Only You ── TOM HOLLAND

07. Fake Love

— • —

         I am avoiding my family.

         Or more specifically, my mother.

         It wasn't something I wasn't used to. I spent the last 7 years avoiding my mother, you'd think I'd be a pro at it by now. But the task proved to be much harder now that she wasn't trying to avoid me as well, but instead trying to interact with me more.

         She called my phone the following day, which was weird, considering I didn't even know she had my number. I brushed it off though, cutting the conversation short when Isaac came into my office. Then she showed up at my apartment, prompting me to think quickly and say I had a last minute shoot I had to run off to–I really just went to Tom's for the movie night we had planned. Then she called my job, earning Mandy a good scolding, a call I quickly got out of when a client called. She was relentless. The woman who spent years wanting nothing to do with me now wanted to know everything.

         All because I was no longer soulmate-less.

         I hated it.

         I would rather she hate me for who I am, than love me for who I'm with. False love just wasn't something I wanted from my mother, so no matter how much she tried to offer it, I wasn't going to take it. I was sure I stressed it enough, but she still wasn't taking the hint, meaning I now had four missed calls from her, and it's not even one yet.

A knock wounded at my door, distracting me from the very important work I was currently doing–editing the picture of Tom I took the day we made up. Tearing my eyes away from the image of glistening Tom, I was met with a grinning Mandy, her head poking into my office. "Your lunch appointment is here," she beamed, quickly leaving the office upon seeing my confusion.

First of all, I didn't have a lunch appointment. Second of all, are lunch appointments even a thing?

I wasn't confused for much longer as my door opened again, Tom strolling in with a bag in his hand. A smile spread across my lips as plopped himself down in the seat in front of my desk, dropping the bag as he did so. "Nachos, no onions or jalapeños," he recited, pushing the bag closer to me.

"You remembered," I cooed, graciously taking the bag. "Thank you, and good timing." I turned the monitor to face him, his face screwing up in disgust as he saw the image of himself. "How do you feel about this edit?"

"The edit isn't the problem," he scoffed. "Make it black and white like your others, that way my sweat isn't at noticeable. I look like an ape."

I rolled my eyes, turning the monitor away from him. "Sure, sure," I mumbled, saving the photo in color, despite his request to do otherwise. "So, what's up? Slow day?"

He shrugged. "I don't have any plans till tonight, Haz and I are going to see a movie."

I grinned. "How cute. First date?"