Dusk & Summer

tom.
oct 30, 2005.
london, england.
I half woke up and groaned with tiredness as I rolled over and buried my face into the pillow without even opening my eyes. A tired but wide, dirty smile smeared across my face when I felt Anna's bare chest press against my back as she leant over me to get something off the nightstand on my side of the bed. I quickly turned over, squinting one eye open the tiniest amount, and slid my arms around Anna. She smiled down at me and moved back with the Swarovski bracelet in my hand.

"Why you got that?" I croaked, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

"Just wanted to look at it." She replied, rolling onto her back next to me and turning the bracelet in her hands carefully. I yawned loudly and turned back onto my front, letting my arm rest across Anna's stomach as I buried half my face into the pillow and closed my eyes.

"Not a morning person, huh?" Anna asked in a wry voice. I grunted in response and shuffled slightly closer to her. I wasn't a morning person, but I especially wasn't when I'd had to wake up at 4am the day before, then spend 8 hours on a plane before meeting Anna for the evening and getting hardly any sleep because we were-- anyway...I wasn't a morning person.

There were a few minutes silence, and just as I'd began drifting back off to sleep I felt a warm, slender arm wrap around me and a pair of lips against my temple.

"Thank you again for my bracelet." Anna said in my ear. "I don't know how I can make it up to you."

"Make it up to me in 20 minutes." I mumbled, half asleep and not really paying attention to what I was saying. "That'll give me time to wake up."

Anna laughed, which made me jump and woke me up a bit, before dropping another kiss in my messy hair and moving away.

"Do you want some breakfast?" She asked. I could hear the sheets rustling as she got out of bed.

"Coffee." I mumbled immediately, and heard her tut.

"Don't be silly, I'm making you a cup of tea." She said, and I laughed croakily. "You're so pleasant in the mornings." She then said sarcastically, leaning down to drop a kiss on my bare shoulder lightly. I just mumbled incoherently in response and heard her laugh again as she opened the bedroom door.

I sighed heavily as I rolled onto my back and let my arms fall onto the pillow above my head. I could hear the rain against the window. It was getting heavier and I could see the sky getting darker through the curtains. It was quite a soothing sound, though. A few minutes passed and I was just dropping back off to sleep, before something heavy landed on my stomach, winding me, before it walked up my chest. I felt something wet and rough against my cheek, and I groaned and cracked one eye open the tiniest amount to see a furry gray blur centimetres away from my face. Then I heard purring, and I groaned again as I reached up to pet Anna's cat. It mewed and nudged my face with its nose, before turning in circles on my bare chest then sitting down. I groaned, but didn't have the heart to push it off, so instead I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and ran my hands through my hair.

Anna walked back into the rooms carrying two mugs, and laughed upon seeing me with her cat curled up on my chest, already half asleep. She set one of the mugs down on the nightstand next to me, before walking back round to the other side of the bed and putting down the other one. She climbed back into bed after picking up the remote and turned on the TV on the dresser opposite.

"I love British TV." I told Anna sleepily, and she looked down at me and laughed, before gently picking up the cat and kissing the top of its head as it mewed sleepily and pawed at her hair.

"Hello Gus." She cooed, stroking under the cat's chin lovingly as it purred loudly and tried to nestle into her hand. I sat up, frowning a little as I pushed up the pillows behind me, growing thoroughly depressed of the fact that I was getting jealous of a cat.

After a few moments, the cat yawned and pattered off to the end of the bed where it collapsed lazily and rolled onto its back. I glanced over at Anna as she sipped her tea, before shuffling closer and leaning my head down to kiss her neck. I felt Anna put her mug back down before reaching up and resting her hand on the back of my head. I kissed up her neck and as she turned her head towards me, I kissed her deeply on the lips.

"You've woken up, then." She commented after breaking her lips away from mine, giving me an amused smile while raising her eyebrows. I smiled back widely and leant back in to kiss her, gently pushing her back so that she was lying down and I was leaning over her.

