I originally posted this on Tumblr during S/T Smut weekend. This was a fic request from the Yankee Countess that I received back in February or March asking for a prequel to my first M-rated story, Five Days Without. Unfortunately, I was stumped for a long time on how to start the story and then I just had writer's block. Then, the fantastic and smutty stories I read that weekend inspired me and I wrote the entire story in less than a day. Please note that the paper Tom tells Sybil about later in the story is fictional and completely of my own creation.

A quarter to eight at night, Sunday, 6 April 1919

Tom Branson looked up at the night sky, wondering when the train carrying his Lordship and his daughters would arrive at Downton Station. The train was late. Correction – the train was very late, having been scheduled to arrive at half past four o'clock that afternoon. Shortly after arriving at the station at a quarter past four, a porter informed him that a derailment would delay the train's arrival for at least two hours. After asking permission from the stationmaster, Tom had called the big house to inform Mr. Carson of the development. Mr. Carson ordered him to remain at the station until the train arrived, but to keep him informed of any further delays.

Tom sighed and began to pace around the Renault. It's not that he minded waiting for the train. In fact, he was completely happy to be away from the big house for the day. With all the preparations for Mr. Matthew's wedding this Saturday, the kitchen, and Mrs. Patmore, were in a tizzy and he preferred to stay away. No, he was anxious to see his fiancée for the first time in seven days.

Lord Grantham and all three of his daughters went to London last Sunday and were, finally, returning today. His Lordship was in London attending to both personal and Lords business while the Ladies Mary, Edith, and his darling Sybil were in London visiting their aunt, as well as doing some shopping for Mr. Matthew's and Miss Swire's wedding, as well as the July nuptials of Lady Mary to Sir Richard Carlisle. Tom's heart ached for Sybil, knowing that she was looking at wedding dresses and other wedding-related items that she wouldn't be able to afford once they announced their plans to marry, which thankfully was going to be very soon.

Hopefully, his good news – no, his wonderful news – would make up for it. Tom smiled, knowing that it would. After all, he knew Sybil was desperate to get married and not be separated from him any longer. She told him as much the day before she went to London, furious that she was being forced to go.

Tom had finally done it. He had a job at a newspaper in Dublin. It wasn't at any of the three major newspapers, but as his political views were opposed to those of The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, and the Freeman's Journal, he'd never seriously considered applying at any of them. This position was with a smaller Dublin paper, one more aligned with his political beliefs (and Sybil's), and which would pay a nice, though modest salary, enough for an engaged man to marry his beautiful fiancée. He couldn't wait to tell Sybil about the job. It was his chance to make good on the promise he made to her when he proposed to her in York. He was finally making something of himself. More importantly, their future together was no longer a dream. It was actually happening.

He was startled from his reverie by the sound of loud whistle. Looking up, he saw that the train was coming into Downton Station at last. Tom smoothed out his uniform, placed his hat on his head, and straightened up as the train came to a stop and the passenger doors opened. He grinned upon seeing his beloved emerge from the train behind her older sister and father. For a moment, she took his breath away.

Sybil quickly changed out of her traveling clothes and prepared to take a bath. After over nine hours on a train, she desperately needed a hot bath. When she told Anna she was going to take a bath, the housemaid grabbed her some fresh towels, but left Sybil to take care of herself. It was a practice established when she worked at the hospital during the war, and which Sybil insisted upon maintaining.

Sinking into the hot bath, Sybil let out a sigh of relief. However, as much as she wanted to sit in the bath for a long time, she also wanted to get done and dry her hair as soon as possible. Sybil hadn't spoken with Tom since the day before she left for London. She wanted to know how his job search was going, how he was doing, and she just wanted to hear his voice. She had missed everything about Tom while in London. Though she enjoyed everything she did – going to the theatre, shopping with her sisters, visiting her Aunt Rosamund – deep in her heart, she knew that London would have been infinitely more enjoyable if Tom had been there with her. Together they would have gone to the cinema, the British Museum, or the Tate. Perhaps they would have gone to a vaudeville performance or gone shopping in Portobello Road. I would have enjoyed all of those things.

She rushed through the rest of her bath, quickly dried herself and threw on her white cotton nightgown. She sat down in front of the blazing fire, giving her hair time to dry as well as giving her family time to go to sleep. It wouldn't do getting caught sneaking out to see her fiancée the chauffeur. At least, not until they were ready to announce their engagement. She was wide-awake for the time of night, but she attributed that to the fact that she slept for several hours while waiting for the train to continue its journey. When she awoke a half hour before they arrived at Downton Station, Mary and Edith expressed their shock that she could sleep sitting up in a train compartment. Sybil said that she learned during her nursing that sleep is a precious thing and learned to grab it whenever she could.

