The Love Abroad

Two weeks have gone by since the War Horse premiere yet people are still hung up on who’s the mystery girl with Hiddleston?

Seriously? Why do they even care, Tom can date whoever he well pleases! Photos of us walking about London are all over those nutty tabloid magazines, calling my sense of style as hippie chic with an edgy flare.

Say what? How are jeans and a t-shirt hippie chic? Though I give credit to The Sun who actually researched me.

This is what they said in yesterday's issue:

Hiddleston, actor of Thor and War Horse, started seeing former athlete and current Cambridge student Marie Lucas who grew up in Colorado. Lucas is studying Classics at Cambridge, the same alma mater of her now famous beau.

Lucas and Hiddleston looked 'in love' at the premiere of his next film, War Horse, directed by the one and only, Steven Spielberg. When asked for a quote on Ms. Lucas on the red carpet, Hiddleston simply said, "She's the best thing that's happened to me." Can we get an 'awwwwww?'

I don't know why people focus so much of their time worrying about who a 'celebrity' is dating, but I did 'awww' after reading what Tom said about me.

I had no idea.

"So.... I’m the best thing that's ever happened to you?" I wrap my arms around him from behind as he's shoving clothes into his travel bag. He grabs my hands as they clasp around his midriff, turning around to face my direction.

"Have you been reading those silly magazines again, Marie?" His voice curious but that devious smile on his face showed he knew he was caught. "So I am, then..." I walk over to his dresser, pulling out socks and some pairs of boxer briefs. You'd think he knew how to pack by now, considering all the traveling he does.

"You're what?"

Nice try, Hiddleston. I think to myself. He's trying to deny he said such thing. "That I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you." He pauses a moment before revealing, "I never said that."

Ouch.

That's why I need to stay away from those tabloids. False information.

GAHH!

I casually shrug my shoulders, trying to look like it didn't bother me that much. Tom could sense that I was a bit upset. He walked over the dresser, grabbing the briefs in my hand, throwing them into his bag on the bed.

"What I did say was that you were the best thing that ever happened to me in my life and that I love you more than Romeo loved Juliet," he whispered in my ear.

Awwwwww. I just hope that he wouldn't drink poison to be with me though; I don't think I could ask that from anyone.

"I love you, Marie. You should know that by now," He says planting a soft kiss on my cheek before returning to packing his bag. "You should also stay away from those magazines. Let's focus on our life together and this weekend."

Our life together. The fuck does that mean? If these magazines weren't bad enough, I now have to deal with meeting his whole family. It'll be Christmas Eve with his dad then Christmas Day with his mum; both of which will include his two sisters & their families.

Day 1: Meeting Mr. Hiddleston

We pull up to a huge Victorian-style house. "This is your dad's place?" I ask amused at the beauty in front of me. "It's beautiful, right?" I nod my head, "absolutely."

Right as we park, a car pulls up behind us. Tom gets out and walks over to the car, opening the door to reveal a gorgeous girl with blondish-brown hair. "Good morning, Ems" he says, embracing her in a hug. "Marie, this is my little sister Emma," He waves his hand over to join them.

As I get closer to them, I can tell they're definitely related. She's like the female version of Tom. "Nice you meet you, " Emma says with a smile before doing the whole kiss-both-cheeks greeting that Europeans do. "You as well," I stagger.

"Looks like Sarah is already here."

Sarah must be the older sister. I always get them mixed up. Tom offers to grab Emma's bags but she refuses. We begin walking to the house when the door opens and an elderly man walks out. "There's my boy!" he shouts, walking down. I look up at Tom to see him smiling.

When I say elderly, I mean he's in his 70s but surely doesn't look like it. Plus he the most adorable Scottish accent I've ever heard. The two guys embrace in a hug before his father moves from his to Emma, grasping her tightly.

Then he looks at me. "You must be Marie, the woman who Tom never stops talking about," he asks, his eye fixing on mine. "I can see why, you are gorgeous dear. He never really had good taste in women but now he does. I'm James by the way." He reaches his hand out for a shake.

