Who: Tom and Rose When: Recently Where: Picking up for a date What: Dinner and Dancing Rating/Warnings: TBD Status: Complete when posted
So, Tom had been freaking out a little since Ed was back in town. His younger brother brought out the wolf in Tom, and he hadn’t seen Rose in a little while. Not that he’d forgotten about her, he’d just been… busy. Distracted. Trying to figure out where he stood, and what he wanted, and if Hans was right about it all.
Damn. Hans was probably right about it all.
So then he text messaged Rose and asked her to put on something pretty so he could take her out for dinner, drinks and dancing. Tonight might be the night. The night to tell her how he felt.
He pulled up in front of her place, parked, and headed up to the front door to knock.
Rose had been surprised by the text message thanks to the radio silence she had gotten for Tom for a couple days. She knew better than to worry about it because they tended just to fall back together so easily. If something drastic had happened he would tell her about it and if he wanted to end things he would also tell her. Or, at least she hoped he had the decency to tell her if that was ever the case. Luckily she happened to be free for the evening and more than happy to spend time with him.
When the knock at the door came she was putting her shoes on. She was wearing a cute grey dress that she hadn’t had a chance to wear before. She wasn’t completely sure what the night would entail, but she thought it would fit in wherever they went. Her hair was up, she wasn’t afraid to show off her dream tattoo anymore, and she answered the door with a bright smile and one leg in the air behind her as she slipped her shoe on, “Hello handsome stranger.”
“Hey, there.” Tom was wearing a grey blazer and slacks, and a dress shirt with no tie. He was leaning casually against the doorframe, and nearly groaned at the sight of her. It’d been too long. Only a few days (okay, maybe a week?) and it was far, far too long. He stepped forward, waited for her to get her shoe on, then wrapped his arms around her to steal a kiss. A good one.
“...are you sure we have to actually go out?” He could just peel that dress off of her and call it a night.
With her heels on she was still shorter than him, but even a couple extra inches was nice to have. She looped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Being greeted like that was something she could certainly get used to and she wouldn’t object to it happening more often. But she didn’t voice her opinion and instead laughed as his next comment, “This was your idea. If you don’t want to go out we don’t have to go out.”
She would never say no to him and would go along with whatever plan he wanted. Sometimes he was a little flighty, but he usually stuck to his plans when he made them. And the idea of spending the time between the sheets instead of at a restaurant was incredibly appealing, but it was completely up to him since he made the plans.
Tom let his hands wander over her back and her sides, holding her close against him. He gave a gentle grumble, a groan, as if angry with himself for even coming up with the wine and dine idea. Finally he pulled back a little, taking hold of her hands, and gave her a look up and down.
“You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever known, and I would be an idiot not to take you out and show you off.” She looked too lovely for him to keep to himself. “We’ll get our food to go, though,” he added, grinning and winking.
She had missed this. The touching and the closeness to him. She felt a little silly growing so attached to him, but she had been spending a lot of time with him and not being around him was lonely. And she had to admit that she enjoyed watching him fight with himself internally on if they should actually follow through on his plans or if they should disappear into her bedroom for a day or two…
The comment earned a deep blush from her because it meant a lot to hear that kind of thing. Tom was the kind of guy who saw a lot of women and even if he was using it as a line she still felt special for that brief moment. She held his hands and gave him a soft squeeze as she kissed his lips lightly, “You’re sweet. And if we get our food to go then we’ll never eat it. You need to eat to keep up your stamina for later.”
Tom tapped a kiss against the tip of her nose, then gave a soft laugh. “Touche. All right, I’ll take you out for a nice dinner. Grab your coat. It’s cold out there.” He moved back to the door to give her space to finish getting ready, slipping his hands into his pockets to keep from following her around and running his fingertips all over her body. “Chinese for dinner?”
“Chinese sounds great!” she called out as she went inside to grab her coat from the closet. It only took her a moment, but she shrugged it on and then slowly walked back towards the front door. She didn’t bother to button it up since it wasn’t that far of a walk to his car as she shut and locked the front door. Once that was done she reached for his arm so they could walk down the steps and head towards his car, “No greasy diners, but I would totally be fine with a giant buffet. Although, that might scare you because I can eat a lot.”
