Tom Riddle - Downfall

Chapter 21: Hugs

Tom enters my dorm room and follows me in as I close the door behind us. He looks quite nervous and apprehensive about something.
"Okay... so..." He takes a moment to think about what to say now.
"I... I... wanted to apologize. I'm sorry that I just didn't show up the other day and I'm sorry that I didn't give you an explanation." He says to me softly while looking down with a slightly worried expression now.
"Right. So what is the explanation?" I shrunk my arms and raise an eyebrow. Tom sighs and takes a deep breath, clearly not looking forward to having to tell me any of this. He just looks like he's not want to say any more, but I ask him for an explanation, so he has to tell me.
"Fine, I was going to tell you the truth sooner or later, but... I got into a fight and... I got a bit more hurt than I thought I would, that's it. Happy?" He looks at me a bit angrily but also with a soft facial expression as he tries to hold back his emotions here now.
"Yeah, I can see that Tom! I want to know the reason for your fight." Tom sighs and looks at me with a serious facial expression. I already know something is going on here. He's trying to keep a very important truth from me, but it seems like he's starting to reach his breaking point now.
"It... it.. it really doesn't matter. I just... don't want to talk about it, okay? I don't want you to treat me differently, alright?" He asks me for about the third time now. I can feel that Tom really doesn't want to talk about this.
"Why did they laugh about you, Tom?" My face softens, and I take a step towards him. My softer facial expression now seems to catch Tom's attention. Seeing me take a step towards him, his face seems to show a slight bit of hope.

"...They... they said that the only reason you talked to me is out of pity." He says to me softly. He looks over at me, hoping that I'll correct him on this. I roll my eyes "Thats why you fighted with them? Really?" I pause for a moment and then touch his shoulders. "Tom, look at me. You know it's not true. "
My gentle touch on his shoulder catches Tom's attention now. He looks at me and sees my eyes looking at him kindly. He nods his head slowly in agreement with me as he responds to me in a soft tone.

"...I know... but I can't stand when they say these things... I hate it... it just..." He pauses for a moment.
"I'm... glad to hear you don't feel like that. I... I don't want to upset you. I'm sorry for not showing up the other day." He says to me softly.
"You can be lucky that I can't be upset for long," I smile, "but Tom, I don't want to keep doctoring you." Tom smiles back at me at my gentle comment.
"...Hey, as long as you don't mind me getting beaten up every now and then." He jokes lightly. "No, I'm kidding. I know you don't want to take care of me every time." He says to me as he brushes his hair aside slightly to show the cut on his forehead a bit more.
"I promise that this won't happen again." He says with his warm and shy smile.
"Yeah, and I know you can't keep this promise," I laugh. Tom smiles at me again as he realizes that the tension between the two of us has eased significantly now.
"Maybe not... but I'll try my best." He replies while chuckling. He looks around my room for a moment before turning back to me and asking another question.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."Tom tries to think about how to word his question and decides to just ask it honestly.
"Can I... can I hug you?" He asks me nervously now. The question seems to catch you off-guard slightly, but after a moment of processing it, I seem to feel ok with it.
"Hug me?" I look at him quite confused as I never thought he would want to have physical contact."Are you sure?" Tom nods his head in confirmation as I ask him this.
"I... I am. You don't have to, if you don't want to..." He trails off, and his voice seems to become a bit more nervous now, his face becoming a bit red as well. I start smiling again and instantly hug him. My arms around his neck, and he hugs me tight around my waist. Tom hugs me back immediately and with a lot of force, trying to make this a comforting moment for us. He seems happy to take my hug, and he wraps his arms around my small waist as his chest rubs up against mine.

For a moment, he seems to forget about everything else now. It just feels good to feel the warm skin against each other's. And then, as soon as he snaps back to reality, he suddenly pulls back from the hug, his face slightly red and his mood much more reserved.
"Was a good hug, huh?" I laugh and smile at him."So can we please finish this assignment tomorrow?" After a moment or two of awkwardness, Tom seems to snap back to reality and lets out a small chuckle while wiping his forehead.
"Yeah... um... yeah, I guess it was." He responds to me with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. He then quickly shakes his head back into focus and nods quickly at me.
"Sure. Tomorrow it is. I've gotta go back and finish some stuff for the weekend." He says to me as he moves towards the door. I nod. "Okay, see you tomorrow,"
Tom simply nods back at me before finally leaving my dorm, closing the door behind him. I notice that it's slightly difficult to shake this odd feeling in my heart now that I've just had that intimate moment with him. Maybe things will go back to the way they were before. But then again... maybe not.