A Thousand Oceans Wide

It was another day in New York and Tom and the boys of Tokio Hotel were doing a photo shoot.

"Gather there, and you'll be taken up by the photographer," David said, beckoning the boys over to him. Bill went first, being called out by Dunja. In stepped the photographer; a strangely alluring woman of no more than twenty-five. Her eyes were rather wide-set and dark and mysterious, completed by a small sharp nose, crimson red lips and fair and flawless skin. Shoulder length black hair flowed down her sides in small soft curls.

"Hey," the woman photographer said, tucking her stray locks behind her ears. The rest of her hair were tied up in a red hairband, and her smile pierced through the boys' hearts, a splitting image of Katy Perry.

"Hey," Tom nodded in reply, the smirk on his face still present. Bill found her extremely attractive, especially with that extra touch of a light red hibiscus flower tucked behind an ear. He offered a hand to shake, which the photographer so exuberantly accepted.

Bill offered his hand as well. "Nice flower," he said, grinning. The photographer gave him a sheepish smile. Georg and Gustav continued, shaking hands with her.

"The name's Georgia, and I'm your photographer for today," the woman nodded, smiling and beckoning with a nod of the head into a corner of the building.

Tom snorted. "That's like a female version of George, right?" And then he gave a small laugh. Bill let out a chuckle. "Sad to be sharing the same kind of name with the Hobbit here."

Georgia laughed. "Oh, please," she rolled her eyes and gave a small smirk. "And who's the Hobbit again?" She watched as the boys pointed to Georg.

"That would be George," Bill said. Ever since they got to America, Georg became George. And sometimes, Tom was Thomas. It was an American thing the boys were trying to get used to.

"Hmm," Georgia smiled. "So there's a Bill and Tom whom I will take twin shots of, I know that. Can you guys just tell me your names again?"

Gustav sighed and gave a tired smile. He was quiet, and Bill introduced everyone. "I'm Bill, that's my brother, Tom. And then there's Gustav and Georg." He pointed to each of them as he said the names out loud.

"Cool," Georgia raised her eyebrows. She glanced briefly at Tom and gave an extremely delicate smirk. "Do you guys watch TRL?"

"Yes!" Bill exclaimed, following close. "It's amazing."

Tom rolled his eyes and chuckled softly. "We haven't watched it in months," he answered more truthfully. He kept his eyes on Georgia, eyes scanning her body. She had a very nice one.

Bill grimaced. "You don't watch it online like I do," he said, sticking his tongue out at his brother.

Georgia laughed and called the boys over to stand by the blue wall. "Okay, get in your usual positions. I think it's... You, you, you then you right?" She pointed to Gustav first, then Bill, Tom and finally, Georg. It was their usual lineup.

"You're right," Georg smiled and crossed his arms as soon as he got beside Tom. For one, Tom really couldn't deny the fact that Georgia was checking him out. He appreciated it, but he tried not to mind so much. If he was single, he might have flirted back. Fortunately, Heidi and Markus still lingered at the back of his mind.

Throughout the photo shoot, Georgia exchanged looks with Tom but received little back. She figured maybe she wasn't trying hard enough. And it came to the part where she was going to take the twins only. "Okay, so Bill and Tom. Here, please," Georgia said.

Bill got to the floor and sat as instructed. Tom sat next to him, staring straight into the camera. Georgia bent low to get the shot, and her cleavage was revealed. Bill raised an eyebrow at that, but tried to ignore it. Every girl would always do something like that, but he didn't really see Georgia like that.

"I like your lip ring, Tom," Georgia said as she squinted into the camera. "You've got to work it, and it'll be sexier than it already is." She gave a soft grin as she waved him with a hand, urging him to act sexy.

Bill raised his eyebrows at Tom and the other shrugged, deciding to tongue his lip ring, his face donning a come hither one.

Georgia smirked. "Sexy," she said huskily as she snapped a few. "Bill, you got your tongue stud. Give it to me. Come on." She looked at Bill as she waited for him to do something with his tongue.

"You what?" Bill looked at her, confused. He turned to Tom. "Did she just say she wanted my tongue stud?"

Tom laughed. "It means she wants you to be all sexy with it," he said. And he looked at Georgia. "Right?"

Georgia raised her eyebrows softly. "Seems like you know a lot about being sexy," she said back. Tom merely gave a simpering smile.

And the photo shoot ended. It was almost dinner time and the band had nothing else on their agenda planned for that day and so they lingered a while more in the changing room. Georgia had yet to let them see their pictures, anyway.

Voluntarily, Tom took out his phone and dialed Heidi's house. He was sure it was almost an hour before midnight in Magdeburg but she hoped they weren't asleep yet. He yearned for their voices.

Heidi was lying on her bed, a sleeping Markus in her arms, sleeping away the rest of Sunday night. As she was about to doze off, the phone rang. She quickly reached for it at her bedside, not wanting to prolong the ringing and awakening Markus.

"Hello," she mumbled, a small smile on her face as she stretched slightly.

Tom sighed at her voice. "Heidi," he said, smiling to himself into the corner of the room. He was seated on a couch but was turned away from everyone else.

"Hi, Tom," Heidi broke into a bigger grin. She stifled a yawn as she patted her son's back gently, encouraging the slumber. And then she got up and went to the staircase, sitting by one of the steps.

"How are you?" Tom asked.

"Good," she said. She wondered if she should tell him that Markus pined for him the night before. "What did you do today? I hope you weren't late for anything because you slept so late."

