Dismissed ⤯ Tom Holland

22 | Family

Y/N

_

"It's over."

My hands were shaking as I tapped my watch closed. Sending that message felt like I was leaving half of my soul behind. All the missions, all the badges, all the risks, they felt like memories now. Only memories.

"I'm proud of you," I heard Tom say, "I know it's hard."

I looked back up at him, nodding my head. We were lingering by the staircase, watching as the rest of the students filed out of the dining hall and back to their rooms.

"What am I going to do?" I murmured, "I don't know the first thing about finding a job, dealing with taxes, or paying for a house-"

"You can stay with me," he offered, but paused when he saw my surprised face, "or stay with Jamie?"

"Will your dad allow that?"

"He doesn't really care, to be honest."

"So you mean we'll stay at the school?"

"No," he smiled, "I've got an apartment up in Kingston for the summer."

I tilted my head down to the floor, trying to hide the sudden rosiness in my cheeks. We still hadn't really talked about our relationship, but it was pretty mutual that we were still using the "boyfriend/girlfriend" labels.

I was about to respond, but the sound of Jamie and Oliver thundering down the stairs made both of our heads turn. The two came to a skidding stop in front of us, panic in their arms. Jamie lunged towards Tom, and in some strange yet impressive way, she managed to have him pinned down on the ground with his arms behind his back.

"I got you!" she yelled, "give us the necklace or I'll....."

She stopped, her mind blanking. Glancing up at my horrified face, she turned back to Tom and finished her sentence.

"Break your arm!" she threatened.

"Jamie it's okay," I laughed, "I already sorted it out."

She narrowed her eyes, "how do I know he didn't blackmail you to say that?"

"Because I took a class on how to avoid blackmailing and negotiations."

"Oh," she sighed, letting go of his arms and standing up.

I let out a muffled laugh as Tom scrambled back onto his feet dusting off his hands. He seemed incredibly confused on how my two friends knew, but he shrugged it off.

"Actually," I slide, "how did you learn to do that Jamie?"

"Do what?"

"That pinning move?"

"I taught myself," she grinned, "I watch a lot of action movies."

"You'd make a good agent."

"Like you?"

"Umm," I stuttered, glancing at my boyfriend, "about that..."

Oliver still hadn't said a word, but seemed incredibly intrigued by my hesitation. I noticed that he still hadn't made eye contact with Tom, and that made me a little disappointed.

"I resigned," I admitted, "I'm not an agent anymore."

Jamie's face dropped, "what?"

"Yeah... long story."

"Are you being serious?"

I nodded. She looked slightly disappointed, but soon a sympathetic smile crept up onto her face. Wrapping me into a hug, I widened my eyes with surprise.

"It's okay," she mumbled, "you were too good for them anyways."

I laughed ,my eyes traveling back over to Oliver. He and Tom were desperately trying to avoid eye contact with each other, and that made me roll my eyes. Now that I cleared things up with Tom, maybe it was time for the both of them to do the same.

Letting go of Jamie's hug, I moved over to tom and grabbed his hand. Leading him away a few paces, I lowered my voice.

"You need to apologize to Oliver," I urged, "about what happened freshman year."

He stared at me blankly, running a hand through his hair, "why do I have to apologize?"

"Because you're also at fault."

"It wasn't my fault, it's Claire's!"

"But you didn't do anything about it," I frowned, "you didn't stick up for him."

Something softened in his eyes, as he finally began to come round. I saw him look back over at Oliver, who wasn't paying attention. Letting go of my hand, Tom brushed past me and made his way over to the boy.

"Hey," I heard him say, "can we talk?"

Moving over my Jamie, we turned our head to give them a little privacy. We still wanted to listen in, of course, so we kept our ears peeled.

"Why?" I heard Oliver sigh.

"Because I owe you an apology."

"Did y/n tell you to do this?"

"Who's y/n?" Tom questioned, furrowing a brow.

My face turned red, smacking my palm against my forehead. I completely forgot to tell him my name was also a sham.

"Not important," Tom cut himself off, "and yes, she did."

"Great," Oliver scoffed.

"But that doesn't change the fact that I didn't do anything about it back then. I didn't realize that it was a sucky thing for me to do, and I'm hoping you'll forgive me."

"And if I say no?"

"Then that's okay. Just know I'm truly sorry."

Oliver paused, his silence somehow deafening. Jamie looked over at me nervously, and I bit my lip. Of course, Oliver had every right not to accept Tom's apology, we just didn't know what he would choose to do.

"Fine," he said finally, "I forgive you."

Swelling with happiness, Tom squeezed the boy into a hug, rocking him back and forth.

"Friends?" he beamed, setting him back down.

"Friends..." Oliver mumbled, a little bit dizzy.

Turning around, Jamie and I approached the two with smiles on our faces. The golden trio was now a golden quartet. Somehow just being around the three of them, all the fears about leaving BIC washed away.

Who cared about being a secret agent, when I had friends? Scratch that, these people were my family.

And I love them.

_

one more chapter!!