A new beginning - Tommatt

Chapter 7: The question

A/n: EEE!! This chapter was so fun to write for obvious reasons. As you can probably tell by the title, this is a major one!! It's kinda long but this was probably my favorite to write so far! I really hope you enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)

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It was now 8:30 a.m and Tom's worry was growing every single minute that ticked by. Thousands of thoughts and what-if's spiraled through his mind.
"What if he doesn't like me back and I ruin our friendship?"
"What if he was homophobic all along and just pretended to like men?"
"What if I decide I'm not truly in love with him midway through our first date?"
"What if I lose my courage while I'm about to confess to him and end up making a fool of myself?"
"What if he turns out to be a dozen weasels in a human disguise?"
The thoughts overflowed his mind. It almost made him second guess himself, but he tried to remember what he said to his reflection.
As he calmed himself, he heard someone coming down the stairs, it was Edd.
"Hey, Tom." He greeted. "Where were you all of yesterday? You seemed to disappear after you left my room."
"Oh, I accidentally slept all day and now I'm forcing myself to stay up 'till I usually go to bed." He laughed. "More importantly, guess what today is!"
"Uh.. I believe it's Tuesday." Edd guessed, squinting at the calendar to check. Tom sighed.
"Well, yes, but that's not what I'm referring to." He explained. "Today is the day I ask Matt out!"
"Oh yeah!" Edd recalled. "Still doing the same plan we discussed?" Tom nodded. "Mhm!" Right as they got done talking, they heard footsteps coming near the stairs.
"Good luck." Edd whispered to Tom. He replied with a smile as Matt entered the kitchen.
"Matt! Morning, buddy." He cheered. Matt was a tad bit surprised. Even though Tom has been especially kind to him ever since they moved into the new house, this was still a little out of the ordinary. Was he drunk?
"Good morning, Tom." He replied with a smile. Tom quickly tried to think of something to slip in as a hint to his feelings.
"You're looking great today! Did you get a new.." he tried to think of something positive to comment on. He was wearing the same purple hoody, green overcoat, and blue jeans that he wore every day, his ginger hair styled in the same way he's been doing for years. He picked something random.
"..skincare routine?" Matt blushed a bit.
"I did, actually. Thanks for noticing!" He replied. Tom was relived that he said the right thing at the right time. Maybe he did have a chance.
Edd sighed. "Ugh, we're almost out of cola and bacon." He groaned. "Matt, I believe it's your turn to go grocery shopping. I did last time."
"Damnit, I had plans for today.." Matt whispered "But alright.."

Time skip: I know I'm doing a lot of time skips but literally nothing eventful happened, Just what would happen in a usual day and now it's around 5 pm.

Tom was in his room, tuning his bass and getting ready to play it. He turned the knobs, strumming a few chords to make sure it was in tune. As he did so, he heard someone coming upstairs. Based off the fast-paced steps, he could tell it was Matt. He could hear him open up the door to his room which was right next to his. He came up with the perfect idea.
"Maybe since I wasn't able to hint my feelings enough today, I could play a love song. Maybe he'll at least be able to tell I like someone."
He puzzled which song he could choose since he knew multiple songs that would fit what what going for, but he chose one of his favorites. He started strumming, soon followed by lyrics.

(Song: puppy princess by hot freaks, a few altered words to fit the situation.)
"You know me as your goofy, drunk friend
I seem to have this effect on men
And your friends aren't as goofy as I am
I try my best to keep you entertained
Always laughing at the jokes you are saying
I nod my head when you make a point
Oh oh
Kiss me, kiss me with your eyes closed
Whisper that your heart shows
All I want is you, yeah you.
Come on now, hold me, hold me I'm your bunny
Tell me I'm not funny
Tell me I'm legit
'Cause I feel weak, in your hands and your feet
A precious end, I'll never feel your touch"

