Requested by rosevercillo: Despite trying his hardest not to break his promise, Tom does it again and nothing changes, so Y/N packs her stuff and leaves. Harrison calls Y/N a few weeks later and tells her that Tom hasn't been the same since she left.

"Darling, please, please." Tom gulped, my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend following me on my heels as I rushed through the mansion to our bedroom.

"Please what, Tom? You fucked up, again, there's nothing left for me to do here. It's done, Tom, we're done." I scoffed and shook my head, tears pricking my eyes as I grabbed my suitcase and threw it onto the bed.

"Please, sweetheart, let me make it up to you-."

"By doing what?! By making another empty promise that will go out of the window in a month again?!" I yelled as I turned to face him. He gulped harshly, his eyes wavering and a tear falling down his face as he looked at me. I choked and shook my head as we stared at each other.

"You promised last time that that would be it. You swore on our relationship that you wouldn't end up behind a closed door again for months on end, that I wouldn't feel unloved and abandoned by you again. Fucking nothing has changed, Tom, I haven't seen you in three months. I haven't kissed you in three months, I haven't had sex with you, fuck, I haven't even been cuddled by you. You've made absolutely no effort to keep me around, and that's painfully clear." I cried and shook my head.

"I swear to god, love, I've tried-."

"Fucking bullshit." I choked as I turned around and started shoving clothes into the suitcase.

"Darling, please just stop for two seconds and think about this." He urged.

"I have thought about this, Tom. Months after months of you ignoring me for your work and trusting that I was bluffing about leaving gave me time to think about this. I wasn't bluffing, Tom, I never was. You didn't stick to your promise, and you've lost me for it." I stated, tears pouring out of my eyes as I grabbed a few more items of clothing before slamming the suitcase shut and zipping it up.

"Please don't leave me." He choked as I grabbed the bag and barged past him. I ignored his sentiment as I rushed down the stairs and into the foyer of the mansion.

"Please don't leave me." He repeated. I stopped again, my lip in between my teeth as tears relentlessly left my eyes. I turned around to look at him, the boy still stood at the top of the stairs as he looked down at me with red eyes. I could tell that this hurt him just as much as it hurt me, but it was his own doing. I had given him multiple chances to change, but he could never uphold it. He had managed to stick to it for the first month after I had made him jealous by going out with Harrison, but that had been four months ago. Making it three months of him ignoring me again, and failing to stick to his word.

"I love you, Tom. So fucking much, which is why leaving hurts me just as much as it hurts you. But I can't do this anymore. We're twenty-five, we're starting to think about more long-term things, like children and marriage. I can't promise my life to a man who locks himself away for half a year, I can't have children with a man who will promise that he'll try harder before breaking that promise and only seeing them on their birthdays. I can't continue to reassure myself that tomorrow will be different, that you'll finally realise, because I know that you won't. I can't keep lying to myself. I love you, Tom, but I can't do this anymore." I sobbed and shook my head. Tom bit his lip and stared at me, his face wet and his eyes red as we gazed at each other.

"Please. I don't know what I'll do without you. Please. Don't. Leave me." He choked one last time. I gulped harshly, my head and heart numb at what I was doing. But it was the only solution that I had anymore, as much as I hated that.

"I have to, Tom. It's the only way that you'll learn." I stated before turning and leaving.

"Darling, please!" I ignored Tom's sob-filled cries, my mind knowing that if I turned back and allowed myself to listen to them, I'd never leave. And I had to. I couldn't continue on like this. And so, I had to try and continue on without Tom. Even if it killed me inside.

Tom's P.O.V

"Darling, please, please." Tom gulped, his heart pounding almost out of his chest in worry as he followed Y/N into their bedroom.

"Please what, Tom? You fucked up, again, there's nothing left for me to do here. It's done, Tom, we're done." She scoffed and shook her head as she grabbed her suitcase and threw it onto the bed.

"Please, sweetheart, let me make it up to you-."

"By doing what?! By making another empty promise that will go out of the window in a month again?!" She yelled as she turned to face him. He gulped harshly, his eyes wavering and a tear falling down his face as he looked at her. Tom had really fucked up, and he knew it. The short version of the story was that he'd managed to keep his promise for one month before having broken it again for the next three. Despite what Y/N thought, he'd really been trying to make more time for her, but then work had piled up again and just hadn't stopped. Before Tom had known it, he'd been locked in his office for three months, and had upset Y/N by once again rejecting her for another dinner. That's what had sparked this fight, and all Tom felt was sick at the idea that it would be their last fight as a couple. He couldn't lose Y/N, but he had an awful feeling that he was about to. Y/N choked and shook her head as they stared at each other.