Tom took hold of her hand on his arm, lifted it to his lips and tapped a kiss against her fingertips. “I know a nice place.” He said, and raised an eyebrow. They were headed to his car. It was one of those ridiculously expensive, ridiculously fast cars, and he loved to drive it. He pulled open the door to let her in.
“Not a cheap date, are you?” He teased.
“Depends on my mood and the choice of cuisine,” she pointed out to him with a grin. She wasn’t the type to make a guy spend a lot of money on her. She would sit in the diviest of bars in the state and wolf down a burger, but chinese food was a whole other beast. The last thing she wanted was to potentially get sick from it and she knew he wouldn’t enjoy that either.
So with a peck on his lips she got into the car and buckled up. She never really understood the point of having a car like this, but sometimes it was fun to ride around in and get stares from other people. Once he was in the driver’s seat she smiled at him, “So, is this going to be a surprise then?”
Tom had it to spend. He could buy her diamonds without a second thought--and just might some day. For now, Chinese. There was a really nice place he was thinking of that had white tablecloths and everything. It wasn’t far, and the food was absolutely amazing. Though, there wasn’t a whole lot of it and it was fairly expensive.
He revved the engine, then pulled away from the curb to speed off down the street. “A surprise? You know we’re going to dinner.” He gave her a grin. “Should I surprise you with something else?”
“I know that, silly, but I don’t know where and you don’t seem very forthcoming with that information,” She pointed out to him with a laugh before raising her eyebrow at his next question, “Hm, depends on what the surprise is. If it’s a good surprise, like…. two concert tickets, then I would say yes. If it’s a bad surprise, like…..you have herpes, then I would say definitely keep that one to yourself.”
She knew he, okay more like hoped, that he wouldn’t have that kind of bad surprise, but she had to get a little jab in at some point. She was kind of 50/50 on if she liked surprises or not. It usually went along with how her mood for the day was. Sometimes they were wonderful and sometimes they were terrible. As she waited for him to answer she reached over to take his right hand into hers.
Tom gave a laugh, lacing his fingers through hers when she took hold of his hand. “You don’t want to know if I’ve got herpes?” He asked, glancing over at her. “Shouldn’t that be the sort of thing we talk about? You know, the obligatory ‘which stds do you have’ sort of talk?” Beat. “Not that I have any stds. Or have ever. But still, you’d think you’d want to know.”
“I’d like to live in blissful ignorance until I notice it on myself and then freak out on you,” Rose teased with a bit of a laugh, “And yeah, we probably should have. I think we’ve gone past that point. But I will tell you right now that I’m clean and as long as you are then we don’t have anything to fret about. I mean, it is good to know. I guess, I don’t really spend much time thinking about it.”
Tom shook his head a little, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’m clean. Don’t worry.” He was charming, sure. And he’d been in his fair share of women’s bedrooms--and invited a fair share of women to see his. But he was careful. Every time. “So, no more surprises. Going to [Chinese Restaurant] for dinner. Then drinks at the bar, and back to your place. I promise to have you home early.”
When he said he would get her home early she let her jaw drop playfully at his comment, "oh my god. When did you get so lame, Tom? Home early. I may have to stop seeing you if you've become an old man." She couldn't stop herself from grinning when she reached the end of her comment.
Tom scoffed, also playfully, and gave her a seriously? sort of look. “I’m hurt. Honestly, Rose. It’s like you don’t even know me. I always get a lady home early.” There was a bit of a wolfish smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I’ll definitely get you to bed early.”
“Mmmm, I like that sound of that much better,” Rose agreed before leaning over to kiss that wolfish smirk that she saw on his face. She liked that look and she certainly liked the idea that cause it. Once she finished the kiss she settled back against the seat, “So, what have you been up to lately? Better be something good since you’ve been away so long.”
The kiss made Tom smirk harder. Wider. He glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road, his thumb trailing back and forth across her hand. “Work. Really, it’s just work stuff. And my brother’s back in town, so I’ve been spending time with him.”
“Work stuff is not fun at all, but at least you got to hang out with your brother. Are you excited that he’s back in town? It’s been a while hasn't?” She asked him as she lightly squeezed his hand and glanced out the window. They had to be getting close, which is good because she was starving and couldn’t wait to try this new place with him.
“It has. He’s decided that college isn’t for him, and has come home. I think it’s better for him here. He can start working right away in Father's Company, and doesn't have to worry about pleasing silly professors.” Tom turned into the driveway at the Chinese place and found a parking space.
