Tom came home that night. His brothers couldn't figure it out, they knew he had gone to a party and usually when there was parties he'd stay the night at Harrisons, but this time he came home, Sam found out because he heard the sobbing through the walls, there was no way he was going to fall back asleep, "Tom?." Sam slowly opened the door and tiptoed over to his older brother "what happened?" the broken hearted boy looked up at the 15 year old in front of him "messed up. Messed up big time Sam.." the younger Holland has never seen his brother like this, he always looked up to him like he could do no wrong, he was all he wanted to be when he grew up, even if they only had a 3 year difference. "Wan..wanna talk about it?.." Tom looked up at his brother "well.." sighing as he move to sit up, then pat the spot next to him "if you..don't..don't be like me Sam" Sams brows pinched together "what?"
"Don't hide your feelings from the person you love and get stuck in that cycle"
Confused, Sam tilted his head to the side "Tom?..what happened between you and y/n?"
He looked up "how d'you know i'm talking about.." god he can't even say her name "because i may be young but i know that look. dad looks at mum the same way."
"I screwed up because i hid my feelings for her, 'nd i got drunk and drunk Tom just..wants to fuck, but he-- i knew that y/n wasn't ready so i took someone else up..but she found me in the middle of it.." Sams jaw dropped "you.."
"I told her how i felt hours before and she tried to leave but i caught up to her ..she thinks that she's not enough for me but..that's the exact opposite Sam"
Sam felt bad for his brother, he wanted to help him, he wanted to make things better for him "go on to bed Sam.." Tom patted his shoulder before lying down "but.." "i'll be okay"
"Alright, then i'm sleeping here" Sam lied down on the floor, a few minutes passed and Tom sighed "get up here you annoying shit" Sam smiled to himself as he stood up then lied down, his back towards his brother"you'll figure it out Tom, promise."
"thanks.." Tom mumbled before falling asleep thinking about a way to fix things with y/n.
----
Both Conor and Jack were concerned for their sister. they had no idea why she came home that night with tear stained cheeks, or why she hadn't left her room for almost a whole week since that same night. But they were determined to find out. "She wants to be left alone for now" the youngest Maynard girl greeted her brothers at y/n's door, "Anna,-" she shook her head then slammed the door in their faces. "y/n..." "i know it's stupid that i'm upset Anna, but i thought he meant it, the way he kissed me and the way he looked at me, i.." 14 year old Anna felt bad for her older sister, she had no idea how to help her as she had no experience of heartbreak, "how about we call the boys in?." she sighed "..alright." with a small nod, Anna moved towards the door again and opened it, causing the boys to fall on top of each other because they were leaning against the door "she needs us all" the young girl mumbled as the boys stood up. "What happened?" Jack was the first to wrap his arms around y/n "it's stupid.." Conor shook his head "it's not stupid if it's making you cry and hide away for a week," she took a deep breath, composing herself "this boy..that i might like confessed that he liked me too.." both Conor and Jack's brows shot up "well...isn't that a good thing?" her bottom lip quivered "it is but.. He got drunk after and i was going to drive us home but he was taking forever so i thought maybe he got lost or something but when i found him he..he was with another girl,and i thought he meant it. It's my fault really," the brothers didn't know what to say "it was Tom wasn't it" Jack whispers, y/n sniffled then nodded, Jack began to stand "i'm gonna-" and for the first time in a while, y/n moved from her spot, to stop him "we weren't even together Jack! Stop!" he shook his head "no, i told that asshat that i would.." he sighed looking to the teary eyed girl, then sat down again. "Get some rest, we're going out later tonight" she sniffled again "only if you stay with me...need my brother" Conor would jokingly tease her about picking favourites, but he knew that her and Jack were close and that Jack was going to tell her what Tom had confessed to him a while back. "We'll go" Anna smiled lightly, pulling the oldest of the four with her.
"y/n.." Jack called quietly, she hummed in response "i have to tell you something," he cleared his throat "about Tom.." she glanced up at him with sorrowful eyes "last summer, when Tom and Harrison tagged along at the cabin, i uh.. I talked to him about you and he.."

