Got Your Number

Ch. 15 - The End?

A/N: Hello, friends! I want to thank you all for the support and immense amount of love for this little story of mine. What started out as a "What if?" in a discussion that I never imagined would get 20 reads (Let alone 20,000! WOW!) has become an epic 15-chapter adventure. And I couldn't be happier. So here we are, at the final chapter of Got Your Number. I hope you've all enjoyed the ride.

Tom had to leave for America three days after your trip to the Eye, and between that and finals approaching, you haven’t spoken. The lack of communication has really given you some time to think about this whole thing. What exactly is the nature of your relationship? The two of you are friends, of course – he’s told you that much himself many times – but something about how you acted around one another struck you as odd. If you didn’t know better, you would draw the conclusion that he was…

No. Do not let yourself think that he could be interested in you. He’s Tom Hiddleston, for fuck’s sake. There is no conceivable way that he is romantically interested in you. Friends? Sure. You could believe that, but nothing more. He could have any woman he wanted, there’s no way he’d waste his time on a twenty three-year-old fan who works in a bookshop to pay off her loans and whose two best friends are her childhood neighbor and her hairless, three-legged cat.

Maybe you’re overthinking the whole thing. The problem is you can’t stop thinking about it. You keep replaying that day in your head, searching for who knows what. Something he said, or that you said. A gesture, a look. Anything.

There was the moment when you finally got him to look out at the city, when he said ‘Amazing’ but wasn’t talking about the view; but that could have just been flattery. He’s a flatterer. Then again, he didn’t let go of your hand when he very well could have. He didn’t have to walk arm-in-arm with you for the whole twenty minute walk to the Eye, either.

Just what exactly is he playing at, anyway?

You do your best to push it out of your head, immersing yourself in your studies. Finals are a lot more important that a questinable relationship. It's at night, after work and class are done and you actually have time for thoughts of your own, when your mind wanders. If, and it's a big, big if, he was interested, would you be able to handle being with someone constantly in the public eye? You would become a novelty. Your privacy would be slim to none. You can hardly stand giving presentations for your uni courses!

Despite the unwanted attention, you have to admit it would be a dream made real, being with Tom. And he does seem to care quite a lot about you...

***

The next time you work with Talia, you confide in her while you stock the nonfiction section. She's usually a good person to seek advice from, and she is vaguely familiar with the situation.

"Tali, I need help," you tell her. "So I have this friend, and I've known this friend for about six months now but we haven't actually spent much time together... I mean, we text and talk to each other on the phone all the time but I'm busy and he's busy and he travels. All. The. Time. We met up recently, spent the day together, and it was wonderful - we walked over and went up on the Eye, it was great - but it was so weird. It wasn't weird in the negative sense, but it was awkward, and it made me think what if...? We haven't had an opportunity to talk since then and I can't stop thinking about it, about him and wondering if there's something there..."

You lean against the shelves with a sigh, relieved after venting it all out.

"Well, you're obviously interested. Do you know if he is?" she asks, taking the stack of books you'd been holding so she can shelf them.