Chapter Text
You ran around your house, looking for a hairbrush. How was it that anytime you actually needed it, it seemed to disappear into thin air?
Knowing that there was nothing else that you needed to pack into your suitcase, you slammed the lime green luggage closed. The zipper just barely managed to go all the way to the other side. Then, you put the two sliders in the lock, mixing up the three number combination so it wouldn’t be deductible anymore.
Proud with your own packing skills, you sat down on your bed. The bright suitcase in front of you. The color was more vibrant than you remembered. At first, it seemed like a good idea, but now that you looked at it… The color couldn’t be more attention seeking. Especially at nine in the morning, when nobody at an airport is fully awake yet. Your suitcase would practically be a visual alarm.
“Fuck! Harrison!” Tom yelled out from his room. It was a mess. A complete disaster. Laundry was lying everywhere. Not a piece of floor visible anymore. And in the middle of it all, lay Tom.
“What’s up, Tommo?” Harrison stuck his head out from behind the door. Tom could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
“I broke it. I broke the bloody suitcase!” he groaned and sat up straight on the ground so his best friend could see him from behind the bed. He was pretty sure there was some underwear stuck to his back, but he didn’t care. They had to leave for a flight in less than an hour and his suitcase just exploded on him.
“What do you mean, you broke it?”
“I mean, I broke it! I must have overfilled it because the zipper broke off and when I tried to pick it, everything fell out.” Tom looked around. He saw a white dress shirt hanging off of the cactus in the corner of the room. “What the fuck do I do, Haz?”
“I think we have another suitcase somewhere in a closet. I’ll go look.” Harrison left the room. Tom let out another frustrated groan and let himself fall back on the floor. His back hit the hard surface, but fortunately, his head fell against some trousers. He tried to keep his mind clear. If Harrison actually did have a proper suitcase, maybe they still had a chance on making the flight. He sat up for the second time.
Right then, Harrison came rolling in, with the biggest and brightest suitcase Tom had ever seen. It was twice the size of the luggage Tom had tried to fill before, so this should be no problem. Harrison pushed the luggage towards Tom who caught the handle as it reached him.
“How have I never seen this before?” He looked at his friend and the suitcase. He couldn’t believe it had been in their flat all this time.
“I had it in the back of my closet.” Harrison shrugged. “Now, go get packing.” He threw a shirt in Tom’s face. Then, still, with a bright smile, the blonde left the room also leaving Tom to pack on his own. Tom didn’t know where to start, the mess slightly overwhelming him. There was also the problem of time. He didn’t know where his phone was (problem numero 3) and he didn’t have a clock in his room, so telling time was not possible. Tom just assumed that he had around thirty minutes. If more, than great! If less, well, he had to hurry anyway.
Picking up stray pieces of clothing around him, he threw them back on the bed. Just to have some space to move around himself and to get all of his things in one place. Once he had given himself a proper range to walk around in, he pulled up the lime green suitcase and opened it next to his feet. Then, he threw everything on his bed, into the suitcase. He had no idea what all of it was, but he saw clothing and underwear, so that must be good enough for a few days.
“Tom! The car’s here!” Harrison yelled out from the hallway. Tom cursed under his breath as he threw in the last few items into his suitcase. He made sure that he had his phone charger in there before closing the two halves together and zipping them up. Then he put the case on its wheels and started pushing it out of the room. Harrison was already waiting for him in the doorway.
“Mate, have you seen my phone?” Tom checked his pockets, even though he knew it wasn’t there.
“Yeah, you put it in your backpack.” He wanted to ask Harrison if he had seen his backpack, but then his friend pointed down at the floor, where a black backpack was leaning against the wall. Tom sighed in relief. Pushing the lime green giant forward, he picked up the backpack on his way. Harrison walked ahead, towards the driver that was waiting outside next to a car with tinted windows. When Tom stepped outside, the driver glanced down at the neon yellow-green baggage Tom was carrying alongside him.
“You sure know how to stay lowkey, don’t you, Tom?” he muffled a laugh.
“Airport security is going to kill me. I know,” he said and greeted the driver with a handshake. “We didn’t have anything else.” the driver took the lime monstrosity from Tom to put it in the back of the car. Tom walked over to Harrison who had just opened the door of the car. He sneaked in between his best friend and the vehicle into the seat.
“You dick.” Harrison slammed the door shut in Tom’s face and walked to the other side of the car to get in himself now.
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You were in the parking lot of the airport. The wind that seemed to come from nowhere was blowing your hair in your face.
“Well, I’ll see you in two weeks.” you hugged your best friend and roommate tightly. She hugged you back with a little wiggle. Still holding on to you she said: “Just promise me to get some, while you’re gone, okay?” You laughed at her request.
“You know this is a work trip. I won’t have time to be hitting on guys.”
“You don’t have to do anything. Guys will be throwing themselves at you. Just stay safe.”
“I will.” You hugged her again. Then when you pulled away, you grabbed your suitcase and started walking backward. “New York City, here I come!” You waved your best friend goodbye with a big smile. You probably shouldn’t have been doing this while walking backward in a car park, because a car stepped on its breaks only inches from you. The loud sound of a horn filled the otherwise silent parking.
“I’m sorry.” you apologized and ran off to the exit, waving once more to your friend who was rolling her eyes at you.
