Sybil was barely out the door before she had her cellphone to her ear. The device was already ringing and she waited, calculating where he could have been if he wasn't around to answer her call. Before her mind could wander too far, the silent line turned to momentary static. Already she was smiling, and the habit only intensified when he finally spoke.

"Oh, thank God!" Tom let out with an exasperated sigh.

Sybil giggled. "What?"

He paused and in the quiet Sybil could picture his face and the look of disbelief he undoubtedly wore. "Are you serious?"

She paused. "Did last night give you a heart attack?"

"Syb, stop…"

"Okay," she let out, sighing too. "You're right. That wasn't appropriate. I'm just trying to lighten the mood here. The phone works both ways, you know…"

"I thought you were regretting everything—"

"I had a really busy day. I was going to call you on my lunch but I actually went out with Rory—"

"What?"

"Yeah," Sybil confirmed with a grin; it was as if she was somewhat surprised too. "We got food on my break."

"W...why?"

Sybil chuckled. "Because we don't know one another very well? I don't know. She just showed up and—"

"I'm sorry..."

"Tom!" Sybil whined in reprimand. "It's fine, really! She actually reminds me a lot of you and she loves you a lot...perhaps more than you deserve…" she teased with a voice that trailed off.

"Aye."

"I'm kidding!"

"Well I'm glad you don't hate me."

"Of course I don't hate you," Sybil practically sang. "I had fun last night."

Tom quirked an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Fun?"

"Amongst other things," Sybil shared, doing so in a whisper as she stood amongst other commuters waiting for the next rush hour train. She was blushing now and she turned away from the rail as if to hide the way his simple question had her missing him again.

"Well are you tired?"

Sybil blinked, each snapshot an attempt at gaining back her confidence. "Are you asking if you wore me out?"

"No," Tom chuckled. "I'm asking if you want to get a drink or get dinner." Then: "I know I wore you out," he joked.

It didn't make Sybil smile — she was already smiling and she wondered if the other people waiting for the tube were staring. "I'm about to catch the train home. Let me shower and get changed and then I'll be over."

"Let me come pick you up."

"I can take the tube, Tom."

"I know you can. You're about to take the tube home," he pointed out. "But when you get there and you're ready, give me a call and I'll come pick you up."

"Tom, you really don't have to…"

"I know that, I just...I miss having you in my car."

Sybil beamed, remembering a night in particular, one of many that involved Tom and her tucked away in the backseat of his Range Rover. "Alright then," she accepted. "Come pick me up."

~!~

Now that Tom had seen her naked, it was easier for Sybil to choose what to wear. Ironically that had always been the case, but the level of pretense between them had vanished in one night and suddenly she felt seventeen again. It made sense then for her to settle on a cotton dress and a pair of old trainers. Comfort seemed to be an acceptable route if the goal was to eventually rid her body of each item.

When he arrived, Sybil ran down the steps and jumped up into his car. All of this was almost too familiar and she fought the urge she had to reach over and give him a kiss. Tom must have had a similar inclination because he paused, inhaling while he took her in. But he said nothing and soon his attention was back on the street up ahead, allowing his hand to rest on the stick shift as a barrier between them.

Thankfully Tom's necessary task kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road, allowing for Sybil's own gaze to rake over him. He was out of his work attire, or rather, he had taken his tie off and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. Either he hadn't shaved that morning or already his stubble was growing in, reminding Sybil of the nights they used to stay up talking when they both were meant to be doing schoolwork. Now they had careers afforded to them by that same education only they lacked homework and could spend time with one another without feeling guilty for neglecting their responsibilities. In a way, their gained years apart had this dinner and their insistence on seeing one another so soon feeling like a priority.

Soon they were pulling into the parking garage beneath Tom's flat. It was lit, but only barely, causing the white light to turn to yellow all around them, especially when Sybil and Tom remained inside the car long enough for the overhead lights to dim.

She looked to him, slightly nervous, and rolled her lips nervously before leaning in. "Can I kiss you?"

Tom smirked. "Fuck yes you can kiss me," he said with a laugh. "You don't have to ask."

