When Timid Turned Into Tension.

Stumbling over the mat on the inside of the entrance to her flat she felt hands that were just as clumsy grab her waist to prevent her from falling. After tossing her purse onto the couch and her coat in the middle of the entryway Amelia turned back to look at Tom who was throwing the bolt to lock the door. He knew he would be allowed to stay over. No matter how drunk she was, Amelia would never let Tom drive his car the short distance to his house if he was just a little bit tipsy.

“Tooomm.” Amelia slurred.

He turned back to look at her as he leaned down to grab her coat and hang it up next to his. Staggering towards him Amelia had her arms out in front of her as if it would somehow steady herself, catching her just before she caught her foot on the rug again Amelia let out a small joyful laugh and took her heels off while using Tom to brace herself.

Once finding her balance she twirled around, surprisingly light on her feet and walked into her kitchen while humming a song they had heard earlier in the night at her cousins birthday celebration. Tom following, let out a hearty laugh at seeing Amelia with her guard down as she was running and sliding small amounts on the wooden floor, squealing with joy and stating that she found another reason to love dressing up, this time she said it was because of the tights. The one reason she didn’t say out loud was how pleased she felt when Tom did a double take when he saw her wearing the tightly fitting red party dress. No matter how much she protested at the thought of wearing it, she wouldn’t admit how she began to realize it was worth it just for that one moment when Tom noticed her the way she had longed him to.

Stopping to face Tom and laughing still, she caught onto the edge of the counter.

“Hmm... How about some water?” Tom asked with lightness in his voice.

Amelia nodded her head which in result made the room spin for a moment. After the world right itself Amelia reached up to a cupboard to get two glasses out then walked over to the sink. Setting the glasses down she turned on the tap and once it was cold filled one of the glasses and gave it to Tom, who thanked her and took a long drink, nearly draining the glass in one go. Next thing he saw when he looked up nearly made him spit out the last mouthful, after struggling to swallow this last gulp walked over to Amelia and took her glass out of her hand.

“Nice try Amelia, but I believe the bartender cut you off for a reason. And no matter how amusing this night has turned out to be, I agree with him and think you’ve had too much to drink.” Tom said lightly while removing the glass of wine and setting it next to where she was sitting on the counter. Grabbing her around the waist Tom pulled her down while she was struggling out a reply.

“B-but IIIII feel fiiiine.” She pouted. As if to prove her point Amelia tried to twirl around once more, only this time when she came to a stop she tried to grab for the counter again and missed by a good two feet which made her lose her balance and flail comically as she tried to prevent herself from falling over. Tom grabbed one of her arms and attempted to pull her upright which resulted in her flinging into Tom’s body and him needing to take a step back to uphold his own balance. Tom looked down at Amelia with an eyebrow raised and she smiled at him sheepishly.

“Okayyy.” She slurred. Humming to herself Amelia looked up to Tom and opened her arms, inviting him into a hug. “I love you Tom.” She said matter-of-factly. She loved that whenever they would go out, which was rare, he would always take care of her. Despite being highly intoxicated, Amelia knew that it was times like this that she could get out her feelings without things being weird. And truthfully, she did love him, his friendship changed her. From the very beginning he had always been there for her, and she for him.

---

It was the end of summer, which meant that the rain had returned along with the weather slowly and steadily getting colder. Just like the two previous years, Amelia and Tom had already said their goodbyes for the upcoming school year. With Tom going to Eton and Amelia starting to figure out what she wanted to do for her A levels, they both knew that seeing each other would be pretty close to impossible over the course of the school year.

Just like with every close of the summer, the arguments between Amelia and her mother came back full force. Arguing about Amelia’s need to make up her mind on her future, Amelia’s lack of seriousness and responsibilities over the past few years and most importantly Amelia’s unhealthy attachment to a boy from a few streets away that Mrs. Weston hadn’t even met yet. Mrs. Weston was beginning to believe that her 15 year old daughter was not just socially awkward, but also starting to be crazy. Thinking that
“Tom” was just an imaginary friend Amelia conjured up, Mrs. Weston never once stopped to think about the reason why Amelia wouldn’t bring a friend back home.

Her home wasn’t abusive, she was fairly happy the majority of the time, but she was beginning to realize how much her mother was looking forward to the summer where Amelia would leave and that Mrs. Weston could finally have what she wanted since before Mr. Weston left, the freedom to isolate herself from the world and to stop keeping up pretenses, to move out of the city and to a small town. Amelia was constantly ashamed of herself, thinking that all along it had been her fault her mom felt that way. Just after Amelia and Tom met Mrs. Weston was given an opportunity to leave London and move up north, Amelia having grown so attached to her first true friend so quickly begged her mom to stay, saying that she wouldn’t be able to cope with the move just before the start of a new school year. Mrs. Weston agreed, but her daughter felt something change between them, that there was a resentment that hadn’t been there before. Amelia figured that was why her mom pushed her so hard, so that she wouldn’t have to work harder later on to get out to be on her own.

Amelia walked down the road to the park nearby, after the first summer of their meeting they had to relocate from the tree in her yard to a tree in the park. One reason was because of Amelia’s mom, but more importantly because Tom could no longer fit comfortably into the tree.

She knew he wasn’t going to be here, but as she hopped across a puddled and went to sit against the trunk of their new tree she sighed. This was her sanctuary.

