To The Beat // t.h.

8

There was Tom. Shirtless. He looked at you, slightly concerned and confused as to why you looked like that. You just had no idea what to respond with. There he was... six-pack and- and everything, in all its glory. His arms were still shining from the rain. Was this actually real?

You hadn't noticed it before, but without the shirt, you saw how he had been wearing a necklace. A thin silver chain with some sort of charm on it that from a distance looked like a coin. He had been in the middle of fixing it when you turned around. So, there was that flexed arm to add to the things that broke your mind momentarily.

Tom stared at you, looked down at himself, then back at you. He was about to look behind himself, probably to check if there was something wrong, but then realised.

"Oh..OH. Shit."

You were still speechless.

"See, I did not think this through. I was just gonna change my shirt." He showed you the wet piece of cloth that was once his loose tank top. "Do you want something to wear? I don't want you to catch a cold." Now that you mentioned it, you were starting to shiver.

Your throat dry, you tried to mutter out, "uhh, yes. Thank you." He nodded, walked past you and disappeared into the room you suspected to be the bedroom. He was gone for a bit, but when he came back, he was already changed. You had to hide your disappointment that he had put on a shirt, but the grey sweatpants made up for it in a way. Fuck.

"Here," he handed you some clothes. "It's probably not the best outfit, but it should keep you warm."

"Thank you." you grabbed the clothes from him. "Can I change in there?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead." He got out of the way, but you only took a step before he repeated something. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Uhm, sure. Tea?"

"Coming right up." and he went off to the kitchen to set the kettle. You walked, uninterrupted, to the other room. It was, like assumed, the bedroom with not much there except for a closet and a large bed. It did look really comfortable though. And made up. You wished your bedroom looked this clean.

You took off your wet clothes, which was quite the challenge since it all stuck to your skin and your jeans wouldn't budge from their place. The clothes Tom had provided were some shorts that seemed like he used for training or whatever exercise he did and a sweater. You had wanted to wear your new Winter Solstice t-shirt but, of course, that had soaked through as well. So, you put on the sweater and knew immediately that that was the better choice. It was soft and warm. Plus, the idea of wearing his clothes was also touching to the heart.

You walked out of the room as Tom was pouring the boiling water into two mugs. He looked over at you with a smile.

"How do you take it?" He was opening the fridge, ready to take out the milk.

"Honey and lemon, but it's fine if you don't have that." you quickly added.

"Please, you're talking to the tea expert here." He took out a bottle of lemon juice, the same out you always buy you noticed, and a jar of honey from the cupboard. As he did that, you looked around some more in the room. The large leather couch was definitely the centre point of the room, with the large tv in front of it, accompanied by a PlayStation. There was a bookcase filled with... well, books, but also CD's, records and different little things between them. You looked around, hoping to find a drum set somewhere, but there was none. Which made sense. You didn't expect the neighbours to be too fond of drumming as a pastime hobby.

"We practice at Harrison's place. He soundproofed his place." Tom explained, seeing how you were looking around cluelessly. He handed you your cup as you both sat down on the couch. Fearing for your tongue, you carefully took the first sip, but it was surprisingly pleasant. He must have poured in some cold water to cool it down, just the right amount too. As soon as the tea got into your system, you felt the warmth go through your entire body. It was absolutely fantastic.

Still, you had to admit, it was a strange situation. Never would you have imagined to go to a concert and then, later on, go out for a late-night meal with the drummer, and now to be drinking tea on his couch.

"You don't do this often, do you?" You quizzed. Tom looked up from his mug.

"Do what?"

"This. Take a girl out to eat, bring her home, undress in front of her... make her tea." you elaborated on your question.

"The tea making, yeah, that's new." He sipped his tea with a slurp.

"Well, I'm glad to be the first then." You knew he had meant it jokingly, so why not just go along with it?