For Better: A Tom Hiddleston fanfiction

by freiheit89

It's always been Lani's dream to become an actor, and when turns 25, she figures now is as good a time as ever to get started on that dream. She auditions for RADA, determined to make something of herself and forget her horrible past. However, she didn't think her new life would include her favorite British actor. And what will happen when her past follows her to London?

1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story starts out in August of 2013, before the release of Thor: The Dark World. Also, I have very little experience in writing in third person, so try not to be too hard on me for the horrible writing, please. . Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. ^-^

~Rina

*Crash**bang*

"Fuck."

The woman spun on her heels, wondering what was making such a racket outside. She turned the sink off and dried her hands. Then, she made her way to the front door. Just as she was reaching for it, it flew open and hit the wall behind it. In the doorway stood the woman's daughter with sweat covering her face and her chestnut hair falling out of her braid.

"Mom!" The girl threw her arms around her mother, squealing happily. "Guess what."

The older woman pried the young girl off her neck, fearing that her daughter would choke her with her excitement. "What?"

"I got called in for an audition at RADA!" The girl squealed again and danced around the front hall in glee.

However, the woman didn't share her daughter's joy. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art was in the UK, farther from their Canadian home than the mother liked to think about. She voiced this worry to her daughter, who stopped abruptly in mid-dance step, staring at her mother in confusion.

"But... You said you were okay with me applying there."

"Lani..." The mother sighed, "To be honest, I didn't think they'd actually accept you."

Lani blinked at her mother, dumbfounded. "You didn't think I could do it?"

"No! That's not it at all. It's just... so many people apply to that place. People with... more talents than you... So I didn't think you'd actually be in the running."

"More talents?" Lani said, appalled by her mother's words. "You think I'm talentless?"

The older woman sighed, knowing her daughter was getting angry, but not understanding why. "All you can do is dance, Lani."

Lani scoffed. "Yeah, I can't quote 85% of Shakespeare's works off by heart, or anything." She said sarcastically.

"But that's my point, Lani. There are people who can quote all of Shakespeare's works, as well as sing, and act, and dance."

The young girl stared at her mother, finally realizing that her mother didn't believe in her at all. When told that her daughter was going to apply to RADA, the woman had shown false enthusiasm, thinking that her daughter would be beaten out by better people; she had thought that her daughter's hope of being an actress was nothing more than a dream. The sense of betrayal and disappointment that Lani felt during this moment of realization clenched at the young girl's heart, but she didn't let her mother see her pain.

Because she was a good actor, and she was determined to prove it.

"Fine." Lani said, turning back towards the door. "If that's how you feel, then so be it. However, it doesn't change the face that I am going to London."

This angered her mother. She was not having her daughter be so far away. "I was the one who said I'd fund your schooling there, Lani. But I'm not going to!"

Despite the fact that those words made Lani worry, she merely shrugged. "I've been living off of peanut butter and Mr. Noodles for the past year, Mom. I've saved up every penny possible. I can pay for it on my own."

Knowing that she would now be reduced to pleading, the woman grabbed her daughter's wrist and gazed at her with pleading eyes. "Please don't go, Lani."

Undeterred by her mother's sad eyes, Lani pulled her wrist away and walked out the door, vowing to prove her mother wrong once and for all.

(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)

Five days later...

By the time the plane hit the ground, Lani was already bouncing out of her seat. She had finally landed in London and, after nearly seven hours of flying, was ready to get her feet back on solid ground. People slowly made their way of the plane, and Lani wanted to just barrel through them all. Once she was in the actual airport, she started (politely) pushing her way through the thick crowd towards the door, not taking in anyone's faces as she passed them. She got outside, hoping to find a quiet place to sit until her friend showed up. Lani thought she could so this with minimal human contact, since she was quite shy.

That is, until she smacked straight into someone.

Lani suddenly found herself on her butt- and it wasn't a soft landing. The girl groaned and rubbed her tailbone.