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The ride to the airport was quick, yet boring. Tom took out his phone from his backpack and started scrolling through Instagram. It was just the usual memes, fan-edits and pictures of food. His attention was only brought back to the outside world when the car suddenly stopped. If it hadn’t been for the seatbelt, Tom would have broken his nose against the chair in front of him.
He looked up from the small screen of his phone. They were inside, in the parking of the airport, he assumed. In front of them, stood a girl. She looked a bit startled as she yelled out: “I’m sorry.” before rushing off to the side. The driver in front sighed and started driving again until they found a parking spot closer to the assigned exit to the rest of airport he and Harrison were supposed to take.
“Well, here we go.” the driver unbuckled his seatbelt, so Tom and Harrison did so as well. They opened their doors and the smell of gasoline and exhaust gases filled Tom’s nostrils. He hated it. The lighting in the garage was limited, a bit yellowish. Even the suitcase didn’t seem to be so bright anymore. But Tom knew that would change the moment he and Harrison would step into a hallway with proper light.
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You had just gone through the security check when your phone rang. The face of your best friend lit up on the screen so you picked up.
“Hey, whats-” she didn’t let you finish though.
“Oh my god, you will not believe it!” She screamed out. You had to pull away from the phone from your ear.
“Won’t believe what?”
“The car that almost ran you over.” She sounded extremely excited for some reason.
“What about it?”
“Tom fucking Holland was in it!” She screamed even louder. You made a sound that was somewhere in between a gasp and a squeak. A woman seated next to you in the waiting area looked over with a raised eyebrow. Your cheeks heated up in embarrassment so you tried to ignore the looks other strangers were giving you. You put the phone back to your ear and continued your conversation.
“How do you know he was in that car?” For some reason, your voice turned to a whisper.
“Because when I was driving to the exit, I, later on, saw him get out of the car…fuck, he looked hot.” She groaned. In the background of the call, you could hear the sound of cars honking.
“Maze, are you driving and calling?” you asked your best friend.
“Don’t worry, there’s so much traffic I won’t move for the next five bloody years.”
“Right, well hang up when you start driving. I promised you to stay safe in NYC, so you better be in one piece too when I get back.”
“I promise babe. Call me when you land.”
“You’ll be asleep.”
“Call me, damn it! Oh, got to go. The assholes in front of me finally decided to move. Byeee!” And she hung up. You turned off your phone and just sat there on the chair for a moment, staring blankly at the black screen. Was Tom Holland really here? Right now. Exactly where you were? The idea alone was unbelievable. You shook your nerves off. Even if he was at the airport. Heathrow was big. The chances of you seeing him were minuscule.
When your flight number was called, you got up, hung your backpack over your shoulders and walked to the gate. There was already a long line so there wasn’t much you could do except wait. You should have gone for that coffee.
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Harrison walked next to Tom. The airport security was around them, making sure that they had an easy access through all the people to get to their flight. Their flight that was supposed to depart in fifteen minutes. They weren’t exactly rushing their walk. It was like an up-tempo jog.
He hadn’t even realized when all those people around him got there or even how, but suddenly he was surrounded by yelling and camera flashes. He had gotten used to it pretty early on in his career, but it was just too early today.
They reached the gate. All the other passengers on the flight were already gone, possibly waiting for the two of them to arrive so the plane could take off. Tom felt a slight touch of guilt in his stomach. All these people just wanted to get on with their flight, but because of him and Harrison, but mostly him, they had to wait even longer than what usually a person has to wait during preparation for a take-off.
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You sat down in your seat. Thankfully it was next to the window. The only problem would be now if you had to go to the toilet, you would have to get past the other two passengers that would sit next to you. Whoever it was, they hadn’t arrived yet. You looked out of the window, down at the grey asphalt ground where people were still streaming into the plane, up the stairs to the entrances at both ends.
You could feel movement next to you and it made you look up. A nice looking lady stood next to the row of your seat. Next to her stood a boy that looked to be around the age of six.
“Good Morning,” she said. You repeated the words and looked out the window again. It was around eleven… in the morning? The sun was out and shining bright, at least you hoped so. It was a cloudy day, giving the surroundings that grey and gloomy atmosphere. The one that made everything look a bit sleepy. In the distance, you could make out the residue of the mist.
“Good morning, ladies and gentleman.” the voice of a stewardess sounded over the intercom. “We shall be departing soon.” You looked at your phone to check the time. It was already ten minutes past the original departure time. You wondered what was taking so long. All the passengers seemed to be seated. But then, you saw movement outside. Two guys were walking to the back of the plane. Around them a handful of security guards. You tried to get a better look at the two figures. Could it be them? As they neared the plane you almost screamed. Their faces were mostly screened by their caps, but you were pretty sure that it was them. You watched as the two men were lead to the back entrance. The closer to the plane they got, the worse angle it was for you to see it.
When it was not possible anymore for you to catch a glimpse of them, you unlocked your phone and turned off the airplane mode. You started writing your text to Maze:
OMFG!
They are here!
Tom & Haz are on my flight!
I’m gonna die
Ok g2g
I’ll call you when I get there
You send the messages as quickly as you could and then turned airplane mode back on. A thought of your friends’ reaction zoomed by in your mind. It was probably cruel of you to send them in a moment she couldn’t reply and then make her wait eight hours for more information.
You could hear footsteps behind you. Only a few rows away. They were there. You had to fight the urge of just turning around in your seat and screaming. You took a few deep breaths. The mother next to you noticed it.