I gently nudged her lips apart with my tongue as I propped myself up with my right elbow. I let my left hand wander down slowly, before I began gently untying her robe and pushing the material away from her body. She sighed softly as I lowered my lips to her neck, just below her ear, and my hand slowly slid between her legs. Anna gasped softly, reaching up and lacing her fingers through my hair. After a few moments I slid my hand up her stomach to her breasts and raised my lips back to meet hers. As I kissed her deeply, something moved against my feet and I heard a faint purring sound. I slowly broke my lips away from Anna's and looked back over my shoulder at Gus, stretching out at the end of the bed. I'd never been a cat person.

"Do you think you could-- get rid of the cat." I asked pleadingly, looking down at Anna.

"Huh?" She asked, frowning as she propped herself up on her elbows to look down at Gus, laying innocently at the end of the bed.

"It's just-- I can't-- it's weird with the cat in the room."

She stared at me for a second, before laughing loudly and kissing my lips briefly.

"Why is it weird? He's a cat, Tom. He's sleeping, he won't-- he's a cat!"

"I know but...I don't know. I just think it's weird." I said uneasily, looking back down at the cat. "I mean it's like, I've got a dog, and I never used to be able to do it with Je-" I cut myself off quickly and coughed uneasily. "Nevermind." I said quickly. Anna sat up and dropped a kiss on my cheek before picking up her mug and taking a gulp of tea. I sighed and grabbed my own mug from the other nightstand, gulping down half as I watched the cat through slitted eyes. He just looked back up at me with wide, seemingly innocent eyes. I had this theory about cats, they were never innocent. They were always plotting something. Either that or they'd just done something bad. People shouldn't judge dogs for chasing cats.

I put my mug back down and sunk down into the bed again, stretching my arms and legs with a loud sigh. Anna set down her mug and yawned, stretching her arms up, causing me to stare at her chest and chew on my lip.

"Hey, my friend Louise is having a halloween party tomorrow night." Anna suddenly told me, her eyes sparkling as she turned onto her front to look up at me, which still gave me a pretty good view. "It's a costume party. Do you want to come?" She grinned at me mischievously and I groaned.

"Oh God, am I gonna have to actually wear a costume?"

"Yes!"

I groaned again and rolled onto my side, burying my face in the pillow. Anna laughed and I felt her move up closer to me and start playing with my hair.

"You don't have to come, I was just wondering if you wanted to."

I looked up and smiled at her.

"Of course I want to come." I said, rolling onto my back and gently pulling Anna with me so that her upper body leant over mine. I smiled and kissed her softly before tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Have you got work today?" I asked her as she rested her chin against her fist on my chest. She shook her head and smiled up at me. "Cool." I said with a smile, before she dropped a kiss on my chest then sat up. I sat up and yawned loudly, rolling my neck and wincing as it cracked loudly.

"Can you see my boxers?" I asked Anna as she slid out of bed, retying her dressing gown. She looked around at the floor, before bending down and picking up my boxers. She threw them at me and I sat on the edge of the bed as I slid them over my feet, before standing up and pulling them up the rest of the way. Then I slid on my jeans and ruffled my already messy hair, before following Anna out of the bedroom as I did up my flies.

"Good morning." I heard, and jumped as I saw Mel sitting on the sofa in her dressing gown, nursing a cup of coffee between her hands. She was smiling, eyebrows raised as she took in my appearance.

"Oh-" Blood rushed to my cheeks. "Morning-- sorry, I didn't know you were-- I'll go put a shirt on."

Mel laughed. "It's okay, I don't care about seeing a guy's chest." She said, and I laughed nervously. "In fact, this is something I'd be proud to tell my friends about. A half naked rockstar in my living room." She joked, standing up and winking at me as she walked past towards her bedroom. "I wouldn't tell them that it's my flatmate he's sleeping with, though." She added as she put her mug on the counter in the kitchen and disappeared into her bedroom.

