If Ada hadn't been awake during the time where a hangover would develop, she would have woken up with one. She'd drank three more wine coolers while Tom helped Peter with his homework, then they played board games until Peter fell asleep on the loveseat. She was determined to be drunk when Tom and her finished their questions, but the questions never came as they were never alone for more than a couple of minutes for the rest of the night.

Being shaken awake after about two hours of sleep wasn't much better than a hangover and Ada's hand crept up to her forehead in hopes to stop things from rattling in her brain while her fatigued body was being pushed by an overexcited eleven-year-old who awoke the sleeping hangover in her.

"Make it stop," she grumbled, her other hand flailing around until it hit its target. "Why are you doing this to me!"

"School's cancelled because the power's still out!"

"So you effing wake me up to tell me I can sleep in? You're a terrible person."

"Tom wants you to know that he made coffee."

As much as those words played like a symphony to her senses, sleep outranked it. Ada wasn't certain how much sleep she'd gotten or what time it was now, but at that moment Ada felt as if she'd slept a negative number of hours. "Wake me up in three days and not a moment sooner."

Peter let out an exaggerated sighed before rushing out of the room, sounding like a bull rather than a small boy. "She said to wake her up in three days!"

Sleep felt like it was moments away from taking her when she felt pressure pressing down against the cushion of the couch. Ada was going to ignore it, but then a soft touch of a fingertip began petting her nose.

She was too tired to work up the strength needed to fight her smile.

"I thought you were a morning person." Tom's voice was subdued, despite his desire for her to wake up.

Ada snuggled into her pillow, falling into the 'Bennet Trance' without even having to look at him.

"I'll be a morning person in a few hours."

"In a few hours it won't be morning anymore," he countered.

Tom nudged her to the side and joined her on the couch, swiping her pillow and forcing Ada to use his chest as a replacement. It wasn't as soft and yet was far superior in just about every way. With his arm now around her, the 'Bennet Trance' went to new heights.

He'd held her before, but a hug felt different from this type of embrace. Despite her brain telling her not to fall for it, Ada couldn't help but snuggle closer to him. Maybe it wasn't romantic; but until she opened her eyes to face the truth, she could at least pretend it was.

"You're comfy," Ada admitted, too sleepy for common sense to kick in and tell her, 'no'.

Tom chuckled above her head. "Oh yeah?"

"Mm hmm."

"You're kind of cute when you're sleepy."

Ada felt herself drift closer to REM. "You're cute when you're awake." Again, common sense had failed her, and Ada willed her brain to kick in. Her brain needed to kick in for her to even send the message to it, so she'd failed before she even began. "I need to stop talking and wake up."

"Dunno," Tom's voice sang out, "I kind of like 'honest Ada'."

"I'm always honest."

"But not always so willingly. I bet I could ask you just about any question right now and you wouldn't even tell me to 'fuck off'."

"I'd tell you to fuck off now, but like I said, I'm comfy."

Tom shook her shoulder. "Ada, wake up. If you don't wake up, I'm gunna fall asleep and if I fall asleep like this, I'm gunna wake up to your dad standing over me with his chainsaw."

"I'll protect you," Ada said as she patted his chest before laying her palm against it. And as soon as she did, Ada remembered what she'd noticed yesterday; what Tom had kept well disguised from everyone in the four years she'd known him.

He was built.

Deceptively so. There was no rock hard abs under her small hand, but there was a muscular body she knew nothing about until the night before.

"Are you feeling me up?" Tom's voice filled with amusement more than anything.

Ada hadn't realized she was until she remembered starting on his chest and was now on his stomach. "You've fallen asleep and you're dreaming."

"You and I both know-"

Ada patted it before springing upwards, which reminded her of the slight hangover she had. "You said there was coffee?"

Tom sucked in a slow breath as he looked at her, a modest smile playing at his lips. "I did say that. Would you like a cup?"

Ada nodded, feeling the tiredness lift away from her just enough to realize everything she'd said and done in the last couple of minutes was thoroughly and painfully stupid.

Tom gave her one last look before rolling himself off the couch and heading into the kitchen. As soon as he disappeared through the doorway, Ada dropped herself back onto the couch and let all her pent-up emotions out in one high-pitched squeal that she muffled with her pillow.

"Heard that!"

"Fuck off!"

She heard his chuckle all the way from the kitchen.

***********

The morning was spent with Ada being lazy and Peter helping Tom pick up sticks around the yard. She watched them from the porch, nursing her hangover with multiple cups of coffee and melted ice cream for creamer.

It amazed Ada that Peter seemed to accompany Tom everywhere. She wasn't sure when this connection happened; they'd only had short periods of time together. But Ada realized it only took her a moment of Tom letting her in to fall into the trap of everything he was.

