DARLIN' , tom holland

lxvii. | real life

arisa's questions had lingered in the air, silence settling between the two. they were scared, there was no doubt about that– both tom and arisa wanted the answer to be yes, we would still be together but no one could really tell what tomorrow brings.

"i don't know," tom admitted. "i don't want to say a straight up yes because that would be like i know what's going to happen when i don't. time is mysterious, it's strange, and life throws curveballs left and right. but i do think that we'll make it out far— i mean, we've already conquered a lot, haven't we? as long as i'm with you, the future can bring whatever the hell it wants to."

arisa turned her head, looking at tom instead of the stars, and giving him a smile. "i hope that we'll make it because i genuinely don't see myself in the future with someone else— is that weird? or does it make me sound like a stalker?"

"if that's weird then i suppose that this will be creepy." arisa furrowed her eyebrows at tom's words, not fully understanding his vague sentence. tom sat up, pulling out a tiny box from his pocket. arisa's eyes widened as she sat up as well, covering her mouth.

"please tell me that's not what i think it is."

tom let out a chuckle, shaking his head and fiddling with the box in his hands. "i'm not about to propose to you in my old backyard, if that's what you're thinking."

tom opened the box, revealing a simple rose gold ring twisted into a branch-like design with jewels adorning every single one.

"i know we're both still young and i know that we haven't been together for a long time but no matter how much time has passed, my love for you will genuinely never change. i know i messed up a few times in the past but i promise to be loyal and true to you and only you. i promise to hold you close when you feel like the world is falling apart. i wanna make you smile when smiling is the last last thing you ever want to do. i promise that i'll always show you how beautiful you are, always. when you look at this ring, i hope it reminds you of my promise to never stop loving you. and that one day i'll replace it with an engagement ring and a wedding band."

"tom, i don't know what to say," arisa stuttered out while tom placed the ring on her finger, grinning at his girlfriend who looked awestruck.

"it's a beautiful ring— but why this one out of others?" arisa's expression turned to be one of puzzlement while tom shrugged at the question with a slight chuckle. "i don't know, i just thought that artemis might want to have the wilderness with her."

arisa laughed, rolling her eyes and punching tom softly on the arm. "oh god, i think i'm promising my whole life to some idiotic loser."

tom pouted at her, looking slightly offended. "you shouldn't have just said anything." arisa's eyes narrowed into a glare as she hit tom once again. "and you shouldn't have just given me a promise ring if you're going to be a complete dick afterwards."

tom laughed, pushing arisa down to the mat which earned a squeal from the female. tom pinned her arms down once arisa tried to push him off.

arisa stopped squirming once tom let go of her arms to place a hand on her cheek and another beside her head so he could hold himself up. arisa felt herself smile as she felt tom's lips against hers. she managed to slip an i love you in between, her stomach filling with a thousand butterflies.

arisa felt tom wipe a stray tear away from under her eye, the boy pulling away to look at her with concern written on his face.

"are you okay? did i do something wrong? you could tell me if i'm rushing into things," tom said quickly which earned a smile and a shame of the head from arisa. "i'm just really, really happy right now."

tom gave her a grin, proceeding to kiss her once again.

—♚—

this chapter took me about 3 days to write ngl but i did it! i was supposed to publish this tomorrow but i honestly couldn't keep it to myself any longer + this book hit 15k aaahhhhhhhh!! thank you to everyone of you who took time to read this 💞