[✔] The Both of You | Tom x Reader

Ch. 7 | A Kick-Back

TW: Sexual Assault

- Edd suggested that you guys walk to the arcade since it was nearby and you still hadn't seen the whole town yet. He was pointing out everything you didn't see. His favorite cafe, Tom's second favorite bar, the jogging track, and so on. You arrived at the arcade earlier than you expected. But two confusing questions mercilessly lingered on your mind the whole way.

Why did Tord stay home? He would usually be walking beside you and eyeing the people who merely glanced at you. And most importantly.. Did Tom like you? What would you do if he did? A rough tap jerked you out of your thoughts. "Are you just gonna stand there?" Tom asked, his voice was burning with contempt, but he wasn't looking at you. He was looking sideways.

"Do they have DDR?" You asked. Edd and Matt watched you two. "They do," Tom said. The energy he had suddenly changed. You didn't know how, but it sure did. You blinked, then turned and marched proudly into the arcade, hands on your hips. "DDR time!" You cheered, instantly dropping your formal composure and racing around aimlessly until you found the DDR machines. 

"This here?-" You said, waving your hand at the machine and looking at Tom, who caught up pretty quickly. Edd and Matt were nowhere to be found. "-This is magic." Tom snorted. "I prefer the shooting games," he muttered. You dramatically whipped around and placed a finger on his chest. "I challenge you!" You thundered, grabbing and dragging him onto the machine.

In the end, Tom was laying on the floor panting while you were raising your fists in the air triumphantly, a bit out of breath yourself. He wasn't as bad as he made himself up to be. If anything, he was slightly as good as you. "How do you people do this?" Tom asked, sitting up. By now, a crowd had formed. Among them were Edd and Matt, who were smiling from ear to ear.

"Practice makes perfect," you responded, holding out your hand. He took it and dragged himself to his feet. The sudden force unfortunately (or not), caused you to slam face-first into his chest. You stood there awkwardly for a while, breathing in his scent and listening to his heartbeat. It was quite fast, actually. And it wasn't slowing down at all. "U-uh.. Y/N?" Tom stuttered.

"Oh! Sorry.." You shied away from him and placed both your hands on your cheeks. Edd walked forward. "What now?" He asked. Matt stroked his chin, deep in thought. "Again!" You shouted immediately, pointing at Edd. "Your turn!" He rose his hands defensively. "I'm not good at DDR.." He said nervously. "Nonsense! Tom was all 'bleh,' about it.. But he was really good!"

Tom's gaze immediately dropped. "C'mon, pleease?" You clapped your hands together and widened your eyes. Your famous look. Edd bit his lip, quivering slightly, before sighing in defeat. "Fine," he rolled up his sleeves and stepped onto the machine. He looked confident, but he was stuttering his actions nervously. He must've thought he was going to embarrass himself.

But he, like Tom, was pretty decent. But even so, you still managed to beat him. "Why are you so competitive?" Edd panted, slumping against the side of the machine. "I'm not usually competitive, DDR just.. changes me," you responded breathlessly. You and Edd leaned against the machine, catching your breath. When you caught it, you hopped off the machine.

"Again! Matt, wanna try?" You asked, pointing at the tall ginger in the crowd. Matt's eyes widened in shock. "Never! What if my hair gets ruined?" He asked loudly, holding his head. "Please?" You made the same pouty face at him. "Oh, no! Not the face!" He covered his eyes. "Fine, Edd, can we go?" Edd snorted and extended his hand. "Why don't we stay a little longer?" 

You harrumphed dramatically and looked around. "Is there anything good to play here?" You asked. Tom shot forward before Edd could respond. He dragged you into the crowd. "C'mon, I'll show you what real games look like." He ended up dragging you over to some sort of shooting game with zombies in it. "What's this?" You asked, squinting. "My favorite arcade game."

Tom picked up the gun and handed it to you. "Just shoot the zombies," he explained. "Uh, alright." You shut one eye and poked your tongue out in concentration, awkwardly aiming the gun at the screen. Zombies popped up, but you didn't shoot them. Hell, you didn't even know how to shoot! Matt was also in the game for some reason. Maybe his popularity extended to the video game world?

Tom impatiently yanked the gun out of your hands. "Pull the trigger, genius." He rolled his eyes and started spamming the zombies, making them disappear from the screen. Within minutes, he had already won. He dropped the gun in your arms and pointed at the screen. "Round two. Go get 'em, champ." You awkwardly stared at the screen, then at Tom. "I'm not good at these things."

"You probably didn't even know 'these things' existed," Tom snorted. You rolled your eyes and looked at the screen. Okay, just shoot the zombies. You aimlessly spammed the screen the moment you saw a zombie. You had beaten the game a couple of seconds in. Not bad. "See? You're not bad, Y/N." You smiled. "Thanks, Tom." He stared at you for a second before looking away sharply.

"Is there any food here?" You asked. "There's a food court upstairs," he responded. "Great, let's go grab something to eat." Tom blinked, he looked sideways. "Alright, follow me." He led you across the floor and up an escalator to the second story. There were neon signs everywhere, all of food and drinks. This floor was just as crowded as the first one, if not more. 

Tom tugged on your wrist, bringing your attention back to him. "I can get you something to eat. Whaddaya want?" You tapped your chin in thought. "Get me the finest french fries, my good sir." He looked over his shoulder, inspecting the signs for a decent-looking fast-food place. "Alright, stay here." He turned and disappeared into the crowd to retrieve your fries.

You stood there awkwardly for a while, tapping your chin, gazing at your phone, and sighing. Suddenly, a rough hand slid onto your shoulder. "Hey, Y/N was it?" You whipped around. "Eduardo? What are you doing here?" This guy looked like the older version of Edd. You wouldn't let that little fact go because it was kinda freaky. He was also Edd's neighbor. Wait- how did he know your name?

"Where's Tom?" He asked, completely avoiding your question. "Uh, he's here." Eduardo rolled his eyes. "Where is he?" He repeated. You looked into the crowd anxiously. Tom, come back. "He's here." Eduardo looked around before dragging you off to a bathroom. Not here, not now. You squirmed desperately. "Lemme go! I don't wanna- Please don't-!" You protested.

Despite all of that, he still touched you. Touched you in ways that you didn't even know were possible. You were very new to that.. sort of thing. You didn't want Eduardo of all people to take away your innocence, so you kicked him where the sun didn't shine and ran off to find Tom. He, surprisingly, was pretty close; And he looked furious. The moment he saw you, he dropped your fries and pulled you into the tightest hug ever.

Even tighter than Tords hugs. "Are you okay, Y/N? What did he do?" He asked, stuttering slightly. He was trying to contain his anger. Tord did the same thing when he was mad. But how did he know what Eduardo was doing? You stayed silent for a while before dropping the subject. Thomas Ridgewell was hugging you and you were assaulted by some creep.

"He didn't do anything, Tom. I'm fine.. I'm fine." He dug his head into the crook of your neck, mumbling something. You slowly wrapped your arms around the back of his neck. "I'm fine," you repeated. "But you dropped my fries," you added jokingly. He snorted and pulled away from you. "Let's just go home.. Order takeout." You smiled slightly. "Alright." -