Work Text:
"... Maybe if I ask you why don't tell me,
I won't try hard enough
I refuse to give it up, my lady
I refuse to give it up, my lady"*
'Hurry up, y/n, we're gonna be late' Your best friend, Mary, pulled out your earbuds, effectively pulling you out of your musings.
'I'm coming, I'm coming!' You replied, walking faster after her. You ajusted your earpods and your coat firmer around you, not that it did any good. Why did you decide to wear a dress on such a cold night? Probably for the same reason you had accepted to go out on the first place. That reason was currently standing just a few yards away from you, waiting for you girls outside the station and looking down at his phone: Tom William Perfect Hiddleston. Blonde hair, dreamy eyes and a smile that could melt glaciers. Always kind, always funny, always dangerously charming. He looked up and met your eyes, and that aforementioned smile took over his face, warming you up inside. Huh. Seemed you were right about those glaciers after all. Feeling the heath creep up your cheeks, you couldn't help to smile back.
'Seb! Oh my gosh it's so good to see you! We missed you so much!' You heard Mary say and took your eyes off of Tom's. Seb, Tasha and Nick, the rest of your group of friends, were already there as well. Apparently you had been too busy staring at Tom to notice. You wished you could say that had never happened before, but sadly it was quite a common occurrence.
'Seb, you look great. New York did you good!' You stood on your tip toes to be able to hug your much taller friend.
'Darling, you look gorgeous as ever!', Seb replied, holding you tight to him. Over his shoulder you thought you saw a flash of something crossing Tom's face, but it was gone as soon as it got there and you wondered if maybe it was just your overactive imagination, always looking for signs that weren't there.
'Well well, that's enough, let her go, you're going to end up smothering her' Tom reproached jokingly, placing a hand on Seb's right shoulder and he let go of you.
'Ok, now that everyone has had their fill of dear Sebastian here', Mary suggested 'what do you guys say if we actually get into the underground station so we can get going and maybe make it to the play on time for a change?'
You did exactly that and soon the six of you were packed into a carriage full of people. Mary and you got seats and Seb stayed close to you, but Tom and Nick ended up on the other side of the coach. You weren't sure where Tasha was. You turned up your music but after a couple of minutes, Mary was tugging at your earphones one more time.
'Tom is staring at you', She whispered conspiratiorially, 'Again.'
'You're delusional' You replied without lifting your eyes.
'I am not such thing!', Mary insisted 'Why do you think he's even here, taking the tube with us? He does have a car, you know'
You made a face, you hated that car. It was ostentatious and flashy and always calling the wrong kind of attention. Namely, the attention of shallow and plastic looking women who threw themselves at the car's owner. But then again, as far as you knew, he maybe even enjoyed that.
'Maybe he feels like drinking tonight and doesn't want to have to worry about driving' Was your nonchalant response.
'Oh, please! He never drinks. Not more than exactly one beer.'
'Maybe he will tonight!'
'That's not it and you know it! Sebastian, back me up here!'
'Oh, would you look at that! Tash has found a seat. I'll go ask her if I can sit on her lap' And with that, he was gone.
'... Coward.'
'Seriously, Mary, would you just let it go? Please?' You pleaded, resting your head on the cold glass of the window, felling suddenly very tired.
'Ok, hun, this isn't like you. Tell me what is going on?'
'Just drop it, please. He doesn't like me that way,' you said weakly, trying not to let the hurt show in your voice.
'And how would you know that?'
You finally took your earphones off and turned to face her.
'Because,' You looked at your best friend in the eyes and confessed 'I have already asked him out'
Her face immediately fell and for the first time, she was left without words. It took a few moments for her to ask, really softly,
'And he said no?'
'He said yes'
'...I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm following, you're going to have to explain'
You sight deeply, you didn't really wanted to remember that night. The memory of it still brought tears to your eyes. However, you swallow hard and tried to relate your story through the knot in your throat.
'Remember that night last summer when I dragged you guys to see that band with me, Louden Swain?'
'The one with the hot singer, yeah.'
You shook your head. Trust Mary to forget what she had eaten for dinner, but to recall the hot musician from three months ago.
'Anyway, remember how you guys all had something to do the next day, because it was Thursday night and you all left as soon as the show was over?'