While she sat there waiting, Sybil couldn't help but think about how much longer she could wait to leave for Dublin and begin her life with Tom. Deciding to be honest with herself, she knew that she couldn't wait much longer. The hiding was getting to her, and with all the fuss for Matthew's wedding to Lavinia, knowing her announcement wasn't going to be welcomed, a part of her wanted the news out in the open so they could move forward. Sybil determined that if Tom didn't receive a job offer by the day of the wedding, she and Tom would announce their plans to wed the Monday following. Then, they would leave.

Looking up at the clock, she noticed it was half past eleven and the house was silent. She finally had her opportunity to sneak out. Sybil put on a pair of boots and a cardigan and quietly made her way to Tom's cottage.

Tom was sitting up reading. Knowing Sybil, she would come to visit him tonight, and while having her in his cottage could lead to other activities, he really wanted to see her, talk to her, hold her, especially since he told her that they would be leaving for Dublin within a week.

While the hours passed, he was drawn more and more into his book, Dubliners, a gift from Sybil for Christmas 1914. He was so enthralled; Tom didn't realize Sybil entered his cottage until his bedroom door squeaked open.

Looking up, he gave her a lopsided grin and looked her up and down. Of course, she's wearing a nightgown when she comes to visit me.

Quirking an eyebrow, he said, "I'm not sure if that's the proper attire to wear to visit the chauffeur."

Laughing, she replied, "How about when visiting my fiancée?"

"Even more inappropriate," he said, chucking.

He put the book on his nightstand and held his hand out to her. Sybil took his hand and was gently pulled onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned in to kiss him. Tom welcomed the kiss, savoring the taste and feel of her full lips against his. After several delicious minutes of kissing, he broke the kiss first.

"How was London?"

She sighed. "It was fine. I did enjoy myself, but I missed you." She paused for a moment and Tom recognized that she was going to say something important. "Tom, I think we should tell my parents next Monday about our plans, whether or not you have a newspaper job or not. I'm tired of hiding our relationship and I'm tired of not moving forward with our lives."

Tom grinned cheekily at her. "No need to wait, love."

Not understanding the mirth behind his answer, she replied, "No, I can't ask you to risk being fired and having to wait for me at The Grantham Arms and using any money you saved. We'll wait until after the wedding, unless you get a job offer before then."

"I have a job offer with The Irish Republic."

Sybil looked up in surprise and saw the happiness radiating from Tom's face. He reached for a letter on his nightstand and offered it to her to read. She took the letter and read the words, quickly feeling pride wash over her.

Sybil kissed Tom in congratulations, only meaning to express how proud she was of him. Yet the kiss quickly became heated. Hands began roaming and their bodies pressed and rubbed together, sending sparks through their bodies.

Tom pulled away first. "Do you—"

"Yes. I want to. I want…" She stopped mid-sentence.

"What do you want love?"

Looking down and blushing, Sybil said, "I want you to do what you did with your mouth the last time I was here."

Tom's breath caught in his throat. He remembered that night very well. They had broken their agreement to only kiss until they were married, but they had succumbed to their desires that evening. Though, technically speaking, I did only kiss her. I just kissed other parts of her body other than her mouth…

The memory of that night rushed back to Tom, especially the sounds that Sybil made while he pleasured her and the look on her face when she came for the first time. Just thinking about it made Tom's blood rush. He quickly rolled Sybil onto the bed while he hovered over her. She laughed at how quickly he moved, but her laughter was quickly silenced by a passionate kiss from him.

Soon they were consumed by their passion again, and Sybil started to pull up his undershirt. Realizing what she wanted, Tom paused and pulled off his shirt, then quickly resumed kissing Sybil, plunging his tongue into her mouth and dueling with hers. They both moaned into the kiss, loving the feeling of their tongues moving together.

Tom began running his hands up and down Sybil's body, feeling her curves through the thin nightgown. When he began kissing down her neck, his left hand began massaging her breast through her gown. Seeing that it was straining through the gown, he brushed his thumb over her nipple, sending delightful shivers through Sybil's body and causing her to moan out loud. He repeated his actions several times, before he gently pinched her nipple, eliciting a gasp of shock and delight from his love.

"Oh!"

Tom then moved his ministrations to her left breast, repeating each of his actions. Sybil was so lost in what he was doing to her, she didn't realize that her hands were in his hair, gently tugging at his light brown hair. He groaned, reveling in the sensations that she was causing him to have.

