"Listen, we need to talk." I began.
He smirked, clearly finding it funny while I didn't. "Really? I thought we came in here for fun." His sarcasm wasn't fitting the moment and he didn't know of it.
"Seriously." I looked him dead in the eyes, wanting him to know that this was serious and I wasn't in the mood for his jokes or sarcasm. I wasn't in the mood for him to try and become closer with me either. "I need to tell you something."
His face dropped immediately as he heard what I had just said. His confident barrier fell so easily and his nervous interior was showing. "I-is it about my work ethic? Because I swear, I'm trying my best. I may get a few things wrong bu—"
I interrupted him, knowing that he had the wrong impression of things. "No, Tom. This is about your family."
I could tell that his heart had beat out of his chest. The idea of one of them being hurt or in danger was racing through his head but little did he know that it was five of them that were in danger, all because of one. "W-what happened? Are they alright?"
I could see his eyes glossing over but I knew that tears weren't going to roll down his cheeks that easily. "Yes, as far as I know." I breathed. "But it's not that." I gulped but tried my best to hide it, not wanting him to get the impression that he was intimidating to me.
"Then what is it?" He seemed genuinely concerned and anxious—normal for anyone in his situation.
"I—," I paused for a while, unsure if I should tell him or not, "I just wanted to ask if they're okay with you moving in."
Adrenaline rushed through me as I knew that I had just lied to him. I was about to ask him if he knew about anything sketchy going on in his family, particularly about his dad. That clearly did not come out of my lips and his mood had become better than it was a few seconds ago. I didn't want to kill his vibe again so I decided to go along with this story.
"Uh yeah. I told them about it yesterday but I didn't tell them that I got evicted... or who you are... I only told them that I'm moving in with a friend who's going to be my roommate."
I smiled lightly. "Great."
He smiled back, mirroring my facial expression. "So uh I gotta get back to working..."
I gestured towards the door, wanting to say that he should just go ahead and head back to working. He nodded and waved before leaving, closing the door softly and slowly. I sighed as he closed it and was about to punch a wall. It was safe to say that this time, I was pissed at myself and myself only. The blame all goes to me if anything happens to the Hollands because of Dom, even if they didn't know that Dom's a threat. I'd be the one to blame for not telling them about Dom before it's too late.
For all I know, Dom could lose the house he has or become involved with the law if someone decides to rat him out. That wouldn't be good for any of us because Tom's family might ask if they could stay with him—with his roommate. Then what will I do? He lied about his living situation and if his parents find out, he'll drive himself into a dead end and corner himself.
***
I was stressing over the workload that I had for the day. I had two meetings and tons of paperwork to do so I had to keep working. I knew that both meetings would be an hour each and was prepared to sit through them both. They were obviously about business and one was about selling one of my properties to a man named Wesley Simmons.
Wesley Simmons was a household name but not in every neighbourhood. He was only a household name in the north of London. He was mostly known for being a wealthy man, yet he wasn't a sinister person. He didn't run a mob of any sort and fear didn't run through the veins of anyone who even so as said his name out loud. Instead, their minds filled with joy and such at the millionaire philanthropist. If anything, he would never ever hurt a small fly in his entire existence on this earth. It wasn't that he was too scared or grossed out about it, but because he was simply too kind to do anything like that.
Unlike the name Lia Sharpe, which brought fear to the people who knew the name all too well, Wesley Simmons was a name that may bring a smile to someone's face. On the other hand, Lia Sharpe was a name that'd make you feel glum and a name that'd make your heart skip two beats instead of one.
Who knew that the one with the most fire and anger in their eyes would be the woman instead of the man. It was usually the other way around but not in this situation. Their gender didn't define a thing about what feelings rushed over the people who heard their names or saw a picture of them. Even worse, seeing them in person—that is, if it's Lia. If a person saw Lia in public, strutting up to them like there was no tomorrow, there was either something terribly wrong that was about to happen or Lia was just trying to get by. Nobody ever knew which one so they feared ever encountering her.
