Webs of the Heart

chapter five

Crystal POV

The next morning, I got up early and took a shower, and I helped Mr Holland finish an intricate carving on a bookshelf that someone had ordered. That took about three hours, then at nine thirty, I helped Mrs Holland clean for....4 hours. After helping Mrs Holland, I went through the tour pictures with Harry, which took two hours. By this time, it was three in the afternoon, and Paddy asked me to come and look at his treehouse. I agreed to, after I had a drink of water. I went in the kitchen and saw that Tom had finally gotten up, so I greeted him cheerfully, then got my water.

"Crystal, when did you get up?" Tom asked, and his voice was noticeably raspy from sleep.

"Um about five thirty. Why?" I replied, rinsing out my glass and setting in the sink gently.

"You should have slept in!" He told me. I was confused.

"But...why?" I queried.

"Because you just got back from two months straight going through different time zones every day, and you need rest." He explained.

"Ohh. Well if you want I can take a nap after Paddy shows me his treehouse." I offered, and he agreed. I bowed dramatically to make Mrs Holland and Tom laugh, then I went out and spent half an hour with Paddy in his honestly admirable tree house, not mentioning to anyone how my stomach had jumped and begun doing gymnastics on hearing Tom's raspy voice.

Tom POV

I helped Mum get dinner started, which was going to take a long time, then I took Tessa for a walk around the neighborhood. When I got back, I gave Tessa a bath, then took a shower. When I was done, Mum called me out into the living room.

"Look." She said quietly, pointing at the couch. I saw Crystal lying on the couch, fast asleep, and Tessa lay by her side, her head resting on Crystal's waist. They were both sound asleep, and it was one of the sweetest things I had ever seen Tessa do.

"Crystal has always been good with animals." I said, after taking a picture of them. Mum smiled and nodded, and told me as she put a hand on my shoulder,

"She's one of a kind." I nodded, biting my lip in thought as I sat down on an armchair that faced the couch, and I started reading Alice in Wonderland, which had been lying on the coffee table.

I glanced at Crystal every now and then, still digesting, so to speak, how much she had changed. Her face was peaceful and happy looking in her sleep, and her hair was gracefully spread around the pillows on the couch, her long brown wool skirt draping down to just above the floor, and her brown sweater had slipped down a bit to cover her hands completely, exposing a bit of her shoulders. Then it hit me. She wasn't just a girl anymore; she was a woman. A young lady. It was weird for me to think about that.

Soon she started to wake up, so I turned back to my book, reading on as she sat up and started petting Tessa.

"Oh, hi Tom. How long you been there?" She said, her voice raspy from sleep.

"Not too long. You seem to have Tessa under a spell." I joked, closing the book and setting it down. Crystal smiled sleepily at the gray dog, resting her head on top of Tessa's.

"I love Tessa." She said, and Tessa wagged her tail.

"I think Tessa loves you too." I told her.

We got called to dinner soon, and afterwards we all played the Game of Life. But because Sam joined us for it, we had to have a few teams. Mum and dad made one team, and Crystal and I made the other. We ended up winning, and after watching a movie, we all went to bed.

The days pleasantly blended into what seemed like one long, fun day, and before I knew it, Crystal was going back on tour and I was going on location for another movie called the Edge of Winter.

Throughout the rest of the year, Crystal and I kept in constant contact, but I was unable to attend any of her concerts, while my family frequented them, because they said she was such an entertaining artist. But I wasn't able to go to a concert until 2016, October of 2016 right before I started filming Spiderman Homecoming in America. I went to a Little Mix concert Crystal was opening, and Crystal met me outside the stadium in Washington State.

"Hi Tom!" She called, catching my attention, which was good because I didn't know where to go. I waved and she ran over to me, and I barely managed to swing her around in a hug before she grabbed my hand and started walking towards the stadium, talking as we went.

"The show is gonna start in half an hour and I have to get ready, but you don't have to go out until the show actually starts. If you want you can stay in the dressing room so you don't get lost, this place is huge so it's really easy to get lost but it's super hard to get un-lost if you know what I mean." I laughed and said,

"I think I'll just stick with you." She laughed and turned down a long hallway, greeting people as we walked.

"Know a lot of the people here?" I queried.

"I try to meet and thank everyone who helps make these shows possible." She told me, then we turned into a room with her name on a sign next to the door, and two women greeted her.

"Jade, Perrie, this is my best friend, Tom Holland. Tom, this is Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards, two parts of Little Mix." The blonde, Perrie Edwards, gave me a hug and told me as Jade Thirlwall hugged me in greeting,

"It's nice to meet you, Tom! Crystal tells us a lot about you."

"Yeah OK, don't blackmail me while I can't talk because I'm getting make up slapped on." Crystal protested, sitting down in a chair opposite a large mirror with a red haired woman behind her, beginning to put make up on her. Jade and Perrie laughed at her, then I sat down on the couch with them, making comfortable conversation with the two singers. 

After Crystal had her hair styled into a curled loose style with braids interwoven with rings in the braids, Jade and Perrie had to go get ready, and Crystal went behind a curtain to change.

Crystal POV

"So what do you think of Perrie and Jade?" I asked, pulling my black dress on over my other outfit, then stepping out from behind the curtain.

"They seem really nice." I smiled.

"They are. Can you help me? I can't reach the zipper." I asked him, turning so my back was facing him. I heard him get up and the zipper was closed quickly. I turned around and bowed, thanking him formally.

"Many thanks, kind sir." Tom laughed and bowed.

"My pleasure, milady."