20 questions.
Back again! This fic is a little longer, but just as good I hope!
-A game of 20 Questions leads Tom to admit his feelings for Mared.-
Enjoy!
Disclaimer - I own nothing.
Mared looked up from her paperwork once again to see Tom still writing. She swore he'd been writing the same case report for the last hour.
Smiling to herself she wondered if Sian and Lloyd would be like this when they finally achieved the ranks she and Tom were at now.
Leaning back in her chair, she realised there was nothing more she could do. The case was closed, a family got closure and her case reports were all signed, but still she would lie and say she had more to do, simply waiting until Tom left, just so she could sleep knowing he was in his caravan and not driving the streets or at the station going over and over the notes.
"Don't you have a home to go to?" He asked, his voice was laced with sarcasm, as he looked up at her. Their eyes met for a brief few seconds before she smiled.
"Don't you have a rundown caravan to go to?" She shot back, making him smile.
"A nice warm house with other human beings sounds nicer than a caravan that stands every chance of being blown off a cliff." He commented, before looking back down at his paperwork.
"Maybe you should look into finding a flat in town?" Mared pondered aloud as she picked up her coffee mug, feeling slightly disappointed to see there was nothing in it.
"Maybe…" He answered, this time not looking up at all, just flicking through pages of yet another file.
"Coffee?" Mared already knew the answer as she walked over to his desk, picking up his mug, walking to the breakroom.
Walking back, she had to hold back a laugh. Tom seemed so at peace when reading case reports, almost like it relaxed him, which Mared found strange, but oddly amusing.
"Thanks…" He muttered when she put the mug of now steaming hot coffee on his desk.
"You can't live in that caravan forever you know." She picked up the subject again.
"Sounds like a challenge, DI Rhys." Tom laughed a little, calling her DI Rhys sounded odd to his own ears, he'd only ever called her it to other members of staff or to people in the community, to her it was always Mared.
"One I really hope you don't take on."
"People live in caravans for most of their lives."
"Caravans in parks, with proper electrics and water supply, not run down things of the edge of a cliff that is clearly a safety hazard." The way she spoke, made him lean back in his chair, engaging fully in the conversation.
"What?" She asked. He realised he'd been staring, only for a few minutes but staring none the less.
"Nothing, I was just thinking, sorry."
"Thinking about what?" She was now intrigued.
"You seem to care a lot…"
"I do care a lot." He smiled at her answer, thank god someone did.
His mind began to wonder, wonder about her, about how she grew up, just why she chose the police and various other things, small things he'd love to know about her.
"Thank you."
"Why do you do this?" He asked, picking up his cup of coffee.
"Do what?" She questioned as she mirrored his action.
"This, police work, why the police force, why became a DI?" Tom asked, motioning to all the paperwork spread across his desk.
"I don't know. It always seemed to appeal to me when I was in school, I never thought I could work in a shop or just be a housewife." Tom couldn't picture her being a housewife either.
She frowned as she watched him smile.
"Is this going to turn into a game of 20 questions?"
"No, I'm just trying to make conversation I guess." Mared nodded.
"What about you, Hendon, The Met, you made DS before you were 25, DI not long after that, DCI now…"
"Dad was a cop, it was all I had ever known." Mared nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, I can defiantly see that." Tom laughed, watching her again, only for a moment.
"Come on then, next question." Although she wouldn't admit it, maybe finding out more about each other wouldn't be a bad thing.
Tom smiled, before shaking his head.
"Really, you seem like the kind of person who wants to know everything about everyone. I'm sure you have questions, I have a kid, I live at home, does it not interest you?" Suddenly he found himself seeing a whole different side of Mared Rhys.
"It does, really, but I guess I'm more intrigued by the smaller things."
"Like what?" She asked, again sipping her coffee.
"Have you always spoken Welsh?"
"Well, I do live in Wales." He laughed at her witted response.
"Yes, I have always spoken Welsh."
"I grew up here, but I was always taught English."
"I can tell."
Tom smiled at her, amazed at how quickly she could come up with an answer.
"What about you, do you speak any other languages?" She asked, this time putting her coffee down, and moving some files.
"Spanish, Welsh, some German…"
"A man of many talents." She said.
"Something like that." He muttered under his breath, but her smile told him she heard.
"I was taught French in school, but I can't remember any of it." Mared frowned a little deep in thought.
"I wouldn't worry; it's not like you need it."
"You never know, according to the papers Aberystwyth is a top holiday destination." Tom was slightly taken back by just how sarcastic she could be.
"Well, forgive me. Of course wind, rain and cheap coffee would appeal to most." Mared chuckled.
She met his eye once again, smiling properly this time, something that was very rare in their line of work.
"Have you ever thought about moving, you know away from all of this?" Again they were back with the game.
Mared shook her head.
