The Way You Make Me Feel

Tom's P.O.V.

"Alright, I'm just warning you ahead of time, the guys are really... interesting," I said to Lila as we walked towards the recording studio.

It had been a month since I went out for coffee with Lila. We'd gotten to be really good friends again in a surprisingly short amount of time. It was like she'd never left at all. We were even able to talk about all of our problems like we used to. We talked every single day. It was rare to see a day go by without hearing from Lila. And I liked that.

"Tom, you need to relax," Lila said as she pushed me playfully. "I'm sure that they're all very nice."

"Yeah, they're nice, just weird," I said as she laughed. "Just to remind you, Danny's the one with curly brown hair. He's really, really stupid. So, don't try to have an intellectual conversation with him or anything. Dougie's the one with the blonde hair. Doug's just a weird little boy. You might not want to talk to him either. And then there's Harry. I guess he's normal. Well, compared to the other two, at least."

"You have no faith in your friends, do you?" Lila asked me as I chuckled and opened the door for her.

"I guess not," I said with a shrug.

I watched her in admiration as she hugged her coat closer to her and blew her bangs out of her eyes. I didn't understand why this was happening to me. It had only been a month since I'd seen Lila and already I was falling fast and hard. It was so new to me. I had never felt this way about anyone before. It was like a whole new feeling. But, it scared me. I was afraid of falling for her, but breaking in the end. I didn't want to end up broken.

>>>

"Why do I always fall for such deuchebags?" a fifteen-year-old Lila asked through her tears on a brisk autumn day. We were sitting in a tree-house at a nearby park. That was where we always went when we needed to talk. It was our spot. You know, a spot that can't be shared with anyone other than that special person.

"Cheer up, Li," I said with a weak smile as I rubbed her back soothingly. "It's probably for the best that you two didn't end up together."

Lila had just gotten her heart broken... for about the millionth time. It was always the same story every time. She would fall for a guy, but then he'd end up dating some really skanky girl. And every time she would get torn up over it. She normally never cried. She could take ridicule and all, but when someone broke her heart, she would cry for days and days. I always thought that it was an excuse to get all of the other tears out.

"No it's not! He was so amazing, Tom," she said as my heart dropped into my stomach. See, here's my problem, every time that Lila would come crying to me about a guy, I would get all depressed because I knew that I could never be that guy. I would always be her shoulder to cry on, her best friend, Tommy. Never anything more than that.

"Well, obviously not," I said as she wiped some tears away.

"I just don't get it," Lila said as she bit her lip. "Why do all of the really slutty, bitchy girls get boyfriends, but I can't? At least I'm a decent person to be around."

"Think about it like an apple tree, Li," I said as she looked at me with annoyance.

"Is this going to be some really stupid analogy, Tom? Because, I'm not in the mood for it today," she said as I looked down at my hands awkwardly.

"It's a good one. I promise," I said as she looked at me intently. "Look at it like an apple tree. All of the good apples - that would be you - are high up in the tree and the rotten apples are all low on the tree, if not on the ground. A guy won't climb the tree for a good apple, because he knows that if he falls it will hurt more. So, he keeps taking the rotten apples, knowing that the fall won't hurt. You just have to wait for the guy that's brave enough to risk falling."

"That was the gayest thing I've ever heard," Lila said as she looked at me with a blank stare. "But, it made sense."

"See? I can think up good analogies on occasion," I said with a proud smile as Lila rolled her eyes at me.

"Tom?" Lila asked as I looked at her. "Are you brave enough to risk falling for a good apple?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "But, someday I will be."

>>>

"Oi! Is this Lila?" Danny asked as Lila and I walked into the recording studio. I cringed when the three idiots started 'ooh'ing and whistling. I knew that this would happen. I was just stupid for not avoiding it. They always embarrassed me around girls that I liked. It was something that they found pleasure in. Lord knows why, though. Maybe they just liked seeing me suffer. Yeah, that must be it.

"Yeah," I muttered as Danny smiled widely and pulled her into a hug. I don't think that Lila was really expecting it. I mean, not many people hug a complete stranger. But, that was just Danny, I guess. He was always the most friendly out of all of us.

"I'm Danny," he said as Lila waved at him and then turned to Dougie and Harry.

"Hi," she said to Dougie and Harry as they smiled at her. Dougie was checking her out. I could tell. I glared at him when he caught my eye and he looked down at his hands. I knew that Dougie didn't really mean to check her out. He would always subconsciously check girls out. So, I couldn't really be mad at him. He didn't mean it. Or, he better not have meant it. He knew that she was off limits. See, he had no clue that I had feelings for Lila. None of the guys did. But, he knew that she was my best friend. And since she was my best friend, there was no way that I would ever let anything happen between them. But, it didn't really matter. Dougie didn't see Lila like that.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Harry inquired as Lila sat in between him and Dougie, not wasting any time in getting to know them.

"Oh, Tom and I go way back," she said cheerfully. "Our parents were friends, so we've practically known each other since birth."

"So, then you know everything about Tom?" Dougie asked as Lila nodded. I could tell that I didn't like where this conversation was going. It would just end in another way that the three of them would try and make my life all the more awkward. I mean, I'm awkward enough as it is! I don't need their help in that area!

"Even all the really embarrassing stuff?" Danny asked as my eyes widened in horror. Before McFly, I was a completely different person. Well, I was still me with my personality, but I was just... different. I don't really know how to explain it, I just was. And I didn't want my mates knowing that old side of me.

"Oh yeah," Lila scoffed. "HIV Tommy and all."

"HIV Tommy?" Harry asked with an amused smile as he turned to look at me.

"You don't know about that?" Lila asked as all of them shook their heads. "Well, Tom was in some movie about HIV. Poor kid had unprotected sex."

"Seriously?" Danny asked as he burst out laughing.

"Th-that's enough on that subject," I said as Lila looked at me with confusion. Realization soon spread across her face and she looked at me apologetically. I guess she didn't realize that being in a movie about HIV was pretty embarrassing for me. I wasn't mad at her, though. I could never be mad at her.

"Sorry," Lila said quietly as the guys continued to laugh.

"Why are you sorry?" Dougie asked. "I have a feeling that we'll be getting along quite well."

"Really?" Lila asked as she beamed at Dougie. She always loved it when people accepted her. Lila had always felt like everyone rejected her. I always told her that she was insane to think that. But, she thought it all the same. I couldn't really blame her, though. Not after what happened with her mum.

Oh, did I not mention that? Well, when Lila and I were 14, her mum just walked out on her and her dad. I'm not sure why and neither was Lila. But, she was devastated. That was the time when she needed her mum the most and she just left her. The night it happened, she called me, sobbing for hours. We were on the phone until three in the morning. Her dad was rarely home the week post her mum leaving. She said that he was always at the bar. But, they made it through.

"Yup," Danny said with his dopey smile as Lila's phone rang. She pulled out her phone and looked at the caller I.D., causing her to frown.

"Hello?" she said as she answered the phone.

"Where the fuck are you?" I heard a voice yell from Lila's phone. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she got up and excused herself. When she was out in the hallway, I sighed and fell onto the couch.

"Who was that?" Harry asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. "He sounded pissed."

"It was Austin," I said bitterly. "Her boyfriend."

"They don't seem to have a happy relationship," Danny said as I shook my head.

"No, they don't," I said. "She could be with someone so much better than him. She just doesn't see it."

That's when I realized that I was brave enough to climb for my good apple.