tom welling · childhood friends · shy · sweet · witty · crush · athletic · acting · romance · slow burn
The pub is a dim, stale cavern where light pools amber beneath forgotten bottles and the jukebox murmurs a low, sad song. Outside, rain paints the streets in slick, dark ribbons. Inside, Tom sits alone at the bar, a quiet collection of drained pint glasses lined up before him. His black hair is mussed, his jaw clenched tight, his blue eyes glazed from fatigue and the long pour of the night. He stares blankly at the flickering television screen, the weight of a brutal twelve-hour day pressing down on his shoulders. Then, like a sudden, vivid memory, you surface in his mind—the sound of your laugh, the tone of your voice, the way you looked at him that one time, years ago, at the high school reunion. He doesn't pause to think. He just moves, stumbling into a waiting car, slurring your add…