Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She had been suspicious, then welcoming. She had let her heart be taken over and now... Everything was gone. Her home was destroyed as well as the home of her beloved rabbits, and her trust had been broken beyond repair. Or so she thought.

It was a complete shock when she saw him ride up on that motorcycle. What was he doing? He was going to kill himself. Not that she would care, he had broken her heart and her trust at the same time, she hastily reminded herself.

After he fell off of it (that's what you get for hurting me and my rabbits) she hesitantly strolled over and looked at him. He started apologizing and admitting that he had been wrong. Bea just stood there, waiting. For what? She had no idea.

Then when Peter had confirmed in his own special way that he had detonated the explosives (not his proudest moment) and apologized, she felt slightly conflicted. She knew that the complete destruction of her home and hard work was "her boys'" faults, but she couldn't find it within herself to stay mad for long.

Then a strange car pulled up and a couple got out. They said they had bought the house. Thomas tried to tell them that he had changed his mind and did not want to sell the house anymore, but they would not listen. Bea and Thomas had no idea what to do... But the animals did.

To make a long story short, the buyers left without a refund of their deposit.

Finally, they could begin to rebuild their lives, all of them, together.

Chapter Text

Bea sat back on her heels and wiped her brow. She looked over to see the process Thomas had made. He was kneeling in a pile of rubble not far away, surrounded by the rabbits, who had also offered their assistance. She smiled to herself and got up to grab some water. A few minutes later, she came back with a pitcher, two glasses, and a bowl. She carefully poured the water and distributed it before sitting down next to Thomas.

As soon as the rabbits were happily drinking the water, Thomas turned to Bea and gave her a smile. She returned it enthusiastically and leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. Together, they looked at what they had accomplished so far.

The tree was back in its place and all furnishings in the burrow had been restored. (Thank goodness! Bea had quickly tired of the rabbits kicking her while she was trying to sleep.) They had salvaged what they could of her artwork and Bea was satisfied to start over with her professional works, but immensely sad to lose some of her highly treasured paintings of her beloved rabbits.

After a while, the rabbits finished their water and hopped closer to Bea and Thomas. It was time to get back to work!!

They got up and went back to what they had been working on before the break. Bea got through her pile fairly quickly, so went over to see if Thomas needed help finishing his current task of sifting through rubble for objects that should not be thrown away. She knelt down next to him and started working.

She had only been there about five minutes when she heard a sharp gasp from Thomas. She looked over at him to see him holding his hand with a pained look on his face.

"Thomas!?" she exclaimed worriedly, "are you okay?!"

"That's a good question," he answered cynically, trying to lighten the mood.

Bea quickly ran to get more water from inside, as well as towels and a first-aid kit.

She return to see all of the rabbits gathered around Thomas. She asked them to move out of the way, and they quickly complied.

"Thomas, let me see your hand," she commanded gently.

She quickly wet the towel as he hesitantly uncovered his hand and held it out. She expertly wiped the area surrounding the wound before checking it for glass. Satisfied with her findings, she worked to disinfect and clean the wound, which turned out to be a minor – which was easily treatable with the supplies she had.

As she tenderly cleaned and bandaged the wound, Thomas watched her with admiration clearly present in his eyes. When she finally looked up after accomplishing her task, she blushed and turned her head slightly to avoid his gaze.

"There you are! Good as new!" Bea said cheerfully.

"Thank you," Thomas replied, taking her hand in his uninjured one and sneezing it gently.

She gathered her supplies, stood, and helped him up. Then, they headed toward her house with the rabbits at their heels.

Once Bea had put everything away and handed Thomas some mild painkillers (she couldn't bear to see him with his face contorted by pain), she said,

"I'm glad you're all right, but I don't think we should do any more work for today, just in case."

He nodded in agreement. Bea then asked him to stay for dinner, to which he readily accepted.

