[WORD COUNT: 2475!]

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Feeling the rush of adrenaline shoot through your veins sent you right back onto your feet, head spinning around the face the door. It was almost like something from a horror movie, minus the tension themed music and creepy sound effects. Your heart was pounding so much you could hear it on your eardrums, falling in and out of rhythm and speed, constantly changing. There was a harsh slam before all fell silent, darkness consuming the house once again. But this time you knew you weren't alone.

You edged as slow as possible across the room, passing the bed and heading for the door, eyes continuously locked on it. The frame faced the stairs, and you could see into the passage from where you were standing. The light's were still on, yet there was nothing for a while. No movement, not even a sound. You figured it was probably your mind playing tricks on you, figuring it could have just been the wind?

You subsided the feeling and decided to pack the clothes and get out of there as soon as possible. You moved back across the room to the drawers, pulling them open carefully and unloading the folded clothes onto the floor. One all the drawers were empty, you reached under the bed for your old suitcase, luckily finding what you guessed was Tom's too, and began tucking the clothes into every nook and cranny, hoping to get every last shirt and pair of jeans inside. You had to result in squishing them down a couple of times, before finally closing the lid and almost shutting the suitcase.

But that's when you heard it again, except this time it was much closer. A harsh bang, coming from right outside the bedroom door. Your mouth fell open as your breathing picked up, a hand covering your mouth as you dipped down behind the bed. There was someone, or even something, right outside the bedroom door. You could hear their footsteps, and if it was someone in their right mind they would have at least called out to make sure no one was home.

You were biting down on the palm of your hand, freehand clutching your legs tighter towards your chest as you heard the door frame slam against the wall. You wanted to slip under the bed, but it was too late now. They were walking around the room, firstly trailing to the side of the bed before you saw the corner of their sneaker approach your side and you felt suddenly light-headed.

"Y/N?" you heard your name being called from the side of you. Your headshot upright, looking up to see a young, possibly middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and glasses looking down at you. "That's your name right?"

"How do you know my name?" you questioned, hands falling to your side as you began to relax a little. If she was a megalomaniac, she would have killed you already.

"Oh, sorry I'm Lucy, I've got Tessa in the car. What happened here?" she held out a hand for you to take. Your breathing simmered quickly, wiping your forehead with the back of your hand in confirmation that she was harmless.

"Nice to meet you, but next time shout out or something? I thought you were a robber or worse, a serial killer" you exchanged a gentle chuckle, taking a deep breath in through your nose. She repressed a smile, looking down to your side at the suitcase. "Oh and, some stuff happened a few days ago. I'm sure Tom will explain, but, we're on a flight out to New York later tonight"

"Wow, New York, huh? Tom's always wanted to go there" she smiled, yet her expression was unreadable.

"You sure know Tom, huh?" you smiled, now fully calm and bending down to finish sealing both suitcases.

"Yeah, uh, we kind of had a thing back in school but after taking up the family business he kinda forgot about me" she tried to make the conversation light-hearted, but you could feel the heartbreak in her voice. Tom had never mentioned a 'Lucy', only when he had explained she was looking after Tessa for the time being. You almost felt guilty.

"Well, I'm staying with him at the moment why don't you drop by?" you smiled, "Also could you give me a hand with these?" you chortled, gesturing for her to take the suitcase.

"Of course" she smiled, taking it from your hands and walking behind you out of the room, "and I don't really think that would be a great idea"

You paused in your tracks, picking up the suitcase to carry downstairs after looking at her with a confused expression.

"Mind me asking why?"

"No, it's fine. I... Well, we... We messed around one night, specifically after prom and uh... Well let's just say I was eating for two for a couple of weeks"

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, you dropped the suitcase at your feet and stared at Lucy as she joined you on the ground level.

"Y-your... You're not saying what I think you're saying?"

"17 and pregnant..." she sighed, teeth gnawing on her bottom lip as her eyes dropped to the floor. You took her hand gently, leading her to the part of the couch where it wasn't smothered in glass.

"What happened?" you asked, leaning in feeling the most intrigued you'd been in a long time. That was certainly something you would never have guessed about Tom, you suspected he messed around with girls before he met you but if your prediction about what happened next was bad, Tom needed a lesson on how men should behave.

"Well, after that night I was fine, obviously, as it doesn't kick in until a couple of days after. We used protection, of course, but it obviously didn't work," she pat her thighs harshly with her hands, "next thing I knew I was having Tom sit down with me so I could tell him, and I haven't really seen him since. I used to dog sit a lot for him, but apart from that, we've barely met eyes since he... Since he told me..."

"It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it" you comforted her, but she looked like she needed to get this off her chest. She knew little about you and Tom, so telling you this she expected a little to a non-sincere reaction.

"He told me he wanted to keep it. But, we were too young and I couldn't, not with my parents going through a divorce. So, I left the subject be and decided to uh, g-get an abortion without telling him."

"Okay, I was on your side for a second there but Lucy, why didn't you tell him?"

"I couldn't! Not after everything, but I wish I had, I really do. When I finally told him he was so mad... So, so mad. He told me he never wanted to see my face again, called a borderline murderer and that was it"

You could see the tear shells building at the rims of her eyes, and it was enough for you to pull her into a hug. A girl you barely knew, who had seen the sides of Tom which you cherished the most, and yet he broke her heart. They broke each other's hearts. You pulled away gently, watching her wipe away a few fallen tears.

"I'm sorry, I really am"

"There's no need to be. I feel so stupid talking about it because-"

"Can we go yet?" another voice joined you in the living room, both your heads shooting over to see a young boy standing in the doorway, "Tessa keeps jumping on me and I swear if she breaks my headphones I'll-"

"Alright, Tyler, alright just go get back in the car we'll be there soon" Lucy rolled her eyes with a smile, ushering him out the door. He groaned, turning back around and putting his headphones back over his ears.

