Chapter Text
“You’ve had your fair share of dumb fucking ideas, but I have to admit… Tom, this one takes the cake by far.”
He pouted indignantly while his cousin’s boisterous laughter echoed from his phone and all across the four walls of his room. Embarrassment flustered him red, from his head down the collar of his shirt. It’s impossible not to physically cringe while recalling the details of the dating show to Joe.
“You said I should stop being the token straight friend! I followed your advice!” He tried to blame. It’s essentially Joe’s words that inspired him to act on it in the very obvious, on-the-nose way of hinting at the world that he likes boys. Literally the only boy as a contestant in the show.
“I did, but I didn’t think you’d go out of your way to somehow fuck it up even more!” Joe’s exasperation only stressed on the fact that Tommy is absolutely helpless when it comes to his pathetic love life, or the lack thereof.
He groans into his hand, clearly wounded.
“You think I should’ve ran over to his house, guns blazing after the show ended?” Regret is evident in his tone as he anxiously chewed on his bottom lip. “I thought so too. I should’ve just fuckin’ told him but I got cold feet. And now, it’s too late to bring it up and he probably likes Bill anyway…” Enough time passed by for the whole thing to be ruled as nothing more but an over complicated bit. He’s back to square one.
“Tom…” Joe calls out his name in a stern voice. “That didn’t have to happen if you didn’t make him the odd one out.”
His brows scrunched together in immediate confusion. “The odd one out—Joe, he’s genuinely the only one I want in the whole show!”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t really know that, does he? From his perspective, he probably thinks he was just there to be the entertainment... It doesn’t help that all the other participants are women and he still thinks you’re as straight as a metal straw!”
Tommy’s arms flexed tensely where they were sitting idly on his sides. Metal straws are sturdy fuckers that hurt his teeth too much whenever he forgets that it’s not made of plastic that he could chew and bite. Shit. He totally missed the mark twice right there. It was never made clear to Ranboo from the very beginning, his cousin is right, yet again.
He groans once more.
“Well, fuck me! Why the fuck did I do this?!” He whined, helplessly getting backed into a corner with no way out. “You could’ve stopped me! You’re the reasonable voice in my head, Joe.”
“Hey, you’re an adult now. You don’t need someone to tell you what to do.”
“Then at least tell me why’d he choose love if he thought it was all just an elaborate bit?” This question has been eating at him since the shit holding him together collapsed. There won’t be anything left of him if the unanswered words hang in the air to keep looming over him at night while he stares at the ceiling.
“Ask him that yourself already! I’ve been telling you!”
“Yeah, but what if—“
“He likes you! He’s absolutely smitten, Tom! Save your breath and just ask him out!” Joe cuts him off.
Tommy wanted to sneer and scoff at his cousin’s confident claims as a carmine blush rushes to his cheeks. He didn’t want to be annoying when Joe is clearly done with his shit, it’s just that… He can’t quite wrap his head around the thought of Ranboo liking him back. That feels so out of reach, so impossible. False hope is also a bitch to deal with, it would be best for his sake to expect the worst.
Besides, there’s a huge gap in neon lights separating him from his cousin, and he can’t help that part from slipping out.
“Easy for you to say. I’m not a cool famous actor. I’m just his weird friend who keeps asking to build legos with him… He’s probably sick of me.” He muttered his insecurities. They were always kept muted, overshadowed by the years of building himself a thicker skin if he wanted to become a successful person online entertainer. However, a bit of residue is there nonetheless.
“Okay. Okay, Tom… Stop that.” Joe must have sensed the mood change. It’s not like Tommy was even trying to hide it, but the voice sternly scolding him had gradually softened. “Don’t kick yourself over this. But I do have a—I have a really stupid idea.”
At his inquiry, the blond gets immediately distracted from his quiet moping.
His head perks up. “A stupid idea?”
“Yeah. And it would require us interacting on Twitter.” Joe follows up with a brief explanation of some sort of elaborate scheme.