“Nervous, dear?” You looked at her. She was holding her son’s hand. The kid’s eyes also were directed at you. He looked excited, but also a bit scared.
“Not exactly, no.” You told the woman. She nodded, unconvinced. Yes, you were nervous, but not because of the flight. And what were you supposed to say to the stranger? Oh, see those hot guys a few rows from us, yeah those two. I’m kind of in love with one of them, even though he doesn’t even know I exist. No, not the best way to start off an eight-hour flight.
The voice of the flight attendant boomed over the plane again: “Ready for departure. Please turn off all devices. May I have your attention for a moment as my colleagues demonstrate the safety features of this aircraft.” You listened but none of the words actually came through. Your mind was in complete overdrive. The idea of Tom and Harrison just sitting a few feet away from you made your hands shake. You could feel your eyes begin to sting because for a moment there, you forgot how to blink. You were frozen. Only snapping back on when a flight attendant walked up to you: “Are you alright, miss?”
“Huh? Yes, yed. Everything’s fine.” you laughed nervously. Everything was so far from okay. You tried to keep calm. You didn’t want them to think you were a lunatic. The man’s eyes lowered to your backpack.
“I’m sorry, miss, but I must take your backpack into the overhead compartment.”
“What? But it’s small. It fits under my seat.” You had stuff in there that you needed through the flight and you had no exact pleasure in walking back and forth any time you wanted something.
“I’m sorry,” he replied, “But only handbags and laptop cases. It’s a regulation.” You sighed as you took out your book and headphones from your backpack and then handed it over to the man. He smiled apologetically and walked away to put it in an overhead compartment. Most of them were already filled to the brim, so you watched him walk to the back of the plane. That’s where they were. The flight attendant put your backpack in an overhead compartment that was a row or four behind you. You turned back around to face the chair in front of you and sank deep in your seat as the plane started to move.
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Tom sat down in his seat next to Harrison. It was the last row of the plane. A few people looked at them, slightly annoyed as they had walked in. he didn’t blame them. They had caused an, at least, twenty-minute delay. The whole plane probably hated them.
Even though he had been on a thousand of planes and knew the safety features by heart now, he still watched the three flight attendants show how to fasten the seatbelts and the locations of the emergency exits. He heard Harrison laugh.
“What?” He turned to look at his best friend, who was apparently laughing at him.
“You’re doing it again, mate.” Harrison laughed even louder, causing a few people to turn around and give them killer looks. Tom had not even realized what he was doing. Unconsciously, his hands went along with the movements he saw in front of him. He had heard those instructions so many times. He had seen air hostesses and hosts perform the little routine over and over again in the last few years. Sometimes there was some variety in it, but it was always the same basics. After some time he had quickly learned most of the things that were told and just for fun he would go along. Harrison had caught him a few times before doing it unconsciously, just like now.
“Oh, shut up,” Tom said. Harrison started laughing even more at his weak response. This was gonna be a great flight. A flight attendant was walking in their direction. Tom thought that maybe he would tell Harrison to shut up, but nothing of that came true. He was just putting a backpack in the head compartment above.
Then the plane started to move, indicating that in a few minutes they would be hundreds of miles in the air. Tom put on his headphones and picked a playlist he could fall asleep easily too.
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This sucked. You had taken out your headphones and book, but now you just wanted to sleep. But with everything going on around you, it was almost impossible. Yes, you had sleeping pills but those were still in your backpack. The backpack that you would have to get up for, walk through that small aisle and then stand in front of some random person’s seat while you tried to get your carry-on that most likely was jammed in the compartment by the steward, that you could barely get it out.
With a sigh, you excused yourself to the woman and child next to you as you tried to get out of the row of seats. The shimmying down to the passage in the middle wasn’t so bad, with neither you or the other to passengers taking a lot of space. Finally free, you walked to the end of the plane. You thought you had seen the man put your backpack in the last compartment so that is where you were headed.
Before you reached it though, you stopped in your tracks. Your eyes widened and you were pretty sure you were about to faint. You forgot how to breathe.
There he was. Tom Holland. His head rested on his head, his eyes closed. He was probably asleep.He was asleep! You couldn’t go now. What if you woke him up? You just wanted to disappear… a sudden chill went through your body as you thought about the scene from Infinity War. It had been months, but that movie was a traumatic experience.
Still a bit shaky, you walked on, as quietly as possible. When you reached the row he and Harrison were sitting in, you tried not to look at them. Just keep your eyes on the luggage compartment. You opened it with a soft click. You looked inside. Yes, your backpack was in there. Unfortunately, the flight attendant thought it was a good idea to shove it all the way back there. You cursed your short limbs as you stretched out your arms and tried to reach it. No luck.
Harrison had been on his phone and only noticed you standing there when you jumped up to get it. You could feel the strap of your carry on with your fingertips. You looked down, defeated, and were met with his gorgeous blue eyes. He was smiling. Your whole face heated up and immediately looked away. This was too embarrassing.
Suddenly, you could see Tom stirring in his sleep.
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Tom woke up when he felt some sudden movement around him. It felt like his seat was shaking. He stirred in his seat and slowly opened his eyes. For a single moment, he had forgotten where he was. It especially confused him when he was met with the view next to him.
Only inches away from him, stood a girl. Her chest was parallel to his face. A dark zip-up hoodie unzipped, showing a light blue shirt. When it hit him what he was actually looking at, he turned away a bit flustered. Harrison smirked. Tom moved as far as he could to the side of his seat and looked at the girl again. Her arms were stretched out, reaching for something in the compartment above them.
