9. Even when they leave, they're never really gone.

29 minutes had passed when a message from Tom popped up on your screen, telling you that he was outside waiting for you.

Putting on your shoes and grabbing everything you needed, you headed outside where Tom was leaning against his car, looking like he had just stepped out of a photoshoot. You would be lying if you said you weren't excited to spend the day with Tom, but it was more of a "thank god I don't have to suffer by myself" kind of excited.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my date? Do you know a (Y/N)?" He grinned once you were close enough to hear him.

"Charming." You laughed as he pulled you into a hug that almost made you forget about the call from Byron. Almost.

"I was gonna say I'll charm you out of your pants but that's not really the thing I was going for today." He said as he opened the passenger door for you, "Unless..."

"Shut up Tom." You laughed although his comment sent heath waves through your whole body.

Tom had put on another level of gentleman and charming attitude and had really made it his mission to make you feel better again. Once you had insisted on paying for yourself, which he had accepted with an eye roll, you made your way to the first ride which you were quite excited about. You hadn't been to Thorpe Park for quite a while because Byron thought it was for kids and stupid. Idiot.

"When was the last time you were here?" You asked as you stood in the queue to go on The Swarm.

"I usually come here like twice a year since Harrison also loves that shit and my brothers also don't mind tagging along so it's just a fun boys day out, y'know, being kids and running around a theme park all day is kind of refreshing." He said, a soft smile displayed on his face, "What about you?"

"Haven't been here for like 2 and a half years. I came here with Byron for one of our first dates and he decided that it was stupid and that he was too grown up for this kids stuff." You scoffed as you once again wondered why you had ever fallen in love with him.

"I've told you this like 10 times already but you're waaaaay too good for him."

"Yeah, sure." You said as you rolled your eyes.

"(Y/N), I mean it. You're too good, he's an idiot and he already regrets what he's lost. Not realising how amazing you are may have been the worst mistake of his life and he will be regretting it for the next few years."

"Thanks Tom." You still had your doubts here and there. Why would he cheat on you if you were as great as Tom said? Why would he think another person was worth his attention but not you? Yes, he had told you he still loved you, but was there even any worth in his words?

Without saying any more words you were pulled into a hug by Tom. He must've sensed that you were overthinking again and was immediately there to comfort you and to get those thoughts out of your head.

"I was initially joking about the date but from now on I'm going to be treating this as a real one and you're going to be spoiled rotten and wooed off your shoes for the next few hours. Try to resist my charm but I can already promise you, you can't." He said as he tightened his arms around you.

Every hug from Tom was picking up another broken piece of your heart. Every word from Tom was putting that piece back into your shattered heart. Every look from Tom was putting glue on said piece so it couldn't break again.

You spent the next hour going on The Swarm twice before going a little slower with the Flying Fish. Next up was Tidal Wave and it was safe to say that the both of you got soaked, but not soaked enough to not queue up again to get another bucket of water dumped over your head. Stealth was your next stop which was supposed to help you get dry again but didn't do enough so, of course you had to go for a second round.

You were happy.

It wasn't really a big deal that you were finally able to laugh again and smile without going back to overthinking a few seconds later, but every minute you spent with Tom was lifting your mood. He was a joy to be around and definitely did his best to treat this as a real date and "woo you off your shoes".

"I need something chill." Tom laughed as he threw his arm around your shoulder while you walked through the exit of Stealth. It seemed to be your reaction every time Tom was near but you leaned into his side, enjoying the warmth you received from being this close to the boy.

"Aw, why? Are you getting too old for those rides?" You grinned as Tom gasped.

"Don't you ever insult me like that again." He said as he poked your side with his free hand, "I was more thinking about something like Rumba Rapids."

"Really? I was just getting dry and now you're going to get me wet again?" You groaned.

"Believe me, if I was going to try and get you wet, I would..." He was stopped by your hand over his mouth.

"Not another word." You said as you felt the heath rise into your cheeks.

"Told you you wouldn't be able to resist my charm." He grinned after you removed your hand from his mouth.

The boy wasn't wrong. You couldn't remember a time when you felt as good as today. Byron had a way with words, of course, otherwise you probably would've dropped his sorry ass a long time ago, but none of his words had ever gotten to you as much as Tom's did. It made you wonder if Tom was just like Byron but just a lot better at words.

Just as the thought crossed your mind you were brought back into reality by Tom who had spotted a Can Knockdown Game and was immediately hellbent on getting you something. Although he failed miserably and was only able to get you a tiny bear as a consolation prize, the thought of him being just like the guy who thought this was childish, vanished from your thoughts, because let's be real, Tom was definitely a different kind of guy.

