The Holiday (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfic)

Buddies

Standing outside the villa at 6.30am, waiting for a pickup, it wasn't her idea of a holiday. But it would be. Of that she was sure. In an hour's time, she would be packed up and on her way to another day in paradise.
Jamie had fallen in love.

With neoprene, rubber and a 12litre steel tank.

As she waited for her lift, she recalled her first dive. Jamie had spent her childhood being the bookish one. The one looking out. She never really felt good at anything physical. Till diving. Yes, initially it had been a struggle, butvwith practice and encouragement it clicked. Truthfully, she'd almost given up. Almost. If it hadn't been for Dave.... she paused and smiled as she recalled their first meeting. Dave was a straightforward Yorkshireman, friendly but often brutally honest. Called a spade a spade as they said back home. Now, 7 years later it was second nature to her.

Typical of most divers, nothing fazed Dave, he rode life's ups and downs with equal zen like calm.
And typically, this morning he approached her pickup with the same loose, carefree attitude. Be ready for 630 SHARP he'd said , don't he late he'd said. We need to catch the tide... So here she was, 6.45 and still waiting in the dawn for another adventure.

She wasn't here on the island of Tenerife alone, she was with her best friend and his family. Her best friend, who also happened to be her cousin Peter. They'd played together since they were little, getting into all sorts of scrapes and now, years later, diving was no different. In fact, the whole family - Peter, his wife Helen and their 2 teenage kids Liam and Jane, were now divers. It seemed however, they weren't as desperate to be under the water as her so here she was, diving alone today. Well, not quite alone as it would turn out.

Dave arrived in his battered pickup, giving her a cheery "hello!" as she stowed her gear in the back. "How you doing? Glad to be back?"

"Mhmm, good thanks, good to see you again" she climbed into the front beside him. Normally, customers of Dave and his partner Claire's dive shop, rode in the back seat, but after all these years, neither Jamie nor her family were considered customers anymore.

So here she was. Sitting in the car, ready for another day of relaxation - or so she imagined. As they pulled onto the main highway, Dave turned the radio down and said "We wondered if you would do us a favour today Jamie?" He looked at her sideways as he drove, not wanting to take his eyes fully away from the 'challenging' Spanish roads. He smiled and inwardly she groaned. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. She wasn't wrong, Dave continued " we've had a last minute request from a newbie diver but they don't..."

Jamie interrupted " have a buddy. Yes, of course I will. But you owe me !" She grinned, only half meaning it. Everyone had to start somewhere and it made for an interesting, if not relaxing, day. "How many?" She asked, referring to number of dives.
"Oh about 25 , recently qualified." was the reply. She just nodded. She hoped her buddy would at least be relaxed enough to chat. Newbie's she recalled from personal experience, were generally a bag of nerves. Oh well, she would do her best to be warm and friendly.

20 minutes later, they parked up and went into the shop. It was small but perfectly formed. Racks of dive gear down one side, a compressor room in which to fill the rows of yellow scuba tanks and a small seating area with sofas and a coffee machine for customers. Along the walls, a gallery of photos from different dive sites and she always smiled when she spotted herself in some. It never failed to amaze her she actually looked like a diver!

They got the kit together, she checked over her own and the latest intern, Chris, did the mysterious newbie's. He was late. But then , Dave being Dave, they discovered he'd given him the wrong time. 9am instead of 8. Oh well, time to sit and catch up.

They lolled about on the sofas, swapping crap jokes and drinking water and coffee. She never ate before a dive, but she made sure she drank. It was a pre-dive ritual which included absolutely no jewellery and looking at her dive watch at least 10 times. Not that she was superstitious you understand.

The crew were just teasing Chris for the 100th time about his lack of tan when the missing companion finally arrived. From where she sat, he was silhouetted against the daylight and she couldn't see him other than it was indeed a 'He' and he was tall, very tall. Dave took him outside to go over the days plans.

For a minute her mind wandered to someone else she knew was tall. Someone she had worshipped from afar for years, her other passion, Tom Hiddleston. He played, amongst others, Loki - Bad Boy Prince of Asgard, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Peter and Jamie shared a love of all things Marvel and he preferred to hero worship the good guys as he put it, the Avengers. Jamie however, had fallen almost instantly, for the 6'2" brooding and misunderstood Loki. Handsome as hell, cheekbones with more definition than her life, beautiful eyes and full of mischief. Ok so he killed 80 people in 2 days but he was brainwashed she reasoned to anyone who would listen! They teased her mercilessly about it. She didnt care, she'd met him,Tom, once, very briefly and stared into those ocean eyes.....If only ..... she dragged herself back into the room as Claire said loudly,

"Right you lot, client is here so lets get cracking before these fish go extinct."

There was much hilarity and jostling as gear was picked up and carried outside to the bigger van they would travel to the dive site in. Dave and the new guy were ahead , one of the interns carrying his kit. To her inner shame, she found herself eyeing him up from behind, pleased with what she saw. The loose shorts and tshirt didn't do him justice, but she could tell he took care of himself. Broad shoulders, strong legs. Runner maybe? Like... Tom,she smiled to herself.

Catching up with the 2 of them at the van, Jamie slung her gear in the back and turned to introduce herself. She held out her hand as she did so,
"Hi! I'm gonna be your buddy today - my name is...." she looked up at the tall stranger who now took off his sunglasses and she stopped dead, the words dying in her throat,
"Tom Hiddleston..." was the breathless whisper that came out. Her mind in freefall, her heart in her mouth.

"Sorry darling" he laughed " I think you'll find that's MY name?" And he shook her now trembling hand, highly amused.

"Yes...yes..Tom..." she mumbled, her mind refusing to work. She was sure she had to breathe but couldn't quite remember how.

"And I believe you're Jamie?" He was still holding her hand, his ocean blue green eyes locked onto hers. It was just like the last time, not that he remembered of course she reasoned later. Too many people and too much time between then and now.
At the sound of her own name, she came to a little and blushed tomato red. "Oh God! I am SO sorry Mr Hiddles..."
He cut her off with another devastating smile "Please Jamie , its Tom. If you are to be my buddy and potential lifeline today, I'm pretty sure we should be a little more intimate." He winked, his eyes crinkling into a smile that made her feel lightheaded. The way he said intimate made her almost collapse in a heap at his feet.
"Ok" she took a deep breath, "Sorry Tom" and smiled up at him, hoping to at least look human now.

Dave stood shaking his head " IF you can function again Jamie, can you show Tom where to sit please?"
"If course" She nodded. She realised to her utter horror, she was STILL holding his hand and dropped it like it was red hot - her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. Tom smiled gently at her as if it was the most natural thing in the world, not saying anything other than " this way love?" She nodded and led him round to the side of the bus where they got in.

As the rest piled in, laughing and joking they were all blissfully unaware of the raging hot mess sitting next to the cool as a cucumber Frost Giant. As the van pulled away, Jamie stole a sideways glance at Tom. He was chatting away to the intern like he'd known him for years. So this was Hiddlescharm in full flow eh? She smiled and turned away, looking out the window, trying to calm the fangirl screaming in her head. She was acutely aware of how close he was sitting, their thighs squashed together in the snall van, but what she wasnt aware of was that Tom was feeling every bit as flustered as her. They both shared one thought 'how could this have happened?'.