Just follow me (Tom Daley Fanfic)

Chapter One - Phone number

His charm is so obvious and his smile has a strange effect on me. He wears a black shirt with light beige trousers. His beauty is mind-blowing, but his humor and manners are what seduced me. He can hold down a conversation, take interest in what others are saying. As cheesy as it can sound, it was love at first sight... for both of us. 

"Do we continue our little game, Val?" Asks Chris. Indeed, Chris had been asking me a few times to guess the sport of the athletes he was pointing at me. “Guess Tom’s sport."

"Oh God! You know how bad I am at that game. And usually you don’t ask me to guess right in front of the person!" Since Tom is not one of the nominees, I don't know him. 

 "Come on, do it! It’s going to be funny. Don’t be afraid to offend me or whatever." Tom says

"Ok, fine… 1st guess: you look like one of Chris’ friend from way back, so I would say a swimmer, like him." I never really talked about Chris' sport. I only knew if was training in a pool, so I just assumed he was a swimmer!

"What? A swimmer? Noooo!" They say laughing.

"You don’t look that tall so I can eliminate sports like rowing, basketball,…" (Tom grimaced). "But you are tanned, so my 2nd guess would be an outdoor sport like football. Yeah, I can totally picture you being a footballer." I say

"I’m extremely bad at any sport that includes balls to be honest. And actually, my sport is not always an outdoor one."

"Gymnastics?" I try

"Nope."

"Is it a team sport?"

"Not quite."

"Huh? What does that mean? It’s either a team sport or it’s not ! Is there really a sport that can be done both in team or alone?" I ask confused

"For your information, you just said gymnastics" Says Chris

"Oh come on, it’s not really a team sport!"

"Think! It’s a sport that is not too well known."

"I don’t know! I have plenty of sports in mind, but nothing meets the criteria. No, really… I don’t know."

"Yeah, indeed, you were right when you said you’re bad at that game" says Chris. "And I have a question for you. Since when am I a swimmer?"

For a moment, I'm getting even more confused! "You're not a swimmer? Really?"

"No! But you were right when you guessed Tom and I are doing the same sport" 

"I'm not a swimmer, I'm a diver" says Tom

"It's the saaame! And is that even an Olympic sport?" I say, not knowing how hurtful those words can be for them. But I realize soon enough when I see their horrified eyes

"Ok, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say what you just said" Chris says in a over-the-top way

"You're a drama queen, you know that Chris? And  Tom, are you any good at diving" I ask

"I'm pretty decent, yeah" says Tom

"Decent? Only decent? Right at this moment, he has the British title, Commonwealth title and World title, so, yeah, not too shabby, Daley" Says Chris

"Shut up, Chris" Says Tom

"I know you're messing with me, Chris!" I turn to Tom, questioning him with my eyes. "He is messing with me, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is" Says Tom who didn't was pretty happy to remain as the normal Thomas Daley for a little longer and not being seen as Tom Daley, the worldwide known diver. 

"Believe whoever you want, Val. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team" says Chris.

That's how I met Tonia, Jack, Pete, Sarah and Andy, the coach. We take the time to have a drink and  talk a little bit, but to be honest, I'm mostly talking with Tom. Everyone of them seem so kind but time flies a lot faster than what I would like and it's already time for me to head backstage because the award ceremony is about to start. 

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After the ceremony, I'm back in the main room with all the guests. I'm next to Chris, and at some point, I catch Tom's eyes in the crowd. He smiles at me, and Chris leans towards me and says "Go for it!" while winking at me. I walk to Tom and we continue where we left off before the ceremony. We talk about pretty much anything, from music, movies, travels,... He seems fascinated by my accent which is a weird mix of french (my first language), southern American (since I lived for a year in Texas), and Irish (where I am now living). Everything seems so easy and simple between the two of us. We can definitely feel that something is happening between us, but we're soon being interrupted by Andy who explains that the team has to go back to their hotel because a long day of training is waiting for them tomorrow. Their cabs are coming any minute now and the whole team is already waiting outside.

"Ok, I'll be there in a minute" Says Tom. Andy leaves. We continue to talk for a little while and then Tom has to say goodbye. He makes a few steps towards the exit. I can see he is hesistating, and I'm just praying that he'll turn around... which he does. He walks back to me, grabs me by the neck, pulls me to him and kiss me.

"Give me your phone number" Tom says. He enters my number as I dictate it and then gives me a miss call in order for me to get his phone number as well. 

I don't have my personal cellphone with me, only my professional one, so I'm in a hurry to go back home and get my phone!

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When I finally got back to my apartment, I run into my roommate Clara who is Skyping her boyfriend in the kitchen. She asks me how my night was, I indistinctly mumble an answer, but I have only one thing in mind, finding my cellphone!

"Val, what are you doing?" Clara asks me, wondering why I'm barely answering her and most importantly, why I am running everywhere, looking for something.

"What the heck did I do with my cellphone again?"

"I saw it on the floor, just next to the couch" Clara says

"Ah thanks, what would I do without you? I really do need to tell you about my night, though. I think I found the man of my dream, ahah" I say, walking to the couch

"Ahah, you're crazy! Well, Leigh, apparently Val has some saucy things to tell me. We'll skype tomorrow, ok love?" Clara says at her boyfriend before sending kisses at the webcam. But before ending her skype call, she looks at me collapsing onto the sofa.

"Putain!" (french word for "fuck') I say my hand on my mouth

"Ok, Leigh, I really need to go now, there's a red alert with Val" Clara says slamming her laptop shut. "What's that face? What is going on?"

"How is that possible?" I say

"What? Tell me! What's the matter?"

"Apparently, the man of my dream is a moron!" I say

"They all are, unfortunately" Seeing that it's not making me smile, she comes and sit next to me.

"I don't have any miss call!"

"So?"

"I gave my number to a guy. He gave me a miss call in front of me, I saw it... but I don't have anything on my cellphone"

"Do you think he took the piss out of you or something?"

"Then, why would he have ask for my phone number? I didn't ask him anything! 

"So you think it's just an idiot who can't enter a phone number properly?"

"It definitely seems like it to me"

"Ok, ok, explain everything from the beginning." Clara asks.

After telling her my whole night, we both to the same conclusion: Tom didn't take my number properly. And the thing is, I knew Chris lost his phone a couple of days ago, so I couldn't contact him either. I was screwed...