Lives are for living (36/40)

[silver_sun]

Waking up hurt, Tom decided as he tried to roll over. It must have been a rough fight if he was feeling this sore after changing back. The fact that he was in his and Andy's bed back at the farm had to be good sign, he decided as he tried to sit up. That hurt more than rolling over, and the sharp pain in his side let him know there were at least a few stitches under the bandage that had been wrapped carefully about him. They'd heal quickly enough, things like that always did. There'd be a few more scars, but he was fairly sure that Andy wouldn't mind. He was good like that..

Andy. Tom closed his eyes again. He must have been in a right old mess before he'd changed back to still be this clawed up. How much had Andy seen? Had he been there while he'd been stitched up? He didn't think it would have done him much good to see it, but he'd never have waited out of the way.

Whatever else had happened they must have won, Tom told himself as he carefully moved himself to the edge of the bed. If the vampires had won there'd have been no going home, getting patched and being put safely to bed. You'd be dead and if you were lucky buried, rather than left to rot out in a ditch. Not that that meant everything was fine, winning wasn't the same as everybody living; he'd lost far to many people to think otherwise.

There were people talking in the living room. He could hear Jack's voice, loud and American and Gwen's, Welsh and similar to Andy's. She sounded absolutely knackered, but not particularly upset about anything. That they were just sitting around chatting had to be a good sign, Tom told himself. He'd have expected them to sound sad if they'd lost anybody.

What he needed to do was get up and find Andy, he decided. Once he was sure Andy was okay he'd go back to bed. Find Andy and a have cup of tea, then he'd be okay. Tom stood up and swayed on his feet. His head swam for a moment and he wondered just how much blood he'd lost. There's been some close fights in the past, ones where his dad had had to patch him up afterwards or the other way around. It wasn't nice, but as his dad had said, pain lets you know you're still alive, and being alive after a fight was definitely a good thing.

If I take it slow I'll be fine, he told himself as he walked to the door and opened it nearly into Andy's face. Any joy at seeing Andy was squashed as he saw the bandage around Andy's arm. Faint scratches emerged from one side of it. Claw marks. He'd know them anywhere. He'd done that, he must have. Had he done it after he was hurt? Had Andy been trying to help him? This was why his dad had kept them away from people. It wasn't to keep them safe, it was to keep ordinary people from becoming things like them. Andy would try to be nice about it, but he shouldn't have to be, he shouldn't...

"Tom?" Andy asked, catching hold of him.

Tom closed his eyes. He didn't want to cry, not here with everybody staring at him, not when he was the one who'd done the thing that he'd sworn he'd never do. Better a vampire had got me, than this. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean...When you've got the wolf on you don't know...”

"What!" Andy looked down at the bandage, then back at Tom. “No, no it was the weevil. Not..."

Tom didn't wait to hear any more and pulled Andy into hug. The stitches in his side hurt worse than before, but for the moment he didn't care. “I thought I'd turned you into a thing like me.”

“You're not a thing,” Andy said, sounding choked up and rather muffled from where his face was against Tom's hair. "Don't ever say that. Even if you had, if you were safe, I wouldn't care. I'd be scared, but if I've got you I could do it. I could do anything."

Tom nodded. There was so much he thought he should say, but no words would come. He nodded again, slower this time, feeling a little light-headed from the movement. Leaning against Andy, he looked around. Ianto was next to Jack on the sofa, leaning against him and generally looking exhausted. While Martha, Mickey and Gwen were at the table where they had been talking and drinking coffee. Now they were all looking at them.

"How did it go?" Tom asked, hoping that they would stop soon.

“The vampires are gone and so is the weevil. We're all fine. Jack's Jack, Mickey’s got a couple of bruises, Ianto is exhausted and I had a close encounter of the weevil kind...” Andy stopped, voice unsteady. He took a shaky breath and held Tom a little tighter. “But you got hurt worse than any of us. I thought...”

