Chapter 3: No Longer Neighbours

It had been five months since Sybil and Tom's first date. Their relationship had progressed quickly, and it had only taken a few weeks for them to fall into bed together, much to Gwen's excitement. They had been almost inseparable since that moment. Most of their evenings (and many of their nights) were spent at Tom's house, whilst Lydia was in bed. Ideally they would have spent more time at Sybil's house, but with Lydia around, it was easier to keep her in her own home and her own bed than to disrupt matters.

Lydia had recently started Year 2 at school, having turned 6 in early summer. She'd only been back at school for a few weeks, but she was enjoying it immensely. Despite her young age, she seemed to have her father's thirst for knowledge. Maths was her favourite subject, along with history. She was currently learning about the Great Fire of London and after each history lesson she would come home with new facts to spurt to Tom and Sybil. Lydia was now very used to having Sybil around. She knew that she stayed the night in Tom's bed and that they loved each other and that they both still loved her. At first Lydia found it hard to think that Tom could care so greatly for another person. For all of Lydia's life, he had projected all of his love and care onto her, but now Sybil was in the picture and Tom was splitting his attention between the two of them. Sybil had tried to help in any way she could, by giving Lydia some time alone with her father when she needed it, and by spending time to bond with her, just the girls together, when the time was right.

The three of them had unexpectedly become a family unit. Tom never intended things to turn out how they had. He had expected him and Sybil to date without Lydia knowing that they were anything more than friends. But Lydia was a clever girl and had asked too many questions that Tom couldn't leave unanswered.

Lydia liked Sybil and she liked that when Sybil was picking her up from school she could say her "daddy's girlfriend" was picking her up, rather than having to say her "next door neighbour" was picking her up. Lydia had really latched on to the idea of having Sybil around the house so much and having Sybil look after her as much as Tom did.

-ooo-

Sybil and Tom were lying together in bed, wearing very few clothes. They were going through an Indian summer and even though the window was open, the air was humid and there was no breeze. Of course it didn't help that they had only a short while ago partaken in some very physical activities with one another.

Despite the heat and the fact that they wanted nothing more than for their bare bodies to be pressed together, they had thrown on some lightweight clothes. They had learnt by experience that staying naked together for too long was a risky business when there was a six year old in the house who sometimes woke up and came looking for the adults. Tom was wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms and Sybil was wearing one of Tom's oversized tops that came to below her backside – the same top that he had lent her on that night when she stayed in the spare room.

"I feel like we haven't been this close in ages," Tom said quietly, nuzzling Sybil's hair with his chin as he curled strands around his fingers.

"We haven't," Sybil said, settling deeper into the crook of his arm, placing a hand on his bare chest. "We've barely seen each other for weeks."

"You work too hard," Tom said, slowly running a hand up and down her arm.

"So do you," Sybil replied, tracing patterns on his chest.

"I don't work hard enough," Tom said, berating himself as he so often did when it came to his work. He loved his job, but when things didn't go to plan he blamed himself. For the past few weeks things hadn't been going to plan. There was too much going on at work and at home and he felt like he wasn't concentrating entirely on either.

"Tom you work harder than anyone I know," Sybil said, shifting in her spot to face Tom, propping herself up on her elbows. "You work a full time job, you're a single parent and you go above and beyond to make your daughter happy."

"Am I single? What are you trying to tell me?" Tom teased, his lop-sided smirk forming on his lips.

"You know what I mean," Sybil said with a small laugh. "You put all of your energy into giving Lydia the best life you can, but you're burning yourself out. You can't put one hundred percent into loving Lydia and one hundred percent into work and one hundred percent into our relationship. You don't have three hundred percent, Tom. Nobody does. You need to look after yourself or you'll break."

Tom held Sybil's gaze and frowned slightly.

"What?" Sybil said, her own brows knotting together.

"It's nothing," Tom said, shaking his head and avoiding Sybil's gaze.

"Hey, Tom," she urged, cupping his face with her hand and turning his face towards her, "speak to me. What's wrong?"

"I've just felt like you've been a bit distant from me recently," he confessed.

"I've just been working too many unsocial hours," she said. "I feel like I've been a bit distant from everyone recently."

"But, Syb, I've felt like you've loved me less," Tom said.

