❝ 𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑... ❞
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
in which aurora grande's roommate heads back to her home town to ride out a pandemic, leaving her behind with a certain british actor stuck in la.
{ 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐱𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐨...
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✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
rory prides herself on being a confident, no nonsense, practical person, but in the weeks following tom moving in she hardly recognises that side of herself. she's no stranger to sharing a space with an attractive man, back last year when she did a collab with shawn mendes - a handsome, 6 foot man with a smooth canadian accent and impeccable taste in fashion. in short : perfection. but rory was always able to keep her cool around shawn, even if she did blush just a bit too hard whenever shawn appreciated a lyric she had come up with. when shawn congratulated her on her thank u, next album, giving her a hug and saying he always knew she was special, rory was sure she had gone straight to heaven.
aurora quickly realises that there's a major difference between sharing a working place with an attractive man and sharing a living space with one. tom is there every moment of the day - not that either of them have any choice in the matter. rory spends most of her day working in the living room, whereas tom spends all his time in his bedroom. rory isn't really sure what tom actually does all day considering he's an actor and probably doesn't have much work to actually do, but sometimes in the middle of the day he'll burst into song, strumming along on an acoustic guitar. rory remembers z saying that tom could sing, and now that she had heard it for herself she could confidently say z was right.
they occasionally run into one another in the living room or kitchen between meals. tom always tries to strike up a conversation with rory, but can never find anything worth bringing up without sounding like a crazed fan. it never feels like the right time to get to know her. it's actually astounding how little the two know of each other after nearly two weeks of being trapped in the same space for almost 24 hours a day.
when rory returns home from walking toulouse she tells herself not to stop and listen when she hears tom's voice coming from his bedroom much louder than usual, but rory is weak.
"i don't think she likes me very much," she hears tom say, and that certainly has her interest peaked.
she drops the pretense and leans against the wall, far away enough not to arouse the suspicion if tom suddenly exits his room, but still close enough to hear tom's end of the conversation clearly.
"i don't know, she just... avoids me i guess? maybe... i've tried a few times but she always heads immediately back to her room after... i don't know... it's fine, she's not obligated to like me, i'm the one who invaded her space during a pandemic anyway.."
aurora has heard enough, she felt her stomach twist with guilt as she rushes back to her room and closes the door quickly behind her. not only had she succeeded in making an idiot of herself in front of tom on multiple occasions, but she'd also succeeded in making tom feel that he was disliked and unwelcome. aurora allows herself a few moments to throw herself a pity party, lamenting her inability to successfully translate her daily confidence in herself and her abilities into confidence in her love life. her standards are normally enormously high, and the one time someone who at first glance exceeds said standards is literally stuck indoors with her all day for the foreseeable future, she flunks it. but there is no time for self pity - she has a non existent relationship to mend.