"Ignore her, she's joking." Anna told me as she closed the window in the kitchen, muffling the sound of heavy rain.



anna.
"I've got work really early tomorrow morning." I groaned as we walked through the light rain down Bond Street.

"When you working til?" Tom asked me.

"6." I told him, and he nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets and bowing his head to stop the rain hitting his face.

"So, what time do you want me to meet you?" He asked, and I sucked on my lower lip as I thought.

"Could you meet me outside work? Then we can go back to mine and get ready."

"Sure." Tom replied, glancing around us and wrapping an arm around my shoulders as we crossed the busy road.

"You remember where it is, don't you?"

He nodded as we both stopped by the entrance to the tube station.

"So...I'll see you tomorrow at about 6.15?" Tom said, smiling down at me. I nodded and smiled back up at him, before leaning up and pushing my lips into his gently. I kissed him deeply and when I pulled away I left Tom looking dazed from the kiss as I said bye and walked into the tube station.

By the time I stepped into my flat I was already missing him. My fingers itched to pick up the phone and call him, and tell him to come over but I didn't want to seem desperate or anything. And anyway, what if he had plans or other people to see? Did I honestly think that he'd travelled half way across the world just to see me? There was no way.

tom.
I lay on my big, soft bed, staring at the ceiling in boredom.

I wanted to see her. Of course I couldn't ring her, then she'd think I was desparate with no life. I mean I could've seen other people; a few people I knew in London had heard I was over and left me messages, but I couldn't be bothered to make an effort with anyone right now, unless it was Anna.

I sighed heavily and heaved myself up off the bed to get undressed. After rooting around in my suitcase I pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a plain white t shirt to wear as pyjamas. I quickly stripped down to my boxers and pulled on the pants and shirt before running a hand through my hair, making it stick on end as I yawned loudly. I hadn't realised how tired was as I glanced at the clock on the nightstand: 10.19pm. After leaving Anna I'd gone shopping for a new jacket, having forgot to pack one despite knowing just how cold it is in England at this time of year, then I went to get some dinner.

I wandered over to the balcony door and slid it open. A rush of cold air invaded the warm room, and I whimpered as I stepped out onto the cold stone barefoot. I rubbed my cold arms which were covered in goosebumps as I leaned on the railing of the balcony and watched the city beneath me. It was a strange feeling to be up here, above the street and separated from everyone else. It was as though they were all going at twice my speed, either that or it was as though I'd slowed right down.

After a few more moments I turned and went back inside, closing and locking the door behind me before pulling the curtain across. I flicked off the lamp between the sofa and armchair, throwing the room into darkness, bar the dim light emitting from the lamp on one of the nightstands. Grabbing the glass of water already on the nightstand, I tapped out two pills from the little brown bottle and dropped them on my tongue, following them with a gulp of water.

I rolled my neck a little in an attempt to ease my back, before putting the glass back down and screwing the cap back on the bottle of painkillers. I climbed into bed quickly, burrowing under the layers of comforter and blanket and pillows, before reaching out blindly and flicking off the lamp. I sighed and began to feel much drowsier far quicker as my extra strong painkillers did their job. Without even realising I had closed my eyes, and within a minute I was gone.



oct 31, 2005.
london, england.
"There, my costume's done." I announced, lisping as I carefully stuck the false fangs to my canines then turned to show Anna. She turned around and looked at me in disbelief.

"That's it?" She asked incredulously, and I laughed and shrugged.

"It's not like I had time to prepare!" I protested, turning back to the mirror and inspecting my new sharp teeth. "And anyway, I'm going for that..natural, just turned undead look. You know, like I got bitten by a vampire on the way to the party."

Anna laughed loudly as she grabbed a pot of something off the table and walked towards me.

"At least put some blood on to make it look more realistic." She said, unscrewing the pot. Before I could even protest she smeared fake blood all over my chin and bottom lip.

