Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Mr. Tom Fletcher. Everyone else is from my mind. Enjoy!
It had been 3 years since I last saw her. And here she was, in front of my eyes once again.
I took a deep breath and stood up, making my way across the room to her table.
"Hey Anne"
She looked up from her notebook and froze at the sight of me.
"Tom…what are…what are you doing here?" She asked her voice nervous.
"I'm in town with the band. You?" I asked in return, sitting in the chair across the table.
She was silent for a moment, staring at me.
"Um…I live around here now." Anne replied.
I nodded and bit my lip, trying to think of something else to say. She stared at me as if I were a ghost. I looked at her oddly. Why was she treating me this way?
I was about to say something when a little boy ran up to her, jumping into her arms.
"Mommy!"
My eyes went wide when I heard those words.
Anne looked over at me; her eyes pleading me not say a word in front of him.
She looked past me for a moment.
"Becs? Can you watch him for a bit? I need to talk to Tom."
Her friend moved next to the table.
"Like I haven't been watching him for the past 4 hours?"
Anne looked up at her friend.
"Fine, go talk…now…"
Becca looked at me.
"Hey Tom." She said politely. I smiled before following Anne outside the restaurant.
Once outside, she turned to face me.
"I'm sorry I never returned those calls." She said almost immediately. I looked at her and shrugged.
"It's alright. I would have guessed you'd move on, find someone better, and start a family."
Anne looked up at me.
"Tom…I'm not in a relationship. I haven't been in a while." Her voice cracked a little, her caramel eyes filling with tears.
I looked at her confused when it hit me.
"Don you mean…he's…he's mine? Ours?" I asked, my voice coming out no more then a whisper. But she heard it. She nodded as tears fell down her face.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why?" My voice rose, anger and sadness balancing within me.
"I'm sorry Tom." She said weakly, tears streaming down her cheek. "I just couldn't."
"What do you mean you couldn't?" I pleaded for an answer.
"I just couldn't! I didn't know when I'd ever see you again Tom!" She cried.
"If you had told me I would have come back!"
"No, you wouldn't have! You wouldn't have been able to!"
"I would have made time! I tried.
"But I didn't want you to! I didn't want this to affect you and the band."
I huffed and turned away, wiping stray tears.
"Tom…I couldn't having him growing up missing his Dad." Anne's voice said from behind me.
"So you just took me out of the picture entirely." I turned back around to see her nodding.
"What's his name?" I asked, moving back towards her.
She smiled softly. "Michael. He'll be 3 in July."
I smiled, trying to push away the sadness.
"Does…does he know anything about me?"
She nodded. "He knows you're my favorite singer."
I chuckled as she nervously shifted her body.
"Do you want to meet him?" She said eventually.
I looked at her and nodded slowly. Anne smiled and walked back into the restaurant.
"Michael, I want you to meet someone." She said, taking the little boys hand. This is Tom."
Michael held on to his mothers hand and smiled shyly at me. I couldn't help but stare. He looked so much like me, yet I could see so much of Anne in him.
"Hi there Michael." I said.
He smiled wider, saying a shy "Hi" in return. I looked at him and nearly cried. He had a dimple nearly identical to mine, blonde hair falling close to his eyes. He had Anne's brown eyes.
I looked back up at Anne to see her smiling, tears welling up in her eyes once again.
I sat down with them for supper asking questions upon questions as Anne told stories upon stories. I mentally cursed myself. What I would give to have seen Michael come into this world, to hear is first words.
And of course, the meal ended all too quickly for my liking, and possibly even Anne's.
I stood outside the restaurant with her once again. Becca had taken David back to their apartment. I looked at Anne and immediately realized what a fool I had been. A straight out idiot.
"I…I'm sorry, again." Anne said to me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I shook my head.
"No. I'm the sorry one." I sighed deeply as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Really, I wish you had told me. I would have been around."
She nodded wordlessly.
"Would you like to come to the show tomorrow night? The guys would love to see you again. They'd love to meet Michael."
"I don't know Tom. Concerts are a bit crazy…" She said.
"Well, you can hang back stage. And Becca can come along. I'd love for you all to come." I tried again.
Anne smiled softly.
"I'd be honored to come and see the show."
I smiled in return.
"Well, I should be off." Anne said, glancing around. The evening was turning into night as the sun began to set.
I nodded as I walked her to her car.
"I'll see you tomorrow then?"
I nodded again. "Yeah"
We stood awkwardly for a moment. I took her hands in mine and leaned forward, bringing my face closer to hers. We gazed into each others eyes, feeling each others breath. Her eyes began to close, when I realized what I was doing. Instead of her lips, I gently kissed her cheek, shocking her no doubt.
She looked up at me and sighed knowingly.
"Have a good night." I said quickly before walking away to my car.
As soon as I sat down in the driver's seat, I made a decision. I would see Michael more often. I would fly out, or fly them out to wherever we were at the time. I just had to see him. I had to be a part of his life.