Lover, Come Home - Thomas Thorne

Summary: Alison goes scouting at other estates and brings back some surprising news for Thomas.

Word Count: 1,493

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death/murder

A/N: This is an AU where Isabelle doesn’t exist and Thomas was married to the reader before his death.

Mike and Alison had been gone all day, looking into other nearby estates and how they run in order to better get a grasp on how the could best profit from Button House. Thomas had been pacing at the windows, constantly pausing to look out to see if Alison had returned yet. Finally, the car rolled up the drive. Excited, Thomas was the first outside to ask about the trip.

“It was…fine,” Alison replied. “Lot noisier than I would have liked at our last stop. It’s my fault really. I shouldn’t have engaged with the ghosts at Crestfield Hall.”

It had been such a long time since Thomas had heard that name. He froze in place as Alison kept walking and going on about her ghost troubles, but all Thomas could think was that name over and over again. “Thomas,” Alison called back to him as Mike continued on inside.

The sound of his name snapped him out of his haze. “Alison, you must go back, I implore you.”

“No, thank you,” Alison dismissed, but the desperation in Thomas’ eyes made her briefly reconsider. She should at least hear him out, should she not? She sighed. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was going to end up regretting this. “Alright, why?”

“You say you encountered other ghosts there. Tell me about them.” Favoring to first go inside, Alison and Thomas settled in the kitchen where no one else was around.

With another heavy sigh, Alison began recounting her experience at Crestfield Hall. “At first, it was the usual. Creepy, old house, a nonchalant ghost passing through the halls, unaware I could see them, and I just ignored them. Got on with what I was there for. And it was all fine until I nearly bumped into someone I assumed was a guest. But nope, ghost. Once she knew I could see her, that was it. She kept asking me if I’d seen her husband, why he hadn’t come for her. I didn’t know what to say, I just wanted her to be quiet, so I left.”

Thomas’s eyes filled with tears. Alison didn’t understand. “Did you know her?”

“She was,” Thomas sniffed, “my wife.” He knew it was you the moment Alison had told him your story. You were still looking for him and his heart broke at the thought.

Alison’s eyes widened. “Thomas, I didn’t know. You never said. I—I’m so sorry.”

“You’re not at fault, Alison. I never told you. I’ve never told anyone. I died in a duel over her. There was a man who wished to steal her away from me, and she was at Crestfield Hall when it happened. It was this other man’s estate, you see, and I don’t know what ever became of her, all I know is she never came back. Now at least I know her fate was similar to my own. I only wish we could be reunited.”

“I’ll go back,” Alison said at once, the words rushing out of her before she could make the decision against it.

“You will? I would like to know exactly what befell her if she is willing to tell you. I know there’s almost no chance I can see her again myself, but I should like her to know what happened to me as well, and why I didn’t come for her.”

Alison nodded. It was the least she could do. While outside of Button House, she may see her ability as more of a curse than a gift, this time it could be the latter. She could bring closure to Thomas and his wife, even if it wasn’t possible to bring them back together in any physical sense.

After leaving Thomas in the kitchen, Alison grabbed her laptop and retired to her bedroom. She did a deep dive of information on how ghosts were able to travel. Some were said to be able to roam wherever they liked, others were bound to the place they died. Some were tied to objects they once owned, and followed the object wherever it went. Maybe there was a possibility that Alison could reunite the two of them after all, but she wouldn’t give Thomas false hope. She had to know if she could pull it off first.

The next day she prepared for her return to Crestfield Hall. She really didn’t have a plan, she only hoped she could sneak in, speak with Thomas’ wife and find something to sneak out of the house that would allow her to come to Button House with her. There was a fair risk that she’d be found out as both a thief and a crazy person by the end of the day, but she had to try. For Thomas.

After arriving at Crestfield Hall, she found you easily enough, in the same place she’d seen you the day before. While there weren’t many people around, Alison was hoping for complete privacy to ensure that she didn’t look like she was talking to the air around her. Once she was able to accomplish that much, she truly began her mission. “Your husband is Thomas Thorne, is that correct?”

“Yes,” you replied, quite surprised to see her again, though hopeful that she’d brought you news of your husband. You missed Thomas so.

Alison was at a loss for what to say next. The fact that she’d even come across Thomas’ wife by pure chance was practically a miracle if there ever was one, and now you stood before her, and she was floundering. Then she remembered. “An item,” she spat out. “Is there an item of yours in the house, something you were particularly attached to in life?”

You thought for a moment, the question seemingly coming from nowhere. “There is a hairbrush,” you said at last. “They keep it on a shelf in one of the bathrooms.” This seemed to please her, but for what reason, you didn’t quite know, though you guided her to where it was kept anyway.

Alison went in, quickly spotting the brush and stuffing it in her bag. Thank god it was small enough. Now, if she was fast enough, she could make it out with the brush and no one would be the wiser. Hopefully, you’d come with it, but she had no way of knowing for sure.

You watched as she came out of the bathroom, trying desperately to act casually. You followed her all the way out to her car, where she exhaled loudly once inside. She hadn’t even realized you’d joined her. “Now to try and get you off the grounds,” Alison said, and you were hopeful, for the first time in decades, that you may be reunited with your husband. Alison put the car in drive and headed for the gates. She closed her eyes as she passed out of them, sure that you’d be gone when she looked to her passenger side, but there you sat. She’d done it. She’d really done it.

Recalling the stolen object in her purse, she gunned it home to Button House. When you arrived, Alison got out of the car, shouting for Thomas. When he appeared, she said, “Thomas, I have someone to see you.” With that, you appeared out of the car door, and both you and Thomas stood wordlessly looking at one another. With tears in your eyes, you finally ran to each other, the overwhelming urge to be in his arms again overtaking you.

“How I have missed you, my love,” Thomas whispered when you were in his arms once again.

“And I you, Thomas, ever so much.”

It was when he let you go that he noticed the discoloration on your neck. “My darling, what happened to you?”

“It was that no good Lord of Crestfield Hall. When he returned to his estate, and told me he’d bested you, I refused to believe it. I refused him, Thomas, to my very last breath, which he stole from me himself.” Your hand went to your throat, recalling the tale. He’d strangled you at your refusal of him until all breath left your lungs. It took you years to accept that he must have spoken the truth about the duel, otherwise you could not think of a single reason why Thomas would not have come after you. “Did he really best you, Thomas?”

“I suppose so, but he was a cheat. He shot me in the back. I wanted nothing more than to go to you, to rescue you from that cad, but my wound prevented me from it. Will you ever forgive me?”

Thomas cast his eyes to the ground in shame, but you lifted his chin. “There is simply nothing to forgive,” you said to him. “If anyone is to blame here, it was that vile, wicked man. It was him that took our lives and our love from us, but no longer can he keep us apart.”

For ✨ Anon

Thomas Thorne:@mattxxamryli,@casserole-from-dads-asserole,@megantelegraph,@miscellaneous-fan,@fog-on-the-moon,@itsaveryalien,@adhdthomasthorne