"Is your shirt expensive?" She suddenly asked, and I frowned.

"No, why?"

In a second she had smeared blood down my neck and onto the collar of my plain white t shirt. I laughed as she stepped back to admire her handywork.

"There. That looks so much better."

I turned and looked in the mirror, and laughed again.

"You're right."

"Okay, I'm gonna go put on my costume. We've got leave in half an hour." Anna suddenly said, dropping a kiss on my cheek, careful to avoid the fake blood. She grabbed a bag from the table and rushed into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. I exhaled heavily and sat down on the sofa, settling down for a long wait. I flicked on the tv and channel surfed for a while, glancing up at Anna's bedroom door every few minutes.

After about 20 minutes the door opened, and Anna emerged dressed in the sexiest Little Red Riding Hood costume I'd ever seen. My mouth went slack as she stood at her bedroom door, one hand on her hip.

"What- I-- You-- look..." I breathed, unable to string together a coherent sentence. Anna laughed and walked towards me.

"You have no idea how funny you look with that expression on your face smeared in blood with vampire fangs." She told me, taking my hand and gently pulling me up so I was standing. She leaned up on tiptoes and kissed my lips lightly. Her lipstick was a deep red so any blood that went on her mouth didn't show.

"Shall we go?" She asked me, but I glanced down and quickly shook my head.

"In a minute." I said, sitting back down and crossing my legs. Anna stared at me for a second, before throwing back her head and laughing loudly.

"Okay, okay. I've got to get my bag anyway."

She disappeared back into her bedroom, and as I waited I jiggled my foot nervously. After a few minutes I felt-- ready to leave, so I stood back up and poked my head into Anna's bedroom.

"Ready to go?" I asked, as she closed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.



We walked up the steps to the front door of a huge house. It was situated in the middle of Sloane Square: one of the richest parts of London. Anna rang the doorbell and we waited patiently until the door opened, and a young, brown haired woman dressed in a tattered ball gown appeared, a full wine glass in her hand.

"Annie darling!" She exclaimed, stepping forward to kiss Anna on each cheek. "How are you?"

I hadn't even realised that my eyes had wandered down to the woman's cleavage - it was pretty hard to miss in that dress. I pursed my lips and tried to look away, but after glancing inside at the huge foyer my eyes fell back down to the same spot.

"I'm great thank you. Louise this is-- my friend Tom." Anna replied, and I jumped guiltily as Louise looked me up and down.

"Friend, ey Tom?" She winked at me and stepped forward to shake my hand. "He's gorgeous, Annie darling." She said to Anna. I shot a glance at Anna and laughed nervously.

"Your costume is fantastic, Louise." Anna laughed, and Louise waved her hand.

"It's a little naughty, I know, but what the hell. This is the one night we can dress a bit slutty and get away with it." She laughed, flicking her hair behind her shoulder and taking a sip from her wine glass.

"Yeah, that's my excuse as well." Anna laughed, indicating down at her costume.

"Oh but you look gorgeous, darling. You've got the perfect figure, I'm so jealous." She took another sip of her drink before slapping a hand to her forehead overdramatically. "Where are my manners, I've just left you standing on the doorstep in the cold. Come inside, darlings."

She ushered us in before waving over a smartly dressed, young guy.

"Take their coats, darling." She told him.

"No, we can find the cloak room, it's fine." Anna said, smiling apologetically at the boy.

"Don't be silly darling, that's what I'm paying him for." Louise said with a wave of her hand. I quickly slipped off my jacket before helping Anna out of hers.

"Thanks a lot, man." I said gratefully as he took them with a polite smile, not wanting to seem rude.

"Oh my God, darling, look at that." Louise suddenly breathed, holding Anna's wrist and turning it in the light, making her bracelet glimmer. "Swarovski?" She asked knowingly, and Anna laughed embarrassedly and nodded.

"Tom got it for me for my birthday." She told Louise, who gave me an approving look.

