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They’d known each other since they were practically toddlers. Tom had almost face-planted jumping off a swing when she came zooming by, a Tonka truck clutched in her small, grubby hands. She had stopped at the sound of his cry, turning to him, and paused when she saw the little boy with a mop of curls clutching at a scrape on his knee. He was crying, large crocodile tears swimming their way down his cheeks. His mom was about to jump up from her spot on the bench nearby, but she stopped when the little girl bent down in front of him. Tom looked up at her, pouting his lips, when the girl extended her arms and offered him her Tonka truck.

He had smiled widely, wiping at his nose, suddenly cured, and had scampered off with her to the nearest sandbox, their tiny hands clutched together.

 Need you when I’m broken, when I’m fixed

Need you when I’m well, when I’m sick

 From that moment on, you couldn’t have separated them if you tried. They were always together. In primary school, she was the tomboy who would shove Tom’s bullies away by their shoulders despite her small stature, her eyes boring holes through their shirts. She wouldn’t even have to speak. She would get this look on her face that would send them running, before turning to Tom to make sure he was alright. She could go from sharp as a knife to concerned in seconds, and would pull him up off the ground, brushing the dirt off of his shoulders. They always shared their lunches, exchanging items they knew the other would like, and he would always bring her a carton of chocolate milk (her favorite) when he went to get his.

In secondary school, things got tougher. It became harder for her as the girls in her class got more and more ruthless, and Tom was suddenly the one who had to do the protecting. He couldn’t do much, as skinny and lanky as he was, but he was always there to stand up for her, and would present her with a compulsory carton of chocolate milk at the end of the day. He couldn’t care less that she was slightly different.

 Can’t see when I’m falling

Losing myself but then I hear you calling

 It got even harder when Tom started acting. Suddenly, they both were walking around with targets on their backs. Eventually their parents decided to have them switch schools, and after that, it got a little easier. It was at their new school that they met Harrison.

It was like he was meant to be in their group. They didn’t even have to try to include him; Harrison being around was just as natural as she and Tom being friends. But suddenly, when two became three, no one seemed to want to try to pick on them. Harrison was always a bit bigger than Tom was, and even though he was as thin as a toothpick, no one dared to try and pick on the boy with the icy-blue eyes. The kids in their class always knew that wherever the other two were, Harrison couldn’t be far behind.

Tom started acting more and more seriously, and the other two saw him less and less. Part of it was good; she and Harrison got to know each other more, and she found she got along with him just as much as she had with Tom. But on the other hand, they missed Tom. Him being gone all the time left them feeling like there was a massive hole where he’d been.

But no matter what, Tom always came back to them. And he always came back with amazing stories. She and Harrison loved it – they ate the stories up, and they always watched every little thing he acted in.

When Tom landed the role of Spider-Man, it was inevitable that the balance of their group shifted. Harrison felt left behind – he wanted to make a name for himself too. So he went off to pursue his own career, with her and Tom’s unyielding support, and eventually found his own success.

But each time Tom and Harrison returned to her, they seemed slightly off. Especially Tom. She felt helpless as she watched her two boys crumble under the weight of their successes, and Tom started to feel increasingly lost in the wide world of Hollywood. Sure, he had his family and his band of brothers to keep him grounded, but even then, he still felt like he was drowning.

So even though she couldn’t really understand what they were going through, as normal as her life was compared to theirs, she never hesitated to open her arms if they needed them. And boy, did she give good hugs. After weeks and months away from home, Tom and Harrison loved nothing more than knocking at her door to see her standing there smiling up at them, her arms already open to welcome them into a hug (or two).

 There you are, there you are

You’re there with open arms

There you are, there you are

And I run

 Harrison and Tom never really gave much thought as to how much they meant to her. It didn’t even cross their minds; they just already knew. But even they got caught up in their own worlds, swept away by the call of other commitments, and the times where they were able to reunite grew farther and father apart.

So they relished in the time they did have together. Eventually, when Tom’s name reached the farthest corners of the world, he got an apartment for him and Harrison and South London, and he never even hesitated to invite her to share it with them. All three of them living together was a dream come true, and it gave them the chance to have the quality time they missed when they were apart.

In the back of his mind, Harrison had always thought there was something special between her and Tom. As they got older, she would look at Tom wistfully when she thought he wasn’t looking, and most of the time he wasn’t. But occasionally, he had been looking, and their eyes would meet in a painful exchange for a half a second before they would flick their heads in the opposite direction. Harrison was growing increasingly frustrated as the years went on, always on the sidelines begging them in his head to just do something about it, for god’s sake, but nothing ever happened.

Until she suffered her first real heartbreak. Tom finally came home after months and months away from home to find her nowhere in sight, Harrison in the living room with a somber look on his face. Harrison hushed him as he came bounding into the apartment, welcoming Tessa into his arms.

“What’s wrong?” Tom asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“She’s been in there for days.” Harrison gestured towards her room. “I can’t get her to come out. She came home in tears the other day, saying something about Tristan, but that was all I could hear. She won’t even eat.”

