"Calvin that isn't necessary, honestly I-"

"Nope! I won't hear it. I'm on my way, I'll be at your door by eleven, darling."

Kaia squeezed her eyes closed and cursed under her breath before saying goodbye to Calvin and placing the phone down.

The pub was empty and it wasn't somewhere that Kaia had been before, though the way Tommy spoke to the bartender suggested that the two of them had met before that night.

Two glasses of whiskey were sat on the table, Tommy's had clasped around one of them as he looked up when Kaia approached, taking a seat beside him and pulling her coat tighter around her shoulders, the floorboards creaking from the draft.

"He's coming here."

"What?" Tommy raised one eyebrow and raised the glass to his lips.

Kaia sighed and threw the whiskey down her throat in one go, slamming the glass down on the table when she'd finished. Tommy just looked at her. She looked flushed, her cheeks red but her skin pale from the cold. Her eyes were fear-stricken and the way she couldn't keep her gaze fixed on anything for longer than a second told him that she was nervous.

"I told him that I felt under the weather and he's insisted on coming up here himself, he'll be here before eleven, he said."

Kaia glanced at the golden clock that hung on the wall behind the bar, the hands showing the time at just before eight.

Thomas groaned and shifted in his seat. This hadn't gone exactly how he'd imagined it would. Truthfully, he wasn't sure Kaia was going to listen to him at all, he was almost convinced that she'd step on that train and never think of him again, only she didn't.

Tommy knew how Kaia felt because he felt it too. He felt the same burning desire in his heart like the way flames leapt from one another every time he laid eyes upon her. He had the urge to protect her and care for her, to make sure she was safe and happy and out of harms way every second of the day and perhaps she was getting all of that with Calvin, but he didn't want it to come from anyone but himself.

"God," Kaia scoffed, pulling Tommy away from his train of thought, "What am I even doing?"

"You're drinking whiskey. Far too quickly." He waved over the bartender who came over and topped up their glasses with more golden liquid.

"Shut up, Tom."

"Tom," he smiled at her and she looked up to meet his gaze, "You've never called me that before."

Kaia rolled her eyes, his sweet smile making her heart flutter, only she didn't want him to know that. She thought he was beautiful when he smiled. His eyes lit up differently and his cheeks glowed a warm, happy glow. She wished he'd smile more often but then realised that it wouldn't be quite as precious a sight if he did.

"Listen, Kaia," he adjusted his chair, pulling it closed to the table as he leant his arms on the wood, "If you thought that this, you and I, was something you could forget about forever, you'd have got on that train."

"But I didn't." She said in barely a whisper.

"But you didn't," he repeated, his eyes looking down at her hand that was resting on the table. For a second, he had the urge to take hold of it, only he stopped himself and looked into her eyes once more, "You stayed, because you know in your heart that you, we, can't ignore this."

The way he chose his words made it sound all too easy for Kaia. It was as if he was offering his hand for them to disappear together and start new lives with one another and leave everything behind without a worry or a care, but that wasn't possible.

Kaia knew he was right. She had deep rooted feelings for him that no matter how hard she tried, wouldn't go away. She felt like she could be herself around him, like she didn't have to change or pretend to be someone she wasn't. She liked who she was when she was around him and better yet, he accepted her for who she was. Kaia had subconsciously changed since she'd met Calvin. His status and his background made it difficult for her to stay true to herself, the easier option being to slowly change to fit the type of person Kaia thought Calvin wanted, but that wasn't truly her.

Tommy knew that.

"You make it sound so easy." She laughed lightly.

"Why can't it be?"

"I have another person's feelings to think about, Tommy. I fell for him and he cares about me, he's gentle and he's kind and warm, he makes me feel beautiful and he makes me laugh and never makes me second guess how he feels, he's..."

"Perfect, isn't he?" Tommy finished her sentence for her, swirling the whiskey round in his glass, "Perfect. The perfect gentleman with the Hollywood looks and money, the manners and the accent. He has everything every single woman would want, Kaia. If he can give you all of that, but you still couldn't get yourself on that train, what does that tell you, ey?"

He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh, knowing that he couldn't say anything else to persuade her. He'd poured his heart out to her on the train platform and he had no intention of doing it again. He just needed her to realise the truth in his words.

Snow was falling outside as Kaia looked up out of the window. The sky was black with white swirls falling from the sky, settling on the dry ground. Winter was so beautiful yet was being so cruel to her, she didn't want to break anybody's heart, and that included her own.

"How do I know that you're not going to change your mind?" She sniffed a little and Tommy noticed the glint in her watery eyes.

He hadn't intended on pouring his heart out again, no, not at all, but it looked like he had no choice.

"Because I don't need to go to all this trouble, to chase, to have feelings I lose sleep over trying to ignore. I don't have to do any of that to get women, Kaia. But I don't want any woman, I want the one that keeps me up at night because I can't stop thinking about her. I want the woman that I think perhaps might slit my throat in my sleep, I want the woman with the six inch heels and the devilish eyes, I want you. I can assure you, Kaia, I won't change my fucking mind."

He looked into her eyes as he spoke and he could see the worry and the fear still creeping through her mind, despite his words. He looked down at her hand again, deciding that time that he should take it in his own.

Kaia glanced down at her hand as she felt Tommy gently grab it, lacing their fingers together across the table between the two glasses. His words were strong but it was his touch that sparked the fire inside of her again. She had the million constant thoughts on a loop in the back of her mind, pulling her one way and then the opposite every five seconds, but when Tommy took her hand, her mind cleared.

For a moment, he was all she saw. She felt at peace looking into his eyes, feeling the warmth of his hand tightly holding her own, squeezing it lightly as he looked at her to let her know that he was the right decision.

"Tommy..." she whispered, biting her lip as she fell deep into thought again.

He rose to his feet, pulling her up from the chair by her hand and holding her close to him. She placed a hand on his chest, her fingers curling around the edge of his coat as she looked up at him.

"I don't want you to go into this scared, Kaia. I want you to feel happy, maybe even excited."

He smiled down at her and she felt the heart flutter as he did so. She was excited, her heart was racing and she felt her body tense up as he held her, words struggling on her lips because the way he looked at her made her loose all sense of reality.

"We can have this," he whispered, placing a hand on her cheek and lowering his lips to just multimeters from her own, "We can have this forever."

He kissed her softly and she kissed him back, empty of regret and empty of worry, but full of life and full of excitement. She wanted him, she wanted every single part of him and she felt safe in the knowledge that he wanted her just as much.

Tommy felt breathless as he pulled away from Kaia's lips. She was like a Goddess, the power and the hold she had over him made him think she wasn't human, unaware that it was possible for a woman to make him feel the things he felt. She was beautiful, a beautiful mind and a beautiful soul that made him want to be the best version of himself, and knowing that she'd accept him and his way of life made her even more beautiful.

Kaia looked up at him, her eyes glowing with a hunger and lust laced into the piercing worry that struck him deep.

"How do I tell him, Tommy?"