After several more minutes of touching, Tom began slowly kissing down Sybil's body. Even through the cotton of her nightgown, she could feel his kisses on her skin, starting little fires all over. Her hands gripped the sheets as he descended and inched closer to her center. Before she knew it, Tom was sliding her nightgown, which had already ridden up to her thighs, higher over her hips, exposing her from her bellybutton on down.

Tom kissed and nibbled at her thighs, leaving little marks on them as he teased Sybil. Her breathing was labored and she didn't know if she could take anymore teasing.

"Please Tom, stop teasing."

"Yes, love."

He spread her legs farther apart and slowly licked up to her nub, then took it into his mouth and gently sucked on it. The actions caused Sybil's body to pleasantly jolt. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy Tom's attentions.

His tongue began to lick and suck at her center, lapping up her juices. His tongue plunged into her center, causing Sybil to moan her approval. Tom continued this for a bit, sometimes gently sucking on her clitoris, sometimes darting his tongue into her center, and sometimes licking Sybil. He could tell from Sybil's writhing and moaning that she was close. He redoubled his efforts and added first one, then another finger into her, slowly sliding in and out.

The addition of his fingers pleasantly surprised Sybil who voiced her approval. "Oh yes!"

Needing no more encouragement, Tom began thrusting his fingers in and out her, sometimes curling. Knowing what it would take to send her over the edge, he continue moving his fingers in and out of Sybil as he move his lips to her nub and sucked on it with a bit more force than before. That sent her flying.

"Oh God, oh god, oh, oh, oh!"

Tom lapped at Sybil through her orgasm and as she came down. He briefly paused to remove his fingers, but then resumed licking and sucking her center. She was surprised by his actions at first, but quickly gave in to the pleasure that he was giving her.

Deciding he needed to be closer, Tom threw Sybil's legs over his shoulders as he continued licking her center. The new position sent a thrill though her. She was completely exposed to him, yet she didn't care. All she cared about in that moment was the fire Tom was building within her.

Soon, Sybil, still sensitive to the orgasm she just had, was thrashing about on the bed. As he swirled his tongue around her nub, his right hand moved up her body towards her breast.

She was close to coming and could only moan and chant his name. "Oh Tom, there, oh there. Yes! Oh Tom!"

Sensing Sybil's need for her release, Tom sucked her nub into his mouth as he gently rubbed his thumb over her erect nipple. The simultaneous sensations did it. She screamed her release into a pillow as her body arched off of the bed, closer to his eager mouth. Sybil shook and moaned for a bit before her orgasm eased.

As she came back to herself, she saw Tom's head was rested against her stomach. Sybil ran her hand through his hair to get his attention. She knew he was struggling for control. Tom wouldn't let her pleasure him, too afraid he would lose all control. It was one thing to pleasure Sybil with his hands and mouth, but if they went farther than that, Sybil wouldn't have a choice in leaving with him. For Tom, it always came back to making sure she had a say in what happened to her.

So Sybil knew the answer before she asked, but she still needed to ask. "Do you want me to help you, darling?"

Tom looked up at her and shook his head. His next words surprised her. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I lost control a bit."

"You mean when you continued after I came the first time?"

He nodded.

"There's no need to apologize. I enjoyed it. Or did you suddenly lose your hearing?"

Tom chuckled.

"Are you sure I can't help you?"

"Love, if you were to do what I just did, I'm not sure if I can control myself."

Sybil smirked. "Glad to know I have such an effect on you."

After a few minutes, he crawled up the bed and wrapped Sybil in his arms.

"When do you want to tell your parents?"

"Tomorrow night, or rather tonight, after dinner. Granny will be there and it will be easier to tell the three of them at once."

Tom snorted at that.

Turning to look him in the eyes, she said, "Would you rather tell granny without anyone else there to be a buffer?"

"No."

"Then we'll tell them after dinner. Come into the drawing room around half past nine. Everyone should be in there by then."

"Yes, milady."

"Don't be cheeky, Mr. Branson."

"Yes, Nurse Crawley."

"That's better."

"When do you have to return?"

She looked at the clock on his nightstand. "I should probably go back now, but I don't want to. Can we set the alarm for five o'clock? I can sneak back into the house without being noticed."

He reached over and fiddled with the clock for a few minutes before setting it back down.

Sybil reached over and turned off the lamp. "I can't wait until we're married, Tom. I don't want to sleep without you next to me."

"I know, love. I feel the same way. Patience. We're almost there."

"I know."

She snuggled closer to him. "Goodnight, darling."

"Goodnight, love."