Something to Cool Could Happen: A Tom Holland Love Story

2: A Fucking Mailbox

The endless refrains of the whack gps droned on as the boys tried their best to figure out where in hell's name they were. They had been driving a little longer than they expected and the signal was on and off, making their music choppy or just silent.

"I told you Google Maps sucks balls." Tom complained. Harrison switched it off entirely. Driving aimlessly was better than trying to listen to that rubbish.

"Alright Tom how about you tell me where to go?" He said, turning to Tom with a dead expression. He was tired, hungry, and this adventure was starting to take its toll.

"Stop!" Tom screamed as he glanced at the road.

"Wha—" Then Harrison saw the deer, just out of nowhere it was right in front of them. He swerved to avoid it and ended up halfway up a curb, completely obliterating a lonely mailbox. A couple yards away was a nice sized house.

"This is bad." Jacob muttered.

"Tell me something I don't know, Jacob, we just hit a fucking mailbox!" The fiery blonde spat as he got out. The damage to the car wasn't bad, but they couldn't say the same about the mailbox. Or the ground around it. "Good thing this is a rental..." Haz started walking away from the car towards the house.

"Where are you going?" Tom called after him.

"To knock. You can't just plow someone's mailbox without telling them, you div."

Tom sighed and looked at Jacob, who just shrugged and went after Harrison. If it weren't for the porch light he would've thought no one was home. There was an old as hell, near vintage looking Ford parked out front with a couple of cats lounging on top of it, under it, and all around. Tom scrunched his nose. He didn't like them one bit. He stayed in car, as far away from the felines as possible.

***

Penelope choked on her tea as she heard a crash and voices. She flipped off the tv, scared out of her life. It was dark outside now. She glanced out the window, the faint light from the porch barely helped, not to mention the view from that window was poor. Her heart stopped when a figure came into view. It was a man, dark and slender and scary as fuck (or maybe it was just the murder documentaries she was watching). She slowly got up and tiptoed as fast as she could to the kitchen. Deciding a knife was too extreme she grabbed a frying pan—Tangled style—and slipped closer to the door. She quickly swung it open, knocking over the man. He continued to trip backwards on the porch steps, knocking over bowls of cat food before landing. She was a bit shaken, but also disappointed she knocked the guy out with something other than the frying pan. She saw another approach and she quickly held it up in defense. This one looked much friendlier. She couldn't explain it. She watched him run over to the one on the ground, worried sick. He seemed like an old friend, like someone she hasn't seen in years. But she didn't know him. His thin-rimmed glasses glimmered a bit in the dim light as he looked down at the first guy and back up at her.

"WOAH—did you just—wow first of all badass—second—we don't want any trouble we just accidentally—"

"I'm so sorry!" She blurted out. No stay cool, she thought. "Uh...I should start by warning you, I'm armed." She sheepishly held up the frying pan. "State your name and business." So not cool, she thought to herself.

"Jacob. Guy on the ground moaning in pain is Harrison."

"Call me Haz." Harrison groaned, still lying on the ground.

Jacob thought, and then decided against mentioning Tom, just in case. She was a young girl, making it very possible she could be a fan. But she didn't seem to recognize them. Then again, she may have not given Haz enough time to be recognized. "And we...kinda wrecked your mailbox. It was an honest mistake, there was this deer and we kinda swerved—" Jacob started telling the tale with hand motions and small sound effects, causing Penelope to giggle a bit.

"Oh." She felt relieved, as well as embarrassed. "I thought you were trying to kill me." She laughed awkwardly.

"What's your name?" Jacob asked as they both helped pick Haz off the ground. He muttered that he was fine and he leaned against the lone car parked in the driveway.

"Penelope. Nice to meet you."

"I can think of nicer ways." Harrison grinned, rubbing his now tender head.

"I'm so sorry, come inside." She motioned to the door as they looked at each other, concerned. She became hesitant seeing them do that. Was this wise? They were strangers, but she felt bad. Jacob finally spoke up.

"Hey, um, weird question—"

"You like Marvel?" Haz cut in, hoping to move this along so he could lay down.

"Uh...yeah, doesn't everyone?"

"You don't recognize him?" Haz questioned, leaning closer to her while pointing his thumb at Jacob. He was striking, now that she was looking at him. His eyes pierced and his skin glowed under the yellowish lamp. She shifted her gaze to Jacob. He was familiar.

"I can't put my finger on it, but honestly you do look familiar. Like...an old friend or something." She cocked her head a bit.

"Aw that makes me happy." He said warmly.
Harrison shot a stern look at him. They seemed to talk silently for a moment, confusing her even more.

"How starstruck do you get? On a scale of one to ahhhhhh!" He faked a girlish scream, waving his hands.

"I don't know. I've never really met anyone like that. Unless you count the famous teachers in acting masterclasses." She shrugged.

"Fuck it, go get him." Harrison sighed. He just wanted a fluffy pillow. It was one girl. Big deal. Jacob turned and started walking toward the car as Harrison followed Penelope inside. He led him to the couch. Scooby started barking a bit, but soon started to wag his tail, huffing and puffing at the pets and love Harrison gave him. Patches crawled into his lap, looking for attention.

"They get along?"

She paused for a second. He sounded...weird. "Yeah. It's weird right? Scooby hates any other cat. And Patches is the only cat that likes me. The others won't come near anyone. Do you need ice or—"

"I'm fine thanks. This is nice." He said looking around. Penelope thanked herself for tidying up earlier that day. Soon they heard the door open and Jacob walked in with someone else. He was wearing a hoodie with the hood over his head. He reluctantly removed it once inside revealing Tom's tired face and tousled brown locks. Her eyes widened. She knew who this one was, and seeing him stand next to Jacob made her instantly know who he was as well. She hadn't watched any Spider-Man since she saw Far From Home with her dad and little sis in theaters a few months back. Now the famous newcomer was in her house.

"You're friends with Spider-Man?"