♡ ₊˚.༄

𝐒𝐇𝐄 ── ◦'𖥸'◦ ── 𝒮ℋℰ
𝖺𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗅𝖺 𝗃𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌 𝗑 𝗍𝗈𝗆 𝗁𝗈𝗅𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖽
𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟳𝟱 ╱ ╱ ☁️🤍 ˚◞♡

─────── ❛ 真実 ❜ ───────

インスタグラム // 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦
𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝗁𝖺𝗌
𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒!

𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 via instagram stories
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
𝟦 𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗀𝗈. . .

2 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. . .

2 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. . .

2 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. . .

実生活 // 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞

     NO MATTER HOW BRIGHT THE SUN WAS GLEAMING OR HOW BEAUTIFUL THE CLEAR BLUE SKIES ABOVE THE LONDON BRIDGE WERE BEAMING, NOTHING COULD SHAKE THE CLUSTER OF NERVES THAT'D BEEN NAWING AT THE LINING OF HER STOMACH SINCE YESTERDAY. Every inch of her was doused in a dreadful drench of anxiousness. The last time the blonde had been this nervous was the day her father got his CT results back. However, that day, the Jones family was blessed with the news that Dave Jones was almost cancer-free. Presently, Amandla wasn't sure how good or bad the results of today were going to be.

     Despite the reassurance from both Keilah and Harrison that everything was going to be fine, she couldn't help but feel as if everything was going to crumble. It didn't help either that after she'd told Ethan last night about her and the brown-haired Brit meeting that the conversation spurred into an argument that left both sides equally unhappy and on edge.

     Amandla understood why Ethan was mad. Hell, if her current partner moved to another country and on their first full day there, met with their ex who was their first love, she'd be upset too. Especially if she knew she couldn't be there for them. On her end though, this move was about starting fresh—starting new. And what better way to do that than meet with someone that she had unresolved tensions with?

     She was somewhat hopeful that today would bring her some closure and heal the part of her that was shattered over a year ago. Whatever it was Tom wanted to talk to her about, the blonde was praying it wouldn't be something that could cause her to go back on all the progress she'd made with herself.

     Stepping out of the cab and closing the car door, Amandla shot the driver a friendly smile and wave as he drove off. A soft breeze blew her hair back and she tucked her sunglasses into her small black purse. Looking up, she breathed in deeply as she stared at the familiar home that she'd toured with Nikki and Tom during one of the breaks on the press tour.

     There was a lump rising in her throat as she couldn't help but remember the last time she was here—touring the house that Tom had insinuated that they'd perhaps live in together one day. Blinking, she shook her head and walked up the driveway. Just breathe, Amandla. You've got this. You're just going to talk; everything is going to be fine. As she got closer to the front door, the blonde kept repeating the same words to herself: You've got this. Everything is going to be fine.

     Before she knew it, she was pacing in front of Tom's house, wringing her hands together as she tried to muster up the nerve to knock on the door. "Fucking hell, Amandla. Just knock on the damn door, it's not that fucking hard," she mumbled to herself, squeezing her eyes shut as she stopped pacing. It was time to stop acting like a little bitch.

     Taking a step forward, she knocked on the matte white door and rolled her shoulders back, holding in a small breath as she waited for it to open.

     Not even five seconds had passed when the door was unlocked, revealing the curly brown-haired boy she hadn't properly talked to ever since that day. She'd been avoiding him and anything that had to do with him ever since. When asked about him, she would always lie and say that they were still friends and that there was no bad blood when really, there kind of was. When asked about the video, she would lie and tell people that they had been broken up weeks before it had been taken and released. She would lie, over and over again, to protect him and the career he'd worked so hard for. And now, standing there alone, in front of the boy she'd lied for unconditionally, she couldn't help but feel a small surge of anger flare up inside of her. However, that flare was overshadowed by the heartbreak and anxiety that contorted her heart.

     "Hey," Tom choked out; his voice snapping her out of her frozen state.

     "Hi," Amandla responded softly, reaching to fiddle with the rings on her fingers.

     Blinking, he cleared his throat and stepped to the side, opening the door up wider. "Please, come in," he said, giving her a small smile as she nodded, walking inside.

     As she made her way in, she couldn't help but almost smile at the sight of the shelves he had in his living room on either side of his TV and the table that sat underneath it. The shelves were still decorated in props, scripts, and merchandise from the various projects that Tom had worked on throughout the years. There was one whole shelf on its own that was dedicated to Marvel and Spider-Man. It was the same shelf she'd helped him decorate over FaceTime when he first moved in three days before their relationship ended.