As Tom sang his heart out, Matt overheard from the room over, taking a break from observing his reflection to listen for a moment. He knew the song, but he couldn't help but notice that Tom changed a few words, possibly to fit his inner thoughts and feelings.
"Does he like someone..?" He pondered. "Nah, he probably just forgot the real words. Back to myself!"
Right after Tom finished strumming the final chords, he let out a sigh of satisfaction. He's never put such strong feelings into a song, but boy did it feel amazing when he did. It felt like a hundred pounds of weight was lifted off his shoulders, in fact, it made him feel less stressed about the situation as a whole. Rather than being nervous, he was more than excited to confess to Matt. He felt like he was on top of the world. He decided to go downstairs since he's been in his room for a long time, around 3 hours.
Once he made it down the stairs, he saw Edd and Matt talking. Right as he got done speaking, Matt looked over. The second their eyes met, Tom instantly lost all the confidence he developed. He forgot how hard it was to even make eye contact with Matt without becoming a flustered mess, he knew confessing would be near impossible.
"Tom! You came at the perfect time!" The ginger beamed. "Edd and I were discussing a movie night, sound good?" Tom tried his best to get himself in line and reply without stumbling over his words.
"Sounds great!" He said in the most chipper tone he could. "Return of the insane zombie pirates from hell 6?"
"Yup!" Matt grinned. "I wonder how long they're gonna keep that series up.."
As the movie started playing, Tom tried to think about how he could imply his feelings one last time before he asks the big question. He had the whole plan executed in his head, he would hint at his love one last time and shortly before he's about to go to bed, he would tell Matt directly and ask him out. It was the perfect plan in his opinion, the only hard part would be executing it.
For his final move before the big moment, he thought he'd do a simple yet charming gesture, leaning on his shoulder and wrapping his arm around him. He was hoping it wasn't too much too soon.
Matt's face went beet red. It wasn't quite noticeable in the dark room with only the dim blue light of the tv as a light source, but he could definitely feel it. It wasn't at all normal for Tom to show physical affection, nor was it normal for him to show any form of affection, but he savored it when he did. The last time he's felt affection like this was over a week or two ago on their first day in the new house.
As soon as they knew it, the movie was over. Edd seemed to be the only one who was actually paying attention most of the time since Tom and Matt were too caught up in each other to focus, but they pretended they were.
"Wow, that was my favorite one yet!" Matt lied.
"Yeah, same here." Edd agreed. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'm gonna go to bed."
"So will I." Matt replied. Tom's heart sunk with mixed emotions of fear, excitement, and nervousness. The time was just about to come, right after Matt finishes his nightly routine Tom would be confessing to him.
"Yeah.. I'll come too.." he eventually added as the three walked upstairs.
Edd got ready first, then Tom, and then finally Matt. Through the whole time he was in the bathroom, Tom sat in his room trying to get himself together.
"You can do this, Tom. You've done so much in life, asking someone out will be a cake walk." He thought. "You've gotten too far into your plan to give up now, you can do this. You can do anything. It'll all be worth it in the end." He kept on repeating these lines in his head along with other motivational affirmations to build his confidence.
as soon as he knew it, he heard the bathroom door open. Matt was finally done. He took multiple deep breaths and waited for a bit before he did what he's been planning to do.
It was finally time for him to tell Matt everything he's been holding back.
He took one last deep breath in and out before knocking on his door. "Come in!" The chipper voice replied.
"Hey, Matt.. can we talk for a moment?" Tom asked as he timidly opened the door. He could feel his cheeks warm up like a stove top.
"Sure thing! Have a seat!" Matt replied, moving over to leave space on his bed for Tom to sit. He slowly sat down on the bed.
"So, you might've noticed that I've been acting.. off today." He said. Matt raised an eyebrow.
"You know.. the song.. what I said this morning.. the thing during the movie.."
Matt quickly remembered. "Ohhh! Yeah, I was a bit curious about that but I didn't think much of it." Tom giggled a bit from his friend, or potential lover's bad memory. He quickly stopped remembering his main goal.
"Well, the truth is.. I.." he looked into Matt's deep multicolored gaze, the patient gleam in his sapphire-chocolate eyes catching him off guard. Trying not to get caught up in his caring eyes, he got back on track.
"I.. like you. Like, I like like you."
Both of their faces were bright red.
"I- could you uhm- repeat that? I've had troubles with my uh- ears lately, hahah." Matt requested. Tom sighed.
"I love you, Matt. I've felt this way for a while but I'm just now accepting it." He explained "I was also wondering if we could go on a date at the restaurant that just opened some time." There was still a tiny discouraging voice in the back of his head chanting "No, Tom! You're straight! You cant be gay!" But he was done letting his hetronormavity get the best of him. He liked men, Matt specifically. There was no more denying it.
"Uhm- you're not drunk or anything, right?" Matt asked. "There's no cameras, this isn't a dream, this is all genuine?"
"Yup. All of this is real." Tom assured him. "I hardly drank at all today, there's no cameras, and trust me when I say this isn't a dream." Matt paused, his face was neon red. Like an explosion, he suddenly let out all his feelings.
"I FEEL THE SAME, TOM!! I'VE LOVED YOU SO MUCH EVER SINCE HIGH SCHOOL AND.. AAH! IS IT OK IF I HUG YOU?!" He bursted. Tom opened his arms.
"Bring it i-" he wasn't even able to finish his sentence before Matt wrapped him in a tight bear hug, the two lovebirds toppling over onto the bed and nearly crying out of joy and laughter. Matt sat upright and caught his breath, wiping a tear from his eye.
"So, when's the date gonna be?" He asked.
"Well.. whatever time would be best for you." Tom responded. Matt stopped to think for a moment.
"Hmm.. would tomorrow at 5:30 pm be good?" He suggested. Tom grinned. It was the biggest, most genuine smile he's had since they moved into the new house.
"That would be perfect." He said. "Welp, I'm gonna let you rest and get some sleep myself. Goodnight, love ya."
Matt's cheeks glowed. He never thought he'd hear those words come out of his mouth. "Love you too."
After Tom left his room, Matt lied right down, his head hitting his pillow with a soft thump. He was so happy that he'd officially be going on a date with his love interest of 10 years. He imagined them doing things like going on dates, holding hands, celebrating Valentine's Day together, and everything couples do in those annoying cheesy romcoms. Though he wasn't sure if they'd be considered a couple just yet, he couldn't wait to do everything with him.