A Marvellous Christmas | mcu actors

December 20ᵗʰ

Jo couldn't deny that college was a lot harder than she thought. Studying management meant handing over files of ten pages minimum and, mostly, about economics or just event planning. She started studying early October and although Tom had been helping the best he could by providing her contacts to seek help from on her papers and to share their experiences with, he had to be kind of everywhere to prepare for his big Marvel movie. They spent the holidays together, celebrating New Year's Eve with cocktails and shots, ending up so drunk that they woke up on the floor of Tom's living room. Harrison was taking the whole bed in Tom's room and Tom and Jo had somehow squeezed themselves onto barely two square meters. There was enough room for them to crash onto a bed. Paddy and the twins had been celebrating the New Year with their parents at their grandparents' place and their bedrooms were empty. They could have used their beds but they had no recollection of even sitting by the fireplace or to fall asleep there for all that mattered. That was the first time that they'd wake up tangled and legs onto each other's. It was also the first time that Tom had cuddled someone to sleep that wasn't Tessa. They were both so hangover when they woke up that they decided to forget what happened altogether and to never mention it again. Harrison was still asleep when they untangled themselves and they pretended that she had slept on the couch and he had slept on the carpet when really, they had slept by the fireplace on the hard floor. When Jo finally got up from the couch after she fell asleep for the second time, Tom was cooking breakfast in the kitchen and her head was pounding like crazy. The mere smell of pancakes made her want to throw up and she moaned while Tom scoffed a little. He wasn't feeling any better, to be completely honest, which is why he opened up an arm for her to sneak closer to him. They both felt gross as hell but to cuddle like that made them feel a little bit better. Maybe they thought that after the awkward morning they just had, they couldn't bother anymore about proximity. Resting her head on his collarbone, she mumbled about how he was to never let her drink again, to which he answered that sobriety was "a key". She called him DJ Khaled, he laughed a little and then he got his arm off of her shoulders to flip his pancake over. Then he took a closer look at her and choke down on a giggle.

"You look like a little panda," he smiled.

"Don't laugh at me, it's rude, Thomas," she moaned.

"Here, let me take care of that O'," he breathed out.

With extreme care and gentleness, he ran his thumbs underneath her eyelids to wipe the black flakes of mascara and the runny eyeliner that made her look more exhausted than she really was. Sighing in content, she turned putty into his hands, letting him in charge. His thumbs weren't soft, his skin had broken in various places and it was getting rough and a bit scratchy but still, she wouldn't have traded the tingles in the back of her skull for the world. He was so sweet that morning that she wondered if maybe his feelings towards her had changed. And that stupid nickname that he had for her. "O". That was so dumb and still, she loved it (though she'd never admit it, for she had always fought the guys on the fact that she was to be called "Jo" at all times) as it was his. It made her sound more delicate than "Jo". She was his "O" and for the first time ever, she surprised herself to finally accept her first name for what it was, even though she'd hate it when it'd come to any other mouth than his. Tom never dared to pronounce it, though. It happened once, by accident and she hit him so hard that he swore to never do it again. It had calmed Harrison down as well.

"Here you go. You look like yourself again," Tom smiled.

"Thanks Tommy. ... I'm so tired," she whined, crashing onto his chest once more, making him laugh and wrap her into his left arm while he was flipping pancakes with his right.

"Well look at those two lovebirds, this morning," Harrison exclaimed, making them wince with the noise level he was making.

"Jesus, stop yelling," Jo cringed.