Lust, Life and Death.

Grace opened her eyes slowly the next morning, The sun was shining through the curtains and onto the bed where the two of them lay.

Tom lay beside her wide awake. He was running his fingers loosely through her hair and stroking her face gently. A bright smile spread itself across his face when he noticed her eyes staring back at him.

"Good morning beautiful" Tom spoke softly. This phrase had become somewhat of a ritual for the two of them, every morning since Tom had stayed at Graces flat he had texted her 'good morning beautiful'. Grace would normally reply with something along the lines of 'what's so good about it?' To which Tom would tell her that it was a beautiful day, he was about to play a show and he was one day closer to seeing a beautiful girl.

This morning was no different. Grace asked Tom what was so good about this morning and he had said "It's a beautiful day, I don't have to play a show and there's an incredibly beautiful girl in my bed."

Grace giggled lightly and snuggled up to Tom even more. His bed was one of the most comfortable she had ever been in.

Around twenty minutes later two climbed out of bed as Tom exclaimed that they had a 'busy day in front of them' so Grace went to get a shower as Tom cooked them some breakfast.

Once out of the sower Grace got dressed and applied her make up, make up was something Grace took a lot of pride in, she was good at make up, it was one of the things she knew she could do well.

She walked back to the kitchen and placed the palms of her hands flat on the counter. She didn't say a word but simply watched as Tom busied himself around the kitchen, he walked from the stove to the sink, to the counters, back to the sides, it made Grace so happy to watch him, it was evident from his display that he loved cooking and that cooking for Grace was making him extremely happy too.

He was dressed in only a pair of blue jeans with the waistband of his boxers showing through the top, which made Grace smile even more. She loved his body. She loved his perfectly toned chest, he wasn't exactly buff, you could still see his perfect abs though. He had skinny legs too, not weedy, perfectly skinny, his arms in the same conditions, then you got to his face, that perfect face of his. She had no right words to describe his face, no words would in any way do it justice.

"What are you staring at?" Tom asked, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"Nothing, nothing at all" She smiled the sweetest smile she could back at him.

"Hmmmmm" He smiled a crooked smile while scratching an imaginary beard. He had no time to take this any further, turning quickly to attend to the food he was preparing. He plated up the food and placed a plate in front of Grace, setting himself down one also. Grace thanked him happily and began to tuck in hastily to the full English Breakfast in font of her. She had noticed since being here there had been an almost permanent smile plastered on her face, this realization meant so much to Grace, it showed her how much Tom meant to her.

"So what are we doing today?" Grace asked, staring directly into Toms perfect eyes.

"I don't really know to be honest, I'd quite like to take you to the pier, or perhaps to the Pavilion." Tom rambled on for a while about the different places he could take her for the day before finally settling on taking her to the pavilion and the gardens, then to the pier, then finally to dinner. The two of them finished their breakfasts and Tom took her plate. Grace stood up and left the kitchen slowly, she walked to Toms bedroom where her case lay open on the floor, she picked up her hoodie, boots and beanie and pulled them all on. It was January, the weather outside was cold and wet, luckily today the rain had stopped, meaning the young almost-couple had had a lucky escape. Grace walked to the bathroom and locked the door behind her, the second she did she heard a loud knock from what she was guessing was Toms front door. She heard movement as Tom walked to find a shirt before he open the front door.

"Hey man" She heard a husky voice as someone else entered the flat. She listened closely as Tom and the man -who she had now found out to be Sam, the singer of Toms band- conversed in the living room. Grace was now finished in the bathroom, she examined herself in the mirror as she washed her hands, she was nervous to meet Toms friends, she was almost always nervous around new people. She opened the door at a snails pace and edged her way to the living room.

When she entered Tom was sat on the sofa and Sam in the armchair. The two boys heads snapped up harshly and Grace felt her cheeks heat up.

"Hi" Grace mustered causing Tom to smile, he could tell she felt awkward, it was written all across her face, she has also made it evident she wasn't sure of what to say next.

"Mate, this is Grace, the girl I was telling you about." Tom stood up and walked over to stand next to Grace.

