What's Past is Prologue (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

Chapter Three

 The restaurant had an intimate feel to it; partly because of the dim lighting, and partly because of the full glass of wine now coursing through my bloodstream. A waiter sat us at a corner table and I immediately went for the cushioned bench seat against the wall, letting Tom take the wooden chair with his back to the rest of the restaurant. If there was a softer place to sit, that's where I could always be found. Tom just laughed when I gave him this explanation and apologized for making him sit in the hard wooden chair.

 As we shared some Thai tapas (which were amazing, by the way) and each had a glass of red wine, I finished my argument about Caliban. Tom seemed genuinely interested, and I think I managed to change his perspective on the play, at least when it came to colonialism.  At some point, we began to talk about Tom's sisters and his childhood home.  I knew my turn to talk was next, so I ordered another glass of wine in anticipation. I didn't usually share my past with anyone, but Tom was so easy to talk to that it didn't matter if I knew his last name or if I would ever see him again.

 "What about you? Where are you from? I mean, I know you're from the U.S., but which state?" Tom asked. There it was, the beginning to a very long story that I never told anyone.

 "A small town in Wisconsin. You've probably never heard of it," I shrugged, hoping he would leave it at that.

 "Oh, I don't know. I might know more about Wisconsin than you think." He smiled, obviously lying.

 "Do you really?" I leaned in, resting my chin on my hand. "I'd love to hear the many facts you know," I teased him.

 Tom leaned in too, copying my stance. "Erm... there's... lots of snow."

 I gripped the edge of the table and flung my head back in laughter. "Really?" I somehow managed to get out. "Is that all you know? Snow?" I started laughing again and Tom playfully kicked me under the table.

 "I thought that was pretty good!"

 I calmed down, though I was still smiling ear to ear and tapped his leg with my foot. "It wasn't bad. We do get an absurd amount of snow in Ashland."

 "Ah, so you're from Ashland, Wisconsin. Yes, I've heard of it," he lied.

 I didn't mean to say it, but for some reason, it didn't feel weird to talk about it with Tom. I decided to give a little more information."Yes, sir. Born and raised. I even went to college there, or university as you'd say."

 "What did you study?" he asked.

"Graphic design mainly, but I did some stuff with ecological restoration too. That was a big thing in that part of the state."

 He nodded and finished chewing a piece of what I think was at one time part of a duck. "Did you live with your parents while in school?"

 I tried not to let the emotions show on my face, though by the way Tom looked at me, I could tell he knew something was up. "No, they both died when I was seven." I answered the question I knew would be coming, "Car accident."

 "I'm so sorry," Tom said as he reached across the table for my hand. His grip was strong but comforting, and I was suddenly filled with a desire to share more with him.

 "I lived with my grandma until she passed away two weeks after my eighteenth birthday. She was my last living relative." Tom remained silent, but traced his thumb over the back of my hand. "I didn't really know what else to do, so I took out some student loans, since my grandma never had much money to leave me, and I enrolled in the college there in town. I got a job at a small clothing store and lived in the dorms until I earned my degree." I shrugged as if it was no big deal even though I knew it kind of was. Not many people had to move into the dorms on their own with no home to go to over the summer.