• • •

Serena sat quietly on the couch inside Tom's hotel room, a small smile on her face as she gazed at the television in front of her. She was happy. For the first time in a while, she was genuinely happy, and it was because of Tom. He had given her everything and more, and she couldn't be more thankful to have him in her life. Tom was what she had been looking for. He was what she had been needing, and after what felt like so long, she had finally gotten him.

The sweet smell of popcorn radiated throughout the condo. Tom was making Serena popcorn, as he usually did when she found herself craving it. It was one of her favorite nighttime snacks, and Tom's cupboards were always stocked with her favorite kind, so she didn't miss an opportunity to take advantage of that.

The microwave in the kitchen beeped loudly, indicating to Serena that her popcorn was done, which made her a little happier than she should've been. She just couldn't help it. She had so many reasons to be happy and more.

A shirtless Tom walked into the loft, a smile pulling onto his face once he took notice of Serena. She sat up in her seat and looked at him, her blue eyes glistening with happiness and love. She held her hands out for the bowl in his hands, almost too eager to eat, regardless of the fact she'd eaten not too long ago. Tom couldn't help but laugh at her. She was just too cute in his eyes.

"Here you go, love," Tom said and held the bowl out to her.

Serena only smiled and took the bowl from him, wasting no time at all in taking a handful of the corn. A bright smile lit up Tom's face and he sat down beside her, his brown eyes scanning over every inch of her. He had never seen anyone so enthralling in his life. Serena was just so beautiful to him, almost like a work of art that was too perfect for any one museum. The bright blue of her eyes. The light green that speckled the center of her irises. The soft chocolate color of her long, wavy hair. The light freckles that peppered the seemingly flawless skin of her face. Everything about her. It was so perfect to him. He couldn't believe he had gotten so lucky.

"You're beautiful, y'know," Tom finally broke the silence between the two of them.

Serena stopped eating her popcorn and looked over at him. "Oh, really?" She smirked and shoved another handful of popcorn in her mouth, which only earned her a laugh from the man she called her own.

"Yes," Tom chuckled. "I'd say you look even better wearing my clothes."

"Mine now," Serena giggled and looked down at the shirt she had stolen from Tom. There was no doubt it was gonna be stained from the amount of butter she was consuming by the end of the night.

Tom smiled and leaned toward her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. "What's mine is yours, baby."

Serena smiled and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips, which he happily accepted. He pulled her closer, and Serena sat her bowl of popcorn onto the table before wrapping her arms around his shoulders, further deepening the kiss. Tom smiled into the kiss but pulled away from her, his brown eyes meeting her blue ones.

"As much as I would love it, I don't think I have it in me for round two, sweetheart," Tom teased the brunette.

Serena chuckled and shook her head, pulling away from him and taking her previous seat on the couch. "Who knew Spider-Man could be defeated by a few hours of fun?"

Tom smirked and kissed the top of Serena's head. "I'm all yours tomorrow, baby. If you'll have me, that is."

"You know I will," Serena replied, a grin on her face. "Now, go take a shower. You reek of sweat."

"I wonder why," Tom laughed and started down the hallway. "That's the sweet smell of pheromones, Serena. Breathe it in."

Serena only laughed at him and grabbed her bowl of popcorn, resuming her quest to finish the snack. As the brightness of the television seemed to grow, Serena caught a glimpse of a glint, and she turned her head to see a cell phone sitting on the couch cushion. She picked it up to see if it was hers, as she hadn't seen it all night, but it was Tom's. She chuckled and placed her bowl of popcorn down again before focusing on the device in her hand. The screen lit up, and she quickly put in his passcode, navigating herself to the camera. She loved taking goofy selfies on other people's phones. It was funny, and even funnier when they discovered the pictures.

After taking an estimated sum of 40 pictures, a text popped up on the screen. It was a text from Jacob, and while Serena normally would've dismissed it for the sake of respecting Tom's privacy, she had no choice but to pay his message mind. Her name was in it.

The text read:

Tell Serena I said thank you for this new PlayStation. We should make bets like this all the time.

Serena's brows furrowed in confusion and she navigated her way to Tom's messages. It was so unlike her to do, but she needed to know what Jacob was talking about. She was curious as to what he meant. She didn't remember buying Jacob a PlayStation, nor was she aware of any bet the two had made with each other. Tom was always one to tell Serena about his and Jacob's idiot exchanges with one another, and this was one she wasn't so sure of, so she wanted to know what was going on.

