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Fragments of Love and Uncertainty

Tom sits next to Venetia, feeling her unsteady breath against his shoulder. He can feel the tremble in her body as she tries to compose herself after the unexpected visit from her father's assistant. Her hands clench tightly together, her nails digging into her skin as she struggles to contain her emotions.

Tom can sense her complicated feelings, the mixture of anxiety, guilt, and sadness that's weighing heavily on her.

He places his hand gently on her thigh, feeling the warmth of her skin through the fabric of her outfit. He gives her a reassuring squeeze, trying to offer some comfort in this difficult moment.

"It'll be okay," he promises through a soft whisper.

He can tell that she's trying to keep herself together, to not let Invicta's unexpected visit affect her too much. But he knows Venetia all too well. He knows that she's always been one to bottle up her feelings until they exploded in a torrent of tears and emotion.

He places a reassuring hand on her thigh, trying to offer her some comfort.

"I know," she nods her head in agreement. "I just don't know if I can do this," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"My dad has really shitty politics. I really don't know if I can suffer through his incoherent bullshit anymore. In January we had an argument and... I don't want to be a hypocrite."

Tom nods, thoroughly understanding her thought process.

He hates seeing her like this. He loves Venetia more than anything in the world, and he hates that he can't fix everything for her. But he knows that sometimes the best thing he can possibly do is simply be there for her, to offer her a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear.

"Do you want to go back to bed?" he asks, trying to offer her some comfort.

Venetia shakes her head, biting her nails anxiously.

"No, I'll go back to my own room," she says. "I need to be alone for a while."

"Are you sure?" He queries, pushing back a loose strand of her brunette locks behind her ear.

Truthfully, the emotional woman shrugs. She wants to be alone - or at least she thinks she does - but sitting next to Tom is giving her comfort.

When will this dreadful feeling end?

"I need to do something," she whispers, picking the skin from around her fingernails.

Tom takes the shrug as a yes. Sometimes people need to be alone with their thoughts in order to process them. He doesn't push the issue any more than he already has. Instead, he leans forwards and plants a single kiss upon her forehead.

The actress stands up and fakes a smile - she wants Tom to know that she'll be alright, but talking is a hard thing to do when she's play-pretending. So, he watches her leave in silence, feeling a pang of sadness in his own chest.

Once her door clicks shut, Tom briskly walks into his bedroom.

He sits down on the edge of the bed when a sense of unease settles over him, a feeling of disquiet that he can't quite shake off. He can't help but feel a deep sense of sadness for Venetia. He knows that her emotions are complicated, that there's no easy fix for the strained familial relationships in her life. But he also knows that he loves her more than anything - that he'd do virtually anything to make her happy.

Tom picks up his phone and clicks on Harry's contact. The actor needs to talk to someone about this. Tom has never had a strained relationship with his parents - neither has Harry - but his younger brother is like the human equivalent of Wikipedia. He's bound to know something about the tricky subject and give him some clarity in this confusing situation.