Tom suddenly felt himself grow hot with anger. He had flashbacks to secondary school, to the girls teasing her for being like the boys, and how even then she could bounce herself back because she knew what those girls thought wasn’t important. But Tristan had been important. He’d been her first real boyfriend, and they’d been together for over a year. Tom was going to murder him.

But Tom had other things to worry about first. He dashed out of the apartment towards the nearest shop, got the supplies he needed, and returned mere minutes later with shopping bags hanging off his arms.

“What’s all this?” Harrison chuffed as he ushered Tom into the apartment.

“Just a few things to cheer her up.”

“A few?” Harrison smirked.

“Piss off,” Tom replied, flashing Harrison a quick glare before slipping down the hallway towards her room. Harrison smiled to himself, and the cheeky part of him wanted to rub his hands together. Finally, things were shifting in the right direction. And as much as he didn’t want her to feel heartbreak or pain, he was glad that Tom was coming to her rescue.  

There were some things about her that even Harrison didn’t know. But Tom knew pretty much everything there was to know about her, especially things that would cheer her up when she was feeling low. And today required all of those things.

Little did Tom know, all she wanted then was him.

 Can’t see when I’m falling

Losing myself but then I hear you calling

 Tom knocked softly at her door. He waited for a moment, for a sign that she was at least alive in there, before he gingerly wrapped his fingers around the door knob and turned.

It wasn’t locked, thank goodness. He slowly pushed the door open, peeking his head around the wooden frame. All he could see was a lump under a pile of blankets, tissues surrounding the lump and scattered all over the floor. Mugs upon mugs of half-drunken tea littered nearly every surface. Clearly, Harrison had been trying.

“It’s me,” Tom whispered hesitantly. “I’m back.”

The lump sniffled loudly, and Tom couldn’t tell if that had been a gasp or a cough. “Tom?” She squeaked, poking her head out from underneath the covers.

Taking her in then, Tom felt his heart snap in two. He’d never seen her like this, and it physically was aching him that she’d been like this for days, and he hadn’t been there.

“Aw, babe,” he cooed, striding over to her and kneeling next to her bed. He pulled her hand out from underneath the covers, wrapping it in his. Damn, she felt cold, even surrounding by blankets. Tom had to push down the sudden need he felt to make her warm.

“Tell me what happened.”

She sniffed, wiping her nose, before she croaked, “I caught him with another girl. And he acted like it wasn’t a big deal…like I- like I didn’t…mean anything. Like we didn’t mean anything.”

She couldn’t say anymore before she was dissolving back into tears, turning away from him to face the wall. Tom sighed heavily, removing his jacket and kicking off his shoes before crawling next to her underneath the covers, his “supplies” left forgotten next to her dresser by the door. She turned back to him, hiding her face, as Tom opened his arms and welcomed her into his chest.

Now Tom was really going to murder him.

She shook lightly as she cried, her tears streaming down her face and soaking Tom’s shirt. But he didn’t even notice; he just held her there in his arms, rocking her back and forth ever so softly. It took a moment, but her tears finally dried and she lay still, dozing off in his embrace. Tom chuckled silently to himself, but then he remembered that she probably hadn’t slept at all these last few days, and he was glad she was finally getting some rest.

It didn’t take much longer after that for the jetlag to hit, and Tom found himself nodding off, still cradling her. He tried to fight the sleep fighting to take him over, but then he looked down at the girl sleeping in his arms, and he slowly started to realize that he really didn’t care.

 There you are, there you are

You’re there with open arms

There you are, there you are

And I run

 Harrison found them like that a few moments later, fast asleep in each other’s arms. He collected Tom’s supplies from earlier off the floor and stored them away in the kitchen, making sure to tuck the ice cream safely away in the freezer. Later that night as Harrison himself was headed to bed, he poked his head in to check on them one more time, and found them huddled even closer together, Tom’s arms wrapped securely around her and her back pressed against his chest, his shirt and jeans in a pile on the floor. Harrison smiled to himself, chuckling softly, before closing the door to her room and leaving them in peace.

The next day, Harrison woke to the shower in her bathroom running. As he left his room, still only in his boxers, he found Tom in the kitchen, busying himself with making breakfast. Tom turned as he heard Harrison shuffling in, sending him a quick smile before turning back to the stove.

“She’s up now,” Tom said happily, “She said she was feeling a little better today.”

“That’s good,” Harrison mused. “I’m glad you came back when you did.”

Tom smiled widely to himself, hoping Harrison couldn’t see. (He could).

“Yeah, me too.”

“Did you sleep well?” Harrison joked, smirking.

Tom frowned for a moment at Harrison’s sarcasm. “Yes, actually. Best sleep I’ve had in a while.”

“Good, I’m glad you two are finally getting your shit together,” Harrison responded before turning away, heading back to his own bathroom to get himself a shower.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tom shouted in response, but Harrison waved him off.

“Don’t burn the eggs, mate, I’m bloody starving!”

