Run To Me

At the starting line

"So, you ok with every second morning then Molls?" Tom turned to her and smiled. He looked down at her and inwardly crossed his fingers. Over the last, unbelievably short hour, he, James, and Molly had hammered out a plan. The marathon Tom was training for was in May, almost ten months away. He was fit. Anyone could see that, but he wasn't marathon fit.

"Yeah, suits me!" She tried to sound casual. Sound like she wasn't screaming inside. Every second morning? With Tom? Dear God in Heaven, she would be a good girl forever and never ask for anything ever again. Well, except for another twelve inches in height, maybe?

"When do we start Boss?" Tom asked James with a salute. James looked at Molly and smirked.

"Well, if Missy here has ANY energy left, why dont we make it tomorrow morning? I genuinely don't think today counts. Do you?"

"No!" She said a tad too keenly." I mean, no, we didn't do too much, and that's if Tom's free? I mean, this is all sudden, what if he's busy?" She rambled, trying to mentally sit on the fangirl trying to get out.

"At 5.30 in the morning? What could he possibly be....." James trailed off, and for once, he did the beetroot impression. Tom laughed, and Molly just buried her head in her hands. "Oh. Sorry." James muttered and stood up. "Ok , time for me to go, I think. See you tomorrow, sis, Tom. Park gates! 5.45am!" And with that, he left. As he reached the door of the cafe, he turned and smiled, Molly and Tom were already deep in conversation. So far, so good.

"So, what's on for today then?" She asked, toying with her cup, looking for an excuse to stay just that little bit longer.

If only she knew she needed no excuse.

Tom sighed "Oh just work." He rolled his eyes and grimaced. "No, sorry, I shouldn't make it sound like that. I am very lucky and I know it. It's just, well, there are a million other things I would prefer to do today." He refrained from adding, 'and they all start with getting to know you.'

"So what's a work day like for Tom Hiddleston Megastar?" She asked, resting her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. She managed not to gaze into his eyes adoringly, but only just. Instead, she smiled and took a sip of her Chai.

"Weelllll, first I'm meeting my agent to go over a contract, then my publicist to look at my schedule for the week. Then I have a radio interview, then a face to face then lunch." He sat back and smiled.

"You?" He took a swallow of his latte and smiled."What does Molly do when she's not throwing herself at the feet of all and sundry!?"

"I'll have you know it's a very select group of people that are in the falling club!" She said, avoiding the question and responding with mock indignation. "You have to be really special!" She meant it as a retort, a joke, but somehow she found she actually wanted it to be true. He WAS special.

Seemingly, so did Tom.

"So I'm special then, am I?" He said, his eyes boring into her brain. "In the club?" He smiled,"so to speak."

"What do you think?" She said quietly, looking down at the cup, suddenly her bravado deserting her. "I think everyone thinks your special Tom."

Tom paused for a second. What he really wanted to say was I don't care about anyone else. I just want to be special to you. What he actually said was, "Oh, I don't think many do, maybe my mum and my bank manager!" He shrugged and blushed a little, making her smile.

"Modest too, eh?" She winked and drained her cup. This was pushing things too far. He must be wanting to escape the grilling by now. She stood up, and instinctively, Tom reached out and grabbed her arm. They both looked at his hand as he held her and pulled her to sit again.

"S-sorry. Didn't mean to grab..." he stammered and looked at her in panic. What are you DOING, Hiddleston? He chided himself.

"It's ok." Molly looked at him, barely keeping the rampant fangirl inside. "Was there something else?"

Tom seemed to snap out of whatever panic he was in and grinned. "I, well, I just wondered if you're not busy tonight, if you'd like to.." he swallowed, and she could suddenly see Tommy Hiddleston, the man who even now didn't believe in himself. She decided to save him.

"Go for a drink? A bite to eat? Both?" She said softly.

"Yes...yes, thank you, I'd like that very much." He replied in a daze. She laughed, and he looked confused. She shook her head.

"Oh, Tom! You were asking ME out you daft pudding!"

"Oh! Oh yeah! So I was." Now he laughed and moved his hand from where it was still gently holding her arm. "So, would you? I mean, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other. Be good to get familiar as it were." He smiled and seemed to relax as she nodded.

"That sounds like the best plan I've heard today." She smiled and stood up. This time, he didn't grab her. He just let his hand trail down her arm as she stood, their fingers brushing and setting off fireworks in Molly's stomach. It took all her willpower not to gasp.

"You don't know where I live?" She said, her mind beginning to fog over with excitement. "How will you find me?"

"Could I interest you in the notion of actually TELLING me?" It was his turn to laugh at her confusion.

"Oh! Oh yeah!" She slapped her forehead. Tom pushed his phone towards her,

"Here, pop in your details..." it was open at a new contact page. She quickly filled in the details and passed it back. Tom stopped her. "Text yourself." He smiled, and she frowned as she sent a tentative hello. "Their, now you have my number too. Is that ok?"

She seemed to be in a dream. Not only was she now Tom Hiddleston's running buddy, but also in his contacts. They were going for dinner and drinks, and she was going to expire if she kept thinking about it. She nodded and smiled, "Very ok. Very, very ok."

Tom stood and walked to the cafe door with her. "I'm glad," he said with a genuinely warm tone. "I am really glad."

As they stood outside the cafe, awkward didn't come close. Tom looked at her, unsure if they should at least hug, desperately wanting to kiss her cheek. Molly looked at Tom, wondering if it might seem forward to kiss his cheek, desperately hoping for at least a hug. As it was, neither did anything, and eventually, they parted after the most awkward handshake either had ever suffered.

As Tom walked away, he found himself promising that this would be their last handshake ever....