By the end of it, all Tommy was able to grasp is that he’d be using his cousin’s stellar reputation to bait his fucking crush.
“How would that help?” He can’t make the connection either as his brows scrunches further in confusion.
“Gives you an opportunity to talk. You tease him a little and it’s only a matter of time before he starts asking why we’re interacting.” Joe seemed rather proud afterwards, for someone who just said it’s a stupid idea.
“Joe… That is not very secret cousin of you to do.” Tommy warned. He’s not confident enough to say that he’d keep his mouth shut. Ranboo may just be the person that breaks him with one look and he’ll start talking.
“And you can just tell him.”
Wait, what?
He paused.
Did he hear him right?
“You want me to tell him?”
“Tom. If telling someone that we’re cousins is a way to get yourself your man, then go do it. But the catch is, you have to ask him out. No backing out.”
His mouth gapes open at Joe’s conditions. That’s at least one way to ensure that he takes his shot on Ranboo… Oh, fucking hell. He can’t believe they’re breaking their on-going bit for him to get a boyfriend.
He shudders, like dry ice was pressed directly into his spine. Joe’s mind games scares him, he’s gonna be honest.
“Fine. Fuck it. I’ll do it.” On the other hand, Tommy is also impressed. Something in him – probably the stupid but daunting side of him – wonders how this would play out.
TommyInnit @tommyinnit
@joelocke03 seeing if you’ll reply
Joe Locke @joelocke03
Replying to @tommyinnit
Always for u Tommy xx
TommyInnit @tommyinnit
Replying to @joelocke03
@Ranboosaysstuff Suck it.
thanks joe
Ranboo @Ranboosaysstuff
Replying to @tommyinnit and @joelocke03
Why do you do this to me just to flirt later. Keep it consistent at least.
TommyInnit @tommyinnit
Replying to @Ranboosaysstuff and @joelocke03
I have never flirted with you
Tommy looks insane. Like an escaped convict with the way he’s profusely biting on his lip to stop himself from further smiling, he’s willing to admit that.
It’s just, with a much clearer head, after the storm in him has calmed down and only a couple hours away from his flight to Amsterdam, he can actually see that there is in fact a flirty undertone in the way that they’ve been talking to each other. It might as well just be a bit, sure. But, Ranboo is flirting with him on main and that has to account for something. Right?
Because Ranboo never does that. Never reciprocates his advances and that was the main reason he evicted him from the show in the first place. However, things have totally been different since the days leading up to Twitchcon. They’ve always actively talked a lot but recently, Tommy can’t even put his phone down anymore. Like, how right now the American has been spamming and trying to call him, probably to ask about Joe and Twitter while it’s still pretty fucking early in Brighton, Ranboo might have just seen it.
He bites back another amused giggle, intentionally missing his friend’s third call, as per Joe’s advice. He has to keep him on his toes, put him on the edge of his seat just to punish him a bit.
Besides, he’d like to keep his cousin a secret for a while longer. It’s the leverage and or thread holding him together, to prepare himself from telling Ranboo how he actually feels.
Tommy doesn’t actually think about any of it while he’s spending a lot of his time with friends. He agreed to sharing a room with Ash, as if they weren’t roommates already back in his apartment. He ate dinner with James and Pinely, hung out with Austin and even Hasan since they were the first people to arrive.
Overall, it had been fun and he was excited for the event to start. The others arrive much later at the same hotel they were all staying in. He talked to Niki and Hannah for a bit, promising that they could hang out together soon. He pretty much ate those custard minis that people keep on serving at the buffet table with Jack Manifold until his stomach ached.
He didn’t run out of things to do until he’s tired and passed on the invitation to walk around the coast of the city with Phil and Kristin to meet up with more fans. He decided that for the rest of the day, he’d probably chill in bed to save the needed energy for tomorrow’s panel.
While he’s not really getting invested into watching this random Adam Sandler movie playing on the television, he gets a call from none other than Ranboo.
And this time, with a heart rate twice faster than before, he answered.