“Don't be daft. Takes more than that to get rid of me," Tom said, not wanting to hear any more. Sometimes you didn't want to know how close it had been, being alive at the end of it was all you needed to know.

“I never want to be rid of you,” Andy said, taking Tom's hand and holding it tight. "Never."

"How you feeling?” Martha asked, walking over to them. "Although I suspect that is a silly question."

“Sore.” Tom admitted, then after trying to turn towards her, "Feels like I got hit with brick. A whole wall full of bricks.”

"That's to be expected," she replied. "I want to ask you a few questions about how you're feeling and check that you've not pulled any stitches getting up. I would say that you'd know about it if you had, but knowing what you said about changing I'm not sure you see pain quite how most people do."

"Here?" Tom said, not sure he wanted Andy to have to see what was under the bandages.

"I was thinking the bedroom," Martha said, "But if you really want to stay here, I can do it here."

Tom felt Andy's grip on his hand tighten, so he said, "I don't really wanna do it at all."

"It's alright," Andy said, not looking like he wanted Tom to go anywhere at all. "It needs to be done."

"I won't keep him long, I promise," Martha said, moving over to the bedroom door and opening it to let Tom in.

It felt a bit weird letting Martha see him in nothing more than his pants and in a bedroom, but she was a doctor like Nina had been and all the prodding and poking was strictly professional. Nina had always been good to him, even when he'd been clueless and had tried to ask her out when George had been there. He missed them. George, Annie and Nina and little Eve. They'd been like family. The first proper family he'd had. He wiped his eyes, feeling a bit cold and shivery again.

"Are you okay?" Martha asked, taking off her gloves.

Tom rubbed a hand across his eyes again. "Yeah, just a bit sore."

"There are other ways of not being okay." She sat down next to him on the bed. "I know you know what I mean. Its been a difficult few weeks for you and nobody expects you to be fine with it all. It's alright to ask for help if you need it."

"I know it is, but I'll be okay. I always am," Tom said, not sure why he felt the need to explain. "I think it's because I don't remember any of the stuff that happened while I'm a werewolf. That's the only sort of good bit about it, I mean unless you think you did something horrible and you don't know for sure. But most of the time the not knowing it for the best."

"Memory is a funny thing," Martha said, something sad and brittle under the professional tone. "Just because nobody else remembers doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Tom wasn't sure how that worked being as he was the one who didn't remember and everybody else did. Well apart from the vampires they'd killed, they didn't remember anything on account of being dead. Deader.

She stood up and smiled at him. "You should still take it easy for a while. If you been a regular person, you'd be in hospital getting blood and fluids, plus a whole of load of antibiotics and pain killers. As it is you'll have produce more blood naturally, so you will tired and a little lightheaded if you push yourself too hard."

That didn't sound good at all. He'd been hoping to get on with clearing branches and dead wood that had fallen in the wood at the back of the farmhouse. "How long for?"

"Not as long as if you were a regular person," Martha replied. "I'm not saying to have to stay in bed, but going by how you healed before I'd say nothing strenuous for at least two weeks. I'll do what I did before and get a prescription up for antibiotics. Weevils live in sewers and I don't want to think about the kind of stuff that's under their nails." She stopped and looked around for a moment and then handed him a shirt to put on, then continued, "And because I know you'll heal up quicker than an average person I've used dissolving stitches, I didn't think you'd want to have to arrange getting them removed."

"Thanks," Tom said, grateful to have something to wear. Admittedly it was Andy's and the sleeves were too long, but not having to pull it over his head was a definite plus. "I didn't know they did ones like that. Me dad used to use what he could get, said fishin' line or superglue were best. It weren't easy to nick the proper stuff."

