old friends • tom holland

twenty six

I stood up from the bench, extending my hand to my teammates as they walked by. The stadium was full of cheering fans, and many were already streaming towards the exits. Sky Blue FC had just beaten the North Carolina Courage 3-1. Everyone was elated, and many of my teammates were continuing to hang around on the field with their visiting family members or other friends. I checked around the bench for anything that I might need, but everything was pristine. Not playing also left me with nothing to talk to coach about, so I placed my crutches under my arms and began to move in the direction of the locker room.

Walking through the entryway to the rooms below the stadium was always a special experience after games. Fans were grouped all along the walls, hoping that their screams would earn the attention of their favorite player. I slowed down, making my way over to a group that was calling to me.

A teenage girl reached her arm out to hand me a jersey. I checked the name on the back for fun, and upon noting that it was Lucy's I gave her an approving nod. She grinned when I handed it back to her with her marker, and I saw her hands shaking with excitement. Another younger girl thrust a program into my hands, looking at me eagerly. "Noelle, I love watching you play and I'm really sorry that you got hurt. I hope that you feel better soon." I thanked her and drew a smiley face next to my signature. Investing in the younger generation really made this job worth it.

"Hey, Noelle! Can I get an autograph over here?" I heard a lower voice and attempted to search through the crowd of people. I grinned after spotting a tuft of light brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Haz, I can't promote that type of behavior. You have to wait your turn." I gave him a wink, smiling as he impatiently sat back down in his chair. The signing session continued for a few more minutes before I excused myself to the locker room. Time with the fans was always good, but I was getting tired of being on my feet. After gathering my things I sent a quick text to Harrison saying that I could meet him outside.

His response told me to bring Lucy with me, which then resulted in me waiting for another twenty minutes before she was finally out of the shower. Eventually we were out in the back parking lot with Haz and Tom.

"I didn't know that you all were coming!" Lucy exclaimed, slapping Harrison on the shoulder.

Harrison moaned, grabbing his arm. "Woah, easy there tiger. No need to dislocate my shoulder. Great game though guys, you especially Noelle."

"Hey, now you're really asking for a punch in the shoulder." I attempted to hop towards him menacingly, but this proved to be more difficult than I had expected. We laughed together for a few more minutes before the boys suggested that we go get some food-- they claimed to be absolutely famished, which I doubted after seeing them eating at the game.

The rest of the evening proved to be a good time. We ended up at some tiny Mexican place on the outskirts of the city, which ended up being a fine choice because the press never found us. The food was good, and we laughed about all sorts of things. One of the best topics was discussing Tom's mistakes on set, much to the embarrassment of the boy sitting next to me. It had been just over a week since we went on our date. We had talked over text and he stopped by briefly to say hello, but overall we had both been pretty busy with our own things since the date.

About an hour after everyone had finished eating, Tom declared that he was "tired of sitting in this bloody booth". This resulted in Harrison proposing that we make the trip back to their flat and watch a film. Surprisingly, no one had a reason that they wouldn't be able to attend. The four of us journeyed back into the city and straight onto the couch in front of the television.

"Any votes," Harrison turned to us, "other than marvel. I'm sorry but I need a break from that crap."

Tom shoved him off of the couch, making some remark to Harrison about how he wished that he was in a marvel movie. Amazingly, Lucy was the one who eventually got the two to calm down. Her tactic may have involved physically wrenching the boys apart, but it worked, so I didn't complain.

"Well, if it isn't going to be marvel then I say we go for another classic. I haven't even seen the new Star Wars film yet." Tom said, still slightly panting from the physical exertion of wrestling his best friend.

"Yes!" I shouted, thrilled to revisit one of my favorite franchises.

"I thought that would be a hit."

The next two hours were filled with blissful callbacks, a wonderful powerful female Jedi, and new characters that I already loved. Tom put his arm around me, pulling me closer to him and I snuggled up to him happily. Lucy sat on the floor, completing her post-game stretches, and Harrison struggled to stay awake while laying on the far side of the couch. The end credits eventually began to roll, and after whispering my frustration regarding Rey's parentage to Tom, I moved into the kitchen to grab some water. Just as I was getting a glass from the cupboard, I heard footsteps behind me. I was just reaching to turn on the sink when I felt an arm snake around my waist.

"Hey, Noelle." Tom spoke quietly into my ear.

"What's up?" I looked at him quizzically.

He reached into his back pocket, grabbing some papers. "So I had this idea the other day, and I thought that it would be fun, but if you don't want to please say so. But I wanted to know if you might fancy a trip home?" He looked up at me, handing me two tickets that had "London" stamped clearly on the front.

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Cue London Queen by Charli XCX. Anyway, I hope that you liked it :) and please vote if you did! Also shameless self promo, if you happen to be as big of a Star Wars fan as me, feel free to check out my other Star Wars fanfiction ;) or just take a moment to appreciate the (idk if this is a TROS spoiler) time that we had with the Skywalkers. It was a good one.