"You should date a guy that knows how to throw a stupid ball." Tom chuckled as the two of you walked towards Rumba Rapids.

"Byron knew how to throw a ball, shame he also knew how to throw a relationship." You shrugged, making Tom laugh.

"This man really lost something amazing." He smiled as he put his arm back around you, leaning in to place a kiss on your hair.

Rumba Rapids may have been a lot more chill than the rollercoasters, but definitely wasn't leaving a spot on you dry. Tom, somehow, had managed to get away without a single drop of water on his shirt, while you were completely soaked, leaving only your hair dry. You could see on Tom's face that he was trying to hold in his laughter while you were exiting the ride.

"I can see that you are trying not to laugh." You said as he earned a deadly look from you which made him burst out laughing, "Worst date ever."

"Yeah, you don't even believe that one yourself, Love." He grinned.

"I'm fucking freezing, shut up."

"C'mere." He smiled as he wrapped you in a hug, sharing some of his body warmth with you and warming you up immediately.

"Thanks." You mumbled as you pressed your cheek against the boy's chest, trying to warm up your face.

You could hear the boy's heartbeat. You could smell the boy's perfume. And in that exact moment, you wished you could taste his kisses again.

Your heart sped up at the thought of kissing Tom again. Something about the kiss you had shared seemed to have made you an addict. You knew it was too early to have moved on from your heartbreak, but Tom seemed to make you forget about everything else except the here and now.

Tom said something that ripped you out of your definitely inappropriate thoughts, "Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted my - well, Harrison's - hoodie." He said, waving around his hoodie that he had taken off only minutes after you had arrived because it was definitely too warm to be wearing that.

"Remind me, why exactly are you wearing Harrison's clothes?"

"Because that hoodie is amazing and he steals my stuff all the damn time, so it's only fair I do it as well." He shrugged, "Do you want it?"

Just as he asked again, another breeze made you shutter, resulting in you gladly accepting the offer. Tom was right, the hoodie was amazing and it definitely helped.

Tom had convinced you to go with him on the Walking Dead ride and you weren't really sure how that had happened because that conversation went somewhere along the lines of "I hate scary things, do not make me go on that, it's dark." - "It's not going to be scary, but I promise you, I will protect you." - "Thomas, you will be giving me your pants if I shit mine." - "You're charming as hell. Best date ever.".

Just as you were walking towards the entrance of said ride, Tom's phone rang, showing an incoming WhatsApp video call from Harrison.

"What?" Tom answered as Harrison's face popped up on the screen.

"Mate, Do you know where—" Harrison stopped in the middle of his sentence, "— are you at Thorpe Park? Without me? What the fuck?"

"Yeah, you're boring, get to the point, why are you calling?" Tom laughed.

"Are you cheating on m— wait, that still hits home doesn't it?" Harrison up as Tom groaned, "My bad, delete the last few seconds of this conversation please."

"We're both tired of your face." Tom said as he moved so he could get you into the call as well.

"Hi (Y/N)! Wait — are you guys on a date? Is that why I was not invited?" Harrison grinned.

"No" you said at the same times as Tom said "Yes."

"Oof, Tom, mate, you gotta have a conversation about that one." Harrison laughed as Tom rolled his eyes.

"You weren't invited because you were with your family? Remember? You left me. So why are you bothering me? Get to the damn point."

"I wanted to ask about you doing the washing and mixing up our clothes again, but now I see that this missing hoodie was no accident. When did you have the time to steal my clothes, (Y/N)?" Harrison chuckled.

"It was all his doing! I was just freezing my ass off after he made me get we—" You stopped a you saw Tom fight back his all too familiar grin again "— after your idiot friend made me go on all those stupid water things like ten times in a row."

"So, he got you wet, huh?" Harrison burst out laughing which made Tom laugh as well, but other than Harrison, Tom was standing next to you and earned a punch on his shoulder.

"I hate both of you. You both suck. You two deserve each other."

"Hey now, don't treat your date like that." Tom grinned before you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Alright you two, gotta go find another hoodie now. Have fun on your date." Harrison said, a grin displayed on his face, "Next time I want to join you."

"Definitely not. Bye mate." Tom waved before he ended the call just as Harrison was about to say something.

"So, Date, where were we?"

"Oh we're just about to go on Colossus."

"Funny, I thought we were about to queue for the Walking Dead ride." Tom said, an eyebrow raised.

"No? Can't remember?"

"You're incredibly adorable when you think you can fool me, come on, I'll be your teddy bear. You can cuddle me if you get scared." Tom grinned as he threw his arm around your shoulder before walking towards the entrance of the ride you didn't want to go on.