Sybil shifted uncomfortably in her place. She didn't move away from Tom, but she did avert his gaze.

"Sybil?" Tom asked, a slight tone of panic invading his voice. "Speak to me, love."

Sybil sighed.

"I haven't loved you less," she said, looking him in the eye again. "I could never love you less. I love you more than I ever knew possible."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I've been thinking about Lydia's mother," Sybil said slowly, not knowing what Tom's reaction would be. Sybil knew practically nothing about Lydia's mother, other than that she wasn't in the picture and never had been. "What happened? You never mention her. Neither does Lydia. Why is that?"

"It's all in the past, I suppose," Tom said, clearly becoming uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

"Just because it's in the past, it doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about it," Sybil said. "I've told you about all of my past relationships. And you've told me about all of yours. Apart from your relationship with Lydia's mother."

"You know about my relationship with Steph. It lasted long enough for her to get pregnant, give birth, take off and leave me with a new-born daughter. That's all there is to it," Tom said, wanting the conversation to end.

"But it's not is it?" Sybil pried.

Tom sat up slightly and shuffled away from Sybil a little.

"I know you don't want to talk about it," Sybil said. "But I don't see a way that we can be together if I don't know what happened six years ago. I know it was one of the worst times of your life. I get that. But it's an important part. It left you with a beautiful daughter to look after. How can we carry on together if I don't understand what happened?"

Tom sighed and took a calming breath to explain his past.

"I started going out with Steph when we were both at university. She was a year younger than me. I was studying history and politics, she was studying English. Then all it took was one drunken night, sex without protection, and she was pregnant."

Sybil moved to sit up, her legs crossed beneath her. She knew this was hard for Tom to talk about. His past hadn't been an easy one, and Sybil was now finding out exactly why.

"We were both too young. I was nearly 22, she had just turned 21. I had just started my first job after uni, and she was in her final year. We talked it over and weighed up all the options and we decided to go through with it. Neither of us was settled in terms of a job or a house. Nothing about our predicament said we were ready to have a baby and raise a child, but Steph wouldn't even consider an abortion."

"Did you want her to have one?" Sybil asked.

"I never knew what I felt about it. I never really had to make a decision though. Steph was so much against the idea that I didn't even get a chance to work through my own feelings about it."

Sybil looked down at her hands in her lap and her eyebrows pulled together. She couldn't imagine going through what Tom had been through with Steph.

"So we went through with it and we had Lydia. I was there every step of the way. I knew an abortion wasn't an option, so I came to terms with it and prepared myself in every way I could. We didn't have a lot of money, but we did what we could to prepare. I knew there wasn't a way out of it, so preparing for the inevitable was all we could do. I don't think Steph always understood that."

Sybil looked up at Tom and frowned slightly.

"She had some mental health issues," Tom explained. "Nothing was ever officially diagnosed, but I think she was bipolar. Sometimes she thought getting pregnant was the best thing to ever happen to her, and sometimes she was close to suicidal because of it. The last couple of months of the pregnancy were really hard. She was in a constant state of depression and in the end it got too much for her. She gave birth a week after her final exam. We lived together at the time. We took Lydia home and tried to settle into a routine. But a few weeks after Lydia was born, Steph just left. She packed up her stuff without me knowing and left in the middle of the night. She left me behind with Lydia. I tried to get in contact with her. I had no idea where she was. She wouldn't answer any of the phone calls or messages I sent her. In the end I got a message from her mum. Steph had gone down to Kent to stay with her parents. She wanted to give Lydia up for adoption. I point blank refused to give up my daughter, so eventually Steph gave up all rights to Lydia and I took them all up."

"Has she ever regretted giving up her daughter? Giving up her life with you?"

"I don't know," Tom said. "The last time I spoke to her was during the court hearings when she officially gave up all her rights. She's never tried to make contact with me or Lydia since. She's never shown any interest in her own daughter."

"Have you ever missed her?" Sybil asked.

Tom sighed. "She was mentally unstable and she was sometimes hard to be around. But I did love her. Or, at least, I thought I did. I thought that's what love was. I missed her at the beginning. There were times when all I wanted to do was pack up and leave, but I couldn't. Steph had already done that and I couldn't put Lydia through two parents leaving her behind. She gave me the most beautiful daughter and I can't thank her enough for such a gift. Lydia put my life on track. She made me grow up and without her I wouldn't be where I am today. But, no, I don't miss her now. My life is better now for what happened six years ago."

