But in the end, they all drift away. // Even the ones who promised to stay.

It was 7:33am when you were woken up by the soft sunlight that was shining through your windows. As you tried to change your sleeping position, you realized you never made it home last night and that you were still with Tom, which also meant that everything that had happened seemed to be real and wasn't just a dream you had.

Tom's arm was still around you and the two of you somehow had intertwined hands while you were sleeping. Carefully pulling out your hand from underneath his, you moved so you were now lying on your back. You turned your head to look at the boy's sleeping form next to you. Taking in his features in the soft morning light, you felt your heart ache again.

He may have been there for you the past night, but alarm clocks were still ringing in your head every time he told you he was there, because was he really? And how long would it take until he decided you weren't worth his time anymore?

Tom was slowly waking up from his slumber, ripping you out of your thoughts. His grip around you tightened as he pulled you closer and nestled his face in the crook of your neck. Your hand went up to his hair and started playing with his soft curls.

"I missed this." He mumbled as he placed a soft kiss on the soft skin on your neck.

"Tom! (Y/N)! Breakfast!" You were woken up by Nikki shouting both of your names. Of course you had fallen asleep as the two of you were watching a movie last night. It wasn't unusual for the two of you to wake up in each other's arms, because either of you slept so much better when you were next to each other.

"Tommy, get up." You nudged to boy next to you who was still fast asleep, his face buried in your neck, making you wonder how he was even able to breathe.

"Let me sleep. I need more sleep and more cuddles. And so do you." He mumbled before falling asleep again almost immediately.

"Your mother is going to come in here and wake you up anyway if you don't get up now." You laughed as you poked his cheek, making him lift up his head with a groan.

"You're mean."

"And you're lazy. Now get up." You laughed as you removed his arm from around your waist and hopped out of bed.

Walking over to Tom you pulled him out of his bed before shoving him into the bathroom so he could shower and stop being the grumpy morning person who was just annoying. After putting on a pair of Tom's sweatpants and one of his hoodies you made your way downstairs. On the way down, you ran into a half naked Tom who was running back to his room to get dressed. Pulling you into his arms, he managed to press his wet hair onto your face, making you push him away from you.

"Fuck off, you know I hate that." You laughed as you gave him another push towards his room.

"I know." Giggling, he closed the door to his room, leaving you still a bit flustered from the close contact that had just happened.

Arriving in the kitchen, you saw that every family member was already sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for you to join them for their Sunday morning breakfast.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." Nikki smiled as she motioned for you to sit down. "Where's Tom? Please tell me he isn't still asleep?"

"He's getting dressed. Had a hard time getting out of bed this morning." You said not thinking about how you could phrase it so it didn't sound like an innuendo.

"Did he?" Harry burst out laughing, making you shoot him a death glare.

"He just got out of the shower and you know he hates getting out of bed, you idiot!" You groaned, shaking your head at the grinning boy.

"Yeah, sure, that's what they all say." Sam grinned as you threw one of the grapes in front of you at him.

"Harry, Sam. I'd advise you to shut the fuck up now." Tom was suddenly standing behind you, sending death glares to his two brothers.

"Tom." Nikki warned him. She was fine with you guys joking around and all that, but dropping the f-bomb was still something she didn't like.

"Sorry, mum. Please tell these idiots to stop being - I don't know - stop being themselves. I don't want them to drive (Y/N) away one day." Tom laughed as he sat down beside you, placing a kiss on your cheek that sent a bolt of happiness through your whole body.

"Hm." You weren't able to answer without starting to scream at him.

He missed this? That was just some utter bullshit. He walked out on you and now he was the one telling you he'd missed you? Did he really have the right to decide if he got to miss you as much as you missed him? Did he really think it hurt him as much as it hurt you?

"I-I should go home, Tom." You said as you let your hand glide through his hair one last time before moving and making him remove his arm from around you.

"(Y/N)?" You heard him say as you were on your way out.

"Huh?" You asked, turning around to look at the still sleepy boy.

"Everything okay?"

"All good." You sent him a smile before walking out of his room.

As soon as you closed your own door at home behind you, you felt tears streaming down your face. Why was your life such a mess? Why wasn't all of this soulmate bullshit real? And why doesn't Tom just want you as much as you want him?

