Explanations

They walked into the kitchen and she pulled 2 chairs out at the small wooden table. Tom sat down with a wry smile, placing his cap on the table and runnning his hand through his hair. Rosie stood, leaning on the back of the other , trying to catch her breath. It was all so surreal. "So, I'm guessing you would like an explanation" he began, almost apologetically. " I really dont want you to think I make a habit of this sort of thing " he smiled and squinted at her, head to one side 'its just, well, i really wanted to come over and speak that day but life - well my phone- interrupted me and then...." he shrugged." But why? Why me and how ..."she tailed off, feeling lightheaded from a mixture of excitement and having had nothing to eat yet. She sat down heavily, her head swimming. "Are you ok?" He suddenly looked concerned, leaning over to put a hand on her arm, " you look very pale".She shook her head " I dont feel so good, I think I'm..." and with that she crumpled to the floor, hitting her head on the edge of the table as she went.Coming to she found herself lying on the sofa at the livingroom end of the room, a teatowel filled with ice on her forehead and a concerned Tom kneeling beside her, talking to someone on his phone. Seeing her eyes open, he said"No, its ok, shes awake now. We wont need it, but thankyou - so sorry to have bothered you. Thanks, yes thanks. Bye" and he hung up. Putting his phone in his pocket, he turned his attention solely to her " Oh Rosie what a fright you gave me. I called 999 because I couldn't rouse you. You were out for 20minutes there!'She covered her face with her hands, recoiling slightly as she touched her very tender forehead. A quiet moan escaped her, more out of embarrassment truth be told, although her head was pounding and she would have a lovely black eye in the morning."Oh God Tom , what must you think of me? I'm such a klutz. You're sitting there being such a gentleman and I go and try to break a table with my head. " she tried humour to cover her blushes but ended up crying instead.

"Hey, shhhh, its ok. We all do silly things from time to time" he smiled " see this?" He pointed to a scar on his forehead, "Got that while i was doing Coriolanus at the Donmar" he smirked at the memory "it wasn't some great fight or action set piece you know." He shook his head " oh no. It was a cupboard door!" For a split second they looked at each other in silence then they both burst out laughing. 'That's better" he said looking at her " when you smile, you look like the woman your soul wants you to be ." She lowered her eyes feeling overwhelmed by the compliment, and coming from him too...."Why don't I make us some tea" he said " sit there - i can rummage , then I'll explain everything"Rosie started to nod but thought better of it as the pain shot through her right eye. "That would be lovely" she said quietly.

Tom got up and walked back to the kitchen area. As she lay on the sofa, she could hear him humming away as he pottered about getting mugs and milk."What's that tune? She asked "it's lovely" " oh that !" He stopped " its just something I'm learning for the roleI'm filming at the moment. Can't say much but I can tell you its in Asgardian" he returned with 2 mugs and a plate of biscuits. "Asgardian?" She said a little incredulously " is that even real?"He smiled " well, its actually Norwegian- but don't tell anyone " he tapped the side of his nose with a wink. He now sat at the end of the sofa and sipped his tea with a contented sigh, picking up a biscuit and devouring it in a couple of bites. "Mmmm chocolate Hobnobs" he said "divine" and took another. He closed his eyes as he licked the chocolate off his fingers. Rosie couldn't tear her eyes away, it was so sensual it felt almost wrong to be looking. Almost. Dragging her mind back to the moment, she sipped her perfectly made tea ( was there nothing he couldn't do?) And asked" so you said you were about to explain?"He put his mug down on a side table and turned to face her more fully. "Ah yes, well, firstly I'm no stalker, honestly!" He looked and sounded very sheepish and she smiled"Accepted, please, go on"He seemed to visibly relax at that and went on to explain he lived not far away in Belsize Park and was commuting on the bike to the set where they were filming his new show, Loki. He'd seen her move in , go running and generally be around. He was a runner himself and the fact she managed to motivate herself to run almost as much as her worked impressed him greatly. He wanted to get to know her, they had a common interest after all, but thought the encounter might have scared her. The roses were indeed an apology and an 'I'm here' while he was doing night shoots. Hence why she hadn't seen him. Two weeks of nothing was when he was in the States, at Marvel HQ discussing some production issues. Now he was back and filming the final few scenes.

She was astounded. Blindsided even by this turn of events. She couldn't say anything coherent, her mind a seething mess of fangirl excitement mixed with a fairly hefty dose of concussion. "You're not angry are you?" He asked, looking worried for the umpteenth time that day. He rubbed the back of his neck, something she'd seen him do in many interviews. Now she realised it was a nervous tic when he felt uncomfortable. "Oh no, no not at all " she tried to reassure him " please Tom, don't worry, i'm just , well, stunned really.""You're not - with someone- are you?" He put a hand over his eyes " oh god i never thought this through" he looked embarrassed now and she felt bad for him. Sitting up carefully, she sat next to him and put a shaking hand on his arm. Well it was Tom Hiddleston after all! "No" she said solemnly " I'm not. I well, ..it's ..no. I'm single" her tone made him peer at her intently. His blue eyes, mesmerising and hypnotic, now clouded over. "Good, but I get the feeling there's a story behind that remark" he now put his hand on her arm " not that its any of my business if you don't want it to be, but if there's anything I can do, please tell me" she shook her head " No. Thankyou though. There really isn't anything anyone can do now. Its , well, complicated and not a pleasant story and I try not to think about it too much. Suffice to say its a 2 bottle story" she looked at him with a sad, wry smile. "Anyway" she continued, giving herself a mental shake, ' that's for another day. Don't you have to be on-set today at all? " she felt guilty as she was sure she was holding him up."Actually I do have to be onset in an hour but its a short day, " he paused and swallowed just slightly "so maybe, if its ok, if you'd like..""Yes. Id love it" she interrupted "please come back" her insides were doing the conga but her face was a picture of composure."Really?" His face lit up with a stunning smile. " in that case, I shall bring food and cook for us!" He sounded so pleased with himself that she felt herself grin."Just promise me one thing Rosie?""Yes, anything Tom" "Eat something before then - and drink lots of tea! Don't want you face first in your meal tonight. Once a day is quite enough!" He winked at her." I promise " she said, laughing. He stood up and held out his hands, helping her to get up. "Sadly I really must get going" he said looking down at her. He brushed his lips over her knuckles, looking into her eyes. She almost melted into a puddle in his arms there and then. She managed to stay upright this time and whispered " thankyou for everything" her heart thudding in her chest." oh my dear girl" he said, " anything, anything at all, you only have to ask" his voice was low, like a warm hug but his expression was one she couldn't quite fathom. "Well, you've made me think this wasn't such a bad move after all" she said softly. "Good" he breathed, the spell unbroken. For a moment she could have sworn he was about to kiss her but instead he sighed and parted from her. " now I really must go" he walked to the door. " I'll see myself out, please, you rest now ok?"She nodded and smiled " see you at 7 then"The front door closed and as she watched out the window, he waved as he walked away. When at last he was out of sight, she sat back down. What the hell had just happened and more to the point, what was about to?