The man has charm, not going to lie. Makes me wonder if Tom will be the same way when he's James' age. "Nice you finally meet you, sir.... I mean, James." Even Tom's smile is like his father's.

Tom grabs my hand as we follow his dad inside; he sits down our bags in front of the stairs. Entering the common room, I see toys spread all over the floor. If I remember correctly, Tom's older sister Sarah has a child.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Superstar and Mrs. Perfect Hair," I hear coming from behind us, both Tom and Emma turning around in sync. I thought Emma was gorgeous but Sarah, she is stunning.

Damn Hiddlestons. I think to myself. They're just so perfect it's utterly ridiculous.

I stand there in the common room, feeling a little awkward when I feel something touch my leg. I look down to see a little person looking up at me, smiling cheekily. This must be Tom's niece. I fall to me knees so I'm here level, she then hands me her toy laughing just like her uncle.

I love kids. I'm not sure if I want any but I just love to play with them. "That little angel there is Maddie, she's 3." I look up to see Sarah standing in front of me. I return to my normal height, "Hi, I'm Marie, she's beautiful," I say. She just smiles and stares. "I'm Sarah, I've heard a lot about you. This is my husband Rich," she motions to the guy standing next to Tom, with a beer in his hand.

I laugh nervously before she asks, "So you're studying from the US, correct? What is your major?" Here starts the interrogation. "Here at Cambridge I'm focusing on Classics but back home I'm a Journalism major doubled with Creative Writing." Her smile triples in size.

"Ah! Another journo! I myself am a journalist, currently abroad in India. Good to know there's another writer around here, rather a writer than a actress I always say." She glances over at Tom, he blushes a bit.

Everyone heads into the kitchen but I stay in the common room with little Maddie, this girl is just too precious. I sit on the floor legs crossed as she shows me all of her toys.

(Switch to Tom's POV)

"Maddie seems taken by her," Emma says pouring her milk into her cup of tea. "She's good with children, that's a good sign," finishes Sarah. I look at my sisters, both of them giving me the nod of approval.

For once, they actually like my girlfriend. My last one? Not so much. I lean against the counter looking into the common room watching Marie play with Maddie. She looks so beautiful I can barely hide the redness forming on my cheeks.

"You'd make a fabulous mother, Marie." I say as I walk over and sit next to her. She replies with a joyous smile. "And you, Mads, you're getting big!" Maddie runs over to me, wrapping her arms around me, hitting the back of my head with her plastic toy rabbit.

(Switch back to Marie's POV)

Watching Tom play with his niece made me want to cry. Cry big tears of cuteness. I should have known by now that Tom is just perfect with everyone. His friends, family, fans; he is just the sweetest, most caring person you will ever meet. Not to mention, he's the most humble and gracious man I've ever met.

Not long after we all arrive and get settled into our overnight rooms, we mingle downstairs for a pre-Christmas dinner. James is sitting at the head of the table, Emma sitting across from him at the other end. Sara is sitting next to me while Tom and Rich are sitting across from us.

We gather hands and commence in a prayer. Now I know both Tom and I aren't religious but I partake in it anyway. The dinner was fantastic and Tom became giddy knowing there was going to be pudding after. Seriously, I think he has a problem.

"So Marie," James breaks the individual conversations, pointing the subject towards me. "Tell me about your childhood. Tom informed me your parents just visited London." I set down my glass of champagne and begin telling him everything I thought he'd like to know.

My parents living in London before, my mom being an artist and my dad an English professor, my life back in Colorado. He just kept asking questions and I began to feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Dad, I think you're scaring Marie with all your questions," points out Sarah. James laughs, "Oh I'm sorry for being a tit, Marie. Though I should prepare you for tomorrow, my ex-wife will probably talk your ear out!"

The conversation returns to normal - Tom and his sisters reminiscing about their childhood and telling jokes. Finally the dessert or pudding is served, Tom digging his spoon in as soon as his is served. "Like a fat kid loves cake," mumbles Emma. Everyone breaks into a laugh, even Tom who demolished his pudding in 2 minutes.

