Always Been You | Tom Holland

THREE

Tom

I wake up to Tessa's hot breath in my face. She loves a wake-up call. Now that I'm home for the summer, she's going to be my alarm every morning. She licks my face and jumps onto my bed, nuzzling herself under my arm and laying her head on my chest. I rub her head a few times and sigh, accepting that I'm now up for the day. I grab my phone from my nightstand and catch up on notifications and missed messages. I aimlessly scroll on Instagram, checking in on my friends who are now spread out around the world. My heart feels empty without them. I miss seeing them every day. I scroll a few more times and stop when I see Y/N's latest post. It's a picture of her and her friends at brunch, all smiling and laughing. She looks... Happy. I don't think I've ever seen her look that genuinely happy.

"Y/N Y/L/N, MPsych, DEdPsy now loading..."

Right. She graduates in a few days. We've already been invited to her graduation party, which Ben promised would be a "banger". Ben always promises that parties are going to be "bangers".

I hear a knock and Ben's familiar voice just outside my door. "Tommy! You decent?" He knows I hate it when he calls me Tommy. He's such an ass.

"If I say no, will you leave?" I hear the doorknob turn and see Ben walk into my room, causing Tess to leap off my bed to greet him. "So that's a no."

"Even if you weren't decent, I'd have come in anyway, mate," he winks at me as Tess licks his face and wiggles her body in excitement. "You up for some golf?" He stands up and checks his watch before looking back at me with a smile.

"That depends. Will it just be us or are your insufferable coworkers going as well?" I sit up in bed and lean against my headboard.

"Nah, just us, mate. And Harry." He raises his eyebrows at me in anticipation.

"Fine, I could use a beer anyway." I shrug, rolling out of bed and rummaging through my drawers for a golf outfit.

"Hell yeah! Loser buys lunch!" I hear his footsteps leave my room and my door close behind him. He always says the loser will buy lunch knowing damn well I'm going to pick up the tab anyway. He's such a dork.

We arrive at the course with just enough time to squeeze in 9 holes. Ideal, honestly. I don't think I could have done the entire 18 today. Jet lag is still kicking my ass. Of course, Ben and Harry picked the most popular course, which means there will be pictures of us playing posted on the internet within the hour. I don't mind taking photos with fans, it's the paparazzi that annoy me the most. Can't get a moment of peace.

I did miss playing golf with Ben and Harry, though. We're all super competitive, so playing together always turns into a betting war. Today, though, I'm truly just here to have a few beers with my brother and my best friend. It's been far too long since we've all hung out, just the three of us.

"You sure it's been months since you've played, mate?" Ben shakes his head and opens another beer. The beer cart girl has been especially attentive to our group, and not because of me. She totally has a thing for Ben. And he refuses to admit it. "That was a great shot."

"What can I say?" I open my arms up and shrug. "If you've got it, you've got it." Harry hands me my beer and takes his place at the tee. "Hey, mate, your girlfriend is coming around again." I nod toward the golf cart riding toward us.

"Shut up," Ben groans, but I see a slight smile creep up on his lips. That's all the signal I need.

"Hi, darling!" I wave the cart down and I am met with the very pretty bar cart girl. She has really curly black hair that's pulled into a bun on the top of her hair. Her dark skin is glistening in the direct sunlight of the afternoon. "You came around quick," I lean against her cart and peer into her drink options.