𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐄 | 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐭

Chapter 52

"I dare you to go into the asbestos room and snort the chemicals."

It was a normal day in the Tommyinnit province. Well, if you exclude the girl who's already gotten them three noise complaints since her arrival. After all, it felt like she had always been here.

Daiyu throws him a devious grin, "You're daring the wrong person because I'd gladly do that without an incentive."

"You're the most—most bothersome person I've ever had the displeasure of meeting."

"I hate you."

"I hate you too—"

And they've been doing that a lot lately, repeatedly saying something untrue until they force themselves to believe it, even if it's supposed to be a joke. Tommy hates himself for treating her like a joke and dancing around how her visit truly makes him feel.

That's too serious for this early in the day, so he discards the thought just as quickly. Daiyu enters the asbestos room.

"Wait, you fucking idiot, don't actually!"

...

So today marks Daiyu's second day in Brighton, and she primarily spent it sleeping.

Tommy decides to be a good friend and wait for her to wake up instead of impatiently smacking her awake with a pillow. Embarrassingly enough, Tommy forgot to restock his fridge and pantry during his cleaning fever, so they need to venture out and go grocery shopping. After she made fun of him for a good half-hour, they agreed to go out the next day—which happens to be today.

That is if only she would wake up. Tommy briefly considered inviting James or Ash to help before ditching the idea. Even with something as trivial as grocery shopping, he still wants to do it with Daiyu.

...

"Welcome back from your hibernation," is the first thing Daiyu hears when she stumbles out of bed. (Maybe she should've slept on the couch instead of the top bunk--"It's not a bunk bed!"). She rubs the tiredness out of her eyes, squinting at the boy sitting at his desk. Although they're not sharing a bed, it feels weird to share a bedroom with someone who's not May.

"Am I in hell yet?" she asked. "Please say yes. I don't want to meet an angel again."

"Angel? Again!?" he exclaims incredulously.

"We don't talk about it."

"Welp, it's time to go grocery shopping." He does jazz hands to lift the mood, but Daiyu groans.

She sits on the stairs, pouting into her hand, "Can't we do that later tonight?"

"Idiot, it is night." He shows his phone's clock to prove his point.

"Oh," she states blankly, "I really did hibernate."

"No, duh. Get ready, and let's go. You can talk to your angel friends later."

"Please no."

...

Tommy's grinning at Daiyu's immense suffering. She's currently bundled in as many layers as she could throw on with an enormous scarf practically swallowing her whole. He says she reminds him of a koala: lazy and slow, while Daiyu remarks he reminds her of a raccoon for obvious reasons.

They gradually approach a Tesco because of her drowsiness and limited mobility.

"How does it feel to be in your very first Tesco?"

"Amazing."

"Endorsed by the Queen herself," he stated, all the while smirking and pushing their cart.

"Interesting. Creative. Inspiring," she said in a monotone voice.

He glares, "I'm not buying you a meal deal with that attitude."

She shrugs indifferently, "I say only good things, and you still attack me."

"It's the way you're saying it!" She doesn't bother to refute his statement. "Hold the cart while I grab the beans." She reluctantly rests one hand on the handle, and it stays there the rest of the time they shop as they make a team effort to push the cart from aisle to aisle. Tommy looks down at their hands side-by-side, and his lips tug into a smile with butterflies filling his stomach.

He stops in front of the snacks. "Anything you want?"

She yawns, rubs her cheek, and mumbles out, "Chocolate."

He softens at that. This might just be the cutest side Daiyu's ever shown him.

"What kind of chocolate?"

Shrugging, she replies, "Whatever you think is good."

He picks out a box of assorted chocolates, and they head to check out. Near the checkout stand, a product catches her attention.

"Can I get one of those egg things?" she asked, but she had to point when he gave her a questioning look.

He chuckles, "A Kinder Egg? What are you, a child?"

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Think your next words carefully, or I'm not getting you a damn Kinder Egg."

Daiyu hesitates before pouting, "Fine." She grabs the egg without another word, and Tommy cackles.

"That's what I thought, bitch."

She threatens, "I'm going to confront that landlord of yours and tell him what a bitch you are."

"You don't scare me," he scoffed.

"You should be."

...

"So when are we going to stream?" Tommy asked as they put away the groceries. Well, Daiyu's mostly standing in the corner drifting off. She's abruptly brought back to reality.

"Uh, whenever you want? I don't care." She attempts to put away the dumplings she picked out, but Tommy grabs them.

"Queen, you can't put cold foods in the pantry," he said in amusement.

She flushes, "Sorry, I'm a bit out of it right now."

He worriedly looks at her from where he's organizing the fridge, "Wanna rest then?"

"No."

"Okay, then." He sounds unsure. "I was thinking of meeting with Wil and the others tomorrow, then stream later. Does that sound good?" She nods, and he smiles warmly. "We can always take things one step at a time, there's no rush."

Daiyu absently murmurs, "It's almost your birthday."

"Yeah, I know, it's going to be awesome! I have a big vlog releasing that day."

"No, you dummy. It's your 18th birthday."

He chuckles at her adamance, "Trust me, I haven't forgotten. I've got my birthday beer ready."

Daiyu facepalms.

Wringing his hands in a nervous fit, he asks, "Would you like to watch it with me?"

"What? The vlog?" Tommy nods. "Like right now?"

He scratches the back of his head, "Yeah, y'know, like an early premiere for the two of us."

She laughs, elated, "Yes, I'd love to."

Tommy has never unpacked groceries so fast.

They don't mention it, but it heavily weighs over them that Daiyu has to leave in two weeks.

...

a/n: going to be a bit busy the next few days, so updates might be slower.

also i forgot tommy's bday is in april so there's going to be a change of plans. be prepared.

love you. thanks for reading this far.