I Love You Tom Hiddleston

Oh God, it was 3.02pm - she wasn't coming.  

He looked at his watch for the millionth time in the last five minutes.  To say he was nervous was an understatement.  He could perform in front of hundreds - no, make that thousands at Comicon - but now?  Waiting for the one woman that occupied his every waking thought?  A bag of nerves.  He felt sick and sweaty.  Great, he thought, I'm going to look like I've come down with the plague at this rate.  Just as he was contemplating going to the men's room and having a bath in the sink just to occupy himself, she appeared.

She looked awful!

Her hair was drenched, her coat soaked, and her shoes left wet footprints all over the floor as she trudged in.  Her smile, though, was as bright as ever. In fact, she looked like she was in hysterics.  As she got closer, he realised she was hysterical, but not in a good way.

He leapt up and grabbed her hand, making her sit gingerly on the edge of a seat. "Oh GOD Kate, what HAPPENED?" he handed her a napkin, and she wiped her face, trying to look dignified in the face of disaster.  

"I fell into a pond!" she dissolved into tears as she mumbled something about dogs and children and balls.

Tom burst out laughing. Convulsing laughter, that made his eyes water and his eyes close.  

"You fell into a pond?  Going after a ball or a dog?"

"A dog pushed me as I was retrieving a little boy's ball.  It jumped up, and I toppled over. I didn't want you to think I wasn't going to show up." she sniffed, and he just laughed harder. He couldn't help it.  It really wasn't that he was being mean. It was nerves.  All the pent-up anxiety finding an unexpected release. 

She was utterly humiliated. 

He was still laughing when she wrenched her hand from him, stood up, and marched right back out again. He realised that at that point, he had probably blown it. He jumped up and ran after her.

"Wait! Kate, please wait!" he ran along the street and grabbed her arm, "Please Kate, I'm sorry. I really am!" he stopped her in her tracks, and she rounded on him.

"Go on, laugh it up!  That's all I am to you, isn't it? A laugh.  An expensive one, I'll admit, but still.  Don't worry, I'll find a way to pay you back for the bag.  You don't have to worry, I'm not a gold-digger." she tried to wrestle her arm from his grip. "I need to get changed, IF you don't mind.  Let me GO!" 

"Kate, no, really NO!" he had gone from being beside himself with amusement, to beside himself with shame. "It's not like that, I promise you. Look, come home with me, I only live five minutes away.  You can get warm and dry, and we can have a coffee and a chat.  I PROMISE not to laugh at you. Ever again. " he paused, and she looked up at him, a smirk beginning to twitch at her lips.

"I look awful, don't I?" she said with a little blush,"like a drowned rat?"

"No darling, you don't look like a drowned rat, I promise." he smiled as he saw she was beginning to relax. "A soggy wildcat, maybe!" he shrugged and took a step back, raising his hands in defence.  This time, Kate was the one to burst out giggling.

"Oh, Tom! It could only happen to me!" she full on laughed now. "First, you soak my handbag, then I soak myself.  Thank GOD I didn't have my Prada with me!" she was shaking and holding onto his arm, trying to compose herself.

"Yeah, cos I'm not buying you a bloody second one!" he winked, "not yet anyway!"  He took off his jacket and slipped it around her shoulders to keep her warm.  "Come on, you, let's get you warmed up."

An hour later, she was warm, dry, and sitting in Toms' kitchen drinking tea in front of his Aga. He'd let her shower, borrow a hoodie and some joggers, which she'd had to turn up several times, of course.  This only served to set them off laughing again.  As Tom watched her do her fierce catwalk strut through the kitchen, he thought she was quite possibly the most wonderful woman he had met in a very, very long time.  

"Oh Kate, you're priceless, you know that?  Only you could turn fashion disaster into something quite so entertaining.  You look... unique... in my joggers love,  really.  Unique!" he stood against the cooker sipping his tea, his eyes glinting with amusement.

She looked over from where she sat and smiled.  "I'm glad you think so, I might have some more disasters to show you in future!" she smirked and stood up, crossing to where he stood.  "So, since we're on plan B and it's almost 5 pm, would you like to share a pizza? I don't know about you, but I'm always starving after going swimming!" she shrugged and then let out an almighty sneeze. 

"Oh hell! I hope you're not catching a chill, love?"  He rubbed her hands."You're still cold, you poor thing!" Without another word, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Here, this is the best way to warm up.  Honest!" he looked down at her shocked face,"a soldier told me, I promise!" he fell silent and just looked at her softly.  He had to make a conscious effort not to just kiss her there and then.  He smiled and hugged her close. Maybe he should just kiss her, stop thinking and kiss her.

She had to take a few deep breaths as she felt herself sink into his arms.  Was this really happening?  She was standing in Tom Hiddleston's kitchen in Tom Hiddleston's arms.  His actual arms. He smelt wonderful, a mixture of aftershave and handsome. She felt like she could stay there forever. The only thing missing was that elusive kiss.  Should she do it?  Would it be too much?  Was she overthinking things?

Instinctively, they pulled back a little and looked at each other.  For a moment, their eyes locked, and you could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet.  He reached down and tucked a lock of damp hair behind her ear.  He let his hand trail across her cheek, coming to rest softly.  She leaned into it, her eyes closing as she felt herself carried away by the moment.

"Kate..." he said softly, "I think ..." he reached down, his lips inches from hers, his breath warm on hers. He closed his eyes and leaned forward.

The doorbell rang, and they sprang apart. Tom groaned, and Kate beat a retreat to the other side of the kitchen, sitting at the table.  As he left to answer the door, he breathed. "I'm so sorry," and she nodded.  Not as sorry as her, she was sure.

A few minutes later, he returned, an envelope in his hand and a smile on his face. He came and sat next to her, nudging her with his elbow. "You ok?" 

"Yeah," she smiled up at him. "Everything ok?" 

"Perfect love, just perfect.  It was just Luke with some paperwork for me. Now, where were we?" he placed the envelope on the table and turned, taking her hands and turning her to face him. "About here, I think."  Before she had a chance to think or react, he leaned in and kissed her.

At first, she froze in shock.  Her mind was screaming at her.  Her body was screaming at him.  Slowly, she realised that this was real life and not some crazy fangirl hallucination.  His lips were warm and insistent.  He slid his arms around her and pulled her tight against him.  She could feel his heart beating almost as hard as hers. Could he really be feeling this the way she was?

Tom pulled back first, his eyes glinting and his face flushed. "Well, how about that then?" he said with a smile. "I think any worries you had about me not knowing you are well and truly put to bed, eh?" He winked "bed... hmmmm there's a thought...." he grinned and kissed her again, "Don't worry, I'm only joking about that bit, " he pulled her to her feet, "let's go and watch some tv while we wait for the pizza to arrive. I promise to only mildly ravish you - if you think that would be appropriate at this stage of our relationship."

Kate smiled and nodded "Oh I think a mild ravishing would be appropriate, Sir, perfectly appropriate."

It was only later, as she sat in the taxi home, having kissed him many more times and agreed to go to the theatre with him the next night, that he'd used the "R" word.  

Was she in a relationship?  A real relationship?  

With Tom Hiddleston?

Good God Almighty, at what point would she wake up and see it was all a dream?   

She was dying to see where this dream would go next.