21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

The Next Step

March 1990

"Do you want any more popcorn?" I asked Tom as I stood up from the couch and made my way to the kitchen with the empty bowl in my hand.

We were having a little movie night at his apartment, which we were constantly at. We were rarely at my place, but I didn't mind because Tom's apartment is bigger than mine anyway.

I was wearing thick pajama bottoms, because even though it's spring, it still gets very cold in Evergreen State at night. I recently bought myself slippers, but I accidentally left them at my own apartment.

"Sure," he said from the couch. His arms were sprawled over the back of the grey couch, awaiting for my return.

I popped some more popcorn on the stove top and tossed the hot pieces into the green bowl. I could hear the television from the kitchen, and I tried not to miss any funny moments. I took a handful and shoved it in my mouth before I walked back to the couch. I sat down and leaned against Tom, and he put his arms around me again and pulled me closer. The bowl of popcorn sat on my lap and I occasionally fed him pieces as we watched our rented movie from Hollywood Video, Weekend at Bernies.

I felt Tom playing with my hair when he asked, "are you spending the night tonight?"

I peered down at my watch and noticed how late it was. It was so late, it was tomorrow. I said, "I probably shouldn't. I've got work in the morning."

"So do I," he said.

"I thought Tuesday was your day off?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's Wednesday."

"Oh. Well, I haven't been at my apartment for a while, I should probably spend at least a little time there if I'm paying to live there."

"Maybe you don't have to..." he said, still playing with my hair.

"What do you mean?" I asked, turning to look at him.

Tom dropped the lock of hair that he was fiddling with between his fingers and said, "you should live here, with me... officially. You practically do anyway."

I chuckled until I realized he was serious. I tucked my feet up to the couch as I asked, "are you sure? That's a pretty big step."

"I can't help it, honey. You're that much apart of me now. Besides, I don't think it will be so different," he said with a soft shrug. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of moving in with Tom. I leaned forward to kiss him. He laughed when I pulled away and asked, "so, is that a yes?"

"Of course, you big dope. I'd love to." I felt so giddy and excited about this. My grin spread across my face, I thought my lips might crack. I don't know why I never thought of this before, but it hadn't crossed my mind that we should move in together. I'm glad he offered, because I don't think I would have had the guts to ask myself.

I want to spend as much time with him that I can, before it's too late. Last month, Tom went to El Salvador to look for Marta, Doug's wife with Doug. He got imprisoned and tortured while he was there, and it really did a number on him. He told me what they did, and most of the torture was water related. Now that Tom is back home, his mind is still brought back to that torture he endured whenever he needs to take a shower.

I have developed post traumatic stress from my weeks in captivity so I know that Tom is going through, and he has helped me immensely in my recovery process. I have been helping him, and we have developed a system where we will either shower together or I will be in the bathroom while he showers. Either brushing my teeth, combing my hair, taking a bath, or just reading. Tom feels safe as long as I am in there and we can talk. He took care of me, and now it's my turn to take care of him.

"When is your lease up?" He asked.

"Either this month or next month, it's coming up."

"Take Wednesday off," he said, "I'll help you pack."

"Thank you, I love you."

"I love you too, honey." He kissed me.

I leaned into him gently and playing with his fingers. With his fingers intertwined in mine, I pointed to a sad, lonely wall in his apartment and said, "my mirror can go right there."

"Which one? The big one?" He asked.

"The big one, yeah. And the small one will hang there, across from the window. I think my bookshelf would fit over there by your desk. We can never have too many lamps."

He chuckled softly. "Perfect."

"And we will trade your couch for mine."

"Hey, woah, what's wrong with my couch?" He asked.

"It's just not cute."

"That's it? The aesthetics of my couch don't appease you?" He teased.

"Mine can turn into a bed. And it's red, so that makes it infinity times cooler. And this one smells like Chinese food," I pointed out. I glanced to the side and noticed the white leather couch that he has against the wall that we rarely use. "You can keep that one."

Tom laughed and said, "okay."

"You're not single anymore, Hanson, you're gonna have to say goodbye to the bachelor pad."

"My apartment isn't that bad."

"You can just tell that a guy lives here."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," he chuckled.

"It's not bad... it's just... boring... and dark... and lacks life."

Tom laughed and said, "I will give you free rein to decorate our apartment however you want."

The more I thought about it, the more eager I got to be living with Tom officially. He was right, I was here so often I was basically living there anyway. He's every breath I take. He's my world.  This marked the next step in our relationship, and I couldn't wait to see what was going to come next. I could not imagine my life without him.

I was made for him.

Thanks for reading!! 🥰 sorry it's a short chapter!
Next chapter, Mickey goes on a drug case with Doug!