Stronger // a Tom Holland Fan-Fiction

Part 11~ Dead to Me

I begin panicking and frantically pressing buttons on my phone to call my mum back. 

"Corinna, are you okay?" Tom asks. 

Haz glances from the driver seat and Winnie doesn't look at all. I don't respond as I press my phone up to my ear and am directed to voicemail. 

"Haz, step on it, I need to get home—back," I shriek. 

"What's wrong?" he asks but still obeys. 

I bite my thumbnail as my breathing quickens, "I just need to deal with something." 

I try my mum again and she still doesn't pick up. I moan in frustration and the rest of the car ride is silent, all I can hear being the thumping of my heart. 

**AT THE APARTMENT** 

I don't even muster a goodbye to anyone, I just storm out of the car and run to the building. I don't bother waiting for the elevator and am halfway up the stairs when my phone begins to vibrate again. 

I pick up immediately, "mum! What does the note say?!" 

I hear her gulp and sniffle on the other end, "it says that Xavier had constantly blackmailed Dean. Dean knew things about him he didn't want anyone knowing and so he threatened to hurt you and Dean couldn't handle the pressure. But Corin—" 

"--thanks," I say and hang up as I continue running up. 

When I reach the apartment, I don't hesitate before storming in for the first time ever. 

"Xavier?!" I scream. 

When silence is the only response, I realize how much I have been shaking and crying. My instant response is to run to our bedroom and throw all of my belongings into a bag. I don't have many, so it isn't a difficult task.If Xavier is the reason Dean died, I'm not planning on sticking around. I make sure I grab my small hatbox filled with all of my memories with Dean, including the letter he had given to me hours before he died. I still haven't opened it and I'm not planning on it. It takes me 10 minutes to scavenge around and grab my things and when I grab the two bags of my things and walk to the door, I drop them immediately as soon as I see Xavier standing at the door. But not just Xavier, oh no. It's Xavier with Lina. Xavier and Lina. Xavier and Lina making out.

"What the actual hell?" I laugh out of anger and bury my tear-stained face into my hands.

Xavier and Lina immediately stop and look towards me. 

"Cori, I thought you were out till later. And what are you doing with—" Xavier speaks cooly. 

"No. You do not get to speak! First you hit me, then you apologize and act like everything is okay. Then I find out you're one of the reasons my brother killed himself and you threatened me?! And you!" I point an accusing finger towards Lina, "you weren't waiting for ME at the apartment the other day, were you? You were waiting for HIM. You were encouraging me to break up with him just for this, weren't you?!" 

"Corinna..." Lina's voice comes out barely as a whisper. 

I spit, "you're a bitch and you're an asshole. You deserve eachother. A bitch—"

Xavier takes two long strides towards me and brings his hand to my face, "do NOT speak to her like that!" 

Lina screams and I lose my balance. Normally, it would hurt a lot more, but I had been hurt too much tonight to let it hurt. 

"You threatened me. You blackmailed Dean. What did he know, Xavier?" I sob, "what did he know?!" 

"This is bigger than you," he spits. 

"Everything is bigger than me right? You're bigger than me, so you can hit me. Lina is bigger than me so she can go and bang my boyfriend behind my back and—" 

"—your brother was dangerous! I'm not the only one with a dark past," Xavier states, "he—"

"--don't talk about him like that!" I weep, "you know what? Stuff the both of you, have a good life!" 

And with that, I grab my bags and run out of the apartment, leaving Xavier outraged and Lina gaping.

I throw on a hoodie to conceal my ugly, crying face and sprint to the nearest bus stop, nearly falling over multiple times with all of the weight I was carrying. I hop onto the bus as the bus driver gives me a questioning look. I catch the bus that leads to a street near someone's apartment. With Lina being out of the question, there was only one place I can think of. Somewhere where I know I will be taken care of and comforted. 

I stare out the window of the bus the whole ride and nearly miss my stop as I get lost in my thoughts. I arrive at the building and talk to the receptionist at the desk. She recognizes me from earlier and instantly grants me permission to go up. I climb into the elevator and arrive outside the door of the apartment. Before I can even knock, the door opens and I expect to see Haz standing there but it isn't. 

"Corinna, what are you doing here this late?" Tom asks, stretching. 

I drop my bags and take the hood off of my head, revealing my bruised and wet face, as more tears continue to slide down my face. 

"Oh my God, Corinna," a concerned expression immediately falls on Tom's face and as I begin to cry again, he wraps me in a hug as I soak his t-shirt with tears.