Already his hand was to her cheek, bringing her close. It didn't take much for Sybil to reach out for him too, and when she found the console in the way she very boldly moved so she was closer.

"Syb?"

"Move your seat back," she suggested.

It was all so casual, but when Sybil moved to straddled him, Tom found her intentions to be anything but innocent. "Is this okay?" she asked sweetly.

Tom nodded. He just wanted her lips on his again. "Very okay."

With them this close, Sybil was able to rest her hands around Tom's neck, grinding down into him while she stole a long kiss. Soon her mouth was pressed to his jawline and then his collarbone and when she returned, all she could do was smile as she felt the strong way he gripped her hips.

"I'm sorry if I made you doubt…"

"No, it's...it's okay, Syb, really."

She smirked. "You have to accept my apologies soon." Several more open-mouthed kisses were placed to Tom's neck, this time paying special attention to his pulsepoint. Sybil even licked his skin, distracting him from the way her hands had now slipped to his waist, dancing along the length of his leather belt. But she returned to him soon thereafter, staring at him with doe eyes as if the rest of her weren't on fire with want. "We have to move on."

"What?" Tom asked, mostly breathless.

"I want to move on, Tom. I mean...that's what I've always wanted and that's what I'm trying to do but if you're waiting for me to give you permission…"

Tom pressed his tongue to his cheek. "You gave me pretty good permission last night. Three times."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

He sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, taking her hands in his own. "I'm serious too. I...I'm still not used to this. I never thought we'd be back here. This is everything I ever wanted."

"Good," Sybil beamed before pressing a forceful kiss to his lips. "Me too. So I need us to exist now. I've given myself permission to want you and I need you to do the same."

"Trust me, love, wanting you was never the issue."

Again Sybil was smirking. She had to look away; the way she shook her head did little to conceal how amused she was by his teasing. "But I'm telling you it's okay," she finally persisted. "I'm telling you I want you to want me...that's what I need. So let's try not to talk about it, okay?"

"If...if that's what you want," Tom settled in surrender.

"It is," she confirmed with a mouth that was already traveling southward.

~!~

When more cars began to pull in, crowding the garage with neighbors coming home from work, Tom nudged Sybil off of him. "Sorry," he mumbled. Before she could reprimand him he explained, and Sybil was happy to shrug back into her jacket just so they could seek privacy.

Entering his flat, Tom flicked on the foyer lights, continuing to do so in every room that he passed on his way back to the kitchen. When he tossed his keys by the door, Sybil listened to the way they echoed down the hall, suggesting that the two were now truly alone.

"Where's Em?"

"I don't know," Tom shrugged. "Said she needed to run some errands."

Sybil followed Tom into the kitchen. "Did you kick her out?"

"Ha!" Tom gave, dropping his head back. "Not in the slightest. She's free to do as she pleases. Why? Do you want me to kick her out?"

"Of course not. Apparently she was supposed to come to lunch today—"

"But she changed her mind at the last minute? Yeah, that sounds like Em…"

"Well, I mean, it's her home too. I just—"

Tom wrapped an arm around Sybil's midsection, pulling her in close. He pressed a kiss to her lips then one to her neck before leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Is there a reason she shouldn't be home?" Sybil slowly shook her head, playing along. When Tom felt her remain in his grip, he continued. "Sounds like you have plans, Sybil Crawley."

Her cheeks were crimson and though she was enjoying his touch, Sybil's energy bubbled out, pushing Tom off of her. The two laughed as she jumped up onto his countertop. He raised his eyebrows in question and she followed suit, rather proud of her swift movement and the way it allowed her to assume a position once familiar to them at Tom's cambridge flat.

"I do have plans for you, Tom Branson, and they involve you moving your arse and making me dinner." Again Tom gave a loud cackle, now as he obliged, already moving around the kitchen to start the meal. "What are we having?"

Tom turned to her. "You're bossy today, you know that?"

Sybil's lips pursed to further emphasize her coy nature. She was also being playful, and both characteristics had Tom amused. She really didn't care, and was happy to find the meal gave Tom idle time to stand around and stare at her. When his eyes were satisfied and both grew tired of simply sharing smiles, a conversation began, one that reminded the pair of how easy this all once was.

