The Way You Make Me Feel

Tom's P.O.V.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't excited when I bumped into Lila on the street. I had almost forgotten about her over the six years that we hadn't spoken. That's what scared me the most. Just the possibility that she was slipping from my memory was frightening to me. But, after seeing her again, I felt more complete than I had in the past six years.

I guess you're all probably wondering where I'm coming from here. Well, wanna know a secret? For the first sixteen years of my life, Lila was the only girl who managed to steal my heart. I know, it's really cliche to fall in love with your best friend, especially in these love stories, but I couldn't help it. Lila was the only girl that I ever really liked until she moved away.

I was never even sure what it was about her that I liked so much. But, for some reason, she was perfect in my eyes. She was funny, sweet, witty, and every other good adjective that there is out there. Not to mention she was beautiful. She had long, wavy strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes that could make anyone melt. That's why I never even tried to be with Lila. I was fat, ugly, and her best friend. Lila was so out of my league, it was funny to think that she was even friends with me.

"Mate?" I heard Danny call from the other room.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Lila?" he asked as I rolled my eyes. "Is she your new bird?"

"How do you even know about Lila?" I asked as I walked into the room that him, Dougie, and Harry were in. They all had that guilty look on their faces. You know, the one that you get after you'd done something really bad.

"Danny! When we said 'ask him about Lila', we didn't mean now!" Harry said to Danny.

"You still haven't answered my question," I said.

"We were going through your stuff and saw her number," Dougie said sheepishly as I glared at the three of them.

"We used to be best friends, and then she moved to America and we sort of lost touch. But, I ran into her yesterday, so we're gonna go out for coffee," I said casually, hoping that they wouldn't ask anymore about her. There were some aspects of my life that I wanted to keep secret from them. I know that it seems as if best friends are supposed to share everything with each other, but I didn't want to tell them about my life before the band. It was a different time for me. I was a different person.

"I don't remember you talking about her," Harry said as I walked into my bedroom and grabbed my coat.

"That's because I never have," I said as I slipped my coat on and made my way to the door of my flat. "I'm meeting her now, actually. So, I'll see you guys later."

>>>

I was slightly nervous as I sat in the coffee shop, waiting for Lila to show up. Obviously, she didn't know about the fact that I was in a highly successful band, so I was planning on telling her that today. It was one of those moments where you knew that something would go terribly wrong, so you were just waiting for the bomb to explode.

I played with my fingers as my leg shook underneath the table. And when I looked up, I saw Lila walk into the coffee shop. It was as if an angel had just walked into the room. Everything seemed so much better when she was around. I watched as her eyes scanned the room and finally rested on me. A bright smile spread across her face as she waved and walked over to the table that I was sitting at.

"Hey, Tom," she said as I got up and gave her a slightly awkward hug. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to or not. I think that came out a bit wrong. What I meant to say, was I wasn't sure if it was acceptable to go and hug her like she was my best friend, even though we hadn't seen each other in a few years. Wow, I think I just made it more confusing. I hope you understand where I'm getting at here.

"How are you?" I asked, suddenly feeling self-concious about how I looked. What if she thought that I was geeky because I was wearing my glasses? Dammit. I knew I should've worn my contacts.

"I'm good. Work's a bitch, but what else is new?" she said as I laughed a little too hard. It took me this long to realize how much I actually missed her. "But enough about how obnoxious my work is. What have you been up to these past six years?"

"A lot," I said with a nervous laugh as she cocked her head to the side, her blue eyes piercing through me. Just then, a waitress came to our table to take our order. She began blushing and smiling a lot when she realized who I was. I couldn't say that it shocked me. I was used to this now.

"What can I get for you?" she asked, still blushing and avoiding my gaze.

"Just a coffee," I said.

"I'll have the same," Lila said before the waitress walked away. "I think she fancied you, Tommy."

"Nah, I don't think so. I doubt she would've acted that way if she didn't know that I was Tom Fletcher," I said with a shrug, suddenly remembering that I hadn't really explained to Lila about McFly.

"How would she know that you're Tom Fletcher?" Lila asked as the waitress came back with our drinks. She put the coffees down for us and then took out a piece of paper and a pen.

"I know this might be kind of annoying, but may I have your autograph?" the waitress asked as Lila looked at me with confusion.

"Sure," I muttered as I quickly scribbled my signature on the piece of paper. I never understood why people thought that my autograph was so special. I mean, they meet me and all they ask for is my autograph. They don't even attempt to start a conversation. It's like my signature is more important than I am.

"Why did she want your autograph?" Lila asked as the waitress walked away again. "Is there something I'm missing out on?"

"I'm in a band," I said as Lila's eyebrows raised higher on her forehead. "A fairly famous band. We've had a considerable amount of number ones in the UK, we've been in a movie, and we broke a world record."

"Are you joking?" Lila asked skeptically as I shook my head.

"No, I swear. After you left, I kinda wanted to get out of Harrow and be someone completely different," I said as Lila stared at me for a moment. I could see the gears turning in her head as she bit her lip. I didn't really expect her to believe me.

"I hope you didn't change too much," she finally said with a large smile as I sighed in relief, knowing that she believed me.

"I didn't, don't worry," I said as I took a sip from my coffee.

"How did this all happen?" she inquired.

"Well, it all started because I auditioned for Busted, but didn't get in. But, they asked me to write with them and stuff," I explained as Lila furrowed her brow.

"What's Busted?" she asked as my eyes widened and my jaw slacked slightly.

"You've been gone way too long, Li," I said as she blushed and looked down at her coffee.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Continue."

As I told her all about McFly, her eyes glistened with interest as she listened to me intently. She nodded as I explained why we'd recently started our own record label and she laughed as I talked about all of the funny experiences I'd gone through with Harry, Dougie, and Danny. I told her all about them. I explained all of their weird habits and all of their personalities as best I could.

"When can I meet them?" she asked with her adorable smile as I rubbed the back of my neck. I told her that she could meet them whenever she wanted to. I was beyond ecstatic to hear her ask when she could meet them. If she met the rest of McFly, that meant that we would see each other again.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" I offered after the two of us had conversed over coffee for over three hours.

"Yes, please," she said with a wide smile as the two of us walked out of the coffee shop. "Now you can meet Austin. If he's home, that is."

"Who's Austin?" I asked, fearing the answer that I was expecting.

"Oh, he's my boyfriend," Lila said as she flipped her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and stuffed her hands into her coat pockets.

"Boyfriend?" I asked weakly as I felt my insides twist. "How long have you two been dating."

"About five months. I really think that it's too fast for us to be living together, but, he insists that we do," she said as I felt a sudden hatred towards Austin.

"Would I approve?" I asked as I playfully shoved her, hoping that she wouldn't pick up on my sudden upset mood.

"Nope," she said with a slight giggle. "He hates Star Wars."

"Lila, you've gotta break up with him," I said, meaning every word.