7. Letting go isn't easy, but it will happen in its own natural way.

You were healing. It had been hard for you to move on with your life over the past few days, but everything seemed to be going a lot smoother for you day by day. It was a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning than it had been only a week ago.

Your heart still hurt when thinking about Byron and everything he had put you through, but it hurt even more thinking about your lost friendship with Will. You hadn't heard from him since he had left your flat the day you broke up with Byron and that was something that was still creeping up on you during the day, you had never not talked to each other for more than 24 hours.

You hadn't heard from the girls either, which wasn't really surprising, assuming Byron had told them the same story he had fed Will, but it still hurt to know that they were so easily convinced that you were the bad guy in your relationship - that you were the cheater.

Harrison had made it his mission to somehow push you through studying for your exams since you didn't have the motivation to do so on your own and he had finally managed to convince you to attend their stupid houseparty Tom had set up only a few days earlier. They had moved it to Saturday since "two days of planning are not enough time", but three were totally fine, they said.

Your blonde friend had been an angel during all of this. He gave you the notes he had taken during class and he had somehow been able to get all of the important bits in your brain before your final exam which you had most likely nailed just yesterday, meaning you were now off Uni for the summer and ready to heal and forget everything that had happened over the past week.

You hadn't spoken to Tom since the day he left your flat. Jo's text had really managed to screw with his brain once more. The two of you had talked for another three or four hours until you came to the conclusion that he should just delete the text and not meet up with her since it would be the best for him.

The kiss you had shared a few days back was never mentioned again and you were quite happy about that. The hickey on your neck was fainting as well which would soon mean that the kiss had never happened and that no one would ever know about it.

You felt bad for ending up in this position with Tom, but you both knew that it had been something you needed in that moment and you couldn't say you were regretting it. It helped you to keep your thoughts away from Byron and it maybe even helped Tom to realize that there was a life after Jo - a life after being cheated on.

You got ready for the night and even put some effort in your outfit and makeup which was something that you hadn't done for quite a while now. Whenever you went out it wasn't that much of a special occasion, but today? Things were different and you were going to be the best version of yourself. The result of that effort was that you looked pretty nice if you could say so yourself and you were officially ready to move one with your life and enjoy your newly found single life.

Harrison had asked you if you were down to join them an hour earlier so he could use you as a cheap helper to get things set up and to try out their new beer pong table which was why you were outside their front door at 8pm.

You were greeted by the angelic face of Harrison Osterfield who, without a doubt, looked great in his striped button up shirt. After he pulled you into a hug he lead you to their shared living room were you were already greeted by Harry and two more people you didn't know yet.

"You know Harry, this is his twin brother Sam and this is the guy you want to avoid tonight." Harrison said as the guy next to Sam flipped him off.

"I am Tuwaine and he's a dickhead." He shook his head before smiling at you, "I'm the only person you should not avoid tonight since they're all going to be drunk off their asses and annoying as hell."

"Talking about drunk off out asses, can we start getting things set up? Alcohol is already in the fridge, we kind of only need to set up the beer pong table and maybe a few snacks."

Something inside of you told you that it was a great idea to make friends with Tuwaine. He seemed incredibly nice and funny and the guy you would want to have on your good side while being at a party where you probably knew no one except for Harrison, Tom and Harry.

Speaking of Tom, his bedroom door was standing wide open but the door to their shared bathroom had been closed ever since you had gotten here and the shower was running for the past ten minutes.

You were just setting up the first game of beer pong with Tuwaine when the door finally opened and a half naked Tom stepped out, a towel safely wrapped around his waist.

Hot damn, this guy really had everything, huh?

Tom's eyes wandered across the room as he was taking in the party location, possibly checking out if there were any improvements to make. His eyes widened as they landed on you.

"Shit, why did no one tell me (Y/N) was coming early." He screeched as he ran off to his room, his door slamming shut behind him.

"Didn't think you'd walk around half naked, to be honest." Harrison shouted as he walked past the door, three bottles of beer in each of his hands, "Put a shirt on, it's you and her against me and big T."

"I told you to stop calling me that, you twat." Tuwaine groaned, "I will fuck you up, Harrison."

Harrison was just filling up the last two cups when Tom stepped out of his bedroom, looking more than just fine. He managed to make a simple white shirt and black skinny jeans look like the best outfit there is.

Harry and Sam were setting up the music as the four of you got ready to play. Tom now officially greeted you by pulling you into a quick hug before you got ready to threw the first of many balls that landed in the other team's cups.

"Remind me to choose her as my partner the next time I'm playing." Tuwaine mumbled as he downed another cup. There were now two left on their side and five left on yours.

"It hurts to know that you'd have me so easily replaced." Harrison said, his hand placed on his heart.

