IMAGINE !
o. TOM FINDS A NEW REASON TO VISIT THE TOWN ON SATURDAY NIGHT . . .

━━ 🕸️ ━━

Tom was tired, to say the least. He had been working behind the counter of a deadbeat paint shop for what felt like eternity - when in reality, it had only been five hours. There wasn't many people in desperate need of paint on a Friday.

He was busy rearranging the colorful sample cards when the bell above the door jingled. A soft and delicate voice rang through his ears, immediately causing him to bring his gaze up. Tom saw you smiling while on your phone, and something about you intrigued him - he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"I know, I know, yellow for you and the baby's room!" You desperately hoped that your sister could have seen your dramatic eye roll. "I have to stop by before I head downtown with Harrison anyway, so I'll see you later."

He furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of Harrison. That had to be a coincidence, right? He had to be overthinking way too much. Harrison had always told him about going downtown to his favourite club, but surely his best friend would have mentioned having a girlfriend to join him, right?

The situation was far from his guesses. You and Harrison had been friends since you both could walk, the bond between you two being as strong as siblings.  Every Friday nigh the two of you would venture out into the nightlife of the city to dance the night away. It usually ended with intoxicated laughter and recalling childhood memories.

You let out a deep breath that you were unaware of holding after you ended the call. Sliding your phone into your back pocket, you scanned around the well organized, yet quiet store for the color you were looking for. You were absolutely determined to find it, or something close to it - you had no intent of being ranted to by your sister on how inconsidrate stores were to not have a perfect yellow shade.

The music that was playing out of the ceiling's speakers bounced off of the walls, creating a eerie echo. There was a few people inside of the store, so you weren't totally alone and creeped out. Tom had gotten a glance at you and swiftly noticed the way your lips were painted in a sheet of gloss, how your eyes were full of life, and how determined you looked to complete your task.

You were too invested in your task of looking around to notice the guy sitting behind the counter - who happened to be the guy that was in most of your close friend Harrison's photos.

Instead of being creepy and continuing to stare at you from afar, Tom strolled up beside you. He'd get only one chance to use his job to talk to you, considering he never saw somebody enter the store twice.

Noticing the presence of someone who happened to work at the store, you spoke up. "You don't by chance have this color, do you?" You questioned, holding a small photo of the color you needed. "If you do it would be a total lifesaver - quite literally."

In all honesty, he was surprised to actually hear a question from someone. Usually people just entered the store and left just as fast as they came through the door.

Upon lifting your eyes up from the printed photo, you noticed the curly brown hair and chocolate colored eyes that you had seen in photos so many times before. In fact, Harrison had been attempting to get the two of you to meet and hope for the best. Of course, it was a basic set-up plan, and you weren't complaining. You spoke again before Tom could answer your paint-related question.

"Out of curiosity, your name doesn't happen to be Tom Holland, does it?"

"Actually it is. You must be a friend of Harrison's I'm assuming?" You nodded. Tom began to sift through the paint samples while he continued talking. "Hold that thought. Is this what you're looking for?"

Tom noticed the small spark in your eyes as soon as you saw the exact color that you had been searching for. With a graceful nod, he began to make a beeline for the front counter, motioning for you to follow him.

"I'm y/n." You held out your hand for him to shake, which he gladly did. "Haz has told me quite a bit of stories about you." A small laugh slipped out of your lips: the most angelic thing Tom had ever heard ringing through his ears.

"Of course you have," Tom shrugged, chuckling in the process. "Surprisingly I've barely heard anything about you. Are you two-"

You shook your head. It seemed as if almost every person you had met assumed that both you and Harrison were a couple, which was weird yet understandable considering you were inseparable. Tom felt a small tug at the corners of his lips.

In no time had he located the paint and placed a can on top of the counter. Tom mentally made a note to ask Harrison if he could tag along downtown. Although you would have spent the day talking to the guy you had just met, you had places to be and people to see.

"I assume I'll be seeing you soon then?" Tom asked, leaning over the front counter with a smile on his face.

"I guess you will. Looking forwards to seeing you again, especially when Harrison starts telling stories again." You gave him a playful wink before you left the store, smile on your face with your can of paint. You obviously knew that one can was not enough for two rooms, meaning that you'd have to come back again.

⋆˚ ✩ ࿐AUTHOR'S NOTE
I began writing this a long while ago
and I hadn't gotten the chance to finish
it until now! I'm not entirely sure how it
came out, but I like it a bit? I feel like the
end was sloppy :// also this one's getting
a part two bc it's snf

anyways how would we feel if blurbs
were a common thing in this book?
they're easy to write but uber cute at
the same time uwu