Chapter Two

Tom sat in the makeup trailer trying his damnedest not to fall asleep. When he'd awoken that morning, he'd found Laura was gone. Unfortunately it only seemed to be for the day as her luggage was all still there. He felt terrible that he wished she'd just go home, back to London. They could just end it without even a discussion. It was quite obviously more than over.

He sat up straight as the trailer door opened and Megan, hidden behind an enormous pair of dark sunglasses and a hoodie that was at least three sizes too big. He chuckled lightly. "You look like I feel."

Megan just shook her head and sank into a chair, two seats away from Tom. "My head is spinning."

"Mmm. Sounds familiar," Tom agreed with a nod. "What did we do last night? I remember…getting to the bar but honestly, after that point, it's all kind of a blur."

Megan chuckled. "What didn't we do? It was a very long night."

"Why didn't you stop me?" Tom groaned. "What kind of friend are you?"

"A bad influence apparently," Megan laughed. She stared at him, head tipped back, eyes closed, his long, lean legs propped up on the table in front of him. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "So…did you talk to Laura?"

"Um, no," Tom stated, opening one eye and looking in her direction. "She was gone when I woke up. Well…I mean, not GONE. Her stuff's still there but she was not."

"She left the pristine hotel room!?" Megan said feigning shock.

Tom chuckled. "Be nice."

"I'm not going to be nice to her, Tom. She treats you like crap. So…definitely not being nice to her," Maggie stated, fidgeting with the sleeves of her oversized shirt.

"Hey."

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I meant every word I said last night. Every word…every flirtation…I meant every one of them."

Megan laughed. "Is that so?"

"Mhmm," Tom said with a single nod. "I had a lot of fun last night."

"Me too," Megan smiled.

"Ah! The troops are here!" Luke exclaimed, bursting into the trailer with an annoying amount of bravado.

"Shhhh…." Tom commanded, an annoyed look on his face. "Do always have to be so loud?"

"When I know you fucking idiots closed down the bar, yes. Yes I do," Luke stated with a smirk. He plopped down into the third chair. "What the hell were you thinking? You both look like fucking road kill."

"You're a real romancer, Luke," Megan responded. "Can't believe nobody's snatched you up."

Luke smirked sarcastically. "So how was it? Defile any public restrooms or anything after I left?"

Megan rolled her eyes. "Gross."

"Gross!?" Tom exclaimed. "Thanks a fucking ton."

"Not you, the bathrooms."

"They were pretty disgusting," Tom laughed.

"So that's a no to the bathrooms but…"

"Nothing happened," Tom said sternly. "We went out. We drank…a lot. And we went back to our SEPARATE rooms and passed out. Me on the sofa. In the exact clothes I was wearing all day."

"Did you take off your shoes?" Megan asked.

"Yup."

"Then you did better than me."

Tom chuckled. "You really are a terrible influence…but I kind of love it."

"Just kind of?" Megan grinned.

"No. No. I definitely love it," Tom laughed. "It's been a long time since I've had that much fun."

"It's because you're dating the grim reaper," Luke stated. Megan burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay…that's just mean," Tom said through stifled laughter.

"It's true!" Megan shrieked, her body contorting as she continued giggling. "The Grim Reaper has come to kill all the fun!"

"Stop! Stop it!" Tom commanded. "You guys are cruel."

"I've come to reap all the good times from life," Luke began in a growly, strange voice. "Parties? Nope. Friends? Gone. Definitely, definitely no more beer."

"I fucking hate you guys," Tom laughed.

"You do not," Megan argued. Tom didn't respond just looked at her and licked his lips before giving her a sly smile. A smile that nearly made her bones quiver. Maybe last night wasn't just a bunch of drunken babbling. Maybe…

"Guys?" They all three looked to find Kane standing at the door. "You wanna get to work sometime today?"