“You need help with that, love?” He asked. She looked down from what she was doing. When their eyes met, he smiled, not knowing what else to do. Seeing him do that, the girl froze. Her arms still holding on to the bottom of the receptacle.
“Uhm, yes, if you don’t mind.” She finally huffed out. Tom undid his seatbelt and got up. The girl moved aside so he could stand next to her and take out the bag for her. “It’s the uhm, the black one. In the back.” She said. Tom looked inside the compartment and indeed saw a black backpack shoved all the way back. It was the backpack he saw the flight attendant put in there before he dozed off.
“There you go, darling.” he pulled it out and handed it to her. She smiled sheepishly.
“Thank you.” It looked like she wanted to say something more. Instead, her cheeks turned even more pink and she turned around. Tom watched her get back to her own seat. When she looked back at him, he quickly sat down, embarrassed he was caught.
“She was kind of cute, wasn’t she, mate?.” Harrison commented.
“Yeah, she was.”
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You sat back down. Your arms were still clinging onto your backpack. Your mind was blanking and at the same time you couldn’t concentrate on a single thought. So much was going on.
That actually happened. Tom Holland helped you with your luggage and then you actually caught him staring at you. You played the moment over and over in your mind. You were walking back to your seat. Asked the woman in seat A is you could pass her and her son. While they were moving their things around so you could pass through, you could feel someone looking at you. You turned in the direction from where the feeling was coming from. Tom was still standing there, where you had thanked him. When he saw you looking at him, he immediately turned away and sat down. His body language screamed embarrassment. You could see that from the distance between you.
Now you were back in your seat. Your whole body warm and a bit shaky. With trembling hands, you opened your backpack and pulled out the strip of sleeping pills. You weren’t sure if it was actually a good idea to take them now, but you needed some sleep. Right when you were about to pop out a pill from the packaging, you remembered an article that said that it could be dangerous to take pills on a flight. Something to do with disorientation during crises. With a small groan, you left the pill packaging undamaged and dropped it back into the dark void of your backpack. This was going to be a long flight.
Still wanting to sleep, you leaned yourself against the wall of the plane. Using your backpack as a last minute pillow you put on your headphones, pulled up the hood of your sweater and tried to fall asleep.
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Tom tried to go to sleep again, but it didn’t work. The girl had left a bigger impression on him than he had expected. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. He wished he had said something more to her. Or maybe just wished he hadn’t looked away so soon when she caught his glance. He wanted to see her again.
He got up, Harrison didn’t even notice him moving. There went all the minutes in which Tom tried to come up with an excuse for his friend. He sighed and walked to the row he thought he had seen her walk back to. He walked up to the row. A woman, probably around her 30’s was sitting in the aisle seat. Next to her a young boy. The girl Tom was so desperate to see sat in the seat next to the window. He couldn’t see her face. It was concealed by the hood of her sweatshirt. She was leaning against the backpack he had handed her. From the way she was sitting faced away from the rest of the plane, Tom assumed she had managed to do what he wanted to: sleep.
The passengers next to her hadn’t noticed him yet. The woman was reading a book while the boy was watching a movie on his iPad. Maybe they were traveling with her. He decided to take a shot.
“Hi, excuse me,” he caught the woman’s attention. She looked up from her book and so did her son. He looked Tom up and down and then his eyes widened when he turned back to his small screen. Then back at Tom. Tom looked at what the boy had been watching before. He had to hold in the laugh as he realized it was Spider-Man: Homecoming.
“You’re Spider-Man!” He yelled out excitedly. A few people looked around confused, but Tom decided to ignore them. He smiled at the boy. In his American accent, he whispered: “Yeah, but would you keep it down. People aren’t really supposed to know.”
“Right, sorry.” the boy giggled. His mother smiled and turned her attention from her son to Tom: “You were saying.” she smiled sweetly. For a moment Tom had forgotten what had brought him there, being too excited to meet a fan. Then he saw the girl near the window stirr in her sleep and it brought him back.
“Oh, yes,” he cleared his throat, “Do you know her?”
“Sorry, no.” She looked over at the girl, “We just happen the share the seats. Do you want to talk to her?” The woman was ready to get up. Tom stopped her immediately. Talking not too loudly so he wouldn’t wake her up. “No, no, that’s okay. Let her sleep. I’ll, uh, I’ll catch up with her when we land.” he smiled and walked away, in the direction of his own seat. He didn’t dare to turn around. Too embarrassed about what had just happened. It was strange. He normally never got nervous or awkward like that around people. But this girl, she was something else. She made him a mess… And he didn’t even know her name!
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You woke up at the touch of a small tap on your shoulder. You wanted to shake it off, pretend it wasn’t happening. But it continued. Then you heard a hiss: “Luke, stop that!” It was the woman sitting next to you, telling her son off for waking you up.
Still a bit drowsy you turned around to face the two. The boy stopped moving, probably a bit scared of how you would react. The mother seemed to think the same.
“I’m so sorry sweety. He just didn’t want to listen.”
“It’s okay.” You rubbed your eyes. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know, but we’re already descending..” And as if on cue, your ears popped and the horrible pain shot through your head. No matter how many times you flew, it always hurt and you hated it. But it was also a good sign. You were already landing. You managed to sleep through the biggest part of the flight.