“Hello?”
“Tom, where are you?” Not even a hello. Ranboo sounds a little out of breath.
Tommy picks up the sound of footsteps on the pavement as he naturally finds himself sitting up in bed. “Uh, at my hotel room. Why?”
“I’m coming over.”
He lets out a breathy chuckle. “Okay? Is the rest of the gang with you? Freddie still hasn’t returned my fuckin’ jumper.”
“No. It’s just me.”
There it is. The opportunity Joe is talking about.
Suddenly, a thick emotional lump lodges itself in his throat, ready to burst.
“Oh.” Fuck. Fuck.
He was just on the cusp of a cool down, relaxing with some time for himself. Now, he has to face Ranboo, who seemed only minutes away. A finite time, enough to cause a bit of panic to strain his voice.
Shit. “Uhm… You mean right now?”
“Yeah. I’m almost there actually,” Ranboo chirped in wild excitement, like he’s been waiting from the plane to beeline straight to his room. The thought honestly makes him sort of dizzy. “What’s your room number?”
“1205.” He answered as he immediately got out of bed to head towards the bathroom mirror. He’s wearing shorts and a random white printed shirt. Seems good enough. “Dude, I know you just arrived and shit. But you could’ve walked around the city first instead of going here. I’m just chilling.”
Ranboo snorted. “There’s plenty of time for that. You could show me around.”
Well, stalling was worth a try, but if Joe ever finds out he knows his cousin would frown and shake his head in disappointment at him.
Fuck. It’s now or never.
“I’m not sure why you're asking me... Unless you just prefer my company. You can say it, big man.” He teased as a way to stave off some of his nervousness.
It works for an important moment when the American gets to laugh airily, still keeping things to a lighthearted degree. “Maybe I am getting pretty tired of Bill’s shit. I’m so close to kicking him out.”
“Don’t let him hear you.” He huffed through his nose, clearly amused.
“He won’t. This stays between us.”
Ranboo’s flirting. They are flirting, aren’t they? It certainly felt like it as he repeatedly and obsessively ran his free hand across his hair as an attempt to tame himself. Maybe he won’t come across infatuated if he looks more put together and less of a fumbling mess.
Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time to inspect how he looks as Ranboo knocks on the door, shortly after ending the call.
Tommy opens it, only to be greeted by the American holding out a very familiar plastic bag in front of his face.
“Hey Toms! Up for some legos?” Ranboo beams at him.
‘I could kiss you right now.’ Tommy smiles back curtly. “I’m always up for some legos.” He answered, keeping his romantic thoughts to himself as he opened the door wider and stepping aside to let him in.
“Holy shit! An allium set? I didn’t know this existed!” His eyes bugged wide once Ranboo handed him the bag. Inside is a box of a medium-sized set of one-foot tall alliums with its own potted encasement.
“Gotta stay on theme, right?”
“I could kiss you right now.” He lets that one slip out, only to receive a laugh in turn.
“Tom, I know we’re alone and all. But keep it in your pants, Ash could walk in. Jesus christ.” Ranboo walks deeper in the room to settle down on one of two beds divided by a side table and a lamp.
Meanwhile, Tommy stood there, dumbfounded as a deep blush rose from his neck upwards, even overheating his own head. It’s all because of Ranboo misspeaking and not correcting himself. Maybe the wording is poor and he didn’t think much of it, but the implication that he only refused to kiss him because Ash could walk in suggests that he would if they were guaranteed to be completely alone.
Tommy swallows down the suggestion of the existence of door locks as he sat heavily on the other end of the same bed, practically chucking the bag back on his lap.
“Fuck off. Let’s just start building.” He grumbled, looking down on his lap in case the bastard made a snide comment about him getting flustered. He doesn’t think he could face that yet.
And so, build legos they did, with lively commentary and their choice of show to play in the background, obviously being Heartstopper. Tommy knew exactly where this was heading as they watched the smooth leaves animation sweep over across the screen.
