A week had passed since movie night, and Thomas was no closer to confessing his feelings. Never in the man's life, or death, had he had such trouble with confessing his emotions to someone.

It had gotten to the point that he would avoid Elizabeth when he could, to try and avoid any awkward silences and averted gazes. She would try to engage in conversation but all he could do was stutter out half a sentence while looking anywhere but at Elizabeth.

And to make matters more difficult for the man, Elizabeth had started using his new nickname frequently. Whenever Elizabeth would tap his shoulder, smile and say "Hi Tommy" he swore he could feel his heart melt.

"What's the point" Thomas whispered to himself, gazing out of the library window. "It'll take another century for me to confess my true feelings to her."

"Oh? To who?" A voice inquired.

Thomas shot his head around, meeting eyes with Alison. "Good afternoon Alison. I'm afraid I find myself in a difficult situation." He sighed, turning his gaze back to what lay outside the window.

"And what would that be?" She asked, taking a seat next to him.

Thomas turned his head to Alison, his eyes sorrowful. "If I tell you, do you swear not to spread the word?"

Alison nodded, getting excited for whatever she was about to hear.

"Alright then" he began. "It's Elizabeth. I...I'm in love with her. I have been for a long time now. These past few days our relationship has started to develop, and well, so have my feelings for her. All I wish is to tell her how I really feel but...it's so hard. Truly I never thought that doing something of this nature would present such a challenge to me, but here we are I suppose. If only I could find whatever was stopping me from confessing and work around it."

Alison sat agog after Thomas finally spilled the beans. "Oh Tom, have you maybe considered that you're...scared of rejection? Perhaps you feel like if you were to tell Liz how you really feel then she wouldn't feel the same way, and that she'd reject you."

Thomas sat quietly for a moment. Was it really that simple? "Yes, yes that could be it. But how do I overcome that? A fear of rejection is something I've held with me for years. How am I supposed to move past that?"

Alison hummed in thought. "Oh! Maybe you could start small. Give her a compliment and try and read her reaction. Tell her she's pretty, tell her you like her singing, build it up. And then, when you're ready, boom! Ask her out!"

A smile spread across the poet's face. "Yes! That sounds wonderful! Oh thank you Alison, you've helped me more than you could possibly know." With that he stood, leaving the room in search of Elizabeth.

Alison smiled as he walked away. "You're welcome."

—————————————————————————

Elizabeth was sitting contently on the roof, enjoying the quiet. This was her favourite place to come, especially considering her room was so close to the attic.

She hummed peacefully to herself, taking out her note book and reading over the words for the millionth time.

Suddenly her peace was interrupted by the clearing of a throat. She turned to see who it was, and smiled when Thomas met her eyes.

"Hi Tommy" she smiled, shifting over slightly and inviting him to sit with her. "It feels like it's been forever since we last spoke. You haven't been avoiding me have you?" She laughed.

Thomas laughed lightly, enjoying the sweet sound of her laugh. "No, not intentionally anyway" he lied. "Are you alright? You usually come up here when you need to clear your head."

Elizabeth let out a small sigh. "I'm fine, I just enjoy the quiet up here. No one here to bother you, the sounds of the birds chirping, it's beautiful. And from up here you get the best view of the sun setting. In fact, we might just be in time for it, looks like it's starting now."

Thomas glanced towards the horizon. She was right, the sun was beginning to set, giving the sky a wonderful orange hue.

"It's beautiful" Elizabeth sighed, looking wistfully towards the setting sun.

"Almost as beautiful as you" Thomas smiled, ignoring the sunset in favour of the beauty sitting beside him.

Elizabeth felt her cheeks heat up as he complimented her so smoothly. She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear as she stuttered out a thank you.

The realisation of what he had actually said started to set in, and Thomas found himself blushing as well. The compliment just slipped out! So much for building it up.

Thomas let out a deep sigh and turned to Elizabeth, feeling a surge of bravery flow through him. "Lizzy, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, and I'm sorry I couldn't work up the nerve to tell you sooner."

Elizabeth turned her head to face the man, her cheeks getting redder by the second. "What is it?"

Thomas took her hand, and placed it over his heart. "Lizzy, I love everything about you. Your smile, your laugh, your eyes, your singing, and that's just a few of the things! You're such an angel, and I feel truly blessed to be able to experience my death around someone like you. I love you Lizzy, I really do."

Elizabeth's eyes were wide, staring at the blushing poet opposite her. "Thomas I-"

Thomas let go of her hand, becoming very flustered. "Oh I'm so sorry, I'm sure you'll refuse me. I just blurted it out! Please just forget I said any-"

"Oh shut up" Elizabeth said, grabbing his face and pressing her lips against his, her face practically burning.

Thomas initially went stiff with surprise, but slowly started to melt into it, closing his eyes and placing a hand on the side of Elizabeth's face.

As they broke the kiss, they looked at each other. Eyes wandering over each other's faces until they met. A smile spreading across both their faces.

Elizabeth placed her hand on the side of Thomas's face. "I love you too, Tommy. Honestly I've been dropping hints for months! I'm so glad you feel the same way" she grinned, pressing her forehead to his.

Thomas was speechless. All he could manage was a few childish giggles. He was the happiest he'd been in years, centuries even. "Lizzy, you're so amazing. Oh how wonderful it feels to be able to say that I love you. Because I truly do. You make me so happy."

Thomas leaned in for another kiss, which Lizzy gladly accepted, both of them smiling like idiots. As they parted, Elizabeth put her arms around Thomas's waist, laying her head on his shoulder. Thomas put his arms around her, and they laid back onto the roof, peacefully watching the sunset in each other's arms.