Tom Hiddleston / Reader (2)
Sitting alone, again, like you always did. Whether it was on a lunch break in the cafeteria or during the classes, the only attention you got from your classmates was the unfriendly kind. You were not exactly sure what you had done or what you were doing on daily basis to annoy them so much or maybe they were only that kind of bastards who enjoyed making life hard and almost intolerable for other people.
You had recently begun your studies in the University of (desired city) where you had moved from (your city/homeland). You did not know anyone and since you were pushing 30 already you were almost 10 years older than everybody else which meant that you were living in your own apartment, rented but no student dorm arrangement, and rather spent most of your nights with a good book than out getting wasted. Besides no one asked you anywhere anyway, maybe it was your different accent or slightly different looks, or the fact that you had been lucky enough to get extra credits for your previous studies and work experience so you did not have to attend all the classes.
The teachers noticed that you were being picked on during the classes but they never reacted. Maybe they assumed that since you were that much older than the rest of the class, you surely did not mind and if you did, you could defend yourself. First months you had stood your ground but it had only achieved a few discussions with the university’s counselor, who, read between the lines, assumed that you had provoked the situation and was taking things way too personal; your class mates were barely adults after all.
So you gave in. You stopped fighting and tried to blend in so no one would notice you and maybe if you were lucky enough they would just let you be. You did not want to drop out because you had been working and saving money for this opportunity. You had been dreaming about studying abroad, literature, acting, history of theater and you had been applying many times until you had finally gotten in, now on the verge of saying goodbye to the twentysomethings and embracing the whole new decade.
It was Monday, the beginning of new semester. You had celebrated the New Years Eve alone, well you had been having a long Skype-call with your friends and family but that was it. You had gone to the downtown to see the fireworks and then gone home. Some drunken guy had tried to get you home and then started a quarrel when you had politely declined. You had gone home and taken a quick shower before going to bed.
Then the rest of the remaining holiday you had been reading and getting ready for the following semester which also began the 150th jubilee. Not that you really cared, but you had read the brochure that had promised exciting events and courses, a two-week intensive course of William Shakespeare, which was followed by two-week intensive acting course about the plays of the famous writer. You had been lucky to get in because the number of attending students had been limited.
You were in the classroom early, sitting in the last row, furthest corner which had become a safe haven for you because if you sat in the front of in the middle, you surely had something thrown at you at some point. The worst had been when you had been forced to cut your hair to get a piece of chewing gum off. You were deep in your thoughts when the lecturer came in.
- Oh hello. he said. You lifted your gaze from the course material and smiled briefly. Then your gaze fell back on your papers.
- You realize that you are first to show up so you could take advantage and sit in the front. he continued and walked to the second last row of the auditorium to stand right in front of you. You raised your head and recognized the man standing there. It was Tom Hiddleston, standing there, leaning to the other table and talking to you.
- Thanks but… I like to sit in the back. you answered and tapped the pencil against the table nervously.
- Alright, alright. he said and nodded. He was returning to the teachers table and stated jokingly
- But keep in mind that I will still ask you difficult questions. There is no hiding from me.
You made a “gotcha” –gesture and sighed. The auditorium started to fill up with people and the class begun. The lecturer introduced himself, although everybody knew who he was. It was the one reason why the class had been so popular after all and there were only a couple of guys among 50 attendants.
Tom spoke about his love for Shakespeare and why he held the play writer in such great value, what Shakespeare had meant for the English literature and culture in general. After that it was time for everyone to introduce themselves. When it was your time to do so he noticed that a couple of students were laughing with each other and giving you cheap glares, they mimicked your accent and the way you said your name to each other but Tom decided to defend you by saying “such beautiful name suits the beautiful woman”. Fortunately there were only a few of those students that you usually studied. The course after all had been open to all the faculties and classes.
When the first lecture ended, you were the last to leave the room.
- (Y/N). Tom called when you were exiting the auditorium.
- Uhuh?
- Is everything alright? he asked and looked very concerned.
- Yeah. you answered and smiled briefly.
The week passed like that. You were absorbing every piece of knowledge you could get from the visiting lecturers passion and for the first time you felt like you belonged somewhere. This was exactly what you had hoped the studying to be; adults behaving in a civilized manner, inspiring lecturer, fascinating subject… And suddenly it was Friday and the first week was almost over.
- May I sit here. a familiar voice asked you during the lunch break. You were sitting alone again but this time one certain Shakespeare –fan insisted on sitting with you.
- Sure. you answered. You made him room because you had spread your books and notes quite wide. He sat down and started to eat.
- So you like to keep your distance, why is that?
