Hours passed and you still slept. You woke up here and there when nurses came to check on you and when Tom had gotten up to allow them to check but the second they left you alone, you fell right back asleep. There was a sense of ease throughout the room now. Your parents came and went freely. Harrison was in and out and even Tom felt like he could at least use the bathroom without fearing the worst. He still wasn't leaving your side but he did feel relief, real relief and that's what really matters.

The first night went by and it consisted of you waking up a few times from the pain. Your mom was quick to call in a nurse and if it wasn't your mom, Tom was the one. It pained him to see you in pain and he couldn't help but think back to that fateful night on your bathroom floor.

You were so gentle with him when you had no reason to be and you were kind, already so loving with him while you looked at him with pain in your eyes because of the blood and agony he was in. Tom knows how you felt that night and he can't help but make a mental note to apologize once more for putting you through that, but to also thank you for sticking by him.

As more days went by, you were able to convince Tom to go into work with Frankie who did stop by the day after your surgery and just go home for a little bit. Tom, being Tom, was reluctant but he listened and it felt good. It felt good to get out of the hospital and for him to feel his phone vibrate knowing it'd be alright. Of course, there's this tiny bit of worry in the back of his head but it just gets smaller and smaller. You always text him and if you happen to fall asleep, your mom or dad or even Harrison and Seb are always there to let Tom know everything is okay. By the last day, Tom didn't need a reminder that you are going to be okay.

Besides the fact you've had to move your movie watching to a hospital bed, it felt as though everything was going right back to normal and both of you were so happy to just have that again, have each other and feel genuinely safe within each other. And it felt even better when you got the news you'd finally be discharged after twelve days.

"So," Tom starts, helping you pull the blue and orange hoodie over your head while your legs dangled from your hospital bed. "What're plans now?" There's a strange grin tugging at his lips.

"Uh, I want to go home and see my kitten." You laugh.

"Yeah, she's missed ya." Tom rolls his eyes, the grin not budging. "But, nah, I mean, now that you're alright. What's your plan?"

"That's a random question for you." You tease but Tom just rests his hands on either side of your thighs, putting his weight on the bed while leaning over you. "I don't know." You take a deep breath.

"Bullshit." Tom calls your bluff. "You've a plan. I know you."

You roll your eyes and suck on your teeth. "Is it cheesy if I say live?"

"Yeah," Tom laughs, hanging his head for a few seconds. "It is." He lifts his head back up to make eye contact with you.

"Okay," You press your forehead to his. "I think...I might go ahead and go to school."

"Yeah?" Tom whispers. "Your dad told me 'bout NYU."

"Of course he did." You pull away and sigh. "Well, I have all the time in the world now so, it might not be NYU but I can go to a community college."

"You should." Tom nods in agreement.

"Okay, but what about you? You don't want to work at my dad's shop your entire life."

Tom leans up, laughing. "Fuck no, I don't. It's been nice but no." He licks his lips and shrugs. "But, ya know, before this I did, uh, some carpentry work so maybe try and get back into it. If you're doing somethin' you like, fuck it."

"You know, my uncle is in carpentry. I can get you a job." You smile wide.

"You're fuckin' with me right?" Tom shakes his head.

"No," You giggle. "Sophie's dad, he really is a carpenter with a really nice company and I can get you...another job." You give him a playful smile.

"Alright." Tom shrugs.

"What happened to not taking handouts?" You smirk as you cock your head slightly.

Tom moves himself between your legs. "Doesn't matter."

"I'll call him tomorrow." You promise, kissing Tom's cheek.

"Another job at the hands of you." Tom chuckles and kisses your lips sweetly.

"It's what I do." You tease, moving your hands to his sides. "I owe you this anyway, you know?" Your voice goes quiet and Tom's brows furrow.

"What d'ya mean?"

"If you were such an arrogant jerk-"

"Oh." Tom laughs, "Here we go."

"Shh, if you weren't such an arrogant jerk who only cared about one-night stands and his reputation, I probably, ya know, would be dead. So, thanks for that."

Tom shakes his head in disbelief but there's love in his eyes. "Thanks for being a pain in my fuckin' ass every damn day and for being a controlling jerk," Tom's eyes widen, mocking your wording. "Cause ya know, wouldn't be here if you weren't."

Your cheeks start to throb from smiling. "I love you, you know?"