"You promised last time that that would be it. You swore on our relationship that you wouldn't end up behind a closed door again for months on end, that I wouldn't feel unloved and abandoned by you again. Fucking nothing has changed, Tom, I haven't seen you in three months. I haven't kissed you in three months, I haven't had sex with you, fuck, I haven't even been cuddled by you. You've made absolutely no effort to keep me around, and that's painfully clear." She cried and shook her head.

"I swear to god, love, I've tried-."

"Fucking bullshit." She choked as she turned around and started shoving clothes into the suitcase.

"Darling, please just stop for two seconds and think about this." He urged.

"I have thought about this, Tom. Months after months of you ignoring me for your work and trusting that I was bluffing about leaving gave me time to think about this. I wasn't bluffing, Tom, I never was. You didn't stick to your promise, and you've lost me for it." She stated, tears pouring out of her eyes as she grabbed a few more items of clothing before slamming the suitcase shut and zipping it up.

"Please don't leave me." He choked as she grabbed the bag and barged past him. Tom was usually the type who was far too proud to beg, even if his life depended on it, but in this situation, begging was far from beneath him. It felt like his last chance to stop her from leaving. Despite his words, she ignored his sentiment as she rushed down the stairs and into the foyer of the mansion.

"Please don't leave me." He repeated. She stopped again, her back turned to him as she stood there. She turned around to look at him, the boy still stood at the top of the stairs as he looked at her with red eyes. He knew that this was his fault, he knew that he'd fucked up, but that didn't make it any easier to come to terms with. If he could have gone back in time and done it right, he would have, but he knew that that wasn't an option. All he knew was that his heart was breaking, and that he wouldn't feel whole again for a long time once Y/N stepped out of the building.

"I love you, Tom. So fucking much, which is why leaving hurts me just as much as it hurts you. But I can't do this anymore. We're twenty-five, we're starting to think about more long-term things, like children and marriage. I can't promise my life to a man who locks himself away for half a year, I can't have children with a man who will promise that he'll try harder before breaking that promise and only seeing them on their birthdays. I can't continue to reassure myself that tomorrow will be different, that you'll finally realise, because I know that you won't. I can't keep lying to myself. I love you, Tom, but I can't do this anymore." She sobbed and shook her head. Tom bit his lip and stared at her, his face wet and his eyes red as they gazed at each other. He wouldn't lie to himself and say that he didn't understand why she was doing this, or claim that he hated her for it, he understood. He had just been naive and arrogant enough to think that she wouldn't leave, no matter how much he pushed it. This was his fault. This was all his fault, and he knew it.

"Please. I don't know what I'll do without you. Please. Don't. Leave me." He choked one last time. The beautiful girl gulped harshly, her eyes wavering as she looked at him.

"I have to, Tom. It's the only way that you'll learn." She stated before turning and leaving.

"Darling, please!" He cried out, but his sobs went ignored as she walked out of the mansion. He choked, his mouth hanging open and his heart breaking as his legs went numb beneath him. He eased himself down, his hands gripping the banister for support as he just sat on the carpet and tried to process what had just happened. The love of his life had just walked out on him, had just broken up with him, and it was all his fault. There was no way to frame this that made it Y/N's fault, or made it look out of the blue. She had been telling him for months that he was on thin ice, and he had chosen to ignore the warnings. And now, he was breaking because of it.

"Come back, Y/N. Please fucking come back." He sobbed into his hands, his heart and mind numb at the realisation that she was truly gone. And she wouldn't be coming back.

Y/N's P.O.V

~One month later~

I lay on my side in bed, tears pricking my eyes as I vacantly stared at the open window that I was facing. I gulped and bit my lip, desperately trying not to cry as I just waited for Tom's arm to curl around my waist like it normally did at this time every morning. But I knew that those days were gone. I swallowed thickly as I rolled onto my back and stared vacantly at the ceiling. It had been a month since I'd broken up with Tom, and it felt like the biggest regret of my life. I knew that I had made the right decision for me, especially given how upset him ignoring me for so long had made me, but the break-up had been followed by more of the same. The only difference was that this month of loneliness was inflicted upon me by myself. I choked and shook my head, tears slipping out of my eyes and running down my face as I continued to just lie there and stare into space. I missed Tom more than anything, and all I wanted to do was run back to him, but I didn't know if that was the right thing to do. After all, what was to stop him from just making the same promise again and then breaking it again? That was what was stopping me, the daunting idea of me having to leave again because I'd gone back to him only to discover that nothing had changed. I didn't know what to do, and that was tearing me up inside. I was broken away from my thoughts by my phone buzzing beside my head. I looked at it, my eyebrows furrowing as Harrison's name and face was showing on my screen. As much as I loved Harrison like a brother, he had barely spoken to me since I'd walked out on Tom, so I had no idea why he would be calling now. Unless of course, something bad had happened to Tom, which wouldn't be unusual given his line of work. I gulped and picked up my phone, my heart in my throat as I pressed the green button and held it to my ear.

