killing time 𖥻 TOMMYINNIT

IV. train stations

iris kept fiddling with the end of her braid, and tommy resisted the urge to take her hand. she looked nice, and he'd told her that. he'd also told her that ranboo and tubbo wouldn't care what she wore.

she knew that, realistically. but she also knew ranboo and tubbo were two of tommy's best friends, and she wanted them to like her.

she groaned and pulled her hair out of its plait, letting it fall down her back. "alright let's just go before i get too nervous."

the two of them walked down the street towards the train station, bags in hand. since tubbo lived a few hours away, he'd invited them both to stay the night and the three creators would probably stream at one point while iris watched. tommy's knuckles kept brushing iris's, and he had to resist the urge to lace his fingers through hers. they were in public. anyone could see and they'd get the wrong idea.

even though they were outside, far away from other people, iris had her mask and a pair of sunglasses on, just in case someone found out it was her. she'd been worried about it, since being in public with tommy for more than three hours was practically guaranteed at least one fan wanting a photo, and tommy had given her the idea. at the very least, people wouldn't know her face.

lo and behold, before their train had come tommy was asked by two seperate people for photos with them, but luckily none of them even noticed her. when they finally got on the train, tommy and iris found a spot at the very back, her sitting at the window facing the back of the train so that no one could see her face.

it was overkill probably, but it was more for tommy's benefit than hers. he'd put iris through so much because of his online presence, and he wanted her to at least have this one thing for herself. there was a table between them, with tommy facing her. he kicked her foot gently, his scuffed white converse nudging her docs. "you alright?"

she nodded stiffly. "yeah, i'll be fine. if not, at least i have the next four hours to run away."

tommy laughed quietly, leaning his head on the table in front of him, head in his arms. "you'll be alright, i promise."

the train journey was long - longer than expected, though not out of the ordinary for british transit - nearly four and a half hours, with over thirty minutes of unexpected delays. it was early afternoon by the time they arrived at the train station, and tommy had been asleep on iris's shoulder for more than an hour of the journey. he'd moved over gradually, going from sitting opposite her to beside her, to borderline on top of her. considering iris was only 5'5, tommy was well over five inches taller than her, so it wasn't exactly the most comfortable seating arrangement for either of them.

it meant that they got to be close to each other, though, which was all any of them really cared about.

tommy again had to resist the urge to grab her hand multiple times on the journey. it was weird, right? she was his best friend, and he shouldn't want to hold her hand as much as he did. iris never seemed to mind though, but he put that down to her being a very touchy person. he should introduce her to karl at one point. probably not, she might prefer karl's hugs over tommy's.

tubbo and ranboo were already at his place, so tommy had told them that he and iris would meet the two of them there instead of them coming to the station. after another photo with a fan, tommy called and uber and spent the next half an hour to tubbo's house once again trying to calm iris down.

tommy slumping over her shoulder had actually done much to help her chill out. his weight was comforting, and her hands automatically delved into his blond mop of a head, scratching his scalp gently as he slept. she'd always felt a connection with tommy, one that was maybe less than normal. while iris knew it was fine to love your best friend, it had gotten in the way of past relationships she'd had. not that tommy would ever know that. she'd never tell him that one of her ex-boyfriends had broken up with her because she hung around with tom a lot. she couldn't tell if she'd hidden it from him because she knew tommy's ego couldn't handle extra inflation, or if she was scared he would take her ex's advice and back off.

she didn't feel the same way about tommy the way she had felt about her exes, so it was fine, she reasoned. all of her other partners had felt romantic, and she'd loved her most recent as much as she loved tommy. her friendship with tommy was just different. definitely not romantic, but love all the same.

by the time the uber pulled up a street away from tubbo's house, iris had calmed her nerves enough that she wasn't shaking when she got out of the car. tommy didn't want the uber driver knowing tubbo's address on the off chance he recognised one of them, so they'd opted to stop a few minutes away and walk. as they approached tubbo's house, tommy pulled her aside one last time. "you okay?" he asked again.

this time iris nodded without hesitation, despite the nervous churning in her stomach. she loved tommy. they loved tommy. it would all work out. either that or she'd be stuck at this random guy's house for the next fifteen hours until she could leave.

— AUTHOR'S NOTE
hi sorry college kicked my ass for a hot second but i'm free now for the next week so we're all good