Our Promises

17.

"What, do you like him?" Tom asked. I shrugged.
"I don't know yet. Why?" I asked.
"No reason. I'd just have to check if he was a good guy. And if he's good enough for you." Tom said.
"Tom you don't think anyone  but yourself is good for me." I laughed.
"Hey, I don't make the rules! Guys are jerks. And I'm not!"
"If you say so..." I giggled.
"I hate you." He laughed.
"Promise not to fall in love with any boys too soon?" Tom asked.
I sighed, "Fine. I promise." I said and shook our pinkies.

It was Sunday night and for the first time in 5 months, I was cooking for everyone at my apartment. Today was when Tom was going to meet Nathan. I invited Daisy, Andreas and Jessica to come along too so it would be less awkward. Daisy and Jess were helping me cook while Andreas and Nathan were setting the table.
"I just don't want it to be super weird." I said and leant against the kitchen counter.
"I know and it shouldn't be. If Tom is a true friend he'll support you no matter what." Daisy said.
"Yeah I guess. But if he got some girlfriend or something, I'd probably be mad or jealous." I said.
"I really like Nathan, but Tom and I just have some weird unspoken thing going on." I sighed.
"Don't worry Blair, it'll be fine." Jess said. "Okay. I'm going to get changed, can you watch over the chicken." I said.
"Course." Daisy said and I went into my bedroom. I changed into a plain white t-shirt and then I put a denim dress over the top. I put on some nude heels and then came back out. I put on some light music and I got a few bottles of wine out. Someone knocked at my door.
"Let us in! We're hungry!" I heard Paddy. "Coming!" I said and opened the door.
"Hey! Welcome to my apartment." I smiled and hugged everyone. Nathan came behind me and slithered a hand around my waist.
"Tom, this is Nathan. Nathan, this is Tom." I said happily. Inside I was screaming.
"Hey man, nice to meet you." Tom said.
"You too, I've heard a lot about you." Nathan said.
"All good I hope." Tom laughed.
"Anyone want wine? Beer?" I asked to get out of the already awkward situation.
"Okay put your hand up for white wine." I said. Jess, Daisy and Nikki put their hands up and so did I.
"I'm on it." Daisy laughed.
"Hands up for red." I said. Dom and Andreas put their hands up.
"Got it." Jess said.
"Nice taste." Dom patted Andreas on the back. "I'm Italian what can I say." He laughed.
"Beers I'm guessing for you." I said to the boys. "I can't have beer, what am I having?" Paddy asked.
"Because I'm the best person ever, I got you non-alcoholic beer." I said and handed him one out of the fridge.
"Love you." He said.
"Love you too Pads." I giggled and got everyone else a beer out the fridge. Everyone went and sat on the couch and we chatted for a bit. Nathan and I were sitting next to each other and his left hand was on my lower thigh and his other hand was holding his beer. For the first time at a big full family gathering, I wasn't next to Tom.
"So Nathan, you're a doctor too?" Tom asked. "Yeah I just graduated last summer and I got my first job at the same hospital as Blair." He smiled and squeezed my thigh.
"Must be really fun." Tom said and sipped his drink. I tilted my head at him. Oh god it's happening. Nathan laughed lightly, trying to be polite.
"I don't know if fun is the word, but the job is super rewarding and I love the kids there and it's great having Blair as a boss too." He said. "Does that not make it more difficult? Because she's your boss?" Tom asked. Fuck fuck fuck.
"Not really. If we have a disagreement at work then we don't bring it home. Our work is super serious so we don't really do 'couply' things on the job and vice versa." He nodded. I smiled at Nathan, he was doing well. We continued normal chat and then the oven went off.
"Oh, that's dinner ready, could everyone sit up?" I asked. Everyone went to the dining table and sat around it.
"Nice table set, Blair." Nikki complimented. "Oh thanks! Andreas and Nathan set the table tonight which I'm very surprised at." I laughed and served the food onto the plates.
"We're a great team." Andreas said.
