Forget-Me-Not (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

(23) Dream Of You

The hotel's restaurant wasn't anything special; but it served a mean sausages and mash, as Nina soon found out. "You know what, Tom, I think I've had dinner more times with you than I have done with Kyle." Nina spoke quietly, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of sausage.

"Is that a good thing?" Tom asked, his eyes perfectly innocent as he rolled up the sleeves of his pale blue button-up.

"Well, I suppose it means I'm not entirely unlikable..."

"You're not unlikable at all, Nina. I like you, you know that." His eyes sparkled as he spoke. "Who's been feeding you that nonsense?" Nina said nothing, only staring down at her lap, and Tom deduced pretty quickly who it had been. "Please don't say you believe him, love."

"I'm just so gullible, Tom." Nina looked up and Tom was shocked to see tears forming in her eyes. "I'm gullible, and useless, and I'll never be a good girlfriend."

"By who's standards?" Tom offered her a sweet smile and Nina laughed softly, a single tear escaping from the corner of her eye at the movement. Tom leaned across the table, careful not to dip his arm in his food, and wiped it away gently with his thumb. He sat back slowly, the moment becoming yet another cliché.

Tom was a walking, talking ball of pure cliché cheese. But he was also stupidly intelligent, one of the cleverest people Nina had come to know, and his smile made the world go round. "Kyle's, I suppose."

"Then, clearly, he has very odd standards, because you, my dear, are way better than believing that crap." It was the first time Nina had really heard Tom cuss and it brought another soft smile to her face.

"I suppose..." Nina rubbed carefully at her eyes. "Ugh, I'm such a mess. I need to go clean myself up and watch some kids movies to cheer up."

"Fancy some company? I have nothing better to do than to do the same by myself." Tom flashed her a dashing smile and Nina went red.

"Sure, if you don't mind me probably passing out on you again..." Nina sighed, getting up and taking Tom's arm that he offered to her as they left.

"Not at all." He looked down at her, winking cheekily. Nina went red once again. She'd probably blushed more with Tom than she'd ever laughed with Kyle. "So what were you planning on?"

"Well, I do rather like Disney..." Nina shrugged. "Depends what's on."

"Well, I happen to have some DVD's with me." It seemed to be Tom's turn to go a bit red. "And a few of them might be Disney."

Nina found it so adorable that such an eloquent, grown man had kept his inner child so alive. Tom clearly hadn't been beaten down by the pressure of fame. "There's nothing wrong with a little sparkle, my dearest Tommy boy."

"Why do you keep calling me Tommy boy?"

"Why not?" Nina smiled softly, as Tom unlocked his room, pushing the door open. "Nicknames are cool...right?"

"Right." Tom sounded pretty confident in his answer, shutting the door behind him. "Mind if I get changed into something comfier?"

Nina spun around, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "Go ahead. But I'm not your mum, you know..."

He unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt and stretched his arms up, yawning, revealing a thin strip of skin just above his waistband. Nina sucked in a soft breath, averting her eyes quickly. The last thing she needed was to be incapable of forming a sentence.

Tom disappeared into his room, leaving Nina alone for a moment. She saw a small stack of DVD's by the television and smiled to herself, pushing herself into the floor and crawling to the TV. She looked through the small pile and eventually settled on one DVD; Peter Pan.

Because of course, why not?

"I see you've made your choice." Tom's familiar accent sounded from behind her and she turned her head to face him, crossing her legs on the carpet. He was wearing a plain white shirt and grey sweatpants, and his hair looked a little more unruly. "A good choice, might I add."

"Mm." Nina slipped the DVD into the player and set it all up. Tom collapsed onto the couch, tucking his feet up underneath him and patting the seat beside him. Nina took off her jacket, threw it over the arm of the comfy looking sofa and sat beside Tom, not sure whether she was allowed to lean on him or not.

"I don't bite, you know. Unless you're into that sort of thing." Tom said quietly, slinging his arm across the back of the sofa and coincidentally, behind Nina. Her hands were in her lap, fidgeting slightly. She couldn't remember the last time she'd sat down with Kyle and watched a Disney movie.

But she realised now how many times she'd had similar thoughts, and how much she was actually comparing Tom to Kyle.

A little way into the film, Nina felt her eyelids start to droop and she made herself comfy, which involved leaning her head on Tom's shoulder. Tom didn't even react, save for the smile that flashed across his face that Nina could have sworn she'd seen from the very corner of her eye.

"Sleep. I won't judge you." Tom whispered into Nina's ear, making her jump slightly. His lips pressed against the side of her head slightly, making her flinch again, and she closed her eyes fully, breathing in Tom's comforting scent.

Nina had a habit of dreaming about the last thing she saw before she fell asleep, and so her dream was an odd combination of Tom and Peter Pan. At one point, she swore she was awake briefly but a soft pillow making contact with her head was enough to put her out like a light again.

Eventually, when she woke up there was a dim light in the room and a faint smell of tea coming from not too far away. She sat up, pushing the duvet off of her body, and only then did she realise that she was wearing one of Tom's shirts instead of her own clothes. So that part of last night wasn't a dream, then.

She pushed herself out of the bed and stood up, yawning. The shirt barely came down over her butt and as the door opened, Tom entering the room, she shrieked and dived back onto the duvet.

"And a good morning to you, too, Nina."

[A/N] hands up if you want to watch a film with tom! *visualises scene in mean girls when all the girls have their hands up in the gymnasium* ok. glad we got that established! drop a vote if you're still enjoying?
yours truly :) x