"Does Lydia ever ask after her?" Sybil said, prying further into Tom's personal life.

"She's asked a few times why everyone else at school has a mum and dad, but she's only got a dad. I can't lie to her, so I tell her the truth. That her mum wasn't ready for the responsibility of having a baby and she was mentally unstable and scared and so she left her with me," Tom said, sadness creeping through his expression. "I try to convince myself that I'm as good as two parents. I've been here for her more than anyone else ever could be. I tell myself she doesn't need a mother if she's got me, but she wants one. She wants a mum like everyone else."

Sybil's heart broke at that. Lydia was an innocent little girl who deserved more than to be abandoned by her mother. Sybil suddenly felt a wave of affection for the child who wasn't hers. Sybil had never even been convinced that she wanted children of her own. They were never really on her life plan, but that didn't change the fact that she now felt responsible for Tom's daughter – more than she ever thought possible of someone else's child.

"Daddy," a small voice said from the doorway.

"What are you doing out of bed, darlin'?" Tom said, climbing out of bed and approaching Lydia.

"I'm afraid of the dark," she mumbled, holding Patch tight to her.

"You've never been afraid of the dark before," Tom said, crouching next to his daughter.

Lydia said nothing, but crawled into Tom's arms and hugged him.

Tom knew that this was a ruse to get another cuddle and a story, but he couldn't resist her six year old charm.

"Come on," he said, picking her up and carrying her back to bed.

Sybil felt a pang of love run through her body. She loved Tom; she loved Lydia; she loved being a part of their family unit. She quietly got out of bed and followed Tom to Lydia's room. She stood in the doorway, where Tom couldn't see her, looking onto the scene in front of her.

Tom was sat beside Lydia's bed, reading one of Lydia's favourite stories. She was curled up under the covers, struggling to keep her eyes open as her father told the story.

By the time he had finished the story, Lydia was fast asleep, so he placed the book gently on the side and kissed the little girl's forehead before turning to go back to his own bed. He wasn't expecting Sybil to be right there in the doorway.

"Hey, love," he whispered. He put an arm around her and pulled her close. Sybil rested her head on his shoulder as they stood to watch Lydia sleeping peacefully. Tom kissed through Sybil's hair.

Sybil turned and wrapped her arms around Tom's neck, pulling him down into a kiss.

Tom deepened the kiss and allowed his hands to wander down her back, past her hips and to her backside. Sybil jumped up and wrapped her legs around Tom's waist. He walked her to his bedroom and kicked the door closed behind them. Sybil continued to kiss Tom as they moved until they fell onto the bed, Tom hovering above Sybil.

Tom began to kiss Sybil's neck, sending shivers down her spine, but she shimmied away slightly, taking all the strength she had.

"Wait, wait," she said.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked.

"Nothing, I just want to say something," Sybil said, "before we go any further."

Tom moved and they both sat on the bed facing one another, the air between them hot and desperate.

"Tom, I love you. I love you unconditionally. And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what I was thinking before. I should have told you that I wanted to know about Lydia's mother. I shouldn't have held back my feelings. I know it was hard for you to talk about your past, especially that part of your past, so thank you. Thank you for including me and sharing your life with me."

"What if I told you I want to share more than just my life with you? I want to share my house with you," Tom said.

Sybil's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"I would love you to move in with me," he said.

Sybil was speechless and Tom's heart sank.

"You don't have to give an answer now, and of course I would never hold it against you if you don't want to, and I know it's a big step, especially as I have a daughter, and –" He was flustered and wanted the ground to swallow him up and never see the light of day again.

Sybil cut off his words with a deep kiss.

"Of course I'll move in with you," she said when they broke apart. "I've been waiting for you to ask."

Tom kissed Sybil, threading his fingers through her hair.

"You mean it? Really?" Tom asked, unable to suppress a grin.

"Yes!" Sybil laughed. "I've practically been living here for months. It's about time we made it official!"

He kissed her again. They fell backwards onto the bed, and Tom's hands moved down Sybil's body to play with the hem of her (or rather his) top.