"Well, I shall turn in. Tomorrow I'll cook breakfast then send you on your way."

The rest of us sit at the table finishing the bottle of champagne. "I need to lay Maddie down, I'll be back." Sarah picks up Mads with Rich following behind.

Then there were three.

"Was the film good, Marie?" Emma breaks the little silence that was left over after everyone else disappeared. "It was beautiful," I said in the midst of Tom placing his hand on my knee, squeezing gently. Emma finishes the last drop of her champagne, setting the empty glass on the table.

"I'm getting a little tired," cues Tom as he stands up, arms in the air stretching. I follow Tom's lead. "I'll see you in the morning Ems, sleep well," Tom says placing his arm around her. Emma sneaks into the first floor room while we make our way upstairs to our room.

"Well day one is almost over," Tom says as he begins undressing. "So far so good." I say unbuttoning my blouse. He walks over to me in nothing but his boxer briefs. "How'd you like everyone?" He sits on the edge of the bed, his hands on my hips, pulling me close.

"Now I know why you're the way you are; your family is lovely. Just like you." I set my blouse on the chair behind me; Tom starts working on my pants. "My dad is fond of you, as is my sisters. My mum, I think she'll love you as well."

His hands clasp the loops on my pants as he begins to shimmy them off my hips. I step out of the legs of the pants and walk over to the dresser, grabbing Tom's shirt. Lately, his shirts have been my clothing of choice when sleeping, unless you know, I'm naked.

Tom unfolds the sheets on the bed while I snuggle and hide my body deep within. He crawls under, joining me. Turning over to me, he moves his body over mine with his arm resting beside my shoulders. He looks upon me, his eyes glimmering. "Goodnight love," he kisses my forehead before returning to his side of the bed.

I mumble the words back only to fall into a deep slumber...

Day 2: Meeting Mum

I wake up to an empty bed and the bags already packed, except mine, which is still open. I jump in the shower in our room to freshen up before heading downstairs. After blow-drying my hair, I walk over to my bag, my towel still wrapped around me.

I hear the door open and almost have a mini heart attack, only to see Tom quietly sneaking in. "You scared me Mr. Sneaky!" He laughs, his eyes rolling. "Sorry. Hurry and get dressed, I'd rather not eat your breakfast for you, I've already ate too much." He pats his stomach with a disgust look on his face.

"Well are you going to watch me get dressed?" I say sarcastically as Tom sits down looking at me. "You're all wet." He says. Captain Obvious, here. The expression on his face was the same face he gets just as he's about to-- "I like it when you're wet," he says pulling me on top of him.

I push him off me. "Tom. This is not the time or the place--”he forces his lips onto mine, silencing me instantly He then releases me, letting me escape his wrap. "You horn dog," I say bluntly.

"Not my fault," he retorts, crossing his arms. "Oh really now? I suppose I'm to blame for your increased sexual desire?" I make sure to emphasize the words 'blame' and 'desire.'

"Well...yes. You are." he says matter-of-factly, "It's because of you, I'm this way. You're making me this way! I can't get enough of you." I walk back over to him, standing in between his legs. His hands gently rolling up my legs, under my towel. "I want all of you, Marie. Whether you come willingly or not..." his voice deepens, his English accent becoming silky.

This is how Tom woos a woman. He speaks softly, gently and elongating the syllables in every word. Tom is sexy talking. I stop his hands just before they reach my sweet spot.

"You stole that line from 'The Red Necklace.' Nice try." I grab my clothes from my bag, heading to the bathroom again. "I'll meet you downstairs!" I say shutting the door behind me.

Walking downstairs I hear Maddie crying and smell freshly made blueberry pancakes. In the kitchen everyone is standing around the island while Emma is sitting at the breakfast bar, munching on some toast. "Good morning!" everyone yells.

It was nice to feel like I belonged there, with Tom's family. They all accepted me into their tight-knit group and for once, I felt important in someone's life. Tom winks at me as I walk by while Sarah fixes a plate for me.