Later that week, when they finally had some free time, Harrison and Tom decided to go out to the pub to celebrate Tom’s return. They’d invited her to come along, but she politely declined, saying that she didn’t much feel like alcohol. It would probably just make things worse. They obliged reluctantly, shrugging on their jackets, before leaving the apartment, closing the door silently behind them. As they left, she snuggled up closer to Tessa on the couch, popping a movie on Netflix, settling herself into another night of being alone.

 Oh, I’m a little drunk now

That’s why I went to war

You are my sober when I’m on the floor

 She shot up from her spot on the couch to the sound of drunken laughs flooding through the hallway outside the door, and she sighed heavily. Checking the clock, she hung her head – it was 3:00 AM. How long had she been asleep, and where the hell were they?

She didn’t even have time to get up and go to the kitchen for a cup of tea before Harrison and Tom came barreling through the door, stumbling over their feet, their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders. Wide, loopy smiles were on their faces, and they were clearly as zonked as one could be.

She got a little more concerned when she looked at Tom a little closer and realized a bruise was starting to appear underneath his eye.

“What on earth happened to you two?”

Harrison laughed. “He tried to start a fight with me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Harrison shrugged, gesturing to Tom. “Ask him.”

Tom only huffed, his face suddenly turning a very peculiar shade of green. Oh no. She didn’t waste a moment as she moved to where they were standing, placing Tom’s other arm over her shoulders and pressing her body up against his.

“Let’s get him to the toilet, he’s going to be sick.”

They barely made it to the bathroom in time before Tom collapsed next to the toilet, vomiting up the contents of his stomach.

“Fuck,” he groaned, resting his head on the cool surface of the toilet seat. She bent down next to him, removing his jacket, before she knelt down by his side and began rubbing soothing circles on his back.

She turned to Harrison, her face suddenly stern. “Are you going to be alright?”

“Don’t worry,” Harrison responded cheekily, “I’m way better off than he is.”

He stumbled off down the hallway into his room and collapsed onto his bed, passing out cold, his shoes still on his feet.

She turned her attention back to Tom, who was now heaving up nothing but air. “Stay here,” she said softly, rushing off to the kitchen and filling up a glass with water. She snagged a bottle of Paracetemol on her way back to the bathroom as well as a clean rag, and bid Tessa to stay where she was on her bed.

Finally back in the bathroom, she set the water and the medicine on the counter before running the rag under some cool water. She squeezed out the excess and laid the rag gently onto the back of Tom’s neck, getting a few of the loose curls there wet.

Tom sighed contentedly, his breathing now returning back to normal, and she noticed that some of the color had returned back to his face. She resumed sitting down next to him, setting the water and medicine down next to Tom, before wrapping her arm around his back and resting her head against his shoulder.

A few moments later, Tom turned to her, his eyes drooping.

“I’m sorry,” he said, so softly she could barely hear him.

“No, don’t be sorry, love,” she responded soothingly, “I’ll always be here for you.”

When she was certain he’d finished emptying the contents of his stomach and she’d made sure he finished the glass of water and taken two pills, she helped him to her room where he collapsed onto her bed. She helped him remove his clothes, with the exception of his boxers, of course, before sliding into bed next to him and pulling up the covers.

He rested his head on her stomach, and she didn’t even pause before running her fingers through his hair, playing with the thick curls.

As they started to slowly doze off, Tom looked up at her, blinking slowly.

“Am I dreaming?”

She chuckled softly, “No, Tom. I’m here with you.”

“Thank God,” Tom sighed, tucking her into him and wrapping his arm around her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. “I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He couldn’t see, but she was smiling.

“Me neither, love. Me neither.”

 Only you know me the way you know me

Only you forgive me when I’m sorry

Even when I’ve messed it up, there you are

 When they woke the next morning, finding themselves in each other’s arms, they couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’m really sorry about last night,” Tom sighed, pulling her even closer to him.

“It’s fine, Tom, really,” she replied, snuggling deeper into his chest, breathing him in.

He really, really didn’t want to ever let her go.

“This has taken me way too long to say,” he stuttered, struggling a little to meet her eyes, “But I’ve loved you for a long time. Since before all of…this. And I’m really sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. But I’d really love to be able to call you my girlfriend, if you’ll have me.”

She smiled up at him, resting her hand on his cheek. “I love you, too.”

Tom didn’t waste another second before he pressed his lips to hers, his hands coming up to stroke her cheeks. Somehow, they both knew deep down that they were always meant to be more than just the closest of friends. And yet the fact that they had been so close for so many years made it even easier for them to fall deeply, passionately in love with each other.

Just as she wound her hands around his neck to deepen the kiss, they heard victorious shouting from the hallway. They turned their heads to see the blur that was Harrison zip past the door, whooping loudly, his hands in the air.

“Fucking finally!”

She collapsed into Tom, them both shaking with laughter, as Tom wrapped his arms securely around her. They stayed there for the rest of the morning, pressing lips against lips and skin against skin, never going further than kissing. She couldn’t get close enough to him, and she relished in learning all the things about Tom that she hadn’t yet gotten to explore. And as much as he didn’t want to let her go, she really didn’t want him to either.

 There you are, there you are

You’re there with open arms

There you are, there you are

And I run