A/N: So, I realised that I need to make up a schedule for Strictly, as the original collides with everything I've planned. So please, know that I know this.
Also, I may have forgotten Bobby in chapter 1. Shame on me, but he's in this now, getting in on the action ;)
Please, let me know what you think :)
Also also, here'll be smut. A little bit.

---
„Thomas William Hiddleston!“ It’s more a screech than a shout, and Nina knows this. But how dare he not tell her this? How dare he make her find out on the internet first, and then his social media account which he hasn’t used in forever? Oh no. Thomas William Hiddleston is not going to survive this evening.

She just needs to find him first. From the office she makes her way to the hallway. It’s suspiciously quiet, but then again if she were him, she wouldn’t dare to announce her presence either now.

And then she hears a cabinet door open and close in the kitchen. Aha! His love for sweets always gets him in trouble somehow, why should this be different?

Nina pads along the hallway and stops at the open door to their kitchen. There he is, one hand still holding the cabinet door, the other holding a piece of chocolate.

He’s standing half with his back and half with his side to her, and Nina can see a faint grin forming on his lips. He knows she’s there. But does he know what she’ll do next?

With a shout she runs towards him, and before Tom can properly turn around, she’s on him from behind, her legs tightly locked around his waist.

The momentum propels them forward a bit, and with one hand Nina manages to snatch the piece of chocolate from him, while her other arm tightly wraps around his shoulders.

“Hey!” She has no idea if the offended tone in Tom's voice is more about the chocolate or the attack, but he deserves both. “Hey, hey, hey!” He’s laughing now, making it so very hard for Nina to keep her face straight. She’s happy for him of course, but how dare he not telling her everything?

“A series, Tom? A Loki series? More stories to tell, more mischief to make, more to come? Really now?” Just for good measure she slaps his chest, holding on a bit tighter.

Tom laughs on, and now Nina can’t hold it in herself. “You meanie! This is fucking huge, Tom! And you just didn’t tell me. I’m mad at you!”

“Are you though?”

“Very,” she pouts, still slapping away. That is until Tom grabs hold of her feet in front of his stomach and starts tickling. “No! Tom! Stop!”

They’re a laughing mess in the middle of the kitchen now, Tom swaying back and forth trying to tickle her while at the same time trying to stop her from swatting at him. Nina just tries to hold on.

Eventually they bump into the small kitchen table they only use for rushed coffees and toasts or as an additional counter whenever the baking and cooking gets too messy (it almost always does).

Instead of falling backwards with her, Tom manages to sit Nina down on it, using her surprise to make her let go and turns around, standing between her legs, caging her in with both of his arms on either side of her hips. They’re still giggling, both catching their breaths.

Nina looks at him, really looks at him. She hasn’t seen him this delighted in a while. Not about anything work related at least. Of course he’s been happy. He has a great family, great friends, they’re happy together. But he also missed shooting a movie, she can tell.

“You’re happy,” she smiles, the fingers of her right hand brushing a stray curl back from his forehead.

“I am.”

“Good.”

“You’re not really mad?” he asks and grins, leaning closer, making Nina drop her hand and hold on to his waist instead. “At me? For not telling you?”

“You know I’m not really mad,” she whispers.

He’s so close now, his breath fanning over her own lips, and she can smell the beer he had with his roast this evening, and a bit of that chocolate he only got a taste of for dessert. All she can do is keep her eyes open and look at him, her brown eyes meeting his blue ones.

Just as Nina leans forward a bit to not just smell but also feel his lips, she sees Tom’s grin. It’s too late to react, and before she knows what’s going on, it’s back to tickling, this time all she can do is to hold her sides and kick out, a laughing mess in the kitchen table.

***
“Ah, look, one part of the ‘Very busy, but oh-so-hot couple’,” Michelle greets Nina as she’s made her way through the busy cafe and sits down on the other side of the table.

Nina rolls her eyes. “Oi, you read it too?”

“Of course I did. The new power couple. So successful again.”

She eyes her friend with a frown. Michelle grins back at her, an omelette and a coffee already in front of her, a green jacket over the back of her chair and a dress in vintage style wrapped around her curves.

“Are those little pin-up-girls on your dress?”

“Nice try. You can’t distract me,” Michelle laughs. “And yes, they are. Now, order your breakfast and tell me everything.”

So, she does. There isn’t much to tell really. Nothing new, except that Tom and Nina will both be exceptional busy in the next couple of months. And the media latched on to that of course.

Because yes, five days after breaking the silence on social media with his tweet about Loki, Tom managed to shock possibly every single one of his fans with the news he’s about to do Betrayal – the Harold Pinter play about exactly that – on West End in London.

And another day later it was also announced that European championship winner Katharina Wesselowa is actually about to join the cast of Strictly Come Dancing.

It’ll be hectic, and they won’t have much time for each other with both of them in rehearsals and the premieres and finales close together. The first round of Strictly is set for the weekend before the Betrayal premiere with the Strictly finale two weeks after the play's.

Well, if Nina makes it that far. Maybe her partner will be horrible and she’ll have all the time in the world to watch every single one of Tom’s performances.

