Leaving the ice cream shop you decide to sit on the bench outside the shop for a bit, you got your favourite tiger tail which only caused an intense look of disgust from Tommy as he gestured towards to bubble gum ice cream.

You were taking a particularly big lick as Tommy smooshed the ice cream into your face and giggle like it was the funniest thing he ever saw

"THOMAS HEWITT"

You tried to sound seriously hiding your giggles while you both try to finish your ice cream cones as fast as possible while trying to shove the cone in each other's faces.

As you tossed the last piece of the cone in your mouth and tease Tommy for being a slowpoke, a group of men around your age walked by, at first, you didn't pay much mind until you noticed Tommy's reaction, he immediately sat up straight and his eye went unusually cold towards them, being a loyal friend you immediately glared in unison at the group until the main guy noticed

"look, guys, the freak found himself a partner in crime!"

The group roared in laughter as he continued

"Did your mommy pay her to hang out with you sloth?"

You instantly stood up

"Hey, assface!"

Okay not your best insult but you already started

"I'm with Tommy because he's great so why don't you go kiss your football coach you have been!"

You quickly grabbed Tommy's hand and ran for your Jeep before you could process the not very creative insults hurled your way, you quickly turned your key into the ignition as assface number 1 threw his milkshake on your windshield

"Better on there than on us?"

You laughed as you quickly threw in our windshield wipers and skidded out of the ice cream shop parking lot and down the road to your shiny new home, you noticed Tommy hung his head down

"Hey hey don't listen to those tools, I hang out with you because I love ya"

Tommy's face instantly snapped up and seemed to search your face realizing you might've over shared as you tried to clarify

"Yeah you know like my brother, bro"

You mentally slapped the shit outta yourself while sweet home Alabama played in the background on your mind

"We are not letting those guys ruin our night so help me god"

You declared loudly while parking, you walked into your house, feeling Tommy close behind. As you dropped the groceries on the counter

"I'm gonna cook us supper now I hope you like your steak bloody and raw"

Tommy just shrugged as he sat at the table next to the kitchen- you turned on some music as you got to cooking.

Luckily it didn't take long to prepare as you finished plating up your food and bringing it to the table

"I'll make us some drinks, okay, don't worry about it"

Without thinking you reached out and rubbed his shoulder, this was starting to feel too domestic you thought as you turned to grab the glasses- you popped the cap off the alcohol bottle as you poured probably too much in each cup but you're celebrating right? After taste testing them and not immediately gagging you deemed it good enough to serve as you put a straw in Tommy's drink so he can drink a bit easier with the mask on. After sitting down next to him he looked at you not knowing what to do next so you simply grabbed your glass and raised it for a cheers

"To a new start?"

He gently clinked the glasses together, you both smiled as you take a sip- Tommy nodded approvingly at the drink as you began to cut up your steak

"Well I'm glad to have your seal of approval, I hope you don't mind I made the steaks pretty bloody- my mom used to joke I must've been a cannibal in my other life"

You say as popping the juicy meat into your mouth, Tommy just chuckled as he did the same. The rest of the meal was finished with soft music in the background and some chit chat on your part- as you took your last bite Tommy took your plate and started heading to the kitchen, you tried to protest as he started running the water but he just flicked water on you

"Oh, I'm sorry mister clean. listen if you wanna clean the like 4 dishes I have, go for it- but I'm gonna shower while you do"

Tommy just shrugged as he poured some soap into the sink

"Oh and you can shower after! I mean you are sleeping here and did like 56% of the work today"

Tommy stopped everything to raise his eyes brows at you as he began splashing more water at you

"Okay Jesus 98% of the work"

You said while scattering away drink in hand.

Stripping your clothes and stepping into the cool shower you thought about how nice it was to have Tommy here and tried to think of what to do with the rest of the night, you two could just watch movies on the couch- you felt silly giggling thinking about Tommy trying to put his arm around you or hold your hand in a drive-through movie, would he use the old stretch technique? Doesn't matter anyway- after a quick scrub of your body you stepped out and started towel drying- not wanting to put sweaty clothes back on you just wrapped your towel around your body and let your wet hair cling loosely on your neck

"Hey, Tommy the showers yours when you want it!"

