Collide ♔ Tom Kaulitz

c h a p t e r ♔ t h i r t e e n

Tom walks with the bottle of wine in one hand and and mine firmly grasped in the other. We walk along the long bridge in pure silence. My heart is beating so heavily in my chest, i swear he can hear it.

We share soft smiles before i turn away, looking towards the water where the sun used to sit. The moon now took its place in the sky, glistening off of the gentle ripples of the river.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked me, studying my expression as i looked towards the moonlight.

"I was thinking of a folklore my mother used to tell me when i was younger. It's about the moon." I murmur, looking back up at the glowing moon as it hangs lowly on the skyline.

"Tell me." He demands, never looking away from me. I feel my stomach doing flips inside of me. I've never had a boys attention like this, not that i've ever noticed anyways.

"I don't remember much. but it went something like... The sun loved the moon so much he died every night just to let her breathe." I turn back towards him, expecting him to be laughing at how i reminisce of silly children's tales.

But something in his face changed. His eyes, still so deep and cold, seemed to soften just the tiniest bit. It wasn't much but it was enough to send a wave of emotions flooding through my body.

I guess i hadn't realized how long i'd been staring at him, because he breaks the silence.

"You're the only person who has ever looked at me like that." He smirks, looking away down the barren street.

"Like what?" My face contorts in confusion.

"I don't know. You tell me." He smiles brighter, flashing his pearly white teeth. I feel my heart sink down in my chest, my face flushing to a rose color.

"Like that." He stops dead in his tracks. Tom pulls my hand gently, guiding me to face him. I stand meekly in front of him.

His hand reaches up, pushing back a strand of my long brown hair and places it delicately behind my ear. He leans down slowly, whispering closely to the skin of my cheek "Tell me what you see, Francesca."

I feel my legs begin to quake beneath me at the sound of his low voice calling out my name. I chew on the inside of my lip. I feel the tip of his finger slide smoothly down the side of my cheek, falling underneath my chin. His fingertip pushes my chin up, turning my face towards his.

"You're the most beautiful boy i've ever seen." I mutter timidly, afraid he doesn't feel the same way about me.

A smile spreads across his face as he takes a step back. His hand falls from my face as he begins to chuckle.

"What?" My eyebrows furrow, my bottom lip protruding out as i pout.

"I'm not a boy, Fran" He giggles softly, "I haven't been since i was eleven." He shakes his head with a grin still plastered amongst his chiseled face.

Horror spreads across mine as i realize what he means. "You- you were made a man at twelve?" My voice shakes in disbelief.

I thought it to be entirely barbaric that my father made men at the age of fifteen, but twelve!? I can't help but to imagine my brother at that age. He was still so innocent, pure, and full of everything good in life. Tom had all that taken away at such a young age. He never even had the chance to be a kid.

"Yeah." he shrugs his shoulders, studying my expression. "It's okay Fran. It was a long time ago." He tries to reassure me, which i find entirely too ironic.

"That's not fair. You deserved more time to be a kid." I shake my head. Emotion fills my chest as i imagine a little Tom taking a life at the young age of only twelve.

"My father needed me to grow up. The Don of the east side had to have a successor ready at any moment." He explains, placing his hand on my forearm.

Wait.

"Oh my god. You're- ...and your father is-..." I take a step back as an astonished look over takes my face. I had no idea who he was.

If i was found with a boy in the middle of the night my reputation would be over. But if i was found with the son of the east side Don, my entire families reputation would be over.

"You didn't know?" Tom looks at me with bewilderment.

"And you did!?" I take a step back, looking him up and down. How could he put the both of us in this much danger? We would both be killed for the sake of our prideful families reputations.

"Of course i did. Everyone does." He snaps back at me.

"I'm just a girl. I've never been allowed in on family affairs." I shake my head, looking down to my manicured toes against the asphalt.

I knew for good reason this could never be. The dreadful feeling i carried in my stomach wasn't for the sake of ruining my purity, it was for the sake of losing my life. I gasp softly for air as i realize it's become hard to breathe.

"Hey, it's okay. Take a breath." Tom sets the bottle of wine on the ground. He steps towards me, placing his two hands against my burning cheeks.

The coolness of his touch calms me. I close my eyes and let my breathing slow as i focus on the repetitive rise and fall of my chest.

"There you go." He grumbles lowly, praising me for calming myself.

Once calmed, i look back up into his eyes. "Tom, we can't do this. This is so dangerous." I shake my head.

"If you're scared then go home. Now." He says coldly, turning his face away from me. I reluctantly pull my gaze from the center of his chest. He looks off to the side, disheartened at my unwillingness to take the risk.

My brown eyes trace the perimeter of his perfect side profile, slowly gracing down the soft creases of his skin.

"No." I mutter softly.

He turns sharply back to me, looking into my eyes with hope and i can't lie it began to stir feeling buried deep with in me.

"If you stay with me, you have to understand the risks." His thumb traces along my cupids bow, lightly falling down my plump bottom lip.

I nod.

"We could both die if we are caught." He tilts his head to the side, waiting for my reluctance.

I nod.

"Stay with me?" He says, stepping closer to me.

I nod. "I will."