The look Martha gave him suggested that she didn't think that his dad's methods had been great. Maybe it hadn't been, it had always hurt like hell, but it was all they'd had and it had worked. Tom sighed and tried to concentrate on doing up the buttons. Sometimes it was easier to say nothing of his past, it was just too odd for people to understand. He'd tried a bit with Allison, but she'd felt sorry for him and that was before he'd even told her the half of it. The pity for what she felt he had lost and heavily implied but never stated sense that his dad should have done better, had been worse than if she'd not wanted to know. He couldn't be angry with her for it, it was who she was, she cared, she wanted what was best for everybody and that in the end was why they would never had worked together. Sooner or later she would have lost that living the life he did, and the thought of that had always been worse than the idea of her living her life without him.

If he was honest Andy probably didn't understand his old life any better than Allison had, but what he did understand, thought his own bitter experiences, was that life made you who you were and that if the horrible stuff didn't happen, then you'd be a different person.


Andy had retreated to the kitchen by the time he'd got the shirt done up and carefully made his way back to the living room. He was sitting in a corner by the range looking lost in thought. That was never a good sign, Tom knew. He'd sort of expected it to happen though, it had been a rough month and last night was a bit much for anybody. What Andy needed it to be back to being just the two of them, Tom decided, where they could shut out the world and have a bit of peace and quiet.

It probably wasn't considered polite to tell the people who'd helped you kill vampires and who'd patched you and your boyfriend up afterwards it was time to go, but it would have to be said at some point. They had at least an hours drive ahead of them as well to get home, Tom reasoned, so they were probably only still there because they'd wanted to make sure things were okay before leaving. They probably wanted to get home to bed as much as he did.

"Well if we're all done I think it's about time we hit the road," Jack said getting up. "I'll get us back to Cardiff in no time."

"I'd rather take a little longer and not hit anything," Ianto said, letting Jack help him up from the sofa. Tom didn't miss the look that past between them as they noticed Gwen looking slightly concerned.

"Hey, I'm a great driver," Jack said with a ridiculous fake pout. "Once you've ridden Jack there's no going back."

"I think you're missing a 'with' there," Gwen said.

"That too," Jack said with a grin. "Everything with me is an experience."

"So says the fearless leader of the innuendo squad," Mickey said, with a laugh. "I swear you get worse, Jack."

Ianto looked relieved that everybody was laughing and joking rather than asking if he was okay.

"I'd better be getting home too," Gwen said, "Rhys will want to get off to work in a few hours, and I can't keep dropping Ceri round at my Mum's at short notice."

Going over to Tom, Gwen gave him a hug. "Now you take care of yourself and if you need any help you know you can call. You've been the best thing that's happened to Andy in a long time. And I want to know both of you are okay, so don't just phone if something's wrong."

Tom nodded, not entirely sure what to say. Was this what it was like to have lots of friends? That they expected you to call them and stuff? It was nice, but a bit worrying too. What if he forgot to call? He didn't want people to worry about him when he was fine.

"Wait," Andy said getting up getting between everybody and the door. "There's something I need to say, and I hope it will the answer will be yes. Because what you said Gwen, it's right. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and tonight, with how close it was with the weevil it made me realise that it could be me who is the one who goes first."

"Don't start thinking like that," Gwen said, looking worried. "Its been a long night. Things will look better after you've had a rest."

"But I'm not, for the first time in ages I'm not. I'm thinking about the future. Don't you see? I need to do this now before I do something really, really stupid like talk myself out of it, or make a will or something or make him a business partner so he gets half of this place no matter what happens to me."

"Whatever it is, we can talk about it," Tom said getting up from the sofa. It wasn't quite as bad getting up from the bed had been, but it was a close run thing. "Just let them go home and it'll be you an' me. It'll all be okay."

"Tom, just listen for a minute, please," Andy said, sounding frustrated. "And everybody else stop worrying about me. I'm alright, well mostly I think, at least as much as I ever am, but I know what I'm doing." Going over to Tom, he knelt down in front of him. "I didn't think I'd be doing this today, so I've not got a proper speech or anything. But that's probably for the best. So I'll just say it. Tom, we've been together for nearly a year, and we've been through a lot in that time. You've had to put up with so much from me that I don't know why you've stayed sometimes. But I love you and want you in my life for as long as that may be, and I think...I really hope you feel the same. So, Tom would you marry me?"