“Mommy, do you think I can get a picture with him?” The sound of the boy’s voice sounded through the pain. You knew it wasn’t any of your business, but you were curious what your neighbors were talking about. The mother sighed.
“I told you, Lukey, you will have to ask him. I’m sure if you do, he will be glad to take a picture.” The boy clearly didn’t seem to be happy with his mother’s answer. Suddenly he turned to you. You were a bit startled by the action.
“Do you think he will go on a picture with me?”
“Uhm, I don’t know who you’re talking about,” you said apologetically. To the boy as well as the mother.
“Spider-Man of course.” He whisper-yelled enthusiastically. You were confused. “You know him right?”
“I do?”
“Yeah, he was here, before. He was looking for you.”
“He was?” You looked at the kid’s mother who just raised her shoulders. Could it be true? Was Tom Holland actually looking for you? No, don’t get too excited. You tried not to raise your expectations too high. Maybe something had fallen out of your backpack and he just wanted to give it back. But nothing fell out, though.
The boy, Luke, was still looking at you, awaiting an answer to his question. You didn’t know what to say. The kid truly believed Tom was Spider-Man. Well, he was, but…
“I don’t know him that well. But I’m sure that he would love to take a picture.”
“I knew it. See, mom!” he turned around to his mother, who was reading a book now. She just nodded. You had the feeling that this conversation had happened before during the flight.
The voice of a flight attendant boomed over you: “Ladies and gentlemen, we shall be arriving at JFK airport shortly. Local time is 3:12 pm and the temperature is 69 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 degrees Celsius. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign.” Then the voice-over went quiet again.
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Tom was excited to be back in America. It felt like ages since he had been to the country of Freedom. Especially in New York. Maybe this time he could finally go to the Empire State Building…
“Please check around your seat for any personal belonging you may have brought on board with you and please use caution when opening the overhead bins, as heavy articles may have shifted around during the flight.” They had almost landed and Tom barely even noticed the descending of the plane. Had he really been so occupied by that girl? This was crazy, he knew it. He barely knew her, no he didn’t know her. Literally, the only thing he knew about her was that she had a backpack. He had to get over this. She could be lesbian as far as he knew. Then he would never have a chance. Oh, so now I want a chance with her? He was so confused by his own thoughts.
Or what if, actually, she was just a horrible human being? That’s the thing about strangers, you can both smile at each other, but in the end, you don’t know who they are. And he couldn’t go up to her and ask: “Hi, I was just wondering, have you ever kicked a dog?”
“Hey, you alright, mate?” Harrison bumped him in the shoulder. It was like a small awake call. “You’ve been staring at the chair for a while.”
“I have?” Tom blinked a few times to help his dried out eyes. How long had he been staring in front of himself?
“Yeah. You look a bit tense.” Harrison glanced at him with worry.
“Nah, I’m fine.” The plane suddenly hit the ground, making everything shake a little. “Got lost in a thought, I guess.”
“That’s a first,” Harrison scoffed. Tom punched him in the arm, adding a “You prick.” behind it. The two of them laughed a little before the seat belt sign vanished from the small panels above them, giving them and everyone else the sign they were good to go. Tom quickly got up and pulled his and Harrisons bags. He wanted to be ready to leave before everyone else started to walk around. Being in the last row, meant that they had easy access to the exit in the back.
Tom sat back down, backpack in hand. He looked like all the people around him did what he had just done, just a bit slower. He had almost forgotten about the girl, almost. A minute later, when the doors were opened from the outside, people started to hustle their way over to the nearest exit. The girl was walking to their side. Tom wanted to move but the sight of her made his whole body freeze. She was walking slowly, through the crowd of tired people. Her hoody was looked so big on her it was, Tom thought she looked adorable. But a small punch of anxiety hit him. That sweater wasn’t her size. What if it was her boyfriends? Of course, I girl like that would never be single. He was so stupid to think otherwise. He wanted to slam his head in the chair in front of him.
“Tom, get up!” Harrison pushed him. Tom got up, still a bit paralyzed by the girl that had just passed him. He had just noticed the small smile she gave him before disappearing into the back of the plane and walking out.
The man standing in the aisle in front of them, let him pass. Tom thanked him and he followed the people in front. Not like he had much choice. The stewardess standing next to the door smiled brightly at Tom. He noticed that her smile was much wider towards him than the rest of the passengers. He just responded with an awkward smile and kept on walking. The moment he stepped outside, the hard cold wind blew in his face. From the top of the stairs, he could see the girl walking by the wing of the plane, like the rest of the passengers. Tom’s legs again failed to move. Only when Harrison almost pushed him down did he start to walk again.
“Honestly, what is the matter with you today?” he asked once their feet touched the solid ground.
“Nothing,” Tom glanced to the front of the people, where he could see her. She had taken her hood off, so her hair blew in every possible direction. Harrison apparently had followed his gaze.
“Is it that girl from earlier?” he chuckled lightly.
“What? No!” Tom rolled his eyes.
“So, I can assume it is.” he looked at her again. “You should go and talk to her later.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not doing that!” His hands were shaking in his pockets.
“Yes, you are. As your assistant and wingman, I am making you.” Harrison grabbed Tom by the shoulder and started to push him in the direction of the girl. Tom groaned and tried to get himself out of his friend’s grip.
