"This is a pretty nice place you've got here," Peyton stated as she surveyed Tommy's house.
Tommy smiled as he threw his keys onto the top of a table, along with his mail. He scanned through the letters, noting most of it was junk mail. He followed Peyton into the living room, but turned into the kitchen. "You want something to drink? Something to eat?" he questioned.
Peyton shook her head, looking at the pictures placed on his mantel. One of the pictures was of himself and Jude, making Peyton smile to herself. "No thanks," she hollered back to him.
Grabbing himself a bottle of water, Tommy only heard silence, and noticed Peyton wasn't with him. "What are you doing out there?" he inquired. It was a moment later when he rejoined her in the living room, watching her examine the area.
Peyton shrugged and replied, "Nothing…" She turned around to find Tommy standing behind her, and she let out a giggle. "Okay, maybe I was snooping," she confessed.
"Snooping, huh?" Tommy took a seat on the couch, folded his arms over his chest, and looked into her eyes. "What did you plan on finding?"
Shrugging yet again, Peyton replied, "I don't know." She smiled and sat beside him. "That's the thing! I didn't expect Lil' Tommy Q's bachelor pad to be anything like this."
Tommy uncrossed his arms and shook his head. "It's been a long time since I've been Lil' Tommy Q," he observed with a touch of unpleasantness.
"Well, I didn't expect this for Tommy Quincy either," she stated, hoping he wasn't too offended. She could tell by his tone that he wasn't exactly happy by the last words she spoke, and she didn't want to make it worse. For some strange reason, she wanted to please him and win his approval.
Understanding, Tommy nodded. He took a deep breath and asked, "So what did you expect?"
"I don't know," Peyton cooed again. "Definitely not such a homely home. Something more macho..? Something you can take the ladies home to, but still play poker with the guys or whatever."
Chuckling, Tommy gave Peyton a shocked look. "Yeah, that's me!" he remarked sarcastically. He shook his head and went back to a more serious tone. "My place is so 'homely' because it's my home… I just wanted a comfortable place where I can sleep and eat, relax… I'm a simple guy, Peyton."
Peyton nodded with a smile on her face. "I know. I just… I guess you could say I judged too soon."
"We're all guilty of that sometimes," Tommy commented in a reassuring manner. He took a deep breath before standing again. "I should probably get started on your car," he stated.
Peyton rose to her feet as well. "Of course." She started to follow him out of the living room as she declared, "Just let me know what I can do."
Tommy stopped, stopping Peyton as well. He smiled at her and stated, "It's really easy. You can just stay in here and relax," he firmed.
"I can't let you pay and do the labor all by yourself," Peyton said with a tilted head. She wasn't very used to letting others take care of her. She usually took on tasks by herself, and was occasionally saved if she fell too hard. "Let me help."
"Rest, Peyton," Tommy insisted once more. "You have a lot of driving to do, and you'd be doing me a favor by resting. Then I won't have to worry so much about you getting home in once piece."
Peyton smiled sweetly at Tommy. It was only a second before she could find her wit again and remarked, "Is there some good guy quota you're trying to meet or something?"
Tommy let out a laugh and shook his head. "I'm already a good guy," he replied smoothly. "I'm just trying to keep a friend safe."
"Thanks," she said softly. She looked up at him and instantly got lost in those beautiful blue eyes of his. Maybe she was just a sucker for blue eyes, but they truly did a number on her.
He continued on his way out to his garage. Tommy knew that he just need to replace the hose in Peyton's car, and it would only take a few minutes. Part of him wanted to prolong the work, the way a plumber paid hourly would. He wanted to keep her longer in his presence, proximately being a good thing.
In the same means, Peyton itched to be close to him. Sitting back on the couch, she could smell his sweet scent on the fabric. She could imagine him sleeping on this couch after long hours of work and drowning himself in the music. It was only a minute before she stood and reached for her messenger bag. She threw the strap over her shoulder and made her way out to Tommy's garage.
The noise caused him to look up and scurry under the hood. He had been dragging his feet, but he didn't want to be caught. He ducked underneath, then back up to look at Peyton. "What are you doing? I thought we agreed on rest."
Peyton shrugged her shoulders and stepped out into the garage. She got closer to Tommy and found a stool sitting a few feet away. She went over and took a seat, watching him all the while. "I'm going to rest…" She continued, "I'm just going to keep you company too."
Tommy smiled at Peyton from over her engine. He hadn't thought of it that way, and he was just glad she did. It was nice to know that they could compromise and still benefit. "That sounds like a great idea," he noted.