Chapter Text

"Any requests?" Bea asked as Thomas sat at the kitchen table.
"No, whatever you were planning is perfectly fine."
"Okay, I was planning on baked chicken with salad. That sound okay?"
"Perfect! Thank you," Thomas replied.
Bea turned to grab a dish for the chicken and preheat the oven before getting other items out of the fridge. Thomas watched her with a smile on his face, 'gosh, she was gorgeous'. Then, the thought occurred to him that he should be helping Bea. He quickly jumped up and walked over to her.
"Anything I can do to help?" He asked.
"Sure, you want to wash that lettuce?"
"Of course!" He said as he grabbed the lettuce and headed to the sink. He deftly started washing the lettuce. A few minutes later, Bea looked over at Thomas and smiled. He felt her gaze on him and turned to meet her eyes. They smiled at each other, blushed, and awkward looked away. After another few minutes, Thomas turned away from the sink with a bowl full of freshly cleaned lettuce. He set the bowl down on the kitchen table. Just as he started walking towards Bea, she backed up to open the oven and ran right into him.
"Oh!" She gasped as she quickly tried to step away and regain her balance. "I'm so sorry, are you all right?"
"Perfectly fine, and you?"
"Startled and slightly embarrassed," she replied, blushing.
"Don't be," he said while staring deep into her eyes.
Then Bea suddenly realized what had led to her running into Thomas and quickly turned, opened the oven, and grabbed the chicken.
As she transferred it onto two plates, Thomas asked, "What about the rabbits?"
"They're eating down in their burrow tonight."
"Okay," Thomas replied.
As Bea set their plates on the table and grabbed silverware and napkins, she motioned for Thomas to sit down, but he didn't. Instead, he went over and pulled out her chair for her. She blushed and murmured a 'thank you'. He nodded his head in response as he took his seat across from her. To her surprise, he reached for her hands and she willingly extended then into his. He began to say the blessing and Bea joined right in with the prayer she had known by heart since she was a little girl. At the end, Thomas gently squeezed Bea's hands before they broke contact.
"I had no idea you..."
"You're Catholic..."
They began at the same time but stopped as soon as they realized the other was speaking.
Thomas nodded, so Bea went ahead, "Thomas, I had no idea that you were Catholic as well!"
"Yes, likewise," came his response.
Bea giggled, "You learn something new every day."
"Yes, I suppose that is true," Thomas replied, chuckling.
They enjoyed their dinner, talking, sharing stories, and getting to know one another better, all the while falling deeper and deeper in love. When they were done, Bea washed the dishes while Thomas dried them.
Then, they put them away and Thomas stood awkwardly before quickly saying, "Thank you so much for dinner, it was delightful."
Bea nodded and said, "Yes, we should do this more often. It was very nice."
"Well, I guess I'd better be getting home before it gets too much darker."
"Yes," Bea agreed, "especially since you don't have your fancy head flashlight contraption with you."
Thomas laughed and said, "Well, thank you again, this really was very enjoyable. And thank you for patching me up today."
"No trouble at all," Bea replied, taking a step closer.
They both stood there a moment, contemplating their next moves. They reached the same decision simultaneously and both leaned in for a hug. It was surprisingly comfortable, Bea noted, especially considering how awkward it had seemed between them lately.
As they broke apart, Thomas smiled, "Well, bye..." and headed to the door, where Bea met him.
As they reached it, Bea said, "the garden, tomorrow morning, eight o'clock?"
Thomas smiled, "I'll be there, ready to start working."
He opened the door and walked out into the night. Bea stood at the doorway, watching him walk towards his house.
"Good night!" She called.
He turned and saw her.
"Good night!" He replied and turned back to continue his walk.
After he was out of sight in the dark, Bea closed the door. She couldn't stop smiling as she worked on a painting and then got ready for bed. She went to sleep with the same goofy, lovesick smile that was on the face of Thomas as he lay trying to find sleep, but mind racing, just over the hill.

Chapter Text

Thomas and Bea continued to work on cleaning up the rubble and reconstructing Bea's house, all the while falling more and more in love without the other one seeming to notice.

They had begun to reconstruct the frame of Bea's favorite room, the sunroom in which she painted. It was a large task to finish this, and they knew that they would end up bringing in help in the form of a construction crew, though they wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

One day, they were sitting in Bea's kitchen, trying to get quotes on the rebuilding of the sunroom. So far, they had gotten a few good quotes, and were satisfied with their work for the day. They would think about their different options and call one or two of the companies back in the morning.

Just then, Bea's stomach growled and she giggled, causing Thomas to let out a low chuckle of his own.

"Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?" Thomas asked.

"That would be lovely," Bea replied. They had worked all day long on the sunroom and had then been calling for quotes, so to say they were tired was quite a large understatement.

"I'll go get cleaned up and then we'll head out," Bea said.

"Okay," Thomas agreed. "I should probably go freshen up as well," he remarked, glancing down at his shirt and hands, which were both still stained from the dirt and ash.

"Meet you in 20 minutes?" Bea queried as she started for her room.

"Perfect," came the reply as Thomas headed for the door.

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Eighteen minutes later, Thomas stood in front of Bea's house, with the truck parked not far away, near the road. He didn't have to wait long for Bea to open the front door and slip out. As she turned toward him, Thomas felt his breath catch. She always took his breath away, even sweaty and tired after a long day of working. She wasn't dressed up, but he still thought she looked amazing.

She smiled down at him shyly, and his smile lit up his face.

