To The Beat // t.h.

7

"What do you want to do?"

"I live a block away. We can- I don't really know what we can do, to be honest." He admitted, making both of you laugh.

"Your place sounds good," and you stepped aside for him to lead the way. Tom opened the door but almost stopped when he saw it was raining. And it was raining hard. It had escalated from the moment you had looked out the window. Then you realised he didn't have a jacket and was only wearing that tank top.

"I would offer you my jacket," you said, "but I don't think you would fit it... and I don't have one." You came to realise like the genius you were.

"I guess we'll have to run for it, then." He held out his hand. You didn't even hesitate and grabbed it. Clutching on to the shirt and CD, you ran alongside Tom, across the street and then following it to the next right. It wasn't really a run, but definitely a trot. The rain poured down on you, quickly soaking through all your clothes. By the time you had reached the door of his apartment building, your hair was sticking to your face, and you both looked like drenched cats. Tom grabbed his keys and unlocked the door as quickly as possible, letting you go first.

You leaned against the wall and let your breathing calm down. He did the same against the door. There was a second of silence before you started laughing. What was so funny? Neither of you knew. It just felt nice and like the right thing to do after running through the rain like idiots. Oh, so that's what was so funny.

"Right, this way," he pointed up the stairs. "I would suggest the elevator, but it hasn't worked in like five years, I think."

"Stairs are fine," you said, already walking up.

"Wait until the fourth floor. Cause I'm not carrying you." He joked, and you giggled, putting away the thought of him holding you in his arms and carrying you up the stairs into his home... and kissing you... throwing you onto the bed... FOCUS!

"Woah!" you almost missed a step, but luckily Tom caught you just in time.

"You okay there?"

"Yeah, just a bit slippery," you tried to excuse your clumsiness, hoping that the fact that you were soaked from top to bottom would help. It did. Still laughing at you though, Tom helped you up and from then on you walked side by side. All the way up to the sixth floor. As exhausted as you were, you tried to play it off cool.

"Here we are." He tapped on the door with his whole palm, and for a second you thought someone would open, but then he pulled out his keys again. A moment later you were walking into the flat. You couldn't see much in the dark, but Tom quickly turned on the lights. It was a nice looking place—big living room with an attached kitchen. On one side there were two doors, which you assumed were his bedroom and bathroom. It was clean, but here and there some items were misplaced or left behind, making known that there was indeed a person living here.

On the wall closest to the entrance, you noticed pictures hanging. Most were of Tom and his friends and family. One stood out to you. It was an adorable little dog, smiling at the camera. When you looked over to the living room again, you noticed a red dog bed next to the couch with a bunch of squeaky toys.

"You have a dog?" you asked, already excited to see a puppy.

"Yeah, she's called Tessa, but she's staying with my parents and other brothers for the weekend since I would be out of the house for most of the time."

"Ah yeah, that makes sense-" you had been looking around, not paying too much attention to Tom himself in all honesty. But then you had turned around and froze.