..."

I gave Tom a genuinely confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Like, I knew about your family's tragic accident..."

"You did? How? And how long have you known about it?"

Tom let out his breath loudly. "After our first meeting. Your social media presence was practically nonexistent, so I asked someone to help me locate you. You mentioned your last name, if you remember. Alison Kinloch."

I frowned. "Do you mean you hired someone? Like a private investigator or something?"

"Not exactly a private investigator. This person works for Uncle Ollie and has connections. So he made some calls and unintentionally discovered your past through all the news coverage of the car crash at that time. And he also managed to track down Café Luna..."

"So that was how you ended up calling Lou for the catering gig for Blake Lively's movie premiere."

"Yeah." Tom looked pained. "I'm really sorry, Ali. It wasn't right at all, the way I went about looking for information about you –"

"But why though? Why go through all that trouble?" I shook my head, suddenly shivering despite the heated pool water I was standing in. "I'm just a nobody. A random girl you met at some party that I wasn't even supposed to have been at."

Tom stared at me, wide-eyed. "You're not a nobody, Ali. Far from it. I wanted to see you again. I knew I'd missed my chance when Danielle dragged me out of Nuovo, but I couldn't stop thinking about it – couldn't stop thinking about you. So I decided to do what I did, which I'm absolutely not proud of."

"Okay. So then we met again, and again. But it never seemed to go anywhere." I bit my lip, still confused. "Am I missing something here..?"

"I was conflicted," Tom explained, eyebrows knitted in worry. "I saw how you had your name splashed across so many news headlines at such a young age, when you lost your family and became the sole survivor of a horrific accident – I could guess how you must hate being put in the spotlight."