     "Can I get you a glass of water or anything?" Tom offered after he'd locked the door and made his way to her side.

     Amandla shook her head, "No, I'm good. Thank you, though." He nodded and quickly glanced at her before forcing himself to look away. Walking forward, he led her to the living room where they both sat down on opposite ends of one of the couches, only a few feet apart.

     The moment she sat down, her eyes immediately landed on the table underneath the TV. A few plants decorated the table, along with a few photographs, but one photo that stood out the most was the one in the middle. It was a picture of her and Tom during Christmas. They were at his parent's house and wearing matching sweaters while kissing underneath the mistletoe. It was from the first and last Christmas they'd spent together. Tearing her gaze away from the picture, she breathed in deeply as her eyes landed back on Tom, who was already staring at her.

     It was tense as the two sat there silently, neither of them knowing exactly how to start the conversation as they held eye contact. "So, what'd you want to talk to me about?" Amandla finally asked, sliding her purse off and placing it on the floor; breaking up the unofficial staring contest.

     "There's something that I need to tell you—something I can't keep to myself anymore and continue to lie about. And I know that my timing really sucks by telling you this now, but you have the right to know and I didn't know when or if I would ever get the chance to tell you in person—"

     "Tell me what?" Amandla interrupted, raising a brow.

     "I never cheated on you." Tom breathed; his eyes soft and sincere as he stared at her.

     Furrowing her brows, she sat back and opened her mouth to respond, but quickly shut it. Is this really happening, right now? He couldn't be serious. She saw the video. She watched as he made out with another girl in a club the night he told her he was going to be in a meeting with Paul. She saw the man she'd was in love with kiss another girl. She watched it on repeat, multiple times; sobbing over every frame of the video and eventually throwing her phone across the room in pain and breaking it. She remembered everything.

     "I-I don't know if you're trying to fuck with my emotions or something, but it's not funny. I saw the video, Tom. I watched as you kissed another girl that wasn't your girlfriend." Amandla stressed, feeling that flare of anger beginning to grow larger.

     He shook his head. "It wasn't me. Yes, I was at that club, but I never kissed another girl. I never once cheated on you, ever, in our relationship." Tom stated firmly.

     "You told me that you were going to be in a meeting that night. So, why were you at the club in the first place? And why was the guy in the video wearing the exact same outfit that you were, wore your grandfather's watch, and looked exactly like you? And if you never cheated on me, why did you wait until now to finally fucking tell me?" she asked harshly.

     The evidence stacked against him was bad, Tom knew that, and he also knew that there was a large possibility that what he was about to tell her was going to sound an awful lot like an extravagant lie. Even though it was the truth.

     "I was on the way to my meeting when I got a call from my assistant," he began, running a hand through his hair. "She told me that she was meeting with an old friend at this club, but the friend stood her up and she needed a ride back to her place. She'd already had a few drinks and didn't want to take her car and drive back. So, I called and told my manager that I was going to be late for the meeting, which he said was okay. When I arrived at the club, I texted Audrey and told her that I was outside in my car. After a few minutes, she hadn't responded and I got worried, so I went inside to find her. The place was huge and it took me longer than I expected to finally find her. Once I did, we left and I drove her to her flat, walked her to her door, and then left for the meeting.

     "At the end of the meeting, Paul pulled me to the side and told me that there would be a video of me kissing a girl at the club I'd just been to released within the next few hours. I was extremely confused, especially since I only went inside the club to find Audrey. The moment I found her, I left. Paul explained to me that they hired a double since they knew I would never cheat on you, to kiss a random girl. Audrey filmed the kiss from the bar and DMed it to a stan account, anonymously, saying that it was me in the video, kissing this random woman.

     "According to Paul, my old management did this because they weren't happy with the amount of attention I was getting from your fanbase. Yes, it was largely positive and helped grow my popularity in different areas of the Internet, apparently, but there was a growing group of people who were not happy that I was in your life and were sending death threats. Which only added to the ones I was already getting for reprising the role of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Paul and my old team believed that if they got rid of you, the threats would stop and I would be seen as more likable by a younger audience if I was single.