He was just that guy.

He was the guy that made you smile when you wanted to scream; that made you smile when you were moments away from tears. He had that extraordinary ability to put you just a little more at ease when your world was turning to shit. He did the same for her he claimed she did for him; only to a stronger degree and for everyone he let in.

She'd never seen Peter smile this much for anyone outside of the family, nor had she ever seen him ask for help from someone besides her.

She'd also never seen her dad accept anyone so rapidly, especially considering how their relationship began. Her dad was a sweetheart once you got to know him, but until you reached the point where he let that happen, he was an intimidating, gruff monster of a man who made mother's hold on to their child's hand just a little tighter as they walked passed him down the sidewalk. He had a 'putting up with zero shit' kind of manner about him that everyone who knew him knew better than to believe.

So letting Tom in just a day after he threatened to dismember him was a big thing, something that still left Ada baffled.

So as Peter helped pick up fallen debris from the storm and told Tom random stories, Ada couldn't help but think about the kiss.

Her feelings were now known by Tom and herself, though you could hardly tell by the way he'd behaved since the revelation. He was sweeter with her and more lighthearted, wanting to put her at ease that her feelings wouldn't ruin their friendship.

But the friendship remaining intact after the kiss was something that he could not promise her. The kiss wouldn't tell her anything the alcohol hadn't last night. Ada knew how she felt about him now; she was certifiably crazy about him. Falling for her highschool teacher had to make her insane, Ada figured.

So how would certifiable Ada react when Tom began dating again? Made new friendships? Found a house to move into far away from the coffee shop?

Ada was let into his life when it collapsed around him. Tom would rebuild and make something new out of it all, and Ada couldn't help but wonder if she would be a part of that all, or just someone who encouraged him along the way.

The car doors slamming shut in front of her shocked Ada out of her thoughts, and she saw her parents had arrived.

Her father joined Peter and Tom while her mother walked around larger branches to get to the porch. "I see you're being productive this morning. Isn't Peter supposed to be the lazy one?"

Ada shrugged and took the last drink of coffee in her sad and now empty mug. She grimaced at it with disappointment.

"You're totally hungover, aren't you?" her mother asked in a laugh.

"I'm whatever it's called when you're hungover, but say and do stupid crap like you're still kind of drunk." That was her only justification for her behavior earlier.

Her mom sat beside her on the swing and put her feet up on the porch railings. "I don't think any of us know what that one's called, but I know what you're talking about." Her mother began pushing them with her feet, lightly enough where it didn't upset Ada's unruly stomach. "Did he spend the night last night?"

"Yup." There was no point in hiding it. Ada never would have drank if she was the only person watching her brother.

Her mother's tone became more serious. "Did anything happen?"

Ada thought for a moment. "Plenty happened, just not in the way you're thinking. Peter thought we were dating and so Tom and I had a talk, which led to me getting intoxicated enough to admit that I had a thing for him. Then I got more intoxicated waiting for him to react, but the prick never did and now I'm hungover and confused."

Her mom patted her knee. "Well that's hardly a big reveal. You turn the color of a damn tomato every time you talk to the guy. You're about as subtle with your feelings as a brick through a window."

Although she glared at her mother, it was the truth. She blushed like crazy around him, and she knew he noticed that. Then there was the 'Bennet Trance' that she guessed he'd caught her in a time or two.

She looked over at Tom, who seemed to become nervous around her father, who she guessed had just learned Tom had spent the night. It didn't take more than a few moments for the weight to be lifted from his shoulders and her dad took the assortment of sticks from Tom, walking them toward the rest of the pile.

Ada looked in the direction of the men just as Tom stole a glimpse in Ada's direction and gave her a subdued smile that her dad had learned of him staying over and hadn't used one of the sticks as a stake to shove into his heart.

"Is Tom going to move on from me?" She hadn't meant to ask aloud, only to herself, but it was out there now, which was fine.

"I don't know the answer to that, Ada," her mom admitted. "I know him caring about you is real, but there's a chance one or both of you will move on from whatever this is. You're in such different places."

Ada nodded, having thought about that. She was young and just starting her life, while Tom was older and had lived more than a third of his. They were in two different stages of life and Ada would be stupid to pretend that wouldn't change anything between them.

"That isn't something you should worry about right now. It happens a lot of times in life and is just part of evolving."

"I'm not worried."

Her mom only smiled. "Bullshit."

Ada moved her gaze back to Tom, who seemed to notice the weight lifted off of his own shoulder had found its way to her.

"Yeah," Ada mumbled. "Bullshit."