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You had been pretty quick with getting out of the plane, so you also managed to get by the control without a long of a wait. That, however, compensated when you got the luggage belt. It had already been ten minutes since you got to the conveyor belt and it still had not started to move. You were one of the first people of your flight to get there, so you chose yourself a nice spot at the beginning of the line. Slowly it started to fill up with people you recognized from the flight. As nonchalantly as possible, you tried to look around, for that one specific head or brown curls. You hadn’t seen him though.
It would have been weird if he was here, you thought too. You had already been surprised that he was taking a normal flight, and not some fancy jet like any other big celebrity.
The conveyor started to move, thankfully. Bags poured out onto the belt. All different shapes and sizes, but most of them still in the range of black and grey. Sometimes there would be a red one or an even a suitcase with some nice print on it, but yeah, mostly just black.
Then you saw the big, lime green suitcase of yours. You walked up to the conveyor and grabbed the handle on top. For a moment you were scared that you wouldn’t be able to pick it up and it would drag you along. But you managed. With a groan, you pulled it off and put it on its side, wheels on the ground. You started to push it forward when you heard fast footsteps behind you and a: “hey, wait!”
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After their passport check, Tom said to Harrison that he had to go to the toilet. He didn’t really, but he hoped that if he stayed there long enough, maybe the girl would have already left and he wouldn’t have to be forced by his best friend to talk to her.
If only people could see him now, standing in front of a sink in a public bathroom, hiding from - basically - a beautiful girl. The last time he was this nervous to talk to someone was probably when he was twelve. This was pathetic.
Before Harrison would walk in and check up on him, Tom splashed some water in his face and then walked out. His friend had been on his phone. Next to him was a luggage cart that he had probably picked up while waiting.
“You took your time, mate. Okay, let’s go.” He pushed the cart towards Tom. he grabbed it by the handle and continued pushing it in the way where the conveyor belts were located. When they got there, the belt was already running. Tom looked at it for his own bag, but after half a minute he remembered that he had a different suitcase than normally. He had taken Haz’ horrible green one. He couldn’t see it on the belt. Maybe it hadn’t come out yet. Then he saw a blur of green neon on the other side. He ticked Harrison on the arm. He wasn’t really thinking, his mind completely blank. He was just looking at who it was that was currently rolling away with his things. It was the girl!
Harrison finally looked up from his phone. But Tom, was still mindlessly slapping him on the arm. His eyes wide and his mouth almost agape.
“You absolute idiot. Go!” But Tom still didn’t move. “Before she runs off with your stuff.” that should have done it, but it didn’t. Tom could hear Harrison groan as he threw his backpack on the cart that Tom was still holding on to with one hand. Before he knew it, his best friend was already almost behind the girl. He heard him say: “Hey, wait!” The girl turned around. This was the sign for Tom to move before Harrison could say something to her that would make Tom want to get snapped into dust by Thanos.
As he neared the two, the girl watched him with a horrified face. He didn’t know what to think of it.
________________________________________
You turned around. The person behind you was much taller so you had to look up. You were immediately met with a pair of beautifully piercing blue eyes. More steps could be heard behind the gorgeous blonde and you looked in that direction. You almost fainted right there. There he was. Tom Holland walking to you. A luggage cart in front of him. Even in a simple white shirt, he still looked hot as hell.
You felt your eyes widen and your cheeks heat up as the two boys looked at you. Tom reached the place where Harrison was standing, only one step further away from you.
“Hi, sorry love, but I think you got my friends suitcase,” Harrison said, pointing at the luggage next to you. You looked down. A bit confused. Did you have Tom Holland’s suitcase in your hands? The urge to just run away was really big. But no, you had to control yourself. You didn’t want to get kicked down by a bunch security guards.
“What? No. I don’t think so. This is mine.” You laughed nervously. Your hand gripped the handlebar tighter.
“You sure about that, love?” Harrison raised an eyebrow. You looked at him, at Tom (who was still standing behind his friend), at your suitcase, then back between the two men in front of you.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Unless your friend also has a neon green suitcase with a neon blue name tag with my name on it”
________________________________________
The girl showed them the name tag attached to the suitcase. On the small piece of paper inside of it, Tom could read her name: (Y/F/N). Next to it was her number and email address. He had an inner battle with himself. Should he ignore it or remember it? His second thought was to kill Harrison after the girl would walk away. He knew he shouldn’t have walked up to her.
“I’m so sorry. We’re gonna leave now.” Tom pulled Harrison by the sleeve of his t-shirt. Away from the poor girl who still looked startled at the exchange she just had with them. His friend wanted to object, but she was quicker.
“Wait!” Tom turned around at the sound of her voice. He saw her glance to the side for a second and smile, then she asked: “Do you mind taking a picture?” So she knew who he was. Just great.
“Uhm, no of course not.”
“Great.” She smiled. Then she looked back in the direction Tom saw her look at before. “Hey, Luke.” A lot of emotions had gone through Tom in those five short seconds. At first, he was excited. He wanted to hug her. Try to do without making it look so creepy as it sounded. Then, when she said that name his heart sunk. Was Luke her boyfriend? Would he have to stand next to them? It hurt to think about it. Then all that sadness disappeared when he saw who Luke actually was. It was that boy sitting next to (Y/N) on the plane.
The boy was running towards them as fast as his short legs could manage while he was still holding on to his mother’s hand. He looked so excited.
“Hi, Luke,” Tom said in his American accent. “Nice to meet you.” He was still holding his mom’s hand. The woman smiled nicely at Tom and then lowered herself to look at her son.
