Along Came Awkward

Tom paced nervously around his flat, obsessively tidying anything he felt was out of place. Laura would be here any minute and he felt ill prepared and worried. The only thing he found comforting was the fact that his brother wouldn't be home until the next morning. The doorbell rang and Tom jumped quickly glancing around the room for any last minute things to fix before he decided everything was fine. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

"What took you so long, slow poke," Laura grinned from the other side. "I thought I had the wrong address for a second."

"Oh, no," Tom smiled, letting her in. "This is the place."

"Well I assumed that when you answered the door," she chuckled, taking off her shoes and glancing around the home. "Nice place, " she commented.

"Fanks," Tom spoke. He felt nervous and unsure. Sure he had prepared as well as he could to have a clean house, but there is only so much you can do and prepare for when the person who is coming is a complete stranger. Tom subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at the girl for her to make the next move. She seemed like the type to be in control of the situation.

"Well, Mr. Fancy Pants, what do you feel like doing?"

"Don't yeh fink we should get to know each other befo' we do anyfing? I mean, we're both strangehs to one another."

Laura shrugged, taking off her jacket and handing it to Tom, winking as she did. "Nah, not important. Show me around your humble abode!"

Tom couldn't help but chuckle at how random and outgoing she was. He wasn't used to girls like this, and he certainly wasn't like this himself. "Alright, m'lady. This way," he waved her towards the kitchen. "This is where I cook all the delicious goodness in my house."

Laura eyed Tom up before shaking her head. "You don't cook."

"What?" He asked, taken back.

"You don't cook," she repeated simply. She opened the fridge and smirked before looking back at Tom. "Beer and whipped cream. See? You don't cook."

Tom looked at her frazzled, "I, well, uhm..."

She giggled and took the whipped cream before squirting some in her mouth. "I woph weeped cree!"

"What?" Tom laughed at the girl.

Laura shot Tom a childish grin, swallowing the gulp of whipped cream before placing it back in the fridge and closing the door. "I said I love whipped cream!"

"I can see that," Tom chuckled. "Yeh got some on yeh chin."

She licked it off with her tongue and wiped the saliva off with her sleeve before smiling back up at him. "I'm guessing you smoke pot, huh."

Tom shuffled his feet. "I nevah said that."

"Well obviously," Laura smiled. "It's kind of obvious considering your food source is whipped cream and..." she trailed off, reaching over and opening a few of the cabinets. "Ah, and peanut butter. Sounds like some munchy food to me."

Tom stayed silent, watching the girl go through his cabinets. Her observations were like none other and for a moment he thought she were a spy. He chuckled to himself and dismissed the thought quickly before looking back at the girl. He wasn't sure how she would take it if he admitted to being a smoker, so he decided to say nothing.

"Relax," she spoke, closing all of the cabinets. "I am too. No biggy."

Tom relaxed in his stance, "good to know I guess. We'll have to light up some time."

She nodded, glancing out the window before looking back at him. "Well don't tell me this is all that you have to your house. Show me more!"

"I'm only concerned you'll eat everything," Tom joked before leading her passed the kitchen and up the stairs. He pointed out the bathroom and Oliver's room before leading her into his own bedroom. It was fairly large considering the house was a double master suite. Him and Oli needed their own space, and that was something they both found very useful in the house. "This is my suite."

"A suite, how fancy!" She joked, walking around the room. "Not too messy either. Impressive. How long did it take you to clean it up?"

"It wasn't messy!" He defended.

The girl raised her eyebrow at him and crossed her arms. "So... like two hours?"

Tom frowned, nodding reluctantly. "Yea, about."

Laura giggled, satisfied, before walking around the room once more. She quickly looked into the bathroom before approaching the large sliding glass door that faced out into the backyard. The yard overlooked a bay. Needless to say, their house and property was very upscale. "I like this," she commented before sliding the door open.

The peak of the afternoon heat hit Tom's skin as he followed her out onto the deck. It was sunny as birds chirped and the waves crashed amongst the rocks along the cliff side. Tom almost had to hide his smirk crawling on his face. He knew his property was ravishing. It was one of the few things with himself that he was proud of. He leaned against the door frame and watched Laura, waiting for the gushing for the property to commence.

"You need a bird house," she began.

Tom frowned, a bit taken back. "What?"

"You have a Nightjar that needs a home."

"What?" He repeated, finally stepping fully out into the sunlight of the deck.

"There," she pointed diagonally towards the roof.

Tom squinted in the sunlight letting his eyes fall upon a small bird. "It's a bird. What of it?"

"It's not just any bird. That's a Nightjar. They're nocturnal birds. They're a bit rare. I'm surprised it's even here. There is no home for it."

"It'll find one," Tom shrugged.

Laura side-glanced at Tom before looking up at the bird again. "You should make her a home."

"Her? How do you know it's a her?"

Laura sighed, "you have much to learn." Tom frowned at her, but she smiled letting him know she was only playing around. "You can tell because of the colors. You should make her a home so she can raise a family here."