“College isn’t that bad. I graduated and you still like me,” she pointed to him. She greatly enjoyed her time in college and she was very glad she had a degree even though she wasn’t actively using it at this moment. Maybe in the future though. Even though she hung out with quite a few well off people it surprised her when they pushed college aside just to follow in the family business. Once he parked her took her hand back so she could unbuckle and get out of the car, “Yes, food! I’m so excited, you have no idea.”
“I graduated, and I still like me.” Tom repeated playfully. He came around to her side of the car and closed the door behind her. Then reached for her hand. “I think I have some idea.” He turned to lead her into the restaurant.
“At least I like the smart one in the family,” Rose pointed out with a laugh as she intertwined their fingers and lightly swung their hands as they walked to the restaurant. She had worked out earlier in the day so she definitely had a little more room than she normally would in her stomach and she would probably scare him by how much food she could consume. Once inside the restaurant they waited briefly at the hostess stand before being escorted to their seats. Thankfully it was a rounded booth and Rose pulled Tom along behind her as she went to sit in the middle.
Tom scooted in beside her and wrapped his arm along the edge of the seat. He wanted to be close. He wanted to get her out of that dress. He was debating skipping the drinks and dancing bit after dinner when the waiter came over to take their orders.
Tom didn’t need a menu. “You hungry?” He double-checked with Rose, then he ordered enough food to choke a rhino. They could take home leftovers.
Rose nodded in response to his question and didn’t mind that Tom ordered for both of them. Most of what he ordered she knew she would like and she hoped the rest she would enjoy as well. And if there were leftovers she would certainly be eating them for breakfast the next morning or as a midnight snack. She turned her body towards him as she took a sip from her water, “So, do you think your brother would be up for meeting Lissa? I just want her to go out and do something because she’s been so caught up in her studying lately. He can’t be that bad, right?”
“He’s a good man.” Tom said, turning his attention completely to her. “He’s a lot like me… only younger.” And without the college degree. Not that that made a big difference, but Tom might poke fun at his little brother about it. “I’m not sure what he’s looking for as far as that sort of thing goes.”
“Well, I have no idea what she’s looking for, so that’s not a big deal. I mean even if it’s just one date it gets her out of the apartment, so win/win in my book. And when you say he’s a lot like you...are we talking how you used to be? Because, I think you’ve changed slightly in the time I’ve known you. I mean, you’re still a charmer, but you seem….more kindhearted, more sincere. You make me feel like I’m important to you and I really like that. I really like you,” Rose admitted to him as a deep blush appeared on her face. Oh god, she really hoped she wasn’t messing things up by saying something like that. Only one way to kill future potential days with a player than to say he wasn’t acting completely like a player anymore. She guessed he could be still sleeping around with other women, but she had no idea. She wasn’t sleeping with anyone else and she wouldn’t tell him that unless he asked.
Tom merely blinked at that. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, so it confused him a little. He shifted in his seat. “Well… thank you?” He said, lamely, then gave a soft chuckle at himself for coming up with a really stupid response. “I mean, you are important to me, Rose.” His free hand crossed his lap to take hold of one of hers.
“I’m sorry, that was so stupid of me to say,” she lifted up her hands, including the one that he had taken into her own, and covered up her blushing face. Oh god, could a hole just open up and swallow her? He probably didn’t want to hear things like that and she had been just a little too personal. Between her fingers she managed to speak, “Can we just pretend that didn’t happen and talk about something else? Like football or whatever. Super bowl is happening soon, right?”
Tom laughed softly. He took hold of her wrists and pried her hands away from her face. “Don’t be silly. It’s not stupid.” He dipped his face down to try and look into her eyes. “You’re beautiful.” He said once he’d caught her eye. “And you are important to me,” he repeated the words, his face falling a bit more serious as he spoke. “All right?”
Was she ever going to stop blushing? She didn’t think so if he kept saying things like that in that serious tone of his. She gave him a nod of understanding when he asked her if she understood before reaching a hand up to cup his cheek. Her thumb lightly ran along his cheek briefly before she leaned forward to kiss him. There really wasn’t much else she could say to him, but knowing that she was important made her feel incredibly good.
Yeah, then there was kissing. And kissing was good. Tom wasn’t going to stop at just a little kiss, a little, reassuring, happy kiss. No. He was going all out. This was a full-on, tongues, lips, nearly hands groping kiss. Because he really liked her, too. A lot. And as much as he wanted to tell her, he knew that when he did everything would change. And everything was so perfect now like this.
