The Way You Make Me Feel

Tom's P.O.V.

"Oh," I said bitterly when I opened the door to my flat. "It's you."

Danny furrowed his brow as I turned and stalked into my flat, not bothering to greet him properly. I was still pissed. How could he possibly sleep with Lila! Why would he do that to me? And he didn't even sleep with her and then tell me either. Instead of admitting it to me, he just kept it hidden from me! He still hasn't even come clean! It just bothers me that he knew I didn't want any of the guys to get in a relationship with Lila, but he goes and fucks her the minute I turn my back on them!

"You okay, mate?" he asked as he followed me into my flat, not intending on leaving me alone.

"Fine," I spat as I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch with a book in hand, pretending to read. I hoped that maybe he'd take the hint and leave me alone. But, of course, he didn't pick up on it. I should've expected it, though. I mean, it is Danny we're talking about.

"Do you know where Lila is?" he asked as I rolled my eyes and put my book in my lap.

"Of course she's the only reason you came around," I muttered. "She's in her room."

"Are you sure that you're okay, Tom?" Danny asked. Before I could answer, though, Lila walked out of her bedroom. She looked slightly afraid to talk to me, obviously noticing the foul mood that I'd been in for the past week or so. I'd barely spoken to her, actually. And when I did talk to her, it was always a short, anger-filled exchange of words. I just couldn't bear to look at her, knowing that she was with Danny. And instead of being supportive, I was being hostile. I know that it's wrong and all, but I'm only human.

"I'm off to work," Lila said quietly. "Oh, hi, Dan. What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd say 'hi'," he said with his charming smile.

"Anything else you want to say, Danny?" I asked angrily, hoping he'd catch on to what I was talking about. "Or how about you, Lila? Anything you feel the need to share with me?"

"Yeah, actually, there is," Lila said as she placed her hands on her hips with fire in her eyes. "I'm sick of how you're being such a little twat lately, Tom! If you have a problem with something, why don't you just tell me instead of being so passive aggressive?"

"Well, if you have a problem with me, then why don't you go live with Danny? I'm sure you two would live happily together!" I yelled as I stood up and made my way to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. A few minutes later, after Lila left for work, the door to my bedroom opened and an upset looking Danny made his way towards me.

"What the hell is going on with you?" he asked as I glared at him and stood up. I shoved my way past the brunette and out into my kitchen. I didn't want to even be near him.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" I yelled at him. "I thought that even this would register in your thick head!"

"Well, why don't you just tell me if I'm so daft?" he yelled back as I paced back and forth in my kitchen.

"You slept with Lila!" I yelled as Danny's blueish-gray orbs widened and his eyebrows raised higher on his forehead. "Dougie told me a few days ago! How could you do that to me? I told you and the guys that she was off-limits, but God forbid you actually listen to me!"

"I-I..." Danny stuttered as I glared at him.

"I fucking love her! I love her, but you have to go and steal her away from me! You always get the girl, Dan! And I'm always fine with it, but this time I'm not! Of course you have to take the one that I actually love. She's what keeps me going half the time! And now I have to live knowing that I could never be with her because of you!" I yelled at him as Danny's eyes widened even more.

"You love her?" he asked as I nodded. "How long?"

"Since I was a kid!" I yelled at him. "I've loved her for longer than you've even known about her or me!"

"Jazzie's gonna kill me," Danny muttered to himself.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, more curious than mad now. He looked down at his feet as a heavy silence rested on both of our shoulders. Danny bit his lip and ran his hands through his curly mop of hair as he paced back and forth a little.

"What I'm about to tell you, you can never repeat," Danny said seriously as he pointed at me. "I'm serious, Tom. No one can know."

"Okay," I said as I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Danny intently.

"Jazzie and I are dating," Danny said as my eyes went wide. "We've been dating since before Halloween."

"No, you're not. She's dating that James guy," I said as I scratched my head in confusion.

"He's not real," Danny said. "We made him up so that Dougie wouldn't catch on to us, because you know how he said that we couldn't date."

"You're cheating on Jazzie with the girl I'm in love with?!" I yelled as I punched his arm a little harder than necessary. "You really fucked up this time, you dickhead!"

"No, no, no," Danny said quickly as he rubbed his sore arm. "I never slept with Lila."

"Yes, you did! Dougie said that you told him so!" I yelled, not believing that Danny was continuing to lie to me like that.

