Unpredictable

Chapter 18: Last Day

Y/N POV 

I never cared for the attention, the "popularity," but I'd be lying if I said I didn't know I had it. Still... Tom somehow made me appreciate how much he made me feel like I was untouchable. 

I let out a soft scoff as I laughed at Anna from backstage, but shaking my head in amusement only seemed to anger her when she glanced my way. 

I couldn't read lips well, but with Tom's back towards the audience, I could tell he mumbled something along the lines of "what the hell do you think you're doing?" against her lips before they both pulled away and finished their scenes flawlessly. 

The audience cheered and as far as they could tell, that kiss was supposed to happen. I even clapped along, unable to deny a good performance, but- 

Alli: "Sad the only way you can get him to even tolerate kissing you is trapping him on stage like that," she scoffed when Anna came backstage. 

Y/n: "Hey, relax," I chuckled, putting a soft hand on Alli's arm as she practically growled at Anna, "You know I'm good, right?" My laugh intensifying as Anna only seemed to get angrier with my lack of bother. 

Tom: "What is that?" I heard him ask to the right of me and observed as he swished a shot of vodka in his mouth before spitting it back out on the floor. 

Everyone's eyes seemed to widen a bit, a mix of shock, amusement, and laughter littering backstage as we all knew what and why Tom was doing that. 

Y/n: "Was it that b-" I laughed as he approached me, but was unable to finish my sentence- 

His thumb quickly grazed my chin before resting on my jawline, the rest of his fingers finding its way to wrap along the side of my neck as he kissed me. It was soft, but stern... The grip and the kiss. Like he was proving a point to me but also making a statement to everyone else. 

He pulled away with a soft bite to my lip before kissing my forehead, then we both walked away, in opposite directions, to whatever scene we were assigned to help or participate in next. 

I adored our ability to somewhat "address a situation" and move on so simply and swiftly without even speaking most of the time. We made good partners, personally and professionally.

The rest of the night went perfectly and everyone who hadn't already was able to meet some scouts. I awkwardly had to face the agents I'd recently been in touch with and tell them what my decision was, kind of annoyed it wasn't obvious. 

The boys were able to earn a "good job" and brief hello from my and Alli's parents before they were one of the firsts to leave, then Tom and I spent the rest of the night showing face as the hosts before we all kind of hung around with his and Haz' families. 

Alli: "It's no wonder they all grew up so charming," she mumbled and I bit back a laugh as we observed how the boys interacted with their parents. 

I pretend not to notice Nikki's eyes when Tom sits next to me and like a reflex, his hand reaches over across both my legs until his fingers are tucked into the back of my right thigh... And all the other little things she saw him do throughout the night. 

I just smiled at the conversation he was having with his brother - Sam, I think it was - wondering if he even realized what he'd done while pretending to not really notice myself, which probably only made it worse, implying I was used to it. 

We agreed beforehand that meeting the parents wasn't to be made a big deal since we weren't going to be together after this and we didn't want to have to explain, but I could tell his mother had questions... I'd let him deal with that when he returned home, when I'd be nowhere to be found.