- I really haven’t been fitting in…
- That’s… odd… he commented and put down his fork as well as his knife.
- You seem to fit in famously. I am not quite sure what you’re talking about.
- Well, your course has been easy to fit in because it has been very interesting… The subject…
- How about the teacher? he asked. He was flirting a little because he found you interesting. He thought that your ideas, opinions and answers were fascinating and he was curious to know you more.
- Teacher is…
- Okay?
- Yeah, he’s alright. you joked and laughed. It was refreshing to have a conversation with someone more of your own age for a change. You talked about the literature and acting in general until it was time for you leave because your class was about to begin.
- Have a nice weekend. you said and left. Tom did not have time to react because his mouth was just full. That made him disappointed. Maybe he could had asked you out for a drink or something, the evenings at the hotel were boring to spend alone and he had enjoyed the conversation with you. You were both adults and he was not really a teacher, so why not!
During that class some people were making fun of you by saying that you were too old to be such a fan-girl, teachers favorite and what you were doing was just pathetic. What you had been doing? You had just paid attention to the subject and it was not your fault that the lecturer had come to sit with you during the lunch. And it certainly was not your fault that the lecturer happened to be Tom Hiddleston, the British charmer.
The weekend slipped away quickly and it was Monday again. You were the first student to enter the auditorium again but this time Tom was appointing you to sit in the first row. You hesitated but then decided to take your chances and you were surprised that you did not find anything from your hair, not even small pieces of eraser.
The week passed by quickly and you shared lunches with Tom every day. Sometimes you managed to talk only 5 minutes and sometimes you got late from the next class because you completely forgot to check the time. On Friday he suggested that you would meet on Saturday and go see a stand-up –comedy show and you accepted his invitation.
Unfortunately he cancelled during Saturday afternoon because he had to attend a meeting with the teachers where they were supposed to discuss the methods to give grades but the truth was that the teachers wanted to get their fair share of Toms company. You masked your disappointment and told him that it was alright. You were supposed to study for the exam anyway. There was no exams scheduled but he did not know it. He suggested that you would join him for a Sunday brunch and you agreed to meet at his hotel at noon.
You woke up early, put on your favorite clothes and used plenty of time on your face and hair. Then you took a bus to his hotel. He had visited a cozy restaurant a week ago so he knew where to take you which made you relieved because you had been afraid that he would ask you for recommendation. You had not been visiting that many restaurants during your stay in the city so it would had been awkward for you not to be able to suggest anything.
The brunch was great. There were plenty to choose from. Tom found a table from a silent corner and helped you to sit down. He asked you quite a lot about you, personal things that had no connection to the ongoing course. You did not dare to ask him about his relationship status or anything although he told you without asking, which made you a little confused. It has nothing to do with the course or Shakespeare.
He walked you to the bus stop, waited with you for 20 minutes because you had just missed the previous one and hugged you before you stepped into the bus. On Monday began the acting –part of the course. You did not gather in the auditorium anymore but in the hall that was used during celebrations. He handed out papers to the students, to you the last. The papers had dialogues for certain plays that you all had to memorize with your partner. There were 3 students missing that left the pairs uneven. When no one wanted to pair up with you, mostly because everyone else had a friend there, you stepped aside and concentrated to the dialogue.
“Act 1, Scene 4 from Romeo and Juliet”
you read silently. You read the poem through over and over again and jumped slightly when Tom came to talk to you. “I saved the best for last” he mumbled silently when he walked behind you, you however did not hear him.
- Ahem… he begun and smiled in the most adorable way. He looked almost shy which puzzled you. He was after all a famous actor and you were just… no one… you were no one special in your own opinion anyway.
- We should practice. he said and glanced through the paper.
- I see… he muttered and tried to seem unsuspicious. You smiled and looked casually around, you saw many jealous faces, although you had no idea why this honor had been granted to you. Getting used to the old-style-English was a little challenging to you at first but Tom was happy to help you all the time. You went through the lines with him and then it was time to end the lecture for Monday and get some lunch.
The next day the pairs continued practicing the dialogues and Tom spent time with each pair to give useful tips and explained them what the words meant. Then he returned to you and practiced the dialogue with you and you missed the lunch. The time was just slipping away and you couldn’t help feeling very privileged for such attention. The more you spent time with him the weaker your knees felt when he smiled at you.
On Wednesday morning it was time to perform the dialogues. What you did not know was that all the dialogues had been randomly selected for the pairs, all but one; Tom had selected the one for you and him on purpose and you were the last pair to perform.
ROMEO [To JULIET]
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”
Tom begun, standing a little further away. He walked a little closer.
