Stronger // a Tom Holland Fan-Fiction

Part 10~ Butterflies

**THE NEXT NIGHT**
I told Xavier that I was going to a carnival with some friends from work, not mentioning the fact that they were guys. I show up at Haz and Tom's apartment in a simple, white dress and blue denim jacket. I knock once and am greeted by Harrison. I enter the apartment and am astounded by how clean and sleek it is.

"For two boys living here, this is a pretty clean apartment," I say in awe.

"Men," Harrison corrects me.

I scrunch up my face and shake my head, "boys."

He nods and shrugs admittedly.

"Haz, is—" Tom runs down the stairs, adjusting the sleeve of his jacket, "hey, Corinna."

I smile, "hey."

I check him out for a second and shake my head. I hated this boy the other day and now, I can stand him and am even checking him out. He's literally the least hate-able human being on the planet.

"Tom, can you zip me up, babe?!"

Ah, and this is the most hate-able human being on the planet. She wears a tight and revealing red dress, not a very appropriate dress to wear to a carnival.

"Oh, it's you," she points her head up in disgust upon noticing me.

I roll my eyes, "yes, Winnie. Congratulations for noticing."

She wrinkles her nose and I notice Tom trying to cover the grin on his face while zipping up her dress.

"Shall we get going?" Harrison suggests and we all head out.

Harrison drives and Winnie slides into the backseat with Tom, so I snag shotgun. During the ride, as I glance in the rear view mirror, I can see Winnie glaring at me the whole time. Then she proceeds to cuddle with Tom and nuzzle her head in his shoulder. He doesn't respond to her in any way.

We arrive at the carnival and hop out of the car. We walk towards the games and stop in front of the most carnival game I could think of- the water gun one. I never learnt the name, just that the aim was to keep the water bursting out of your gun on the target and to ensure your stuffed animal reaches the top first.

"Tommy, can you please win me that bear?!" Winnie pouts her lips.

Tom shrugs, "I would but it looks like no one else is playing. Haz?"

"I'm not spending my money on cheap carnival games," Harrison scoffs.

"Haz, you're such a bore," I sigh, "I'll take you on, Tom."

Tom chuckles, "Darling, you want to take me on?"

"You're underestimating me," I smirk. 

He puts his hands up in defeat and we each take a seat. I pull out my purse to pay, but he stops me and insists on paying for me. It's only the two of us playing, the other seats all empty. 

As the announcer begins explaining the aim of the game, I look at him in the eyes, "bring it on, Holland."

"I'll bring nothing and still win," he retorts.

The person in charge of the game begins counting down, "three, two, one, fire away!"

The guns begin to blast water and I bite my lip in concentration.

"Come on, Cor, you got this!" Haz cheers.

Winnie squeals, "come on, baby!"

I don't let anything block out my concentration. I focus and focus and then all of a sudden, Tom begins to tickle me with one of his hands. 

I howl with laughter, "you cheat!"

The guns stop spraying water and I look up to see Tom had won.

"I would've won if you didn't cheat!" I whine.

He chuckles, "maybe you're just bad."

"You suck," I say, slapping him playfully.

Winnie appears jealous by our banter and wraps her arms around Tom's chest, kissing him on the cheek, "well done, Tommy."

He smiles at me and I smile back, "good game."

The rest of the night passes with ease, minus the occasional backlash from Winnie. We eat food, have some laughs and I get to know my coworkers better. We near the end of the night and Winnie decides to run off to the bathroom to reapply her makeup and Harrison decides on some last minute fries, leaving Tom and I alone. We walk towards the balloon dart stand and stop there.

"Why are we here?" I ask.

"Well I admit, I did cheat," he raises an eyebrow, "so I'll win you something in return."

I scoff, "I am capable of winning something on my own, thank you very much!"

He gestures to the game, "be my guest."

I attempt it at first, Tom once again paying, and miss all five shots.

"Oh, man..." I moan. 

Tom then pays again and this time helps me through it. He stands behind me and grabs my right hand, pointing and aiming it accurately. Butterflies different to the ones I get with Xavier. How can I go from hating this boy so much, to feeling nervous around him? We pop all five and I cheer, as I pick out a small rose plush.

"Thank you," I turn to face him.

He blushes, "anytime."

All of a sudden, streaks of white began flashing.

"Paparazzi," Tom groans, "come on!"

He grabs my hand, much to my surprise, and we lead the paparazzi on wild goose chase. The whole thing was completely absurd, Tom and I holding hands, darting through the crowds. I laugh the whole way through. 

As we run, I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket.

It's probably just Xavier. Text him in the car.

Tom and I arrive at his black Audi and we stand behind the boot as I collapse to the floor, dying of laughter.

"That was something," he chuckles.

I pant and lean against the car, "that was the most fun I've had in a while. Thank you."

He flops down next to me and looks up at the sky, "no, thank you. That was the most fun I've had in ages!"

I smile and we sit there in silence, a good silence, and stare up into the night sky. Then Harrison and Winnie ruin the moment as they run towards us. Tom stands up and Winnie runs into his arms, giving me a scowl.

"You guys didn't tell us you came back," Harrison says.

"Pap," Tom shrugs.

Harrison nods understandingly and we hop into the car. Halfway through the ride, I open my phone to text Xavier but instead see that my mum left me a voicemail. I haven't talked to her in a while, so naturally, I begin to panic and when I hear the voicemail, I realize that it's right of me to.

"Corinna, it's me. We haven't spoken in a while, but now is a better time than ever. You need to break up with Xavier. We found the missing piece of your brother's suicide note and well... Xavier is mentioned."