Love is So High School || A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction

Desperate Measures

The days leading up to the reunion were a whirlwind of preparations and strategizing. Lily and Tom sat huddled together in the comfort of their living room, surrounded by old yearbooks and a stack of sticky notes filled with ideas.

To some, this may seem extreme. To Lily, this was simply survival.

"So, how do we pull this off?" Tom asked, flipping through the pages of Lily's meticulously kept high school yearbook. "Should we come up with a backstory? Like how we met, how long we've been together..."

Lily nodded thoughtfully, tapping her pen against her chin. "Yeah, details like that will make it more believable. We should keep it simple, though. Maybe we met through a mutual friend, or while you were out for tea one day at Joe's Cafe."

"Sounds good," Tom agreed, jotting down notes on a fresh piece of paper. "What about pet names? Should I call you 'babe' or 'sweetheart'?" He said mockingly, putting extra annoying emphasis on babe and sweetheart the way those super corny couples like to do.

Lily blushed in embarrassment, brushing off Tom's stupid antics and mindless joking. "If I hear you call me sweetheart, I fear I may choke myself out with my hair in front of everyone."

Tom grinned mischievously. "Alright, babe. Whatever you say."

They spent hours refining their plan, practicing casual touches and playful banter to make their relationship appear natural. Lily was herself and comfortable in Tom's presence, laughing at his jokes and enjoying the easy camaraderie they shared.

That night, in order to celebrate their hard work, Lily and Tom engulfed in their new favorite pastime as of recently: ordering takeout and watching LoveIsland.

As the two sat on the couch munching on fried rice and greasy noodles while laughing at the hottest new bombshells in the villa, Lily looked over at Tom. 

For a while, Lily had played with the idea of entering a relationship with Tom. He was kind, charismatic, her best friend, and of course undeniably good looking. Sometimes, Lily believed that if she were with Tom, she truly would have it all and no worries would cross her mind.

But then, she started to consider the reality of the situation. Tom's career was growing at an exponential rate, becoming more and more popular by the day. Lily wasn't sure if she were ready to be committed to that lifestyle.

Plus, although she would support her best friend in whatever he decided to do, he was also undeniably a major player. 

Whenever they were out together, his flirtatious personality often got the best of him, allowing him to constantly be with a new girl.

However, to his credit, Tom had never brought any girls into their home, whether Lily was home or not. And even despite all of his player attributes, Tom was such a sweet and gentle soul, and Lily knew he would do anything for her and she would do the same for her.

But, she snapped out of it, laughing as Tom slurped up his noodles like a child. 

"I couldn't imagine going on an entire television program with a bunch of strangers and thinking 'Yep, I am leaving this house of naked models with the mother of my children.'" Tom teased, causing Lily to burst out laughing, spilling her rice all over their carpeted floor. 

"Tom! Look what you did!" Lily joked, crawling off the couch and scooping the rice back into the takeout box. 

"Me? That was all you! It's not my fault I am just so devilishly hilarious that my wit and humor quite literally almost killed you."

They laughed for a few seconds before re-gathering themselves, leaving the only noise in the room to be the theme music from the show.

Lily broke the silence with a question that even she was surprised she asked. 

"Tom, do you believe in a soulmate? Like, do you think that everyone in this world actually has one and that they are out there waiting for you?"

Tom sat there for a second, trying to figure out the best way to answer Lily's loaded question. In truth, he had given the soulmate topic some thought as well. Despite his playboy persona, Tom never told Lily he didn't bring women to their house because there were no women to bring.

Sure, he would flirt with a waitress for fun or take one of his co-stars out to a semi-public dinner, but he was never interested in the sleeping around lifestyle, because he believed something like that to be a step above meaningless flirting and casual dates.

He wanted it to be with someone he truly loved. 

Tom began to answer her, "Well, I think people choose to believe it because it would be extremely unfortunate if there were an odd amount of people in this world and one person in the whole entire universe was left alone." He teased at first, but when he looked into her eyes he knew she was searching for a real answer. And so, he gave in. 

"I like to believe in a soulmate because I like to believe that the fairytale type of love can truly happen. That you can love someone so much you are truly blinded by the amount of care and devotion you are willing to pour into another human. That you have someone to go through life hand in hand with. And maybe that's what soulmates are—two imperfect people who find each other in the midst of life's chaos and decide to navigate the journey together. It's about building a life, facing challenges, and celebrating victories side by side. So yeah, maybe soulmates do exist. Maybe they're not some mythical, unreachable ideal. Maybe they're just two people who choose each other, over and over again, in a world that's constantly changing." 

Tom's monologue had left Lily speechless. She didn't know what to say. She had no idea that he was capable of expressing this much vulnerability and showing this much compassion when it came to love. Up until thirty seconds ago, Lily had believed Tom to be a meaningless flirt, but now she had reason to believe that there was more to him.

She looked into his piercing blue eyes, admiring how they crinkled in the corner due to the fact that he was smiling ear to ear. 

She opened her mouth to say something, when all of a sudden the moment was cut short by the obnoxiously loud theme song playing once more on the screen.

Tom and Lily both immediately stood up, shuffling around awkwardly cleaning up the takeout mess in front of them. 

"We have a big day tomorrow. I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep," Lily whispered, walking closer towards Tom. 

Tom shifted nervously, fiddling with the box of noodles in his hands. "Yeah, I think I'll do the same. Can't disappoint my lovely girlfriend during her big day." He winked, bringing the playfulness back to the conversation and allowing the tension to dissipate almost immediately. 

"Goodnight, Tom." She said as she closed the door to her bedroom.

Directly across the hall from her. Tom repeated the saying. "Goodnight, Lily."