Misguided [Tom Holland AU]

four

After Tom had picked me up from my apartment, we both got into his car and buckled up. He pulled out into the road and turned the radio on, with lowered volume so that it wasn't the only thing we could hear.

"So.. you're a writer?" I asked, chewing on my lower lip gently as I looked at him from the passenger seat. He nodded slightly and looked straight ahead, focusing on the road.

"Yeah, I only have one book published so far, though." He responded, causing me to nod a bit. I would have to check it out sometime, even though I wasn't a big fan of reading.

"Oh, that's nice.. Are you working on anything right now?" I asked, smiling softly at him as I tapped my fingers to the music. He quickly shook his head, glancing at me.

"Um.. N-no, I'm not. Don't really have much to write about.." He laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his neck. I frowned slightly but shook it off, as he probably just didn't like to talk about his work.

"That's cool, too. It gives you a little bit of a mental break to figure out what your next topic should be." I said, nodding a bit as I looked out the window.

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet, other than the quiet hum of the radio. I was okay with it, but still confused as to why he got so fidgety when I asked about his work. Maybe he wasn't working on anything after all and I was just being paranoid. I needed to stop overthinking things.

We eventually pulled up to IKEA, after about a 20 minute drive. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I slung my purse over my shoulder and walked around the car to walk with Tom. He smiled softly at me as we walked in.

"I still can't believe you wanted to do this with me. It's going to be very boring." I stated, humming as I grabbed a trolley and rolled it inside. Tom shook his head quickly, following me inside.

"I don't mind. Here, let me push the trolley so you can grab what you want." He said, looking down at me. I smiled softly at his chivalry, nodding a bit as I stepped back so he could push it. I knew he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"So, what're you looking for?" He asked, following me into the decor aisle. I shrugged a bit and looked around.

"Honestly, anything. My apartment is so empty it looks like I'm a squatter." I said, giggling a bit as he chuckled at me. I grabbed a black lamp and placed it into the trolley, along with a couple of pieces of wall art. 

"If you need help putting everything together, I'm always around." He said, biting his lower lip gently as he looked at me. I smiled softly and nodded a bit, grabbing a couple of succulents. 

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Tom." I responded, causing him to nod slightly and smile. We headed into the furniture section, since I knew I needed a couple of chairs.

"Do you think two chairs would fit in the back of your car?" I asked, turning to face him. He nodded slightly and looked at the chairs.

"Yeah, those should fit. I can put the seats down in the back." He responded, smiling softly at me. I nodded and asked a worker if I could get two of the black leather chairs, to which he responded with a yes, and said he would get people to carry them out for us. I smiled gratefully and nodded a bit before heading into another aisle, planning to pay for everything at the same time. 

"Do you think this would look good?" I asked Tom, pointing to a rug for the living area. He nodded, looking at it. 

"Yeah, I think it would look great. It should fit, too, since it isn't that big." He responded, nodding slightly. I smiled in agreement and grabbed the rug, putting it in the trolley.

"Alright, I think that should be enough for today, I can order everything else online." I nodded a bit, looking up at Tom. He agreed with me, following me up to the register. I paid for everything, including the chairs I wanted. After I got my receipt, Tom pushed the trolley out into the parking lot as I led the workers that were pushing the chairs on a larger trolley to his car. 

Tom opened the back of his car, letting the employees place the two chairs gently in the back. We both thanked them, causing them to nod and walk back inside the store. I helped Tom put the rest of the items in the back of his car, and then shut the door when we were done. Tom insisted on taking the trolley back inside, and unlocked the car so I could get in. I thanked him and got into his car, putting my seatbelt on. Tom was so sweet to come shopping with me, as I'm sure it wasn't his first choice. Plus, he was being so chivalrous and kind to me the whole time, which made him even more attractive. Wait, no. Not attractive, I'm still getting over Logan. 

The sound of the car door opening snapped me out of my thoughts and caused me to look over at Tom, who was starting the car and buckling up.

"Thank you, again, for coming with me today. It was really helpful to have you here. Especially since I don't have a car.." I said, laughing lightly as he grinned over at me, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"Of course, anything for you." He responded, causing my cheeks to heat up. I turned to look out the window, knowing that my cheeks were most likely a shade of bright red. 

When we got to my apartment, he parked outside of it and both of us got out, heading to the trunk to grab everything.

"I got the chairs if you want to grab the art and stuff." He said, looking at me. I shook my head, looking back up at him.

"You don't need to take the heaviest things, those stairs can be hard to climb." I said, biting my lower lip gently. He laughed a bit and grabbed one of the chairs, glancing at me.

"Alright, grab the other one then." He said, heading up the stairs. I grabbed the other one and followed him, struggling a bit but still making it through. Obviously I wasn't as strong as him, but I could make it.

We set them down in the living area and he grinned at me.

"The stairs weren't that bad." Tom said, chuckling at me. I laughed a bit and shook my head.

"C'mon, let's go get everything else." I responded, shaking my head as I walked outside and started to grab everything I could hold. Tom did the same, and we repeated this process a couple of more times before we were finally done. Tom locked his car and we both went inside, looking around at everything.

"Alright, well, it doesn't look to bad. I have to order a couch and some other things, but after that I'll be done. Thanks for the help." I said, looking around before glancing up at Tom. He smiled and nodded a bit.

"Yeah of course. I'm assuming you don't have much to eat around here... do you want to go grab something for dinner?" He asked, looking down at me. I nodded quickly and giggled softly.

"Yes, please. I do need to go grocery shopping." I responded while he laughed slightly.

"Well, why don't we just go get that done? Then, we could make something here?" He offered, causing me to grin.

"That sounds perfect." I responded, following him out to the car after I locked the door.