You called while entering your room not bothering to close the door all the way so he could hear you

"When you're done let me know, I think I have an old painting shirt that might fit"

You drop your towel and reach for one of your bags that has your clothes and throwing some things in your dresser drawers until you heard the floor creak behind you as you turned to the noise and you would never guess who it was

Tommy beat red in the face staring at you, all of you- you were both frozen as you snapped out of it and tried to cover as he aggressively smacked his hand over his eyes

"Oh god god god Tommy your poor eyes I'm so sorry"

You rambled out

"I forgot to give you a towel that so my fault- I'm not mad it's okay it's not your fault"

You fumbled for any clothes in the open drawer grabbing the first ones you saw which was a lose red baseball tee and a pair of black booty shorts

"Okay okay coast is clear"

Tommy still stood frozen with his hand covering his face and holding his breath

"The..the towels are in the closet next to the bathroom door"

Moving what looked to be autopilot he awkward shuffled out of the room, slamming the door shut probably harder than he intended his hands never left his eyes.

After hearing the shower turn on you made your way into the kitchen and poured yourself a much heavier drink, why would he react that way? We're you that awful to look at? You took a large sip and felt warmth spread in your lower stomach, you knew you weren't the prettiest girl in Texas but you didn't think you were that bad. Another long drink- it never feels good to be rejected but you couldn't blame him you suppose, you were just family to him, right? You set your to glass down and made your way back to your room to find a shirt that would fit him, you finally found your dad's old shirt, it was a husky XXL that you wore on cold nights and you just hoped it would fit Tommy.

You draped it on the door and yelled out

"I left you a shirt on the knob, I'm just gonna start a movie in the living room"

You don't know why you waited for a response. You made your way back to the kitchen and topped off your drink trying to wash away your embarrassment and insecurities swimming in your mind.

You absently put in the bride of Frankenstein while you waited for Tommy, after 15 minutes you had a nice tingle in your limbs and you heard the shower stop, you tried to focus on the movie as you heard the door open and gently close, you turned your head to get a glimpse of Tommy putting on the shirt, letting your eye linger on his chest, you quickly turned your head before you got a good look because that wasn't for you.

You got up and grabbed his empty cup from his hand

"Here let me"

He wouldn't even look at you. Great.

You poured him a very heavy-handed drink thinking maybe it'll help lighten the mood-

You decided that you can swallow your pride and try to have fun, you handed Tommy his drink he and he had a rather large gulp as you threw yourself next to him on the love seat

"I mean as much as you try I don't think you'll be able to purge it Tommy boy"

You gently nudged his arm and he returned the favour

"Cmon don't be like this, I can tell it's bothering you but like I'm the one who was on display like a cow on your butcher slab, let's just not talk about it, like ever again and just take it to our graves- pinky promise"

You turned to face him and put your pinky in the air trying your best to give him that bruised dog look he hates, he just rolled his eyes and grabbed your pinky and nodded, you could see the smile on his eyes.

"Alright so for a late 21st birthday this is going well, I mean you saw your first naked lady"

He immediately looked at you with wide eyes and pointed aggressively at his pinky

"Okay starting now it didn't happen"

You chuckled while standing up to grab the bottle of pop and the much larger bottle of alcohol and set them on the coffee table

"Okay we're gonna do shots because we are both too sober, at least you are"

Tommy tilted his head as you picked up the bottle and downed a shot or two, you grimaced as you passed the bottle towards him

"It's not hard just, know chug"

You probably should've specified because before you could correct yourself he must've downed 4-6 shots

"Ah no fuck wait "

You mocked yelled as he set the bottle down and shrugged

"Does everything has to be so extra with you"

You said through giggles as you took another swig to try to balance it out, you set the bottle down and absently watched the movie for a few minutes

"Can I ask, are you mute or just choose not to talk?"

Tommy seemed to think for a minute as he shrugged

"Oh, so like a bit of both? Because I've for sure heard you laugh at me"

Tommy just nodded and smiled but he turned his attention to the screen and pointed

"Oh"

You settled into the couch next to him, sitting closer to Tommy than perhaps needed as you felt the burning in your stomach slowly making you a bit bolder

"This is the bride of Frankenstein, one of my favourites since I was a kid, I always felt so bad for Frankenstein's monster in these movies, people thought he didn't deserve kindness just because he looked big and scary, it's not fair"

As you turned to look at Tommy to explain further you noticed he was staring at you with large emotional eyes that left you silent as you felt his hand reach over and gently touch your left shoulder while his other hand slowly gripped your right hip

"Tommy?"