"Of course I would. What sort of question is..." Tom stopped, realisation that Andy wasn't just asking him out of curiosity. "Yer actually asking me right now, ain't you?"

"Yes." Andy took hold of his hands. "You don't have to give me an answer right now, not if you don't want to. If you want to think about it that's okay."

"I don't need time to think," Tom said, smiling. "I've never been right good at thinking anyway, so I'll just tell you. Yes, of course I will."

"And you say I've got a flare for the dramatic," Jack said, nudging Ianto.

"I believe I said the over-dramatic," he replied, amused. "And I never said I didn't like it."

"So if I..." Jack began, then stopped as Ianto shook his head. "Not the time?" he said, sounding defeated.

"Later." Ianto took Jack's hand in his, and then said quietly, "When we're home. Right now this is for them."

"Oh Andy you had me worried for a minute there. Congratulations, I won't ask when the big day is, because you don't know yet." Gwen hugged him as soon as he'd let go of Tom. "But I hope when its time, that there might be an invitation."

"Of course," Andy said, looking and sounding a bit stunned, like he couldn't quite believe what he'd done. "You, Rhys and Ceri, all of you. Not really thought about it, but yes all you, everybody here. Tom will have people to invite, but of course you all are. I don't know when..." He looked back at Tom. "You did just say yes, didn't you?"

"Course I did," Tom replied. "I weren't ever gonna say no."

"I think we should leave our newly engaged couple in peace," Martha said, giving Mickey a nudge. "We've got a long ride back home."

There was a quick round of hugs, handshakes and goodbyes, and then finally everybody was on their way.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Jack called out as they closed the door.

Even with his hearing sharper than a humans this soon after changing back, Tom could only catch part of it. Martha reminding him about stitches, Ianto then saying something about being surprisingly flexible and followed by Jack laughing.

"I can't quite believe I asked you," Andy said, putting his arms round him. "That you said yes. You did say yes, didn't you?"

"You've already asked me the that. There weren't no way I were ever gonna say no," Tom said, closing his eyes and leaning against him. It still wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was better than it had been.

"I know it could have been better."

"What? You mean like fireworks or something?" Tom asked, trying to think what he'd seen people do on the telly. He'd never seen anybody propose in real life. Or been to a wedding. They were going to have a wedding.

Andy frowned. "Maybe, I don't know. It should have been something special."

"Fireworks are over in a few minutes and gun powder ain't all that romantic, not really," Tom said, "Well not unless you need you blow something up to rescue somebody, so you can ask them to marry yer, then I 'spose it could be. But, the important thing it were you asking me, the other stuff don't matter compare to it being you. That's special all on its own"

"What did I do to deserved somebody like you?"

"I dunno. It's just you being you You know what I would like?" Tom said, leaning against Andy and closing his eyes. "A cup tea."

"I think we're out of milk," Andy said, then tried not to yawn.

"I don't think I'll bother then," Tom said, "How about we go to bed and have some later? I think we could both do with a good sleep."

"Cups of tea and an early bedtime," Andy said, still not letting go of him. "We're turning into an old married couple already."

"It's just getting in practice," Tom said, certain now he wasn't ever going to stop smiling. "For all them years to come when we are."

It had barely been worth putting the shirt on, Tom thought as he unfastened it, tired hands fumbling over the buttons.

Andy sat on the edge of the bed, picking at the edge of the duvet, reluctant now to get in.

"If yer not tired you don't have to, you can go watch telly for a bit," Tom said, hoping that really was the reason and that Andy wasn't already having second thoughts. "I don't mind."

"It's not that. I'm being stupid, I know I am, but if I go to sleep I'm scared that when I wake up all this will be gone," Andy said, looking round the room, fear in his eyes. "That all this a dream, that you won't be here and I'll be alone. That the weevil..." He closed his eyes. "I want to be happy. Why can't I just be happy?"

