Chapter 28-1

Sparrow's hands shook as if they were being blown by a fierce wind. "Thomas. You're here? How...?" He stepped forward, his face shadowed. For a second, he seemed like a stranger, a dark angel watching over her, and she felt awed by his height and build and masculinity. Then he smiled, and her heart fluttered; he was still just Thomas. "Ali, I've been here for weeks." "You have? How did you find me?" "I didn't actually. Will worked it out." He shrugged sheepishly. "He's a smart kid. He figured out you were in Newcastle by searching for the bands you told him were performing at your work." Sparrow shook her head slowly. "Wow. Not bad." He still hadn't reached for her, allowing her space. "I didn't mean to come here, but once I knew where you were, I..." "What?" His silver eyes captured her, and the world was suddenly the right way up again. "I couldn't be anywhere else." "Oh." "Sparrow, I can go. I promised you I wouldn't come until you were ready, but the second I got your email, I had to tell you I was here. Do you want me to leave?" I have a choice here. The thought was simultaneously terrifying and liberating. Thomas wasn't trying to trap her, and he didn't hate her. He was allowing her space to fly while giving her the love she needed to return. "Thomas... I don't want you to leave." "Good," he said, and she could see the relief on his face, his strong jaw relaxing slightly. "I'm still working through my past, but I don't want to do it alone anymore. I want to do it with you by my side." Her tears were rising up, along with those same familiar feelings of guilt and agony. "If you can put up with my issues." "I'm not putting up with anything, Ali. I want to help you heal, however long it takes. I love you." "I love you too." And as if their bodies were drawn by invisible forces, they moved together. Sparrow gently lifted her arms over his broad shoulders, feeling their heats beating to the same rhythm again. His hands interlaced around the small of her back, close enough for her to feel protected, loose enough to let her know she could pull away whenever she needed to. But I don't need to. Not anymore. The last month had showed her that. "Thomas, I have things I should tell you," she said, her face muffled against his shirt, breathing in his clean scent, fresh as a welcome breeze. "I have a place nearby. Do you want to go there?" He sounded uncertain to even pose the question, like a school boy asking his crush out. "Yes, please." They released, and he folded her fingers inside his as they walked along the dark street, which suddenly didn't seem so dark to Sparrow now that he was beside her again. After only a few metres, they turned into a small, unfancy building, offering cut-price accommodation. Up two flights of stairs and Thomas let them into a very modest studio apartment. His work laptop was open on the small dining table, with papers littered all around it. A suitcase lay empty in the corner, all his clothes neatly away in the wardrobe, and the little kitchenette showed signs of meals eaten alone. Without speaking, she walked to the window and looked down onto the street, where the moon had risen and suddenly, the city appeared beautiful to her. Thomas moved behind her and slid his arm around her waist. "I've been travelling back and forth between here and Sydney, but mostly I've been here. I didn't want to risk losing you again, and I lived for any glimpse of you I could get." "You've been watching me from up here, walking to work." It wasn't a question; Sparrow had felt his gaze so many times. She just hadn't realised it was him. "Yes. Oh god, I sound like a fanatic stalker, don't I? I swear, I never meant to find you or stare at you - it just kinda happened." She spun around inside his embrace and smiled at him. "It's only a little stalker-ish. I don't mind." "Thank god. Do you want a tea?" He kissed her between her eyes and then walked to the kitchen. Sparrow felt as though no time had passed at all, that they might somehow slip back into their old ways without addressing the gap. As she watched him making tea, she knew he deserved better than that. When the drinks were ready, they crossed to the ugly couch in the corner, sitting as close together as possible. "Thomas, I want you to know, your emails... Thank you." "You liked them?" He sipped from his mug, then said, "So, was I right about any of it?" "All of it." Sparrow looked down into her lap at her hands. "I have been afraid of money. I have a past, Thomas, and it isn't pretty." "Everyone has stuff, Ali. You don't get to our age without a few issues, or it means you haven't done anything." "I don't just have stuff. I was the person who caused stuff. I made awful choices, and I ruined lives. I thought I ran because I didn't trust myself not to do the same thing again." "But you're not that person anymore, are you?" He cupped his hand around her cheek, taking the weight of her head as she leaned into his touch. "I'm not. I think the real reason I ran was because I'm so terrified that, that once you know everything..." She couldn't stop the tears, the way she'd never been able to stop anything else that had happened to her. "Once you see who I was, what I did, that you won't want me anymore." "Ali..."