Meeting Wesley Simmons would be a dream for anyone. Unless you hate him for no good reason, you'd be glad to see the man in public. The charitable man would give to the poor and take pictures with his so-called fans—not that he had a fan base though. He was just overall a friendlier person, even if Lia would donate every now and then to charities and to the people in need. His face was more welcoming than Lia's and the two knew that for a fact.
"I've been informed that this meeting is about," I slightly gazed down at the paper in front of me, trying to remind myself what this meeting was for, "wanting to purchase one of my properties."
He approved of what I had said. "Yes, that is correct. As I've heard, you've been looking for someone to buy it."
"Yes, yes, I have. Just to clear things up, which one of my properties will it be? I have a couple for sale so it gets confusing." I justified myself.
He cleared his throat before placing a file in front of himself and sliding it towards my direction. "Please, look through this."
I lifted my hands and made my way to the file. I picked it up and pulled it closer to me, now overlapping my own file. I opened the yellow folder and looked at the printed sheets of paper. The first one was all I really needed to see since it had the bar he was interested in, along with the information on it. I skimmed through the other papers a bit too fast and didn't bother trying to ask him what the rest was about.
"Ah, okay, I see."
***
Tom stood in front of the door of a place he forbid himself to go to while he was moving in with Lia. He didn't want them to question why he was moving so he thought of a whole excuse and conversation in his head. He prepared himself for, basically, every single question that could be asked. He had every word prepared in his head and breathed in as he pushed the doorbell. He heard a ring and waited at the door for someone to answer.
He heard footsteps and because he lived with these people for most of his life, he knew who was coming to the door. It was his brother, Sam. He knew that Sam would ask him why he was there and what he wanted so he took the brief five seconds to think of what he'd say.
"Mate, why're you here?"
"Just picking up some things that I left behind. Kinda realized that I left a shit ton here." It wasn't a lie because that was partially why he was there.
The main reason was because if he wasn't allowed to bring much to Lia's, such as his bed and wardrobe, the least he could do was try and find small personal items to take with him. Even if Lia had a bed and wardrobe set for Tom since she had a lot of spare bedrooms, Tom wanted to personalize the space so it could feel more like home to him. If he was going to move to a complete different area, the least he could do was make himself comfortable.
Sam pursed his lips before opening the door wider so Tom could enter the house. "Seems cleaner than when I was here last." Tom recalled, seeing everything organized and put away.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Probably 'cause you're the messy one."
Tom playfully punched his brother who groaned in pain afterwards. "Am not. You should go see my house."
"The one you got evicted from?" Sam somehow knew which caught Tom off guard.
Tom tried to play it off cool and pretend as if that wasn't the case at all, even if it was. "What?"
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's amazing acting. Tom didn't show an ounce of fear or a sign that he was lying but Sam could still tell. And even if Tom was telling the truth—that he didn't get evicted, Sam was going to make sure that he had a concrete answer, whether it contradicted his hunch or not.
"You know what I'm talking about. A roommate? Sounds incredible. Wouldn't that be Harrison? Who're you even moving in with?"
So many questions were brewing in Sam's mind and spilling out by the second. He wanted to ask more but didn't want to completely overwhelm his older brother.
"Listen, I don't know what you're on about but I'm moving in with another friend. You think Harrison has enough space at his for another person to live there?" He chuckled.
Sam accepted the fact that Tom might be telling the truth. "Alright. So who is this mystery roommate and why?"
Deep down, Tom knew exactly why Sam was asking these questions because this was normal behaviour from him. Tom was slightly scared that Sam might find out that he's lying but he couldn't doubt his acting skills that much. He was pretty good at acting and isn't acting, lying? You go up on stage or in front of cameras and pretend to be a completely different person. You have to imitate something that character would say and do, act and speak, just to portray them excellently. You pretend to be someone you aren't in both cases, so aren't acting and lying basically the same thing?
