Lights Down Low ≫ tom holland

27

[ short chapter, sorry ! i'm running out of inspiration for this book so i might just bring it to an end and idk if i'm going to publish the sequel ]

27;

chase fixed the collar of his shirt as he looked at himself in the wall length mirror that was in the bedroom that he was sharing with matteo and jt. tom was sharing with alec, michael, and sebastian (which kind of sucked) in a room on the other side of the house. angelica made it a rule that they were not allowed to stay in the same room because she wasn't dumb. she knew what went on when two people that liked each other shared a bed together. she did have a husband, after all.

it was three days into spring break and the sixteen year old boy was getting ready for his first official date with tom. his mom was completely fine with it as long as he kept her up to date on their whereabouts. they were in a different state and it was understandable for her to be concerned.

"i have never seen you wear a collared shirt." michael chuckled as he entered the room.

chase sighed, "does it look weird?" he had a slight frown on his face and michael continued to smile.

"you look great, chaser." michael helped him fix the collar. "tom is going to think you look great."

chase's cheeks heated up and he sighed, "why am i so nervous?" he ran his fingers through his hair. "tom and i have hung out alone so many times before. why am i suddenly freaking out? what if i say something stupid or do something wrong?" he started to ramble. "what if i drop food in my lap or make a complete idiot out of myself? fucking hell, mike, what do i do?"

"hey," michael placed his hands on chase's shoulders and gave him another smile. "it's okay. you're going to be just fine, chaser. trust me, okay? tom loves you so much and he would never do anything to hurt or embarrass you. besides, i'm sure he's just as nervous. there's nothing you could do that would make him think of you differently."

the brunet let out a sigh and gave michael a nod, "thank you."

"no problem." he responded. "but listen, if he does break your heart in any way i will hurt him."

chase chuckled and hugged the older boy before there was a knock at the door. the two separated and chase turned to see tom standing in the doorway in khakis and a polo shirt. "hey," he gave a small smile and chase returned it. "you ready to go?"

"yes," chase nodded, turning to michael. "i am."

the lights in the restaurant were dimmed to a romantic tone and chase nervously flipped through the menu, unsure of what to order. "have you decided on anything?" he questioned tom and the older boy looked up from his own menu.

he answered with a chuckle. "not exactly. there's too many options."

chase laughed lightly and nodded in agreement, feeling his nerves slowly fade away. "we should get to random things and split them." he suggested and tom liked the idea.

after they ordered they talked about their vacation and random little things to pass the time. chase had ordered chicken and pasta with seasonings on top while tom ordered a bacon cheeseburger and fries. the two talked about school and how they had been doing.

chase hated to admit it, but he was failing almost every single class still. his grades had been improving since he actually started to study, but he still flunked a test every now and again. he knew he was going to have to redo junior year, but he felt okay with it. he wanted to redo it to the best of his ability and get straight a's, if possible.

they avoided the subject of tom leaving for school in a few months and continued to talk about regular things like how they were enjoying vacation and even got to know each other better by playing twenty questions.

"favorite sport?"

"baseball. favorite color?"

"red. how long have you been dreaming about going to maine for school?"

"a long time." there was a silence between them and chase pursed his lips. "i've been trying to avoid this conversation so that we can have a good dinner."

"i know." chase sighed. "me too, but i can't help it. you're leaving me in four months and i don't know how i'm going to feel about it."

tom joked, "well i hope you'll miss me."

chase let out a small laugh and nodded, "yes, i'll miss you a lot."

"good." tom reached over the table and grabbed the younger boy's hand. "i love you, chase."

chase smiled, squeezing his hand. "i love you too."

the rest of dinner went smoothly, with no talk of school, and the two of them headed back to the hotel. they kissed once outside the room door before stepping inside. they went their separate ways and camila immediately followed chase to his room, asking how it went. 

the boy sighed, sitting on the bed as he looked at his sister. "every time i try to be positive about this i just end up thinking negatively. i don't know what to do, cam." 

"your heart will tell you what to do, bud." she patted his back. 

"that's what everyone is telling me, but my heart hasn't said shit yet." he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"give it time, little bro." she messed up his hair and headed out of the room. "give it time."