"I hope you like blueberry pancakes! Dad made them, he makes the best breakfast." She sets the plate in front of me; the pancakes are in the shape of Mickey Mouse. "He likes to make his pancakes in weird formations," she continued. Suddenly James walks in.

"I don't think a pancake should always be round. Why hold back such a moldable piece of food?" He says making everyone laugh. "Good morning Marie. Would you like some tea, juice or coffee?"

"I'll just have a water, but I can get it. No need for you to wait on me." I try to get up from my chair but Emma grabs my arm. "You're the guest here, dear. Plus I make the best glass of water in the world."

I let out a sigh, trying to not laugh. The myths are true, Scotsmen are very witty and Tom's father has an overabundance of it. "Thank you," I mumble as he set my glass next to my plate.

I finish my breakfast, not leaving one crumble of food on the plate. Tom walks over to me, placing his hand on the back railing of my chair. "Good, huh?" I nod my head quickly, wiping the crumbs off my face. "Delicioso!"

We didn't stay much longer since we have almost a 2-hour drive from Westminster to Oxford. Tom, Emma and Sarah hug their father goodbye, while Rich & I occupy Maddie. James shakes Rich's hand and kisses Maddie on the cheek, whose holding her present he gave her.

"Marie, it was nice to finally meet you," he pulls me into a hug. I can smell his cologne; very similar to the scent Tom wears. Like father, like son. "I hope to see you again at future Hiddleston gatherings." I couldn't help myself when he said that, I smiled so big that you could see 'LOON' written on my forehead.

"I would love that. Thank you so much for everything, you've been most gracious."

Shit. I've known Tom too long; I'm beginning to even talk like him! James smiles and waves us off.

Goodbye Westminster, hello Oxford and Merry Christmas!

It is the home of the other most prestigious University in Europe, if not the world. We drove right past it, absolutely a beautiful sight to see. Though, I much prefer Cambridge.

By the time we arrived at Tom's mother's house, it was already half past 1. The smell of roses filled the air of his mom's cottage. If you've ever seen the movie 'The Holiday' with Jude Law and Kate Winslet, her house is just like that, small and quaint and very elegant.

Right as all of us pull up, the most adorable silver-haired woman walked out. I could see Maddie running out of the car towards her, jumping in her arms.

Tom opens my door for me since I was too distracted after dropping something on the floor of his car. We join the others standing in front of the house, Tom pulls the petite woman into his arms. "Hello mum! I've missed you," he says, lifting her off the ground.

"Thomas, you get more handsome every time I see you," she cups his face, looking intently into his eyes. "Now where is Marie?" She looks around, Tom moves to the side revealing me standing directly behind him.

"My dear, nice to finally meet you!" She pulls me into a hug tightly. "I'm Diana, I've heard many wonderful things about you. You seem to make my Thomas very happy." She seriously is the sweetest person in what seems to be the most perfect family ever created.

She grabs my hand, leading me and everyone else into her house. She whispers over to me, "Make yourself at home, dear." I sit on the couch, Tom joining me after he helps Rich put the bags in the designated rooms upstairs.

We have a late lunch/early dinner before everyone gathers in the room with a beautifully lit Christmas tree, decorated with photos of Tom, Emma, Sarah, Rich and Maddie. Very much like the rest of the room, which is filled with various family photos and awards. Tom mentioned his mom was a stage manager before she retired, apparently a very accomplished one.

"Marie, would you join me in the kitchen?" Diana's soft voice breaks through the conversation. I nod and walk towards her in the kitchen, where she's cleaning up. I notice books are layed out on the table. "Those are photos of the kids when they were younger. You're welcome to look at them."

I open the one of the books and the first photo happens to be of Tom right when he was born. My heart sunk in my chest at how adorable he was. The ones following were of Tom and Emma at school and then one of them dressed up in costumes.

"They used to perform plays for James and I when they were younger," she mentioned, sitting next to me. "Tom and Emma always had a knack for acting, though I think Tom really found it as his passion."

