Tom Holland & Peter Parker Imagines & Preferences (book 2)

Little moments

Life, you tell Tom, exists beyond the confines of moments that would make it into your love story. It is made up of the small moments, the little ones that collect in your chest and keep you warm. It is your job—and his job—to hold onto them. It is your job to collect them for anniversaries and birthdays or for the days when you just need a little bit of happiness.

These are not the moments that fill books. People do not write novels on the warmth that catching Tom's gaze from across the airport terminal brings you after months of long-distance love. They do not write stories about the moments that fall between his press tours and your hectic schedule. It is your job to collect them and keep them for when he's gone as a reminder that the love you share with Tom is not ephemeral—it is something worth fighting for.

⭒⭒⭒

"I don't know if I can keep doing this," you breathe into the warmth of Tom's chest.

He's just come back from filming Spider-Man: Far From Home, and while you're happy to have him home you're realizing that your relationship has become a lot of taking instead of giving recently. It's consisted of a lot of pushing and pulling and not enough gentle guidance and it's hurting you, building up in your chest to fill the cold spots where his love once sat.

"What?" You feel Tom's heartbeat pick up under your ear and you want so desperately to take those words back. "What are you saying, darling?"

The panic in his voice is unmistakable, the fear resonates in the way that his grip on you tightens before it loosens. He wants to give you space, you realize, and you don't want that. You're not sure what you want, really, and the thought has tears rising into your eyes.

"I don't know," you croak, sniffling pitifully as you try to make sense of all the noise in your head. "I really don't know, Tom, I'm...I just miss you so fucking much when you're gone, and I know that I signed up for that when I agreed to be your girlfriend, and I know...I know that's a choice I make every day when I decide to continue being your girlfriend, even if that decision is a subconscious one, but...I just want you here, Tom. I miss you when you're gone, you know?"

And he does know. He knows because he misses you, too. FaceTime doesn't do the intonation of your voice justice, it doesn't capture the way that you smile every time you say his name, and it doesn't capture the beauty that you resonate in everything you do. Phone calls don't capture the way that you laugh in the same light that being with you does. Nothing will ever be able to replace the feeling of being with you, nothing will ever be able to capture the feeling of having you in his arms and feeling your warmth next to him.

"I miss you when I'm gone, too, pretty girl," Tom breathes out, tears already rising to his eyes as you look at him.

You're unsure of what to say to that, but you get the feeling that Tom has more to say. You need to give him space to speak, you know, and you need to give him room to figure out what to say. Even in the most heated of discussions, you and Tom always give each other the space to figure out what you're trying to say. It's important that you say what you mean and not what you feel, especially in moments like these where the wrong words could initiate the downfall of your relationship. At the very least, the wrong words could instigate an even bigger fight or discussion than the one that you two are having right now.

"I miss you when I'm down the street. I miss you when I'm at the store and I see your favorite cereal. I miss you when I'm here and—God—do I miss you when I'm gone. I just...I've been working on reminding myself that because we exist outside of one another, our love does, too."

You watch the blush rise to Tom's cheeks and notice the way that he seems to shy away from your gaze. This is the Tom that you've fallen in love with—or at least one version of him, anyway. You love the vulnerable Tom, the one that struggles to find the right words around you and blushes when you make direct eye contact. This Tom is poetic in his own right, even though he refuses to believe that his words hold the weight that you so often give them. This Tom tells you exactly what you need to hear exactly when you need to hear it most.