Twelve Red Roses (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

Chapter 17- The Gateway Arch

I just voted for my own chapter. Does that make me a bad person? xD

Anyways, I do hope you enjoy this chapter. I really do appreciate all of the feedback I get from all of you, it means so so so much to me! :D Enjoy!

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It was quite early in the morning when Tom came to the small table I was sitting at in the eating area of the hotel, disrupting my newspaper reading. It's been a while since I've read a Newspaper. Reading about tragedies all over the world made me feel gloomy again. But when Mr. Happy appears, carrying two cups of tea and a smile on his face, I couldn't help but smile back.

"Morning," I greet softly, eyeing the tea he set in front of me.

"Good morning, beautiful." He notices how I'm looking at the tea (and, no doubt, my heated cheeks after he referred to me as 'beautiful'). "I tried making it how you liked it," he says with a laugh. "No promises."

I laugh as well, and take a sip, finding that it's pretty decent. "It'll do."

He smiles. "I guess that means it's good, then, yeah?"

"Yeah," I say with a smile. "Thank you."

"It's no problem," he replies, that smile still plastered to his face.

I then pick up the newspaper again, sighing lightly. "School shooting. Teenager drowned in a lake. A jewelry store was robbed."

He gives me a confused and concerned glance.

"I just pretty much summed up this morning's newspaper for you, you're welcome."

"God, that's terrible..." He mutters, shaking his head. "It makes you want to do something about it, doesn't it?"

"I guess... But I don't think there's much we can do. We're just normal people..." I trail off, sending him a glance. I'm a normal person. He isn't. He's a celebrity.

"I'm normal."

I nod quickly and look down. "Yeah. You are."

Though he wasn't. He's so much more than a normal person. He's the kindest man I've ever met, and the funnest. He can make me smile when I'm sad, dance when I'm in doubt, and laugh when I'm on the verge of tears. He's not ordinary. He is one of a kind. A treasure in this world. A diamond among pieces of coal. Why can't he see that?

But I guess that's sort of expected from a few of movies I actually have seen. Normal people want to be extraordinary and be someone important. Important people just want to live the life of someone normal and ordinary. Humans always want what they can't have.

"So, last night," he says with a grin.

And I grin, too, feeling like a giddy girl. "It was fun. I had a lot of fun. Thank you so much."

"But you're the one who chose the place, love," he reminds me, sipping at his tea.

"But we wouldn't have had nearly as much fun as we did if you didn't make me dance," I remind him.

"Let's just say we both are the reason we had fun," he suggests with a smile.

"Alright, deal."

I go back to my newspaper then, but my mind doesn't focus on the tiny ordinary black words against the ordinary white background. My mind wanders to the colorful, fun Tom. I have no idea what we are anymore. I think we've moved on from being strangers. But part of me says we may be more than 'just' friends. I mean, do normal friends kiss each other on the cheek? Or hold hands when just strolling through town? Use nicknames like 'darling', 'love', or 'sweet'? Go on dates? I mean, I really like Tom. He's an amazing guy. But being in a relationship with him? What if it got really weird between us? It's always difficult for friends so suddenly start kissing and hugging. But I guess we're halfway there. We hug. We kiss. On the cheek, anyways.