Sweethearts [1] || tom holland

Chapter 10: Abs and Bikinis

July 9, 2016
Atlanta, Georgia

Three days after the fiasco at the prom, things were still awkward between me and Tom. We hadn't spoken about the almost kiss and both of us had thrown ourselves into filming Spider-Man.

Today was one of the rare days were the cast had the day off. A hot, sticky Saturday off is the perfect thing we needed.

Me, Laura, Charlotte, Grace, Maria, India and Paige were getting changed into our bikinis and swimsuits for a pool day in our private mansion in Atlanta. I felt extremely self-conscious around these skinny models but they were my friends so I had to do it.

"You guys ready?" Laura smiled.

"Yeah! I need to get in that pool, it's way too hot," India said, moving her electric fan around her face in an attempt to cool herself down.

We made our way down the wooden, winding stairs into the reception area. My bare feet padded against the cold stone floor, helping to cool me down slightly.

In the kitchen, the boys were making food for everyone. The barbecue was on outside with Harrison and Tony watching over it. Tom, Michael and Jacob were making salad and plating up other foods.

"Hey, guys. We're going into the pool," Laura announced.

"Alright, we'll be there in a few," Jacob said, eating a slice of cucumber.

The crowd of girls headed outside and I stayed at the back. I glanced over at Tom dishing up the potato salad and coleslaw. He looked up briefly but as soon as he noticed I was looking at him, he turned his attention to the salad again.

My heart hurt a little that he wouldn't even look at me. It wasn't like I rejected him. I just wasn't ready and I panicked. No one had ever made a move on me before so I didn't know what to do or how to react.

The blazing sun hit my skin and blinded me temporarily as my eyes adjusted to the light. The girls had already submerged themselves in the water so I joined them. We splashed each other a little bit and raced each other from one end of the pool to the other.

Jacob, Tom, Harrison, Tony and Michael got into the pool one by one and eventually we were all splashing around in the water. Tom and I kept our distance and we were on opposite ends of the pool at all times.

"Hey, why don't we have a game of volleyball?" Tony suggested.

Everyone agreed and the nets were set up. The teams were established. Laura and Grace decided to sit the game out so we could have an even number on each team. Boys v Girls. The boys were going down.

A few rounds into the game and we were winning. India and Maria passed the ball between each other before Jacob got between them. Maria climbed onto his back to gain possession of the ball again and threw it to me. I caught it and went to slam dunk the ball into the net before a pair of arms wrapped itself into my waist and threw me backwards.

I went head first into the water and let go of the ball. The arms were still wrapped around me so I wriggled out of them and managed to surface. When I did, I saw that Charlotte had managed to get the ball and put it in the net, winning the game for girls. They were jumping around hugging each other. I smiled and cheering in victory before realising what had happened.

The assailant who dragged me into the water tapped my shoulder and I turned in the water. Tom. Of course it was. He looked sheepish but the sunlight glistened in his wet hair and the droplets of water on his body.

"Can we talk in private?" He asked.

I nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, sure."

We climbed out of the pool and went to the side of the house to talk. I wrapped a towel around my body to stop myself from shivering. We stood on the concrete at the side of the house in the sun. Tom crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, moving his bare foot around in the slabs.

"I think we need to talk about that night," he started.

I nodded hesitantly and held my left forearm with my right hand. I didn't want to have this chat but we needed to. It could start to affect our work if we didn't.

"I'm so sorry that I made a move on you," he apologised looking at me with his big brown eyes. "It was a complete mistake and I was out of line. I'm sorry about that."

I had to interrupt him. He had this all wrong and he couldn't take all the blame. "No, Tom, it wasn't all your fault. It's fine, really."

"No, it's not fine. You were uncomfortable and I read the signs wrong."

You didn't. You read them perfectly. I was a chicken and couldn't find my balls.

"Tom, it's fine," I forced a smile on my face. "Honestly, it's forgotten."

He nodded in relief and broke into a smile. For some reason, it hurt my feelings that he thought trying to kiss me was a mistake. I pushed through the pain and smiled at him to mask the sadness.

"Come here." He opened his arms inviting me in for a hug.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and he squeezed my shoulders. The hug was slightly damp and cold and we were wrapped in a damp towel which made it worse. But the warmth from Tom's body heat made me forget about my pain. His rock hard abs was flush against my soft stomach and it brought me some stability to ground me in this heavenly moment. We pulled away from the hug at the same time and went back to the pool.

A/N a bit of a filler chapter but let me know what you think and if the story is good, bad or worse.