"Not my fault you suck, innit?"

Only four throws later, Tom and you were the winners of the first game of beer pong, which you celebrated by getting yourselves a cup of Vodka-Lemon while you waited for the first party guests to arrive.

You found yourself sitting on their couch, your legs draped across Harrison's lap as you laughed at one of Harry's jokes. Tom was off socializing with Tuwaine somewhere across the room and Sam was in the kitchen preparing new drinks for the four of you.

The past two hours had been a joy, you won another round of beer pong with Tuwaine as your partner and Harry and Sam as the opposite team, which meant that you were now definitely tipsy. Somehow along the way you ended up on said couch as Harrison plopped down next to you, asking you how you were doing.

To your surprise, your were doing incredibly well, something about Harrison and his friends made you forget all about the shit you had been through the past week and it felt great to let loose a bit as you took another sip of the Cocktail Sam had just brought you.

Another hour or two passed as you found yourself in the kitchen, your hand dipping in and out of the Crisps bowl as you were looking at the pictures the two boys had pinned to their pinboard next to the fridge.

Especially one of them caught your attention, it was two little boys sitting on two swings, two bright smiles in their faces as they looked at the camera. You knew the two of them had been friends for a while now, but you never thought they had been friends since they were little kids.

Tom walked into the kitchen with the intention of grabbing himself a full bottle of beer when he saw you standing there all by yourself. He couldn't help but notice the faint hint of the hickey he had left on your neck which you wouldn't notice if you didn't know that it had been there.

His lips spread out into a smile when he saw what picture you were looking at.

"I was an incredibly cute kid, wasn't I?" He grinned as you almost let out a scream by how startled you were by Tom suddenly appearing next to you.

"Jeez, give a girl a warning next time."

"I'm sorry Love, totally understandable that you were too busy staring at the two models in that picture." Tom smiled as he popped open the beer bottle.

"I didn't know you have been friends for so long." You smiled as you took a sip of your own drink.

"Best buddies since day one." He grinned, the bottle meeting his lips as he took a big sip, "The only person on this planet who's keeping me sane, to be honest."

"That is the sweetest thing anyone has probably ever said about Harrison."

"I'd have to kill you if you tell him I said that." Tom chuckled, his eyes betraying him as they flickered down to your lips as you were looking at another pictures of the two of them.

People were wandering in and out of the kitchen but it didn't stop the two of you from staying right where you were. You found yourself listening to the stories behind all the pictures that were pinned to the board as you went through like three more drinks which lead to Tom and you being drunk idiots in the kitchen.

You reached the final picture of Harrison and him on a horse when they were like 6 years old. Tom currently had his arm wrapped around your back as you were leaning into him.

"That was the day we found out we're both allergic to horses." Tom chuckled.

"But you look like you had plenty of fun!"

"We did! Until we had to go to the hospital just a few minutes later." Tom laughed, "Our parents were so scared about what was going on because we both struggled to breathe and our faces were getting redder and redder."

"That – sounds horrible." You laughed as you took a step away from Tom as his arm fell back to his side.

"It wasn't as bad as everyone thought is was." Tom smiled as he saw your eyes flicker down to his lips, making him think about what it would be like to kiss you again - to leave another hickey on your neck, just so the next time he saw you, he would be the only one to know that it had been there.

Just as both of you took a step forward, ready to meet in the middle and ready to find out was this was that kept drawing you to each other, Harrison walked into the kitchen with anything but a great mood displayed on his face.

"How on earth did Josephine know that we are having a party tonight?" The blonde was angry - and if your assumptions about what was going on were right, Harrison had every right to be.

Tom turned away from you as he looked at his best mate, multiple emotions displayed on his face.

"I-I — I didn't mean to tell her, she- we just talked about our weekend plans — and I said we were having a party."

"Hold on a second — you talked? About your weekend plans? Are you dumb?" Harrison was fuming, and so were you, to be fair.

"Are you serious? I thought we talked about that text?" You said as you seemed to sober up really quick.

"What text?" Harrison asked as he looked at you.

"She texted me, asking to meet up so she could explain everything."

"-and I told him not to do it and to just fucking delete the text." You added, which made Tom finally look at you for the first time since Harrison had walked in - and since you had been on the verge of kissing him again.

"Did you fucking get back together with her?" Harrison asked, rage still visible in his eyes.

"No! We just talked and — we texted here and there, but fuck no, we're not back together." Tom said as he was still looking at you, waiting for your reaction to what he just told the two of you.

"Really? Then why the fuck is she outside? Telling me she has every right to be here since it's still her boyfriend's party?" Harrison said, you eyes widening by the boy's revelation of what was going on.

"S-She what?"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me, Tom." You groaned at the same time as Tom expressed his surprise mixed with confusion.