"Yeah," Tom's smile falls to one of pure adoration. "I know ya do." Tom kisses you once more. "I love you, too." He whispers into your mouth before deepening the kiss only for it be broken up with a knock on the door.

A nurse comes in with a wheelchair and your mom. "You're all ready to go." The nurse says.

"Finally." You smile as Tom helps you into the wheelchair.

"I've already set up your room and living room for you as well as moved my bags in." Your mom explains as you all start to for the elevator.

"You really don't have to stay." You say.

"I'm going to. I think Tom has done his job of watching you." Your mom lets out a soft laugh as Tom's cheeks turn red.

"Hey, I look after him and he does the same." You defend.

"I meant it in a good way." Your mom states. "Thank you for sticking by her, Tom." Your mom looks to Tom with a wide smile.

"Of course." Tom smiles back as you reach the elevator.

The elevator ride was filled with soft conversation as was the drive to your apartment. Your mom would be staying with you for a week while you continue to recover and after that, your dad would be popping in. You made it clear it wasn't necessary knowing Tom would already be on making sure you were okay all the time as well as Harrison but your parents are your parents and want to help.

You appreciate it and after the first few days, you were happy your mom stayed. It allowed you to really spend time with her when you haven't been able to much. You could talk and get completely caught up. Your mom made your favorite food and helped you get around. She didn't mind when Tom came by and in fact, your mom was treating him more like family than just a boyfriend of her daughter.

Soon enough, your mom was heading back to Oregon and Tom, Harrison, and your dad were taking over for our recovery. And through that time, your dad grew incredibly fond of Tom. He got to see how Tom really cared for you even after the scary bit was over.

When people stay after it gets scary, they're in for the long run. It's not a joke, it's not just a fond liking, it's real and he can see it.

Tom started working with your uncle and he started making decent money with good hours. You saw a new light come to Tom's eyes when he started working with your uncle and you couldn't be happier for him. It felt like everything was falling into place. You didn't have to question anything anymore.

Why did you have to get sick? Why did Tom have to come in when he did? Why did you fuck him over and why did he fuck you over? Why did you hurt each other? Why did all of this happen? None of the questions mattered because they were all answered.

Everything happens for a reason and something, it the reason doesn't reveal itself for a few years and other times the reason is right there in neon lights. Everything happened for a reason and that reason happened to be because the two of you needed each other. You needed each other to heal and to make it. You're both happy with each other and you can be happy without each other. What you've both managed to learn in the time you've been stuck recovering and Tom starting a new job was that you can both be happy without each other but neither of you want to be. Everything that's lead you both to each other seemed like a little bit of a curse, especially in Tom's eyes, but now it just feels like everything was meant to be. It's like it was a blessing instead. It's perfect and the two of you want to thank the universe for leading you to each other.

Everything became clearer as months went by and you made a full recovery. You got the all clear from Doctor Choi and you were setting out to start school in the upcoming months. You finished your book, finally and you even let Tom read bits of it. Tom offered to send it to his dad to help you fix anything that needed to be edited. Happy. That's all you could think, you're happy and you thought you couldn't be happier.

"Aye," Tom starts, hand on your knee and Ember curled up on his lap while you watched a movie. "So, I've been meaning to ask you somethin' but I wanted to wait until your doctor said you were okay."

"Mhm," You hummed, turning to face him. "What's up?"

"Well, we live right next to each other." Tom starts, his eyes darting away from yours.

"Yeah, yeah we do." You nod.

"You're here all the time or I'm at yours."

"Mhm," You gain a nervous smile, sensing where Tom was heading with this.

"Well, uh, was thinking...maybe at the end of the month when your lease is up, you could just, ya know...move in?" Tom asks and a smile dances onto his face.

"You hate cats and Ember and me are a package deal." You tease, looking to the sleeping cat on Tom's lap.

"But she likes me, pretty sure even likes me more than you." Tom quips.

"Oh, now I'm not moving in. Sorry, nope." You turn away, crossing your arms pretending to be offended.

"Sure," Tom shrugs. "So, when are you gonna start moving your things in?" Tom questions.

"Nope. Sorry, can't happen now." You stick your nose up, looking at Tom from the corner of your eye.

Tom sticks out his bottom lip, pouting. "C'mon, love, can you really say no to this?" You look over at him, him giving you his best puppy dog expression.

"God, you're annoyingly adorable." You groan. "No, I can't." You laugh, leaning in and kissing him quickly. "But, really, are you sure?"

Tom nods softly. "Yeah, of course. Please, move in with me."