"Shall we?" he heard himself say.

"We shall," she replied enthusiastically, taking the arm he offered.

"Milady," he said with an dramatized accent and a bow. He looked up at her with a goofy grin as he opened her door for her and helped her in.

"Why thank you, kind sir," she replied with the same dramatic accent and a graceful bow of her head. She looked at him and laughed softly, causing him to join in her mirth.

He quickly shut the door, ran around the other side, and jumped in the car. He started the engine and pulled onto the road. Unlike the first time he had driven along that road, he drove at a leisurely pace. For the most part, they didn't say anything, until Bea spoke.

"Look how beautiful the stars are tonight."

"Simply gorgeous," Thomas answered, looking at Bea. She turned and saw that he was looking at her a blushed deeply. Thomas smiled at her shyness.

Soon enough, they arrived at the restaurant. It was a small cafe, on the very outskirts of town. They went inside and asked for a table for two. They were led to a small table tucked away in a corner with dim lighting. Thomas pulled out Bea's chair for her, and she thanked him, sitting down.

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They had ordered and eaten, so they were now talking quietly as they waited for the bill.

When it came, Thomas readily accepted it and waved off Bea's protests and offers to split it.

"Thank you, Thomas," Bea said as he paid the bill.

"No trouble at all."

They headed out to the car, and, like before, Thomas opened Bea's door for her and extended a hand to assist her into the truck. She gratefully accepted it, being extremely tired. Suddenly, she felt wide awake again at the jolt of electricity that ran through her from their touch. Thomas felt the same electricity and maintained the contact for longer than was strictly necessary. When he finally broke the contact, Bea still held his gaze and Thomas detected something in her eyes. He couldn't place exactly what the emotion was.

Just then, a group of teenage girls walked out of the cafe, breaking the trance that Bea and Thomas had fallen in to. He shut her door quickly and walked around the car to get in.

They pulled away and fell into a comfortable silence, each alone with their own thoughts. Unsurprisingly, their thoughts did not differ greatly. Both repeatedly analyzed the situation of several moments ago. Once Bea had concluded these thoughts and decided on what her feelings were, she yawned.

"Sleepy?" Thomas queried softly.

Bea simply nodded in response. Mere seconds later, Bea had drifted off to sleep. Thomas looked over and saw her asleep with a perfectly contented smile on her face.

"Sweet dreams, love," he whispered tenderly.

He continued to drive home. A short while later, he pulled up at Bea's house. He walked around the car to open her door and wake her up.

"Wake up, Bea. We're here," he said.

She barely even stirred. He tried shaking her lightly by the shoulder instead. This only succeeded in her leaning against him and burrowing in to his chest. He chuckled softly, causing her to shift slightly. This small change threw him off balance, and he fell backwards, Bea falling with him. Thankfully, the fall was not far, and the grass was extremely soft. As soon as she felt the impact, which for her was slightly less because she landed somewhat on top of him, she woke up. Bea blinked a few times and stared at Thomas with a confused expression.

"Good morning, gorgeous," he said jokingly.

Suddenly, a look of realization as to their current situation and how they got there crossed her face, along with a deep blush. She quickly shifted off of Thomas, but that strange, nonetheless pleasant, look from earlier remained on his face.

"Are you okay?" Bea asked. "What happened?"

"I'm fine. You fell asleep, and I tried to wake you up, but you leaned into me and caused me to lose my balance, thus our current situation," he replied.

"Oh... I'm sorry," Bea said quietly.

"Nothing to apologize for," he remarked, standing up and offering her his hand.

She readily accepted it, and he helped her up. The same electricity from earlier was back. When she stood up, she was a lot closer to Thomas than she had anticipated. She was going to back away, but was captivated and drawn in by his eyes. Such deep, dark, never-ending space. Even the twinkle in his eye made her think of a star out in the vast universe.

It seemed as though time had come to a standstill. Both though back to earlier, and at the same time, tentatively and cautiously leaned in.

The electricity felt at the touch of their hands was nothing compared to the feeling of their lips gently touching. The kiss was feather-light, only lasting a few seconds, but held so much meaning and emotion. As they parted, Bea could still feel the burning sensation from where his lips had been pressed mere moments before. She slowly exhaled, and Thomas relished the feeling of her warm breath washing over his face, a nice contrast to the cool night air.

They stepped apart, and Thomas walked Bea to her door.

"Good night, Bea."

"Good night, Thomas. Thank you for everything!"

"Everything?" he asked slyly, with a smirk.

"Yes, everything," she replied, shaking her head in mock annoyance.

"Any time," he replied, walking to his truck and driving away.

Bea smiled and walked inside.