     "I told him that he was batshit crazy and that it wouldn't work. No one would believe that it was me in the video and that you and I would be fine. I was wrong. He showed me the video and it was convincing. I tried to get him and Audrey to delete the video and get the stan account on Twitter not to post the video, but it was too late. The person had tweeted the video already and it'd started to go viral. Amandla, I did everything I could to stop the video from being released, but it was too late. I didn't know they were planning on doing that. Before I called you that day, I had just fired my entire team and bought out of my contract with them.

     "On FaceTime, when you asked me if it was true, I didn't know what to say. I thought that if I told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me. The video looked legit and even I wouldn't have believed the story that I'm telling you right now. I was at a loss for words and didn't say anything when I should have. I should have told you the truth then and I didn't. I'm sorry, Amandla. I'm so, so sorry." Tom finished explaining, reaching out to touch the blonde's hand, but she instinctively flinched away.

     A million thoughts were flying around in her brain as she looked away from him, blinking back tears. Amandla didn't know what to believe—if she should even choose to believe a word he was saying to her. It was all too much coming at her all too fast.

     Minutes of rigid silence flew by as the blonde sat frozen to the spot on the grey velvet couch. Everything was still as the brown-haired boy waited for her to say something; say anything.

     Tom knew that what he was telling her was a lot to process and he knew that he most likely wasn't going to be getting the response he wanted. What he wanted was for his life to go back to normal—for him to wake up every morning feeling full of life and grateful for being able to live another day—for him to turn over in bed and see her sleeping face staring back at him—for him to have his girl back and to make up for all the lost time they had piled up. He just wanted her back in his life. Even if it was just as friends. He needed her. It was as simple as that.

     Amandla Jones made him a better person—she motivated him to be the best version of himself at all times. She was the light in the dark that he never knew he needed to see until she'd burned out and disappeared. She was what made every minute of every day worth it in his eyes. The love he felt for her was immaculate and he was not willing to go another day without her. He'd done it for over a year and had finally reached his breaking point; the point where he knew he could no longer go on living the way he had without her.

     Breathing in deeply, he bit down on his lip as he watched the tears in her hazel-green eyes rise. "Amandla," he whispered, worried that if he said anything else he would hurt her further than he already knew he had.

     Pushing down the lump in her throat, Amandla reached up and wiped away the first tear that had fallen on her cheek. Her mind was empty as she tried to come up with a coherent response that wasn't filled with a string of curse words but she was coming up empty.

     "I—" Amandla finally started; her voice low and raspy. "I appreciate you telling me and being honest. Frankly, I wish you'd done it a long time ago, but better late than never, right?" she asked, raising a brow as she met the actor's endearing gaze. Upon seeing the heartbroken and distressed look clouding her face, he felt his heart drop.

     "Mandy," Tom started, but she shook her head quickly, cutting him off.

     "I uh, I should go. The movers are going to be arriving soon with some of my belongings," she breathed, clearing her throat as she grabbed her purse and stood up from the couch.

     Following her actions, Tom stood as well with a frown etched across his lips. "Can we talk about this a bit more, please? I want to hear what you're thinking and feeling," he said, reaching out and gently tugging on her arm as she walked past him.

     Turning around, her eyes fell to the fingers that were curled around her forearm before they flashed up to meet Tom's pleading gaze. "Tom, you really don't want to hear what I have to say right now. You really don't," she murmured softly, letting out a quiet breath.

     "A—"

     "Thomas," she snapped, and he quickly shut his mouth at the mention of his full name. "Trust me when I say you really don't want to hear what I have to say. I don't want to argue, all right? What happened, happened a long time ago, and I've done my best to move on from it; from you. So, please, just don't." Yanking her arm out of his grasp, the blonde quickly turned and walked toward the front door.

     Tom watched as she walked away, a pit of guilt, regret, and heartache eating at his heart. Sighing, he stepped forward and shouted the three words he never got the opportunity to tell her: "I love you." From where he stood in the living room, he could see her visibly freeze.

     Amandla's eyes widened as her breath hitched in the bottom of her throat. Her mouth became a desert and she felt her body completely shut down. Words left her brain and a wave of burning anger seared inside her chest.

     "I love you, Amandla." Tom repeated, and those four words were the sparks that lit the match. Blinking, the YouTuber finally felt the words she knew crawling back to her.

     "No," she retaliated, spinning on her heel to face the actor. "No. You don't get to say those three words. Not to me. Not after everything that's happened—not after all the lies that I've told for you." Amandla spat, pointing directly at Tom as she made her way back toward him. "What happened—what I believed happened—destroyed me. I truly and wholeheartedly believed that you cheated on me, Tom. You were the first person that I ever fell in love with; the first person I ever felt safe with in every way possible; the first person I called my home and safe place. You were the person I thought would never lie to me—who would always be there for me when I needed them most, but you were the opposite.