"Haz, what's up?" I mumbled.

"Hey, um...do you have five minutes? We really need to talk." He responded.

"Trust me, I've got all of the time in the world." I scoffed and shook my head as I rolled my eyes to myself at my sad, currently empty life.

"Okay, good. Um...I don't really know how to start this, so I'm just not going to sugar-coat it. You need to go back to Tom." He stated. My eyebrows furrowed, my heart leaping in my chest as I sat up in bed.

"Excuse me?" I scoffed.

"I know that I'm playing with fire being so demanding with you, and I'm sorry for that, but I took that tone for a reason. Tom really hasn't been the same since you left." He sighed. I returned it and bit my lip, desperately trying to stop more tears from leaving my eyes as I looked down at my lap.

"That sucks for him, Haz, it really does, but I left for a reason. We'd been together for four years by the time that I left, Harrison. Do you want to know how much of that time he spent locked away from me? Almost half of it." I nodded to myself.

"I know, Y/N, and just between us, I really respect you for standing up for yourself and not dealing with it anymore. But he needs you. In those four years, you left your mark on him. He's not been himself for the last month. He's barely eaten or drank anything, he's not gone out, he's delegating any urgent work to me, and he hasn't left his bed. He's in a really bad way, Y/N. I've known him for twenty-five years, and I've never seen him so heartbroken." He insisted. I gulped and bit my lip, my heart telling me to run back to him whilst my mind told me to run in the opposite direction. Whilst I wanted nothing more than to give in and go back to him, I had one nagging question on my mind. And that was if me actually leaving would finally have been enough to make him change.

"Y/N? Are you still there?" Harrison's voice sounding again made me snap back again.

"Y-yeah, I'm still here, just...thinking." I mumbled before sighing.

"Okay, Haz. I'll come back, but only for a talk. This isn't me taking Tom back, this isn't me saying that all of this is okay, this is just me giving him the chance to say his piece, and convince me that if I were to come back, he'd change. But he better realise that just promising that he'll change and expecting me to believe it is nowhere near enough this time." I scoffed and shook my head.

"Thank you so much, Y/N, that's all he wants, to talk. Can I tell him that you'll come by later today?" He asked. I sighed and bit my lip, my mind still hesitant to let me agree to this. But ultimately, the way that I'd been feeling without him for the last month, the constant aches in my heart for him, everything that told me that it had been a big mistake to leave won.

"Yeah, Haz. I'll be there." I nodded to myself.

"Amazing, Y/N, thank you so much. You won't regret this." He promised.

"I better not, Haz. I better not." I sighed before hanging up.

My fist knocked against the oak doors of Tom's mansion, my heart in my throat as my mind tried to figure out the ways that this conversation would possibly go. I could only think of two realistic routes. Either we'd end up screaming at each other, I'd walk out again and we'd never get back together or speak to each other again, or we'd end up screaming at each other, Tom would kiss me to shut me up, we'd have make-up sex and then we'd get back together like nothing had ever happened. I hated to admit that I wasn't sure which route would be best. I snapped out of my thoughts as the door opened, making me gulp as I came face to face with one of Tom's bodyguards.

"Miss Y/L/N. It's good to see you again." He nodded as he let me step into the mansion.

"Good to see you too, Steve. Tom's expecting me." I stated.

"Yeah, just head through to your bedroom." He instructed. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, he's told me to go to our bedroom?" I scoffed.

"I only pass on his orders." he shrugged. I sighed and bit my lip.

"It's alright, Steve. I know." I mumbled as I passed him and made my way to our bedroom. My heart was in my throat, my mind racing as I desperately tried to figure out how this would go. The only thing that I knew for certain right now was that I'd really missed being in Tom's home. Being in our home. I pushed the door open to our bedroom, making Tom look up to me from sitting on the end of the bed. I gulped harshly, my eyes wavering as I saw the state of him. Tom had had some late nights, but I'd never seen him look this bad before. His hair was messy and unbrushed, dark bags underneath his also red and puffy eyes to tell me that he'd been crying and hadn't slept well in a while. His white dress shirt was untucked from his trousers and was slightly unbuttoned at the top, his usual black tie nowhere to be seen. He looked like a mess, and yet was somehow still the most attractive man that I'd ever seen. This wasn't going to be easy.

