Somebody to hold t.h.

Chapter Twenty Two

Since Tom actually was very lonely that weekend he was ecstatic to pick up Evie for their lunch date. An unusual boyish grin made it's way to his lips when he saw the small girl step out of Liz' home with a huge backpack on. Why on earth did she need this many things for a sleepover?

"How was girls' night?", he asked grinning at the brunette as she buckled her seatbelt then leaned her whole upper body over to give him a tight hug, nearly falling into his seat in the process making herself laugh. A sound he had missed last night dearly.

"It was so good. We watched movies, had facemasks and talked.", she explained excitedly happy about how her night went. "Talked about what?", Tom asked grinning at her. "About boys, duh", she giggled teasing him. "Boys, huh?", he smirked secretly wishing she had said something else. Were there any other boys in Evie's life he didn't know about?

"I'm just messing with you, I don't even know any boys apart from you, Haz and Jake.", she laughed not noticing how relieved he suddenly was. "What about Marc?", he suddenly remembered clenching his jaw. "Who is Marc?", Evie asked confused at his sudden mood change. "The guy you've once had lunch with." "Oh you mean Alex, I actually haven't seen him since that time we had lunch. He gave me his number but I forgot to ever text him mine.", Evie realized and recognized how rude she had been. Tom was satisfied with her answer. Of course what she didn't know is that after he saw them at lunch he actually searched for that boy and told him to stay out of sight. Luckily for him he did.

"So where are we going I am starving.", Evie changed the subject now that Tom's mood has picked up again. "I know a place where they make waffles and pancakes and they supposedly have the best paninis.", Tom described looking at the smiling girl. Evie sighed dramatically letting herself fall into the leather seat. "My god you're a dream come true.", she sighed making him chuckle at her playful mood. If only he knew how much truth there was to her statement.

Evie couldn't even comprehend how lucky she was sitting in that fancy car, with a boy she feels safe with on her way to have breakfast. Just months ago she moved here, not knowing anyone and now she knows that she can always call Tom, Liz or even Haz whenever she needs to. Life really is a dream sometimes.

Once they arrived at the little cafe they both got settled in a booth immediately reaching for the menus since both of them were really hungry. A waitress soon arrived to take up their order. Tom spoke for both of them, Evie didn't even have to ask him to do that, which made her like him even more. She hated speaking to strangers because of her nervousness. Since she didn't have to rehearse whatever she wanted to say in her head she was able to observe Tom and the waitress. She immediately noticed the waitress' attraction towards the boy sitting across from her, who was too busy explaining their waffle toppings to even notice her poor attempts of winking at him, pulling at her shirt and even touching his arm subtly at one point. Evie was surprised to notice a little ball of anger form in her stomach. She usually is a kind person, always seeing the good in people but for some reason she really didn't like this girl in particular. It was confusing to herself. She couldn't even hide the sour facial expression as the girl took her time and spent some extra seconds at their table even though Tom was finished with ordering.

Tom focused back on the beauty in front of him immediately noticing that something was up, mainly because she had her lips pouted, cheeks puffed and eyebrows furrowed. "What happened love? What's wrong?", he asked immediately taking her small hands into his big ones. "Nothing", she mumbled embarrassed that he noticed looking at their intertwined hands trying to ignore the tingles running up her arms. "Don't even try to deny it.", he demanded with a soft voice. "It's stupid. I just don't like the way she acts around you.", she admitted blushing heavily not being able to meet his eyes until he grabbed her chin to make her look at him. "What are you talking about Evie?", he asked confused wanting to understand what made this girl so unhappy so that he could fix it.

"The waitress. She was trying really hard to get your attention and I mean I get it but I think it's rude because you're here with me. I mean what if we were on a date?", she asked getting more and more frustrated about the situation not being used to those feelings she had. Tom wanted to coo at the girl in front of him. Could it really be that she was jealous? Of that waitress?

Tom didn't even remember what she had looked like let alone notice that she was begging for his attention. He was too focused on keeping an eye on Evie while ordering. He wasn't used to seeing her all bothered about something like this and his heart melted for her. "You're adorable sweetheart. But you're right that actually is really rude of her because what if you were my girlfriend, that would be very disrespectful don't you think?", he asked teasing the already blushing girl even more. Evie got even more flustered when he said the word 'girlfriend'. The thought of being Tom's girlfriend lingered a bit at the back of her head until she shook herself out of that daze, now is not the time to daydream Evie. "Yes, that would be very mean.", she agreed nodding her head not realizing he was just teasing her.

Sooner or later the same waitress appeared again with their food. Tom was right it looked delicious!

As Evie was already stuffing her face with the panini the waitress lingered a bit and tried to have small talk with Tom. "I am sorry Miss, but I'd appreciate if you'd let me and my girl eat in peace.", he said coldly making Evie snap up from her table, cheeks stuffed with bread. The waitress' face dropped and her eyes switched to Evie giving her a look of disgust, which Evie took very personal. "Of course, sorry to disturb the happy couple.", she said emphasizing the word 'couple' as if it hurt her to say it.

"Why did you lie to her?", Evie said with wide eyes after swallowing as quickly as she could without choking. Tom looked at her in a daze completely in awe of the girl's cute quirks. "Because you wanted her to stop making moves on me.", he explained curtly. "But if you like her you can do whatever you want.", Evie said not wanting to be in Tom's way at any kind.

"I don't even remember her hair color, I'll be fine without getting to know her.", Tom grinned his heart going out to the girl who cared so much for him she wanted him to go after girls even if she was jealous. Truth is Evie didn't even realize that she'd be crushed if he actually showed any interest in the waitress right in front of her nose.

But Tom was thankful to have gotten to know another very interesting side of Evie, her possessiveness. That showed even stronger after they left the place and drove back to his apartment, which she has grown to love dearly. As if wanting to erase any trace the waitress had left behind on him she cuddled into him on the sofa letting her fingers run over his chest, arms and stomach leaving tingles on every centimeter of his upper body. If he was thinking about that waitress for even a second, which he didn't, Evie made sure she was out of his mind now.

It was actually crazy to him how much of an effect her touch and proximity had on him. Tom was anything but inexperienced, he'd been with many women before clearly enjoying their touch too but not anywhere near this extend. He was going crazy for the slightest brush of Evie's fingertips on his skin whereas the others had to do so much more to cause a reaction in him. He couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to do these things with Evie if the touch of her hand was already making him go crazy for her.

Laying here with Evie resting on his chest feeling her steady breath, inhaling her sweet scent made Tom feel at ease and made him calm down completely. It was no comparison to how lonely he had felt just the evening before when she was gone. Having Evie in his flat brought the apartment to life and he actually enjoyed being there.

"Evie, would you want to move in with me?", he suddenly asked breaking the silence.