"Yeah, she's out there, already drunk, telling Harry about how sweet of a boyfriend you are and all that shit. I swear to god, get fucking rid of her, or I will." Harrison said before turning around to leave the room, "And do it sooner rather than later, because I am not going to let her be here when she ruined not only one, but two relationships - which you should know better than anyone. I did not try to glue (Y/N)'s broken heart together just for you to throw a party and break it again." He added before walking out of the kitchen.

"(Y/N) – I can explain." Tom said as he turned to you again.

"Just like she explained her situation to you? I'd like to pass, Tom." Your eyes wandered over to the door that lead to the living room which you would've gladly used as an escape exit, but you knew Jo was out there and you didn't know if you'd rather stay in here with Tom or go out and face her.

"We're not back together."

"I don't care, Tom. Do whatever the fuck you want, but don't drag me into this. I for a chance am trying to get over the person who cheated on me and I am definitely trying to forget that she exists." You scoffed, taking a step towards the door that may lead to Jo but if it meant getting away from Tom right now, you were fine with taking the chance.

Tom's hand shot out to stop you from going outside, "(Y/N), I'm going to tell her to leave. I don't want you going out there." He said, his eyes showing a flash of concern, "It's my fault she's here and I'm going to fix it, just – don't be mad at me anymore."

"I'm not mad, it's just that I don't know what will happen once I see her, and I don't want you getting hurt again." You mumbled as your eyes landed on Tom's hand that was still wrapped around your wrist, "She cheated on you and I've told you plenty of times that you deserve better, but there's really nothing I can do if you keep going back to her."

"We're not -"

"No, maybe not right now, and maybe not tomorrow, but you still love her and there's gotta be something about her that made Byron cheat on me and that keeps you from getting over her. It's either that you don't want to or that she's great at manipulating you, and I don't think I want to be around when either of them happen." You smiled as you freed yourself from Tom's soft grip.

You entered the living room after you had spent like two hours in the kitchen with Tom and you were surprised to see the amount of people that had turned up since you had been here the last time. You spotted Tuwaine sitting on the couch with a few people you didn't recognize, Sam was playing beer pong with his friends, and Harry was standing next to the front door with Harrison, their eyes locked on the brunette girl that was now walking past you to greet Tom who just came out of the kitchen.

"Hey Babe" and "What are you doing here?" were the only bits you heard from their conversation when you walked over to Harrison who greeted you with open arms which felt almost like he was building a shield around you to keep the evil outside - and to your surprise it worked incredibly well until you spotted Tom across the room smiling at something Jo had just said to him.

"Harry, tell your brother that I'm going to end up a murderer if he doesn't get her out of here within the next five minutes." Harrison said as you couldn't stop looking at the girl that had caused you so much pain.

She was beautiful and you could see why Tom was having a hard time letting her go, but were her looks really worth forgetting all the pain she had put him through? Was she worth cheating on a girlfriend of three years? Was she really worth fighting with your best friend? Byron hadn't put in more than a minute's effort to try and fight for your relationship. Tears welled up in your eyes as thoughts about your ex-boyfriend hurt for the first time tonight.

Pathetic, you thought, as you freed yourself from Harrison's arms to stand up straight and look like you were unbothered by everything that was currently happening around you. The blonde could see the tears in your eyes, but he knew better than to try and wipe them away. He knew you would start crying as soon as he tried to comfort you, so he just handed you his beer and turned you around so you couldn't see what was going on behind you where Tom was still talking to Josephine.

Realising that you were far from over everything that happened, you swore to yourself that you were going to avoid any feelings for as long as possible and to avoid letting anyone in since all they ever did was either hurt or disappoint you. It was called fixing and protecting yourself if no one else was going to do it. Fuck men. Fuck feelings. And especially fuck love. Cold-hearted was now going to be your only personality trait.

Harrison's eyes still seemed to be locked on the two and you could see that he was close to losing it when Tom came up to you and told you that he would walk her home and join you again in a bit.

"Call her a cab." Harrison said.

"She wants to walk."

"She also wanted to fuck another guy, so?" Harrison shot back, and you could see the hurt in Tom's eyes, but you knew that Harrison never meant to hurt his best friend, it was just that he was scared Tom would end up hurt again.

"Harrison, I-"

"Ready to go, Babe?" Jo stepped up next to Tom as her hands found their place on the boy's biceps.

You felt like throwing up. Just the thought of her and Tom - the thought of her and Byron - and the thought of her back with Tom made you want to throw up everything you had been drinking tonight. You grabbed Harrison's hand as you tried to steady yourself and stop you from fainting right in front of them.

"Y-Yeah, get your jacket, I'll be there in a second." Tom mumbled before his eyes landed on you, "I-I'm so sorry, (Y/N)."