Sam stood too and crossed the floor to shake Graces hand. "So, you're the girl who my best friends been hung up on for weeks? I can see what he's so worked up about." Grace felt her cheeks heat up yet again, she took a short out would breath, she imagined she was at work and how she would handle the situation then.

She let out a small giggle and glanced over at Tom whose cheeks where now rosy red. "It's nice to meet you Sam" She shook Sams hand firmly before the three of them sat down again.

"Are the rest of the guys coming over too?" Tom had completely forgotten to cancel the rehearsal session planned a few days prior, his mind had been so occupied with Grace that he had been forgetting a lot of things recently.

"Yeah mate, they said about half one, it's almost two now though." Sam smiled from his seat where he was sitting uncomfortably. "We can reschedule if you want, I'm sure the guys won't mind."

"Please don't reschedule because I'm here!" Grace quickly blurted. "I really don't want to be a burden."

Tom laughed and wrapped his arm loosely around Grace, "Don't worry, you're definitely not being a burden, are you sure you wouldn't mind, it would mean we would have to change our plans?"

"Of course!" Grace exclaimed hitting a Toms chest lightly, "The band should always come first!" Just as the last word left her lips Tom doorbell wrung loudly through the flat.

"Mate, well done!" Sam congratulated Tom from his chair as Tom stood and walked to the front door. The rest of Architects loudly entered the room all stopping abruptly when they noticed Grace sitting awkwardly on the sofa. Tom awkwardly introduced Grace to his band before they all headed to the practice room. Toms spare room had been converted into a practice space a few months prior, they had done their best to sound-proof the walls and had set the drum kit up with silencers which had definitely done a lot. The room was around medium size with two large windows on one side. There was the shape of a built in cupboard on the opposite side to the windows. Two guitars and a bass where lay out too along with a few mic stands, there was a computer desk too with recording equipment, Tom had explained to Grace how this was all his own equipment, it scared her it imagine all the money he must of spend on all of this stuff. The boys set up quickly and began playing. They started by practicing some stuff from Hollow Crown before they moved on to some new stuff. They played halfway through a song without a title, the boys had just started work on their new album so most of these songs where very much still work in progress. There was no doubt that these 'work in progress's sounded amazing. The boys played through about eight songs together and by the time they'd finished it was around five o'clock.

After a lengthy discussion they boys and Grace all decided they no longer felt like leaving the house, it was grey and dreary outside and would be getting dark soon anyway. The sun was already starting to set and the rain had started and was getting heavier, slowly. Beers where opened and Tim ordered pizza for the group. They sat around Toms living room drinking, smoking, eating and laughing. Tom had placed his hand on Graces knee and was slowly working his way up her thigh. He was testing her, seeing how far up her leg he could get before she stopped him, she knew what he was trying to do.

When Toms friends left that night the two where particular tipsy. It was around midnight when everyone had finally piled out of Toms apartment and back to their own, Grace began to pick up the empty bottles from around the room and place them in the bin while Tom went to the toilet. Once he was done Grace felt two strong arms wrap themselves around her small, skinny body. They made her jump lightly before she turned slowly and looked at the owner of the heavy arms. Tom was smiling at her and she smiled back sweetly.

"I like you being here" Grace smile grew as Tom said these words, she had never properly felt like she belonged somewhere, even when she was with her ex's she still felt lonely and unwanted at times, not now though, now she felt alive.

"I like being here" Without another word Tom dropped his lips onto Graces and he kissed her softly. The kiss didn't stay soft for long, Grace wound her fingers into his hair and his hands began to run to her sides. The kiss began to become deeper and their tongs began to wind themselves up together, the kisses moved from their mouths to their necks each having a turn biting at the others neck, Grace's lips lingered a little longer, noticing how he enjoyed this. She bit and sucked on his neck, this was sure to leave a mark. Clothes began to peel off and they slowly moved back to Toms bedroom. Tom kicked the door lightly behind them, closing it with his foot, leaving the two in the privacy or the bedroom.