"So, Daisy, I can't wait for the wedding! It's in 2 weeks! How are you feeling?" Nikki asked. I handed everyone their plates and I sat at the head of the table and we began eating. "Stressed mostly but I'm super excited. We went to Italy at our one year anniversary and that's when I met Andreas' parents for the first time, so I'm super excited to go back." Daisy said.
"We've never been to Italy so we're excited for that." I said, referring to Nathan and I.
"Oh, are you two going together?" Tom asked. "Well, he was invited. A little last minute but, he's coming." I said.
"Well Tom you have a plus one anyway." Daisy said. What? Who was Tom taking?
"Yeah I do." He smirked and looked at Jessica. No way. He wouldn't do that.
"But let's be honest, Blair has literally planned the whole thing." Andreas laughed.
"It was fun! I can't wait for next week and the flight and the wedding day. It's going to be great!" I said sarcastically.
"It'll be worth it though. It's going to be the most beautiful wedding ever." I smiled.
"Yes it is." Daisy smiled. We finished dinner and sat and chatted on the couch.
"Does anyone want tea or coffee?" I asked. "Tea's for us please." Nikki said.
"Coffee's for us." Daisy said.
"We're all having tea." Tom said.
"Okay." I smiled and went to the kitchen. Tom soon joined me.
"So, Nathan is great." He said.
"Really?" I turned around and asked.
"What do you mean?" I rolled my eyes, "Nothing."
"Blair, tell me." He put his hand around my arm gently.
"I wanted you two to get along but you clearly hate him! Nate doesn't know about our kiss or whatever okay?" I said.
"You know about the kiss?" Tom asked, wide-eyed.
"Tom, there were two parties doing the kissing." I laughed.
"Oh...right yeah in the garden." He looked relieved.
"When was there another time?" I asked.
He paused. "There wasn't." He shrugged.
"Okay..." I squinted at him.
"Please just try and get to know him okay?" I asked and handed him his tea.
"Fine." He said. I brought through everyone's drinks and I sat next to Nathan. I swung my legs over his lap and his hands rested on my thigh. He looked at me.
"You look gorgeous." He smiled.
"Thank you." I said and cupped his face to kiss him.
"So, Nathan, you and Blair new each other in Scotland?" Tom asked. He sounded genuine. Thank god.
"Yeah, we used to date and then we finished school and lost touch." Nathan said.
"Yeah, the same thing happened with us." Tom said.
"Tom." I said.
"Oh, did you two date?" Nathan asked. He seemed completely unfazed and unbothered. "Yeah we did." Tom said.
"No we didn't we were just close friends." I said to Nathan. Everyone else in the room was stuck in awkward silence and the three of us were just awkward and jealous and angry.
"No we definitely dated." Tom said.
"Tom!"
"What? I'm just telling him the truth! He deserves to know the truth." Tom said.
"Tom stop." I said firmly. Please don't tell him about the garden kiss. Or the airport kiss. "Sorry, what's going on?" Nathan asked me. "Nothing. Tom is just finding it hard that his best friend has another man in her life." I said to Nathan then looked at Tom with a death stare.
"You know what," He stood up.
"Thanks for the dinner and the drinks but I'm going." He said and grabbed his jacket.
"Tom are you serious?" I swung my legs off of Nathan and I sat my mug down.
"Sorry that you are clearly living in denial about your feelings." He said.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Babe." Nathan rested a hand on my thigh. "No, please share how you think you know my feelings better than I do. Please share." I said and got up.
"Blair." Daisy said firmly behind me. I looked at Tom who was biting his lip and his eyes were going red.
"You're lying to yourself, your boyfriend, your family, your friends...and especially me." He said. I went to say something but he held a hand up.
"You know what I mean, even if you don't admit it aloud." He said and shook his head then left the apartment. Fuck. I gulped and wiped a tear from my face the turned around. "Sorry about that." I fake laughed to lighten the mood.
"Don't you want to go after him?" Paddy asked. "No. He's a big boy. He can handle himself." I said. Paddy nodded slowly and looked down at his cup of tea.