this chapter briefly mentions signs of ptsd.
please read with caution and enjoy <3
AS THE GROUP BEGAN EXITING the karaoke room, tommy was behind lorelei, holding her coat in one of his unoccupied hands.
"why thank you, self-centered prick," lorelei appreciated after turning around to face him, his tongue sticking out at her. lorelei smiled up at him before taking the article of clothing and slipping it on. as she met his eyes, he flashed her a grin of his own.
now lorelei didn't exactly know what was going on between herself and the blonde boy, but her fear of love was not present whenever tommy was around. that statement terrified lorelei, but also comforted her.
nodding to the door, lorelei spun around as tommy took the lead as he guided the two toward the exit. they were some of the last one's out, following behind ranboo and bill as the two talked about whether or not harry styles would be into milfs.
behind the two, lorelei heard mumbles from toby, aimsey, and lani talking about her, making her smirk fondly.
"did you hear our duet? incredible." lani said as she breathed in the cool air, referring to lani and lorelei's duet of from the dining table.
"you really need to calm down," toby told her sibling, tommy peering at lorelei with an amused smile as he kept walking further towards the exit.
"well, did you hear them?" aimsey asked, toby scoffing as he giggled. turning around, lorelei shot aimsey and lani a wink, the two dramatically clutching their hearts in result. tommy chuckled lightly as he shook his head.
"don't encourage then," toby whisper-yelled to lorelei, lani smacking his arm, toby feigning pain with a dramatized, "ouch".
stepping out of the karaoke bar onto the street, lorelei shivered at the cold air, a complete contrast from the warmth of the room they were all just occupying.
tommy immediately noticed this, subtly taking his hand and clasping hers. lorelei looked puzzled and up at tommy before he nodded, continuing to listen to ranboo ramble with a smile on his face. taking his other hand, he reached into his coat pocket before letting the two's hands drop for a moment.
getting the item out of his pocket, he then reached for lorelei's hand, grasping it again and looking over at lorelei. soon their hands became warm again as lorelei looked down. with tommy letting their hands loosen for a second, lorelei look into their hands, she saw a small heat pack. looking up at tommy, she grinned.
thank you mrs. simons for always looking out for your boy.
but the thing that puzzled lorelei the most was how affectionate tommy was being, especially around their friends. the two were friends, sharing secrets via imessage and in person, why was he suddenly affectionate?
"do you want to get out of here?" tommy asked lorelei in a whisper, her nodding silently.
"i'll go anywhere," lorelei murmured as tommy smiled slightly.
"welp, we're out of here," lorelei heard ranboo say with a sigh, pulling both lorelei's and the group of best friend's attention to ranboo and billzo as they hopped into the car they ordered. they all chuckled as lorelei scanned the group of friends who were all preparing to go their separate ways.
when tommy and lorelei excused themselves to walk the streets of brighton like they did during most of their hangouts, tommy groaned at the comment from lani once again.
"she's so pretty and talented," lani told her brother, the older sibling scoffing again.
"you know, i think i am pretty and talented, too," he complained to her with a whine.
"you are pretty and talented, tubbo! you're the love of my life!" tommy called out, making lorelei chuckle as the two walked down the road, hand-in-hand.
halfway down the block, tommy pulled away from lorelei slightly, shooting an obvious glance at lorelei. "are you really that pretty?" he asked, lorelei trying to hold back a smile and failing miserably. "i've never noticed," he played ignorantly, a stunning grin stretching across his face at his own joke.
"that's offensive," lorelei shot back through her amused grin. "we're best friends, how could you not notice how show-stopping i am?"
"have you thought that way about me?" tommy asked, lorelei giving him a wide-eyed look as she noticed his smile fall a bit. "how show-stopping i am?"
"of course, i have," lorelei smiled to him honestly, squeezing his hand "there's no missing all that innit." the boy fell into giggles as he looked down to his feet in embarrassment, lorelei watching him fondly.
the two walked silently the rest of the way, their minds filled with thoughts of each other. the two made their way to an abandoned park that looked like it hadnt been used in months. they arrived, lorelei let go of his hand, and off she went to the swings. tommy followed after the girl, shaking his head as he sat on the swing parallel to hers.
