Requested by mrsholland199601: Y/N starts accepting her feelings for Tom, and they finally confess their feelings to each other.

I stood in front of Tom, the boy sat on the counter by his bathroom sink as I gently cleaned the blood off of his fist. Tears continued to leave my eyes as I cleaned him up, a comfortable but also sad silence between us. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see Tom looking at me timidly, the boy clearly trying to catch my gaze, but I was trying to ignore him. After all, I'd just been sexually assaulted by my ex-boyfriend, who had in turn been assaulted by my best friend for that. It was just a lot to process.

"You okay, darling?" Tom asked quietly as he broke the silence. I nodded and bit my lip, though the tears running down my face still and the fact that I kept my gaze very solidly on his cut-up knuckles gave me away.

"Love...please don't lie to me." He sighed. I choked and finally looked up at him, making his face soften.

"What am I supposed to say, Tom? He assaulted me, and I let it happen. I agreed to go outside with him, I agreed to be alone with him, I gave him the chance." I cried. His eyes widened.

"Hey, no, stop thinking that right now." He scoffed and shook his head as he pulled me into his arms. I returned the hug, my body now in between his parted legs as I tightly wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. I couldn't believe that this had happened, I couldn't believe that any of it had happened. Six months ago, I was happy enough with Jacob and barely knew the cute boy next door, no matter how much I secretly wanted to. And now, I wanted Tom more than anything but wasn't ready for that yet, and still had Jacob to worry about when I thought that I'd moved past that. Of course I was more than happy with my feelings disappearing for Jacob and appearing for Tom, but the rest of it was so fucked up, and had led to me being assaulted. I just wished that I could go back to meeting Tom, but if I had it my way, I wouldn't have been with Jacob so that Tom and I could start being friends and more immediately. Though, I knew that I couldn't change that.

"Him assaulting you was not your fault, do you hear me? You put your trust in him by going outside with him, and he betrayed that by doing what he did. That is not your fault, love. He's the only one to blame for that, okay?" He reassured into my ear as his hands soothingly rubbed the small of my back and my waist. I choked and nodded, the boy pressing gentle kisses to my cheek and jaw as I pulled back, but only enough to press our foreheads together instead.

"I can never thank you enough for stepping in, Tommy. I dread to think how far he would have taken it if you hadn't been there." I whispered. He shook his head and gave me a small smile as he raised his non-injured hand to cup my cheek.

"Of course, darling. I'd never have forgiven myself if I heard my best friend screaming for help and didn't do anything. I'm always going to protect you, love. No matter what." He mumbled back. I gulped and looked at him, my heart starting to race in my chest at the way that he was looking at me. More specifically, the way that his gaze was seemingly glued to my lips, just like it seemed to have been earlier in the evening, when we'd been relaxing. By now, I was certain that Tom liked me back, if not more, and wanted to kiss me, but I still wasn't one-hundred-percent sure if I was ready for that, especially not after I had just been assaulted. That being said, if Tom were to take the risk again of kissing me now, I wouldn't reject it this time. I would kiss back. Tom gulped, making me bite my lip as the boy seemingly decided to take the risk. His hand on my face gently started to pull me towards him, me letting it happen as he also tilted his head up. My eyes fluttered shut, my heart almost bursting out of my chest as I waited eagerly for the perfect moment when our lips would finally touch for the first time.

"Y/N! Honey, we have to go!" Both of us stopped in our tracks and looked down slightly as we heard my mum calling my name from downstairs, our lips going from only being an inch apart to being much further away. I sighed and looked down, Tom's thumb soothingly rubbing my cheek as we just stood there. I should have let him kiss me earlier.

"It's okay, love. Go, I'll see you later." Tom nodded with a quiet voice. I gulped and looked at him, the boy giving me a small but sad smile as I pulled away. I leant in and kissed his cheek, him leaning into it before I pulled away and rushed out of the bathroom.

I lay on my bed, one hand rested on my stomach and my other resting by my body as I stared up at the ceiling. It had been two days since the dinner at Tom's house, since Jacob had assaulted me, and I hadn't stopped thinking about Tom since. About the way that he hadn't hesitated before running out and putting himself in harm's way in order to get me out of it. And then, about the way that he tried to kiss me again when I was cleaning him up, and I would have let him had it not been for my mum calling for me. God, I wished that I had kissed him the first time that he had tried. It was blatantly obvious that Tom did like me now, I was the only thing holding us back. But, I think that I was done doing that. I gulped harshly, tears pricking my eyes as my pinkie finger moved slightly against my sheets. My eyes wavered, the fact that I was desperately waiting to feel the brush of Tom's finger against my hand before he'd fully take mine into his telling me all that I needed about my feelings for the boy. The fact that I was alone right now, when all I wanted was to be with him. All I wanted was to be cuddled into the boy's chest whilst his lips would kiss my head, then my face and then my lips. I wanted to kiss him whenever I wanted, and have him kiss me whenever he wanted. I wanted our friend hangouts to become dates, and then for us to do more together in the late nights spent in one of our beds, once the time was right for that. I wanted it all, and I wanted it with him. I was finally ready to accept that. I sat up and grabbed my phone, a tear leaving my eye at the realisation that had just hit me as I quickly typed out a text to Tom.

Y/N: Can I come over? X.

Tommy: Sure x.

I bit my lip, my heart already racing in anticipation of what I was going to do as I stood from my bed and rushed out of my room. I quickly left the house and walked the extremely short distance to Tom's front door before knocking on that. I gulped harshly, my fingers nervously playing with themselves as I waited for Tom to answer the door. I had decided that I was going to play this cool, the issue would be not giving my feelings away to Tom before I was ready. The door opened to reveal the curly-haired boy, a smile on his lips as he saw me.

