By Chance

26 - Harry (A/N at end)

"Yeah, and she just started running after me."

Our mouths dropped open at Haz's story, which, apparently, Tom hadn't even heard before, and if he hadn't heard it, no one had.

"With a hammer?" I asked, my mouth and eyes wide, finding his story unbelievable.

"Yeah, she was insane," Haz recalled bittersweetly, taking a sip of his water.

"Well, I've never been chased around by a psycho girl with a hammer, but I've had my fair share of crazies," Tom laughed, sipping his hot herbal tea. This caught my interest because all I've ever heard about the girls he has dated is that they are the ones that got away. Maybe that's because he's always a tad drunk whenever he brings an ex up.

"Really now? All I've ever heard is that they're angels," I told him mockingly, my interest immediately rising. He leaned back in his chair, letting out a laugh.

"Ah, those girls. Yeah, they turned on me," he said, tearing my eyes open wide.

"Do tell," I said, folding my arms down on the table in immediate intrigue, making me sit up straighter.

"Well, this girl Michelle," he started to say but was cut off by my soon-to-be somber smile as the story continued.

"We loved Michelle," I sighed, referring to the family and me.

"Yeah, she was insane," he admitted without batting an eye, making me choke on my hot coffee.

"Come again?"

"On the day of her, um, 'departure' from our relationship, I told her that what she was wearing was a tad casual for the event we were going to, and she accused me of a ton of things I never said that had taken a massive hit on her self-esteem and walked out on me," he told us, causing me to remember what he was talking about.

"Ohhh, she was the one that you were going to bring to BAFTA in 2019. I remember that. You never really told us why she didn't show up," I told him, remembering the days when I wondered why he never expanded on the story.

"Well, I always felt guilty for telling her what she was wearing was too casual, so I never really wanted to tell Mum and Dad that I was the one that caused the breakup, even though she clearly had other things going on. I'm so glad April never gives me issues like that when we have to go to an event together."

We heard the garage open in the middle of an intensely-told story about Harrison and this girl he had hooked up with and never called her back. She sought her revenge by sending him threats in the mail, naturally.

"When Genevieve comes to visit, though, we should do a triple-date with you two, Tom, April, Ashley, and me," he shared with a wide smile. I nodded, immediately loving the idea. Haz has been with Ashley Brooks for around two years now, but she's been a dear friend of the family for nearly ten years. It wasn't much of a surprise when they finally got together since Harrison had had a massive crush on her for two years. As for Tom and April, they've been together a few months longer, meeting in 2020 at Comic-Con, months before Harrison and Ashley even thought about dating. Tom nearly got sued for the stunt he pulled by kissing April in front of everyone, but here they are, happily together almost every second of the day two years later. 

"Hey Sam," I greeted, followed by a round of hey's from everyone else.

"Whatcha guys doing?" he asked, setting down the groceries he got for dinner tonight.

"We were just talking about how Tom, April, Harrison, Ashley, Genevieve, and I have to go on a triple-date when we're all in the same place," I reported, hearing him scoff.

"You need to get yourself a girl and pronto, Sam!" Tom laughed, shaking his head. I saw my twin shed a grin.

"You act like I'm not trying!" he replied in a mock-offended tone.

"Try harder!" Harrison countered, everyone present sharing a laugh. After setting down the groceries he had gotten for dinner (after all, it was his night), he joined us at the table, and we gabbed like old women for hours. We finally set up a plan to get Sam out into the dating scene that didn't involve us setting up a Tinder account behind his back. He gave consent to going to the club at some point to meet someone, maybe but was very open to the idea of just letting things happen without trying too hard. Dating didn't seem too on his radar right now, but I knew that when he met the right girl, he'd be absolutely nuts about her. But I will say that I don't think any of us anticipated it to happen as soon as it did. It was all very...unexpected. 

A/N:

Hey guys! So as you've probably noticed, I hinted quite a bit at the other relationships in the chapter, and I wanted to let you know that this story is NOT a series. Still, it does tie in with other series I've written regarding timelines and relationships. I'll list them below in order of the year who got with who! The first three are available on my page (:

Tom x April - "Never Say Never" -takes place in 2020

Harrison x Ashley - "Unspeakable" -takes place in 2021

Harry x Genevieve (THIS SERIES) - "By Chance" - takes place in 2022

Sam x Amber (TAKES PLACE AFTER THIS SERIES) - "Unexpected" (written by dear friend, @JananaBread GO CHECK HER OUT!) - takes place in mid-2023