Never Say Never

Chapter Ten- April

  I woke up to the sound of something shutting, sounding more and more like a cabinet the more I thought about it. I opened my eyes, only to find myself in a room that I didn't at all recognize. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, noticing that I was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.
     I looked around, memories of falling asleep on Tom flashed through my mind. I gathered that I had indeed fallen asleep for the night at his house and he had brought me to the guest bedroom, not wanting to wake me. I smiled at the thought of him carrying me to the room, carefully trying not to stir me awake.
     I didn't have anything with me except my phone and my purse, which didn't have anything really helpful in it either, so I had to flatten my hair as much as I could by splashing water on it from the guest bathroom. I straightened my very wrinkly dress and tried to wipe off my smeared makeup as much as I could without making it worse, and stepped out into the hall.
      I yawned, scratching my neck as I stumbled tiredly down the hall, only to be greeted by something I would have never thought I'd ever see with my own eyes. Tom Holland, the 14 year-old girl's dream, was shirtless while I was in the same room as him, alone. I blinked a few times and shook my head, making sure that this wasn't just a figment of my occasional cursed imagination.
      Trying to act normal, I walked into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee machine. As I was reaching up and grabbing a mug out of the cabinet above me, I jumped at the sensation of strong arms wrapping around my waist.
    "Hello," I greeted cherrily, continuing to make my coffee as his body hugged mine from behind.
   "Good morning," he greeted in a husky morning voice that complimented his British accent, causing me to swoon a tad.
   "Hey," I said back, pouring the grounds in the machine before turning around to face him. I looked up into his brown eyes, wrapping my arms around his neck.
   "How'd you sleep?" he asked, giving me a loving peck on the forehead.
   "Fine, you?" I asked, trying to keep my gaze focused on his eyes, not his bare chest.
     "Good, a lot better because you're down the hall." he smiled, leaning in and giving me a sweet, compassionate kiss on the lips.
      The coffee pot dinged as we parted and he backed away while I poured the hot black drink into my cup. I took a sip and let out a small laugh to myself, wondering how I wasn't violently barfing at his shirtless presence.
     "It's beautiful today, and that's not just cause you're here," he grinned, entwining my hand in his.
    "Quite the charmer you are, Holland," I giggled, leaning back against the countertop edge.
    "Let's go take a morning walk," he smiled, leading me in the direction of the sliding back door.
   "Oh wait," he paused, unhooking our hands and running down the hall, leaving me to sip more of my coffee.
     He came back within 30 seconds, holding a sweatshirt in his hand. "You'll probably want this, it's a tad breezy and you're only wearing a dress," he laughed, handing me the soft pullover.
   "You sure you won't be needing that?" I giggled, pointing at the bare upper-part of his body.
   "Nah, I run hot, you'd know that," he smirked while a playfully shocked look spread across my face.
   "Tom!" I laughed, giving him a soft punch in the shoulder.
     We walked along the shore, hand-in-hand while I used my free one to drink my coffee. "You're right, it is nice out," I observed, looking at the soft movement of the ocean waves in front of me.
  "Yeah," he told me simply, looking down at the sand instead of at me. I nudged his shoulder, getting him to glance up at me.
    "What's up?" I asked, staring at the side of his face.
  "It's just-" he paused to let out a sigh, which was followed by a cheerless laugh. "This is amazing, you're amazing, and the press is gonna ruin it all the second we step foot into the real world." he stated in a sad tone, this time staring right into my eyes.
   "We won't let them," I told him matter-of-factly, my back feeling straighter as I tightened my grip around his hand.
       "You sure you're ready for that?" he asked in a concerned tone, stopping in his tracks and looking straight at me. I came up close to him, wrapping my free arm around his bare waist.
        "A week ago, I would've said there's no way, but now," I paused, looking around at the atmosphere then back at him.
      "We happened, so I can't just say no to that now can I?" I smirked, leaning in and giving him a compassionate kiss.
         As we parted, I sunk my head into his chest and put both my arms around his back, making sure to not spill my coffee. I rubbed my hands against his warm back, seeing that he does literally run hot. I lifted my head out of the side of his neck and looked up at him, our arms still loosely around each other. I smiled as he gave me a kiss on the forehead, mentally deciding for myself that I was definitely ready for the challenges ahead.
        ~ ~ ~
         "Yeah, I'll head to the doctor's sometime today, it doesn't really hurt anymore but I'd still like to get it checked," he stated, opening the sliding glass door to let us in.
        "Make sure you do, I wanna make sure I didn't do too much damage," I cringed, putting on a pouty face as I gently stroked the corner of his nose that I had hit. "I really am sorry," I apologized, laughing at my clumsiness.