"You? My teddy bear? Where is the bear to your teddy?"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Tom pouted.

"You may be soft as hell and the sweetest date I ever had but there is literally nothing about you that would classify you as a bear."

"You said that now, but wait until you --"

"Don't you dare and say what I think you're going to say!"

"-- until you hear my roar, you mean?" Tom smirked as you shot him a deadly look.

"I'm on a date with a fucking child, I'm going to fucking prison." You groaned as Tom couldn't help but pull you closer into his side, "Why couldn't Byron have cheated with, I don't know, Michael B Jordan's girlfriend."

"Rude."

The rest of the day went on pretty smoothly as Tom refrained from any jokes about his "bear parts" or you being wet. The Walking Dead ride wasn't as scary as you thought it would be and the rest of the rides were a lot of fun, which is why you were currently sitting in Tom's car, a smile displayed on your face as the two of you sang along to old 90's songs.

"Thanks for today, Tom." You smiled as your turned your head so you could admire how good the boy looked from where you were leaning your head against the headrest.

"You're welcome. Feeling better than you did this morning?" He smiled as he spared you a quick glance before turning his eyes back on the road.

"A lot." You smiled, still taking in the boy's profile, "I don't know what it was about Byron telling me he still loves me that made me cry like a little kid. I thought I had put that behind me when I cried for like 2 days straight. I told myself he wasn't going to break me after I found out about Jo, and I still feel so damn weak everytime it happens."

"Crying over losing someone you love isn't weakness, (Y/N)." Tom said as his left hand reach out to grab yours. "I feel like crying is a big part of the healing process and getting over someone, y'know, getting everything out of your system before you can start new."

"How do you do it? I mean, you were just as heartbroken as I was, maybe even more since you didn't see it coming, but I would never see you as weak as I see myself." You asked, intertwining his fingers with yours as he comforted you with a soft squeeze, his eyes still on the road.

"When I found out, it felt like my whole world came crashing down to be fair. I had seen my future in her, but sometimes, all it needs is for someone to come in and throw you off cloud nine. It was definitely unexpected, but I also think it's good that it happened rather sooner than later, y'know?"

"Yeah, I get that, we were great together for like three years and then this shit happened. It's just, take away the last few months and I probably would have said yes to a proposal which makes me think about how stupid I really am. I just - I don't know - I thought he was the one."

"It's okay to think about that stuff, there have been times when I thought about proposing, but there was something about Harrison being so strictly against Jo that kept me grounded and on the lookout for that little something that I seemed to ignore." Tom said, "I knew he always had my back which is why we both probably made it our mission to have yours after what happened with Will."

"Do you still love her?" The words left your mouth before you could stop them, "Sorry, that--"

"-- no, I don't think so." Tom interrupted your apology.

"How do you know?"

"I don't know, it just feels different. I know that I still love the time we had and some of the moments we shared, but it's -- different. It's like, I think about something in the past and I still get that flutter in my chest, but then I think about seeing her at that party, and there was no flutter or anything, all I knew was that I had to get her home safe - not because I love her but because it's how I was raised." He said, as you nodded.

You knew what he meant, because it definitely felt different when you had talked to Byron this morning, but you didn't know if you were ready to say that you didn't love him anymore.

"There is a part of me that still doesn't know if I can ever go without loving Byron and that scares the shit out of me." You quietly admitted, your eyes stuck on the road in front of you. "It's like there is this big part of me that isn't there anymore and I don't know how it happened because I prepared myself for our break up. I was prepared for it, and I hate myself for not knowing what the future without him will look like, which is stupid."

"You are not weak and you are not stupid. Don't ever think that okay? I hate that he made you feel like this. I hate that you think of yourself like that, because if we are being real here, he should be the one feeling like that. It's okay to admit that he fucked you up. It's okay to love with all your heart and hurt deeply. But it is also okay to move on and tell yourself that you are better than that." Tom said as he squeezed your hand, his thumb tracing circles onto your skin. "You deserve the whole fucking world, and a guy who is not ready to give it to you, isn't worth your time, Love."

Your eyes found Tom's. This was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you. Tom always found the right words and you loved how good of a listener he was. You loved how he could go from being his charming self to listening to all of your stupid problems over and over again. He had told you the day you had broken up with Byron and he had been there for you ever since. Byron cheating on you resulted in one good thing - you had met Tom.

"Thank you Tom - from the bottom of my broken, fucked up heart - thank you for being there." You smiled as you lifted your entwined fingers, pressing a kiss onto the back of his hand.