holding on {t.r.}

t w e n t y e i g h t

The four friends' lives continued on as normal, with classes becoming slightly more difficult as they neared the end of term. Even Tom and Alexandra had trouble, becoming increasingly frustrated at the idea that their courses will only get harder when they return to school with N.E.W.Ts just around the corner.

"They aren't exaggerating when they say nastily exhausting," Tom huffed, skimming through his textbook. Alexandra put his hand on top of his, surprisingly gaining his attention without much difficulty.

"If I remember correctly, you and I both agreed that we would spend this summer holiday outside of the castle, with our friends, and without worrying about exams. At least for the first few weeks," Alexandra told him, closing the book and placing it beside him. "You're brilliant. The exams should be worried about you, not the other way around."

"That was a stupid joke," Tom said, attempting to look serious but being unable to hide a small smile.

"I know, I just like seeing you smile."

"That was the most disgusting exchange of words I have ever heard," Avery gagged from across the train compartment.

"I say stuff like that to you all the time," Melissa frowned.

"Yeah, but it's not disgusting when you say it."

The rest of the ride was primarily quiet, Melissa and Avery both falling asleep about an hour in. Alexandra and Tom never had the pleasure of resting seeing as their minds were both wandering towards the many things that could go wrong on this little vacation. Melissa's parents were travelling for work and, after a lot of convincing, are allowing her to friends to stay through the summer so she wouldn't be alone or have to stay in the castle. On top of that, Melissa had to convince Tom and Alexandra to leave the comfort of the castle and join her in London. She used arguments such as, "You've lived in London practically your entire lives and you've never gotten the chance to explore it," which ended up making the pair feel more upset than excited in the end.

"This is so exciting!" Melissa cheered, letting everyone into her home. Tom and Alexandra were taken aback at first, Tom by the size of the house and it's swanky interior and Alexandra by the amount of happy family pictures hanging on the walls surrounding them. They followed Melissa upstairs where she showed Alexandra and Tom into an empty bedroom.

"You two will be staying in here," she smiled. Tom and Alexandra looked at each other, then back at her.

"Both of us?" Alexandra asked. Melissa nodded.

"We're only got three bedrooms. We're not allowed in my parents', Avery and I will stay in mine, and you two will stay in here. It used to be my older brother's, but we turned it into a guest room after he moved away," Melissa explained. "We'll see you two in the morning."

"Right, okay," Alexandra said awkwardly, feeling as though she was being pushed into the next step of her relationship without having discussed it. She wasn't against the idea of sleeping in the same bed as Tom, she just wished she had more time to mentally prepare for it. She felt as though so many things could go wrong, but she wasn't exactly sure what those things were. "I'm going to go change in the bathroom."

She did exactly that, taking her time to change and get ready for bed before returning to the room. Tom took her place in the bathroom, and Alexandra made her way under the covers so she was facing away from the bathroom. She felt nervous once again as she heard Tom exit the bathroom and then felt the mattress shift beneath her. She was startled at first, but then calmed down slightly when Tom's arm snaked under her arm and around her waist.

"Are you all right?" Tom asked quietly. Alexandra nodded, turning to face him.

"I'm just nervous, that's all," she explained.

"We're only sleeping," Tom assured, hiding the fact that he was nervous as well.

"What if I snore, or accidentally push you off of the bed in my sleep, or-"

"Relax," Tom chuckled, pulling her closer to him. "There is no possible way your snoring can be as bad as Avery's, and if you push me off of the bed, I'll just push you off tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Tom," Alexandra smiled, her eyes glistening as she looked into Tom's. It was dark, but he could still see every small detail of her face as he admired her. He could get used to this being the image he fell asleep to every night.

He watched as her eyes closed, knowing she was exhausted from the amount of traveling they endured throughout the day. He was tired himself, but he wanted this moment to last as long as possible. The moment where he was no longer afraid to admit that he wanted to spend the rest of his life beside Alexandra, experiencing these moments again and again and never getting tired of them.

He had the means to do so, with his family's wealth being passed down to him after his father's death. He could provide them with a place to live immediately upon graduating Hogwarts where Alexandra could continue her independent studies and he could search for a new interest of his own as they waited to approach what Dippet saw as the "appropriate age" to begin teaching. It was the perfect plan. All he needed was for Alexandra to agree to it.

In the morning, the tables turned. Tom was the one sleeping as Alexandra admired him. She smiled to herself, butterflies filling her stomach as he began to wake up. There really is nothing like waking up next to the person you love for the first time.

"I didn't kick you off of the bed," Alexandra stated, causing Tom to chuckle as he turned towards her. "I love you."

"I love you," Tom smiled, happily kissing his girlfriend.

"Oi, love birds! Get a move on, will you?" Avery called, aggressively knocking on their door. Tom pulled away, rolling his eyes. "I'm bloody hungry!"

"Go on without us, then!" He called, becoming eager to return to what he was doing as Alexandra pulled off his shirt and began kissing his neck.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, you bastard, now go away!" Tom yelled, pulling off Alexandra's shirt before placing her on her back and pulling the covers over their heads.

————

Note:
Hi friends!
I'm so sorry this update took so long! I was way over scheduled at work and then started school again recently, but I've also had horrible writer's block. I love soft!Tom but I also feel like this book needs a little more ~action~  (which is precisely where I'm getting stuck) that doesn't center around them breaking up and getting back together like ten different times.
ANYWAY bear with me, I'll try my best to be more timely with my updates so y'all don't have to wait a month.
As always, I very much appreciate all the love and feedback. Feel free to let me know what you want to see or even what you wish was different.
Lots of love ❤️