"Alright. I'm just gonna get some water" Tom laughed walking into the house, where Jack was waiting for him "Thomas." he looked up at the older male "hey.." "have a seat, we need to talk" Tom gulped but nodded anyway, looking anywhere but Jack's eyes "you can say it, or i will" he waited for the younger boy to speak "alright fine you're-"
"I think i'm in love with y/n" he blurted out. Jack sat there, poker face set "and?" Tom bit his lip "and i don't think i can tell her. I mean there's no hiding it, i'm an asshole, a fuckboy. I play with girls hearts and everything but.. i want her," Jack sent him a look "and not in that way! i swear..well i mean if that comes with a relationship.." Jack's jaw clenched "after marriage!..i mean"
"Hold on did you say marriage?!" Tom cleared his throat "well, to be honest when..when i look at her, i can see a future with her, you know like..we'd grow up,buy a place together, get a dog, get married then when we're ready for it, we'd have kids..'nd i know i'm not the best choice for her, but i'd like to think i am a choice you know.." he stopped talking when he realized he was rambling. Jack thought about what he had said "alright then. But listen closely Holland because i'm only saying this once. You hurt her, as her friend or boyfriend. I'm going to make sure that you regret it" Tom looked down "i'd never hurt her intentionally... you wouldn't have to do anything because i sure as hell would be beating myself up over it" Jack nodded "good... when did you..you know, realized you liked-" "loved" Tom corrected him, mumbling a small 'sorry' after "when did you realize you loved her?" the boy shrugged "i know i crushed on her when Haz first introduced us after she gave me a cookie.." he looked deep in thought "and the time i wanted to hold her and make everything better for her when that dickhead cheated on her in our freshman year.. Beat him up for doing such a shitty thing to such a perfect person, i mean i got suspended, yeah. but it was worth it" Jack bit the inside of his cheek "Tom. if you ever ask her or admit these feelings to her, please just.. You gotta do it when you're over the whole fuckboy thing..i really want to support what you guys have, or will have, if you decided to go another step further in your relationship but.." Tom nodded understandingly "yeah! Yes..of course"
"What are you two talking about?" y/n asked walking into the room giggling as she dried her hair. Jack saw the look in Toms eyes as he watched her "nothing much, just..boy things" y/n looked at her brother, then to Tom, he let out a nervous laugh "was talking 'bout if i could...take you out to the pier later tonight, you know just..you and me like last year" y/n smiled "well.. Can we?" she asked turning to her brother with an innocent look on her face, he sighed then nodded "fine. Thanks for getting permission this year" Tom and y/n eyes widened "you knew?!" Jack looked at them as if they were crazy "course, everyone did. You two have been sneaking out since we first came her with mum and did when you were 14"
"Still don't know why they trusted you and Conor to be the only 'adults' with three 17 year olds.. kidding, love you! bye" she kissed Jacks cheek then took Toms hand, pulling him outside to where Haz is helping Conor with the barbecue.

"He..." Jack nodded "he did-- does love you y/n, i tried to get him to hold off on telling you, until he was ready, but i guess..." she nodded slowly then hid her face in her brothers chest "gonna sleep" she mumbled as Jack began to twist her hair into a braid while she slept.
---
"Tom.." Harrison cautiously walked into his bestfriends room. He was in the exact same as y/n, but he had no older brother to cuddle up against "c'mon mate, it's time to go out, little fresh air and get some..any kind of food in your system" underneath the sheets, Tom groaned "no" Haz rolled his eyes, he's had enough. Harrison pulled the sheets right off the bed and onto the floor, uncovering an almost completely naked Tom, who was scrolling through photos of him and y/n together. "Lets go, you need to get some clothes on, we're going to get some pizza then we're going to hang out with the gang at my house while eating said pizza" Tom pursed his lips and shook his head no. "look. You fucked up, yeah 'nd Jack warned you about it and you knew you would end up like this. But you gotta stop beating yourself up" he sighed then sat next to the broken boy "if you want this to get better, you can't just sit around like this. If not for me, get up for y/n." "please don't say her name.."
"Y/n" "Harrison stop!" Tom screamed standing on his two feet, slightly wobbly "just need to know your legs still work. Get dressed" and with that, the blond left the room and text his friend for them to get ready.
---
"y/n.." Jack mumbled, carefully shaking her shoulder. "Ten more minutes?." she mumbled sleepily "sure, i'll just pick your outfit in the meantime"
"i'll get up now" she stood up carefully holding the bedpost to help steady herself. "Pick something comfy okay?. We're going to the park then we're going to a friends house." after Jack had left, she opened her closet and plucked out the comfiest things she could think of. A grey hoodie and her nike sweatpants. She looked herself in the mirror and cringed at the sight, cheeks covered in tear stains, and puffy eyes. She looked down at herself and saw her hands shaking, carefully she pulled up the sweatshirt and looked at her body. She looked like she hasn't eaten in weeks. "Ready?" Jack asked, popping his head into the room "just gonna use the bathroom. Clean myself up a bit" he nodded, opening the door more for her to exit. "We'll clean up your room while you're gone" Anna smiled lightly, y/n looked back to her room, and only then did she realize how messy it got.