“Go on, ask him.” She whispered. Luke turned back to Tom and very softly asked: “Could I take a picture with you?”
“Of course.” Tom got to his knees too as his mom took out her phone to take the picture. Right before she did, Harrison interrupted. “Sorry, I see our things. I’ll go get them.” Tom’s legs were shaking from the position he was in. He gave Harrison a look that this wasn’t really the time.
“Okay. Go.”
“Right,” he wanted to take a step, but took one backward instead, “Do you have a pen, maybe?”
“I don’t know. Maybe in my backpack.” Harrison nodded and walked away to get the suitcases. Tom apologized to the boy and his mother. Then with a big smile, they took the picture. The mom wanted to walk away again.
“Do you know my Spider-Man move?” He asked Luke. the boy nodded and moved around quickly, holding his arm forward and pretending to press the web-shooter. Tom did the same and the boy’s mom took another picture.
“Thank you so much.” She said.
“No problem.” Tom smiled and got up. “Always a pleasure to meet fan.” He wanted to do a high-five with the boy, but to his surprise, Luke went on doing the whole Peter and Ned’s handshake. Like an instinct, Tom managed to follow along. He had practiced it so much with Jacob it was easy, but the boy went much faster and he had never expected him to do it. “A big fan, I see.”
“Thank you, Spider-Man.” the boy said went back to his. But he didn’t grab her hand like she had expected him to do, instead, he almost immediately walked away again, towards (Y/N). She looked as confused as the mother.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.” she smiled.
“But you’re friends with Spider-Man. That’s still cool.” Tom furrowed his eyebrows and smirked when he shared a look with her. She wanted to say something to Luke but he already walked away with his mom.
“So, we’re friends?” Tom commented, back in his normal voice, once the two were far enough.
“Uhm, last time I heard, Luke said I was friends with Spider-Man.”
“But, love, I am Spider-Man.” Now that he was finally talking to her properly, all the nerves seemed to have gone away. He had not suspected it to be so easy to talk to her.
________________________________________
On the inside, you were freaking out. You didn’t know how you managed to talk to Tom so casually. Or how you managed to stay on two feet when he called you “love”.
“Yeah, but it’s not the same, is it?” you crossed your arms, trying to look a bit unimpressed. You had no idea if it actually worked. But if you had your arms crossed at least, he wouldn’t be able to see how much your hands were shaking.
“How come?” He had taken a few steps towards you and put his hands in his pockets. The fact that he was just standing there, talking to you made you weak at the knees and now you were expected to answer him. You were done for. Fortunately, Harrison walked back with their suitcases on the cart. One of which, was indeed, just like yours.
________________________________________
“We should probably go, mate. People are waiting for us.” He patted him on the shoulder. Tom knew this was a sign for just ask her, dammit! but he couldn’t do it.
“It was really nice to meet you, both of you.” she looked at him and Harrison.
“Yeah, you too.” he took one hand out of his pockets, but not really sure why. Now he had no idea what to do with his hand. “Uhm, really nice.” Tom could practically feel the eye roll Harrison was giving him in his guts. He just hoped (Y/N) didn’t see it.
“Would you like a picture?” Harrison asked. Tom turned around to his friend and looked at him to make sure he was serious. What was he thinking?
“No, no. I’m fine. Meeting you guys is already more than I can ask for.” she said blushingly.
“C’mon I know you what a got shot of Tommo here. It’s the least he can do after we basically harassed you back there.” Harrison threw his arm over Tom, who just wanted to become one with the ground and melt from embarrassment. He appreciated what Harrison tried to do here, but this wasn’t really the best scenario.
“Harrison, piss off,” he said through gritted teeth. “I want to remind you, that you were the one that went up to her. I didn’t do anything.”
“And that’s why I will be the one taking the picture.” He let go of Tom’s shoulder and walked to (Y/N). She was holding her phone in her hand. A bit unsure, she handed him the phone. Harrison looked at it and smiled: “Nice cover.” She just smiled. Then Harrison walked back to where he was previously. In that short moment, he gave Tom another look. GO! Do not screw this up!
Tom answered with a look of You know I will! as he walked over to her. He felt like he shouldn’t be looking at her. So, looking at the ground he said: “I’m sorry.” It wasn’t the only sound he heard, though. Because at the exact same moment, she had said the exact same thing. He didn’t understand what she was sorry for, but it did feel a bit reassuring.
With a big smile on his face, he draped his arm around her. He could feel her eyes on him, so he returned the look. (Y/N) looked away, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You know what, that green thing is ruining the whole composition.” Harrison jogged over and wheeled her suitcase over to his side. She had put her backpack on top of it, so when he pushed a bit too far it was on the verge of falling to the ground. At the last minute, Harrison caught it and put it on top of the cart with their own luggage.
“You’ve been spending too much time with Harry, mate.” Tom laughed.
“I’m just trying to take a nice picture,” Harrison replied seriously.
________________________________________
Tom’s arm was around your shoulders this whole time. He could have just let go of you, but he didn’t. It was nice, you had to admit. He was much taller than you, so the height difference made it easy to lean on you a bit. But it wasn’t a lean that put pressure on you. It was comfortable.
“Smile.” Harrison pulled up your phone into the air, making your Iron Man phone case very visible to the boy next to you. You had no idea how many pictures Harrison took, but when he thought it was enough, he turned around and put his arm in the air. He already had the phone on selfie mode. In the screen, you could see he had his tongue stuck out, so you did the same. You went with your standard selfie pose, without thinking, which was a peace sign.
