REAL LIFE
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cariad and tom's home, london
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—"HAZ JUST LEFT," cariad said nonchalantly as she poked her head into tom's room, a lollipop between her lips, "i'm bringing snacks and we're watching a movie, okay?"

tom laughed, nodding and closing the lid of his laptop, sitting up to prepare his room for one of their movie nights as had become tradition whenever they were both home.

truth be told, with how busy their lives had become they felt as though they were rarely together anymore, but the one thing they adored most when they were together was their movie nights — curled up in blankets in tom's bedroom with snacks and a bottle of wine.

cariad knew all too well that her feelings for tom weren't quite as platonic as she constantly reassured everyone. and a small part of her hoped and believed that he at least somewhat felt the same.

they'd always been incredibly close, perhaps unnaturally so, but cariad felt more comfortable around tom than she'd ever felt around anyone — not even in any past relationships.

as she threw a bag of doritos at tom's head upon re-entering the room, she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach at the boy's goofy grin, "fuck off!"

what she didn't realise, as she contemplated how she really felt about tom, was that he was soon going to make her realise just how serious her feelings were by crushing them in the palm of his hand.

-

as usual, cariad had fallen asleep atop tom's chest, comfortably curled up with his arm around her. this happened most movie nights, but it was rare that they'd sleep through the entire night without her waking up and pacing back to her own room in the middle of the night.

that night, however, they had.

cariad was awoken by tom nudging her off him gently, quickly hopping up from the bed and grabbing fresh boxers to jump in the shower. he didn't say anything, assuming cariad was still asleep, and headed into his en-suite to shower.

upon re-entering the room, wet haired and in only his boxers, he was met with cariad sat cross-legged on his bed, confused as to why he seemed to be rushing around.

her eyes scanned his body briefly, internally screaming at how incredible she thought he looked. she'd mastered looking un-phased by now, luckily, but she doubted there'd ever be a day she didn't swoon at the sight of him fresh out of the shower.

"morning cari," he smiled, drying his hair with his towel, "i've gotta get ready quick, we shouldn't have fallen asleep so late."

cariad pursed her lips, confused.

"what for? i feel like a one night stand being kicked out," she laughed awkwardly, and tom rolled his eyes.

"i uh— i have a date at 12," he said nervously, eyes not daring to meet cariad's. he wanted her to be jealous — though he did genuinely like the girl he'd asked out — but feared that he would look at her and she would be clearly unbothered.

he'd liked her for as long as he could remember, but was trying incredibly hard to make himself believe otherwise. he had to at least try and move on — confessing to cariad would only jeopardise their friendship, either now or in future, or so he told himself.

"oh, right," cariad scrambled to her feet and headed for the door, uncomfortable, "i'll— i'll let you get sorted."

tom was about to stop her and tell her she didn't need to rush off, but she was gone too quickly for him to do so.

"shit."

———
oop >:(
that shit hurted ! i really just want
to write fluffy stuff rn i love them
so much but ..... we move