It wasn't a surprise to Evelyn that the entire ride back to Tommy's estate was carried out in silence - a comfortable silence. They both had little energy to even say anything to each other but he held her hand the entire way. Neither of them wanted to let go. She needed the support and he… he simply just wanted to be there for her.
The Arrow House, as daunting and dark as it was, was a comforting sight for both Evelyn and Tommy as they slowed in the driveway. She pulled her hand from his, the first time in hours, so he could put the car in park. The separation felt cold, like something was missing, so Evelyn folded her hands together instead. And maybe even so she wouldn't reach for him.
"Take one of the rooms," Tommy said as he rounded his car to join her as she waited at the front steps.
Evelyn nodded. She already planned to. She wasn't going to go to her bedroom downstairs for another day at the earliest. She couldn't face Meredith, yet. She didn't know what to say - to lie about Sam, or… or what? What was the other option? Tell Meredith the truth? She pushed those thoughts aside, her eyes on her feet as she walked beside Tommy to the front door.
The sound of metal clicking caught her attention. She turned her head to find Tommy placing his cigarette case in his pocket. His eyes were on her as he held one out to her.
"Thank you," she said, taking it with cold fingers. This was going to be nice.
Evelyn kept Tommy in her vision as they neared the front door. He placed her luggage down and lit his cigarette, offering to light hers. Warm, smooth smoke tickled her throat and lungs. The distinct buzz of energy and pleasure came with it. She leaned against the front door, the wood cold on her back, and released a cloudy sigh.
The sky began to lighten to streaks of dark purple and black. It set a rather picturesque background for Tommy's car. Even in the dim light, the vehicle shined.
"There's something about smoking in the cold," she said, neither to herself or to Tommy. He glanced sidelong at her. His right brow twitched.
"Aye," he agreed. His jaw ticked as he took another deep puff. He moved to stand beside her, letting himself rest against the door. He looked down at Evelyn, barely meeting her eye level.
She looked tired, defeated. She hadn't said much to him at all aside from answering his question but he knew how it felt. He knew that sometimes it was better to not talk at all. But beside him… even now - especially now - she was still so beautiful. With bloodshot eyes and dull skin - she was entirely a kind of raw beauty that only few possessed. It was that trait or that exposure Tommy had, that made Evelyn completely captivating.
They stood shoulder to shoulder and the proximity was… distracting for Evelyn. His heat alone was a magnet. She knew it'd be inappropriate and something else- but she wanted to lean into him, to rest against him, to just let someone take her weight. Perhaps she needed that more figuratively than literally though.
"Can't remember the last time I've stayed up and watched the sunrise," Tommy said, it pulled her from her thoughts. She angled her head to look at him, his gaze now on the driveway and beyond.
"I'm sorry for making you stay up all night."
"Don't be. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have."
Evelyn blinked at him. Each blink after was a process of his words.
He wanted to.
It made her feel better about the pitiful phone call she made to him, but he wanted to.
Still feeling her stare, Tommy returned it. His scent lingered to her among the smell of tobacco. They were so close they shared the air between them. His breath just barely kissed her nose and cheeks, but Evelyn was not breathing. She couldn't even think. He was staring at her - staring like…
Evelyn's eyes shot to his mouth, where his lips were just barely parted. She noticed the faint shadow of stubble growing on along his jaw and cheek. She wondered what it felt like and without even realizing, her hand had lifted. As if it had the same wonder, too. Tommy watched her, watched her hand as it slowly reached for his face. On its own accord, his face lowered, but her eyes widened as she stared at her hand - mortified. As if she just realized what she was doing. Before she could pull back entirely, Tommy quickly bridged the distance.
Her mouth was hot and soft, and he bit back a groan. The world stilled - his world - when her lips moved against his. Accepting his action. Her hand followed its original intent and found its place on him, holding his face against hers. Her touch alone seared his skin and her kiss, her lips, were like a brand. A mark on him, and only him.
A fire sparked in Evelyn. A heat that she had not known needed its release. A release only he could give her. Time stopped, or rather it was nonexistent, at that moment. For the long moments after. The taste of him, the smell, overwhelmed Evelyn from head to toe, from organ to organ. All she could think and feel - was Tommy.