“There you go,” Harrison handed you your phone.
“Thank you. I don’t really know what to say.” Tom took his arm off you and, even though it was a literal weight off your shoulders, you missed it from the moment he let go.
“No problem. The pleasure was all mine, love.” Tom smiled at you and you could feel your heart flutter. Your phone buzzed and you looked down. The notification didn’t really matter to you anymore when you saw the time.
“I think I should get going. I cab is waiting for me and I’m pretty sure a hundred people are waiting for you to walk through that door.” you pointed backward, where the exit of the baggage hall was located.
“Yeah, we should. Well,” Harrison walked up to you with your luggage. You were pretty sure it was yours because the blue tag on the suitcase gave it away. You hadn’t even noticed him walking away and getting your things. “there you go.” Putting your backpack on the same shoulder Tom’s arm had just been, you thanked them once again and slowly, wishing this moment would never end, walked away.
________________________________________
“I can’t believe you didn’t ask her out.” Harrison hit Tom on the back of his head, proving his annoyed tone even more.
“C’mon, I couldn’t ask her out.” Tom tried to defend himself.
“I know, that’s why I did it for you.” Harrison started to push the cart to the exit. Tom stood in his spot, dumb-founded. Had he missed something? Did he have another blackout of overthinking and completely missed how Harrison had asked (Y/N) out in his sake? But no, if he did, she would have said something.
“What are you talking about?” Harrison ignored the question. He kept on walking. Tom looked at the backpack on his back. “Haz, whose backpack is that?” It wasn’t his, it was way too clean. “Harrison!” Tom ran over to his friend. Only stopping when he was in front of him and pushed the cart back into him. “Did you seriously steal her backpack?”
“No. I just gave her mine.”
“So, you stole it. What is wrong with you?” Tom couldn’t believe it. He was friends with an absolute idiot.
“There is nothing wrong with me-”
“Yes, there is. There is something missing in your head and it’s called moral sense. You can’t just switch your backpack with hers.”
“Well, she has your number.” Harrison pushed the cart forward with a little more force, giving Tom no other choice but to jump to the side to not get driven over.
“No, she doesn’t.” They were now walking to the exit. Around the corner, they could hear the loud voices of the paparazzi and fans. He didn’t want to have this conversation around all these people. “This is not over Harrison!”
________________________________________
You walked out to the greeting hall where literally hundreds of people were waiting. You knew they were all here for Tom. It was already very loud and you could only imagine how much louder it would get once he was there.
You made your way through the crowd. Soon after you saw a man in his forties hold a sign up with your name on it.
“I am so sorry.” You said when you got near him.
“Problems with the conveyor?” He asked with a low voice. You smiled at the thought of what had actually happened: “Yeah, you could say so.” The man looked a bit confused at you, but you ignored it. He then told you to follow him to the car. He had offered to pull the suitcase for you.
“No, thank you.” you declined, not even sure why.
At the car, you finally had to let go of your trusty green luggage. The driver put it in the trunk and then opened the backseat door for you. He got into the car after you. You told him what address to go to and sunk back into your seat. Now finally having a little moment to comprehend everything that had happened. You met Tom Holland. You met Harrison Osterfield. They talked to you. Took pictures with you. Tom called you “love”… it was all getting a bit too much.
The silence in the car was getting a bit unbearable. Being too awkward to ask the driver if he could turn on the radio, you reached out for your backpack on the seat next to you and that is when you noticed it. There was something wrong about it. The backpack was dirtier than you remembered, more worn down. You picked it up and put it on your lap to take a closer look. It was also lighter.
Yeah, this wasn’t your backpack. Just like yours, it was a black Eastpak, but there were small changes in the design, so probably an older model or something. You were freaking out a bit. Now you had no wallet, no ID, no phone charger! This was not good. You were thankful that at least you kept your credit card in your phone case so you could pay the driver.
But if this wasn’t yours, who did this backpack belong to? You tried to think when there was a possibility that they could have been switched. You only let go of it twice today. The first time when on the plane, when Tom gave it to you. But then it was still your backpack. All your things were still in there.
The second time was when Harrison took it away to take the picture. You gasped. The driver looked in the mirror at you. This was their backpack! Tom or Harrison. You were freaking out now. Why would Harrison give you his or Tom’s backpack? The whole situation was getting too weird for you.
Then you noticed the front pocket of the pack was open. What if you lost something on the way to the car. You checked if anything was in there, so you could put it in the other part of the backpack. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything in it except for a piece of paper. You pulled it out. For some reason, your name was written on it. Did this give you the right to read it? You hoped so because that’s what you did. With slightly shaking hands, you unfolded the paper. In small scribbles there was written:
If you’re reading this, it means that poor Tom failed at asking you out himself. You forgot how to breathe for a solid minute after that. Continue reading the message, you had to keep reminding yourself: in, out, in, out.
You have to excuse his incapable ass. The point is, he really likes you. Sorry for hijacking your backpack. You’ll get it back if you call him:
You looked in disbelief the small row of numbers. You were staring at Tom Holland’s number. How on earth did you come to this point in your life? There was one more thing written on the paper. Even smaller than the other words. You had to be honest, it was impressive how he had managed to cram everything up on this small piece of paper.
I hope you can manage to forgive me after your date.
H.