Never Say Never

Chapter Sixteen- April

I tucked my sweater into the mini jean skirt and poked and prodded, making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be. I looked in the mirror and instantly became nervous. My hands shook in fear as I pulled down my skirt a tad, bringing them up in front of my face to get a better look.
        I've never been this anxious in my life, which made me even more uneasy. In a few minutes, Tom's family, who I've never met, was coming over so we could all drive to the premiere together, and just thinking about first impressions set me more on edge. I remembered what Tom had set about how they are going to 'love' me, but of course I still had jitters anyway.
        Not only was I meeting his family for the first time, we were all going to the premiere, the very public premiere. Tom knew I was nervous, but he could never fathom the amount of anxiety that I was forcing myself to suppress. I took a deep breath, trying to convince myself that everything was going to be okay.
         I slid on my zip-up, 2 ½ inch, light brown boots that matched with my black skirt and the slightly oversized, striped, white and autumn-orange sweater that was tucked into it. I looked at myself in the mirror, examining my curled auburn locks and my face one last time to make sure that all my makeup was where it was supposed to be and not where it shouldn't.
         I heard a sudden set of voices enter the premises, telling me that the family was here. Since I was ready to go, I figured it would be rude if I put off seeing them for an extra few minutes just because I was nervous. I slowly walked to the door, taking another deep breath and saying a comforting prayer before turning the handle. As I was about to, I heard a small knock and stepped back as it slowly opened. Tom peeked his head inside, his gaze meeting mine as he opened the door wider.
         "Hey, the fam's here," he told me, stepping inside the entryway.
         "Yeah I heard them come in," I smiled, grabbing my purse that I had nearly forgotten.
        "You look amazing," he beamed, staring me up and down, making me blush.
        "Aw, thanks, you look pretty good too," I grinned, pressing a hand on his chest as he wrapped an arm around my waist.
          As we looked at each other lovingly, I could sense him reading my mind while hearing all the thoughts that I had tried to submerge.
       "Hey, it's gonna be fine, you're gonna do great, they're gonna love you," he comforted, showing a sweet smile before giving me a caring peck.
       "I know, but I'm still nervous," I told him wearily, feeling my heart become heavier by the second.
      "That's totally natural, don't worry about it," he smiled, kissing my forehead.
        We stepped apart and he opened the door, showing me out. We walked down the hallway and I exhaled before coming into the entryway, trying to shove out the blustering anxiety that weighed on my diaphram. He squeezed my hand, giving me a smile that told me that everything was going to be alright, helping me become steadier.
       "Tom! Where's the beer?" I heard a young british boy bellow as we turned the corner, immediately recognizing him as Harry Holland when he came into view.
         He let out a sheepish smile as he saw us, causing Tom and I to let out a small laugh.
       "On the refrigerator door." Tom answered, pointing towards the fridge with his free hand.
        "Ah, there we go," Harry sighed, pulling two bottles out of the fridge, handing one to his twin, Sam.
       "Guys, this is April," Tom introduced, causing me to let out a small wave.
         Hi!" I greeted, giving off a smile as all the shakiness somehow melted off my body.
        "It's so great to meet you! We've heard so much about you!" a middle aged woman beamed, telling me it was his mom.
       "Thanks!" I smiled, extending my arms as she gave me a hug. "I've heard a lot about you guys too," I told them as we parted, waving my hand around to indicate the whole family.
       "Really now? All good things I hope," Sam laughed, giving his older brother a look as he came over by us.
      "I'm Sam, the better twin," he snickered, whispering the last part as he wrapped me in a hug.
       I let out a laugh as I looked back towards Harry when Sam stepped back.
         "Hey I heard that!" he yelled from the other end of the room, giving his twin an evil glare, which only made Tom and I laugh more.
             I smiled to myself, pondering that maybe this wouldn't be that hard after all. A half hour passed while we all chatted, introducing ourselves and making casual conversation as it became time to head to the premiere.
            The 20-minute car ride was anything but boring. As the time grew on, the Holland's grew more and more comfortable with me around, only causing me to laugh harder at their little jokeful jabs and digs at one another.
           We arrived at the red carpet shortly after and got out of the luxury SUV and were immediately greeted by flashing cameras and screaming fans. This was it, this was the moment where my life would change forever. Three weeks ago I despised the press with all my heart, now I was willing to go out in front of them all. But the only difference between Comic Con and now was that before, I shrunk away and was being hunted, but now, I held my head high in confidence because I'm doing this on my own, not being forced. Tom slid out of the car first and I got out behind him, grabbing his extended hand.
               I looked around, lights flashing everywhere I glanced, but this time they weren't scary as before. Fans screaming on all sides filled my ears, never ceasing to distract me. I took a deep breath, and looked up at Tom.
              He met my glance and mouthed, "They're going to love you", causing a genuine smile to seep out my lips as we began to walk down the carpet.
              We stopped for pictures in front of this giant prop cutout, displaying many things having to do with the film, including the movie's logo in large letters. As we all lined up side-by-side, Harry put his arms around my waist as Tom did the same on the other side of me and as I looked around at the four Holland brothers, I remembered how wrong I've been about Tom's whole career. I averted my gaze towards the incoming photographer, ready to take the picture.
             "You are amazing, show them that." I heard Tom whisper in my ear as the photographer counted down from three to one over the shouts of fans, about to snap the photo.
               I smiled even wider, not entirely sure why I thought Tom was so bad in the first place. He took the picture and we turned towards Paddy, who was trying to say something over the shrieking fangirls.
          "This is the start of your new life, April. What do you think so far?" he asked with a giant smile, catching all of our attention.
            The brothers turned towards me while our arms stayed around each other, awaiting my response. I took a second to think, not quite sure what to say. I glanced at Tom, who's grin could be seen from Jupiter as he gazed at me with expectant eyes. I shifted my line of sight towards the fans, yelling things from the sidelines, smiles never leaving their faces as I looked their way. Then something occurred to me, catching me off guard.
           As I watched them, their screams only got louder, not exactly shouting at the four boys around me, but at me. But they weren't spewing hateful things like they did a few weeks ago in the comments of that one post I commented on, they were uplifting. I turned back towards the boys, a coy smile turning into a giant grin spreading across my lips as I looked at each of them.
           "You know," I paused to look at the busy world around me once more before giving my answer. I turned my gaze towards my boyfriend, giving him a small smirk as I did so. "I've been wrong about so many things lately, but you guys, all this," I smiled, letting out a laugh as I glanced at the floor then back up at them as they waited for my reply. "Maybe it's not gonna be so bad after all." I grinned, looking at each of the brothers as their arms tightened lovingly around me.
             They all let out massive smiles, only making mine grow larger. As I said and thought about this more, it all made sense. I would've never expected this to happen to me, especially the part about dating Tom Holland. But here I am, doing the unexpected. I guess I even surprise myself sometimes.
             But what we all didn't realize is that while we were all beaming at each other, that same photographer captured our shared smiles towards one another, only making us grin once more when discovering it later.
              I glimpsed once more at the red carpet, the screaming fans, the press, the flashing cameras, and the band of brothers around me, and realized that maybe in order to love someone, I had to hate them first. I didn't think I was ready for my new life, I knew.
               Bring it on.
           Chapter Seventeen
                              Tom