"Nah," Tom laughed softly, leaning against the couch, thighs over the armrests as he was perpendicular to the seating of the rest. "It was fine because I got over the jet lag. It was the usual; another photo shoot. Enough about me. How are the both of you? What did you guys do?"

Heidi smiled, her cheek on a hand as she rested against the stairs. "Mmm," she hummed softly as she recalled the day. "My mom and dad brought us to a neighbor's housewarming party and Markus made a friend because they have a little girl just his age."

Tom grinned, giving a sheepish laugh. "Aw, really?" He stuck out his lower lip a bit before continuing. "What did they do? Did he do anything silly like kiss her or something?"

"Nope," Heidi laughed. "But they did hold hands the whole time. Her name's Janine and she's really cute. She's going to join his school so..."

"Who knows what could happen, eh?" Tom smirked. He traced the design on his pants as he continued. "So does he know I'm not going to be home for a while? Oh, I asked David. We're going to be here for only a week and a half more and we're going back for summer. Just in time for Markus' birthday."

Heidi nodded. "That's great," she said. "Well, he's been asking about you but he's taking it all in slowly."

Bill crept over to Tom, popping above his shoulder while leaning in to eavesdrop on the conversation. Tom smiled at Bill before turning back to his corner. "Tell him I miss him a lot," he said.

Bill nudged Tom. "Tell them I miss them, too!" Tom nodded and did just as he asked.

Heidi chuckled softly. "He's asleep but I'll tell him before we go to school. Hey, Bill. We miss you, too."

"They miss you, too," Tom said to his twin. And he turned back to his phone. "Give me a second."

"Okay," Heidi said before giving a soft sigh.

Tom turned to his brother. "Excuse me, please and thank you," he said before standing up and going to an empty room next door. "Hello," he said into the phone.

"Hi," Heidi said. "Are you sure you're not busy? Calls are expensive, anyway, Tom. Do you want to talk another time?"

Tom shook his head before answering. "I was just getting into another room. Bill would have been hearing our whole conversation and I didn't want that because some things are only meant for you to hear."

Heidi gave a small smirk. "Well, are you alone now?"

"Yes," Tom answered softly. At both ends, it was extremely quiet around Heidi and Tom so there wasn't much effort put in to speak loud and clear because even the softest sounds could be heard. "I love you," he said.

Heidi smiled. She decided not to say it back to him just yet. "Aw," she said.

Tom narrowed his gaze. "So you don't feel the same way?"

"I do," Heidi assured him. "But action speaks louder than words and I'm going to show you just that when you come back home."

"Then I can't wait to go home," Tom smiled. "You want me, too, don't you?"

"I do," Heidi said. "I want you so much. It's been bugging me, actually." And she gave a small laugh.

"I won't disappoint you again, I promise," Tom said. "I swear to every being on Earth. All I want to do is..."

Heidi waited in anticipation. "You know you can tell me anything, Tom."

"Really?" Tom asked.

"I trust you," she said.

Tom took a deep breath. As softly and truthfully as possible, he admitted. "I want to hold you, I want to kiss you, I want to tell you how much I love you and then... Yeah." He wanted to say that he wanted to make love to her in the end, but he knew it wasn't the right time to get too physical just yet. He didn't want to ruin it for them.

There was a bit of a pause as Heidi took in each word Tom just spilled. With a small smile, she replied. "Really?"

"Yes," Tom said. "With every inch of my being, yes." He was as honest as can be, and he wished that there was a way other than verbal assurance to tell her he was indeed telling the truth.

Heidi closed her eyes and rubbed her arms. "I hope you mean it, Tom Kaulitz," she said, about to continue and pour out her feelings she kept inside. "Because I'd be waiting-"

"Hello, sexy," came a voice behind Tom. He turned around and saw Georgia. It was crystal clear to Heidi on her phone that it was a woman's voice.

"Hold on," Tom said to Heidi before turning, his phone kept down and low, covered from the woman. His face was slightly red when he came face to face with the photographer. "Yes?"

"You have such a sweet tongue," she teased him. "Anyway, the pictures are in the next room with your mates. You wanna take a look?"

Tom swallowed uneasily and nodded. "Sure, just give me a minute." He turned back to his phone and spoke. "Heidi?"

Heidi replied. "Yes?" She didn't want to ask who that was who had just called him sexy. He was sexy, but a woman calling him that? It sure didn't sound like Dunja or Natalie.

"I got to go," Tom said. "I'll call you soon, okay?"

"Sure," Heidi said. "Goodbye."

"Bye," Tom said and he hung up.

"Who's that, a girlfriend?" Georgia pried.

Tom shook his head with a half-smile before giving an awkward laugh. "Just a girl," he said, following Georgia to the other room where the band was, scrolling through the pictures on a MacBook Pro.

Heidi stayed by the stairs, the cordless phone in her hand. She thought about how New York was like. All the beautiful American girls with the attractive American accent. Tom had left her once before and her insecurity was filling her up again but she trusted him. She just didn't trust the girls he would meet. She had heard about his ex-girlfriends and they weren't like her at all. It seemed that the kind of girls he saw was entirely different from her. Was Tom taking this for real? She only hoped so. If need be, she would ask Bill about Tom. She knew Bill would tell her everything.

Heidi hated doubting Tom but she was just being scared. The past weeks with him were certified golden. There were ups and there were downs and her nonexistent little family was finally reunited but whatever it was, she was preparing to fall with no safety net to cushion the blow. Just like she once did. She was just hopelessly falling deeply in love with this new and matured Tom. Years ago, he was the unlikely father figure to her fatherless child and now, he really is the father of Markus. Her little Markus Kaulitz.