"You can. I'm here. I ain't gonna go anywhere," Tom said taking his hand and holding it tightly. "I told yer, you don't get rid of me that easily. It all over now. All that weird stuff. Well not all of it because I'm one of them, but you know what I mean."

"Yes." Andy lay down next to him. "I know. I just wish I could stop thinking about what's going to go wrong."

"I know you do." Tom rested his head next to Andy's. "An' one day you will, because thing'll all be okay, 'cause I'll make them okay. Whatever it takes."

"It's not that simple."

Tom could hear Andy's heart pounding, like he was terrified or running for his life. Post change enhanced senses blessing and curse in equal measure. "I know, but I'm still gonna try, 'cause even if it don't work all the time even if it's only a bit then it's worth it."


****

Things weren't instantly great, but Tom hadn't really expected them to be. His stitches hurt and so did Andy's arm, sleep didn't always come peacefully for either of them, and there were times when Andy just seemed so distant that it was like he wasn't quite there. But without the threat of vampires and dog fights hanging over them and with the weather improving so that they could spend more time outside again things felt more hopeful than they had for quite a while.

The wedding, which Tom knew should really be called a Civil Partnership, although neither of them ever called it that, was still a formless thing that would happen at some point soon. They'd not set a date yet, and Tom couldn't quite shake the fear that as soon as they did something would come along and screw it all up. There were enough things to worry about even before they got to that point. Would he need a birth certificate to be able to get married? and if he did how would he get one? His real parents and him as far as the world was concerned had died more than twenty years ago. He didn't even know their names. He'd been too hurt and upset when he'd found out that McNair hadn't really been his father to listen, and then afterwards it didn't feel like it mattered, McNair had been his dad in every way that mattered. The only one who'd known their names had been Nina and she was gone too. He'd be able to find out, with some help from Andy. There'd be something online about a young family slaughtered in a wild animal attack in Cornwall in the early Nineties.

It didn't feel right and the more he thought about it the worse it became. No, he told himself, he do what he'd done for jobs inn the past claim that he'd lost it in a house fire, maybe they'd be okay with it. McNair had claimed they were gypsies a few times, that he had no idea if they were registered anywhere or not. The other possibility was asking Gwen and the Torchwood lot if they could help. They seemed to know lots of stuff about finding out about things and covering stuff up like they had with the vampire and the dog fights. Maybe they could get him, which said McNair was his dad. He'd have liked that.

Once they'd got that far there would be where to have it. He read up enough that they wouldn't be able to have it in a church, but he was okay with that. Neither him or Andy went normally so it would be a bit weird to go just for this. A hotel or a town hall seemed to be place of choice, which was good as it would mean Hal could go as well, without the religious side of it being weird for him. And he definitely wanted Hal there. Alex too. So that left the question of whether they should have it in Cardiff or Barry, or pick somewhere between the two.

And that was another problem with weddings, there were guests you had to invite. The Torchwood lot would be invited, and he was pretty sure that Andy's brother who'd invited them over for Boxing Day would come, and maybe the one who was in the Navy. But his Mum had been very much against them being together. He wanted to believe that she would put aside her feelings and turn up for Andy's sake, to wish him well, but he didn't think she would, and he dreaded what that would do to Andy if she refused to come or even worse came and said the sort of things she'd said at Christmas.

He'd not got many people he could invite. Hal and Alex of course, and Allison and if Allison was seeing anybody them as well, as that was the polite thing to do. He'd read it somewhere. It wasn't much of a list, but he knew they'd be happy for him and that counted most in his mind.

Before he invited them to the wedding, he knew would actually need to tell them about Andy. Hal and Alex knew he was living with Andy at the farm, but in the couple of letters and cards he'd sent then he'd never managed to say that it was more than just sharing a house like they'd done at Honolulu Heights. It didn't seem right telling them in a letter, he should do it in person and then he could invite them to the wedding too. He'd make sure they got proper fancy paper invitations too, he knew Hal would like that. Hal always liked fancy, old fashioned stuff.