This time, the arguments with her mom more that frustrated her, they dug deep wounds. After sharing that she wanted to look into writing and journalism Mrs. Weston’s reaction wasn’t anger or irritation for not choosing something to get her further ahead quicker, but instead Amelia saw the disappointment and hurt in her mom’s eyes. Knowing that the reason was because she was going to end up keeping her mom stuck in London even longer, Amelia left before she could even listen to response her mom was ready to guilt her with. Anyone would rather hear that a parent was angry with them over disappointment any day.

Shivering slightly she mentally kicked herself for not remembering a coat. It wasn’t long before she felt her bottom go numb from the roots of the tree, wishing she also had the blanket she normally brought with her. Amelia looked up quickly at the sound of her name.

Squinting through the rain she let out a sound of surprise. “Tom? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he responded with a grin which quickly vanished as he saw the state of Amelia. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Amelia looked up at him, “Oh, you know, the usual back to school routine.” She said, having already told him about the tension in her household the last few days of summer holiday. Nodding his head knowingly he sat down beside her and put his arm around her. Him being a few years older and obviously quite a bit bigger his embraces were always loose, but much needed and sought after regardless. Midway through filling him in with the most resent installment of her mother’s drama she realized that he shouldn’t be here. Repeating her question from earlier she asked again what Tom was doing in the park.

Sighing and withdrawing his arm he folded his hands in his lap and began to tell Amelia of the tension in his household. “I was able to sneak away after they left for counseling. I figured I might as well make one last effort at seeing you again until next summer.” He said sadly. Amelia didn’t know how to feel about what was going on with him, of course she grew up without her dad so she never knew what it was like to have parents falling out with each other, but she also knew that this was a big change for Tom and she needed to be there for him as much as she could.

“I am glad to see you again, but given the circumstances I really hope that this doesn’t become a habit.” Said Amelia, frustrated that the happy memory of their last meeting was now clouded by their problems.

Tom and Amelia went on for a while longer, talking more about what happened with each other and trying to remember anything else they meant to tell each other before they met up again nine months later.

---

Backing out of their drunken embrace Amelia looked at Tom with a peculiar expression on her face before stating seriously: “I think I really need to brush my teeth.” Turning on the spot and using the wall to steady herself Amelia made her way into the bathroom. Tom walked into the living room and sank down into the couch, taking off his shoes and began to rub his feet, smiling to himself at what a successful evening it had been. It was until he heard a loud crash from the bathroom that he realized she had been in the bathroom ‘brushing her teeth’ for nearly 15 minutes.

“Amelia, are you alright?” he asked, surprised that rather than receiving a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ the door burst open and she had tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong?!” he questioned as he grabbed onto her shoulders to help her balance.

“I don’t know what to dooo!” She said somewhat frantically.

“About what?” Tom asked, perplexed.

“I can’t find my blasted toothpaste!” The tears began to spill over as she moved closer to him. Tom tried to remain serious in the situation, but he couldn’t help the small smile that had formed on his face. His favorite part of the evening the part that Amelia over reacts at every little thing. While it could be really annoying at times, Tom learned how to deal with it in a way that ended with them both laughing the next morning.

“Well, first of all, let’s start with you drinking some water. And by water, I mean water. Not wine.” Tom said lightly. Responding with a small and sad nod Amelia shut the door again and Tom turned to go get her a glass of water. When he returned he saw the door to the bathroom was closed and after trying to open it he realized it was locked. He heard the shower running and ran a hand through his hair, no matter how much of a hassle Amelia could be for him sometimes he wouldn’t trade nights like these for anything. He sat down against the wall across from the door and set down the glass of water next to him. Pulling out his phone, looking at pictures from the night earlier smiling to himself when he would come to one where he and Amelia were pulling particularly funny faces at each other.

A few minutes later the bathroom door opened and steam rolled out, Amelia’s head came from behind the door. “Umm, Tom, could you maybe grab a towel for me?” She asked sounding a whole lot more sober than she did a few minutes before. Going to the hallway closet that contained the dryer Tom grabbed a towel and brought it back to her. Tom averted his eyes and stared down at the carpet as he handed her the towel. Blushing profusely Amelia muttered a barely audible “Thank you.” Looking back up again just as she was shutting the door Tom saw the curve of her neck and the bareness of her left shoulder where a small freckle lay. Clearing his throat he walked back into the living room and resumed his previous position on the couch. He didn’t realize his eyes were closed until Amelia came in and coughed quietly to let him know she was there.

With her wet hair pulled over her right shoulder she handed Tom his own towel and a set of blankets. “I uhh, found the toothpaste.” She said slightly embarrassed before explaining that while in a panic to get ready she threw it into the cabinet under the sink. Tom laughed while looking at the stack of cloth she gave him.

“Well, I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie?” Tom questioned lightly. Amelia surprised at the change of routine shook her head in agreement and chose a movie while she waited for Tom to shower as well. After putting the disc into the DVD player Amelia settled down into the couch, sighing at finally being able to get off of her feet. Still slightly drunk but thankfully not as obnoxious, Amelia was glad that rather than going to her bedroom and Tom taking over the couch they were going to spend a little bit more time together tonight.

Tom came back out wearing his boxers carrying the forgotten glass of water to make sure Amelia drank it. His efforts were wasted, he found her deeply asleep and sprawled out over as much of the couch as her small frame could cover. Staring at her for a moment longer Tom grabbed one of the blankets and spread it over her before going around the rooms in her apartment and turning off the lights. Stealing one of the pillows from the couch Tom settled on the carpeted floor after pressing play. He sighed as he listened to the sound of her breathing, not caring about the movie he laid there, savoring the moment.