The waiter cleared his throat as he started setting dishes of food down on the table. Tom took that as his cue to pull back and break the kiss.
Rose had not been expecting him to act like that as they were kissing, but she rolled with it for a brief moment before she realized they were in a public place and probably making a spectacle of themselves. And it was only confirmed when the waiter cleared his throat and she pulled away and had to scoot just a tiny bit over from Tom. Once the waiter walked away she playfully elbowed him, “If we get kicked out I’m blaming you. No more tongue at the dinner table.”
Tom laughed. “If we get kicked out, I’ll just buy the restaurant.” Everyone has a price, right? Tom started dishing up food onto their plates. “Would you mind pouring the tea?” He asked, nodding at the little teapot and cups.
Then it was eating. He watched as Rose ate. She really could eat. He was impressed.
“You can’t just buy the restaurant. Try to act like a normal person,” she teased with a smile. It wasn’t a good thing to be that egotistical and Rose tried not to think about the fact that he had a lot of money. Flaunting it like that wasn’t appealing in the slightest and she had grown up surrounded by rich kids and their parents. She grabbed the teapot and poured each of them a glass of tea before they began to eat.
“Mmm, this is so good!” she commented as they were eating. She was already packing away a lot of food, but she was basically a bottomless pit some days due to how active she was. But she was definitely starting to hit that food wall.
Tom had been kidding about buying the place. Mostly. He did have a lot of money, but it wasn’t best spent on buying crappy Chinese restaurants. Okay, so this place was far from crappy, but still. He ate, too, enjoying the food. But she was really shovelling it in.
“Don’t eat too much. I don’t want you to get a tummy ache,” he offered, reaching for his tea.
“Did you just say that? You sound like an old lady,” she countered with a chuckle as she slowed down her consumption to nothing. She was finally full and she pushed her plate away slightly, “Oh my god. I might explode, it’s like I haven’t eaten in forever. I’m good now though, so don’t mind me.”
Tom laughed. “What? I’m not allowed to be concerned about your well being? I want you in top shape for later.” He sipped the last of his tea and set the mug down. “You remember all that business about getting you to bed early.”
The waiter approached the table, and Tom motioned for the check.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be hungry again later for our leftovers,” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully at him as she waited for the waiter to bring them their check. She looped an arm through Tom’s and gently rested her chin on his shoulder, “We still doing drinks and dancing or have you changed your mind on that one?”
“That all depends. Can you forgive me if I want to take you home and tear those clothes off, rather than show you off for drinks and dancing?” Tom asked, playfully. He motioned again as the waiter came back. They’d wrap up the leftovers. Tom handed over his credit card to pay for the meal.
"Absolutely. There will be a million other chances to show me off. But if you tear this dress I will be very upset with you," she teased before letting her free hand gently run along his thigh, "besides, I was hoping you would change your mind."
“No tearing. I promise. Scout’s honor.” Tom accepted back the credit card and signed the little slip, leaving a generous tip. He felt goosebumps rise along his leg where she touched him, and turned to give her a little smirk. “Your wish is my command.” Then he climbed out of the booth, accepted a bag of carefully wrapped leftovers from a second waiter, and held a hand out to Rose.
She took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the booth. The food had been fantastic and she was so glad that Tom decided he didn’t want to go out anymore. She was so ready to just curl up in a bed with him and have a little fun. And she was going to work up enough of an appetite to eat some of the leftovers in the middle of the night, “Your place or mine?”
“Whatever you like.” Tom lifted his arm to wrap around her shoulders, leading her out of the restaurant. It was a short walk from the inside of the place to where Tom parked. He released her so he could unlock and open her door. “You’re always welcome at mine.”
“Let’s go to yours. We can have a little more fun without worrying about Lissa coming home,” She didn’t want to be that kind of roommate that was constantly being loud and having sex in the house while Lissa had to suffer by listening to it. His place was nice and she was free to be loud if she wanted to. She gave him a kiss to the cheek and got inside the car.
Tom chuckled softly. Not worrying about roommates was the best thing about not having roommates. He moved around the car after the kiss and climbed in to take them to his place for some loud, amazing, mind-blowing sex. All night long. That’s the way Tom rolled.