"Yep," Lani thought, "Excruciating pain is always a good way to start out in a new country."

"Oh, God!" a male voice said, "Are you alright?"

Lani glanced up to see a hand outstretched to her; she took it and allowed herself to be helped up. Once she was firm on her feet, she looked up into the face of her helper. A very familiar pair of blue-green eyes greeted her, looking slightly worried. Lani slid back quickly, letting go of the man's hand. She had just ran into Tom Hiddleston.

Her favorite actor.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked again, giving Lani a once-over to make sure she wasn't seriously injured.

Wordlessly, Lani nodded. She didn't trust her voice right this second; her favorite actor was standing right in front of her and appearing concerned for her. Then again, he was so kind and always appeared concerned for people, so Lani figured she was just over thinking things. Tom was staring at her curiously, so she knew she had to say something.

"Umm... Thank you... for... helping me..." Lani said in a tiny voice. "It's my first time here and I just... wanted to get out of the crowd... That's why I was going so fast and..." She stopped abruptly, her knuckles going white from their grip on her luggage. She was rambling unnecessarily- a nervous habit she had.

But Tom didn't mention her rambling. He just smiled, making Lani's heart thump. "You're welcome, darling."

At that point, Lani was done. If she stayed in this man's presence any longer, she was sure she would become a puddle of moaning goo. She gave Tom a polite smile and made a hasty escape, finally getting to the spot where she planned to meet her friend.

Who was already there. Ashley stood outside of her red sedan, an excited look crossing her dark-skinned face when she saw Lani.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Canadian." Ashley said, pulling Lani into a bone-crushing hug.

Lani laughed, returning the hug. "I thought I was the only Canadian you knew?"

Ashley nodded, a smirk forming on her face. "Exactly why you're my favorite; you make all the Canadians look good."

Lani shook her head at her friend's stupidity. Even though Ashley was a few years older, the girls were quite close friends. The two had met while Lani had been doing research on what goes on behind a play in terms of setting up and organization. Lani had exchanged emails with many people before coming across Ashley, who happened to work at the Donmar Warehouse. They talked through email for weeks, then moved onto Skype. Then, suddenly, their conversations turned more personal and bam, instant friends. And while Lani was in the UK to do her auditions with RADA, Ashley had offered the spare bedroom in her home. Of course, Lani had to help out with buying groceries, but she didn't mind.

As the girls drove to Ashley's house, the older girl brought up the idea of going to a club. Lani shook her head quickly, the thought of so many strange and sweaty bodies pressed up against her own making her shudder in disgust. However, she couldn't help by smile at her friend's attempt to make her socialize.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Ashley caught the shudder. "It's really not so bad, you know. Once you're dancing and having fun, you hardly notice the sweat. And, who knows, maybe you'll meet a cute guy."

The smile fell from Lani's face. Ashley bit her lip, regretting her words. A few months ago, Lani had broken up with her first and only boyfriend, Hoby. He had been abusive and controlling and whenever he hurt Lani, the younger girl would go to Ashley for advice. After a while, Ashley was able to convince Lani to break up with him, but the cost had been great. The ex had started spreading a rumor around Lani's city about her sleeping around with other men and giving Hoby an STD because of it. He also spread many other lies, too many for Lani to count. People started to avoid Lani, thinking she was a whore and a horrible person. It had broken her heart, but it had also been the reason she applied to RADA in the first place. She hoped that by getting out of her hometown, she could forget all that had happened and start a new life.

They pulled up in front of Ashley's townhouse. It was tall, skinny, and cozy looking. As she stopped the car, Ashley turned to look at her friend.

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to force you into anything but... you can't be afraid of men forever. Not all guys are like that bastard Hoby."

Lani nodded. "I know. It's just... hard for me to trust again."

Ashley nodded sympathetically and pulled Lani into a hug. "Don't worry. You'll find someone you like someday soon; I know you will."