"Hey, love, you okay?" He chuckled as I moved into the house and he shut the door.

"Yeah, I just wanted to hang out. Come on." I nodded as I took his hand. His eyes widened slightly at the gesture.

"Oh-o-okay." He chuckled somewhat nervously as I pulled him up the stairs. We headed into his room like always, me immediately crawling onto his bed and lying down on my back like I'd done two days ago.

"Don't tell me that you just want to lie here and stare at my ceiling again, darling." Tom chuckled.

"I was lying staring at the ceiling in my room, and then I realised that I wanted to do that with you." I admitted.

"Okay. I can do that." He smiled, making me return it and bite my lip as he crawled onto the bed and lay down next to me too. Unlike two days ago, Tom immediately took my hand into his, our fingers intertwined within seconds as we both just stared at the ceiling. I gulped harshly, my heart almost suffocating me as I desperately tried not to chicken out of saying what I was about to.

"I like you, Tommy." I whispered.

"I like you too, love, of course I do, you're my best friend." He chuckled in response. I gulped again, a tear slipping out of my eye at the fear of this not going the way that I thought it was about to, even though all signs pointed to him feeling the same way. Right now, I just had to let go and hope.

"I don't mean as a friend, Tommy. I-I mean...as more." I finally got the words out. Tom turned his head to look at me.

"What?" He gulped. I nodded and also looked at him, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips parted as he looked at me in confusion.

"I like you. To be honest, I have for a while now, at least since I broke up with Jacob. But for some reason, there was always some kind of mental block that stopped me from admitting it, or was too afraid of something going wrong, I don't know what." I started as I looked at him. He gulped harshly, his eyes flicking over my face as he clearly tried to comprehend what I was saying.

"B-but...you rejected my kiss-."

"That was before the assault happened. Like I said, I wasn't ready to admit to myself that yes, I have feelings for you, but something about the way that you came to help me with no hesitation made it all click. It made me ready to confront how I feel about you. I won't lie to you, Tommy, had my mum not interrupted when you were about to kiss me in the bathroom, I wouldn't have rejected you then. Because I like you. I really fucking like you." I confessed. Tom stared at me with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open at my words. I gulped harshly as I tried to gauge his reaction, but I was taking the fact that he hadn't sat up and let go of my hand like I had done as a good sign.

"Tommy, please say something, anything, you're making me nervous." I chuckled nervously, though the fake humour was to cover up my heart racing so fast that I felt sick. He returned the chuckle and shook his head, his gaze flicking over my face as he looked at me.

"C-can...can I try to kiss you again?" He asked. My eyes widened, a breath leaving my parted lips as a massive sense of relief started to wash over me. He wasn't rejecting me like I'd rejected him, I had been right about him feeling the same way. And now, third time lucky, we were finally about to actually kiss.

"Yes. Please do, please try again." I smiled, making him return it as we both moved onto our sides so that our whole bodies were now facing each other. Tom raised his hand to cup my cheek, our gazes flicking over each other's faces but ultimately landing on each other's lips as we inched closer. My eyes started to flutter shut, Tom's breath gently fanning over my face as his lips leant down to press to mine. Well...almost. Suddenly, Tom's door opened and Harry walked in.

"Tom, Tessa needs-oh my god-."

"Mate, fuck off." Tom scoffed, making me groan as we pulled away again and Tom leant up on his elbows to look at Harry, who was staring at us with wide eyes.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea that you two were about to-."

"Get out!" Tom yelled, making me laugh in defeat and bury my face into the sheets as Harry quickly left and shut the door behind him.

"We can't seem to get that fucking kiss, can we?" Tom chuckled and shook his head as he lay back down and pinched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. I looked at him.

"Kiss me, Tommy, just kiss me." I demanded. He moved his hand to look at me.

"You still want to kiss me after Harry walked in-."

"We've waited for long enough, do it before your mum walks in or something." I chuckled.

"Very good point." He smiled, making me return it as he cupped my cheek and leant in again. But this time, nothing stopped it. He gently pressed his lips to mine, me immediately returning the kiss as my eyes fluttered shut. My heart jumped in my chest, fireworks virtually going off in my head at how perfect it was as I raised my hand to his face and he moved his hand to my waist. He smiled into it, making me giggle as he pulled me closer using his hand on my hip. He broke the kiss and touched our foreheads, a quiet sigh of relief leaving my lips as my eyes fluttered open to look at him.

"That was an amazing first kiss. Fuck, your lips taste so good." He mumbled, making me giggle as he leant in and joined our lips together again.

"So do yours, Tommy." I whispered, making him smile as he broke the kiss again. He bit his lip and looked at me, my fingers gently stroking his cheek as we stared into each other's eyes.

"Can I take you on a real date sometime? Because, don't get me wrong, I love just us hanging out in my room, but I can't tell you how long I've waited for this to happen. And, I don't know, a real date would make you becoming my girlfriend feel more official." He nodded. I smiled and returned it.

"A real date sounds perfect, Tommy." I spoke quietly.

"Not as perfect as you." He returned, making me smile and shake my head at the corny but yet adorable line as I leant in and kissed him again. He returned it, our lips moulding together as if they were made for each other as we slowly made out. It had been a very long and confusing six months with Tom, my growing feelings for him having confused me a lot in the time. But now, we were here. In each other's arms, kissing and cuddling as if we were meant to be. Maybe because we were. But I knew one thing for certain. That for the rest of my days with Tom, I would thank anything out there that he had ended up becoming my boyfriend. That he was no longer just the boy next door.