Always Been You | Tom Holland

TWENTY-SIX

Y/N

Nothing like waking up the morning of a big celebrity-filled event feeling incredibly hungover. Sick. At least I have time to nurse this hangover and feel less dead for the event. The last thing I want is for our red carpet photos to look whack because my puffy hangover eyes look crazy.

Tom snores, by the way. Loudly. I honestly thought he wasn't breathing at some points because he was snoring so much. That aside, I didn't hate having him sleep with me last night. And yes, we only slept.

I grab my phone from my bedside table and find that Jane texted me just before I woke up. She must be hungover, too. No way she'd be up before me if she wasn't.

Jane

Word on the street is, Tom didn't come home last night. I wonder where he might be...

I guess drunk Y/N didn't factor in that Tom would be missed this morning.

Y/N

Very funny. He's here. Nothing happened. I didn't want him driving home.

Y/N

Remember when I said to be cool about this?

Jane

Sorry, I just love love.

Y/N

Never once mentioned love.

Tom rolls over in bed and throws an arm across my chest, mumbling something into the pillow. He's still half asleep, so I don't bother asking him what he said. He needs as much sleep as possible after last night. Though, I'm sure he's gone to plenty of events feeling hungover before.

I'm actually so nervous about the party tonight. I know Tom is going to get shit about me being his date after he just told a bunch of people that nothing is going on between us. I'm not sure what he's even going to tell people if they ask about me. I'm sure he knows what to say, but I just don't want any trouble. He has too much on his plate for me to be adding anything else.

"Mmm." He mumbles again.

"Good morning," I rub his arm as he stretches his body out.

"Good morning," he turns his head and looks at me with a sleepy smile. "My head is killing me."

"I mean, you did drink your weight in whiskey last night," I laugh. "Let me get you some Advil."

"Noooo," he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into him. He kisses my shoulder a few times before speaking again. "If you get up then the day is started. If we just lay here, then we can stay here all day." This is really cute, but we both smell like a pub.

"Normally, I'd be on board," I turn to face him. "But we've got a pretty big event to get ready for."

"I hate that you're right."

Even though I'm right, neither of us moves. I feel so awful. I need to eat something and drink 4 gallons of water. Thankfully there will be alcohol tonight. I think that's the only way to get rid of this hangover.

Tom's phone begins vibrating on his bedside table and he groans as he rolls over to answer it. He looks at the screen to see who is calling before he picks up.

"Hey, Christine. Yeah, my birthday was good. Ha, thank you. Uh, yeah she's, uh, she's coming. Yes, together." I have no idea what he's talking about, but I know I'm involved. "What? Fuck. Okay, uh, thanks. See you soon."

"That sounded very business-ey." I joke.

"Uh, just so you know, pictures of us from last night have been posted just about everywhere." My heart nearly falls out of my chest. "I guess we didn't see the paps when we left last night." When we left? Fuck. Tom is typing and scrolling on his phone while my hungover brain is still catching up. "See?" He shows me a picture of the two of us holding hands, followed by a picture where Tom's arm is around my shoulders. My heart rate is increasing. "Christine is blacklisting questions about us tonight. I'm only going to interview with people I know who will respect that rule. I guess the only thing we have to worry about is–"

"The internet."

"The internet." He nods.

"I'm totally ruining everything," I say. "You wouldn't have to be going through all of this bullshit if it wasn't for me."

"What? That is not true," Tom sits up. "I would not have invited you along if I wasn't willing to work through any complications. I want you there tonight. I feel so much less stressed when I'm with you."

"You do?"

"Yes. But, I understand if you want to sit it out –"

"No, I'll go." He physically relaxes and smiles at me.

"I'm so glad. I've gotta go. Lot's to prepare for," he stands up and gathers his things from last night. "I'll pick you up in a few hours. Everything is taken care of." He throws one of my hoodies on and smiles at me. The material of the hoodie looks like it's going to split as it's hugging his arms. "I'll bring this back." I don't think I care if I get it back. "I'll bring coffee and snacks for the drive." He stands next to me at the edge of my bed. "I can't wait." He cups my chin and kisses my lips so softly I barely feel it.

"Let me know when you're home."

"I will. See you later, my love." My love.

He kisses me once more and walks out of my room, the sound of my front door opening and closing coming just a few seconds later. I lay back in bed and try to calm my nerves about tonight. I know Tom will have my back, I just don't want any more pressure on him. He's barely holding it together as it is. That poor boy is seconds away from imploding.

I guess I need to shower and prepare for my first red carpet event.

Tom

I've been tagged about 100 times in the pictures of me and Y/N from last night. This is just the fuel the internet needed. The timing of all of this is really the worst part. I just want us to have a nice time tonight. The GQ events are always a lot of fun. I can just tell she's nervous about everything. It's all just a mess. I can't believe we didn't see the paparazzi last night. It's such an invasion of privacy to have an intimate moment like that photographed and shown to the world. It's incredibly frustrating.

My phone buzzes in my pocket.

Ben

Interesting pictures of you and Y/N.

Ben

Anything you'd like to tell me?

Jesus. I can't believe I didn't factor this in. I'm gonna lose my mind. I press the call button by his contact name and decide to just bite the bullet. I'll have to warn Y/N later.

"Hey, mate. How ya feeling?" Ben sounds chipper.

"Awful."

"Seems to be the common theme."

"Listen, Ben–"

"Those paps are evil, dude. I'm sorry they caught you two drunk."

"Yeah, me too."

"You're gonna take care of her tonight, right?"

"I seriously can't even believe you're asking me that."

"I know. Big brother shit. Hey, have fun tonight. Can't wait to hear all about it."

"We will. Love ya, mate."

"Love ya."

Okay, well, that was easy enough. I know Ben knows something is up with us. I think he's just waiting for one of us to tell him when we're ready. Which is nice, because I don't think either of us is ready. Nor do I know when we will be.