"Do you have any siblings, Marie?" Diane asks, noticing how I'm admiring the photos of Tom and his sisters. "Well, I have an older brother, he's 15 years older than me. We don't talk much anymore since my parents divorced." She places her hand on my back, "Well, he's missing out on knowing such a lovely young lady. You have a bright future in writing."

I look at her puzzled and surprised a little. "Sorry for being nosey, you can blame Thomas. He sent me a copy of the play you’re writing. It has great potential. Put it in the right hands and it could easily be performed for the whole world to see."

I wasn't sure if I should be angry or upset at Tom for going behind my back and against my wishes for anyone to ever read my play. But considering all of her awards, it meant a lot to hear. "Thank you, that means a lot, you have no idea." She smiles and walks back into the family room.

I can hear her echo the words, "Who wants to open presents?" Maddie goes ballistic, yelling as loud as she could. I stealthily grab the seat next to Tom, placing my arm in his and leaning my head on his shoulder. He kisses the top of my head.

Rich starts handing out the gifts and I am shocked to see a few lying in front of my feet. I look at Tom confused and he winks, "We couldn't forget about you. What did you think you were just going to sit here and watch everyone else open gifts? Nonsense!" he says so dramatically.

Maddie is the first to open her gifts. Toys and dresses were the theme of her gifts. Next were Sarah and Rich, who received a weeklong spa voucher from Emma (as long as she babysitter though,) and an open-ended plane ticket for three from Tom. "Now you have no excuse to not visit more often."

Emma got a lot of jewelry, mainly antique stuff that is her favorite. Diana got one big present from her kids, a gift certificate to the Apple store so she can finally get a computer. "Now you can see Maddie whenever you'd like, just make sure you download Skype," suggested Sarah.

Tom's gifts were just little knick-knacks he could take with him while he's traveling from location to location and drawings that Maddie drew him. "Your turn, Marie!"

I admit, I felt a little awkward opening gifts from people I've only known for 35 hours but they greatly insisted. I opened up my present from Sarah and her family; it was a green elephant statue made of jade, my favorite stone, authentically from India.

From Emma and Diana, I got a whole month worth of tickets to see every production at the Globe Theatre. "We heard you kind of are obsessed with Shakespeare," hints Emma.

"Thank you all so much, really, I wasn't expecting anything. You all are too sweet." Tom interrupts for a moment, "You're not done yet. There's one more left to open...." he stands up and walks to the closet, reaching into his jacket. He comes back with a medium size box in his hand, wrapped in Doctor Who paper.

See, even during the holidays he's totally okay with showing his nerdy side. I look at him smiling, thinking it's a necklace or something.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw when I lifted the top. "W..w..w..What’s this?" I stutter - looking at a sparkly diamond ring encased in a black velvet box that ways probably 5 pounds.

Tom grabs the ring from the box, his eyes meeting mine. "Marie, I know it's been fast, this relationship but we know each other better than anyone," he takes a deep breath. "When we first met in June, there was something there, a connection. Emotionally we were in sync and we got along so well. It was like I've known you my whole life."

I take a deep breath as I feel tears begin to form around my eyes. What is happening?

"Marie, I have the blessing of your parents and mine, so I now I need yours...."

Get to the point Hiddleston. Where are you going with this?

"I'd do anything to show you the world you've always wanted to see and experience. I want to love you the way no one else can or ever will. Marie, darling, I ask of you," he pauses before working up the courage he needs. "Will you marry me?"

Silence falls within the room and I begin to feel like a shining light is focused on me, like when an important character in a play is about to begin an important monologue.... or die.

My throat tightens up and I feel a tear roll down my cheek and hit my hand that's entwined with Tom's.

I want to say something but nothing is coming out, my body is frozen still. The world around me is moving but I'm staying still.

This was not supposed to happen. I thought.

Not now.

Not ever.

"I don't know what to say."

Tom's gropes tightens and I hear the soft sighs from everyone, release.

I get up off the couch and walk outside. I don't know where I'm going but I just start walking.

I need to be alone right now.

This is when I wish I were in London, looking down upon the city. Just my thoughts and me.

Alone.

And without the thought of what just happened.