And why the fuck did you still want Tom?

You let out a groan as you dropped onto your bed, burying your face in your pillow. You knew you needed to talk to Tom, but you also weren't ready to talk to him.

What was he going to say that he hadn't already told you? He thought you were annoying and clingy, so you sure as hell weren't going to annoy him with the talk 12 hours after you had just kind of revived your friendship.

You thought it would be easy. You thought the two of you could just start off where you ended it, but you knew that there was no way you could go back to the way it was before - not before knowing why he did what he did, because his reason were still very unclear to you. Pulling out your phone, you dialed the number of your one and only hope right now.

"Oi, you're up early." Harrison mumbled as he answered his phone.

"Sorry for probably waking you up, but my life's a mess." You whined.

"Oh no, what did he do now? Please tell me I can punch him too. Please." Harrison groaned, assuming Tom said something stupid again.

"Surprisingly, he didn't do anything bad. That's why this is so bad! I spent the night over in his room and everything was fine, it was great and then this morning it felt right but also so damn wrong. I don't know if I can ever trust him again."

"Wait, you spent the night?"

"Is this all you picked up from my monologue?" You groaned, pulling your pillow over your face to let out a frustrated scream.

"I've told Tom before that he needed to talk to you about his reasons for doing that stupid shit and I'll tell you the same. Talk for fuck's sake. What is wrong with you people? Why are you two talking to me about everything when you should be talking to each other?"

"I- I don't know if I'm ready for the talk. I'm not sure if I want to know his reasons. What if they're even dumber than I think they are? Or what if knowing the reasons is going to hurt me even more? What if he breaks my heart again?"

"Believe me, you want to know the reason."

"Wait a second, you know the reason? Since when?" Although you didn't see Harrison, you knew his eyes widened.

"Uh-uhm, maybe?"

"Harrison Osterfield. Did you know all along? Did you fucking lie to me?"

"No! Promise! He told me fucking yesterday. I promise, if I knew back then I would've told you and I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be in this mess right now. So please, do me a favour (Y/N). Talk to this fucking knobhead. I can't be arsed to do watch the two of you tiptoe around the topic any longer. This is stupid and you two are annoying. Be adults and fucking figure it out until then don't talk to me again." He laughed, letting you know that he was partly joking but also dead serious.

"I can't just walk over there and tell him that we need to talk."

"Uh, yeah you can?"

"But-"

"No buts, (Y/N). If you don't go over there and fucking talk to him, I'm going to text him and tell him that you want to talk to him. It may not be my business, but the two of you sure as hell know how to make it my business." Harrison was getting frustrated. He wanted nothing more than to see the two of you leave the past behind, but he knew Tom owed you a reason and he knew that he needed to do so much more than to just apologize.

"Fine." You caved in, knowing that Harrison was right.

"So, you'll go over there now and talk to him, right?"

"I'll go over later."

"You'll go over there now and talk to him, right?" Harrison repeated his question again.

"Later."

"You drive me crazy. You'll go over there now and talk to him. And this time, it isn't a question." the boy groaned, "I swear if I text you in two hours and you still didn't go over I will come to your house and I will bring Tom with me and I will lock the two of you in your room until you talk."

"Okay, fine. I'll go over there, now."

"Promise?"

"Yes, promise. You're so annoying." You laughed.

"You'll thank me one day for being that annoying today. Now go." He chuckled as he ended the call, leaving you alone with shaking hands and a heartbeat that was definitely not normal.

You weren't so sure about how you even wanted to confront him about why he did it, but grabbing your phone and putting your shoes back on, you were on your way to the Holland's front door.

Could you open the front door? I don't want to wake up your family.

You texted Tom, not wanting to ring the doorbell since you assumed they were probably still asleep at 8am on a Sunday morning. A few minutes later the door in front of you opened, revealing a topless Tom. Letting a hand glide through his still wet hair, he motioned for you to come in.

"Did you forget something?" He asked as you followed him to his room.

"I-I think, uhm, I think we need to talk."

"We're still going to be friends when we're 80."

Maybe he told the truth that day, maybe he didn't.