"You've got fabulous taste in fine jewellery, darling." She said, before winking at Anna. "Hold onto him, sweetheart."

Anna laughed and glanced up at me through her eyelashes apologetically.

"Well, thank you both for coming, guys." Louise said in her polished London accent. "It's an open bar so help yourself."

She winked and floated off to greet someone else. She'd already made good use of the open bar, by the looks of it.

"Okay, I'm getting a drink." I said, and Anna looked up at me with raised eyebrows.

"You're not waiting long."

"I'm going to get through this evening by drinking." I told her simply, and she laughed. "Do you want a drink?"

"Um, a glass of wine, please."

I nodded and headed in the direction of the bar. I got served quickly and wandered back over to Anna, who was now standing with a man and woman dressed up a nurse and surgeon covered in blood. As I approached Anna grinned at me happily.

"Thank you." She said, accepting the glass I offered her.

"Hi Tom." The bloody nurse suddenly said, and I looked up to see that it was Mel, Anna's roommate. I grinned.

"Hi Mel." I then looked at the tall guy next to her, realising it was her boyfriend Sam. "Hey man, what's up." I then said, holding my hand out which he shook with a grin.

"Sweet costumes." I laughed, and Mel grinned up at Sam as she wrapped her arm around his waist.

"I guess you like Anna's costume, huh." She commented with a wry smile, and I blushed slightly as I shot a look at Anna before bowing my head and rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"Well I uh-- I mean it's- she looks good, yeah." I said, and Sam laughed loudly.

"That's a yes." Mel laughed, and I glanced at Anna again to see her cheeks slightly flushed as she laughed. I licked my lips quickly and tried not to let onto any of the thoughts I was having as I pictured an extremely unsuitable fairytale. Instead I took a deep gulp of my JD and coke and looked around the room with fake interest.



"We don't have to stay for much longer." Anna said quietly in my ear, before moving her head back and smiling up at me. I glanced up at the large clock on the wall which read 11.07 and nodded. I glanced around me quickly, then leant in and kissed her on the lips.

"Hey, um..." I started a little nervously, playing with the skirt of her dress. "I'm- I mean I'm staying at Claridges and-- it's not that far from here, so...if you want, I mean...you don't have to but you can-"

"No naughty business, darlings!" An extremely drunk Louise stumbled past us, winking at me. "Not unless I can join in!" She shrieked with laughter and almost fell over, spilling some wine on the floor. "I'm joking darlings, I'm just joking."

We both stared at her, before laughing awkwardly as Anna stepped away from me a little.

"Oh bollocks." Louise stated, stopping and staring down at the dark red stain on the expensive, cream carpet. "Daddy's not going to be happy."

She pouted and placed a hand on her hip, looking drunkenly thoughtful for a few moments. Then she shrugged and wandered off, towards the bar. Anna looked up at me and raised her eyebrows, before she burst out laughing. I joined in, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer to me. As her chest bumped gently into mine, I leant down and kissed her deeply, placing a hand under her chin. I brushed my tongue against her lower lip and felt her meet mine with her own. After a few more moments I felt her suck lightly on my bottom lip which made my stomach tense pleasantly, before I tilted my head a little more and kissed her again deeply. She reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck, and I forgot that we were in a crowded room until someone bumped into the back of Anna, jolting us both. Anna broke her lips away from mine and turned her head to see a couple laughing drunkenly.

"I'm really sorry." The guy said apologetically to Anna, touching her forearm briefly before looking at her and frowning briefly. As they wandered off we heard someone call, "Anna!"

