Twelve Red Roses (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

Chapter 12- Denver Zoo

I would like to dedicate this chapter to circa1927, mostly because she is one of my favorite authors on Wattpad, and you should definitely check her stories out! Also, I practically spam her story 'Crumbs' with comments, so I suppose she felt obligated to dedicate one of her storied to me xD Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. P.s.. @GabsHiddleston and @TWHiddlesFan, dedications for you two are coming up!:) Thanks for the votes! 

After a tiring five hours of driving, we stop at a hotel for the night. Tom was ready to just crash in his room, but I still had some things I wanted to discuss.

"Sleep in, okay?" I say firmly as he's about to go into his room. He stops at his doorway, leaning against the wall lightly as he looks at me. 

"I will," he answers with a light smile. I could practically see the tired-ness in his eyes. His expression.

"So... What's our schedule for tomorrow?"

"Mm... Denver Zoo. Then dinner." He yawns lightly, though his hand covers his mouth to conceal most of the yawn. 

"Right. Have you heard much about the Denver Zoo?"

Tom sighs lightly. "Cass... I'm actually pretty tired right now." He says it gently, as if he's scared he'll hurt my feelings. 

"Right. Sorry... Hey, do you want me to drive every once in a while?"

"It's fine, darling. I've got it."

I frown, trying my best to put on a begging face. Trying to mimic his own begging face. "C'mon, Tom. You're tiring yourself out. I'll drive tomorrow."

"...Okay," he says after a moment. "Only because you asked."

I smile. "Thank you. Goodnight, Tom." I turn away, ready to walk back to my own room, back to my comfortable bed, but I stop myself. I turn back towards him before he even returns the 'goodnight', and kiss his cheek. It's a bit of a hurried kiss since I can only stand on my tiptoes for so long, but the contact of my lips on his soft cheek sent butterflies throughout my body. And I wondered if he felt the same thing.

He smiles. And I've never been good at reading strangers' faces, but I think I've mastered Tom. He's giving me a shy smile now. "Goodnight, Cassidy." He waits until I turn around to shut his door, leaving me grinning like an idiot alone in the hallway. And you can bet your ass I went to bed smiling that night.

~

Tom did sleep in that morning. I mean, according to him he slept in. I wasn't sure how late I expected him to sleep in, maybe until eleven or twelve. But he woke up at nine-thirty (while I was in his room stealing his Othello book. I was certain he wouldn't wake up, but when he did, I guess I thought he'd be angry. Nope. He just smiled at me. He's still a handsome motherfucker even when he just wakes up.) and claimed he was 100% rested.  

"Are you ready to get out of here?" Tom asks later, opening my door and popping his head in. And scaring the shit out of me. Sheesh. He's lucky I wasn't changing. He'd get a smack to the cheek. 

I set the book down. "We have an hour and a half."

"Yes, but I wasn't to get to Colorado soon. We have a lot of things to do there."

"We have, like, two things."

"We have the Denver Zoo, Ocean Journey, Botanic Gardens, and our dinner."

"Wow, okay, four things. My bad."

Tom senses my sarcastic tone on the first word, and he raises an eyebrow. "Come on. I'll even help you pack."

And, since I don't want to make him upset with my sarcasm, I agree. I set the book aside -which, I'm almost done with, by the way- and start packing up the few things that were out of my bag. This happens far too frequently. Packing, unpacking. Settling into a new hotel and leaving just as you get comfortable. This makes me remember why people thought I wouldn't be able to handle traveling. Perhaps they were right.