Forget-Me-Not (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

(28) The Kids Aren't Alright

"Don't tell me you slept in that thing, did you?" Nina groaned as she sat up, propping herself up against the masses of cushions behind her. "Ugh...I could really do with a drink..."

Tom was up in a matter of seconds, and Nina was glad that he had left the room because she got a very strong urge to empty the contents of her stomach. As she slid off the sofa and keeled over the bucket, gasping softly, a thought popped in her head. It was early morning. So had she really slept from just after lunch and all the way through the night? What would her parents think?

She started to retch silently, and Tom got back into the room just in time to put the glass down and hold her hair away from her face. He crouched beside her, and Nina managed to notice that he was wearing different clothes - good, so he hadn't slept here last night - before she was off again, her eyes watering.

Tom was one of the few people beside her parents, Molly and Kyle that had seen her in this state, that she had allowed to see her in this state, although in this situation she didn't really have much choice.

"Do you want me to fetch your mother?" Tom whispered into her ear as she knelt back, breathing shakily. She nodded, pointing weakly towards the kitchen. She didn't have the energy to get up and onto the sofa so she sat on the floor by the bucket, still where Tom had left her.

Eventually he showed up with her mother and he smiled, staying in the doorway. "I'll give you some space, ladies. I'll be drinking your tea if you don't mind, Mrs Ferguson." He stepped backwards and shut the door.

"He is a real gentleman, Nina." Her mother fussed over her, cleaning her up and helping her back onto the sofa.

"Yeah, but he's not my gentleman." Nina huffed almost miserably, climbing up the mountain that seemed to be replacing the sofa. "Oh my god, I'm going to be late for work."

"You think I'm letting you go to work in this state?" Her mother pulled a comb out of nowhere like mothers always seemed to do, and she started gently tugging at Nina's hair.

"I'm not a child, and this isn't school." Nina groaned softly as another wave of nausea hit her. "I need to go."

"You don't have to." Mrs Ferguson sighed, running her fingers through her daughters hair. Ah, they grew up so fast.

"Yes, I do..." Nina pushed herself up and stood shakily on her own two feet. She teetered slightly, her nausea inducing her instability. "Do I still have clothes upstairs?"

"Yes, you left some last time you were here. If not, you can always borrow something else. Please do be quiet though, your father is in bed with a migraine and your brother is...out." Her mother looked almost disapproving as Nina shuffled out of the room, her lips pressed tightly together. She climbed the stairs and heard footsteps behind her so she turned her head quickly, giving herself whiplash.

Tom leaned against the bannister at the bottom of the stairs. "Where are you off to, love?"

"Getting changed for work." She said it like it was obvious but Tom's raised eyebrows said otherwise.

"You're going to work in this state?" He pushed his hair back with his hand, letting out a sigh. "Oh goodness. That sounded a lot less rude in my head."

Nina managed a weak smile without feeling the need to puke. "It's fine, Tommy boy. I can survive and if not, I'm sure Captain Nicholls can be a true gentleman and make sure I get home safely."

Tom looked unsure, as if he were about to argue with her, but he nodded. "I'm sure he will."

Nina shuffled herself into her bedroom, left exactly as it was when she'd last visited a month or so ago. The pastel duvet set was arranged perfectly symmetrically. The books on the shelf were neatly stacked. And there was a small pile of clothes left on the bed and Nina could only hope that they matched.

They seemed to. After all...who doesn't put a plaid shirt with a skirt? At least they were colour co-ordinated, Nina thought, changing into them slowly but steadily. Red and black with black. Could be worse.

Her stomach suddenly lurched again and she dashed to the bathroom but...nothing. She stayed on her knees for a good ten minutes and she stood up afterwards, feeling light headed. What had gotten into her? She'd gone downhill so quickly.

"Nina? Nina, are you alright?" There was a soft voice outside the door and Nina knew that it had to be Tom. She pushed open the door a crack, peering up to Tom through the narrow gap in the door.

"I'm fine. I'll be ready then you can call us up a driver...or something..." Nina hastily shut the door in Tom's face, feeling bad as she rocketed back to the toilet, gasping for air.

"Nina, you probably shouldn't be going anywhere in this state." Tom pushed open the door tentatively and leaned on the door frame. "You can't help being ill. It happens to us all, darling."

"Should I let Kyle know I'm ill?" Nina looked up at Tom, pale and wide eyed.

"Why should you let Kyle know? He's not your mother, unless there's something I'm missing." Tom raised an eyebrow jokingly and Nina felt the corners of her lips twitch.

"I guess you're right." She felt a hand hold her arm as she stood back up, and her light headed-ness felt like it had cleared up a bit. When Nina was ill, she usually wasn't ill for very long and she hoped it had just been something that she'd ate.

But of course she couldn't tell her mother that.

Nina leaned into Tom's side as he helped her down the stairs, making sure that in her slight daze she didn't trip and fall. Once again his smell - sugar, leather and something else that Nina couldn't quite put her finger on - comforted her. She much preferred sugar over alcohol, leather over smoke. She always tried to make Kyle shower after his shows before he got into the same room as her, let alone bed.

"Nina? Nina?" Mrs Ferguson waved her hands in front of Nina. Where did she come from? "Do you want try anything for breakfast? I have toast, cereal..." She began to ramble on about the contents of her cupboards but all Nina could concentrate on was what cologne Tom was wearing.

[A/N] not my best but this is more of a bonus filler-type thing. you're welcome. drop a vote if you'd...um...like to smell tom? and comment if by some miracle, you have?
yours truly :) x