A New Leaf (Eddsworld Tom x Reader)

Chapter 2: A... Date?

    As soon as I walked inside, I was immediately surprised by how quiet everything was. No one was shouting, fighting, or screaming. The only noise was the soft buzz of the television and Edd sipping his cola every few minutes. I found myself to actually be quite comfortable in their house. Everything in the living room was overall surprisingly clean for a house full of college-age boys.  The room was sparsely decorated, they didn't really seem to mind. 

After taking in the house, I sat down next to Edd on the plush couch. Tom scowled at me as I settled in but didn't comment after Edd shot him a glare. I tried not to let it bother me, instead focusing on the show in front of me. Tom and Edd were silent as we watched TV, with Matt occasionally making random remarks. I much rather preferred this than going out and doing some crazy activity. It felt nice to just relax and have some company for once.  As we continued to watch, I slowly began to lose track of time, pondering the bizarreness of today. 

---

It had been about an hour or so of silently staring at the television screen when a young man in a bright red hoodie and spiky hair barged through the front door of the house unexpectedly. That must be the fourth roommate that Edd mentioned earlier.

"Hey Tord!" Edd greeted him. Tom didn't even bother looking to look up. Matt had wandered off to his room some time ago, claiming he needed some 'time with himself'. As Tord passed by, he stopped abruptly, staring at me with raised eyebrows.

"And who is this beauty?" he asked in a thick Norwegian accent. Although I was flattered, I felt a bit skeptical; no one had ever been that direct with me.

"Oh, that's Y/n, our new neighbor," Edd answered as he stood up to grab some more cola from the kitchen. I smiled kindly at Tord, waving my hand in greeting.

"I'm Tord.. But you can call me your boyfriend if you'd like," he said smirking wildly. My smile disappeared almost instantly. So he was one of those type of guys. Any friendship I had planned to have with him was gone. I rolled my eyes in response as I opened my mouth to retort, but the words died in my throat as I caught sight of the books that were in the plastic bags. My eyes widened at Tord as I realized what they were.

"You're seriously trying to flirt with girls when you still watch Hentai?" I said in disgust.

"I-I, What?" He clumsily stammered back, hastily trying to hide the plastic bags behind him. His face turned a deep shade of red as he quickly made his way back to his room. What an ass, I thought. There were plenty of sex-obsessed boys back in high school, but I thought most of them would have matured by now. I shook my head in utter revulsion at the thought.

"Better get used to it," Tom remarked flatly as he took a sip from his flask. I glanced up at him only to see his attention focused on the television. This was the most he had said to me my entire time here. I wasn't really sure why he was so disinterested in being friends, and I regretted my awkwardness during out first interaction. As we sat in silence, I slowly started to build up the courage to say something.

"Listen, I know we didn't get off on a good start, but I really want to be friends, if that's okay with you," Tom was looking at me straight in the eyes now, his face deadpan.  I couldn't tell if he was annoyed or simply just didn't care. Thinking back to my embarrassing stammering, I ruefully wished I was that talented at hiding my emotions.

"I thought we were friends," he said, raising his eyebrow at me.  My stomach dropped at his words. I tore my eyes away from him as my mind started racing. Did I really misinterpret him that badly? 

"Oh, well I-" I started to mumble before being cut off by Tom.

"But if you want, we could just go for a drink," he suggested. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Words failed to come to my mind as I began to consider. Two people.. going out for a drink. My stomach fluttered as I realized that this was sounding very much like a date. Trying to suppress this feeling, I rationed that it was probably meant nothing in Tom's mind. 

Don't overthink this. Don't get your hopes up.

"Sounds good," I responded, a little more strained than I'd like. Tom stood up from the couch.

"Okay well, get ready then," he said, a faint grin on his face.

Note: When it comes to the layout of the Eddsworld house, not everything described in this chapter and future chapters will be completely accurate. You probably won't notice, but I just wanted to make sure that everyone was aware.