He withdrew, just enough to look in her eyes, but her chest which rose and fell rapidly caught his attention. The top of her coat was open, exposing her bare chest and the necklace she always wore. Goosebumps riddled her skin from the cold. He wanted to kiss those things away - lick them away until she was overheating and completely bothered by him. And that necklace - he wanted her in all the finest jewels and clothing - only so he could rip them off himself. His pants felt tighter against him. He hadn't realized he was staring until she made a noise.
Both of their breathing was shallow and quick, as if they both lost their minds.
Evelyn couldn't handle the heavy emotion in those blue eyes and rasped out, "We should go inside," but quickly realized the connotations held with that statement and added, "I should go to bed."
He smirked, making her stomach knot even more, and pulled back completely. No, he wouldn't do it like this. God, he wanted to - but she was fragile now and… he'd do it right. He'd do it his way.
Tommy reached for her luggage, his eye catching on two smoldering cigarettes near their feet. He wanted to laugh at the sight but put them out with his shoe while he pushed open the door for her.
Only the pale light from dawn illuminated them as they ascended to their bedrooms. Tommy followed her, only to drop her luggage off before retiring to his chambers. Evelyn lingered in the doorway she had used before, swallowing her nerves as she faced him.
"Goodnight, Evelyn," he said first. His eyes were sharp on her, cool and calculating, as he weighed her expression. She was clearly just as rattled as he was, though he held it together much, much better. He couldn't show just how much he was affected by her.
She watched him walk down the hallway to his bedroom. He hadn't given her the chance to say anything. It wasn't insensitive but… she shut the door and fell back against it. Her heart pounded against her chest the moment her fingers met the sensitive skin.
"Oh my god," she breathed. She scanned the room, finding everything just how it was last time she was there. She tossed the curtains over the windows so she was blanketed once more in darkness and climbed into bed, tossing her clothes as she went, and fell asleep.
Deep, loud voices echoed through the house, waking Evelyn up. Her mind, groggy and slow, was barely able to make out the sound. It was Arthur - and Michael and Polly. She slid deeper into the warmth of the covers, shutting her eyes again and aiming for more sleep but - her eyes shot open. The kiss.
Tommy and her… she blinked into the cave of darkness that was her room. She glanced at the curtains. Small hints of bright daylight poked through. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have. He wanted to help her, get her - drove hours in the middle of the night - just for her.
She bit her lip as her stomach surged with a strange feeling. Butterflies. Nerves. This would change everything. She huffed at the thought. Everything between them would change but there had been tension between them, there always had been, and now it seemed a little more clear.
A bark of deep laughter floated up to her room. She was not going downstairs anytime soon. She couldn't face Tommy and his family. She probably wouldn't even be able to look him in the eyes. And what if it had been a fluke? It hadn't been for her but for him… A bad lapse of judgment. He was her boss and she - she was so many things but none of them were good.
Evelyn turned onto her side and buried her head as far into the pillow as she could. All she could see was the fine lines of the silk pillowcase. Her hair spilled all around her. She'd put off any interactions with anyone for a few more hours.
That afternoon, when the house had been quiet for over thirty minutes, Evelyn decided to leave her cave. She tiptoed around, keen on any voices throughout the house, but there were none. She was starving, but couldn't go downstairs - perhaps there was food in the dining room. There was always some kind of snack laying around for the Shelby's.
They were snacks in the dining room - crispy bread and a dip. It was hardly enough but she took a seat at the table and began swallowing them down anyway. She kept thinking, worrying, what would happen when she saw him. She didn't even want to say his name, lest think of him and that kiss and his lips and his hands… She jolted back as she bit her tongue. The chair scraped hard against the floor and she cringed. Someone would hear that.
She half thought about taking the food back up to her room. It wasn't the worst idea - munch on bread and dip until she could make the next meal. And if Arthur, Polly and Michael were going to be at dinner, that meal would hopefully be tomorrow. Evelyn decided to take it to her room. She scrambled to hold the metal platter of bread as well as the bowl and spoon for the dip.
"It almost feels like deja vu," a deep voice said from behind, "but you were carrying plates. And not my silver platter."
Evelyn slowly spun to face Tommy. Her face conveyed all emotions - surprise, embarrassment and… worry.
"I - um, I was taking -"
"You must be hungry since it's nearly three in the afternoon," he said. His large shoulder took his weight as he leaned against the doorframe.