"Not really," Tom stated with a grin as the rest snickered. Kane stood there for a moment and then rolled his eyes and stepped away. "Kane! Kane! I was joking! Come baaaaaack!" Luke and Megan just sat and laughed at him. "Do you think anyone is questioning the casting choices yet?"

"Everyone is regretting putting the three of us together," Luke stated with a chuckle. "They had no idea what they were starting."

"They really didn't," Tom said softly, his eyes locking onto Megan as she clicked away on her phone. At this moment, he had no idea what they'd started, but he was bound and determined to find out.

"Oh God…" Megan moaned, attempting to climb onto the boat. "I'm not sure I can do a boat today."

Tom grimaced from in front of her. "It really isn't fun," he stated with a chuckle. He reached out his hand. "Come on. I'll help."

Megan placed her hand in his and pulled herself onto the boat. But as one foot hit the deck, the toes of her other caught the edge of the boat and she fell forward into his arms. She giggled nervously as her eyes raised to his, locking on to the set of baby blues in front of her. They just stared at each other for a moment before she cleared her throat and looked away, setting both feet on the ground. "Saved my life."

"That might be pushing it," Tom stated with a smirk. "You probably would've survived."

"Well you at least saved me from some scraped up knees and a moment of embarrassment."

"I do what I can," Tom grinned.

"You two wanna stop flirting and get to work?" David asked from next to the camera man a few feet away. "There's only so many hours of sunlight left."

"We can't flirt and work?" Megan asked, tossing Tom a wink before sauntering her way to the waiting makeup artist.

Tom just chuckled and shook his head before his eyes met Luke's. "What?"

"You know what," Luke smirked.

Tom shook his head again. "I know nothing."

"Right," Luke said with an unbelieving chuckle. He watched Tom turn away but didn't miss his friend pausing to stare at the beauty being dusted by bronzer. Things were about to get extremely interesting. Extremely.

"Stop it," Tom commanded as Megan's hand, covered with fake blood neared his face. He grabbed hold of her wrist, trying to push her back. "Be good. You're going to get us into trouble again."

"I'M going to get us into trouble?"

"Yes you," Tom stated. "I haven't done anything." Megan gritted her teeth and continued to try and smear the jelly-like red substance on her hand on his face. "Quit. It."

"Or what?"

"Or I don't know. I'll figure something out."

"Guys, seriously," David spoke up, though he was laughing. "Meg, you just got hurt. You injured yourself, you're sad and in pain. How about you don't rub the blood all over Tom's face? It's supposed to be a dramatic moment."

"Sorry," Megan apologized. "Where would you like me to rub it?"

Tom bit onto his lips and tipped his head back toward the sky. "Lord help me."

"No one can save you now."

"I'm starting to get that feeling."

It was the final scene of the night, Sawyer had just proposed to Lisa. The boat was littered with candles, a romantic picnic set up. It all would've been a quite lovely date, minus the camera crew of course.

"Okay guys, we need to do the kiss again…" David stated as he looked up from the playback screen. "I'm not feeling it."

"I am," Tom said softly to himself. Though Megan heard him and laughed.

"Tom, I need you to put more into it. You're in love with this woman. She just agreed to marry you. I need you to really, really kiss her."

"Yeah, Tom," Luke said from behind the director. "Really kiss her."

Tom closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright," he stated, climbing to his feet. "Let's do this. I need to get some sleep."

"Oh don't sound so excited," Megan teased.

"You shut up," Tom laughed.

"Sorry it's such a chore."

He furrowed his brow. "Do I get allowance?"

"Make this one better and we'll see."

Tom exhaled and rolled his neck. "Alright. Let's go."

"Ready…and…action."

Tom reached up, weaving his hands through the flowing dark locks in front of him. He pulled Megan close and pressed his lips into hers. But the longer that went by without a "Cut!" the deeper the kiss went until it was no longer a staged kiss. His arms were wrapped around her, her hands cradled his face. He could feel fireworks in the pit of his stomach, his eyes clenched tightly as he kissed and kissed and kissed some more. This was no longer work. A line had been crossed and if they didn't stop soon…

"And cut!" David's voice shouted. "Perfect! That is what we needed!"

