Forget-Me-Not (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

(17) Blood

Tom helped Nina into his apartment and shut the door. Even his temporary hotel room smelt like him, Nina sighed, sitting on a sturdy wooden chair at the dining table. "I'll be back in a second, love." Tom jogged through to the kitchen and came back with a green plastic box. "So is it just your knees and hands?"

"Yes, Dr Hiddleston..." Nina said softly, and she heard Tom's quiet 'ehehehehe' as he pulled out a chair and sat opposite her. She held out her hands and he held an antiseptic wipe as he stared at her bleeding palms.

"Um...I diagnose a bandage. If that's how it works." Tom was oblivious to Nina's hissing as the wipe made contact with her hand, the chemicals stinging her small wounds. "Sorry, am I hurting you?"

"No, no. Everything is just peachy." Nina bit down on her lip, her eyes watering. Apparently she'd become seven years old again. He put a plaster across the worst cut on her left palm and scooted onto the floor to reach her knees. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself, you know."

"Yes, but I'm trying to do you a favour here." He flashed her a brilliant smile and proceeded to clean up her knees. He wrapped a bandage around one knee and left the other after it had been cleaned up. "And voila!"

"That's actually pretty good..." Nina commented absent-mindedly, looking at Tom's handiwork.

"I should put that on my resume, then. Thomas William Hiddleston. Good at Shakespeare, eating and applying bandages." Nina laughed softly, standing up and almost tripping over the first aid box. "Are you still fit to go for dinner?"

"If this bandage will fit under any of my jeans, then yeah...'

"Do you not own a dress?"

"I might."

"Then wear it? For me?" Damn, there were the puppy eyes again. Nina sighed. It usually took a lot more persuasion from Kyle for her to agree, but then Kyle never used puppy dog eyes on her.

"I'll think about it..."

"Please do." Tom straightened himself up and stretched for a moment, suddenly seeming a lot taller. "Well, then, meet me here. Seven, sharp-ish. Sound good?" Tom glanced at Nina, stumbling to the door as if she were drunk. "Do you want me to walk you back to your room, love?"

"Uh..." Nina looked down at the floor. "If you want, I suppose...What, don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do, darling." He put his arm around her waist again to steady her and she felt a shiver run down her back. She almost rolled her eyes at herself but she didn't want to appear too crazy. Kyle was her one and only, right?

So why had Tom's charms managed to get such a hold on her?

*****

Nina kept yanking on her dress, trying desperately to have it low enough so that the end of the skirt would cover her scraped up knees. It was a simple enough red dress, hugging her to the waist and then flowing out a bit and just reaching below her knees.

She paired it with her trusty flats and her nice leather handbag. Her hair looked like it usually did and her makeup routine was her usual; but this time her lip gloss was substituted for a soft shade of pink lipstick.

She hoped she wasn't overdressed, but then next to the likes of Tom and Benedict she'd probably look underdressed anyway. After all, in the eyes of the fangirls they were gods. She just had to ask Molly.

Since the meeting in the cafe, Molly had not stopped texting Nina about Tom, but Nina wasn't budging; she was sworn to secrecy. Molly was desperate for 'at least one picture of his butt' but Nina just ignored most of them. But she had a feeling that if Tom saw the texts, he'd be the kind of guy to comply, and Molly would probably collapse in shock.

She hobbled carefully down the stairs - the lift was out of order, which Nina only groaned at - and reached Tom's room. She had just lifted her hand to the door to knock as it opened and she nearly fell into Tom.

Nearly, goddammit.

"Nina! I was just about to come up and call for you." Tom's eyes were crinkled at the corners again as he smiled down at her, briefly turning to lock the door.

"Call for me? What are we, twelve?"

"We can be whatever we want to be, my dear. After all, I'm the actor, you're the artist." Tom looked rather philosophical for a moment. "Reach for the moon, darling, so if you miss you'll be amongst the stars."

*****

"The paparazzi won't be able to resist snapping photos of you, Tom." Nina sighed, glancing over at Tom in the cab that they'd hailed. Apparently there were a few people waiting to meet them to celebrate their last day before filming in Devon.

Tom was wearing his blue suit, his curls slightly tamed, his eyes bright as ever. The paparazzi had been milling around the hotel and Nina had been subconsciously checking the internet, the papers and the celeb magazines for anything but so far, nothing. Nina knew all too well the effects of the press and she wanted to stay out of the limelight as much as possible.

Eventually they reached the dinner place and Tom opened the door for her. She blushed as Tom stayed close behind her, like he was her bodyguard, making sure she didn't damage anything else. Eventually she spotted Annie in the corner and sped up slightly, sliding into the booth next to her.

"Nina! You look gorgeous, hon!" She pulled Nina in for a surprise hug. Nina was still for a moment but she eventually returned the gesture. Her few friends at home rarely hugged her so it was nice to know that someone genuinely cared. Annie was really sweet, and she went out of her way to make sure Nina was comfortable on set having been working on a few small-time films before, so she was a sort of mentor to Nina.

"Room for one more?" Tom slid into the booth too, sandwiching Nina slightly but she didn't particularly mind.

"Tom, your legs are everywhere..." Nina laughed as she glanced under the table, watching Tom try to get comfortable.

"I don't mind." Tom's eyes scouted around the room and settled on one particular spot. He jumped up again. "Excuse me, ladies." Annie and Nina followed him as he walked over to the other side of the room, a spring in his step. They both heard a faint cry of 'Benedict!' and Annie raised an eyebrow.

"You'd think they hadn't seen each other for years, yet they're working together and they live around the corner from each other in London." Annie took a swig of her drink. "Buckle up, grab a drink and brace yourself, hon, cause this could be a long evening."

[A/N] who ships nina and tom? *cough*me*cough* can anyone think of a good ship name? or do you want to wait until we know nina's full name...? drop a vote if you enjoyed?
yours truly :) x