I looked up and saw Mel laughing as she and Sam approached us. "You've got a bit of--" She motioned around her own mouth with her hand, before grabbing Anna's shoulders and turning her towards the mirror on the wall next to us. There was the fake blood from my face smeared all over Anna's, as well as her lipstick. I laughed loudly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm gonna go get another drink." I told her, and Sam said he'd join me so we walked off towards the bar, leaving the two girls together.

anna.
"Oh- Anna." Mel then said as I tried to rub some of the fake blood off my face. "Do you want to share a taxi home with Sam and I?" She asked, and I paused. "I mean I don't know what you and Tom are doing...is Tom going home with you?" She asked interestedly, her eyes snapping eagerly. I shrugged with a shy smile.

"I don't know, I mean, I think if I asked him to spend the night while dressed like this-" I indicated down at my costume. "-he'd probably think he had to pay me."

Mel laughed loudly and shook her head.

"He mentioned earlier about staying in his hotel room tonight." I then said, quickly getting back Mel's full attention. She nodded eagerly and took a step forward, throwing a furtive glance over her shoulder to make sure the two men weren't returning just yet.

"He's staying at Claridges, Mel." I told her, and she gasped.

"That is impressive."

"I know. I've never even set foot in Claridges. Imagine spending the night there." I sighed, and Mel smacked my arm lightly.

"Well the two of you go there tonight then!" She said as if it was the most obvious decision in the world. I laughed and shook my head.

"I can't, I've got work on the stall tomorrow, remember? I can't go like this and I wouldn't have time to get home, get showered and changed then set up the stall before we open."

"I'll work for you tomorrow!" Mel said immediately, and I stared at her.

"Really?" I asked, touched by her generosity.

"Of course." She said with a wave of her hand. "It's not every day you get the opportunity to have wild, passionate sex with a hot, famous rockstar in a five-star hotel room."

I laughed through my embarrassment and cupped my face in my hand.

"You make it sound so sordid." I groaned, and she laughed.

"But you know it's not sordid, because you know you actually really like him, and not for those reasons, they're just a bonus."

I stared at the floor in deep thought for a few moments.

"And hopefully he really likes me back." I then said thoughtfully, and Mel squeezed my shoulder gently.

"Anna, trust me, he really likes you. All night I've been seeing the way he looks at you when you're not looking. It's exactly the same look you give him when he's not looking."

I laughed, and glanced up to see Tom and Sam returning with drinks in their hands, talking casually as they walked. Tom smiled at me sweetly as they reached us, and handed me a drink which I accepted with a thank you.

"See you later, Anna." Mel then said, giving me a significant look as she led Sam away. I glanced up at Tom, who was sipping his drink innocently and looking around him. Suddenly all I wanted was to be in that hotel room with him.

I grabbed his drink and set both his and mine down on the table next to us, before lacing my fingers through his.

"Shall we go?" I asked him with a smile, and after a few seconds a grin smeared across Tom's face.

"Sure." He said with a nod, allowing me to lead him towards the front hall.

"Louise!" I called upon seeing her by the stairs, clinging onto the banister for dear life.

"Annieee!" She shrieked, her long, light brown hair falling over her face. "And- and Annie's GORGEOUS new man." She slurred, and I laughed.

"We're leaving now, but thank you for a lovely night."

"Oh no problem darling." She slurred with a wave of her hand. "Glad you could make it, both of you- you're both..both fantastic, both of you-- both gorgeous, darlings--" She suddenly stopped and snapped her fingers. "Harr- Harry, darling! Get their coats!" She shrieked. I could tell Tom was trying not to laugh as I bit my lip and brushed the hair back from Louise's face.

"Thank you, Louise." I said, trying hard to keep a straight face. "You're going to have your work cut out for you in the morning with the mess."

"Oh darling don't worry about that." Louise slurred. "Daddy's maids are brilliant, they- they absolutely adore him-- I don't know why Mummy hates them really..."

"Okay well, we'd better be off." I interrupted, waving quickly as Harry appeared with our coats. "Bye Louise." I said as I quickly took our coats and thanked the guy.

"Bye darling, bye- bye Annie's gorgeous new man." She slurred, and Tom waved before quickly turning away and clinging onto my hand as I opened the front door and walked down the porch steps.