"Okay." You say softly.

The next few weeks were spent with you and Tom slowly moving your things into Tom's apartment. Harrison came by to help when Tom was at work. Seb came by when both boys were busy which you greatly appreciated. It was nice for you to talk to someone else and who understood that you needed to actually go through things and decide what to keep and throw away. Seb was actually quite good at helping and she's an excellent packer. Plus, you felt like you were already in the friend phase with her right after getting out of the hospital. She was the one who cleaned your bathroom, fed your cat, and washed the infamous blue hoodie. If someone is cleaning up your blood, you're kind of friends for life after that. By the time the end of the month had reached, everything was moved into Tom's place or was moved back to your parents' house.

It was a completely new experience for both you and Tom. Like Tom had said, you were always at each other's places anyway but actually living together was completely different. You and Tom always woke up to each other and even after two months, the feeling didn't completely wear off. You were still over the moon to actually be really living together. But, of course, that did come with one of your first real, relationship fights which was actually just over Tom not taking his boots off and tracking mud and grime through the house after you had just cleaned the floors. Tom had gone out, slamming the door behind him only to return half an hour later with flowers and an apology for getting so angry. You welcomed him with open arms and apologies spilling from your lips, promising to not get mad which only lead to Tom chuckling against your hair reminding you that you're allowed to get angry with him. The fight lasted a maximum of an hour but it hurt for a little while. But, by the end of the night, you were back to where you were and everything was perfectly fine.

Another month had gone by and you were at school, on your way home when you got a call from Tom. You smiled as his name popped across your screen.

"Hey." You chime.

"Okay, don't be mad." Tom said, almost hushed.

"What did you do?" You ask.

"Promise, you won't be mad."

"If I have to bail you out, Tom I swear to-"

"No, no, no, it's nothing like that. But, you might be mad so you can't be."

"You told me I'm allowed to be angry." You challenge.

"Yeah..." Tom trails off. "But........not this time, alright? Please."

'Tom, what did you do? I won't be home for another twenty minutes." You plead.

"You'll see." Tom chuckles.

"Do I want to know?" You question with a sigh.

"Maybe." Tom says and you can hear him smirking on the other end.

"It's your day off. Did you try and cook or something and nearly burn down the apartment?"

"No!" Tom yells. "I'm not that bad a cook, darlin'."

You snort. "Sure, you're not."

"I'm not!"

"You could burn water." You quip.

"Hey, listen," Tom starts making you burst into a fit of laughter. "One time."

"You're a dork."

"You love me." Tom retorts.

"I might not when I get home because you won't tell me what you did!"

"It's nothing bad!"

"Why would I be mad then?" You question.

"Uh, just, because." Tom says. "Okay, see you when you get home. Love you, bye." Tom says in a rush, hanging the phone up.

You pull the phone away from your head and stare at the screen dumbfounded. Tom sounds like he's lost his mind. You're not even concerned, just confused. He's fine but apparently, you might be mad when you get home.

Home.

A smile comes to your face, forgetting about whatever you could be mad about when you think about how nice it is to call it home. Living with Tom and it's home. It still sends butterflies through your entire body and you can't help but hope that feeling won't completely go away.

You get home within in twenty minutes and the second you open the door, a grey dog comes running up to you.

"You got a dog!" You yell as Tom stands, staring at you with a guilty 'oops' face.

"Look how cute she is, love!" Tom chimes, moving over to you and the new dog.

"I thought dogs weren't allowed?"

"She meets the weight limit." Tom grins ear to ear before pressing a kiss to your cheek. "Welcome home. This is Tessa."

"Tom...you got a dog."

"Yeah." Tom nods, bending down and petting Tessa.

"I go to school...and come home to a dog. I go out with Harrison and I came home to a cat. Why are you like this?" You laugh, shutting the door and bending down with Tom.

"Surprise." Tom smiles.

"You're lucky you're cute, Tommy."

"I know." Tom responds. "Really, I'm sorry but she was cute and she needed someone to adopt her. Couldn't just leave her, ya know?"

"Oh, I'm not mad." You state quickly, rubbing around Tessa's ears. "I just think you're a little crazy."

"You're really not mad?" Tom questions with hopeful eyes.

"No, of course not. I love cats but I like dogs and you love dogs." You confirm while repeating similar words Tom had told you when he'd gotten you Ember.

"Thank God." Tom lets out a sigh of relief. "Because I love her."

