paint the grass green | tom holland

Chapter Three

All of Monday you're restless. You can't concentrate on anything. By the time your mum comes by to pick up Theo, you're a complete mess. Theo obviously doesn't know what's going on, but he senses that something is bothering you. So his hug goodbye is a little tighter than usual. Your mum gives you a few encouraging words, then the two of them are gone.

It's ten to six when the doorbell rings. You've been pacing the living room for about half an hour now, dreading the moment Tom would show up. But now you're a little relieved that he's finally here. Let's get this over with.

Tom's head shoots up to look at you when he hears the door open. He's got dark bags under his eyes and he looks pale, almost sick. Chances are, you don't look any better. You discreetly wipe your sweaty hands on your jeans and give him your best smile.

"Hey."

"Hi."

You both say at the same time and then chuckle awkwardly.

Tom clears his throat. "There's a coffee shop down the road. I thought we could go there." He points his thumb to somewhere behind him and you find yourself nodding quickly. That's definitely better than having this talk in your flat. You are not ready to show him the most intimate parts of your and Theo's life. Not only that, but going to a coffee shop with him means he'll have to keep his cool in public. He probably won't shout at you the way he did last night.

So you quickly put on your boots and a jacket and then the two of you make your way towards the coffee shop. You've got your hands buried in the pockets of the jacket, trying to keep them warm despite the cold January air.

You are already halfway to your destination when Tom speaks up "Look, Y/N, I uh... I wanted to apologise." You turn your head to look at him but his eyes are focused on the ground. He's got a dark blue shopping bag in one of his hands, swinging with his steps and you wonder what's in there. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved yesterday. It's really not like me and..." Now he lifts his head and his eyes find yours. "I'm sorry if I scared you. When Harrison told me... I guess I just saw red. To be honest at first I didn't believe him. I thought he was trying to mess with me. But when he told me more about it I realised that he was telling the truth and I got so angry." He presses his lips together and shakes his head. "But I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. And I get it. Anger brings out the worst in people sometimes." You don't know what else to say. There are still so many things left unspoken between the two of you, you don't know where to start. The air is tense and it feels like neither of you are really prepared for what's to come.

You reach the small cafe at the corner of your street and Tom opens the door, letting you walk in first. The warm air makes your skin tingle and you're hit with the familiar smell of ground coffee beans, it makes you relax a bit. You both order and sit down at a small table by the window. You don't really know what to say. Yes, you've imagined about five hundred possibilities for how this situation could turn out, but now you're in it and Tom is sitting just across the table from you.

"You probably have a lot of questions." You finally manage to say and Tom nods, his brown curls bouncing with the motion.

"I don't know where to start to be honest." He admits, his eyes focused on his fingers that are nervously playing with each other. "Can I see a picture of him?" He bites his lip as he looks up at you and you're caught a little off guard. This was not really the first question you expected from him, but it does make sense.

"Yeah, of course." You nod and pull out your phone, you've got a whole album with just pictures of Theo so you select that and slide your phone across the table. You can see him take a deep breath as his eyes fill with emotion. He blinks a few times, trying to hold back tears while he carefully takes the phone in his hand and brings it closer. His eyes move over the screen, taking everything in. His eyebrows are scrunched up in concentration.