Chapter 14

E's POV:

The next couple of days were awesome. Tom and I spent ever waking moment together. We even went on a few morning runs together. I always treated running as a opportunity to clear my head and unwind so I never tried a running buddy, but I was willing to make an exception for Tom. Some mornings we talked the whole time and others were spent in comfortable silence. I knew that I would still want to go running by myself from time to time, but I enjoyed his company. I was going to miss him these next few days, but I was excited for him. I could tell he missed being on set. Unfortunately he was going to be on set a few days more than we originally thought.

"I'm so so sorry darling." I could tell that he felt simply awful when he broke the news to me that evening.

"Tom hunny, it's fine. I understand." I reassured him. "I'll just hang out here or do some exploring on my own."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

I leaned over and gave him a kiss to shut him up. He wrapped his arms around me, bringing me closer and deepening the kiss. He reached behind me and grabbed my ass and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Tom!" I giggled.

"What?" He smiled innocently.

"We can't get into that right now."

"Why not?" He pouted.

"We have to get ready to go."

"Oh, shit you're right."

"Come on." I said crawling off of him. He slapped my ass playfully as I walked towards the closet. We had been enjoying a quiet day at home and planned to go meet up with Ben, Luke, and a few of Tom's other friends later for drinks. I was excited to see Ben and Luke, but also nervous about meeting Tom's other friends. Apparently he had been talking me up since him and I met, so I really hoped I lived up to the hype. It was hard to believe that it had already been almost four months since we first kissed. I had been a little worried that Tom and I were moving too fast, but Scarlett insisted that we weren't and I didn't fight her on it. We just clicked as soon as we met.

"Where are we going again?" I asked eyeing my clothes.

"I forget the name, but it's a club. Ben said he wanted to 'get down'."

I giggled. "So jeans aren't a good choice then."

"Probably not." Tom laughed.

"Hmm..." I put my hands on my hips and gazed at my dresses I had brought. Scarlett usually lends me club dresses. Then I remembered that she made me buy one before I came over. I grabbed it out of the closet and my blue mary jane heels. I could actually walk and dance in those heels quite comfortably. I hurried into the bathroom so Tom wouldn't see the dress. I could hear him laugh through the door. I wanted to knock his socks off tonight. I styled my hair so I would have big, sexy, victoria secret curls. My bangs even swooped to the side like I wanted them too. I did the cateye look with my eyes and wore some nude lipstick. Now for the dress. Even I had to admit that I looked damn good in this dress. It was a little black dress with a sweetheart neck line and thick straps. I made my boobs look amazing and hugged my every curve perfectly. It came down just above my knee so it wasn't too revealing. I slipped on my heels and it made my legs and butt look toned. I looked at myself in the mirror and was very pleased with myself.

"Come on darling. If we don't leave now we'll be late." Tom called.

"I'll be right out." I answered as I threw my essentials in my clutch. I slowly opened the door and stepped out into the bedroom. Tom was facing away and heading down the stairs. So much for my big entrance. I slipped on my long black coat and made my way downstairs. It covered my dress, but I would enjoy seeing Tom's jaw drop in front of his friends.

"You look gorgeous as usual darling." Tom said sweetly and giving me a quick kiss before hurrying us out the door.

"Thanks hun. You look sexy as usual." I said pulling on his collar to bring him in for a sultry kiss.

I pulled away and smirked to see Tom looking rather speechless. "Alright darling?"

"I um, yes." He cleared his throat and lead me to the cab that was waiting. I couldn't wipe the smirk off of my face the whole ride.

"What are you smiling about?" Tom asked suspiciously.

"Nothing Tom, I'm just excited to meet your friends." I turned to him and gave him a innocent smile.

Tom didn't buy it for a second, but didn't ask anymore questions.

We arrived at the club and looked for the group. The music was pretty loud so it was going to be difficult to have a conversation his friends. Tom and I had to almost yell in order to hear and we were right next to each other.

"Do you see them?" Tom asked directly in my ear.

I looked around once more and saw Ben stand up and wave widely. I grabbed Tom's hand and guided him over. I noticed that I was the only girl in the group so far. Once we were close Ben made his way over to us. I saw a long table with chairs on each side and one on each end. Luke and the other 3 men were deep in conversation and hadn't looked up yet.

"E! Tom! Come here you two!" Ben gave us a hug at the same time. If this was my first time meeting Ben I would think him to be drunk, but no, it was just Ben.

"So happy to see you again Ben." I said hugging him back.

"Same here. Let me take your coats. You must be warm."

"Yeah I am a little." I said letting Ben take my coat. Once he pulled it away my hair cascaded down my back. Tom's friends turned around for a moment then did a double take at me. Cue my internal victory dance. I smiled sweetly and gave a shy wave. Tom's mouth was hanging open as he looked me up and down.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friends Tom?" I asked giving him big doe eyes.

"Oh um yes. Guys this is Eleanor or E. E this is-" He started but his friends got up and cut him off.

A man average height and brown hair shook my hand. "Hi, I'm Charlie."