"i just- need to be honest with myself and with you." tommy said after some silence. kicking his left foot on the dirt, he pushed himself on the swing with the right once the two got situated. "can i?"
lorelei's breath hitched but she wasn't afraid at all. granted, there was either the faint feeling of butterflies in her stomach or maybe it was the piece of candy tommy gave her bubbling back up. lorelei sat on the swing as she glanced over at tommy. hesitantly, however, she nodded.
her palms were sweaty but she thought nothing of it. it was tommy, she thought. it's just tommy.
but tom simons was so much more than just a name to lorelei tempest. tommy made lorelei feel like she was important, she was valued. every time lorelei was falling down, tommy was there with a smile and a hand to pull her back up.
"i'm not good with the whole being somewhat serious thing, especially around you," tommy started, letting his hand fall from the chain on the swing to his neck. "but i need to try because that's what you deserve."
"toms?" lorelei stuttered, turning her body towards the boy. it was hard to do because she was on a swing and a chain was blocking her view slightly, but she did. "tommy, what's going on."
"when we met, it was ... interesting to say the least. you called me a self-centered prick and i called you a bitch, yet we got past that and became friends. i'd even go as far as saying we're best friends, yeah? best friends, that's what we are." he started. "but i'm... fuck, how do people do this?"
lorelei still sat on her swing, but let her body action without thinking. her hand dropped from the chain and reached over to tommy's, taking his hand in hers. tommy looked over at her fully, his eyes were wide with fear and lorelei's filled with support and warmth.
tommy sighed, letting his hand rest on lorelei's as he shifted his head forward while subtly playing with the rings on her fingers. "wil's my best friend, so is freddie and eryn and i really care about them. but i care about you, but not in the same way as will or freddie, or even eryn for christ's sake. it feels wrong to say you're my best friend when i care about you in a different way than my actual best friends."
lorelei tensed up and tommy noticed, of course, he did, but lorelei didn't care if he did or didn't. the butterflies in her stomach were no butterflies, but the feeling of the past bubbling back and lorelei was terrified.
"tom-" lorelei whispered out, her eyes watering as tommy still continued to look forward. "tommy, what are you trying to tell me."
"lorelei tempest, i think i like you. not platonically like friends, like i want to hold your hand and flex on the internet that i'm not bitchless." he laughed but stopped once he realized lorelei didn't say anything. "lorelei?"
"i - i have to go." lorelei said as she suddenly stood up from the swing, grabbing her phone off the dirt. in a panic, tommy stood up as well.
"you - where are you going? its one am lorelei, there's nowhere to go- hey, can we just talk?"
"i'll find somewhere to go." lorelei inhaled roughly as she walked away from tommy.
"lorelei!" tommy yelled, running after her which made lorelei speed up. lorelei was smaller than tommy, which made it easy for tommy to catch up.
"hey. hey, talk to me." tommy said, ignoring the slight drop of rain he felt on his hand as he stopped the two. with his hands on lorelei's shoulders, he looked at the top of her head.
"tommy, i need time. i need time to just- think. you didn't do anything wrong, god, you never do. i just-" lorelei panted, between the running, the tears falling, and the fear bubbling in her chest, she shuddered under tommy's touch and the thunder that clapped. "give me twenty-four hours, tom simons."
at first tommy wanted to put up a fight, fight for her to stay but tommy simply nodded in his place as the rain started to trickle down in spirts before pouring.
with a small smile and damp hair, lorelei backed up before running again into the rain, leaving a confused tom simons behind.
NATA'S NOTES ┊͙✧˖*°࿐
i couldn't wait any longer to update so im going to be posting today as well as wednesday :)))
my happy character arch can only last two chapters thats craazy anyways next chapter go hard and is one of my favorites out of all my chapters
i feel like im getting so repetitive with my thank us but
500!!! what the fuck!!!!!! thank u :,]
also i just wanted to say pls dont be a silent reader!!! i love getting comments and reading them and it makes me super excited to post more AHHH