✔️ Midnight Sparks『 T.H. 』✧･ﾟ:*

Chapter 9: Zero stability

I told myself don't get attached

But in my mind I play it back

Spinning faster than the plane that took you

- Taylor Swift

- - -

"Gay."

I was about to bite into an apple, but stopped when Jayna spoke. "What?" I asked her.

It was the following night and Jayna had dropped by my apartment to catch up on things.

At the moment, she was leaning against the wall near my dresser, arms folded across her chest. "I'm sorry, but that seems to be the only plausible explanation. If Tom Holland isn't gay, then I don't know what was up with the weird evening you two had together."

"Jays! That's a huge thing to accuse someone of," I chided her from where I sat on my queen-sized bed, then attempted again to eat my apple. Success this time.

Jayna smirked. "Just kidding. But you got to admit, it would make sense."

I chewed on a piece of apple, shrugging. "Yeah. I mean, the more we talked, the more confused I got. He was friendly, but it seemed like there was this invisible line that he didn't want to cross. And yet, he did – several times," I muttered after taking a particularly huge bite.

"Well, it sounded like he was this close to saying something about his feelings for you," Jayna stated, still too agitated to sit down. "Then he switched gears and suggested supper when it was already super late and he was supposed to be heading back to his hotel. And he gave you his number. Then you kissed him on the cheek – great move, by the way! I didn't know you had it in you – but he skedaddled out of there without saying anything or returning the gesture. Later on, he called you and kept a conversation going when he should be sleeping. Why would he do all of that if he wasn't interested at all in you?"

"Maybe it's just how the British are – overly polite and nice and caring? I don't know."

I threw a glance at my phone that was resting nearby on my pillow. The screen said 10.58PM, and it also said zero messages.

I had, as requested, sent Tom a text message as soon as I'd stepped into my apartment. There was no reply, which was not unexpected. And I had to admit I felt better knowing that Tom had drifted into slumber, getting what little rest he could before his brand new day started.

But... I would be lying if I said I didn't wonder about hearing from him at some point today. Or was he already on his flight to LA? I now wished he hadn't shared his schedule with me. It was all too easy to fall into an obsessive state.

"So wait. Tom said he doesn't have a girlfriend," Jayna said thoughtfully. She pushed herself up straight, no longer leaning against the wall.

She started pacing around my bedroom area, and I could sense a new hypothesis brewing. "But he didn't outright claim to be single. Could it be that he's commitment-phobic and he likes variety when it comes to romantic partners?"

"In other words, you think he's a player," I concluded coolly, refusing to feel any hurt. "Entirely possible, especially given his celebrity status." I took one last bite of the apple before setting the core on top of a magazine I'd been reading in bed. Sometimes the trash can was just too far away.

"I don't know..." Jayna stopped mid-pace, turning to me with wide blue eyes. "I mean, it's one theory. But at the same time, I have this gut feeling that Tom isn't that kind of person? I mean, if I had the slightest bad feeling about him, I wouldn't have encouraged you to go out with him after the movie premiere."