𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒, 𝐭.𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬

24. let's talk

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WARNINGS: none! just a short
chapter :)

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it had been a good few weeks since tommy's conversation with wilbur about his feelings for valerie. he was still stuck on what to do, after overthinking it and confiding in, again, wilbur, he'd decided he should talk to her about it. the two had plans to do a stream for valerie's twitch anyway, so the timing worked out perfectly for him,

the stream went by fast, tommy's nerves building up. he almost changed his mind once somebody donated, asking if they'd ever get together, valerie simply shook her head, which made him have second thoughts. yet, he knew she'd never imply them being in a relationship as she knew tommy's boundaries surrounding shipping, hers matching.

"val, erm," tommy started, they were simply sat in their chairs, a random youtube video playing on her monitor. "can i erm, can i talk to you about something?"

"yeah, anything, what's up?" responding, valerie paused the video and turned her seat to be parallel with his, making strong eye contact.

tommy hesitated, before speaking up. "look, i don't really know how to say this – i've spoke to wil about it and everything because i'm just confused, you're obviously like my best friend and shit but-" he paused, taking in her expression. her face was hard to read, her eyebrows were furrowed but she listened intently. "actually, no, no it doesn't matter." he shook his head, looking down as his leg bounced.

"no, tom, carry on, please."

"valerie, i think i like you, not in a best friend way, nothing like that, i want you, val."

"oh, erm, well, i was not expecting that." valerie laughed nervously, "well, when, when did you know?"

"i've known for a while, i don't expect you to feel the same, or anything, it was just eating me up and i was stressing about it–"

"tommy, it's okay, stop stressing, i like you too, y'know. i've told larissa so many times. it took me ages to come to terms with it." valerie confessed, "but, i don't want something serious right now."

"no, no, that's fine, i understand." tommy nodded, "but, do you ever see like, us?"

"i do," she smiled, feeling her cheeks turn red. "i'm willing to try it, but i'm not so sure about a title right now, it scares me, and i have a lot on my plate, but i am more than happy to be 'a thing' if you will."

"okay." tommy grinned, feeling like a kid in a sweet shop. "we can try."

the both of them felt a huge weight off of their shoulders, it took valerie a much longer time than it did tommy to come to terms with the fact that she had feelings for tommy, feelings in itself scared her.

she'd only been in one serious relationship, the rest weren't long nor serious enough to consider a real relationship. the one relationship she was in ended terribly – and she almost swore to herself she'd never catch feelings again. she trusted tommy with everything in her, and she knew he'd never hurt her, but the chance of something with him causing their friendship to end terrified her.

tommy, on the other hand, hadn't ever had a serious relationship. to him, the only part that scared him, was telling her his feelings to get shut down and rejected. hurting her was never even a thought that crossed in his mind, but he didn't want to turn things awkward from catching feelings.

"can we make a promise though?" valerie started, tommy looking back to her as they'd started to watch the video again.

"go on."

"we keep this conversation to ourselves, and us, until we're official."

"yeah, we can do that."

tommy couldn't help but melt at the last sentence, she saw them being official. he liked that she wanted to keep it private, he was on the same page. they'd only found that getting people involved simply ruined things, so he'd rather keep it to themselves.

"and, we can't get together until after my birthday."

"what? why? that's so specific."

"because, tom, i made a bet with my auntie jess!"

"you made a bet? on what, me and you?" tommy snorted, shaking his head. "what do you even mean by that?"

"basically, on christmas eve, she bet me twenty quid that we would get together before my birthday, and i didn't know you liked me back, so i fucking agreed to it and i'm not losing twenty quid."

"you're an odd'en, val."