Don't Jump

"Pattern"

I was too chicken shit to go through with the plans me and Charlie talked about. I was awkward when it came to that; how was I supposed to let Thomas know that I may or may not be falling for him, and do this without breaking out into an uncontrollable sweat? And forget giving out subtle hints: I had no idea how to flirt and it be, not weird.

So I let myself suffer whenever the two of us hung out and I think he felt that something was wrong because he always asked was I okay. No, I wasn't okay: I want to tell you that at the very least I like you a lot. But I was extremely shy and nervous and afraid of rejection. Well, not so much afraid of it: I avoided situations that could lead to rejection.

I just told him that I was fine and there was nothing to worry about.

Thomas had a small break from filming and traveling so he was finally home for about a week and a half. Christmas was quickly approaching and a part of me warmed up at the fact that we would somewhat spend it together. Of course, I would spend time with my parents and Charlie but perhaps this would be the perfect time to tell Thomas that I wanted out of that friend zone.

I had a change of mind when he asked me to come over to the house and I was greeted by two boys sitting in the living room. They looked like teens and were carbon copies of Thomas sans the dark skin: these two were his sons he talked so much about.

I didn't know what to say as they stared at me. Eventually, I smiled and went further into the living room. "He didn't tell me you two would be here; hi."

"You're Tamara, right?" the one that was lounging across the couch looked at me. It made me feel a certain type of way because while I knew that he had sons, I didn't know their names. They knew who the hell I was.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Oh, she's the one who broke up mum and dad?" the other one continued to eye me and I could feel my blood draining from my body.

"W-Wait, what?" I couldn't help myself. "M-Me and your dad are just friends, that's it." I stopped myself from telling them that it was their mother who cheated on Thomas and left him but then I realized that they didn't need to hear the truth. It started to piss me off that she would put it all on Thomas. As much as I wanted to tell them that their mother was a piece of shit who left their dad, I kept my mouth shut.

They looked like they didn't believe me and I was a second away from just leaving because I wasn't in the mood to be judged by teenagers. Thankfully Thomas walked in just in time and saw the distressed look on my face. He gave the two a warning look. "What's going on here?"

"She walked in as if she lives here," the boy on the couch shrugged. I didn't expect Thomas to approach the boy and give him a smack across the head but a part of me tried to keep the laughter in. His brother's expression changed quickly as Thomas glared at the two. "Ow!"

"I raised you two bloody better than that! Not that it's your business but I invited her over to meet you two. I'm sorry, Tamara." his face softened as he looked at me and it made me feel worlds better.

"It's, it's okay. I would've accused as well."

"Accused of what?" it definitely wasn't my intention to get the boys back in trouble. But, Thomas had the dad look once more and the boys wanted to run away, I could tell.

"They think I broke up you and your wife." I sighed out. Thomas's jaw dropped for a second before that look came back as he switched glances between the two boys.

"Is that what you two think? Tamara is my best mate, nothing more. Even if she was, that's between me and her." another painful confirmation of our relationship. I should've swallowed my pride right then and there, blabbing out my confession. Kids, I really like your father and I want to be your stepmom.