Both Megan and Tom were out of breath as they pulled away from each other. Megan's eyes were wide, jaw slacked and Tom just looked panicked.

"I'm sorry…" he said softly. "I'm so sorry…"

"No, don't be sorry," Megan argued.

"No. No that really shouldn't have happened…" Tom stated. He ran his hands over his face and turned away from the beauty. "We done? We good?"

"We're good. That's a wrap for the day. See everyone at 8 tomorrow."

Without another word, Tom rushed off the boat and back to the trailer, leaving Megan very confused and very alone.

"Tom…"

"Look, I'm sorry," Tom interrupted. "I don't know what came over me. I crossed a line…"

"Would you stop?" Megan asked, shutting the car door his hand had just opened. "It's not a big deal…"

"It IS a big deal, Meg. I spent all night last night trying NOT to do that. And I was drunk. Now I'm sober and…." He paused and looked into the dark eyes in front of him. "And all I can think about is doing it again…"

"Tom…"

"No. I have to go take care of this thing with Laura. I have to go get it figured out and…finished and whatever else needs to happen. I can't do this with you right now…no matter how badly I want to," Tom stated. "I promise we will talk and…we will figure out what the hell is going on here…but I…need to get a grasp on the other situation first."

"Okay."

"Okay? That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

Megan laughed. "What do you want me to say, Tom? That I'm sorry? I'm not. Because at least now I know I'm not the only one that feels this."

"I don't know what I feel right now aside from enormously confused."

"Why can't you just admit that you like me? That there's something here? Is that really so terrible?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Tom stated, shaking his head. "I'm not saying I don't like you…"

"Well you're not exactly saying it either."

"I CAN'T say it!" Tom exclaimed. "I am technically still with someone else! It shouldn't have happened and…I'm sorry if that hurts. I am, really and truly but…that…what happened on that boat was a mistake. At least for the time being."

"Okay," Megan repeated with a shrug.

"I don't want to hurt anybody, Meg. That's not my intention."

"Someone's going to get hurt, Tom. It's going to be Laura or me. I guess you just have to figure out which one is worth keeping."

"Where are you going?" Tom asked as she turned to walk away. "The car's right here."

"I'm gonna ride with someone else."

"Megan, please. Just come on."

"No, I'm good. I'll catch a ride back with Kane."

Tom gritted his teeth and slammed the palm of his and against the car door. That was not at all how he'd pictured his night ending.

As he walked into his hotel room, he found it to be unusually still. Not a single light on, not a single sound arriving at his ears. As he clicked on the light, the reason why became suddenly all too clear.

Every trace of Laura was gone. Her suitcases, her books, her computer. Not a single stitch of evidence that she had ever been there remained. Until he approached the bed and found a note.

"Tom:

It's safe to say this has been coming for awhile now and although I care for you very deeply, I can't do this any longer. I can't fight anymore and honestly I don't want to. It started long before we arrived here but became even more evident the second you met Megan. We aren't happy together. I'm not entirely certain we ever were. Seemed more convenient than anything else. I should've stayed and said this to your face but the only flight left before you would get back and I couldn't stay another night. So I suppose this is the end. I'm sorry for anything I may have said that hurt you and I'm sorry it came to this. You really are an incredible man. Just wasn't meant to be, I suppose. Enjoy the rest of your time in France and figure out how you feel about Megan. You seem to be the only one who doesn't see it.

Laura"

Tom looked up from the letter and sighed. This wasn't exactly the way he wanted things to turn, but at the same time, a bit of relief overcame him. He and Laura should've ended long before they set foot in France; long before there was even a Megan in the picture. But now…now he just had to figure out what he was going to do about the one who was.