Lani nodded, not knowing how right Ashley was.

(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)

The next day...

"Lani!" Ashley's voice echoed down the hall, then her lean form appeared at Lani's door. She looked around the sky-blue guest room, which looked completely different from before, even though Lani had not even been there for a day yet. Clothes were strewn everywhere, bath products scattered on the floor, and various books and technology spread out everywhere. "Settling in well, I see."

From her spot at the desk, Lani grinned. "Yes. Thank you again for letting me stay here."

Ashley picked her way through the room and gave Lani a pet on the head. The younger girl was sitting with her chair on two legs, a partial map of the city spread out in front of her. Wordlessly, Ashley pushed the chair until it rested on four legs again.

"No problem. Listen, are you sure you don't want to come dancing tonight? Because I'm going there right after work, so we probably won't see each other until the morning."

Lani smiled. "I'm sure. I plan on going to the library today and getting some reading material."

Ashley facepalmed. "You're in freaking London, and the first place you're going to visit is the library?"

"Of course. I need to do some Shakespeare research."

"You've been reading Shakespeare since you were 10 years old, Miss. Nerd. I think you've done enough Shakespeare reading."

"No. I need to know it all. It's the only way I'll have a chance at RADA."

Ashley sighed, feeling bad for Lani, who was still thinking of how discouraging her mother had been before she left. Wordlessly, Ashley dropped a set of keys on the desk and gave Lani a kiss on the forehead.

"You'll do fine, Lani, even if you don't know all of Shakespeare's works." Ashley straightened again. "Those are the keys to the apartment, the car, and the front gate. Try not to get lost in London, alright?"

"You're letting me use your car?"

"Of course. It'll be easier for you to get around." Ashley went to the door, then turned and winked at Lani. "Make sure you drive on the right side of the road, Maple Leaf."

Then, she was gone. Lani glared at the doorway as if the older girl was still there. She didn't particularly like that nickname, but she knew that during her stay in Ashley's house, she'd have to endure it. She shrugged, adjusting her thick-rimmed glasses and getting back to the task at hand. She stared at the map in front of her, following it's multitude of colorful lines with a look of awe. Lani had always preferred traditional maps in favor of digital ones. She found it much easier if she could map out a route in her head, rather than follow the directions of a GPS that usually told you to turn a few seconds too late. Quickly, she found the public library and used a black sharpie to trace the shortest route from the townhouse to there. Once she was satisfied, she grabbed the keyring from the desk and took off for her destination.

(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)

Meanwhile, at Tom Hiddleston's place...

"Come on, Tom. Don't be such a loafer. Let's just go do something!"

Tom turned his head to stare at his friend. Ever since Tom had gotten back to London, Trevor had been trying to make the actor go out and have some fun. However, he didn't realize that all Tom wanted to do was be lazy. The actor only had about a month before he would have to start touring for Thor: The Dark world. All the premiers, the interviews, the promos would take over his life for at least a couple months, then he had Coriolanus to do (which he was actually pretty excited about). And he was sure that he'd have more to do after that, so he wanted to enjoy his break while it lasted. Tom got up off his couch and made his way over to his friend. He placed his hand on Trevor's shoulder, giving him a apologetic gaze.

"Look man, you know I'm happy to see you, I really am. But I am completely exhausted. Maybe some other time, alright?"

Trevor stared at Tom for a second, then gave a sigh of resignation. He nodded, then left the house silently. Tom waited until his friend's footsteps had faded away before making his way into the kitchen and picking up the object on the island in the middle of the room. He sat on one of the bar stools and turned the dark blue passport over in his hands, peering curiously at it. It was well worn, but when Tom flipped through it, he found no stamps indicating that the booklet had ever been anywhere but it's home country. He flipped back to the first page, regarding the picture of it's owner. The girl who had bumped into him at the airport stared back at him, a shy smile gracing her face. The passport, Tom guessed, had fallen out of her pocket when she fell. And when she ran off, Tom found it on the floor. He tried to go after her, but by the time he had made it around the corner she had run off to, she had been gone.