"What was Harvard like?"

Sybil raised her brows as if to challenge his question. "You want to know?"

"Of course I do. I asked, didn't I? Besides, I helped you get in…"

"It was great," she admitted honestly. "Really. I loved it. Aside from being so far away from everyone Boston was magical. There's just this culture and the people are so friendly."

"Friendly?"

"Yes, friendly! You should go sometime!"

"You'll have to bring me then," Tom suggested.

"Sure. We'll go. William's going home come Autumn. I told him I'd go and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you tagged along."

"Where's he from again?"

"Baltimore."

"Why is he here?"

"Because of me, I guess. I don't know," Sybil shrugged to show she had an answer but was at a loss for how she could describe it. "It was us against the world in uni and then we went to med school and that continued. When I came back he wanted to come too. We thought he'd just do his residency here but I think he's really fallen in love with it." Sybil paused. "Remind you of someone?"

Tom chuckled. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Sybil teased. "Though you seem to fall in love with anywhere that's not home."

"I like home plenty. We've been over this," Tom sighed, now with his arms crossed over his chest.

Sybil's eyes narrowed and the moment grew still. "You went back right?"

"I did," Tom said, nodding slowly.

"Why didn't you stay?"

"Because I started being someone I didn't like. It was really easy to slip back into all of that. I wasn't feeling too well to begin with and I had taken a year off from teaching so I had nothing else to do."

"So you came back here to…"

"To do the same things," Tom said, confirming with a chuckle. "But I did them alone and somehow that seemed better. At least I didn't have friends spurring me on."

Sybil was still smirking but her voice became small, and her words grew hesitant. "You really didn't have any girlfriends?"

"No," Tom laughed. "I think that's far more believable than you being single."

"I thought of getting back with Ben a few times…"

Tom coughed out. "What?"

Sybil giggled. "I'm kidding!"

"Christ. That's not funny…" He paused. "What is his deal anyway?"

"His deal?" Sybil asked, altogether entertained by his jealousy but doing her best not to let it show.

"Yeah. He's nothing like what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"An absolute gobshite. Loud. Arrogant."

"Like you?"

"You're hilarious…"

Sybil smirked. "I think so."

"But he's quiet. When Dr. Frye talks to him he almost looks...scared. What happened? Did you finally tell him he's shit in bed?"

"Hardly. I like to ignore that completely. Though, for someone who detests it, you certainly talk about it a lot."

Tom's face flushed. "So what's his problem?"

"His problem is he peaked in secondary and his parents built his ego up and forgot to give him actual life skills. I think he's just unhappy with his life. It's sad, actually."

"Hmm. That is sad."

"He doesn't even want to be a doctor…"

"That's comforting, Syb. Good to know we're trusting him to operate on me."

"He's not half bad though! He just doesn't have the confidence to apply himself. I think he'd do really well in plastics or emergency medicine…"

"All these years and you're still too good for him...even as a friend."

Sybil paused. "He really bothers you, doesn't he?"

"I can't explain it…" Tom said, lowly, almost ashamed.

"You're possessive," Sybil diagnosed.

Tom's eyes widened. "I'm not!" But his voice quieted down and he changed his position. "I'm not any more jealous than you ever were," he defended.

Sybil sat up straight. "Were? Am!" she corrected. The confidence he lacked was donated to her and she smiled widely, as if proud of her flaw.

"Am?"

"That nurse that always checks you in—"

"Diana?"

"Yeah, ew, how do you know her name?"

"Because she always checks me in!" Tom tossed back. "See? Jealous!"

"I'm not saying I'm not! What I was going to say is that I actually freaked out on her the other day."

Tom's forehead creased. "Why?"

"Because she was ogling you!"

"Welcome to my world, Sybil!"

"Well I honestly don't believe Ben has any feelings left for me. Really, I don't know if he had any in the first place."

"That's the issue though," Tom stated simply, as if the link were an obvious one.

"You wanted Ben to love me?"

"Ha!" Tom let out. "Love? I doubt he's capable of that. But like? Yeah, I guess I did. I...I can't imagine having you in my bed and not treating you well."

