My Brother's Best Friend

t h i r t y - f o u r

You had gotten back home in London about a week ago, knowing very well Tom wasn't going to be in town for a while. Since he was filming for his upcoming movie Uncharted.

You were okay, partially empty as if something was missing. You knew exactly what that something, or better someone was.

Back in Los Angeles, Shawn had done a great job at making you forget about this now missing someone in your life. But now here in London, it was difficult.

But the most important thing was, you were getting better. Spending time with your family and friends helped a lot in that.
-

You got up in the morning, made breakfast, got ready and talked with Zack about some possible future projects.

When done you wanted to relax a little but before going to pick up Paddy. You had promised to hang out with him today.

Just a little before you were planning on leaving, someone rang your doorbell. You weren't expecting anyone but without thinking much of it, you went to open the door.

"Fuck no." you scoffed, going to close the door again after seeing who it was but they stopped it from closing with their one foot.

"Y/n, please." Emily pleaded. "I know, I'm probably the last person you want to see right now but I really need to talk to you." she didn't get any response from you, the door blocking the two of you from seeing each other but not fully closed due to her foot.

"Please." she repeated. "It's about what really happened, the truth."

You didn't want to hear any of it, not even a little. But it didn't seem like she was going to give up any time soon.

You hesitantly slowly started opening the door and stepped aside for her to come in.

The two of you were now in the living room, you were sitting on your sofa with your arms crossed as you waited for her to speak while she was sitting on the other end.

"Y/n, I'm sorry-" she started but you stopped her, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

"I don't want your apology, Emily. Just tell me the truth and go." you snapped and she nodded slowly, understanding.

"Tom didn't cheat." she said and you chuckled sarcastically.

"Sure."

"I threatened him, Y/n." she said and your head snapped towards her.

"What do you mean?" you asked.

"I found you guys' contract." she said and you frowned, confused. "For the fake dating." she explained.

God, you had almost forgotten about how everything had even started in the first place.

"I made a photo of it." she revealed. "I told him I wouldn't publish in exchange for a kiss. I hid a camera in the room we were in and filmed everything." she admitted. "Later, I cut out the part with the kiss and sent it to you." said and you were starting to bream with tears.

"Why would you do that? W- what have I ever done to you?" you asked, your tears falling without you wanting. "I- I trusted you."

"I know and I'm sorry." she said and you might have seen tears in her eyes, filled with guilt. "I was just so fucking jealous of you, and I let it take me over and-" she explained, her voice strained. "I'm so deeply sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix it."

"I know but-" she took a deep breath, redeeming herself. "I just had to tell you." she said. "Tom loves you and only you, Y/n, I know that now. He didn't want to do it but he still did, for you. He did it for your sake." she explained.

"God, I don't even think he thought about himself for a second. All he probably thought about was you." she said and you were sobbing by now.

"Fuck." you cursed, trying to wipe your tears away.

"Again, I'm sorry for everything. I regret it all. I hope now that you know the truth, it'll help you guys fix it. I wish the best for Tom." she paused as she turned to meet your eyes for the first time since she's been here.

"And for you." she added. "You were an amazing friend to me before I ruined it all. Thank you." she smiled sadly at you, one single tear escaping her eye.

You didn't respond, you couldn't. You were in shock, overwhelmed with what had just been revealed to you.

"I'm gonna go now." she said and with that she left, closing the door as she did.

That's when you let everything out, not like you could do anything else. Your body just fell apart. You broke down in tears, covering your mouth as an attempt to stop yourself but it didn't help. You couldn't control anything that was happening to you right now.

If you had just let Tom explain. If you had just let him talk, tell you his side of the story. This whole time he had done nothing wrong.

Of course he could have informed you about everything right when it happened instead but that was his only mistake.

A long while later, you had finally managed to get your breathing partially back to normal. Your cheeks were stained with tears and your eyes were red and puffy. 

You reached for your phone sending Paddy a quick text, telling him something had came up but you'd make it up to him.

You had also gotten a video sent to you through instagram, it was from Emily. You tapped on it and you recognized Tom and Emily in the Hollands' house guest room.

You watched the whole scene unfold. How hard Tom thought about it and then hesitantly gave in. How Emily continued to force her lips on his when he tried to pull away. How he made sure the picture of the contract was completely gone. Everything.

You silently started shedding tears again as you watched. It was all your fault. All you had to do was listen to him. But of course you didn't.

Your thumb was now hovering over the phone icon underneath his contact, which you had just unblocked.

You took a deep breath before finally tapping it, the screen going black as you held it up to your ear.

It rang for a little while before going to the voicemail. You didn't expect him to answer, he was rarely to never on his phone when working. And a part of you also didn't want him to, not exactly knowing what to say.

You spoke to the voicemail instead, a little more relaxed since he wasn't hearing you live.

"Hey.." you started, your voice breaking a bit. "Uhm, I know you're busy right now but- I'd like to talk to you." you said. "Maybe when you're back, or uhm- I don't know, whenever you want- and of course only if you want." you added quickly. "And yeah, I hope you're okay...Take care, I lo- I mean yeah take care." you ended the call, breathing heavily.

"I'm such a fucking idiot." you said to yourself as you frustratedly laid back on the sofa.