“I still can’t believe Joe responded to you, as if getting a follow wasn’t enough. I’m not jealous.” Ranboo stated, sounding especially jealous. He doesn’t ask any questions though, he doesn’t have to. His curiosity is enough to say as much.
Tommy chews on his lip as he puts a piece on the half-finished pot for the alliums that the other teen is working on.
“Do you really wanna know?” He flicked his eyes at him, easily reading the stunned look on his face. Ranboo probably wasn’t expecting that there was going to be a legitimate answer, that this isn’t just a glitch in the matrix or a weird timeline.
Ranboo hums, wordlessly asking him to proceed.
“Joe is my cousin.” He revealed with full honesty.
But the silence that followed after could potentially kill a man. Specifically, Tommy, as the boy just blankly stared at him.
Ranboo’s piercing gray eyes could be so intense. It’s unnerving, to say the least. The blond almost felt the overwhelming urge to rub the back of his neck for comfort if he keeps staring at him like that.
Finally, Ranboo breaks into a sudden laughter, the sound cutting through the building tension. “Good one, Tom.”
“No, no! I’m serious! Joe’s my cousin from my dad’s side. Come on, Ranboo! You’ve seen and shook hands with my dad! You should see a bit of resemblance.” He could pull out a photo of his dad in his youth, before his jet black thick head of hair was replaced by salt and pepper, aging gracefully despite the hairline he very much inherited.
“Nice try. But you're not getting me with this one. I’m not that gullible. Where’s the camera?” Ranboo stood up, looking around.
Tommy sighed heavily before going through his phone to call his cousin on Facetime.
Luckily, Joe is kind enough to not make him look stupid by answering on the third ring.
“Tom, hey! Did you tell him yet?” The pixelated quality on Joe’s end isn’t that good, but it’s at least enough to prove Ranboo wrong.
He shakes his head.
“No. I’m getting to that. But could you tell him that we are related because he doesn’t fuckin’ believe me.” He forces the screen to face Ranboo, and immediately, his friend is frozen in place, mouth agape and eyes wide in utter disbelief.
“Oh. You must be Ranboo! Tom talks about you all the time!” Joe poses as the good natured, friendly and polite cousin that the blond can’t help but roll his eyes at.
“Just tell him we’re cousins and I’ll let you go,”
“So bloody bossy,” Joe clicked his tongue before facing Ranboo once more with a small wave. “But hey! Yes! Hi, I am in fact Tom’s cousin, believe it or not. We spend most of our holidays together.”
“B-But that’s—how… I—what?” Ranboo stuttered out, unable to be coherent.
“Yes, Ranboo. Being hot and attractive is in our genes. Don’t act so surprised.” Tommy unhelpfully interjected.
“I did not consent to you calling me hot and attractive. I’m gonna go now before you say any more weird shit,” And finally, Joe shoots one last smile. “Again. It’s nice to finally meet you. I can see why Tom likes you—“
“Okay, enough about that! I’ll talk to you soon! Love you, bye!”
Tommy abruptly ends the call. But there’s no way of saving himself from what Joe had just laid in the open for Ranboo to pick apart. The cogs are clearly turning in his head, he could tell. It’s only a matter of time—seconds, really.
With Joe’s part out of the way, it was time for his.
“Do you believe me now?” He inquired, tossing his phone back on the bed, crossing his arms.
“I…” Ranboo is somewhat stuck in a state of shock before he shakes himself from that astonished and starstruck look on his face. “Honestly? Out of anyone, it would make sense that you’d be related to an actor.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just that being entertaining runs in the family.”
“Then you should join. You’d fit right in.” He responded with a wink. He’s not even in the right state to be flirting like this, he is still very much nervous and panicking on the inside.
But Ranboo doesn’t seem to catch on as he just continued building legos with a hearty giggle. On the screen, Charlie has just joined the rugby team with Nick trying to teach him.
Somewhere here should be good. Tommy thinks, clearing his throat to also resume their lego session.