"Hi-" Charlie's hand vanished and was replaced by a hand that belonged to a tall dirty blond man who was rather thicker than the rest.

"I'm Harry. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." I responded.

I got to the third friend who seemed more in control than the other two. He was shorter than the rest (but still taller than me) and had dark brown hair and a toothy grin. He gently shook my hand. "Hello, I'm Micheal."

"Pleasure to meet you." I said.

We all stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Alrighty then, how about we sit down a get a drink. I'm thirsty." I purposed. They all voiced their agreements. Tom and I sat down next to Luke and across from Micheal, Charlie, and Harry. Ben took the seat on the end which was next to me.

"So am I going to be the only chick here tonight?" I teased.

"No my girlfriend Mindy is on the way." Micheal said. "She should be here soon."

That explains why he was calmer than the other two. Ben had already opened a tab and ordered drinks for us. The first hour was spent with all the boys interrogating me. In a nice and loving way of course. I was somewhat surprised to learn that it wasn't just a girl thing. I was actually having fun answering all their questions. They asked me about where I was from, what schools I went to, what kind of movies and music I liked, so far it wasn't too bad.

Harry rubbed his hands together."Alright, now time for the more juicy stuff."

Spoke too soon.

"How many guys have you dated?"

I gasped mid sip and choked on my drink a little. Tom and I had only talked about past relationships once and it was a very brief conversation.

"I can assure you that Tom here has only seriously dated a handful of girls..." Charlie took another gulp of his beer. I glanced at Tom who was hanging his head. I gave him a nudge so he would look at me.

"It's okay." I mouthed.

"I'm sorry." He mouthed back. God he looked like a kicked puppy.

"...but none of them come close to how cool you are." Charlie finished.

I chuckled and looked at Tom who gave me a kiss on the cheek and whispered "It's true."

My heart swelled in my chest and I wanted nothing more but to shower him with kisses, but since we were in public I just kissed his cheek and rubbed his leg under the table.

"So, spill young lady." Charlie slurred.

I chuckled. "Well I don't have much to tell. I didn't date at all in high school-"

Harry cut me off "I find that hard to believe."

"Me too." Tom added.

"Well to be honest I was one weird kid. Besides when you're best friends with Scarlett, it's not likely you'll be dubbed 'the pretty one' in the group."

"What were you dubbed?" Ben asked, his eyes sympathetic.

I laughed to myself. "I was the crazy, weird, nerd kid."

They all roared with laughter.

"I'd buy that." Tom said.

I feigned shock and poked his side. He just pulled me closer to him and gave me a quick kiss.

"So why were you dubbed that?" Ben asked now curious to hear the full story.

"Oh God, for every reason you can think of." I laughed. "I didn't know how to do my hair so I had this giant red lion mane. I had big tacky glasses. I was always reading something from Marvel comics to Jane Austen. I was sexually oblivious and awkward. And to top it all off I was clumsy as hell."

"Was?" Tom teased.

"Hey now, be nice." I stuck my tongue out at him.

Once the laughter died down Charlie got back to the question at hand. "Okay so no dating in high school. What about college?"

"I went out with my first boyfriend sophomore and junior year."

"Two years, wow. Why did it end?" Micheal asked.

"I walked in on him and another girl."

They all groaned in disgust.

"Turned out he started screwing around with a myriad of girls after our six month anniversary."

More groans.

"Darling..." Tom rubbed my arm lightly. I could tell the story upset him.

"It wasn't a huge loss, he wasn't that cute or smart anyway." I added trying to lighten the subject.

They all chuckled before Charlie gave me a signal to continue.

"Well my next boyfriend happened mid senior year of college, we liked each other a lot, but he went to grad school in a different country and I was working 3 jobs in New York. So it just didn't work out." I fiddled with my drink, but soon realized they were all staring at me. "Oh god more?" I chuckled nervously.

"How many more do you have?" Ben teased.

Tom shifted in his seat. Seemed he was picking up on my anxiety.

"Just one more, but it's kind of a doozy." I said glancing at Tom. He seemed worried. I decided to keep it vague. Some things about it were pretty bad and I wanted to tell Tom when we were alone because I knew it would really upset him. I took a deep breath and straightened up. "Well, after of just dating casually for about 2 years I met someone on a blind date and we just hit it off."

"What was his name?" Luke asked.

"Noah..." I said clenching my jaw. I hadn't said his name in a long time.

"How long?" Ben said. They all seemed to pick up that I didn't want to discuss details on this one.

I gulped. "Four and a half years."

Surprised faces all around.

"Oh wow..." Tom shifted again. He seemed just as tense as me.

"That's a long time. What happened?" Micheal asked.

My stomach did a flip flop. How the hell could I answer this? "Uh, well he changed."

Micheal eyed me. "How so?"

"He wasn't the person I thought he was." That was a good answer right?

"Fair enough." Ben said. "So you've been single ever since?"

"Yup, then I met this schmuck." I said nudging Tom who started laughing.