“I’ve bin thinking,” Tom said, nearly a month after the fight with the vampires and Andy's sudden proposal, knowing that he couldn't put it off any longer. “And I know I ain’t got no family for you to meet, but there’s Hal and Alex. And since were properly together and that. I want you to meet them.” He frowned and then added, “Well you’ll meet Hal. Alex is a ghost, so you won’t be able to see her. Only weird things like me an' vampires an' other ghosts can.”

“You’re not weird,” Andy said, pulling him closer. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I can't be any worse than meeting my family."

Andy's mum's refusal to accept their relationship was a lingering source of unhappiness for Andy, and one that Tom had no way of solving.

*. *. *.


The drive down to Barry Island felt odd. Not a bad odd or a good odd, just odd, and it took Tom most of the trip to work out why. He'd never expected to go back. Which was awful as it was where his friends were and his dad, but as he'd told Andy, werewolves didn't usually get to grow old.

He looked at Andy and smiled. They could have a couple of days or two here and then head back to the farm for the full moon. And after that they could start making plans for the wedding. Andy had mentioned that his brother in the Navy, James was on leave in September, not in a we should definitely have the wedding then kind of way, but Tom decided that it was sort of implied. Apart from that making sure as much of Andy's family as possible could come to it was a good thing, it would nice for him to see that they were happy for him and not all like his mum.

"Do yer mind if we stop off here first?" Tom said as they drove past the edge of the wood. Not just a wood. It was The Wood. The one him and his dad had called home for a while, that still had the camper van in it and in a quiet clearing his dad.

"No." Andy looked around for somewhere to park. "What's here?"

"It were where I lived," Tom said. "Not always, but it were the last place I lived with me dad and had my old live, before I started trying to be like a normal person."

"You should have said before. Do you want me to call them and tell them that we'll be a bit later than we said?"

"We won't be that late and I don't even know if they'll answer the phone, I mean to listen to it, as you won't be able to heard either of them and ghost and vampires can't be heard on phones. I dunno why, I've never bin able to work it out."

It didn't take long to find some where to park and after locking the land rover they walked into the wood together. The woodland felt the same and in an odd way it was like coming home. He'd not thought that it would. Sunlight filtering down between the leaves onto the plants and bushes that formed a thick tangle between the huge oaks and beeches. The woods were ancient, like the woods around Cwm Elan, something unchanging that had been there long before him and would remain long after.

Tom looked at Andy walking along beside him. Andy always seemed more relaxed when there was nobody else around. It wasn't that he was scared of other people, Tom had come to realise, but he was definitely wary of them, like he was always expecting them to be angry with him or say something nasty. Maybe it would get better in time, Tom thought, or maybe it wouldn't. Whatever happened he'd be there with him to try and help the best he could.

It didn't matter it was more than a year since he'd walked away, the winding paths were familiar and it didn't take long to find the one that lead deep into the wood.

The camper van was overgrown, plants growing around the wheels and last autumn's leaves settled in drifts inside it. It was part of the wood now, like his dad was.

"So this is where you grew up," Andy said looking inside. "It's...err...cosy?"

"You don't have to be polite. It were small and cold and drafty," Tom said. How had him and his dad lived there all those years? "It were where we lived, but it weren't exactly home."

"If you wanted to get it fixed up or anything," Andy said looking around it, trying to work out if it was possible to get it towed. "We could."

"Its bin broke for a long time, since before I even knew Hal and Alex," Tom said, turning away from it. "And we've got a new life, with a house like proper people. It belongs here, part of the past."

"Tom?" Andy said leaving the van and moving over to him. "You don't have to leave everything behind to make a future. I don't expect you to."

"It'd just be weird havin' it parked out by the farm.

"Any way it ain't really the van I came to see," Tom said, looking over to the far edge of the clearing. "It were me dad."

The mound of earth had flattened and grass had grown long about it, but the simple wooden cross and plaque remained. In a few years it would disappear, the woodland reclaiming the space. It was how it should be, how his dad would have wanted it, Tom told himself, but he felt tears burn in his eyes none the less.