You waited for her to nod before you went on 'Well, Tom and I stayed behind, so I ask him if he would like to have a beer with me. And we went to a pub near by...' You trailed off remembering that night, how Tom would throw his head back laughing at something you said and everything felt just so natural, so easy.
'And? What happened then?' Mary urged you on.
'We talked, we laughed, we had a nice time. It was... Just like we always are. He was my friend Tom. He didn't flirt. He never tried to make a move.
''He's Tom, he's shy! And he's a gentleman, he wouldn't try to...'
'Mary,' you cut her off 'I've seen him with women, being all smooth talk and debonair. He just wasn't like that with me. After the pub, he walked me home and when we got to the door, he hugged me goodnight. He hugged me'
You sighed deeply, and blinked hard trying to get rid of the sting in your eyes.
'Maybe he got nervous...' But she sounded unsure. You looked at her, trying to will her to understand. You wished for the thousand time you were like her, guys just seemed to gravitate towards her wherever she went. And why wouldn't they? She was beautiful, funny and moved with confidence, always knew what to wear or how to do her make up. You weren't like that at all.
She fell silent after that and eventually, you pulled your phone out to turn your music on again, but found you had a new text from Seb.
She's right tho, you know
It was all it said. You turned around looking for him and finally spotted him a couple seats farther back, with Tasha firmly on his lap, seemingly completely at home there.
What do you mean?
You sent to him. A few seconds later, your phone chimed again with his reply.
Tom has a crush on you
You stared at those six words an embarrassingly long time before your brain started working again. When it did, you typed,
Not you too. It's not like that. You guys just don't know.
This time, his response took a little longer to arrive.
About the time you guys went out after that show and how he froze and didn't kiss you at the door when he should have? Yes I know, he told me everything about it. In. Excruciating. Detail. And about how you didn't call him the next day or the day after. He sulked 'bout it for weeks.
Seb was still typing when you interrupted the rest of his tirade with
I thought the guy was supposed to do that
He started typing again and soon you got another text, this one exasperated.
ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?? For all your talk about feminism and equality and empowerment he thought if you still liked him YOU would call HIM. He thinks you friendzoned him that night.
Your obnoxious answer was
He never made a move
You looked over at Seb just in time to see him rub his face with his hand in frustration before texting
Not every guy needs to go for the kill on the first date you know? Some of them actually care about more than sex. There are some gentleman left out there.
You caught his eye as he placed his big hand on Tasha's naked tigh. He winked at you and sent
Not me, tho. I'm a pig
That made you laugh out loud.
You looked out the window and saw there was only two more stations left before Picadilly. You were almost there. Your phone ringed with another text from Seb again.
Go on, you. Prove me wrong. Ask him out.
You bit your lip and looked at Tom, apparently deep in conversation with Nick. Not even the ugly fluorescent lights from the tube could make him look bad. It was unfair, really. You took a deep breath and before you got nervous and changed your mind you text him
Wanna do something together after the play?
You saw as he felt his phone vibrate and opened your text. His face lit up with the big, boyish smile that you adored. He bit his own lip and raised his eyes to meet yours through the crowded carriage and as his expression softened you were finally sure that your friends had been right all along. Because he was looking at you like you were everything that existed in that moment. There was no carriage, no crowd, not anything. It was just the two of you.
Anything you want, I'm yours
A text message wasn't supposed to leave you breathless. But sure damn it did.Not to be bested, you sent back
What I want is for you to kiss me goodnight this time
There. There was no mistaking now, that wasn't a "you're my friend" kind of text. You literally couldn't make it any clearer to him.
The train came to a stop and you had to get off, so he couldn't answer. But as soon as you reached the stairs, you felt him entwine his fingers with yours.
And as soon as you got out the station and into the street, you felt him tug on your hand hard, making you turn around and crash into his waiting mouth. That's when the world really stoped. That's when everything truly disappeared. The dark, loud, bussy streets suddenly went pitch black and silent.
It was as if you had never been kissed before. As if you had never felt soft lips pressing on yours, nibbling them, coaxing them open, warm breath mixing with yours, big hands cupping your cheeks carefully, delicately, a tentative tongue licking your parted lips... All too soon it was over, but he didn't let go of you just yet, and you didn't try to get away. It was like gravity, there was no resisting it. He finally rested his forehead on yours and whispered against your mouth
'How about I just kiss you hello?'
The end.