"Hey guys sorry I'm late!" A petite woman with short blonde hair and hazel eyes joined us. Micheal stood up to kiss her and pull out her chair. "You must be E." She said holding out her hand to me.

"Yes I am. And you're Mindy I presume?"

"Yes that's me. So have the boys been grilling you?"

"Oh god..." I laughed.

"Alright boys no more of that. You don't want to frighten the poor girl off."

"That'll be hard to do." I whispered to Tom. He gave me a grin and rubbed my arm.

We spent the next two hours in lighthearted conversation. Mindy was a ball of fun energy and I couldn't wait to hang out with her more. I noticed a girl at the bar checking out one of the guys.

"Hey Charlie..." I leaned on the table.

He leaned back.

"That brunette at the bar with the silver dress has been staring at you for 20 minutes."

"Has she?" Charlie blushed and giggled like a school boy. He had been looking at her too.

"Go talk to her!" I said earning the agreement of everyone else.

"No I couldn't. She's probably looking at someone behind me." Charlie looked down at the table.

"If you don't go talk to her, I will." I said causing everyone to do a double take at me.

I turned to Tom "Is that okay?" I asked so only he could hear.

"As long as you don't make out with her." He answered in a mischievous tone. I gave him a wink and got up.

"You're not serious!" Charlie said becoming panicky.

"Last chance." I smiled and waited for him to get up. He didn't. "Alrighty then."

I walked over and sat at the bar stool next to her.

Tom's POV:

Watching E saunter off in that little black dress to flirt with another woman made me think I was in a dream. A naughty dream, but a dream nevertheless. It sparked something inside of me and I knew I had to have her tonight. Everyone at our table watched her. She said something to the woman in the silver dress and they both started laughing. E placed her hand on her knee and leaned in close to whisper something in her ear. The girl smiled and bit her lip. I really needed to know what she was saying.

"Is this seriously happening?" Charlie gaped.

"I believe so mate." Micheal laughed.

After a few more minutes E walked back to the table with the woman following closely.

"Hi guys, allow me to introduce Kathryn." E gestured to Kathryn who gave a shy wave. We all said hello except for Charlie. He couldn't stop staring at Kathryn.

She looked at him and smiled. "Hi, do you want to dance?"

"I uh, me?" Charlie stammered.

E giggled as she sat next to me.

"Yeah." Kathryn replied making Charlie spring from his chair and follow her to the dance floor.

"Nicely done." Mindy said starting a slow clap.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. E managed to charm everyone which was no surprise to me. When Ben got her to dance with him they all raved about her to me. Once they came back we started taking silly pictures of everyone. One of E and Ben posed with their drinks. One with them pretending to fight. Another with her pretending to bite his face while he acted shocked. I tweeted that last one.

twhiddleston: Fun night out with Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch EleanorCupcakes and lukejwindsor.

We continued to take pictures and record silly short videos. E even convinced Luke to get in on a few which was quite surprising for me. E decided to take a few pictures herself. She snapped a few of Ben, Luke and I all huddled together. She took one of us smiling like normal people and another of us acting like loons. I received a twitter notification from her. It was the picture of us smiling.

EleanorCupcakes: Out with Mr. Ben Cumberbatch twhiddleston lukejwindsor. A girl could not ask for better company than these handsome gentlemen :D

I grabbed her and pulled her close so I could hug her neck. Ben quickly took a picture of us. It was a great picture. I was smiling like a loon while she grabbed my arms and laughed. The smile she wore was so beautiful and we looked so good together. Before I really knew what I was doing I tweeted it.

twhiddleston: So glad this gorgeous lady is out with me tonight. EleanorCupcakes is always a ball of fun!

When E left for a minute to use the restroom Luke pulled me to the side.

"You guys need to be careful about posting pictures."

I was confused for a moment. "It's just of the four of us having a bit of fun."

"Yes and there's nothing wrong with that, but E's follower count just skyrocketed and people are already asking who she is and talking about her."

"Well we're going to come out about our relationship eventually."

"Yes, but maybe you should put it off as long as possible." He suggested.

I couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at him for suggesting that. I didn't want to act like I was ashamed of her. If anything I wanted to show her off to the world. Luke quickly picked up on my annoyance.

"I don't want you to think I'm the bad guy that wants to cover up you love or anything, but it's something you and E need to talk about before you guys come out I guess." Luke was concerned and now I wondered why.

"What are they saying about her?"

Luke sighed. "Some are just asking who she is, where she's from, and how you two met..."

I raised an eyebrow knowing there was more.

Luke gulped before continuing. "...some are saying some pretty nasty things."

My stomach did a flip flop. I didn't even think about that. Most of my fans are completely wonderful and nice people, but there are some that can be harsh and cruel. I knew E had tough skin, but I didn't want her to have to deal with abuse from them. I got out my phone to check what people were saying, but Luke stopped me.

"Don't worry about it now. Just enjoy the night and we'll deal with it tomorrow okay?"

I nodded and did what he suggested, but I couldn't help but worry about how E was going to take all of this.