REAL LIFE
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tom & cariad's house
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─ "BOO!" tom exclaimed as he swung open cariad's bedroom door, his free arm cradling bars and bags of chocolate to make up for his absence in the hours prior.

cariad could immediately smell the perfume of tom's... whatever alison was to him... as he entered her room but she tried to push the irritation aside and flash him a smile.

she was wearing fluffy socks, gym shorts and a sports bra, with a bottle of water in hand and a face mask adorning her skin, and tom couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she looked.

"tommy," she grinned, patting the space beside her, "i didn't expect you to be back so soon if i'm honest."

he pouted, "i had to make sure i had time with you before you abandon me!" he laughed, pulling her into a hug and trying to avoid her mask coming into contact with his hoodie and getting smeared all over it.

she couldn't stop herself from inhaling deeply, her nose filling with the scent of his cologne. she pulled back a little though, the scent laced slightly with alison's perfume again as if to remind her why she'd been upset.

she ruffled his hair, "shut up, you can always come visit anyway, you know that!"

tom nodded, "i will."

"plus i don't even start filming yet, i'll probably have a break before so i'll be back before you know it."

pulling back from the hug, cariad twisted her face into a funny expression to test how dry her charcoal mask was, deciding it was dry enough to remove now.

"done? c'mon love, i'll help you!" tom exclaimed excitedly, clasping her hand in his and hopping up off the bed again to head to cariad's en-suite, wetting a flannel to wipe the mask off his best friend's face.

tom had watched the process many a time on their movie nights and felt obligated to help her this time given that he'd let her down, causing cariad to smile a little as she followed him into the bathroom and hopped up onto the marble sink.

she smiled amusedly at the care he took wetting a flannel, his tongue slightly poking out from between his pursed lips as he ensured it was the perfect temperature and dampness.

tom began wiping her face gently, removing the mask with soft sweeps as though if he pressed any harder he would hurt her.

"thanks tommy, you're the best."

"nearly done!" he beamed, leaning in to remove the last few smudges on her chin. he couldn't help that his eyes flickered from hers to her lips as he realised how close he was to her face.

they'd been in such close proximity before, but as cariad sat propped up on her bathroom sink with tom stood between her legs, the tension in the air suddenly seemed thick enough to cut only with a sharp knife.

before they knew it, the pair were leaning in and their lips met softly. the kiss was gentle and brief, only lasting a few seconds before tom pulled away and shook his head.

"we can't— i can't," his head fell back as he groaned, "i asked ali to be my girlfriend today."

cariad could feel tears pricking at her eyes, "oh."

tom was now frantically pacing the room, hands flying all over as he panicked that he'd ruined a fresh relationship, whilst seemingly unaware that he'd broken the heart of the girl most important to him.

"you can— uh, you can go to bed if you want," she whispered sadly, re-entering her room and slumping down on the edge of her bed, "we'll just pretend this never happened. i leave tomorrow and you can get back to your relationship."

tom's face suddenly expressed confusion, unable to work out why cariad seemed so bitter that he was in a relationship. but he took the hint that she didn't want him to be there anymore.

he paced towards her, leaning down to press a kiss on her forehead, "i'm sorry, cari, that was a massive mistake i promise. i shouldn't have let that happen. i love you."

if only he'd realised that those three words only twisted the knife lodged in her chest further.

"i love you too, tommy. goodnight. i'll see you soon," as tom left, her head dropped and she felt her heart plummet, "i love you too fucking much."

———
my heart is hurtin