Shaking his hair of the rain, Tom jogged up the stairs of the Abbey Hotel to his floor. He had just returned from collecting Lord Crawley from a guest appearance on The Apprentice and was hoping to grab something for lunch before he could be paged for anyone else. He quickly went to his room to dry his hair and put his jacket away before going to the staff kitchen. He also fancied a cup of tea so flicked on the kettle in his room and turned on the radio to pass the boiling time.

"We've got some great tunes coming up next but before that here's some celebrity gossip for you all, over to you Kate."

"Thanks Jase, first of all some news of the youngest Crawley sister, Sybil. Now according to reports this rebellious heiress has made plans to join The Suns page 3 girls annual trip to Afghanistan to give our troops a bit of a treat! I'm sure daddy will be very pleased! And in music this week Rihanna-"

Tom cut off the radio and sat down on his bed waiting for the kettle to boil in silence. Sybil, Sybil, Sybil. He had tried and tried to rid himself of any thought of her, but it wasn't exactly easy when he worked for her family and the entire world seemed to take every opportunity to shove her presence in his face. Since the night he had made the most stupid mistake of his life and come onto her he hadn't yet faced her, but that didn't mean he hadn't seen her. He couldn't flick through the T.V without some Celeb channel reporting on her or her sisters and he couldn't walk past a magazine stand without seeing her glancing back at him three or four times. If he had to find himself wanting anyone, why had he chosen one of the most famous women in the celebrity world?

As the kettle clicked and took him out of his reverie, Tom wandered over and made himself a cup of tea. Checking his pager was in his pocket he strolled down the hall to his floors communal kitchen when he heard voices.

"Now steady, even the most experienced of cooks can burn themselves if they're not careful!"

Smiling as he realised Mrs. Patmore was in the kitchen Tom hoped for a better lunch than the Super Noodles he had planned on. But a second voice stopped him dead in his tracks, his tea spilling a little at the sudden jolt.

"Do you think its ready?"

Sybil. Tom turned to walk back to his room but found he couldn't. He wanted to know what she was doing in the Abbey and why on earth she was chatting to Mrs. Patmore. But most of all he just wanted to see her, not in some pointless magazine or on some fuzzy channel, but watch her move, watch her smile. So he contiuned, though rather precariously to the kitchen.

"I know its ready."

Approaching the kitchen Tom heard a third voice, Daisys, Mrs. Patmores assistant. "Go on you don't wanna spoil it!" What was going on?

Taking the plunge and entering the kitchen Tom found himself facing the back of Sybil as she placed something on the table. "Ta daa." she giggled as she admired, which Tom could guess from the appealing smell, was a cake. Holding his tea he walked along the edge of the large table and watched her eyes travel over the slightly burnt creation. Tom felt a smile travel across his face. She looked so beautiful with her hair up in a messy pony tail and a pale blue apron.
Mrs. Patmore and Daisy gave him a friendly nod in acknowledgement, Daisys eyes wide with excitement at being in such a casual situation with the young heiress. Sybil however did not notice Tom right away, clearly absorbed in her creation. It was only when Mrs. Patmores pager went off and she announced to Sybil that her and Daisy were needed by her mother who had an unexpected guest for lunch that she looked up and saw him. He noticed a blush creep onto her pale face.

"Tom, do you mind helping Miss. Crawley clear up while me and Daisy run? Unless that is, you would like to come with us Miss?"

Tom felt a flutter in his stomach as Sybil spoke without taking her eyes off his face. "No thank you, I'll stay. I'd like to- to taste a little bit of my cake."

And with that Mrs. Patmore and Daisy rushed out leaving Tom and Sybil alone.

o o o

The moment it was just the two of them Sybil suddenly felt very concious of how she looked and slipped off her apron. She hadn't expected to run into Tom when she had come over to The Abbey, she had seen him leaving with her dad in the car that morning.

"Come on then." Tom said, gesturing her cake with a raised eyebrow.

Taking the cue to break the thoughtful silence between the two of them Sybil began to explain. "Oh, right. Well I'm going away you see, to Afghanistan with the, uh, The Sun page 3 girls-"

"I heard."

"You did? Oh well, we're going to visit the soldiers and spend a few weeks seeing what their lives are like. And I thought it would be a good idea to learn some basic skills for living without on-call chefs and maids!"

Sybil waited for Tom to reply, but instead he leant against the counter and considered her for a moment. She felt hot under his gaze, did he have to look at her so intently? Playing with a stray hair from her ponytail and struggling with the idea of bringing up their moment in the lift she was relieved when Tom finally spoke.

"I knew you couldn't sit back and take it for long."

"Huh?"

"Well since your Dads been keeping a closer eye on you and stopping you from the meetings I'm not surprised you're finding other ways to help. Though I am surprised you're going all the way to Afghanistan to do it." Tom gave her a look of appreciation which made her remember with a flurry of why she enjoyed his company so much. He always listened to her and gave his opinion. He was always willing to talk with her properly and not put on an act.

"Well, I thought about what you said in the car a few weeks back about me wanting to be useful. And you were right, I do. I like it, it gives me purpose. So although it may not be the most official work I want to go out there and see the world the soldiers told me about and maybe get involved a little." Finally confessing her true reason for going, rather than the story about wanting to support the troops she had told the press and her family, felt good. That was one of her reasons of course, but not as much as her want to be involved, to be useful. As she continued Tom placed his tea on the table and wandered closer to her. The mood in the room was light but there was an underlying layer of tension and Sybil was more aware of it than ever when Tom stopped just a few feet away from her. She spoke quickly, trying ignore how good looking she found him with rain in his hair "I know the soldiers will probably just want to check us out or chat us up but I'll enjoy meeting new people and seeing more of the world, well beside beaches and cities that is."

"I'm jealous." He mumbled.

"Well I'm sure you know far more interesting people than me anyway and I bet you've visited loads of places!"

"That wasn't the part I was jealous of." Tom spoke with such sincerity that any blush Sybil could feel on her cheeks already suddenly worsened and she took a half step backward. It was clear neither her nor Tom were going to bring up the events of the other evening, but apparently he may be considering a repeat performance.

Knowing that if he made any move toward her again she would crumble and encourage him more than last time, Sybil made an excuse about having an interview and dashed out of the kitchen and back to the safe haven of her Downton home.

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