Benedict's POV

"Is that what Chris said?!"

"Yep! The mighty Thor and his hammer." I wipe my eyes and Tom leans back, taking another sip of his Earl Grey. "Threatening is not acceptable." Sighing, I grasped my cup of coffee.

"I've missed our rabble Tom." He smiled.

"Me too. But I guess..." Tom moved forward. "That is what work and fame does to you."

"Yeh..." I sipped my coffee and put the cup back onto the table. "So..." I lowered my voice. "Tom." And brought the volume back up again. "How long are you in London?" Tom sighs.

"About a few weeks." I smile slightly.

"That's cool." He combs his fingers through his hair and slaps his hands onto his legs.

"I think it's time to turn in... Timothy."

"I think so too... William." We both smirk and grab our things, thanking the waitresses, before making our way outside of the shop.

I rub my hands together and Tom wraps a scarf around his neck, slipping on his sunglasses. I laugh.

"Seriously, sunglasses? It's dark."

"I'm from the dark side remember." Tom whispers and smiles. "See you later buddy." He places one arm around me and I place one around his.

"Yeh, catch you soon." We seperate, Tom patting my shoulder.

"Good luck with your new job. And... Ivy, she looks like a nice girl." Simpering, I bow my head.

"I think women... aren't on my list since those years ago."

"Well... I remember that girl. Those masks, I still have them. Anyway, I'll call you." Tom waves at me and he makes his way away from me.

And I, on the other hand, just stand there and gaze at the sky.

It's about six in the evening and the sky was pitch black. The moon shone like a crystal in the night sky and the stars glistened.

After a few moments, I begin to walk off and snow crunches under my feet. Zipping up my coat, I keep walking and I come across a woman struggling to hold a lot of bags and folders. I rush to her, peering my head around her figure.

"Would you like some help?" She slowly turns.

"No thank yo-"

It was Ivy.

"Ms Harper." My voice suddenly switches to a high pitch and I clear my throat. "Ivy..."

"Benedict."

"Do you want some help?" Ivy clenches a smile and juggles her bags and folder.

"No, I'm fi-" Swiftly, I grasp a falling folder.

"You sure?" I hold the folder out to her, simpering. She glares at me and then lets out a heavy sigh.

"No, I'm not." She groans and I take hold of a few of her bags.

"There you go." Smiling, she holds the rest tightly.

"Thank you." She pauses. "Wait, does that mean you'll be..." I lift an eyebrow. Ivy scrunches her lips. "Never mind. Follow me."

I part my lips, but then I find myself trailing behind Ivy. I soon catch up with her as we both wait at the bus stop.

Ivy drops her things onto the floor and sits down, blowing her hands warm.

"The bus will be... here soon." She tilts her head. "... Hopefully..." I stamp my feet, sitting next to her.

"So, Ms Harper, Ivy. How long have you been here in London?" Licking her lips, Ivy looks at me.

"About... oh, five years." Ivy peers her head around the shelter. "I... moved here from Birmingham, five years after I had my daughter, so." I narrow my eyes.

"Your daughter, she's about ten right?" Ivy scoffs.

"What's with the questions Benedict?" I shrug.

"I'm a curious man. I prefer to know something about my boss." Ivy smirks and breaths out, a fine crisp ball of smoke exiting her mouth and nose.

"Yes, she is..." I drop my mouth. "How did you know...?" Smiling for a moment, I tense my cheekbones.

"I'm very good at... guessing. Besides, you told me that y-you have been living here for five years and you left five years after you had your daughter so..." Ivy narrows her eyes at me.

"Wow... You really are some kind of a Sherlock, Benedict."

"Please... it's Ben." She folds her arms.

"Why are you helping me?" I frown.

"Sorry?"

"You let me call you Ben, and you are helping me the amount of bags that I have... Do you want a raise or something?" I chuckle, shaking my head. "What?"

"Oh um, I was just trying to make some friends."

"I... well..." Ivy bits her bottom lips and sighs. "S-sorry. Men, they only seem to want to sleep with me... so..."

"I'm sorry."

"No... it doesn't matter. What is happening now, matters." I raise my eyebrows.

"It definitely does." Sighing, my ears perk up. "I think... that's the-"

"Bus!" Ivy cried out, shooting her hand out in order to stop it.

I pick up the bags and Ivy picks up hers, swiping her oyster card onto the reader and I swiped mine.

Both of us sat down next to each other and placed the bags and folders onto the floor.

"Okay 'Ben,' your turn."

"What?"

"How long have you been here for?" I smile.

"A while, but I rarely leave my home. It's big and lonely in there. I don't like it much." Ivy slowly nods her head.

"You said something else to me this morning..." I freeze.

"Okay, I admit, I didn't want to say I was a vampire! I never left my house so yeh. Unless I was meeting Tom." Ivy smiles slightly.

"You and Tom close?"

"Yeh, been buddies for while. Ever since college..." My mouth drooped and I remembered that night.

"Benedict?" I blinked continuously.

"Sorry. But, yeh. A while." Ivy stuck her head up and grabbed some of the bags.

"We need to get off." She gets up, squashing out of her seat.

I clutch onto the other bags and both of us scramble to the door.

'Currently stopping at Notting Hill. This is the number 309.'

"Talking busses?" Ivy chuckles.

"Did you not notice it this morning?"

"I don't pay attention..." The bus grinds to a halt and the door open, myself and Ivy rushing outside.

Damn, it was freezing.

"This way!" Ivy increases the volume of her voice as she paces down a dark street. The houses were quite big, but not as a big as my own.

"You live in these houses?"

"They're not exactly houses. Been bought off by people and they make money by converting them into flats. It's quite conveniently located for myself." I smirk.

"I bet..." We rush towards the number 9 and Ivy stretches into her pocket for her keys.

The door opens and my mouth drops. Oh my God.

There are stairs. Stairs, stairs and more stairs.

Flights of stairs.

"Yep. A good workout for me and my Emily..." Ivy sighs, taking a deep breath. "Let's go."

And slowly we make our way up the stairs.

Heaving.

Out of breath.

My legs started to cramp up while Ivy charged up the stairs, even though I thought doing that would make it more painful.

Finally, we both hit the last flight and we both stopped, breathing heavily and rapidly.

"My, my..." I managed to huff out. "That... will kill me..." Ivy chuckles.

"Wow. Well, you need the exercise, I can tell." Both of us smile and I handed Ivy her bags. "This is where we separate." She holds out her hand. "Good day Mr Cumberbatch. Well, Benedict." I smile, shaking firmly.

"Good day Ms Harper, Ivy."

Oh no. I just remembered.

I have to go back down.