         "Stop apologizing! It's okay! I've dealt with this three other times, you'd think I'd be used to it by now," he giggled, leading me towards the front door.
          I grabbed my bag and phone as I headed out, giving Tom a smile as he opened the door for me.
       "You know, I never thought I'd be here, with you," I laughed, remembering how tense things had been for us before.
       "To be honest, me either," he smiled, hinting at my previously snarky demeanor.
        "I know, I was pretty nasty," I chuckled, putting aside my former self for good. "I also never expected you'd charm me sooo easily, guess I gotta work on my vulnerability," I smirked, leaning in for a kiss.
       "Yeah you do that," he shot back slyly right as our lips connected.
        We slowly parted, gazing at each other every second. My eyes shot open wider than before at a sudden thought that just passed through my mind. I whipped out my phone, gaining Tom's interest rather quickly.
      "What's the matter?" he asked in a joking yet slightly serious tone, watching my thumbs jitter wildly as I clicked on Instagram.
      "What if the press saw us, together, at the same house??" I gasped, having my answer displayed right in front of me.
        "April-" he started to say, but was interrupted by my phone screen now held out in front of him, displaying a picture of us playing in the sea. I started to breathe heavily as my heart began to race faster and faster, still trying to convince myself that I was ready, but failing miserably.
       "April calm down!" Tom yelled, shaking my shoulders as I looked down at the floor, eyes welling.
      "Tom I don't know if I can do this," I sniffled, tears slowly rolling down my cheeks as I moved my head up to face him.
      "It's ok, it's ok, come here," he consoled, wrapping me in a hug while whispering sweet nothings into my ear. "If you've gotten this far without breaking down, and you have, you are the strongest person I know, which I was already aware of," he told me as we parted, holding my chin between his thumb and index finger, wiping my flowing tears with his stray hand.
         "Thanks, it's just-" I paused to sniffle and rub my eyes with the soft sleeve of the sweatshirt he had given me, wetting the material.
          "I didn't like you before, we weren't in a relationship, but now we are, and I'm your girlf-" I stopped short, not sure if I should finish the last word on account that he might not feel that way even though it was evident to the both of us that he did. He let out a sigh, stroking my cheek with his thumb, releasing a smile.
        "Even though it's harder now, I don't care. April, I will fight for our relationship and the press is not going to win. Whenever you see something scandalous about me, just know that if it was true, I would've come to you beforehand. I won't ever do anything that you won't know about because you're my girlfriend, and you mean too much to me to risk our relationship," he smiled, causing me to start crying again, this time joyfully.
        I sunk my face into his shoulder as my arms wrapped tightly around his back, never wanting to let go. I released my final tear and sniffled, backing away from him.
       "Oh Tom," I grinned, causing the creasing of my smiling eyes to let out a stray tear. As soon as it hit my cheek, he wiped it with the back of his hand, still gripping mine tightly in his other one.
          We said our goodbyes after he made sure I was okay to go on my own for the millionth time, showing me that he cared. I walked to my car, an evident smile painted across my lips, not showing a sign of disappearing anytime soon. I went to a Starbucks outside of the adjacent city near LA, where I got a few looks from the people around the cafe, somehow only causing me to hold my head up higher and walk with more confidence than before.
         I heard numerous sets of muffled tones coming from all over the coffee shop, but, after shoving the feeling of screaming at them down deep into my body, I calmly placed my order and paid no attention to them, well, until one girl came up to me.
         I felt a tap on my shoulder, and when I spun around to see who it was, I was face-to-face with a teenage girl, holding her phone firmly in her hand, sparking my suspicious side.
      "You're April right, the girl from Comic Con?! H-how does it feel dating Tom Holland?!" she stammered in shock, her mouth dropping open.
       Almost weirdly, the barista called my name, telling me that my drink was ready, which was the best possible timing ever. I put on a proud smile and looked her dead in the eye, her eyes begging me to share my secrets.
     "No comment." I stated boldly while letting out a smirk, walking towards the counter while purposely bumping the girl's arm a tad forcefully as I strode past.
       I felt power and confidence surging through my veins as I headed out the door, not paying any attention to the gaping crowd who knew who I was as I left.
       I got in the car, doing a little happy dance as I eagerly sipped my coffee. I set in the cupholder and let out a sigh of bliss as I put my key in the ignition. I traveled back to my apartment, a pep in my step with every movement. The first thing I did after I set the keys on my kitchen counter was turning off all notifications for every social media app I had. So this is what fame feels like huh? Freaky how life works out.