Tom knelt over Sybil and continued to kiss her. He kissed down her jaw and neck, causing Sybil to buck her hips against him.

She moaned his name quietly, begging him to go further.

He moved down her body and began a trail of kisses up her inner thigh, missing the all-important goal before repeating the process on the other leg.

His stubble scratched against Sybil's skin and only made her more desperate for him. Her hands grabbed handfuls of the sheets beneath her, the only way to stop her from screaming out his name.

Tom pushed Sybil's top up her torso and kissed across her stomach, moving up bit by bit until her breasts were exposed. He kissed around each of her nipples, making them push out even further, searching for his touch. He sucked each of them into his mouth in turn and circled his tongue over them.

Sybil pulled the top over her head, leaving her body entirely naked, and then leant forward to push Tom's pyjama bottoms down to expose him.

He kicked the fabric off his legs and surrendered himself to Sybil's touch.

Their positions were flipped, with Sybil now on top of him. She wrapped her fingers around his hard cock and ran them up the length of it and back down, creating a rhythm that she knew would have Tom teetering on the edge.

He was close, and she knew it. That's why she stopped. The longer she could drag this out the better.

She crawled up his body, her legs spread over him and trailed kisses across his chest, forging a path in the dents between his muscles.

He reached over to tangle his fingers in her hair, already tousled from the couple's activities earlier in the night.

She moved further up his body and placed a line of kisses from one shoulder to the other, across his collarbones.

Tom bucked his hips against Sybil's and she grinded against him in response. She could feel the blood rushing to her core as it pulsated in anticipation. No doubt Tom was feeling the same way.

Sybil leant forward and stole his breath with a deep kiss. It was filled with passion and desire. They both wanted nothing more than to be together.

As their lips remained locked together, Tom slowly sat up, bringing Sybil up with him. Sybil wrapped her legs around Tom and hoped he would take the hint.

He reached between them and began to play with her clit. She moaned a little too loudly to be considered safe, and threw her head back, pulling Tom's hair in the process.

Tom laid her down on her back and moved down her body, his fingers never wavering from her core. He kissed around her entrance before kissing it directly. He moved his hand out of the way and replaced it with his mouth. He teased her button with his tongue, flicking it with no rhythm.

"I need you, Tom," Sybil groaned.

He ran his tongue between her lips, taking in her taste. With two fingers he entered her and began to rub her G-spot, all the while continuing the moves of his tongue on her clit.

"Tom," she moaned, throwing back her head and wishing for more.

With his spare hand he reached up to caress her breast, rubbing her nipple with his thumb.

"I love you, Syb," he whispered, his stubble rubbing over her sensitive skin, causing Sybil to buck against him.

"Show me," she begged.

He moved up her body, positioned himself and entered her, keeping one hand on her clitoris, the other holding himself up.

She wrapped her legs behind him and brought them closer together. His thrusts began slowly, but Sybil wanted more. She needed more.

She began thrusting her own hips against his, starting entirely out of sync, before finding a rhythm that matched his. They crashed together, enjoying the pleasure of the feel of each other.

They needed this. They had been desperate for one another in recent weeks without really realising it.

Sybil couldn't keep her hands off Tom's chest and his hand had moved from her clitoris to knead her breasts.

They both moaned at the pleasure and they knew they were both almost there.

Sybil orgasmed, tightening her core around Tom's pounding cock. Her orgasm triggered his as he spewed his seed within her.

Tom leant forward to kiss Sybil. It was a hot, sticky, breathless sort of kiss. Their hearts were pounding and their lungs were trying their best to re-establish some normality to their breathing.

Tom fell beside Sybil, still trying to stay as physically close as possible.

"I love you," he muttered.

"That may have been our last time as next door neighbours," Sybil said.

"I hope it is," he said, rubbing his stubbly jaw against her shoulder. "And I hope our first time living together is just as good."

"It will be even better," Sybil promised, threading her fingers through his. No matter how long they stayed together, Sybil knew that she would never stop loving him, nor lusting after him. From the moment when they first met, she knew she had her work cut out for her to resist him. Her efforts to do so had failed miserably, but in the most wonderful way possible. If all went to plan, she would never have to fight her feelings to resist him ever again.

I hope you enjoyed this final chapter. Nothing like ending with a bit of smutty goodness! Please review if you enjoyed.