"I couldn't care less." You smiled at him - no emotions, no feelings and not caring about others was so much harder than you thought it was, because you could already feel the lump in your throat and the tears welling up in your eyes, "Have fun."

"Can we talk when I get back?"

"Tommy!" Jo called from the front door, making Harrison groan next to you. The boy was still letting you dig your nails into his hand as you tried your best to stay strong.

Tom could see you were far from fine. Seeing you hold onto Harrison's hand as if it was the only thing from stopping you from drowning in your own hurt, made Tom want to stay. He wanted to be a friend you could count on when you were hurting, but he couldn't let Jo walk home alone - not even if she was his ex-girlfriend that cheated on him.

"(Y/N) -" Tom started again as you finally managed to let go of Harrison to turn around and walk towards the beer pong table where Tuwaine was setting up a new game and looked like he was in desperate need of a new team partner.

"Fix this shit, Tom." Harrison warned his best friend, "Do whatever the fuck you want, but the next time think about how you would feel if (Y/N) brought Byron."

Harrison's words haunted Tom all the way to Jo's flat and back. How would he feel if Byron had turned up instead of Jo - just as the two of you were about to kiss? The boy knew he would've probably beat the shit out of him before he had even walked through the front door - and the only thing that Tom thought was odd about that thought was that it wouldn't have been because he hooked up with his girlfriend, but because he had hurt you.

He didn't know you well and he hadn't known you for a long time, but he felt incredibly protective of you - and if that was something you felt about him, then he could only imagine how disappointed you were right now. How stupid you must've thought he was for going back to his ex when in reality he just didn't want her walking alone in the dark and when he only texted her to get some closure and to move on with his life. Pulling out his phone, he did the only thing there was, which was block Jo's number and delete her from his contacts.

You had been on a roll at beer pong as you rotated teams between Harry, Tuwaine, Sam. You had now lost once, and won twice. It didn't change the fact that all four of you were feeling a bit drunk which resulted in Harry falling asleep on the bathroom floor and Tuwaine calling a cab to get Sam home safely as you and Harrison found some leftover pizza to eat.

Tom walked through the front door just as you were going around the place throwing empty cups into a trash bag. The party had simmered down since he had left just a little over an hour ago and everyone had left, well except for you and Harry who had now moved to Harrison's bed since Harrison had given up on cleaning really quick and was passed out on the living room couch.

"You don't have to clean up for us." Tom smiled as he joined you in picking up empty bottles and cups.

"It's fine, I'd much rather go home when it's light outside anyway." You said as you looked at your watch, "So I still have like 40 minutes to help you clean up."

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)." The boy said making you finally look at him.

"It's none of my business anyway."

"I never meant to hurt you. I never in a million years thought she would just show up here, telling people we're back together."

"Are you – back together?" You asked, picking up the empty cups on the beer pong table.

"Deleted and blocked her number on my walk home." Tom said as your head whipped around in his direction. That was the last thing you had expected from him to hear today.

"Why?"

"Harrison said something to me, which made me realise some things." The boy smiled as you couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Do you have like a cleaning bucket and stuff?" You asked just before a yawn escaped your mouth.

"You can stay the night if you want, I'd feel bad if you cleaned up all of this mess." Sleep really sounded tempting, but you still didn't know how you felt about staying the night at the boys' flat.

"You can sleep in my bed and I'll just take the floor or join Harrison on the couch."

"Thank you, but I'll just leave as soon as the sun rises."

"As much as I want to say okay to that, you know I'd have to walk you home and you would do me a favour if you just took the bed and saved me from getting into a Tube at 6am." Tom grinned as you let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, okay, a bed really does sound amazing right now."

Tom let you wash off your face and brush your teeth with one of their spare toothbrushes before he disappeared in the bathroom. As soon as your head hit the pillow you felt yourself drift off to sleep. Tom's bed was incredibly comfortable and you were glad you decided to stay instead of going home.

The brunette boy walked into the bathroom after he had taken a few pictures of Harrison sleeping on the couch. He had been close to drawing something on the boy's face but decided against it, because Harrison would get him back and it would probably be a lot uglier than just a penis drawing on his face.

Tom saw that you had forgotten your phone in the bathroom, so he picked it up and to his surprise it still showed your recent text conversation - with Byron. He only read the contact name and he felt like punching something. He felt bad for being curious about your latest text to your ex, he knew there was a high chance that you would be mad at him if you found out about him reading the message you had gotten from Byron just a little over two hours ago, but he couldn't help himself but return to his bedroom with a smile on his face, as his eyes landed on your sleeping form in his bed.

Byron: I still love you

Byron: I miss you

Byron: Can we talk?

(Y/N): No