"What about my bed?" Sybil teased.

Tom nudged her knee causing them both to laugh. When it died down, he continued, effortlessly. "I wasn't jealous. I mean...I was."

"You were," Sybil assured, her voice low as she remembered the day at the airport when Tom almost traveled to Ireland by himself.

"Alright, I was," he shrugged in harmless defeat. "But it bothered me. Just like it bothers me that you weren't having sex these past few years. You deserve to be adored, Sybil."

"Even if you're not the one adoring me?"

Tom raised his eyes in question as he stepped into her. "Do you really not understand how much your happiness means to me?"

"No, I do…" Sybil vowed, all of her feeling small. "I just don't agree. I mean, your happiness is everything to me, Tom. It always has been. But I don't like to think about you with other girls."

"Then don't."

"I—"

"No, Sybil. It makes me sick to even think about it so please don't."

She looked away. "Alright."

Tom stepped into her once more, this time occupying the space between her legs. "Syb, I'm sorry…"

"It's fine," she shrugged off, adding a laugh as if to ask the sadness to disappear more quickly.

"Hey," he soothed as he reached out for her chin with a hand that asked that she look to him. When she finally did, he smiled and she couldn't help but to join him. "I shouldn't have brought it up. It's in the past and I want what you want...I want to move on. It's just important to me that you know that stuff. I mean...it's shit but it happened and I need you to understand why."

She nodded. "No, I get it."

"I'm here and we don't have to talk about it anymore. We're going to exist in the present, right?"

She nodded. "Tom, it's fine. I never said this was going to be easy." For extra strength she leaned forward and lazily wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingers began to dance at the nape of his neck, playing with the short hairs there.

He smirked. "Nothing with us has ever been easy," he reminded before placing a soft kiss to her nose.

Sybil's eyelids fluttered shut, and what was once innocent turned to want all too quickly. In an attempt to banish their regret, both found themselves without air as their hands and lips insisted on constant contact. Sybil itched to grab at the back of Tom's shirt and pull the offending item up over his head. Their location made her hesitant, though that did little to stop them in the past. When Matthew and the rest of Tom's roommates went home for bank holidays, Sybil spent all of her free time at the flat, usually naked and often in places that were not Tom's bed.

She also remained because she knew such an action would separate them at the lips. She was having too much fun sitting atop the counter, all of him pressed into her, ready to carry her to his bedroom. Sybil was ready too because she nearly reached down to turn off the stove, making such an action possible. Even with the same thought, both struggled to detach long enough to move. Sybil couldn't help but to run her fingernails across Tom's scalp, knowing the action kept his mouth pressed firmly against hers.

Sybil's dress was pushed up now and Tom's hands teased her thighs with the pads of his fingers. Her hands had found a solution of their own and traveled underneath his shirt, running up and down the planes of his chest. With the way their breathing quickened and they fumbled upon the granite, it was a shock to Sybil and Tom that they could register much beyond their own intimacy. A similar surprise came when they found they were not alone, causing a beat before they inevitably broke apart.

Sybil jumped down to fix her dress while Tom, more sensibly dressed with a shirt that only wrinkled near his waist, simply looked away. "This is my flat," Tom whispered through gritted teeth, as if to retract the statement he'd made earlier when Sybil questioned Emilee and Rory's absence.

"Later," Sybil gave, almost in promise.

Behind them those same women stood, but even they were not alone. Tom's mother and father stepped in, immediately offering up an apology. "Sorry, we…"

"Surprise?" Tom's father let out in jest. No one laughed, causing his own forced smile to fall. "Your mother and I have the week off and we wanted to come visit as an early birthday present."

"Uh, yeah," Tom tried, now rubbing at his forehead as if to ask that his confusion disappear. "It's fine...uh, you remember Sybil, right?"

"We do," his mother confirmed. The grin she wore was more genuine than his father's, though both seemed far less bothered than either Sybil or Tom would have imagined.

Sybil craned her neck so Tom was no longer hiding her form. In speaking up she was also revealing rosy cheeks and swollen lips. "Hi ma'am...sir…"

"Want dinner?" Tom offered with a laugh.

Thanks for reading!

x. Elle