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

"D-Don't go, please. Please." You heard Tom choke out as you were about to leave the boy's room. You felt yourself hesitate. You weren't sure if you wanted to leave. You weren't sure if you wanted to turn around and look at Tom, because you knew that if he looked like he just sounded there was no way that you could walk away from him.

"C-Can you stay? Can I say something before you go? P-Please?" Finally turning around you looked at the broken boy in front of you. His eye lashes brimmed heavy with tears, the color drained from his face as single teardrops were rolling down the boy's pale face. It was the first time you saw that Tom was hurting just as much as you. He loved you and thought you loved someone else. The sight of him made you want to pull him into your arms. You wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright. You wanted to tell him that no matter how much you hated it that you wanted nothing more than to be with him - but instead you did nothing.

"As much as I hate to admit that, but I get why you don't want anything to do with me anymore. I-I fucked this up so bad and, fuck, I wish I could turn back time, but I get that you can't look at me anymore. I get it. I just wish we could get a second chance. I-I never wanted to hurt you, I thought I was doing the right thing. I messed up. S-So bad." Tom stopped to wipe his tears away and take a deep breath, "I-I'm so sorry. I never meant for things to go that way, I thought - I just wanted you to be happy even if it was without me. Even if it was with Harrison."

"Tommy..." You said as you took a few steps forward until you were standing in front of him. You weren't sure what you wanted to say. You just knew that you hated seeing Tom like that. Yes, you blamed him for what happened. Of course you did, how could you not? But part of you wanted to go back to like nothing happened and a part of you thought the two of you could give this thing another try.

But the other part wanted nothing more than to leave that chapter of your life behind you.

"Don't go." Tom choked out another time as his hands reach out for yours, pulling you closer, his head leaning against your stomach, "I-I know this is so fucking selfish of me to ask you to stay, but I need you in my life. I was wrong when I thought I could manage without you. I can't, I-I don't want to lose you again, not if I didn't try my best to make you stay. Not if - not if I never tried to show you how much I want to make this work. I love you, so damn much and I- I..." The sobs coming from him were heartbreaking. Your fingers found their way to Tom's hair as you tried to comfort him.

You wanted to tell him that you didn't want to leave, but something inside of you still held you back.

The two of you stayed in the same position until the boy calmed down. Somehow, no matter how much the two of you were hurting, it felt like this is where you were supposed to be. Like this was everything you needed in your life to feel whole. Like Tom was the only thing that mattered.

Tom's grip around your hands loosened, giving you a chance to leave if you wanted to. Giving you a chance to be the one to break his heart this time. Make it a tie, right? In the past years, you wanted nothing more than to make Tom feel the same you felt that day. You wanted to show him how much he hurt you. You wanted him to hurt as much as you did, but standing in front of him, you knew you wouldn't ever forgive yourself for walking away in that moment. You wanted Tom to be happy, you wanted to see him smile again. You wanted him in your life.

So you stayed.

People always told you that you shouldn't give a damn about your first love and that it should be the second love that gets all your attention, because they taught you that love still existed after you thought it could never exist again.

But - what if they were both the same person?

Maybe the two of you couldn't start over. Maybe you couldn't pick up at the point where you ended. But maybe, you could rewrite your story and create a new ending. Maybe, it wasn't about forgiving, but more about giving Tom a second chance. Maybe it was about letting yourself fall in love with him a second time - letting him fall in love with you a second time.

"I never said you were going to lose me." You said, sitting down next to Tom, "I think we could give this another shot." You whispered as Tom's head shot up.

"W-What?" He asked, turning his head to look at you. He never would have thought that you were willing to let him back into your life again. Not after what he had done, not after he told you his stupid reason, "Why?"

"Remember when you said you didn't believe in destiny? And that you sometimes have to work for the good in your life to work out? Maybe, this is one of those things we need to work for." You said as you rested your head against the boy's shoulder.

"S-So, what do we do now?" Tom asked as his arm hesitantly sneaked around your back, pulling you closer, not wanting to let you go again.

"Let's just be Tom and (Y/N)." You smiled as the two of you fell into a comfortable silence.

"Remember when we first met?" Tom whispered as the memories of that day flooded both of your minds.