Tom looked away from Laura and back up to the bird. He never really took into consideration anyone else living here, other than him and Oli. Obviously he knew of the birds, but he never realized this was their home too. He just had never thought of it. "Okay," he nodded. "I will."

Laura patted him on the shoulder satisfied with his response and retreated back into his room. Tom glanced at the bird for another moment before retreating back inside. By the time he went back inside, Laura had completely disappeared. "Sunshine?" Tom called. He waited for a reply. When none came, he went back downstairs looking for her. He smiled to himself when he found her staring at the large fish tank built into the wall in the sitting room. "Found yeh," he grinned.

"Never lost me," she smiled. "I like this fish tank."

"It's Olleh's," Tom shrugged.

"And Oli is whom?" She asked, looking back at the tank.

"Brothah."

"Ah," she nodded.

"Funny memories wiff this tank. I don't realleh go near it anymore," Tom chuckled, running his hand through his hair. "I was pretteh hammered one night wiff the guys - my brothah's bandmates, we're all good friends. Anyways, Matty, the drummah, dared me to eat a fish from it. Long story short, Olleh nearly beat me to oblivion when he found out I ate one of his fish."

"Sounds horrible," Laura chuckled.

"That wasn't even the worst part! I puked for like two days straight after! Between the fish and the alcohol," Tom closed his eyes and shook his head. "Ugh, nevah again."

Laura reached over and ruffled Tom's hair. "Glad you learned your lesson."

"And what lesson was that?"

"Not to mess with your brother's fish," Laura laughed, Tom soon joining her.

"Aye, I guess. So, do yeh want to do somefing?"

Laura shrugged, making her way to the couch. "Well what do you normally do with strangers?"

"Shag 'em," Tom half-heartedly joked. It was only partially true. Not that he was in the mood to have sex with Laura, but she was rather stunning and he wouldn't deny it if she offered. "I don't usually hang out wiff strangers. Yeh clearly look like yeh've done this before. What do yeh do?"

She shrugged, "I don't hang out with other people."

"Well that's just silly," Tom laughed.

"I'm not kidding," Laura spoke.

Tom quickly stopped laughing and looked at how serious she was. He felt bad he had even chuckled before. "Oh," he began. "I'm sorry?" He didn't mean for it to sound like a question, but it did. He wasn't sure what to say and it had just turned out that way.

Laura shrugged, "no big deal. I'm here now, aren't I?"

"True," Tom nodded, leaning against the wall near the fish tank. "So..."

"So..." she mirrored back, smiling slightly.

Tom's head sparked an idea and a smile pulled at the corner of his lips ever so slightly, "want to smoke?" He figured if any situation was tense, smoking a bowl would help anything. He was only nervous she'd turn him down.

She smiled and nodded, "sounds lovely. Where?"

"Ehm," Tom looked around the room. Though Oliver smoked as well, he knew Oli wouldn't be too fond if the house smelt like marijuana. "My deck okay?"

Laura nodded and got off the couch. She followed Tom back upstairs through his room and back out onto the deck. Her eyes immediately went to the spot the bird was previously, but the little bird wasn't there anymore. Tom soon came out of his room to join her. He shut the glass door and sat down with a bowl in his hand. She watched him as he pulled the baggy out of his pocket along with a lighter and loaded the bowl.

"Do yeh want the first hit?" He offered her, getting ready to light it.

Laura shook her head, stretching her long legs out to the side of her. "Nah. Your bowl, your hit."

Tom nodded, lighting and taking the first hit before passing the bowl to Laura. He held it in as long as he could and then finally blew the smoke out of the side of his mouth.

Laura watched the smoke leave his lips causing a small smile to grace its way on to hers. Tom was attractive. That much she knew. She took her hit and passed it back to Tom.

They stayed silent, getting into the motion of passing the bowl back and forth until nothing was left to burn. Tom placed the bowl safely to the side and then looked out towards the bay. "So," he began feeling much more confident than before. "Who is Tom?"

Laura closed her eyes. His words seeped into her skin much more vividly than she would have liked. This is supposed to be a happy time, not a time about him.

"Tom is of the male genitalia," she answered.

Tom looked at her quizzically, "well yea."

Laura looked at him and a moment later, they both started laughing. "I love fucking with you," she laughed out.

"Fuck you!" He laughed. "I was being serious!"

"So was I!" She giggled back. Soon enough their giggles died out and they sat there, smiling at each other. "You're handsome," she spoke.

"You're high," he noted.

"I am," Laura nodded.

"You're also beautiful" Tom said confidently. She smiled back at him, reaching her hand out and holding his.

"I like you," she said. "We're friends now."

"Just like that?" He chuckled.

She giggled and nodded, "just like that!"

He nodded, satisfied at where this day ended up going. "As friends, we will hang out again."

"When?" She asked.

"Tomorrow. We'll go to a club, get super drunk, come back. Fuck if yeh want," he laughed, winking at her. "And wake up, and do somefing again the next day."

Laura giggled, "what day of the week is it?"

"Tuesday, I fink."

She nodded, "alright, Thomas. You have a deal."