"Your boy?" you smiled, eyes beaming as she nodded, a wide grin falling onto her cheeks as she suddenly became shy.

"It's nothing to get fussed about because I'm happy now. I've got two kids and I'm happily married" she smiled, holding out her hand and showing you the small diamond ring sitting on her finger. You gasped, pulling her hand closer and admiring the glimmering diamonds.

"Oh, Lucy I'm so jealous!" you shrieked followed by a giggle. You let go of her hand, seeing her looking down at it as she retrieved her hand. Despite what Lucy had been through with Tom, she genuinely did look happy. Maybe she and Tom weren't right together, and it truly showed how the universe has plans for you, even when you don't see it.

"Right, we better go before one of the kids gets eaten" she giggled, standing and walking towards one of the suitcases. You let a gentle hum leave your lips as you followed her to the second and carried it out onto the driveway. The sun was out and everything seemed a lot brighter, the clouds had cleared and there wasn't a blemish of darkness in the sky. However, your mind couldn't stop thinking now, about what happened between the two all those years ago.

You sat in the front of the car, finally being able to put your seatbelt on after being attacked by Tessa, who forced refuge over your knees.

"She can probably smell Tom on you" Lucy smiled, glancing over from the driver's seat. You rolled your eyes with a tut, "So it's not puppy love the, eh Tess?" you cooed, kissing her on the cheek as she turned abruptly and licked your nose, making you squirm.

"Hey, Tyler, why don't you tell Y/N about what you got this weekend?" Lucy looked over her shoulder to the back seat where Tyler was glancing out the window, headphones around his neck. You turned lightly, sending him a smile as he caught your eye.

"I, uh, I won a trophy in gymnastics" he smiled, a blush creeping up onto his cheeks as you gasped.

"No way! That's awesome, dude! Gimme some," you held out your hand awkwardly, high fiving him as he reached forward. "How long have you been doing it for?"

"Six years next month" he confirmed a little more confidently. You nudged Lucy on the shoulder gently, "I think we got ourselves the next leading champion here" you smirked, "proud of you man"

"Thank you, Y/N" he smiled politely.

"No problem"

The rest of the car ride resulted in you getting to know some more about Tyler and his work through gymnastics, he truly did sound like a little trooper, and you could see him going far. He held Tessa for you while you and Lucy got the suitcases out the back, one of the Everdeen managers meeting you in the parking lot and took the cases out of your hands, suggesting to take Tessa which you politely declined.

"So, we should meet up again sometime when I come back to visit" you suggested, feeling Tessa tugging on the lead as she sniffed around your feet.

"Sure, and hey, maybe come see Tyler at his competitions some time?"

"I'd love too" you smiled, waving at him as he walked back to the car. You hugged her one last time before you bid your last goodbye.

"Hey, Y/N" she shouted you before you could fully leave earshot. You turned around, silently asking her to carry on, "You'd make a great mom someday"

Your heart fluttered at the comment, thinking about what it would be like to own a child. You knew you'd always wanted kids, but never imagined what it would like long term.

"Thank you" you smiled, waving to her one last time before Tessa was dragging you up the steps to the hotel lobby.

You signed in fairly quickly, having to take Tessa through security to make sure she wasn't carrying anything before they finally let you pass and trailed back up to your dorm room. You knew Tom wouldn't be happy about you leaving him, but maybe seeing Tessa would make things a little better. The nerves began to bundle as you scooped Tessa up in your arms, seeing the security guard at the end of the hallway staring at you a little confused.

"Hey, could you hold her for a second?" you didn't really give him time to answer before handing Tessa over carefully, her fur clinging to his neat jacket before you scooted inside the hotel room. To your disappointment, the bed was empty which meant Tom knew you were gone.

The bathroom door opened suddenly, revealing Tom with just a towel wrapped around his waist, hair dripping and landing on his shoulder blades. His eyes caught yours, standing there rather amused at the door.

"You pinky promised" he tilted his head, jaw clenching tightly, not impressed.

"Yeah, well, you'll love me again in a second" you winked, opening the door which qued Tessa to come bounding in. Tom's eyes widened, bending down immediately for his little blue roan staffy to bound into his arms and tackle him to the ground. The door shut behind you, leaving the security guard rather baffled.

"Tess!" he yelled through pauses of licks and kisses he received from the dog, making your lips peak up into a smile and numerous giggles leave your lips. "My- little- princess- is home!" he yelled contently, rubbing between her ears as he managed to sit back upright. He looked over at you, gesturing you over towards him as Tessa ran off to explore the hotel room.

"Thank you, darling" he smiled, placing a kiss on your forehead gently.

"Now you've got your other half, can I have what I want?" you smirked, placing your arms around his back gently.

"And what is that love?"

Without warning, you stripped Tom on his towel, making him flinch slightly from the sudden exposure.

"You know what I want, now lie down, and stay still"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

I hope this chapter was okay? Sorry, it's not Tom coming bounding in with the security guards 😂but I kinda think this version was better?

I HAVE A PROMPT FOR Y'ALL: 🥴

I need some good books to read, and maybe so do some other people, so -

🌟 LEAVE A PROMOTION FOR YOUR BOOK IN THE COMMENTS! - 🌟

Give me a little description of a book you have been writing and I'll read it 😘 Because I am sad and have nothing better to do with my life 🥰

Thank you again for reading this chapter, leave any suggestions or theories in the comments and I'll see you in Chapter 21! Not many chapters to go now guys, eeeek! 😁😁😁