"No mum. I don't want to play with him" Your five year old self was stomping her foot on the ground. Your parents had just told you that they arranged a little play-date for you and the neighbors son. You had just moved here and your parents were desperate to get you to make friends.

"Come on, it will be fun! I promise!" Your mum groaned, hoping you would finally give in. She had spent a few afternoons with Nikki, chatting about the neighborhood and all that stuff parents talked about. That was when she met Nikki's three boys, her eldest your age. Ever since that day the women had agreed that you should definitely come over one day so you wouldn't have to play alone in your sandbox anymore.

"I don't want to."

"(Y/N), you're going to go. One day you'll thank me for making you do that." Your mum shook her head as she looked at your dad, telling him to try his best.

"One time? Maybe you'll have fun?" Your dad smiled, picking you up in his arms.

"Can I have ice cream later?" You giggled as your dad started tickling your sides.

"Yes, princess."

"Okay, I'll go."

"How does she always listen to you and never to me?" Your mum shook her head. Of course you could be easily bribed with ice cream.

Your parents walked over to the Holland's household, you following close behind as you were hiding behind your dad, still not wanting to meet the kid your mum has been gushing about for days. Nikki opened the door to let the three of you in.

"The boys are in the backyard." She smiled as you followed her outside where you saw the Holland boys for the first time. Tom was building sandcastles in his own little sandbox when his head shot up once he heard unfamiliar voices. He knew about someone bringing their kid over, but he didn't think it was going to be a girl. His eye found yours as you were still unsure about what to do.

"Tom, this is (Y/N). (Y/N) this is Tom." Nikki smiled.

"Hey (Y/N)." The brunette boy smiled at you. You felt yourself smile back, still not saying a word, "Do you want to help me build this sandcastle?" Your dad gave you a little push before walked over to Tom, joining him in the sandbox.

"Yeah, I really didn't want to go." You laughed.

"I'm glad you're easy to bribe, and I'm glad you're such a sucker for ice cream" Tom laughed as he placed a soft kiss on your head, "I swear, you could break both of your legs but as soon as someone would give you a scoop of ice cream everything was great again."

"Remember when you fell down the tree and I laughed at you for minutes before asking you if you were alright?" You laughed.

"Yeah, and you bought me ice cream because you felt so guilty for laughing at me."

"I really did feel guilty, but it looked so funny. You just dropped down and face planted so hard." You couldn't hold back your laugh when the images of Tom falling down that tree appeared in your head.

"You're still laughing about that, I can't believe it. It hurt, (Y/N)! I had bruises for weeks. We were eight! You were so damn mean."

"I took care of you for weeks, Tom! And I'm sure the bruises and your arm didn't hurt for like what? Six weeks? You made me feel so guilty, but thinking about it, you were faking, weren't you? You just wanted someone to bring you sweets and ice cream!" You looked at him, fake shook written all over your face as Tom's mouth curved into a grin.

"No, it hurt really really bad... for like two days... but the sweets were nice. Ouch!" Tom laughed as you hit his arm, "Stop hurting me. I'm going to make you buy me pizza this time, but you're one to talk! It took me a year - a year, (Y/N) - to realize that you didn't have period cramps for two weeks but only a few days. You just wanted my chocolate!"

"Yeah, you were a stupid boy. You believed everything I told you back then. I bet there are still things you think are true." You couldn't help yourself but burst out laughing when you thought about the moment Tom found out that you had been lying to him just to get his chocolate. You had been complaining about your period for weeks and when Tom told Nikki about your cramps, she had asked you if you were alright, making you admit that you just wanted Tom to buy you ice cream and chocolate and make him feel bad for you.

"Excuse me? I'm stupid now?" Tom gasped, "I almost sold my soul to be able to get you more chocolate and ice cream, yeah you know what, thinking about that, I was pretty stupid."

"Yeah, you were, but it was also really nice of you and kind of mean from me." You laughed as you leaned your head back on Tom's shoulder.

And with that, you were Tom and (Y/N) again. Just Tom and (Y/N), nothing more, nothing less.

"It will still be Tom and you then, I don't think anything could ruin what the two of you have."

Truth?