I'm Not Broken - TH

•21•

Tom walks slowly down the wall lined with guns, and grabs a small one, he then grabs a pair of black ear muffs, and hands them to me.
"Put those on." He says.
I put them on my head, and he checks to make sure they're on securely and that my ears are covered.
"This ones real easy." He explains, he holds it up, aiming it at the target. Something about Tom holding up a gun makes me feel a little.. well.. I can't really explain it. His muscles flex as he shoots the gun three times, and I catch myself staring, quickly looking away for a second to make it less weird.
"See, it's not that bad." He says.
Honestly at this point, I'm much less concerned about the gun and much more concerned about how he made me feel just now..
"Yeah alright I'll try it." I say, taking him by surprise.
He situates me in front of him, putting the small pistol in my hand. He guides my arms up, placing my finger lightly over the trigger.
"Hold it tightly, and make sure you are holding your body still." He explains. "Aim, and press the trigger."
I do my best, aiming the gun for the target, and as I let out an exhale, I press my finger on the trigger, making a loud bang that pushes me back slightly. Tom grabs my waist, holding me steady and I spin around in his grasp.
"I did it!" I exclaim excitedly.
"You sure did pretty girl." He grins widely.
"Did I hit the center?" I ask, looking back at the target to see where my bullet went.
"Not quite." He laughs and I look around, not seeing where I hit. "You shot right up there."
He points to a small hole in the wall, about two feet above the target. How did I manage that?! I could have sworn I was going to hit the target!
"This is dumb anyways. I don't need to be good at shooting." I pout, handing him the gun back.
"I think it's cute that you missed the target." He comments and I roll my eyes at him.
"Yes my lack of coordination is adorable." I say sarcastically.
"I have to admit, your sass is a little less cute."
He puts the gun back up on the wall, and I don't know why, but his comments seem a bit flirty. He's never really been flirty before, or maybe I'm just now noticing it? The way his shirt lifts as he reaches high to place the gun, makes my stomach flip. I know exactly what this feeling is now, and I really don't want to have it for Tom. I can't. I've never seen him like this before? Why all of the sudden do I want him to.. well, you know-
"Chloe?"
I break from my thoughts, seeing Tom is now standing directly in front of me.
"What?" I ask, looking to him.
"You okay? You seem out of it." He observes.
Well.. I kind of am, because now I'm suddenly imagining what it'd be like to make out with my best friend and that's terrible.
"I'm fine." I shake my head.
"Are you sure?" He questions, his hand grazing my cheek.
Holy fuck this is too much.
"I gotta go." I say, turning around and leaving the room in a hurry.
Oh my god that was so awkward I can't believe I just did that.. now he's really going to have questions.
I see Haz walking down the hallway and quickly forget of my inappropriate feelings and focus solely on the possibility of my brother being back.
He meets my eyes, and walks over to me. I don't know if I'm ready to hear this..
"So?.." I say quietly.
"I'm sorry Chloe.. it's not him." He shakes his head.
"How do you know?" I ask.
"I got footage of the man who came in to the station.. it's an old man, definitely not your brother." He explains.
I feel my heart fall to my stomach, complete disappointment setting in. I knew to an extent that it couldn't possibly be David, but a little part of me still hoped that he could still be alive. Instead it's just some sick man using his name.
"I need to get this footage to Rubin." He sighs. "I'm really sorry Chloe."
"No.. it's okay." I shrug, giving him a small smile as I walk away.
______
I take a hot shower, trying desperately to think of something other than all the drama in my life right now. The great water pressure and double shower heads definitely help with that. Living in a mansion is kind of the greatest thing ever.
"Hey I just talked to Haz." I hear Tom say as he walks in the bathroom.
I poke my head out of the curtain, giving him a weird look.
"Why do you think you can just walk in while I'm showering?" I question.
"Because I always do?" He laughs. "Why do you suddenly care?"
Oh god it's happening. Why am I being weird! I just need to go back to normal where Tom is just my goofy best friend and nothing more.
"Yeah sorry." I shake my head. "What's up?"
I go back to my shower, and he continues to talk.
"Are you okay? I know it must have been disappointing.." he trails off.
"I mean.. yeah it was but I knew he couldn't possibly be alive." I admit. "I just want to know who is using his name."
"We're figuring it out, don't worry." He responds.
I turn off the water, and reach my arm out, grabbing my towel to wrap around my body. I open the curtains, and Tom is still standing there, now smirking at me.
"Hey. Eyes up here sicko." I scold, putting my hand under his chin to lift his gaze.
"I wasn't looking!" He exclaims with his cute little puppy dog eyes. He's so adorable.. I just want to grab his face and kiss him.
God fucking dammit.
"Get out of here." I say, and he laughs, walking out of the room.
I lean against the sink, letting out a long deep breath. This can not be happening. It was fine when it was just sexual thoughts, but now it's romantic too. This isn't right, he's my best friend!
I change into my sweatpants and T-shirt, brushing out my hair. This is dumb, and i know it's dumb.. but there's only one way to get it out of my head.
"Tom!" I call.
I wait a moment, and the door opens.
"What darling?" He asks.
I turn around, looking to him and he grins widely at me. His smiles is making me feel... a lot. Okay, let's figure this out.
"I'm going to try something, and then we're never going to talk about it again." I state.
He lifts his brow, obviously a bit confused.
"Okay.." he trails off.
Here we go.. I press up to my tip toes, and quickly peck his lips before pulling away quickly.
"Yeah okay." I nod to myself, walking past him and out of the room.
"Woah hold on." Tom follows out behind me, and I groan.
"I said we will never talk about it again."
"And I agreed to that until you kissed me." He says.
"It was barely a kiss." I roll my eyes.
"Exactly why I'm gonna do this.." he says, his hand resting against my cheek as he leans down, slowly grazing his lips over mine. I feel a tightening, tingly feeling in my chest, melting into his touch as my lips move against his. This feels like something I've been waiting for, it just feels right.

A/N: you're welcome :)))