She won’t be able to make it to the first and last show, but they both talked about it in lengths. She’ll make it to other matinees or evening performances and will miss a few.

Just like Tom didn't manage to see all of Nina's championships. They’re used to it.

“That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy, though,” she concludes her retelling of the past week. “I’m not even sure Tom’s used to the stress anymore. He’s running through the house like a chicken on speed already, and these were just the announcements.” At Michelle’s laugh, she opens her eyes wide. “Really! At one point I turned off his phone, because he was constantly checking it for news and reactions.”

“You both need some time off before you really start to work.”

“Well, Tom will be at Comic Con in freaking Tokyo by the end of the month.”

Michelle makes a face as she sips from her second coffee. “That’s not really relaxing. And in less than two weeks.”

“Yeah.” She sighs, eats the last of her own omelette, and then sighs again. “I think I’ll take him to drive up to his mum’s this weekend. It’s so calm by the sea, and he just loves it. And we can take Bobby. I don’t even know who’s more excited on the trips up north.”

***
And so that’s what they do. Tom insists he actually doesn’t really need the small getaway, but Nina takes it as a silent thank you when he lets her drive them there while he relaxes on the passenger seat, Bobby happily watching everything that’s going on outside from his place in the trunk.

“Thank you,” Tom mumbles from her left, just five minutes before they’re about to arrive at Diana's, making Nina take her eyes off the street for a moment and look at her boyfriend instead. He looks back at her with slightly tired eyes, but the bouncing of his knee has stopped, and there’s a genuine smile on his face.

“Hm?”

“For taking me there. It’s been a bit much these last couple of days. Exciting, but much.”

Their hands meet on Nina's thigh. “You’re more than welcome. I need the calm before the storm as well.”

***
“Alright, you two, I’ll see you in the morning,” Tom’s mum says the next night, “It's been a lovely day, but I’m beat.” The small woman that reminds Nina so much of Tom stands up from her spot on the sofa, bending and kissing both her son and Nina on their cheeks as she passes them to make her way to her bedroom on the first floor.

It has indeed been a lovely day, Nina thinks as she snuggles closer to Tom, taking a sip of her red wine. They both slept in, then had a late breakfast while Diana was out and about doing some shopping. They met up in the afternoon, and walked. Just walked along the beach with Bobby running from one of his favourite people to the other, barking at the waves here and there. They made their way back through town, stopping just to have a pub dinner, before they returned home to open a bottle of wine and start a fire in the fireplace.

“I love you,” Nina mumbles and tilts her head up to meet Tom’s lips with hers.

He hums against her, and she can feel his lips forming a smile. “I love you too. But where does this come from?”

Nina shrugs and moves back a bit. “I just feel like the next months will be so busy, and I want you to know. Plus, I’m feeling so calm and relaxed right now. And I just love you.”

“Hm-hm.”

It’s all the answer she gets, before Tom takes both of their wine glasses to put them on the small table in front of them. And then his lips are back on hers, his body pressing Nina back, his hands roaming her sides, tugging at the jumper she’s wearing.

“Tom...”

“Hmm.”

“We can’t... your mum...,” she mumbles between kisses, “and Bobby,” she then gets out, but it’s just because Tom’s lips leave her mouth to find a way south.

“Please, don’t mention my mum or our dog when I’m trying to seduce you,” he murmurs against her neck, and she feels and hears his pout.

“They'll catch us.” It’s embarrassing really, how fast she’s gone from protesting to whimpering. And despite her words, Nina's arms wrap around Tom’s neck, pulling his head up again to kiss him. For real this time.

“Bobby won’t care,” he mumbles, “and Mum's in bed.”

“I want to be in bed as well.”

That’s all it takes. In one – or maybe two – swift motion Tom’s up from the sofa, all but throwing her over his shoulder. Bobby's already on his doggy bed in the hall, so Nina tries to silence her giggles as Tom switches off the lights as he goes and then storms up the stairs, only walking slowly as they pass the bedroom door, and then rushes to his old room.

The giggles soon turn into moans as they both get rid off their clothes, taking turns undressing the other.

They take their time then, biting, licking, kissing, and teasing, Tom using his tongue to make Nina see stars twice before she takes him in her hand and almost makes him come undone before Tom stops her to slide home.

They move together, muffling their moans with open-mouthed kisses, breathing into and for each other.

“Are you close?” Tom whispers, “I need you to be close.”

When Nina doesn’t answer – she can’t, she doesn’t even know her own name – Tom sneaks one hand down, touching her bundle of nerves.

“God, Tom,” she moans and hisses. “I’m...”

“Yes.”

They come together and just lay still for a few moments afterwards, both of them panting heavily, before Tom moves to get off her.

They’re tangled together, sweaty, but satisfied, both drawing patterns on the other's body.

“It won’t get too much for us, will it?” Nina whispers into the silence.

She knows how busy Tom’s shooting schedule was before she entered his life. And she’s been with him during awards promos and tours for his movies. She knows jet lagged and tired and even anxious Tom. But it’s been a while.

“Never. And we’ll have each other to hold on to.”