"I told you. It's just another friend and it's 'cause the house was getting too big for me. I barely even use half the rooms and it's such a hassle to take care of."
Sam believed what Tom was saying was the truth. Maybe a bit of it was actually how Tom felt but he knew that the most part of moving was because he just got evicted. Even if that eviction was the main reason for a lot of things, he did feel as if the house was too much to handle for him. He knew that he was a huge musical star but he just didn't need such a grand house, all to himself. The only person who ever visited regularly was Haz. The house was big enough to throw a house party with hundreds of people to cover each and every inch of it, even with furniture still inside. It was that big, yet Tom was just one person. He had no reason to live in such a house at the moment, especially when he had to pay rent for it.
"So what're you waiting for? Christmas? Go get your things then." Sam teased Tom.
Tom brushed his fingers through his hair as his brother had a sly smirk on his face. "Don't think I won't punch you for real this time."
Sam was unfazed by Tom's threat and went back to what he was doing prior to when Tom rang the doorbell. Tom headed up the stairs and didn't even have to think about where his room was. He just knew where it was from years of heading there right after school or after dinner. The door was shut just like he had left it when he was last here. He hoped that his parents or brothers didn't go through his room because he despised when people went through his things without informing him.
He twisted the door knob and slowly pushed the door open. His bed wasn't made at all—just like he had left it. He was relieved that he didn't have to waste his energy on complaining to his mum about it or asking her if she did anything.
Tom stared at the blue walls and the posters and pictures that filled it. He felt so nostalgic even if the last time he visited was for Christmas. No matter how long he hasn't seen his room at his parents', whether it be days or weeks, the room never failed to make Tom miss the idea of being younger. He missed the dress rehearsals for musicals and all the moments he shared with all of his friends and his family. Tom hoped and prayed that he could make more memories and be attached to something else rather than dress rehearsals. After all, he wasn't planning on doing a musical any time soon.
He sighed as he grabbed all the important things that could fit in his backpack and stuffed it in there. He was cursing himself about how he should have brought a duffel bag or a suitcase and that's when he remembered that he definitely left behind some suitcases. He opened the closet door and looked around before spotting a plain black suitcase. He grabbed it and lifted it out of the closet, placing it just near the closet door.
He carried the suitcase into the middle of his room and placed it on the floor, unzipping it and opening it up. He took out all the heavy things from his backpack and neatly organized them into the black suitcase. He felt like he was packing for some sort of vacation and had a rush of excitement before realizing why he was doing this; he got evicted from his place and was moving in with you.
He didn't care who he was moving in with to be exact. He mostly cared about the fact that he just lost his house and had to start a new life in another person's house. Tom hated the thought of being dependant on someone else for his day to day living. He always told himself that when he has money, he'll never depend on anyone else for anything huge. That was until he figured that he doesn't have any money left due to his stubbornness from denying roles in movies. He could have bought himself a proper place by now if he had simply accepted those offers instead of renting a place. He was annoyed at himself to say the least.
He found himself going through so many drawers and shelves to find things that were, and still are, so dear to him. He forgot about most of the things that he left here because he never actually made an effort to find them. Tom found a box of all sorts of physical photos that he took and packed the box in his backpack. It seemed to fit so why not?
What delayed Tom's packing was that whenever he encountered something he hadn't seen in such a long time, he'd observe it for a long time before deciding whether he should take it with him or not. When he rediscovered old action figures that he used to love, of course he'd begin to play with them and voice-act them. If you were to walk past Tom's room or have a peek at what he was doing, he'd appear as a little boy trapped in a grown man's body.
He spent hours fooling around and packing. Sam didn't really bother to check up on how his brother was doing nor did he hear anything Tom was saying. He was too caught up with things he was doing. Eventually, Paddy came back from hanging out with his friends, but his parents were still not home. Harry was travelling around and wasn't in England at all, so he didn't come home while Tom was there, either.
