it's always been you (tomdaya oneshots)

19|the great debate

The carnival was in town and Zendaya insisted that they go. Tom initially didn't want to, he wanted to spend his night inside, watching a movie and cuddling his girlfriend. But Zendaya had been waiting for months for the carnival to begin.

They had just arrived and Tom was already in a bad mood. Parking was expensive and trying to find a spot was hell. Then, they practically had to hike just to get to the front entry gates for the carnival. Not to mention the long line they waited in to go inside. He'd do anything for his girlfriend though, so he tried to suck it up.

The couple rode a few rides, took some pics at a photo booth and were strolling around now, eating greasy fried food. Zendaya was having the time of her life, but when she glanced at Tom, she could tell he couldn't shake his mood.

"C'mon," Zendaya said, dragging Tom to the closest booth.
"What're we doing?" he asked.
"We're gonna play some games," she declared. Tom had always been very competitive by nature and she knew this would be just the way to get him to cheer up a bit and enjoy the carnival with her.

Out of all of the games at the carnival, Tom was fixated on one in particular. It was a ring toss game. The grand prize: a goldfish.

The game and it's prize seemed to be geared towards children, but for some reason Tom couldn't beat it. Which infuriated him.

"Tom, it's getting late," Zendaya yawned. She sat on a bench a few inches behind him, clutching the stuffed panda Tom had won her a couple games ago.

Z tried to be patient at first—Tom was genuinely having a good time now—but he had been at this booth, playing the same game for an hour now.

"Just one more round, Baby, then we can go. I promise," Tom said.

Zendaya let out an exasperated sigh and leaned forward, her head falling into her hands. She listened to the clink of each ring as Tom tossed them onto the glass soda bottles arranged in front of him. She only lifted her head when she heard Tom yell.

"OH! I did it! I-I won! I beat the game!" Tom cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. Zendaya chuckled at her childish boyfriend. She got up to congratulate him.

He enveloped her in a hug and lifted her off the floor. Tom spun the two of them around. You'd think Tom had just won an olympic gold medal with the way the pair laughed and cheered.

"Congratulations!" the booth runner disrupted. "He's all yours."
The couple broke apart and turned back to the booth to see the booth owner holding out a bright orange fish in a bag.

Tom's face immediately lit up at the sight. Zendaya couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend's excitement. Carnival day was a success and now they both had something to show for it. For Zendaya, a night full of pictures and memories and for Tom, a goldfish.

—

In the car on the way back, all Tom could do was stare at his fish in awe. Zendaya peeled her eyes from the rode again to find him still completely enthralled by the swimming creature.

"Babe, what're you gonna name him?" Z inquired.
"Don't you mean we?" Tom questioned.
"You're gonna let me help you name your prized possession?"
"I may have done all the hard work to get him here, but he's still our fish. I have no intention of being a single father," Tom joked.

"Okay, well...how about Bubbles," Zendaya suggested.
Tom turned his head at her in utter shock. "What?"
"Bubbles? Bubbles! Are you serious?" Tom exclaimed.
"Do you have something better?"

Tom thought for a moment, taping his chin like a cartoon character.
"I was thinking maybe Fishy," he said, honestly.
"Fishy, Tom? Be for real!" Zendaya laughed...Tom did not. Her face dropped. "Oh you're serious..."

"Either that or Swimmy," he added. Zendaya couldn't help but laugh again. These names were stupid.

The remainder of the car ride was filled with them arguing about what to name their new fish son.

The argument traveled from the car, to the driveway, and all the way inside the house. Now, they were seated in the kitchen, both staring at the fish on the counter in front of them. He swam circles in his small, plastic bag.

"How about Ralph?"
"Thomas, you're kidding me right? That's a terrible name for a fish. Every name you're suggesting just keeps getting worse and worse! How is that even possible?"
"And you're still stuck on Bubbles!" Tom challenged.

"Bubbles is cute!" Zendaya argued.
"Bubbles is lame," Tom declared, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, you know what," Zendaya announced, standing up "I'm going to bed."
"Baby, you're not seriously upset over this, are you?" Tom asked. He followed behind her down the hall to their room.
"I'm just tired of arguing with you," she told him, her voice trailing as she entered their bedroom. Tom wasn't too far behind her.

The name of their fish would have to be decided in the morning. For now, the pair were too tired and a little too upset with each other to actually make any progress on a good name.

—

Zendaya awoke the next morning to find Tom's side of the bed empty. She sighed. He couldn't still be mad about the fish, could he?

She got out of bed and wandered down the hall in search of her boyfriend. She found him in the same spot they both sat at for too long last night. At the kitchen counter, in front of the fish.

"Tom," she called, her voice announcing her presence in the room. "About the fish...maybe we just—"
Zendaya paused at the sight in front of her.

Tom was staring at the fish yet again, but this time, the fish wasn't swimming circles in its bag. Instead, it had sunk to bottom of the bag, motionless. Zendaya's hand came to her mouth.

"We killed him," Tom mumbled. "All of our arguing—it killed him." Z's arm traveled to his shoulders.
"Babe, he didn't die because we couldn't pick a name. He died because we forgot to put him in an actual bowl."
"Oh," Tom replied in realization. They were silent for a moment.

"But still, we never even gave him a name. He died without a name," Tom stated, his voice laced with sadness.

Zendaya knew it was a fish and she knew that all of the attention and thought they'd been giving said fish was a bit much. But, seeing the love of her life this sad over it was really doing something to her.

Maybe that's why she allowed Tom to have a small funeral for it. They each spoke a few words and ended the funeral with a ceremonious flush down the toilet.

Maybe that was also why she decided to take Tom to the pet store later that afternoon to pick out another fish and purchase a real fish bowl.

She knew it was all ridiculous. But it made Tom happy. And she'd do anything to see him just as excited as he was last night at the carnival. She'd do whatever she had to do to preserve the sweet smile that currently rested on his face as he admired their new fish on their car ride home.

Not only did Zendaya let Tom get a new fish just to keep him happy, she also let him be the sole decider of the new fish's name. (That and she simply didn't feel like wasting her energy arguing with Tom over it again.)

"Okay, so I know I said I wanted to name him Fishy the Second, but what about Bubbly?" Tom spoke up.
"You might as well just name him Bubbles then, like I said the first time," Zendaya chuckled.
"Nah, I'm still not feelin' it."
"But you're feeling Bubbly? Seriously?"

"Yes! It's a perfectly respectable name for a fish."
"You know what," Zendaya caught herself "I'm not doing this with you again."
"Okay, wait, I have one more name," Tom said.

"No more names!"
"Just hear me out—"
"Tom..." Zendaya warned.

"What about Wallace?"
"Thomaassss!"