"Will you listen to me before you start yelling?" Danny said as I looked down at my feet. "I never slept with Lila, I swear. Dougie saw Jazzie's bra in my bedroom and asked whose it was. I froze up, because I couldn't tell him that it was his little sister's. He would've killed me! So, I lied a little and told him that it was Lila's, because she was the only one that knew about Jazzie and I."

"Does she know that you told him you two... well, you know," I said awkwardly as I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand.

"Yeah," Danny said with a shrug. "She was quite pissed at first. She kept saying how stupid I was for a good week or two."

"So, you never slept with Lila?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope," Danny said with that stupid grin of his. "She's all yours."

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling quite stupid. "I guess I overreacted a bit. I probably should've spoken to you before listening to Dougie."

"That's fine," Danny said, making me feel a bit jealous of how care-free he was. "Just don't tell anyone about Jazzie and I. She's gonna kill me for telling you."

"I won't," I said as Danny smirked. "Dougie would kill you if he found out."

"Which is why he doesn't know," Danny said with a proud smile. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, the door to my flat swung open and Lila came storming in.

"You got me so upset, Thomas, that I forgot my purse and my umbrella," Lila said as she quickly ran into her room. "Now I'm gonna be late for work!"

Danny smirked at me and nudged my side as I glared at him. As Lila came racing out of her bedroom with her purse and umbrella, I caught her by her arm and spun her back towards me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. Her arms slowly found their way around my neck as she hugged back.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into her hair. I wasn't planning on letting go, and part of me thought that Lila wasn't either. But, a loud crash caused me to quickly let go of Lila and turn to see what happened. And there stood Danny with a broken mug on the floor.

"For fuck's sake, Dan," I sighed as Lila giggled.

"Sorry," Danny said sheepishly as he bent down to pick up the pieces of the mug.

"I'll let you take care of that while I go to work," Lila said as she went up on her tip-toes and gave me a swift kiss on the cheek. "See ya later, Tommy."

"Bye," I said with a dazed smile as she made her way out the door. Danny cleared his throat to get my attention as he threw out the broken pieces to the mug he'd broken. "What?"

"You should seriously tell her," Danny said as I rolled my eyes and disregarded his suggestion. "Mate, I'm not joking. You can't just keep something like that from her."

"Why should I take your advice?" I asked with a light laugh. "Look at the mess you've just caused! I think that you're the one person I shouldn't be taking advice from."

"Fine, don't take my advice," Danny said with a shrug. "It's not my problem. You're the one that's gonna have that 'what if?' in the back of your mind for years."

I paused for a moment to think about what Danny had just said. Maybe for once the idiot was right. What was holding me back from telling Lila? Well, our friendship, of course. But, if our friendship was really as strong as I thought it was, then we would be able to overcome something like that. We'd still be friends even if she didn't feel the same way about me. Of course we would.

"I'm gonna go find Lila," I said quickly before bolting out of my flat. But, not before seeing a wide grin evolve on Danny's face. I ran out onto the street and looked around for Lila before spotting her walk towards the tubes. I screamed her name as I ran in her direction. She turned around and noticed me after the third time I yelled her name. A look of confusion spread across her face as I ran up to her, out of breath.

"Tom, what's wrong?" she asked as I put my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath, suddenly realizing how out of shape I was.

"I just... needed... to tell you... something," I panted, my chest heaving up and down as Lila nodded, waiting for me to continue. "The reason that I was being such an arse was because Dougie told me that you and Danny slept together. But, I know now that it's not true."

"I knew that he would tell you," she said as she covered her face with her hands. "But, why would that get you so upset?"

Because I love you.

"I dunno," I said awkwardly, trying to find the right words. "I just... didn't want to have to share you with anyone else and because I lo- "

"Oh my God! I'm gonna be so late! I've really got to go. But, we'll talk when I get home," Lila said frantically while looking at her wristwatch as she turned and started to hurry away.

"Wait! Lila! One more thing," I said as I caught up to her, grabbed her hand and spun her back towards me. She bumped into my chest, her fingertips laying lightly on top of my collarbone. In response, my hands found their way to her waist to keep her from falling.

"Yeah?" she asked in a small voice, her bright blue eyes locking with my muddy brown ones. Lila's voice sounded almost hopeful as she spoke to me. It was as if she was expecting to hear something, or wishing to hear something.

I love you.

"Um, have a good day at work," I said as I took a step away from Lila, watching her small smile slowly fade away.

"Right, thanks. I'll see you later," she said sadly as she turned to walk away. My feet stayed rooted to the ground as I watched her walk away, looking down at her feet and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear in the process.

You idiot.