Chapter Two

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'Wakey-wakey Tom.'

The bundle of sleepytime just rolls over and his hair is all over the place and he's adorable but he is not waking up.

She snaps her fingers loudly. 'Tom! If you do not acknowledge me this second I will go to your apartment and steal your penguins. You know I will.'

Julia Houston is waking him up like he's a teenager late for school. This is wrong on so many levels.

'You would not steal my penguins, dear.' Rolls over to face her, dragging his hair out of his eyes - he has to get that cut but it's so damn expressive and he'd miss it, that little lock of hair - so as to better judge how sane she looks in the light of morning. She looks impatient. 'I'm awake.'

'Good. Now get your skinny ass out of bed and try to look respectable.'

Ugh. He doesn't need respectable. Tom Levitt is never not fabulous. Tugs at the sheets.

Wait, what? Narrows his eyes. 'Why?'

Julia gets a shifty look and moves to the door. She looks gorgeous today. Why is she dressed up?

'-i'mgonnamakeyouteanowbye.'

Escapes before he can find something to throw at her. He squints crossly at the space she just vacated, puts his head in his hands and moans softly. Derek Wills.

Fuck it, he can't stay in this bed - which is not his - forever. Also tea. Tea is good.

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She's sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and a paper when he ventures forth. There's a cup of steaming tea out for him.

When she notices him she smiles.

'I wasn't sure if you wanted any breakfast. How did you sleep?'

'Fine,' he tells her, skipping the yelling match that occurred in the middle. 'Fine,' serious face 'and how are we this morning?'

''We' are fine.' She waits until he has taken a sip of tea and then edges 'Soooo. Derek called while you were still dead to the world. He wants us to visit him.' She eyes Tom as if it's his fault, which, granted, it might be but she can't know that! 'Should I be worried?'

He reaches over and pats her shoulder. Twice. With extreme condescension.

'What could that thing possibly do to us? Hmm? He tried it and failed, besides he wouldn't've called if it was anything terrible.' Please God don't make him a liar.

He is impossibly cheery this morning. It unnerves her. He has to go and see his arch-nemesis. It's funny, 'cause he has an arch-nemesis.

'I thought everything Derek did was terrible, apart from his work.' she says slyly.

Tom practically writhes.

'I didn't say that. I just said he was a terrible human being. Which is true.' He looks at her from beneath his eye-lashes. 'Isn't it?'

True. 'No. He's just very British and occasionally underhand.'

Tom laughs merrily. 'He's English, dear, and he is always underhand. I mean hello? He is sleeping with Ivy, for crying out loud!' A wicked gleam. 'He wouldn't dare try anything today.'

He finishes the tea and then moving on - before she even has so much as a chance to ask him what the hell's so special about today - he asks, 'So when does Darth Derek want us to enter his lair?' Sassy hair flip.

Julia blinks. 'Oh, ah. As soon as possible, I think. And was that a Star Wars reference'

'Then we could just stay here and chat for a while.' Tom smirks at her. 'A nice long while. And yes, yes it was.' He gestures at himself grandly. 'Cultured.'

'Yeah, right. Come on, Tom. It doesn't do to stoop to people's levels. We are lovely and we're gonna be punctual.'

Tom chuffs a laugh and spins on his heel, with feeling. 'Yes, Julia. We most certainly are lovely but one can't be punctual if one has been given not time to arrive.' The tone is light and he almost sings it.

'We're going.'

'Never said we weren't.'

'Now.'

Pause.

'But Julia!'

She loves him, she does! But he whines.

'But he's awful and I don't want to.'

He's just playing with her now. Fine. Two can play at that game.

She leans into him - getting all up in his grill - and whispers softly, 'I will burn your penguins and break the legs of your piano. Don't think I won't because I will.'

He gasps. 'Stop threatening my penguins. They have done nothing to you. Also you love that piano only slightly less than I do.' sighs. 'I'll come with you but do not expect me to be nice to him.'

Julia just smiles. 'I never expect miracles of you Tom, you just tend to deliver anyway.'

She - she didn't. She's out the door beckoning him.

He looks around wryly. 'Your hopes, dear, they will be dashed so violently.' Grumble grumble.

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When Julia thinks he isn't looking, the corners of her mouth are pulled tight, her eyes are downcast and her brow furrowed. Julia always looks like a happy Mom without a care in the world and every threat of guilt behind a million stone walls. Apart from now.

Tom takes her hand across the cab and draws circles with his thumb. He doesn't agree with cheating, it's a pretty bad thing to do really but she knows that and she has the decency to feel guilty - and he can't be mad at her for that. She doesn't need another person to feel guilty around; she needs a friend. If Derek so much as makes one tiny jibe that might possibly upset he is going to have Words with him. If Derek Wills shows up dead in a ditch tomorrow not a jury in the state would convict him.

As the climb the stairs Julia perks up a little. And by a little he means she puts on a smile. Brave little toaster. He slings his arm around her shoulders and squeezes.

She smiles wordlessly and knocks on the door.

Show time.

Derek opens the door with a smile. What the absolute hell.