He looked refined as always. He wore no black coat, only a crisp white shirt with suspenders over them. The cap was gone too, showing off his face much more clearly, which Evelyn appreciated.
Evelyn gaped at him. "Three in the afternoon?"
His lips twitched. "Yes, I'll have food sent up." His eyes lowered to the large silver platter in her hands, then back up to her. "Why don't you put that down and take a seat. It's just you and I in the house," he added, as if knowing her hesitation stemmed from seeing his family. But…they were the only two in the house. She swallowed that thought.
"Alright," Evelyn said, putting the food back where she found it. She didn't need to look up to know that he had left to go to the kitchen. Her face flushed with embarrassment. He had caught her trying to sneak food into her room! And now she was to sit here, likely with him, and face him.
Tommy ordered for whatever the kitchen had for dinner to be quickly made. He didn't spend a second longer downstairs and returned quickly to the dining room. He walked in on Evelyn staring blankly at the table. Her eyes lifted to him as he entered. She gave him a small, meek smile.
"You sleep alright?" he asked. She sat to his right with her shoulders stiff and back perfectly straight against the chair. It didn't look comfortable.
"Very well, and you?"
"Good." He relaxed against his chair and tilted his head at her. "And how are you doing?"
Evelyn swallowed at his question. There was a deeper meaning there - how was she doing after her practical meltdown. She sank into her seat. Whatever composure she had, slipped away.
"I'm not sure if I can keep doing this," she admitted. She didn't have to specify for him to know exactly what she meant. She couldn't keep living as Claire Williams. And frankly, he didn't blame her. He couldn't even imagine living that lie for as long as she did, and around who.
"Then don't," Tommy said, the words striking her core. "You survived. You owe it to yourself and your family."
"I realized," she started, her gaze returning to the table. A misty glaze lay over the green of her eyes. "That if I continued to live as -" she took a deep breath, "as someone else, then I'm letting them win." Her eyes found Tommy's again and the fierceness in them penetrated him. "I was scared. I still am, but not enough to let them win. Not after everything they've done. Everything they've taken from not just me, but everyone else they hurt."
Tommy's head fell back against the seat. He looked at her over the tip of his nose. Evelyn tried not to stare at the smooth column of his neck, but Tommy was completely distracted by something else. He recalled the first time they met, in the same room they sat in now. Then, he thought she was just a pretty worker with no importance. He'd been so, so wrong.
"Whatever you need from me, I'm here."
She ignored the flutter in her stomach and said, "I think we should start with my inheritance." She had been thinking about it. Her mind had been muddled with that along with the other important event from last night.
He smiled at her - a real genuine thing. It was about time she took that money. There was simply too much, too much that could fall into the wrong hands.
"But we're doing this on my terms," Evelyn added. She needed to do this on her own time and more importantly with the right people. She knew the officials in her family's banks in France and London and only a few were close family friends. They were the only ones she could trust.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
She could barely look at him. He was being so… giving and understanding and… nice. Her lips tightened into a thin smile. Under the table, her knee bounced furiously.
"After you eat," he said, "we'll look over some things. Get a strategy going. You said you wanted a simple life... there's nothing simple about you, Evelyn."
He meant it in every possible way. Simple was not a word used to describe Evelyn. If anything, it did her wrong. She was complex like a puzzle. A puzzle that he has come so close to solving. Tommy settled deeper in his seat, resting his forearms on the arms of the chair as if he was a king.
She nodded slowly, opening her mouth to speak but Tommy cut her off. "And last night," his voice was low and almost guttural. Evelyn stopped breathing. "I'd do it all over again. I will do it all over again." Her mouth dried and her insides melted like butter. There was that feeling in the pit of her stomach, or rather at her core, that began to swell.
"Oh," she squeaked.
Tommy held his composure as he watched Evelyn squirm. He enjoyed it. He enjoyed every lustful thought that crossed his mind as he sat there. She was so cute when she was flushed and turned on.
"I'll go check on the food," he murmured.
He'd give her time to relax, to take a break from his presence. Hell, he needed it, too. That kiss, that damning kiss, was all he thought about all day. That and the feel of her, the smell, and the taste. It consumed him. Last night wasn't enough. It was too much of a tease and when he saw her in the dining room, hoarding the food into her arms with her face flushed and hair down, he wanted nothing more than to feel her again. And maybe take off the dress she wore. He was completely drunk off her.