Standing in the small entrance room of the hall, Cora, Mary, Edith and Sybil readied themselves for what was to come. They had just attended the re-opening ceremony of the Help for Heroes centre that Sybil had been delighted to finally have finished and were now preparing to leave. Though she had felt a slight sense of loss that she would no longer have the meetings at the Downton to attend, she was overjoyed with the end result.

She had little time to think on her happiness however as she had other matters on her mind. To leave the hall the Crawley ladies were going to have to go into battle themselves. Rather than being at war with an enemy armed with guns though, they were fighting paparazzi with cameras. After a lifetime of such attention, they were usually well practised and ready, but just a week ago a new story involving the youngest Crawley sister had hit the papers, and the public wanted answers...

Waking up surrounded by Tom's arms in his small bedroom in Ireland felt like a million miles away. Having his cool blue eyes on her as the first thing she saw in the morning was certainly something she could get used to. She had been so happy to be back with him and remembered how she had giggled to herself as she thought of all that had gone on during the night. It had taken her back a few years ago to when Mary had used the phrase 'Everything but...' after Sybil had questioned an evening spent with a Mr. Napier. She wasn't sure how their usual physical restraints had fallen away, but it had certainly been a reunion to remember. Everything had been so easy and effortless, considering she had never been so intimate with someone before.

Her giggles had turned to harder laughter however when Rose came bounding into the room just as Tom's hands had begun to roam again. It appeared her vow of silence had broken and she was determined to confess her undying devotion to Sybil and her sisters. After ten minutes of nothing but excited babble from the young girl, Tom had literally dragged her from the room, much to Sybil's amusement.

They had spent the rest of the day in his home getting his things together for their return flight to England. He had been half packed already due to his intention to come back to work and to apologize to her. Well, before she had turned up on his doorstep that was. She had stopped his apology with a kiss, as she had done the previous night, and as a result packing took a little longer than was necessary.

During the day with his family, Sybil had noticed they were all still stunned that she, Sybil Crawley, had spent the night in Tom's room. So she had been glad when he had once again expressed her need, their need, for secrecy. She was pleased to find that they all seemed genuine when promising to keep their secret. The only member of the family who seemed slightly withdrawn was Tom's mother, but Sybil had reasoned it was just a case of mothers worry. After all, it wasn't everyday your child made the choice to become part of such a difficult situation.

The journey to the airport in the evening had been strange as rather than jumping over the seat to sit beside Tom, he had travelled in the back with her. The entire way he had pointed out sights of Ireland that had been part of his life at one point or another. Sybil had been listening, but at the same time she had found herself enthralled by his sudden vivacity in talking about his home and had snuggled under his arm, just enjoying his presence around her.

The flight home had been difficult. After being reunited after so many problems, Sybil had not wanted to leave his side. But after a final kiss goodbye, Tom had gotten out the car early to get on his flight while Sybil on the other hand was driven up to the front doors and strutted as discreetly as possible to her dads jet.
When they secretly met up outside the airport and had gotten in the car home together, Sybil had not been able to stop herself from kissing Tom, from pulling him on top of her and revelling in his strong hold around her. Even with John Bates driving in the front she had been undeterred. She just couldn't believe that things were like this between them again, that she had him back, that their problems were over and he still loved her.

It was in this happiness that Sybil had gotten out of the car at the Downton and reached in for a final goodbye kiss. Wrapping her fingers around his collar they had wasted no time in sharing a lengthy kiss to last them until they saw each other next. She had thought that as it was five in the morning and the outside of the hotel was quiet that it would be risk free for them to do such a thing. She was wrong.

Looking down at the photo in the next mornings newspaper, Sybil could have hit herself for being so stupid. The unfortunately clear photo spread across gossip pages and celebrity channels showed her pulling at Tom's shirt, leaning into him as she left the car. The only upside was that the position of their kiss meant that you could barely see his face nor define him from any other man. It also helped that John was driving and it looked as though Tom was a man used to sitting in the back of expensive cars...

"You know, I think I'll call Branson in, I don't think we'll manage getting through." Sighed Cora giving her daughter a dark look. "I wish you would just tell us who he is, it would cause half the fuss! At least then you and him could both share the paparazzi!"

Sybil felt hot under her mothers gaze and tried to sound casual as she replied. "I've told you, we want to keep things discrete for a little while."

At this comment Mary's eyebrows almost flew off her head. "Discrete? Discrete? Look at the fabulous job thats doing. Don't tell me your new man can't cope with all the cameras?"

Sybil felt an uneasy squirm in her stomach as she knew that Mary had figured out she was still seeing Tom and had not begun dating some millionaire celebrity that her family would approve of. She mumbled her reply, "Of course he's used to dealing with them."
She reasoned this was half true; most shots taken of her often displayed the corner of Tom's arm or the back of his head as he helped her into the car.

This thought did make her mind wander however. Though she hated to admit it, she was still unsure how exactly she was going to reveal her and Tom's relationship. Her uncertainty was considerably heightened now there was the risk some sneaky paparazzi member would figure them out. But she knew that she wanted to be with Tom more than anything and because of this she had thought about informing her family more than she ever had before.
In fact, all day today she had considered just coming out and telling her parents. But something told her that there would be a perfect moment and for now they would just have to wait until that moment arrived.

Just as her worry on the subject began to overwhelm her, the squirm in her stomach became a flutter as she saw Tom pushing past the photographers. She supressed a giggle as she saw him shout something at one eager individual and his words ran through her mind, 'I'd wait forever'.

"Mrs. Crawley." Nodded Tom. "I think it's probably best I take you back to the car one by one? They're really intent on gettings some shots of you."

Cora considered his offer and agreed. "Okay, take Sybil first. She's the one they want."

o o o

Tom turned to Sybil and held out his hand. "Miss?" He noticed her eyes sparkle as she took the offer. It was the strangest thing, thought Tom, that in just a moment about fifty people were about to gain the shots of a lifetime on this story, yet they would probably dispose of them in the end, considering a photo of Sybil and her chauffeur a waste of memory. "Ready?"

She squeezed his hand. "Are you?"

And with that Tom pushed the doors open. The sound of clicking and shouting overwhelmed them and Tom hoped that he would manage to get Sybil through the crowd. He turned to her and noticed she looked worried, so under the disguise of being her guide, he entwined their fingers.

"Sybil! Sybil! Sybil!"

As they pushed through the crowd Tom thought of the weeks events. The news of Sybil Crawley and her new love interest had been all over the news, in magazines, on the internet...

"Miss Crawley!"

Tom had found his twitter timeline plastered with the trend '#SybilInLove' and had wished that it was that simple. He had laughed as random people online claimed to be the mystery lover. He had even been tempted to write a message himself. After all, who would really believe him?

"Who is he?"

Bloody hell, the amount of times he had heard that question. The staff at the hotel had asked, the guests of Downton had whispered and it was a general topic among the star aware public. And each time he had heard the question he had wanted to shout out the answer, to spray paint the lobby halls with S+T, to grab a huge red arrow, scrawl 'Sybil Crawleys Secret' across it, stick it to his chest and take a trip on the London eye.

"Who's the man?"

Yet even with those thought in mind, Tom thrived on the fact that he was the mystery man. Sybil was his, even if no one else knew it, he did, and that meant everything.

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