"I guess not, born here, raised here, all of my education, I've worked for the police here since I was 22, we didn't need to go to Hendon or the likes, it was 'you learn on the job'. What about you?" Tom sat in thought for a moment.
"London is none stop, although Aber is such a small town, it's not without its murders and kidnappings, but even so, I don't think I could."
"Do you drink?" Tom asked. He wasn't sure why he'd asked, but then again, it was the small things that intrigued him.
Mared smiled, before shaking her head.
"I drink, but nothing like what I assume you do." Tom put on a face of mock shock.
"You assume I drink myself to nothing in my caravan?" Mared nodded, thinking she couldn't be far from the truth.
"Mared Rhys, mother, daughter, DI and psychic…" There was a moment of silence before Tom took another sip of his coffee that was now cooling.
Wondering a moment Mared thought about just how far she could take this game, he wanted to know the small things, but she didn't, she wanted to know why, why he moved, why he slept with Gwen, just why he lives in such isolation.
"Will you move back to London in the new year?" Cops move all the time, they transfer here, there and everywhere else.
"No." It was a simple answer to what Tom felt was a simple question.
"Good…"
"Why?"
"Believe it or not, you're making a difference here." Mared lied easily as she moved in her chair, trying to get more comfortable.
"And the real reason." She looked at him, she knew she couldn't answer it honestly. Picking up her coffee mug she took a sip, hoping something would come up that would distract them both.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I want to see if I'm right." Mared laughed, she wasn't sure how to take it.
"You normally are. Without you around we wouldn't have solved half the cases we have." Tom laughed, he didn't know if that was a compliment or not, of course he did his best solving cases but still he knew all his methods were not 'by the book'.
"Why does it please you so much that, me, the man you once hated isn't moving back to London?" He asked, a game of 20 questions had soon gotten out of hand.
She stayed silent although managed to look up at him. Shrugging she no longer had anything she could do to make him stop asking.
"Mared."
"I like having you around. Sian and Lloyd are good people and I am glad I know them because we have each other's backs, but you, hell, you're something else." Tom was slightly taken back, but a moment he managed to form a sentence.
"There was me thinking I was the worst thing that could ever happen to you…" Yes, it was sarcastic, but until he knew for sure just why she wanted him here, sarcasm was all he could come up with.
Mared didn't give a verbal reply, she just smiled. He watched her as she stood up, walking into the next room to get started on finally taking down the pictures that covered the walls.
"You can go home; I can sort this."
"No one's there. Parents have gone to see my brother and Elin's at a friend's…"
They both began to work on taking the photo's down, smiling sadly at the photo's that whereof the victim and the family.
"Never gets any easier." Mared commented as she took another photo down, this time of the crime scene.
"No, but this family has closure, all they can do now is try and move on." Tom tried, but he understood, it didn't matter how long you'd been on the job, finding a body, informing families, going to court, it never got any easier, if anything, it became harder.
He watched her again. Lost in thought he wondered if he should ask.
Should ask what she meant when she said she wanted his to stay, his mind began to race and he realised he would sound so stupid if he just said it, but he also knew he would make himself crazy if he didn't.
He was falling for her. He was falling fast. Falling madly in love with Mared and all Tom could think about was how amazing it could be if she felt the same way.
Maybe he could be happy again, get back on track? Try and fix things.
Coming back to the here and now he noticed that she was still taking photo's down, putting them into the box, before putting pins back up.
"Can we talk?" She gave him a look before letting her arms fall to her side.
"Sure." She sounded concerned, but she always did, he assumed it was in her nature.
"You said you wanted me to stay, that I'm making a difference here. Is that the only reason?" He asked, moving to sit down, hoping she would mirror his action.
"Tom, where is this going?"
"Mared…" She finally sat down, giving him all her attention, he began to think that maybe she thought he was going to give her some big reveal about the job, tell her about his past life, about London.
"I love you."
Mared froze for all of a few seconds before raising her eyebrows in shock.
"I think it's been a long day…" She tried to make up an excuse for him.
"I'm being serious, Mared." The way he said her name in that sentence made her heart skip a beat.
"I know." Tom ran a hand through his hair before turning, so he was facing away from her. He now had visions of this going horribly wrong.
"That's why I want you to stay." Mared whispered she wasn't sure if he'd heard at first, but when he turned around she was sure he had.
"What?" Tom heard her, he just wanted to make sure.
"I love you too, that's why I want you to stay." She couldn't make eye contact; she could barely speak.
Tom took a few steps forward, reaching to take her hand, watching her closely.
"Why don't we go back to mine and finish this game of 20 questions?" Mared asked, as their faces were now inches apart.
"I like the sound of that." He smiled.
"Good." As soon as the word left her mouth, she felt his lips on hers. Completely taken back it took her a few seconds for her to respond, but when she did, neither of them could deny they were in love. Not anymore.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this and decided to leave a review!
Bethany.