Tom left, dragging the suitcase with his left hand and his backpack hugging his back. "Get everything you needed?" Sam asked, still being home after all that.
Tom hummed and opened the front door himself instead of letting Sam do it for him. Tom cleared his throat but had nothing to say. It was just bothering him how there was something in his throat. Sam had the impression that Tom was about to speak but was surprised when he didn't.
"Hey, uh, Paddy's home if ya wanna say hi." The conversation became awkward from the start but Sam just wanted to talk about something.
"Ah, is he?" Tom stopped in his tracks and left the suitcase by the door which he closed now. "Imma go..." he trailed off, gesturing upstairs to say that he was going to talk to Paddy.
He dropped his bag on the wooden floor and ran up the stairs. Sam listened to his familiar footsteps race up the stairs as he shook his head and returned to scrolling through memes.
Tom stood in front of his youngest brother's door, plain and white. It remained closed for privacy reasons, so, naturally, Tom knew that he had to knock before entering. His knuckles hit the door a couple of times and he breathed out as he waited for a response.
"Come in!" Paddy's squeaky and childlike voice shouted back.
Tom pursed his lips before slowly opening the door to his brother's room. His eyes scanned the whole room and it remained just the way he had remembered it. Paddy was always about changing up his room. Not necessarily moving things around all the time like a maniac, but adding little things and taking away other things. Tom never knew why his brother liked doing that or where he developed such a habit, but he let him be. Tom was just shocked at the fact that it had been months since Christmas and Paddy didn't move one single thing in his room. All that was different was the huge mess in his room. His desk had papers and stationary items scattered around it carelessly. He wasn't one to clean up his room willingly so Tom understood why the mess was there.
He took one last look at the room before setting his eyes on the red-headed boy. "Hey, Paddster. Am I interrupting or..."
Paddy's face went from bored and annoyed to excited and beaming with joy. "Tom? I thought you weren't coming over till Easter."
Tom chuckled at the fact that if he didn't get evicted, if he never agreed to moving in with Lia and just moved in with Harrison, he wouldn't be here on this day unless there was an emergency. "Yeah, well, things change. I came here to grab a few things."
"Why don't you stay a while? Here." Paddy stretched his arm out with his controller in his hand, offering him the chance to play, even if Tom was nowhere near him.
Tom shook his head and put his hands in his pockets, looking down at his toes. "No can do."
"Why? You've something more important to attend to right now?"
Tom knew that Paddy was going to interrogate him until he cracked and gave in. Paddy always loved playing video games with his brothers because he felt a different way. It's not that he didn't feel content playing by himself or with a friend, but because he got another type of adrenaline rush when he played with his brothers. They'd tease each other or joke around in a different kind of way that would leave him laughing until he couldn't breathe. Even f he had two of his brothers living with him, it was always Tom that he enjoyed playing with the most. Tom may always beat him at, almost every, game that Paddy versed him in, but it was still fun. Though, Paddy did beat Tom this one time. Tom became so enraged and slung Paddy over his shoulder, walking around the house and to the balcony, joking about throwing him out. He never actually opened the balcony door that was in their parents' room but Paddy still yelled, his face turning red.
"Fine. Whatcha playing?"
"Spider-Man, but we can play CoD or something."
Tom focused his attention on the map in Spider-Man. Paddy paused to the map because he didn't want the game to be a distraction between the two. "Wait, did you collect all the backpacks?"
Paddy sat, perplexed, until he realized that Tom was staring at the TV in his room. "Uh, yeah. I have the homemade suit already."
"I do too, but you really gotta tone down the playing."
"It's been weeks since I've played!" He whined as Tom sat down on the bed with Paddy.
Paddy started putting in Black Ops 2 into his PS4 so that he could verse Tom, and hopefully, win for once. "Heard you got evicted."
Tom placed a hand in his head as if he was having the worst headache ever. "Let's not talk about that."
"Okay."