Now granted Tom hasn't actually seen Derek for a while but he's pretty sure that the man should have the decency to look a little tired. Just a little. Is it too much to ask? Of course it is.

Julia grabs the man in a hug - 'Hi, darling.' - and ugh, the treachery - she goes on to swan over to the couch - leaving Derek and Tom together. Alone. At the door.

Awkward.

'Good morning, Tom. How'd you sleep?'

It doesn't matter how hot and talented Derek is. He is dead. So dead. His grave has already been dug. They've hired the professional mourners to at least make it look like someone cares that he's dead. So dead.

'Slept like a baby, Derek. How 'bout you?' He pushes past him and follows Julia.

Derek catches his arm and pulls him back.

'What happened to her? She looks so sad.'

Hah. Observant. 'Like you care, Derek.' Pulls at the grip on his arm. 'Let me go, she'll see.'

He is released.

'Thank you. Now, you know about the affair, yes?' Derek nods.'Well so does Frank, and he's gone. Left yesterday.' He turns and fixes the other man with a glare. 'She's fragile, Derek. Just about keeping it together... you hurt her and I will hurt you.'

'Well, that won't be a problem. C'mon. I'll make you both some tea.' He saunters over to his little kitchenette like it ain't no thing and calls back to Tom - still fixed to the floor just inside the doorway - 'Still taking inordinate amounts of sugar, Tom?'

From the couch Julia cackles. Not on. He goes and sits next to her. Sitting with his back straight and his head held high.
He ignores her and focuses on Derek, pottering about in the kitchen with mugs and spoons - like that isn't the weirdest thing - and says lightly, 'Three is not inordinate.' Julia scoffs. 'What? It isn't!'

'Kinda is, sweetheart.'

The betrayal.

'The betrayal.' Tom whips his head up 'cause there is no way in hell that that was normal. Derek has his back to them but his shoulders are shaking. Bastard's laughing at his pain.

Eventually they get their tea and mmphh it's good. British tea brewed for an age and then just asdfghjkl.

'So what did you want to see us about, Derek?' Julia is on the ball. Her senses have not been addled by the tea from heaven. He wants to hate Derek, and he usually does, but man makes good tea.

His brain unfuses for a second to listen to the response.

Derek smiles, it's a type three smile - a 'I am so very English and charming and you will do as I say and give me what I want' smile - and leans back in his chair.

'Oh, nothing too ghastly. Just to inquire if you'd got anywhere titles wise?' Julia's face falls a little, it's barely perceptible - naturally they both pick it up. Derek glances to him pointedly.

The eyes say something along the lines of 'what did I do?' To which Tom replies as best he can: 'Long story.'

They wait a minute. Then another and in the years that pass between those minutes Julia doesn't look up from her hands.

Tom sighs.

'Yes, Derek. We do have a title,' and you know it, 'No, Derek, we aren't going to tell you, yet. Everyone is going to find out at the same time.' He smirks. 'Understood?'

Derek isn't paying any attention to him, eyes on Julia. He is concerned.

'Julia, are you alright?'

She doesn't answer him. Off in her own world.

Tom takes her hand. 'Come back to us Julie. Are you there? Sweetheart?'

She looks at him and then her eyes flick to Derek and back.

'I'm so sorry,' she sighs. 'I'm so sorry. I just - I don't know what to do.' And she's on him. Holding on again, for dear life. Derek blanches and gets up to sit on the other side of her. He puts a soothing hand between her shoulder blades and Tom nods at him. Thank you.

'Jules. Julie. Shhh. It'll be okay.'

'How can you know that, Tom? It isn't going to be okay. I cheated and now he's gone and - I've ruined everything. How could I be so stupid?'

'Julia, do you know where Frank is?' It's a simple question but it quite obviously throws her, she lets go of Tom and sits up to better see the grave face of Derek Wills.

'No, I- I tried calling him. He won't answer his phone and I just - he'll be so angry.' She leans back into Tom.

'Have you called around?' Tom's pretty sure that's what he'd have done. 'His friends?'

Derek nods. 'Yeah, perhaps they could help find him.'

'But he'll be so angry.'

Tom brings his arms around her. 'Yes, he will be but you two need to talk. Find out if there's any fixing this.'

'Damage control,' says Derek. 'We'll come with you if we manage to track him down, won't we Tom.'

'Yes.' He looks over to the person he absolutely hates, being so kind to a person he absolutely loves. Mellowed considerably seems more true now. 'Come on Julia, let's fix your make up. Do you have any of Frank's friends in your contacts?'

'I have his sister, but she'll hate me.'

Tom sees another tear fest on the way and circumvents it. 'Which is why Derek will be the one making the calls from his phone. Won't you, Derek?'

Derek holds out his hand for Julia's cell and smiles. 'No-one can possibly hate me,' he says loftily.

Tom snorts. 'Yeah, 'cause that's so true.' Focuses back on Julia and leads her away. 'So Derek Wills just offered to do a nice thing, you know that's pretty awesome!' Tentative humour.

Derek looks at the phone and starts through the contacts list.

'He didn't offer, Tom, you said he would. You volunteered him.'

'It was his idea.'

Derek smiles. I am such a nice guy, he thinks. I am brilliant.

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TBC

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