"Do you some time?" Andy said, looking back down the path. "I could probably find my way back to the car."

'Nah, not by myself anyway," Tom said. "What I want to say to me dad is about you, so it's only right you get to hear it an' all."

"I know I ain't been around much, but I've off doing what you wanted, living a normal life.
"This is Andy, Dad. You always said I should wait until I found the right one. Well I have. I know he probably ain't quite what you thought when you said about all that bees and birds stuff, but we're happy and I know that's what you really wanted for me. To be safe and happy." Tom crouched down and picked up the glass jar that still held the burnt out remains of a candle. "You'd have liked him. I know you would. He's honest and brave and he's fought stuff nastier than any vampire, and he did it for me."

"I've tried to do everything you said, about having a normal life and not fighting all the time, and I'm mostly doing it and a lot of that's down to him. We've got a real house together and I've got a job, so I'm only staking vamps if they start it first." Tom took a tea light out of his coat pocket and put it in the jar. "But that ain't the only reason I'm here, it's that me and Andy are gonna get married soon, so he'll be family and I wanted you to meet him."

After lighting the candle, Tom stood back up and looked around. The wood around them was just the same, the light from the candle lost in the bright sunlight. He not been expecting anything to happen, life didn't work like, but it was disappointing all the same.

"You okay?" Andy said, putting an arm around him.

"I think so. I just wish he could've been here to see you, to see us get married and that," Tom said leaning into him. "But if he had been here I'd have never have gone off and met you, so I wouldn't have been able to get him to meet you 'cause I wouldn't know you. And I don't not wanna know you, 'cause that'd be horrible, but losing him was an' all. And I wish I could have yer both here, but I can't. That didn't make much sense, did it?"

Andy leant his head against his shoulder. "I think I know what you mean. I never thought I'd leave the police or Cardiff, I never thought my life would have aliens and werewolves and vampires in it until a few year ago."

"Do yer regret findin' out about all that stuff?"

Andy was quiet for a while then said, "No. It's mad I know, but more bad things that have happened to me have been because of normal, ordinary people. Because they didn't care,

"I don't think I knew any normal people before you, not properly like," Tom said, "I were really lucky finding you."

Leaning against Andy, Tom closed his eyes and listened to the scents and sounds of the woodland around them. Soon he'd they go and meet Hal and Alex, and given them their news. Tom smiled, life was as good as it ever got.

TBC
Monday 8th Dec.

A/N
It may take a few days to reply to comments as I'm away from home for my Gran's funeral and have no Internet access bar coffee shops when I get into town, so it might be Thursday before I'm online again.

Sorry it has been ages since I last posted any of this. It's not been abandoned. I've never done that with a fic and am not starting now. My only excuse as poor as it is was I got sucked into another fandom (Rivers of London) writing for a fest, that's done and this fic is back on.

There are only four more parts to go after this and I am planning on posting one per week. Yes, by the end of the year this story will finally be done.

Comments

[fififolle]

I'm so very sorry to hear about your Gran. And that I am so late here. I hope you are doing okay *hugs*

This was lovely. I'm so happy for them! And they are all okay *phew* But enough bumps and scrapes for a nice bit of hurt/comfort. Lovely. Also, proposal!! Yay!

[silver_sun]

Thank you. It was a surprise to lose Nan so suddenly (although she was 99 years old - so perhaps not entirely unexpected), the whole family had thought she'd see in her 100 birthday, just a a couple of weeks away now. But she'd been well until the last still doing her crosswords and watching the telly, and went at home rather than hospital or anything, which was what she would have wanted.



I've been a bit mean to Tom and Andy in the last few parts, and it will slowly get better for them - well okay after the next part any way. The proposal bit has been hanging around written for months waiting for me to get the rest of the chapter written, so it's good it's finally up and posted.

[fififolle]

99? That's wonderful, and sounds like she went in as good a way as possible. *hugs*

Well done on being so close to completing such an epic fic.