LOVE, LEIA (letters to tom) • Tom Holland au •

EIGHT

"Oh my God, babe. They're like so late" Samantha complained for what felt like the hundredth time while they waited for Leia to arrive.

"They're not late, babe. We're just really early. They're probably on their way anyway." Tom explained, his hand on her girlfriend's thigh for comfort.

They agreed on having dinner at a fastfood restaurant for the purpose of being much more comfortable with each other. Tom took a sip of his diet coke as he checked the time on his watch once again.

"Finally" Samantha sighed as she took a glance at the entrance door where Leia had just entered, Bryan following behind.

Tom then also looked towards the door to see if Leia had actually arrived. Even though he didn't expect himself to, his breath hitched and his jaw clenched at the sight of Leia holding a bouquet of flowers with Bryan's hand on her lower back. His hand gripped Samantha's thigh and she looked at Tom with a concerned look.

"Babe, your hand" she reminded him and he snapped back to reality, removing his hand from her thigh instantaneously.

"Hi! I'm sorry we're late. We got stuck in some traffic" Leia greeted with a bright smile, pulling Samantha into a hug and waving at Tom.

"It's fine. We were a little too early anyway" Samantha shrugged, giving Leia a crooked grin.

"You must be Samantha. I'm Bryan." Bryan chimed in, reaching his hand out for Samantha and Tom to shake.

"So.. You guys want to order our food now?" Samantha asked, glancing at everyone for their approval, in which they gave through a chorus of yeses. "Great. Babe? Let's go?" Samantha took Tom's hand before walking towards the counter.

"What do you want?" Bryan asked Leia, taking her orders so he can order it for her.

Leia wiped her sweaty hands on her white dress. Her nerves were terrible and the butterflies in her tummy were wild. She had not known what she would feel at the sight of Tom with his girlfriend. But she was coping with it quite well. With the help of Bryan of course.

Leia had decided to tell Bryan that Tom would be there while they were in the car at the parking lot. To which he reacted like Leia had expected.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He had asked with annoyance.

"Because I knew you'd react like this" Leia frowned.

"I'm doing this for you. Okay?" Bryan assured.

And he was. He was doing all this for Leia. In fact, he's been doing a lot of things for Leia. And he wished that Leia would see that he saw her as more than just a friend. But she was way too hung up over Tom.

Leia quickly regained her posture as her friends neared the table, their tray of food in their hands.

"I got you orange juice." Bryan smiled at Leia even though she was frowning.

"I don't like orange juice, Bry" Leia whined jokingly at her best friend. "I wanted soda"

"You're not allowed to drink soda, Bubba. You're acidic, remember?" Bryan poked Leia's sides which earned him a hiss and a playful slap.

"You call each other 'bubba'? That's so cute!!" Samantha exclaimed suddenly, making Leia and Bryan stop from their playful banter.

"What? No!" Leia laughed, her eyes crinkling at the sides. "He only calls me that because he knows I hate it when he does. I mean, 'bubba?' That's so cringey."

"And I noticed that he got you flowers too. You guys are the cutest. Aren't they, babe?" Samantha asked before turning to Tom, who was unusually silent.

"Hm? Yeah you can have it" Tom blurted out, handing her his fries, making the other three look at him weirdly.

"What are you doing?" Samantha chuckled. "I asked you if you think they're the cutest as well" she pinched the tip of his nose and he flinched away, shaking his head.

"Oh. Yeah. Of course" he smiled.

Leia on the other hand, was blushing so much that she was afraid that people would start to point it out. "Thank you, but we're just friends" she smiled timidly at the couple.

"Well, that's a shame. You two would totally be couple goals if you were together" Samantha joked to which no one really laughed at.

The four of them ate in awkward silence and Leia wished that the evening would be over with. She ate faster than she normally would in hope that they could leave earlier.

But fate had other plans.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Leia, come with? I have the perfect shade of lipstick for you to try" Samantha offered, reaching her hand out to Leia.

Immediately after the two had disappeared off to the bathroom, Bryan leaned in closer to Tom with a glare.

"Listen, man. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Leia is absolutely hung up over you. Everyday, every minute, every hour, all she ever talks about is you. It's unhealthy actually. And it's ruining her relationship with her mother, her friends, me. It's doing her no good" he paused to breathe, glancing towards the direction of the bathroom to check if the girls were anywhere near sight.

"I don't understand.. I ha-"

"I know you're only using her just to heal your dying ego, but just because no one else compliments you as much as she does, doesn't mean that you can feed off of it" Bryan spat, venom laced his tone

"You don't understand, she's my friend. I don't mean to-"

"Friend? Seriously? If you were actually her friend, then you'd know that by being with your girlfriend, you're crushing her heart. You don't just get to be her friend. You own it" Bryan quickly sat up straight once the girls neared the table, Leia wearing a nude shade of lipstick on her lips, which made her look even more beautiful than she already did.

"Leia's wearing my shade! Doesn't she look gorgeous?" Samantha grinned sincerely, glancing at Tom for his support.

"Y-yeah. You look great, Leia" Tom stuttered, glancing nervously at Bryan then at a blushing Leia, who had no clue of the event that just took place