tom walked into work, putting on his apron and immediately starting on the dishes. he tiredly scrubbed at coffee stains on a mug, not having gotten a good rest the night before due to nightmares and anxiety. he was also too tired to notice how tense ell was when she walked into the kitchen and saw him.

"morning." she spoke curtly. obviously, the brunette was still upset about the whole tord text message situation.

"hey." tom mumbled.

"how's you-know-who?" the passive aggressive tone made tom remember the incident.

"he's okay." he shrugged.

"he hasn't tried anything sketchy?"

realization flooded tom; ell wasn't entirely mad, she was just protective. like a mother. a second matt. well, that definitely woke him up. "if he did, i would've stopped seeing him," tom responded reassuringly. his face flushed pink at the wording he chose. "i mean, not seeing him. i'm not dating him, i meant- he's.. you know?"

ell rolled her eyes. her resemblance to edd was uncanny. "i know what you mean."

"mhm" was all tom could respond with, vigorously drying a plate in embarrassment. he heard his phone ringing in his backpack, so he put the plate and towel down and went over to get it.

"is it him?" ell asked, raising an eyebrow.

"i dunno." tom murmured, checking the screen to see it was. "damn. yeah." he smiled anyway and answered, "hello?"

"oh! i didn't think you'd pick up. aren't you at work?" tord's surprised voice came from the phone.

"i am. anything you need?" tom stood in the corner of the kitchen.

"i wanted to ask... do you wanna come over later to, um.." the norwegian seemed embarrassed to ask. "..-to hear me play guitar? i kinda suck, though, but i just thought i'd get some practice since i might become a guitar teacher."

a bit wary, tom chewed his lip. "that sounds good," he rocked on the heels of his feet. "preferably at 6, though. is that okay?"

"that's good, yeah." god, tom could practically hear tord's smile through the phone. "thanks."

"see you." tom hung up and rubbed his face with his hands. he turned back around to put his phone away and get back to work.

it was clear ell had heard most of the conversation but she didn't comment on it, instead focusing on cooking an omelette.

"edd told me he got you a date. eric?" ell piped up.

"yeah. he tried to force me to smoke weed with him and almost hit me, but-" tom bit his lip. "i ran away." he finished off with a lie.

"oh, yikes. i'm sorry. you told edd and matt that, right?"

"yeah, but hours after i got home. i was still shaken up by the whole thing."

"makes sense."

they both grew quiet.

~timeskip~

tom watched and smiled as edd eagerly took matt's uneaten pizza crusts off his plate and put them onto his own.

"thanks for dinner." tom hummed, standing up and throwing away his paper plate.

"of course. what are you gonna do now?" matt asked curiously after he smacked edd's hand.

tom glanced at the digital clock above the stove; the green letters read 5:38. "i think i'm just gonna listen to music and nap." he lied.

"okay." the ginger shrugged. "edd and i are just gonna finish up paying for the place we rented for the wedding."

he gave a thumbs up, turned, and walked away to his room. once reaching safety, tom locked his door and sighed. of course i'm sneaking out again like a rebellious teen. the thought made him smile and roll his eyes at himself. he changed into a white letterman's jacket with rainbow cuffs, a pair of black jeans, and his old converse. tom pulled on a black beanie and climbed over his bed, propping open the window before carefully making his way out.

the grass was springy under his shoes when he landed, seeming to welcome him outside along with the cool breeze that hugged him. tom shivered and walked quickly to tord's house since the sun was beginning to set and he didn't wanna be alone at night. the time it took for him to get to tord's house flew by and soon enough, he was at the door.

tom rang tord's doorbell, arms wrapped around himself from the cold. the door swung open and there stood tord in a t-shirt and red basketball shorts. "hey." he instantly smiled.

"hi. i'm freezing." tom ducked below the other male's arm to get inside, the warmth of the house comforting him.

"i can tell." tord chuckled and shut the door. "i'll get my guitar. you can sit on the couch." he disappeared into the hall.

"okay." tom moved to the couch and sat down on the end. his eyes wandered around the room. where's his roommate? he noticed the ash tray was gone from the last time he was here and raised an eyebrow.

"back!" tord reentered the room and sat down on the recliner, propping his guitar onto his lap. "uh, song requests?"

tom leaned back into the cushions. "not really. you can choose what you know." he took his beanie off and placed it in his lap.

"okay, give me a sec to think." he chewed his lip thoughtfully and strummed a few chords to get warmed up.

nodding, tom picked lint off his jacket mindlessly. he began to think about whether ell was right. old habits die hard. had tord really changed, or was it all an act to win tom over?

"aha!" tord's yell brought tom back to reality, dark eyes widening.

"what?"

"found a song."

tom cracked a smile. "don't yell out of nowhere. you scared me, jerk."

tord only shrugged with a small smile on his face. "okay. ready? i can't sing, so i'll mumble the lyrics." he told him.

"that's fine."

"okay. it's called 'such nice sounds'." somewhat nervously, tord began to play the chords to the song.

as soon as tord began to murmur the lyrics under his breath, tom watched him enjoyably. he kicked his converse off and brought his knees up to his chest in order to rest his head on them. he already liked the tune of the song and how the lyrics sounded with tord's accent.

a couple minutes later, when the song ended, tord let his arm drop over the side of his guitar. he let out a small exhale and looked at tom hopefully, green eyes shining.

"that was good. i like that song." tom smiled encouragingly. "you should sing louder, though, i could barely hear you."

tord flushed and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, but it uselessly fell back into place. "thanks, tom."

he looks like a flustered schoolgirl. tom thought with a giggle. "mhm. now what?"

"wanna watch a movie?" tord got up and leaned his guitar against the wall.

hesitantly, tom agreed. "okay. but don't try anything weird." he warned with a small glare.

"i swear, i won't." tord grabbed a blanket from the closet and turned the tv on. tom didn't reply, instead shutting off the lights before sitting on the couch again. tord sat next to him and pulled his knees up to his chest again, watching the screen as tord chose a comedy movie.

"what time is it?" tom mumbled, trying his best to ignore the sleep that dragged at his eyelids. curse tord's body heat and the darkness of the room.

"it's 6:17." he whispered.

"barely? okay."

"i can hear your tiredness," tord laughed softly. "i can wake you up at 7:30."

"sorry. i barely got sleep last night. is it okay?" tom asked in embarrassment and dragged a hand down his face.

"of course." he draped an arm behind the couch.

"thanks." tom responded gratefully. deciding he had nothing to lose and tord wouldn't've minded anyway, he leaned on the other male and closed his eyes.

tord glanced down at him in surprise but didn't reject the motion, simply smiling. "goodnight."

"night." tom murmured.