Running into her room with tears blurring her vision, when the door has been slammed shut, her legs gave out, causing her to slide down the door. She pulled her knees into her chest and she sobbed. She cried there for hours till she had fallen asleep. When she woke up, she looked around and everything in the room had reminded her of Tom. she hated him..at least that's what she told herself. Angrily, she stood up and looked to her desk where she had photos of herself beside Tom, one beside Harrison and another with her between them. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of hatred for Harrison as well, hell he was the that introduced them(in kindergarten), and it was his party where her heart broke. her hand swept across the desk pushing everything off it. Satisfied with the sound of the broken frames, she moved on and looked just above the desk. The corkboard hung there proudly with letters from the boy from whenever he had left town without her, along with notes they passed to each other during class and more pictures of the two people she never wanted to see again. y/n didn't have the heart to ripped up the items so she pulled the board off the wall and threw it to the ground. Loose pins, papers and pictures scattered around the floor. The next area she stood was in front of her mirror. She hated everything she saw, she hated herself. Aggressively, she took off Toms jacket and threw it to the ground. Next she did something her old theater teacher had told her to do to try and pull out emotions. Speak to herself in the mirror. "You're stupid" she had mumbled "you know you aren't enough for Tom" her voice gradually became louder "he was lying and you were an idiot to believe it" she tried not to catch her own eye, then she saw a folded paper sticking out from the corner of the mirror. She plucked it out and saw the handwriting she knew from editing all his papers 'was a fun way to end our last year of highschool! -your Tommy' she flipped it over and saw the photo booth strip. The first one was Tom pressing his lips to y/ns cheek, a look of surprise was plastered on her face, the next one, she had done the same to him. In the third photo, they were staring at each other as if they were going to share a passionate kiss...and they probably would have, if it wasn't for Jack and Harrison who decided to photobomb them, Jack kissed y/n's cheek and Harrison kissed Toms. a small laugh escaped her lips as she pushed her legs to fall on to her bed, falling asleep crying.

"Wanna go to the park or the pet store?" Jack questioned as he started the car "pet store..wanna play with the dogs" he nodded, "you wanna choose the music?" she nodded taking the aux cord he was offering. "play something good" she mumbled, not even thinking about it, her finger went to 'Batman,Spider-man and Black Cat', a playlist that was made by Tom, Harrison and herself a few years back. "This one's my favourite.." she mumbled before singing along.

After the pet store, Jack began driving again "feeling better?" he asked "little bit..are we going to Harrisons?" Jack bit his lip "well you are, i'm just dropping you off. You, Zendaya, Jacob, Harrison and uh..Tom are going to have a sleepover again, for old times sake yeah?." y/n stiffened "Jack.." he sighed "i know, i know. But you guys need to talk okay. He screwed up. Big time. But like you said you guys weren't together, yeah it still hurts. But you guys need each other. Anna talked to Sam, he said Tom was in the same position as you." at the red light, he glanced at her "if you really don't want to go, i'll just take you back home.." y/n nodded "s fine, i miss Jacob and Zendaya anyways" "good."

When they got to the house, the both sat in the car in silence "...so do you..want me to bring you to the door?.." y/n bit her lip "do i even have clothes?" Jack pointed to the back seat, there sat a bag. "Geez..okay yeah, can you..drop me off at the door?" he chuckled then picked up the bag. "Lets go." y/n took a deep breath then knocked, immediately, two voices she knew well were screaming for Harrison to get the door "i'm goin, i'm going-- hi y/n!" he smiled pulling the slightly smaller girl into his arms "hey Hazzy" she smiled against his chest "i see you brought your bodyguard" he smile towards Jack "yeah,yeah, just bringing her bag up. Lazy ass..." he mumbled the last bit, she looked up at Jack and for the first time, she had a real smile. It was small. But it was still there "see you in the morning" Jack wrapped his arms around her tightly "thank you" she said, before pulling away, he looked down at her and smiled "now, go on. I feel like a dad sending off his kid for the first day of school" she giggled "okay, okay. Bye"

y/n walked into the house, following Harrison who got pushed by Jacob and Zendaya running to give y/n a hug, when they pulled away, y/n and Tom made eye contact.
"Hi Tommy" she smiled lightly "hi y/n.."

And maybe, just maybe their story ends here, where they start all over again staying as friends. Or maybe they find themselves in Toms dream future for them,
But for now, they're happy, happy that they can see eachother being happy because that's all they ever wanted for each other..