"H-hey, love. Thanks for coming." He mumbled quietly. I nodded and bit my lip, tears already pricking my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest and leant against the Chester Drawers to face him.

"Harrison said that you really needed to talk to me. So, I thought that I'd give you the chance." I stated.

"And I appreciate that. I really do." He nodded before standing up and looking at me.

"Look, sweetheart, what I'm about to say, well...I don't think that you'll be expecting it, so just hear me out, okay?" He gulped. My eyebrows furrowed, my arms dropping to my side as I stood up straight. What could he possibly have to say to me that I wouldn't be expecting?

"Okay." I whispered, making him gulp again.

"I fucked up. That's no secret. And I knew that there was no point in inviting you here and just making you the same old promise that I've made many times before because you wouldn't believe me, and I wouldn't blame you. But, I've still got to make you a promise. It's just a more serious one." He nodded. My eyebrows furrowed again, more confusion filling my brain as I tried to figure out what he was saying.

"Tom, I don't understand." I shook my head.

"That's okay. Because you're about to." He spoke, his lips giving me a small smile as he took something out of his pocket. My eyes widened, a choke leaving my lips as before I could comprehend what was happening, Tom had gotten down onto one knee in front of me. I put my now shaking hands over my mouth, my body in shock as he opened the small velvet box to reveal a stunning engagement ring.

"Tommy." I choked, making him give me another nervous smile.

"I know that my promises over the years have really left something to be desired, especially since I've never been able to keep them. Despite what you think, love, I never made those promises with the intention of breaking them. I made those promises because I'd always see how upset you were with me ignoring you, and I'd swear to myself that I'd rather die than make you feel like that again. Apparently I'd just rather die, since I was never able to stick to that." He chuckled slightly, making me smile and bite my lip at his words.

"I get why you left. I would have left too if the tables were turned. But I'm simply not myself without you. The last month has been hell, I've been completely lost, simply because I didn't have you by my side. I know that it seems absolutely crazy to be proposing to you, especially given that technically we're broken up right now, but this is the serious promise. This is the promise that I won't be able to break, no matter how hard I try. This is the promise that says that I will treat you the way that you should be treated as my wife, and the way that you should have been treated as my girlfriend. This is the promise that says that I'm sorry. And this is the promise that if you say yes to it, I swear to absolutely anything out there, that I will never break. You will never feel alone again if you say yes to this promise, and I mean that." He choked and shook his head. Tears were running down both of our faces at this point, my heart pounding in my chest. My eyes flicked between Tom's also wet face and the ring in his hand as I desperately tried to decide what to do. I had left because he'd broken his last promise to me, one that had entailed the same thing. But at the same time, he didn't have the legality to run away from last time. Not to mention the obvious fact that we loved each other, and we'd both been in pieces for the whole month following the break-up. I bit my lip at him, his eyes red, puffy and laced with panic as he waited for my answer. I already knew that I was running the risk of him breaking his promise again, but something told me that this time would truly be different. Maybe it was the fact that he was willing to commit his life to me in order to prove that he meant what he was saying. Maybe it was the fact that he'd torn himself apart for the last month over the fact that he'd let me slip away. Whatever it was, it was pushing me towards the correct answer. I knew what to say, and I knew that it was the right choice.

"Yes, Tommy. Yes, I'll marry you." I smiled. His eyes widened, a breathless laugh leaving his lips as more tears flooded from his eyes.

"Y-you will? You mean that, you're sure?" he gulped, making me laugh and nod as I took his face and gently pulled him to his feet.

"I'm sure, Tom. I'll marry you." I nodded before leaning in and kissing him. He returned it immediately, our wet eyes fluttering shut as I held his face and his hands gripped my waist. I had to admit that it felt amazing to be in Tom's arms again, to have his lips pressed to mine again, and something about the way that he was holding me as if he was afraid to let go again told me that he wouldn't let go again. He wouldn't let go again because he wouldn't break the promise again. He broke the kiss and touched our foreheads, our eyes fluttering shut as we just relished being back in each other's arms.

"I'm so sorry, darling. For fucking all of it. But I meant every word that I just said. From this moment on, I treat you how you should have been treated all along. I treat you like the love of my life. Because that's exactly what you are." He whispered and shook his head. I bit my lip and gave him a small smile, his hands gently massaging circles on my waist as I held his cheeks in my hands.

"I know that you will, Tommy. I can see it in your eyes that you mean it this time. And that means the world to me. I can't wait to be your wife." I spoke equally as quietly.

"And I can't wait to be your husband." He smiled, making me return it and bite my lip as I leant in and kissed him again.