𝐅𝐎𝐑 | Tom Holland

Chapter XVI

*TOM'S P.O.V*

Laughter and inaudible noises were what filled the room. Popcorn and chips all over the floor, all of us tangled up in blankets, sprawled across the couch and carpet.

It was a mess.

"jAKDHSJFHF—" Paige had attempted to speak, but her laughter took over. We could all barely breathe.

"i CanNot bReaTh." Y/n also tried to speak, before tears of laughter fell from her eyes.

What were we laughing at?

Good question.

We were laughing for what felt like hours, losing track of what started the whole mess. At this point, we were just laughing at ourselves; how weird everything was, how stupid we were being — the laughter was truly contagious.

A few tears had left our eyes as our arms were clutched around our stomaches, that were aching from the excessive laughter.

It took a couple of minutes for everything to settle down, and for us to regain our composure. We all took deep breaths before attempting to speak up.

"That was," I began, trying to catch my breath. "Something."

"Indeed it was." Harrison responded with a light laugh, the smile not fading away from his face.

"Now that I think about it," Y/n started, causing all of our heads to turn towards her. "What were we laughing at?"

"Something extremely funny, clearly." Paige replied, still wiping tears from her eyes.

We all finally recovered from being a laughing mess.

"Alright so," I announced, grabbing everyone's attention. "Now that we've at least somewhat recovered from that mess, what should we do?"

We all sat there in place to think for a few minutes. Paige's face suddenly lit up, as her features fell into a sly smirk. "How about a little game of truth or dare?"

A little laugh could be heard. We all turned to the direction of the laugh, only to see Y/n trying to compose herself.

"Well, this is going to be chaotic."

—

*Y/N'S P.O.V*

The game had started, and as we all had suspected, it was chaos.

Harrison had just finished drinking a shot of tomato sauce, Tom was asked some questionable questions, Paige was laughing menacingly, and I was scared for my life.

It was all fun and games, until the realisation that Paige was planning to ask me next had hit, and she definitely had something up her sleeve.

"So," Paige started, looking me dead in the eye. I couldn't help but gulp nervously at the look on her face. "Truth or dare?"

Now this is where I was screwed.

If I choose truth, she'd expose me, big time. Knowing Paige, she'd definitely ask an intense question. But, then again, if I choose dare, she'd either make me do something entirely stupid and embarrassing, or something to do with Tom.  The safer option people would go for would probably be 'truth'. I mean I'd lose my dignity either way.

And I ain't no coward.

"Dare."

I could see Paige's eyebrows raise for a moment.

'Success.'

Her expression, to my demise, soon after changed into a smirk.

"While that was a response I didn't expect, I'm still very well prepared, Y/n." Paige laughed. "I dare you, to act all clingy and cuddle up to Tom for the rest of the night."

I sighed. 'Well I mean, it could've been worse I guess.' I turned to see Harrison with a hand to his mouth, smiling like an idiot, and Tom with a pink face.

I got up from my spot of the floor and made my way over to Tom, desperately trying to fight back the blush that tried to creep it's way across my cheeks. I sat down next to him and quickly muttered an apology before hugging his arm and leaning my head on his shoulder. I could feel my heart pounding like crazy.

"I-I-It's ok.." Tom stuttered, meeting my eyes for a second before looking away. "Are you comfortable?" He asked in a shy whisper.

"Yeah." I whispered back, looking up at him, despite the feeling of my cheeks getting warmer. "Are you?"

He simply nodded before we both turned our heads back to Paige and Harrison, who had their phones out, cameras directed towards us. The little light that flashed from the phone with the sound of a snap confirmed our suspicions.

Now the blush had definitely won the fight.

—

*TOM'S P.O.V*

I didn't even know why I was so embarrassed. I've known her for months and months, now, I've carried her to bed, hugged her, and have even flirted with her on multiple occasions.

'Why is my heart beating so fast?'

I've tried to distract myself by giving Haz and Paige stupid dares, like making them call each other pet names, and even making them cuddle. They treated it as if it didn't bother them at all, and it left me in awe, and I could still feel Y/n's body warmth leaning against my side, even after the game had finished.

One thing I did notice, though, was that they never chose truth.

But then again, to be fair, all that was going around were dares. No one in the room wanted to choose truth. That lasted for the whole game.

It's just, these past months of knowing her even more, getting closer with her, talking and hanging out for what seems like years, it's only made me fall for her, over and over.  And because of what's happened, I can't even court her.

As much as I want to be able to call her 'my girlfriend', would she be safe? I love and trust my fans, but, I don't want to hurt them or betray them, and I definitely don't want them to send any hate towards Y/n. If the media catches us or even if I announce it myself, it wouldn't end well. I don't want to put Y/n in that kind of situation.

I looked to my side to see Y/n with closed eyes, breathing softly. She was asleep.

Admiring her beautiful facial features that always leave me starstruck, I tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, before turning around to hug her and lay down.

If only we could do this all the time, I'd fall asleep instantly.

I'd do anything for moments like these.

「a/n: i apologise for any mistakes!! i wanted to publish this as soon as i finished writing! i preferred to not have any author's notes at the end of chapters for this book, buT with the amount of support ive gotten, i just wanted to say thank you to all of you!! thank you for being so patient with updates! i know i don't provide the best content all the time, even though i take so long to update, but your supportive comments are what keep me writing during writer's block! i also apologise for this being quite short, but chapter 17 is on the way ;)

please stay safe and take care everyone! i promise there won't be a long author's note next time, haha <3」