Never Say Never

Chapter Eight- April

"So, Tom, since I know a lot more about you than you do about me, feel free to ask whatever you want, just know that I have the right to not answer if I don't want to," I laughed, brushing my hair out of my face that had landed there because of the blowing breeze.
   "That's fine," he smiled, pursing his lips and stroking his chin, causing me to let out a small laugh.
   "Ok I got one, let's start off easy, what's your full name?" he asked, turning his head to look towards me.
    The setting sun shone brightly behind his head, outlining his facial features as we walked along the seashore. "It's April Lynn Justice," I told him, surprisingly not gagging as I looked at his face for more than five seconds, my mindset about him changing by the second.
  "That's nice, you ask me one now,"  he smiled, rubbing his hands together anxiously and stuffing them in his pockets as he awaited my response.
    This had to be good, something personal, I already know far too much about his celebrity life for my peace of mind. "Ok..." I paused, mimicking his actions when he was about to ask me, causing him to let out an eye roll and an unenthusiastic 'ha ha'.
   My eyes widened in glee as I thought about what I was going to ask. "So, Tom, how many girls have publicly persecuted you for the whole thing about not dating Zendaya?" I smiled, finally able to have an answer to the question that I've been wondering about for months. I was curious as to see how many girls professed to 'have his back in everything he does' and then turned on him like raging hyenas.
   He rolled his eyes, letting out a groan that was followed by a chuckle. "More than I'd care to count." he laughed, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck embarrassedly.
"Had a hunch," I giggled, nudging him in the elbow.
"Ok, my turn!" he announced joyfully, acting like a five year-old.
      "Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get on with it," I laughed, slightly afraid of what he was gonna ask.
      "Since this is your first date," he paused, causing me to let out an eye roll.
      "No need to rub it in, Tom," I muttered in a sing-song voice, letting out a snicker.
      "Ha ha, so anyway, back to the question, was our kiss your first?" he asked curiously, catching me off-guard.
     "Wow, really decided to ditch that 'easy questions first' thing huh?" I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my neck.
     "You said that you had the right to refuse any questions I might ask so I thought it didn't matter anyways, and I don't see you necessarily backing down," he smirked, looking at me while giving me a small nudge in the arm.
       I let out a sigh, knowing I'll seem like a coward if I blocked his question, and if I didn't tell him, I won't need to because the answer would be obvious. I threw up my hands defensively and let out one more sigh before letting them fall to my sides.
      "Fine, Tom, you caught me. Yes, you were my first," I groaned, inwardly facepalming myself at my apparent singleness.
      "Really?" he asked in a surprised tone, making me raise an eyebrow in confusion.
      "Yeah...why?" I asked nervously, turning to face him.
     "Well, you were so good I didn't expect that it was your first time," he giggled, causing me to blush immensely.
     "TOM!" I yelled, hitting him harder than usual in the arm.
    "What?!" he chimed defensively, letting out a laugh.
    "Well I mean come on!" I giggled, bumping my right arm against his.
     "I'm just saying!" he smiled, looking down at the sand beneath our feet then back up at me.
     "I can't believe you said that," I laughed, shaking my head unbelievingly.
   "Well it's true," he smiled, making me blush even more. "See! You're blushing! I think your 'sour' attitude is just a front for the fact that maybe, just maybe you like me a little," he giggled, nudging me back.
   "Oh please," I scoffed, letting out a small smile that proved otherwise.
     Despite my rather unorthodox pursuits to bring that hatred that I once had for Tom back into my heart, they never worked, which always shocked me. I think no matter how hard I tried, he turned me into a calmer version of one of his crazed fangirls, minus the screaming and drooling over him of course.
       "That just proves you're lying," he smiled, coming closer as we walked along the shore, bumping me in the side.
       "FINE! I like you Tom! You would not believe the things I've tried to get myself to hate you but since Starbucks, they never worked once," I groaned, facepalming myself.
      "Had a hunch," he smiled back, nudging me harder.
      "So what do we do now?" I asked, letting out a loud sigh.
      "For starters," he paused, entwining his fingers with my right hand, causing my eyes to go wide in unbelief that I was actually  holding hands with the celebrity whose grave I would've spat on a week or so ago.
       I flinched, not sure how to react. He pulled back, startled by my actions. "Sorry I did that if you're not ready that's okay," he told me worriedly, stuffing his hands forcefully back in his pockets.
    "No no, I'm never gonna get used to it if we don't start now, and despite how weird this is that this is all happening to me, it's okay," I smiled, extending my hand for him to take out his. He slid in mine and for some reason, I wasn't as nervous as before.
       ~ ~ ~
     We walked along the shore until the sun had completely gone down, leaving faint marks of all different colors strewn around the sky.
   "Ow!" he squeaked, checking his nose to see if it hurt less.
    "Sweet mercy, Tom, you're such a teenage girl," I observed while letting out a chuckle,
bumping his elbow with mine.
   "You break your nose four times and have a straight face, see how far you get," he laughed, taking his hand off his face and putting it against his side.
   "So, this is gonna sound super cheesy and unlike me but we need to start over or this whole, me-holding-hands-with-a-celebrity-that-I-used-to-despise-with-my-whole-being thing is not gonna work for me," I told him while wearing a small smile, brushing the stray strands of hair from my face that landed there from the lightly blowing ocean breeze.
          He let out a chuckle, turning towards me. "I'm game," he smiled, extending his hand for me to shake.
        "Hi, I'm Tom Holland, what's your name?" he asked while I took his free hand and shook it, our right and left hands still entwined.
          I let out a laugh at our little charade before responding, looking him in the eye sweetly. "April Justice, a pleasure to meet you, Tom." I smiled, both of our hands entwining like the other. He leaned in and kissed me on the forehead while our hands stayed together, dropping to our sides, making me smile.
       "Hey Tom?" I asked, grinning to myself at what I was about to do.
       "Yeah?" he asked curiously, both of us gazing at each other with wide eyes.
       "I think we need to redo something else too," I laughed, looking out towards the mildly shifting sea then back at him.
       "What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
        I took a quick, deep breath and let out a smile. "This." I answered, quickly sliding my hands out of his before he could object. I put them on each side of his face and pulled him towards me, kissing him.