Serena began scrolling through the messages, her blue eyes scanning over each word. She figured Jacob had been talking about a stupid bet between the two of them. Maybe one of them had bet on who could prank Serena the best and Tom had lost, but that wasn't the case as she continued scrolling up.

There was a knot in Serena's throat, one she could seem to get rid of. Her heart had dropped to her stomach, and in a single instant she had began to feel as if her entire world had been stripped away from her. She felt broken, she felt defeated. She had put her trust and love in someone whose only means was to break it, and she wasn't sure what to do except sit there and cry over the fact that she had allowed this to happen again. She had allowed herself to fall too quickly and love too deeply, and in the end it had only come back to break her.

It was a game. It was all a game. Their relationship, their friendship, everything. Tom never cared for her. Tom never cared for a relationship with her. He only cared about the game and winning it, while she sat back, not knowing she wasn't destined to lose it all.

"Have you seen my phone, love?"

Tom's voice startled Serena, but she soon composed herself. Not only was she hurt, terribly hurt, but she was angry, angry that he had the nerve to play with someone's feelings the way he had done.

"Oh, there it is," Tom chuckled. "Have you been taking selfies on it again?"

Serena didn't speak. She only locked the phone and held it out to him, her glistening blue eyes boring into his brown ones. Once Tom noticed the tears staining her face, his smile dropped and he sat down beside her, placing a hand on the small of her back.

"What's wrong, Rena?"

Serena closed her eyes and shook her head. She quickly stood up and moved to his room to grab her things. All she wanted was to leave. All she wanted was to go back to her hotel and cry herself to sleep, but Tom was very adamant about that happening. He wanted to know what's was wrong with her.

"Serena," Tom called out to her. He entered the room and ran over to her as she grabbed her bag. He latched his hand around her wrist and pulled her back, earning her full attention.

"What?" Serena snapped, startling Tom slightly. Her mood had changed so drastically, and he wasn't sure why. All he knew was that he had never seen her so angry before.

"What's wrong with you?" He eyed her overnight bag on the floor. "Where are you going?"

Serena sighed and turned to grab a pair of pants. "I'm going back to my hotel, Tom."

"Why?" Tom was desperate now. It could be heard in the tone of his voice. "Why are you crying? What's wrong, Serena?"

"You," Serena answered as she pulled on her shorts. "You're what's wrong with me, Tom. I wasn't taking selfies on your phone. I was reading over your messages with Jacob if you really wanna know."

Tom was almost startled by the fact. Now he knew exactly why she was so upset. "Serena, I can explain everything."

Serena shook her head and wiped her face, though the tears didn't stop. "No, you can't. You can't fix this anymore than I wish you could. You saw what Louis did to me. You saw how broken I was because of him, Tom, yet you questioned the limit on just how broken I could be and decided to answer it for yourself."

"Serena—"

"This isn't a game to me, so why is it a game to you?" Serena cut him off. "What did I do to make you wanna hurt me? What did I do to make you wanna bet off my feelings? What did I do, Tom?"

Tom stepped toward her, his brown eyes pooling with tears. He hated that this was happening, and he hated even more that it was his own fault it was happening in the first place. All he wanted was to make Serena happy, but one mistake had done the exact opposite. "Nothing, Serena, you did nothing. Please just let me explain."

"What is there to explain?" Serena nearly yelled. "Those text messages explained everything to me. All I was to you was a means to win a bet made by you and your stupid friend."

"No, you weren't—you aren't," Tom tried his best to convince her, but she was too hurt.

"I love you," Serena spoke softly, the tears falling gently down her face. "I let myself fall in love with you the way I let myself fall in love with Louis, but the difference between you and Louis was that I never ever anticipated you would hurt me. I spoke so highly of you to everyone, including Sebastian, only to prove myself wrong in the end."

Tom was speechless, likely due to the fact that Serena had never once told him she loved him. It was then he knew that he had screwed up. He had screwed up terribly, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to fix it. He was going to lose the best thing in his life over a mistake that never should've been made. "Serena, I..."

He stopped talking. He wasn't sure what to say to her.

Serena wiped her face and picked up her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Serena, please," Tom begged the brunette. He was in tears by now.

Serena didn't answer him. She only shook her head and waved him off, hurrying down the hall and out of the hotel room as quickly as she could. She took a breath once she was outside and ran a hand through her hair. She was ready to break down, but she refused to allow herself to, at least not just yet. All she wanted to do was get back to her hotel and get back to her brother, one of the only people capable of bringing her light in such darkness. But she was hurting so much she doubted even Sebastian could help her. She was stuck. She was stuck in love, and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't find her way out. She doubted she'd be able to, and she found that in the end, it would only cause her more pain.