JULIET
“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”
You recited your lines and turned to face him.
ROMEO
“Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?”
JULIET
“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.”
ROMEO
“O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
JULIET
“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.”
ROMEO
“Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.”
By this time he had taken your hands and was standing right in front of you. He looked straight into your eyes with a shy smile and then leaned closer. Before you knew it his lips were on yours, just as modestly as Shakespeare had intended. When he released your lips your heart was pounding and mind spinning. You opened your eyes and looked at him with an expression that was both surprised and taken aback.
- Part of the scene, love. he whispered, winked his eye at you and then addressed the group.
- This was the scene where Romeo steals Juliets first kiss… Did you recognize how they first speak their lines as a dialogue but towards the end the dialogue becomes actually a shared monologue which represents the way they are connected… Able to finish each others sentences.
You smiled casually although you were still recovering. You had not been practicing that, you had had no idea that the scene even included a kiss. Tom ended the class and then walked to you.
- I need to talk to you, later… after school. Call me when you’ll get home. he said and then looked at you with a hopeful look on his face. You nodded and took your things. Then you headed to grab a quick lunch and proceeded with the schedule.
During the next classes there was a lot of mockery and bullying because the few classmates who were lucky enough to attend the Shakespeare –course had shared what they had witnessed with everyone in the class. When the last class ended you rushed out, took your bike and headed home. There was a busy intersection just outside the campus with traffic lights.
Your worst bullies were heading to their dorm at the same time, they saw you waiting for the lights to turn green. A girl who was jealous at you challenged his boyfriend to throw an apple at you. The guy laughed and said “watch this!”
The light turned green and you drove on the lane. The apple hit you in your back and you turned your head to look what was going on. It was an automatic reaction, which distracted you and prevented you from seeing a car that was approaching the intersection with a plan to run red lights. You heard a loud screech as the driver hit the brakes. However it was too late. The car hit the bike and you flew to the windshield. At that point everything went black.
The driver got out from the car and found you laying on the street on your stomach in front of his car. Your arm was in an unnatural position and there was blood on your forehead. The classmates repeated “oh shit” many times and then finally one of them called the emergency services. The driver had hit his head as well and was in a shock.
Tom tried to call you that evening many times. The next morning he went to the university like the usual but you were not there either. During the break he tried to call you again but there was no answer, your phone could not even be reached. He asked casually if anyone knew where you were but no one knew and the ones that knew said nothing because they had been playing a part in the accident.
The next day you were missing as well and during the first break he finally asked a teacher. The accident was the top-news in the teachers lounge now that the news had reached them. When Tom heard it he cancelled the second part of the lecture and went to the hospital.
You were awake. The car had luckily managed to slow down enough that when you had hit the windshield, you had just rolled down and not flew many meters due to the great impact caused by speed, it was fortunate that there had not been that much speed involved. Your left hand was broken and you had a couple of fractured ribs, and yes, a nasty bruise on your forehead, a slight concussion but otherwise you were pretty much alright, although you had been unconscious for a little over one day.
You stared at the ceiling and listened to the hospital sounds. You hated hospitals; they sounded, felt and smelled weird, ominous somehow. You knew that most of the people that came to a hospital left it alive and well but then again… there was a reason why there was a morgue right downstairs. The door opened. There had been nurses running in and out the whole day because you did not have the luxury of a private room so you did not care to look.
- How are you feeling?
You recognized the voice immediately. It was Tom.
- I survive. They have doped me up with drugs so I’m good. you joked and started to laugh. You had been given quite strong painkillers so you were slightly high.
- Yes, I’ve heard that they do that. he commented and sat beside the bed, on the right side.
- What’s the damage? he asked.
- One broken arm, a few fractured ribs and some bruises. It’s not exactly a winner for the injury-bingo but I guess I am lucky. you answered.
- I had no idea… I would had come sooner if-
- It’s okay. I am sorry that I did not call… The hospital has a rather strict no-calls-policy or maybe the nurses here are just a bunch of dicks. And technically I never got home.
- You certainly did not. Do you know when you’ll get to go home?
- Tomorrow. That is… if I’ll survive the night. you joked.
- Hey, don’t say that. Tom commented with a concerned look on his face. You knew that look so well from many of his movies.
- I’m just teasing you. You are so cute when you’re worried. you chuckled.
- Well you have an awful taste of humor.
- Blame the drugs. you said and smiled wearily.
- I should probably let you sleep. he said and squeezed your hand. You answered with a silent “hm” and closed your eyes. Tom however did not leave. He cancelled the next days class and stayed with you until you got released from the hospital.