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The Unexpected Partner

APRIL 5, 2022

It's been less than twenty-four hours since the news of his breakup has surfaced.

He went to bed knowing that it'll blow up - that when he'd wake up, he'd be hated in the nation again and his ex would be put on a pedestal.

Of course, that's what happened.

It was barely six o'clock in the morning when he received a FaceTime request from Zendaya.

The request was unexpected - but he didn't hesitate to answer - it was nice to talk to her again, to see her through the small glowing screen, and hear her calming voice once more.

It turned out that she tried to sleep off the breakup news too, but she did the wrong thing and checked her phone the second she woke up. She explained to Tom that she felt guilty for the way her fandom was behaving and she felt the need to apologise. Her ex would've profoundly apologised too, like a true gentleman fashion, but he didn't check his phone to know whether he still even had fans, let alone know whether they were being nasty little fuckers.

Throughout the day they've been sending each other what people are saying about them. Most of the links get directed to trending Twitter threads that their fans have created, theorising on why they broke up and why so abruptly. Tom could've died when he saw Venetia's name in the same sentence as his. Then there are the other links, the darker ones where their fandoms are - quite literally - mourning the death of their relationship. Tumblr reacted badly to the news, acting worse than Queen Victoria who wore the same black dress for forty years after her husband's death.

It's worse than the first time Tom and Zendaya broke up.

They're bringing out the big guns, the years' worth of receipts, they're bullying Venetia and calling her by her legal name just for the sake of it, mentioning her 'Lady' title and aristocratic ties to the royal family as proof Tom 'only goes for rich, successful women' who have 'established careers' to 'leech on'.

It's the audacity and entitlement that makes Zendaya and Tom chuckle. At first, they were anxious about what they were clicking on, but now it's more than apparent that nobody knows the real reason why they broke up.

Because of the online hate that was mounting up, and the genuine fear that one of their devoted fans would show up at today's filming site with a gun, Tom called Akiva Goldsman, 'The Crowded Room' showrunner, and explained the situation. Thankfully, Akiva was very understanding and wished his cast member all the best. Zendaya also didn't show up for tennis training, but she didn't have to explain why.

Fortunately, the news broke at what Tom considers the 'perfect time' as Nikki, his mother, is currently in New York. It's a quiet solo trip, leaving Dom at home with Paddy and Sam. It's been nice to have her and Harry's support, even if the actual breakup happened back in early January and he's found another lover since.

"Your dad wants to know if he can vaguely mention Venetia in his Sunday blog?"

Nikki chops up the carrots and dumps them into the stainless saucepan that's boiling on low heat. Her son watches the carrots drop amongst the cauliflower and broccoli and scoffs; it's been a while since he's had anything remotely healthy. Most days Tom orders food, but even then, he only picks at it, not eating half as much as he would be eating if he had no contracts.

When he's not on set, or sneaking around with Venetia, he's mostly found in the gym trying to keep the weight off - as it's important to physically transform himself for his new role.

"Why would he even attempt to mention her?" He queries, leaning his backside against the edge of the countertop.

"You know how your father gets when he sees people invading your privacy," she grunts while scrapping all of the waste into a small compost bin that Tom didn't know existed in his production accommodation. "I think it's sweet, really. He wants to warn your fans about jumping to the wrong conclusions, to which I agree. We know how they can get," it takes a lot of effort for Tom not to sigh.