And since that moment, Tom couldn't stop thinking about her. Maybe it was because he currently held her passport, but he highly doubted it. He figured it was more because of how soft her tan skin had been and the way she had looked at him with those shy, grass-green eyes. Tom thought he had seen a little bit of brown surrounding her irises, but she hadn't looked him in the eyes long enough for him to really see.

"Nalani Clarke..." Tom murmured, still gazing at the picture in interest, "Where did you run off to?"

(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)Somanypagebreaks(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)

Lani sat at a sturdy mahogany table, her nose deep within a book with all of Shakespeare's sonnets in it. She since she couldn't afford a membership at the library, she was reduced to reading the book inside the building. Not that she minded, of course. Sitting in a library always seemed to calm her down and, since she realized as she was leaving the house that she had lost her passport, she needed some relaxing time. She read the sonnets over and over again, trying to ingrain them into her head. Her first RADA audition was in a little over a week and she wanted to be ready.

She was so absorbed in the book that she didn't want to stop reading, but her tailbone was getting sore (since she had been sitting there for hours, reading and rereading the sonnets), so she stood up and started pacing the small reading room as she read. But a few minutes later, she ended up bumping into someone. Not hard like before, though, so Lani apologized and scooted to the side to go around them. But she froze when a familiar voice spoke.

"It seems that fate has decided to bring us together again."

Lani slowly raised her head and came face to face with Tom Hiddleston once again. She quickly looked away, feeling a blush creep up her neck.

"Hello again." She said lowly, going back to her table. She felt less shy when sitting down.

Tom sat down across from her and tilted his head to see the cover of the book in her hand. "Shakespeare's sonnets." He said approvingly. "Which one is your favorite?"

Lani sunk down behind her book. "130."

The man in front of Lani smiled and hummed in thought, making the young girl groan inwardly. Tom's presence was making her insides one giant, useless pile of goo; she didn't think her body could take much more.

Then, Tom spoke again, and Lani suddenly praised her insides for being so strong.

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,

As any she belied with false compare."

"I believe I got that right." Tom added, mostly to himself.

"Oh, you know you got it right." Lani thought.

All she wanted a hole to open up in the floor and swallow her before the fangirl she had locked in a cage broke her way out. Lani choose to bury herself into deeper into her book, hoping that Tom wouldn't see too much of the effect he had on her. Tom merely smirked. He knew exactly how he was making this girl feel, but it wasn't let he meant to; he was just being himself. Obviously, he thought to himself, that was too much for this girl. But he thought her reactions were adorable; he wanted to keep teasing her. Instead of giving into that urge, however, he simply took the passport out of his back pocket, slipped it across the table and under Lani's book.

"My passport!" Lani said happily, finally putting the book down. "I suppose I dropped it when I crashed into you at the airport?"

Tom nodded in affirmation. "I think it was more a bump than a crash, though."

"My tailbone begs to differ." Lani muttered.

"Ehehehe."

Oh god. The trademark laugh. Lani's sudden boost of confidence evaporated and she picked the book back up, hiding behind it once more. Tom sighed and stood up. He figured he wasn't going to get Lani out of her shell any further, so he thought it best if he just leave. Besides, he still had the thing he had put inside her passport to possibly help him.

"Thank you." Lani said, keeping her voice as small as possible.

"You're welcome, darling."

It took ten minutes after Tom left for Lani to finally release her tense muscles. She released her stiff fingers from the book and shook them out. Then, she picked up her passport from the table and opened it; she always inspected her stuff after she lost it, just in case someone had decided to tamper with it in some way. Lani was just that paranoid. As she was flipping through it, a piece of paper fell into her lap. Lani discarded the passport in favor of the smooth, blank-looking paper. She unfolded it- and nearly dropped it when she saw what was written on it.

Tom Hiddleston had given her his number.