'she smiled in defeat with unconquerable eyes'

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Laney walked through the grocery store randomly throwing different items in her cart not paying much attention to what she was even picking up.

She kept thinking about dinner with Tom. And the paparazzi. They were everywhere in LA and she was really missing New York at the moment. London was beginning to sound more and more tempting. Walking out to her car, paparazzi bombarded her asking questions about Tom. She just smiled and continued on her way. Once home she began unloading her groceries and started wondering if she should talk to Chris about her dinner with Tom. She didn't owe him an explanation. They weren't dating exclusively. They weren't even dating....she didn't think. Grabbing her phone she pulled Chris's number up and hit call.

"Hi." He answered the phone clearly with a smile evident by the sound of his voice.

"Hey." She grinned herself. "How's the east coast?"

"A little lonelier without you. How's the west coast?"

"Overwhelming." She sat down on her couch pulling her knees to her chest.

"Uh oh. Why is that?"

"I had dinner with Tom last night."

"Oh.....Hiddleston?"

"Yeah." She said softly.

"Are you and he..."

"No. It wasn't like that. It's on some of the gossip websites though and I didn't want you to see it and get the wrong idea."

"Well thank you. But Laney you know you don't owe me any explanation."

"I know I don't. I just really like you and I don't want my bad judgement last night messing anything up with us." Being 2500 miles apart gave Laney some confidence apparently.

"I really like you to. And it won't. I'm looking forward to getting to Los Angeles."

"I'm looking forward to it too. You have no idea. I'm considering going to London for a week." She admitted.

Chris laughed. "Ok just make sure Holland doesn't keep you hostage and you get back to LA. I will be there in the middle of April."

"Are you going to the Comic con in Seattle in May?"

"I am. You?"

"Yeah! Thank God you'll be there too. Tommy's going also. And I'm trying to convince Zoey to tag along."

"Oh New York 2.0" Chris laughed.

"Exactly." Laney laughed to.



The following week Laney had her photo shoot just outside of Los Angeles. Slipping her sunglasses down from the top of her head to cover her eyes she walked to her Jeep Wrangler and was about to climb in when a familiar black BMW pulled up next to her.

"And you're back....again." Laney lowered her sunglasses and peered at Tom.

"Told you. You know I can be very persistent." He gave her a charming grin.

"It's not your best quality."

Tom laughed shifting the car into park. "Where are you headed?"

"You're very nosy to." She frowned.

"I wanted to take you to lunch."

"Well you can't. I have a photo shoot."

"Do you? Where?"

"Malibu." She hesitated, shaking her head she climbed into the door-less Jeep.

"Let me tag along." Tom called.

"No way." She called back starting up the Jeep.

"Please." He pouted. "I promise I will keep my mouth shut and just watch."

"It's a closed set."

Tom gave her a look.

"Fine." She sighed giving in. "Come on."

Tom grinned as he jumped out of his car and slid into the passenger side of hers.


The photo shoot ended up being a complete blast. It was an outdoor and indoor shoot with a photographer she had worked with before. He let her pick the music they listened to and managed to get some candid shots along with the staged ones. And Tom who knew the photographer as well and had a keen eye for different, unique shots, was a great addition to the shoot. Afterword's Laney, on a high from how fantastic the pictures had turned out, let Tom drive her Jeep as she blared music, dancing and singing along the whole drive back to Los Angeles.

"I thought you were taking me to lunch?" Laney asked as Tom pulled back into her apartment complex.

"Oh as you wish my love." Tom smiled reversing the Jeep to go back out of the parking lot.

They went to a small, usually paparazzi free, Mexican restaurant and Laney's good mood was unstoppable. She laughed through lunch reminiscing with Tom, telling new stories since their time a part and comparing Infinity War set pranks they had pulled and been the target of with their cast mates.

After a 2-hour lunch Tom finally drove her home and walked her to the door.

"Thank you." She paused at the door. "I had a lot of fun today."

"Thank you for letting me tag along. I told you I'd keep my mouth shut."

"Are you kidding? I think some of my favorite shots were the ones you came up with."

Tom shrugged. "It's easy to do when the subject is as beautiful as you."

Laney blushed. "Thank you. Ok I need to go get all this funk washed off my face. Thank you again."

"My pleasure sweetheart." He leaned forward a little bit his bright blue eyes looking deeply into hers.

Laney swallowed, mesmerized. Tom slowly leaned in a little more and his lips met hers for a gentle kiss.

He pulled back with a serious smile. "Bye Laney Love." He said softly before turning and walking away.

Only Heart *Chris Evans*✅Where stories live. Discover now