Not A Cliché (Tom Holland)

11. Betrayal

Not A Cliché

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Tom almost roared.

“That was Lily Collins. She’s damn good at impressions, isn’t it?” Haz replied nonchalantly and suddenly became interested in the structure of his own room and looked everywhere but at Tom.

Tom bent to get in Harrison's view. “Astrid? Astrid Williams? That was her, wasn’t it? The Mercedes girl?” Tom was sitting straight now with his brows furrowed.

Haz stood up as he put the phone in his pocket. “What are you talking about? C'mon, let’s go eat.”

Tom refused to give up. “How do you have her number?!” He squealed.

Harrison turned and observed Tom's fuming face. He sighed. 'Man, I don't see any other way out of this...'

He bit his lip and spoke, “...You remember when I went to the country to spend some time?” Tom didn’t reply but kept listening. “That was where I ran into her.”

Tom's eyes widened and his mouth fell agape. "...Wh-" He placed his hands on his waist as he stood up. "T-That was in October! It's February now! When were you going to tell me?!"

"Never," Harrison replied with a shrug.

Tom rolled his eyes. “HARRISON!!!!"

"Look, I know you're angry but right now your voice only seems like a puppy squeaking."

"An angry puppy, I'll tell ya!!" Tom yelled and shook his head. "I mean, shut up!!"

'What's with his reaction? Why does it matter so much?' Harrison sighed, "I am in the dining room 'cause I don't wanna get my ears blown up. Meet me there when you've calmed down."

Tom's jaw tightened and he raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay! Fine." The blonde turned behind, "I'll be a quiet puppy. I mean," Tom took a breath, "I'll be quiet. Okay?" Harrison eyed him for a second and grabbed two beers from the table.

He handed one to Tom, "Here."

"Yeah, thanks." Tom murmured.

Harrison took a seat on the armchair while Tom leaned against the cream wall.

Tom puckered his lips, wondering how to approach the topic again. 'By talking, how else?' He took a sip before asking, "So, what was she doing there?” His interest had gone through the roofs.

Harrison looked up at him, "Same thing that I was. Blowing off steam.”

“Okaaaaaay." Tom prodded exasperatedly. "But if you just ran into her why do you have her number and why is she messaging you?” He asked, there was some agitation in his voice.

Harrison shut his eyes for a second before answering, “Well... We thought it would be a good idea to explore the countryside together, you know. The more the merrier thing." He shrugged casually. "So we spent some days just visiting places and having fun.”

“WHAT THE FUCK!! So you basically went out with her???” Tom yelled.

Harrison looked startled, “What? Not like went out went out...” He defended. Not a good defence though.

"Not like went out went out." Tom imitated Harrison with a scrunched up face and Harrison sighed. "What a lousy excuse." Tom shook his head disappointedly. “This feels like such a betrayal. How could you do this to me, Haz? How could you?”

Harrison peered at Tom with crossed eyebrows. “Me? What’s your problem? Why are you hyperventilating so much? What, do you have a crush on her or something?”