     "I don't care if you thought that I wouldn't believe you if you told me the truth. At least I would have known! At least I wouldn't have been left under the impression that I wasn't enough for you—that I wasn't what you wanted or needed—that I was the only one who saw what we had lasting until the day we died—that I wasn't worth a damn thing to you. I watched and rewatched that video, frame by frame, as the person that I thought was you, shoved their tongue down another girl's throat. My heart was broken on repeat for hours and days and weeks as I tried to come to terms that what we had was gone.

     "Instead of allowing you to take the fall for cheating, I lied to the entire world and told them that we were already broken up. I lied and said that we were good. I lied over and over again for months on end every single time someone brought you up. I am still lying for you when really, I never should have in the first place! But I did because I have respect for you and the career you worked so hard to build. I didn't want to see you fall and get hate, despite how much I was hurting. So, I lied and took the blame for what happened. I told people it was my fault for not telling anyone we were broken up because I believed that it was my fault for what happened. That the reason you cheated was because of me—because of something I did or didn't do—of something that I failed to provide in the relationship.

     "And now, you're telling me, that you never cheated and your management set you up so we'd break up? That's beyond fucked up and you should have told me ages ago. I would have believed you! Just like I believe you right now because I know how messed up the entertainment and Hollywood industry can be. You should have told me, but you didn't, and look where we are now: worlds apart with no way back to where we started." Amanda finished; her chest rising up and down laboriously as her voice died down. Hot, angry tears prickled in the corner of her eyes and she was clenching onto the strap of her purse so tightly it was surprising that it hadn't snapped in half yet.

     The two were only a few feet apart as they stared at one another silently. Tom had tears glistening in his eyes while a few had already started trickling down his cheeks and Amandla was doing everything in her power not to lose it any further than she already had. Getting angry was something she rarely ever did and she never acted on anger, but today was the first time she acted in a really long time, and it felt good. She was finally able to get the weight she'd been carrying around for over a year off her chest.

     "I'm so sorry," the brown-haired actor choked out before reaching up and wiping away his tears.

     Biting down on her bottom lip, Amandla felt her heart tighten and her shoulders shake. Upon seeing her body beginning to tremble, Tom didn't hesitate in walking forward and wrapping his arms around her.

     The moment his arms enveloped her, the purse in her hands dropped to the ground and she shook her head as her arms pushed harshly against his chest. "I hate you," she whimpered weakly; tears sliding down her face as she tried to push out from his hold, but Tom didn't budge. "I hate you."

     He knew that she didn't mean it; that she hated him. He knew that she only said that because she was Amandla and she couldn't find another way to express what she was feeling. So, he held onto her; praying that everything was going to be okay in the end and he would find a way to fix this. Fix what he broke.

     After minutes of trying to pull out of his grasp, Amandla eventually gave up and collapsed against his chest, squeezing her eyes shut as she sobbed.

     "I'm so sorry," Tom whispered; tears of his own rolling down his face as he ran his hand through her hair comfortingly. "I'm so sorry."

╰┈ ⊰ 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 ❞ ⑊ ⎯⎯ : ⊱˒ ♡

⌇ 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯⠀|⠀𝑛𝜊 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠⠀꒱
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

     hey everyone!! i hope you all enjoyed the seventy-fifth chapter!

     sooooooo... you know the truth now... what do you all think? are you still mad at tom? should he have told her the truth in 2017? were you expecting that?

     the fallout from this will be shown and it isn't good... but it gets better! please, let me know your thoughts!!! (lowkey scared that this was disappointing. i love it and i really hope you all do too.)

     this will forever be my favorite chapter and i'm so happy that it's finally out. i wrote it in march of 2020 and have been waiting to publish it. i hope it lived up to the hype i gave it.

     𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑: thank you all for taking the time out of your days to comment on this story. it means a lot and helps the story be spread to a wider audience &&& gives me the opportunity to grow as an author. all i ask is that people vote on each chapter, please. as a creator, it takes time to write and develop stories. especially social media-based ones because there's so much to take into consideration and the amount of time i've dedicated to finding graphics, screenshotting everything kelsey simone (and other characters) posts, making graphics, etc., is ridiculous. so please, vote on every chapter. it means a lot more than i could ever express.

     don't forget to vote & comment!