Here With Me || Tom Holland

6) Audition

Butterflies were beating around in her stomach like battering rams, trying to break their way out. Lili was incredibly nervous, hoping to get this audition perfect. Though she loved Riverdale and Betty Cooper, she still wanted to challenge herself with new and exciting roles. And being in the Marvel Universe was just that.

There were a few other girls sitting in the chairs in the hallway surrounding her, doing the exact same thing. The script is in her lap with pink highlighter, her eyes scanning the lines for what felt like the hundredth time today.

She still couldn't deduce which main character this was, and she is a fan of Marvel. Her favourite superhero is Iron Man, her celebrity crush being Robert Downey Jnr. If he was on the other side of that door, she would literally die.

The door to the room opens up and she looks up, seeing a middle aged woman in a pantsuit step out. Her manicured fingers grasp at the edge of her glasses as she looks down at the clipboard in her arm, "Eleanor Strouse?"

A young blonde haired girl at the end of the collective of girls rises to her feet, making her way towards the room. Her eyes lock with Lili's and she gives her a reassuring thumbs up. The girl smiles and turns, following the woman into the room. Lili turns back to her script, letting out a nervous breath as she continues her lines.

One by one, girls come out and another comes in until Lili is the last in the hallway. She looks around nervously, biting her lip as her heart thuds in her chest. With each passing second, she grows more and more nervous. What if she fails miserably and forgets all her lines?

Suddenly the door opens up, and the final girl before her comes out. A disheartened look is on her face and sulks away from the room. The woman with the clipboard strikes out the name and reads once more, "Lili Reinhart?"

Lili rises to her feet and smiles at the woman, "That's me."

"Follow me." The woman says, turning and walking into the room.

Lili walks in, her back strung over her shoulder as she walks into the room. The first thing she notices is the fold out table with three men behind it, and a spare spot she assumes for the woman. Lili did a lot of research before coming and instantly recognises them as the Russo brothers and Kevin Feige.

She gives a nervous wave and walks over towards the men, "Hello, I'm Lili."

"Nice to meet you, Lili. My name is Kevin Feige, I am the head producer at Marcel Studios. And these two men are Anthony and Joseph Russo, the directors of this production." The man introduces.

Lili nods and places her things down on the seat, straightening her shirt as she faces them. She smiles at the men, "Thank you for this opportunity, I'm very excited to be here."

The man nods before looking past her, "I assume you know our leading man?"

Lili turns and freezes up at the sight before her. The curly haired young man turns as he finishes taking a drink of his water bottle, his brown eyes tired from the day's long work. She recognises him instantly, he is Spiderman.

"Hello, Tom Holland." He introduces, shaking her hand, "You must be Lili. I've heard a lot about you."

Lili smiles weakly and shakes back, "Uh, yes. I am. It's a pleasure to meet you Tom, I'm a fan."

He chuckles and smiles, "Thank you."

Anthony speaks up, interrupting the moment, "Okay, well. When you're ready Lily, you can begin."

She nods her head and closes her eyes, getting into character. It's an emotional scene, one that requires her to cry. And God knows she has enough baggage to make this easy for her. She feels her chin begin to tremble and she turns, looking at Tom as she begins to recite her lines.

"You just don't get it, do you?" She whispers, shaking her head as her arms are wrapped around her body, "You're a hero, you save people. You don't know what it's like to not be able to help someone."

"Lila-" He begins, taking a step towards her with his arms held out.

"No!" She yells, stepping back and pushing his hands away.

Tom pauses and looks at her, pain in his eyes. She reaches up and wipes at her eyes, "Jack, you can do something about this. You have the power to save him, but you refuse to do it. If I had the ability to do it myself, I would but I can't. I didn't get bit by a radioactive spider and get superpowers. All I have is my mind."

"But your mind is brilliant." He states, stepping forward and looking her in the eye.

"That may be the case, but how can my mind fight off a super powered human gunning for my life?" Lili whispers.

She steps forward and grips at his shirt, looking him in the eyes, "Jack, you can save him. So I'm begging you, please. Do this for me."

Tom's eyes shift between Lili's, completely caught up in the brilliant performance she is giving. He had heard a little bit about Lili and her show, Riverdale. But he never really took notice. But now that she stands in front of him, he can't seem to take his eyes off of her.

"Oh my god." Joseph whispers.

Lili breaks away from Tom, wiping at her eyes. She turns and faces the men in front of her, seeing the proud and awed looks on their faces. Her heart beats wildly as she bites her lip nervously.

"Lili, could you wait outside for a second?" The woman who brought her in asks.

Lili nods and turns, grabbing her bags and walking outside. She sniffles and wipes at her eyes, trying to reign her emotions in check. Yes, thinking about Cole may have been helpful for the scene, but dwelling on him more will turn her into a blubbering mess. She looks around nervously, wondering what they're talking about. She swore she could have seen them looking impressed, but she can't be sure.

A few minutes later the door opens up and the woman steps out, "Come back inside, Lili."

She does as she's told, coming to a stop in front of the table. Tom sits on its edge, his arms folded over his chest as he smiles at her. Lili stands there a bundle of nerves, waiting for someone to speak.

Anthony looks around at the others before his eyes land on hers, "Lili, that performance was fantastic."

Lili let's out a breath of relief and smiles, "Really?"

Joseph nods his head, "Yes, and all of us believe that you would be perfectly suited for the role."

Lili's eyes widen in shock as she looks around at them all. Her eyes land on Tom's who beams wildly at her. Kevin nods his head before leaning forward, a smirk on his face, "How would you like to be our new Gwen Stacy?"