“You know, Joe watched my love or host. The vod, I mean.” He started, refusing to meet Ranboo’s bug-eyed gaze.
“He what?” His voice had softened from embarrassment, shrinking in just like himself.
Tommy’s grin broadened, a stroke of confidence striking him all of a sudden. He immediately takes advantage, sinking his teeth on it. “Yeah. It’s ‘cuz I tell him everything. He knows about my love crisis.”
“… Your love crisis?”
He catches the exact moment where Ranboo perks up at the subtle inquiry. Fuck. He feels his heart clench before moving upwards, just right in his throat.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” The blond retorted sassily before giving him a long glance. “I flirt with him all the time.” He mutters, blushing.
Everything changes right when Ranboo’s furrowed brow dips even lower, almost glaring. But really, Tommy knows that’s just his thinking face. He was in deep contemplation, as if it takes rocket science to figure out who he’s referring to, in a competition where there was only one other boy.
But Tommy lets him take his time. He lets him process things and even then, Ranboo is still outright confused.
“Wh—I, wait… Him?”
He takes a deep breath and meets his gaze head on, fiddling with a lego piece in his hands. “Ranboo, you’re a smart fella. I don’t need to tell you.”
More contemplation.
Tommy thought it’d take more time, but Ranboo snapped his head forward suddenly, startled from something.
“But—but I thought you and Olive were totally hitting it off! I watched a bit of your stream with them.” Ranboo was at a loss.
Now, the blond would have happily noted how Ranboo isn’t repulsed by his confession, he seemed to have taken it well if he is already jumping to conclusions regarding him with Olive. And that was one stream when they were getting to know each other, for fuck’s sake!
“Well, what about you and Bill, huh?!” He decidedly brings up with a snap. He can’t help it. It’s only fair.
“You think me and Bill…?”
“What was I supposed to think? He’s always at your house and you always stream together.” He pointedly crossed his arms over his chest as if to shield the jealous feeling resurfacing on instinct when it came to their mutual friend.
Bill is great. Tommy would like to reiterate that he doesn’t have anything against him. It’s just… It’s a shitty feeling regardless, no matter how much things shifted between him and Ranboo. It alway felt like all progress is lost when he compared himself to the ravenhead.
He rarely felt insecure, but in this moment, no mask of indignation and frowning could hide it.
“Toms. I swear. I swear to god, nothing is going on with me and Bill,” Ranboo appeared beside him without a warning. Tommy looks up to find pools of gray deeply imploring him with a promise and hands clutching on his own delicately. “Besides… He isn’t my type.”
He could feel the way their thighs were pressed up against each other, warmth radiated from both of them in joint effort and Tommy could feel it all in a way that rendered him breathless.
“And what’s your type?” He taunted.
Ranboo leans forward, taking the challenge in stride, noses bumping clumsily when he animatedly shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. There’s this bratty guy related to Joe Locke that I’ve had my eyes on for a while.”
Tommy knew this is also the exact moment where he realized there’s still far too much distance between them.
“Yeah?” When his eyes flicked over to his lips, goosebumps broke out of his skin, knowing that Ranboo was thinking of the same thing.
“Yeah.”
He managed a soundless gasp before he felt the brush of Ranboo’s lips and a hand cradle his cheek. But once his eyes slipped shut and he sensed more movement, the kiss only got deeper in tandem to the beating of their hearts. Somewhere past a stroke of Ranboo’s tongue in his mouth, Tommy groans and melts and he ends up halfway across his lap.
Their mixed passion makes up for their inexperience.
Unfortunately, because of that, they also need to breathe.
Ranboo disentangled first, a smack of their lips and with twin wild looks in their eyes.
A disgruntled thought occurred to Tommy despite the lovely and unforgettable moment they just shared.
“I think I owe Joe big time for wingmanning me.”
Ranboo laughs before kissing away his worries.
There’s more to tell his cousin afterwards. But this time, it no longer has anything to do with pining and lovesickness. Sooner than expected, it turns into loud gushing and date ideas.