"I know." You lean into Tom. "What is she?"

"Staffie." Tom answer proudly.

"Gonna get her a Spider-Man collar, too?" You tease.

"A whole costume." Tom states, only slight sarcasm dripped through his words.

"You're crazy."

Tom laughs, pulling you into his side. "Mhm," He hums pulling your mouth to his.

"But I love you." You whisper against his lips.

"I love you, too." Tom smiles against your lips.

Tessa made quick friends with Ember. Ember was just as curious about Tessa as Tessa was with her and you and Tom felt like proud parents where your kids were getting along. Truthfully, it was a sight about a week later. You had fallen asleep on Tom's shoulder while Ember was sleeping on your lap. Tom had nodded off, his head on top of yours and Tessa's head resting in Tom's lap. The four of you made yourselves out to be quite comfortable and happy together.

And by the time it was almost the day for Tom and you to be dating for a full two years, neither of you could believe how far you'd come. Tom wanted to show how happy you made him and he planned a trip for you. He saved plenty of money and made sure you wouldn't have school or work, which was quite easy since Tom had already talked it over with your parents. Your dad would be watching Ember and Tessa since Harrison and Seb were coming with Tom and you, Tom knowing how much Harrison and Seb have come to mean to you. After all this time, he still wants everything to be perfect and having Harrison and Seb with you to celebrate how far you've come while also being able to celebrate by yourselves is perfect. So, Tom surprised you with a trip to Florida to complete yet another thing on your Not A Bucket List. Disneyworld.

You visited everything you wanted at the Magic Kingdom on the very first day, Tom more or less just following you and getting nervous but falling endlessly in love with you all over again. Your face would light up with everything knew that you saw and you looked like the happiest person to finally be eating one of the Mickey Mouse shaped icecreams at Disney. The day progressed and Tom knew this was right. He was right and you were perfect. The sun was setting and Harrison and Seb were keeping heir distance.

Now or never.

"This has been one of the best days of my entire life." You beam as Tom's hand holds yours, the sun starting to come down as they're walking a fair distance away from Cinderella's castle.

"Yeah, mine, too." Tom pulls you into him, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of your head. "Um, hey," Tom stops you, and the two of you face each other. "You remember forever ago, about the thing that was my mum's?"

"Yeah, what about it?" You question, your heart softly sinking with the mention of something he doesn't talk about it.

"Okay, so," Tom takes a deep breath, licking his lips and running a nervous hand through his hair before digging into his pocket and pulling out a box. "Uh, so, it was passed down quite a bit but ya know, I don't have sisters so it was given to me, kind of." Tom opens it to reveal a gold, heart-shaped locket.

"Okay..." You say hesitantly, your breath catching in your throay. Tom is more nervous than you've seen him in ages.

"You know I love you and you're my favorite person." Tom says honestly. "I wanted to give it to you." Tom takes it out of the box and has you turn around. He latches it around your neck before you turn back around, holding the little heart in your hand able to see it perfectly with where it dangles on you.

"Thanks, Tom. You-you don thave to." You say, looking at the jewelry in awe.

"I want to..." Tom watches you. "You should open it." Tom says, his heart beating so loud he swears you could hear it.

You eye him with confusion but do as he says. You open the locket and there's a mini note written on two pieces of paper on either side of the heart. Your eyes widen and you just stare at the words for a few seconds.

Will you...marry me?

"Tom?" You say looking up and Tom's moving to one knee, catching another small black box Harrison was tossing to him. "Oh, you are doing this." Your jaw hangs open.

"Yeah, I am." Tom chuckles, cheeks redder than you've ever seen them. "Will you marry me?" Tom asks, eyes wide and he's got that pleading look in his eyes just like he did when he asked you to like him and when he begged you to love him. But, this is different because he already knows the answer. It's the same look but with hope. Every other time, he never expected you to ever like him, let alone love him but now, now he has faith that you'll say yes and you'll love him forever.

You smile softly, tears forming in your eyes. "Yes." You say simply and Tom places the small but elegant ring on your finger before moving up to his feet quickly, wrapping his arms around you and kissing you like his life depended on it. Bystanders clapped and a few cheered and whistled, making you and Tom laugh in response. "You're a cliche, Tommy." You whisper against his lips.

"Yeah, but you said yes, so what's that make you?" Tom gives you a sinister grin before kissing you once more.

"Yours." Your words fall like like honey against Tom's mouth. "Forever."