✓ | Who Dumped Who? ── Tom Holland

[ 011 ] ROLLERCOASTER

Star didn't look like she normally did. She looked bare, she felt bare. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she wasn't wearing a drop of makeup. Maybe it had to do with the fact that her ex-boyfriend just pulled up in her driveway and he was the only one who managed to make the butterflies in her stomach threatened to fly away. Who knows, really.

Being in love with Tom was like a rollercoaster. One day was full of love and adoration and comfort while the next day was a wreck full of pushing and shoving and a dip that made you sick in the stomach.

Eventually, Star felt all the comfort ripped away from her and her relationship with Tom. She could no longer go out in public with him without having to worry about paparazzi ambushes or crazed fans, not to mention all the hate and death threats she received from the Spider-Man side of his fandom, majorly. 

It was weird to admit, but Star was happy to see Tom. It had been so long, and she almost forgot she wasn't allowed to leap into his arms anymore. 

Her heart pounded as she walked towards the door. Her recently cut hair moved comically as she opened the door and allowed a gust of wind through. Her steps felt heavy like children were pulling at her ankles. Nonetheless, she kept going.

The weather was pretty, but only to people like Star who appreciated the gloomy sky and signs of rain — if the rain hadn't already come down that morning. Those were the days that produced her best music. The air smelled of rain as she stepped her bare feet onto her soft patio. She took a couple of steps forward so she was eventually stopped by the white fence that surrounded her small patio, only protecting her door and swingset. 

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Tom was already out of his car, walking towards her property with his hands in his jacket pocket.  "Tom," she surprised herself by sounding so strong.

She blinked a couple of times, unsure, as his eyes scanned over her body. She was wearing a white wife beater and a large plaid flannel to cover her short arms. Now that he was looking at her, he realizes the flannel was his and so were the black gym shorts and that he only made a big deal out of the jacket on Instagram because he wasn't over her.

He stood completely still for a minute. Star hated when he frowned. He was a happy and childish boy by nature, he should be laughing so Star could laugh at how his ears rose up too. More than anything, she wanted to see the lines form by his eyes again.

"Grace."

Star blinked like she was trying to pull herself back down to Earth. "Yeah, uh, here's your jacket," she grabbed it from the swingset in the front of her house. She held her hand out. "Well?"

He gulped and then nodded. "Right. The jacket," he quickly walked halfway up the front steps to her home — a familiar action, really — and placed his hand on the jacket, gently pulling it from Star.

"Don't you want the other six million articles of clothing you left here?" she crossed her arms, looking down at the boy.

"Well, you never did give me a chance to come back and get them."

Star rolled her eyes. "Please, don't act like I never gave you a chance. All you had to do was come back, and I would've gladly opened the door for you!" she felt herself beginning to yell, so she stopped, creating a silence between the two. "Look, all I'm saying is, you literally could have come back the next day — without the whole Instagram comments thing, preferably — and I still would have welcomed you back into my home. Into my life, Tom."

When it came to girls, Tom was never good with words. When it came to boys, Star was never good with keeping her mouth shut. Opposites attract.

"I don't know what to say," Tom squeaked, looking up at the girl in front of him with his puppy eyes.

"That's fine, Tom. But if you leave, please try to stay out of my life so I can maybe finally move on. Oh, and I'm keeping everything else—" she began turning around and walking back inside.

"Wait," he interrupted her. "Did you say finally move on? As in, you haven't?"

Star sighed, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Kinda hard to do when your ex is Spider-Man," she chuckled, looking down at the chipped nail polish on her toes. Tom cracked a small smile, before looking at her seriously again. "What do you expect from me, Tom? You're kinda the love of my life."

"How do you think I feel?" he shocked her by asking, raising his voice slightly. "Star, I would have to join a twelve step program if I wanted to get over you."

Star formed a tiny smile as a blush settled on her cheeks. "If you wanted to get over me."

Tom nodded. "That's right. Because honestly, I don't mind the pain. Because when I think of you, I think of all the good I've ever seen in you. The way your eyes sparkle when you watch Han and Leia kiss for the first time, even if you've seen it a thousand. The way you squeal when you get something you want, but it's not like I was ever really going to get away with saying no to you in the beginning. Or, most of all, how you loved me for me and never failed me. You never gave up on me," he climbed up two more steps, tracing his fingers on the railing. "I would trade those couple bad times for all the good in a heartbeat. I miss them," he whispered the last part so quietly Star almost didn't hear.

"Yeah, I miss them too," Star admitted. "Look, can we talk later? I'm glad we finally are, I mean, really, but I've got to get ready for a show later and I really can't be late to this one."

Tom nodded. "Yeah, no worries," he tossed the jacket in his hand back toward Star, who caught it quickly. "Keep this for now."

"So confident you'll be back?" Star yelled after the boy as he skipped towards his car.

"You'll see, Star Grace!" he jumped into his car and started it up rather quickly, leaving the girl alone in the mist, biting her lip nervously. She walked back into her house, locking the door behind her and then leaning up against it. She sighed.

Yup, rollercoaster.