Accidental Interests

Never Have I Ever...

You knew who it was before you even turned around. As the crowd cheered even louder - if that was even possible - you saw Tom sitting on the arm of the couch from the corner of your eye. You should've known that Ellen would have something like this planned. Should've guessed that when Ellen said that she might be making a call to a "certain British man", she meant Tom and not Harry. If anything, you should've picked up on something off when she made you sit on a couch rather than a large chair. Of course, how could you forget how she suspiciously gave up a perfect opportunity to talk about Tom when you mentioned Spider-Man and the video of you ranting while you baked that had gone viral. Ellen was a sly fox, you had to give her that.

Pasting on what you called your paparazzi and media smile, you let your body take over on auto-pilot. In the background, you could hear the crowd still whooping and cheering at Tom's surprise entrance. Understandably so. After weeks of borderline online flirting, this was the interaction that everybody was waiting for with baited breath. Subtly, wiping your clammy hands on your dress, you got up from the couch and went in for a brief hug with Tom. Pressing close to him, you couldn't help but notice how nice he smelt. Something citrusy and fresh that made your heart beat thunderously in your chest. You wondered if he could feel how hard it was pounding through the thin material of this shirt.

"Hey, how're you?". Oh god, you hoped that didn't come out as squeaky as you thought it did.

"Better now". You could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Damn, homeboy's game hadn't changed one bit. God, how the fuck were you going to get through this interview?

Yeah, the warmth radiating off him really didn't help your situation either. Pulling back and settling back on the couch, you reached out for your cup of water to try and cool down. You managed to catch Ellen's eye over the rim of your cup. She was one of the few people who had definitely noticed how your cheeks were definitely more flushed than before. Just before she went to hug Tom hello, she nearly made you choke on the water as she subtly winked at you suggestively.

It was only until the crowd had finally calmed down and Tom had settled down to sit next to you on the couch properly, you realised exactly how small the couch actually was. Tom's right leg was pressed against your left all the way from the thigh to your ankles. The goddamn couch was more like a love seat. Leaning only the slightest into his warmth, you told yourself it was because wearing a short dress in a strongly air-conditioned room was not the best idea. Totally not because you were going to use this opportunity to flirt with Tom as much as possible.

After introducing Tom and talking about the new Spider-Man movie that was about to come out, Ellen finally lets the cat out of the bag and announced that you were going to play Never Have I Ever. You groaned inwardly, already having a slight idea of where this was gonna go.

"All right, first question. Never have I ever... googled myself" Ellen read off the card. Immediately, you turned your board to say "I Have" as an embarrassed grin crawled up your face. Peering over, you saw Tom had also turned his board to say "I Have" and was grinning about it cheekily. On the other hand, Ellen was looking at you with an incredulous look and you felt obliged to justify.

"I actually don't go and do it explicitly, but my best friend Sophie and I have this game where one person will google my name and read out the first part of a headline that pops up. We both have a turn each and whoever comes up with the craziest headline wins the point" you explain.

"Sooo, like a twisted version of Cards against Humanity?" Tom asks with a slightly confused grin.

"Yeah, exactly like that!" you beam and Ellen can't help but smile at how enthusiastic you got.