He's Still An Asshole (TomTord)

Chapter 15: Return of the Matt

Matt's POV

"Hey, sir?" I asked

"Hmmmm?" He replied while looking at his hat.

"Why did Tom leave to go lay down? Was those training clothes he had on?" I was curious.

"He's going to sleep?" He looked over to me. He decided to go check up on our buddy who left.

"He looks tired. Has he been getting sleep lately?" I asked Annie. I was concerned about my friend. I left Tom alone for the week and come back to him passing out.

I just got back from my fashion week trip. It was fun to say the least. I also travelled to Germany for a special stop, Spain for business, and the UK before returning home.

I notice Tom wasn't at his place. He did keep his word though as I came to a clean house with well-fed cats behaving themselves. I just wish he was there when I came in. Knowing him, he would be sitting on my couch with a drink ready for me.

Instead, I had to come to our boss' place to drop off this box Edd gave me.

It was a special lock box I got from Edd while he's in the hospital. He wanted me to have it and told me that the one person who could unlock it will be him. I couldn't tell Tom that he was in the hospital while in company of others. He would flip and cause a lot of chaos in the process. I couldn't blame him if he did though. Tom hasn't seen Edd in a while.

But, me? I get to see him whenever I wanted to within reason of course.

Tord didn't like Tom anywhere near Edd or anything close to Edd. In fact, when he punished Tom for fighting him, he took the watch first. It was the one thing next to the blue hoodies that made him stop talking to Tord during his house arrest. It took force to get to him to start talking again. Even then, I doubt he talked much to Tord.

Anyways, I had handed Annie a small gift for watching over Tom from time to time. She was sitting next to a tan woman with ruby red eyes, dark brown fluffy hair, and a lovely dress. Something about her told me she was the woman I was supposed to visit on my trip side trip to Spain.

"Hello Mr. Hart." The lady spoke up. She had an accent but, I was used to Tord's people having different accents. But, how did she know my last name? I didn't say anything yet.

"Hello Miss..." I didn't know her last name so she put up her hand.

"Esmeralda or Ezzy is fine. We were supposed to meet at my villa home in Spain but, I had important matters to deal with involving an old friend."

"Tord is your old friend?" I asked. I knew he dated beautiful ladies. Even had female friends who would drop by. But, this bombshell was different. 

"Tommy actually." I never heard anyone call him that. Wait, this spicy pepper is his friend? How? He never told us about her.

"I was a long time and a long story." She huffed. I knew she didn't want to tell the tale.

"Long story short," Annie chimed in, "they were supposed to be married but, didn't. Now, they're friends."

I gasped at the thought that Tom was almost a married man and to a beautiful woman at that. I understand that he would have less time for us to go on to adventures but, he would finally be happy.

"He was already in love and so was I. It would be stupid to go through that wedding for our family's sake."

"So, it was arranged? I never knew." Shit, my friend is starting to become more of a mystery.

"Doubt he'll tell you a lot of things about him. Right now, he's been training to the point of passing out." Annie said.

"Thanks to our boss. I mean who messes with a clan of hell beasts for one of their own. If they want him back, he should just send him back." Huffed Maple. She didn't like this at all.

"Would you say the same thing if it was Pat?" Annie asked. I could feel a cat fight starting.

"No. But, I wouldn't start trouble over someone who doesn't like me." Maple spat. I knew she hated Tom but, damn, she wasn't there when he kissed her boss and agreed to be his boyfriend.

"I'm pretty sure he does given the fact that they're dating." I said.

"Pretty sure the Jehovah's Witness loves his Commie Norski Bastard. " Esmeralda added.

"The amount of times he been trying to keep our boss out of his business is obvious." Annie chimed in and continued.

"I mean being married, a mate, or both to a Ridgewood is no joke. They're serious about who marries who. That's how I lost someone important to me and that's how Tom lost his dad." Everyone gasped at Annie's words.

"The Ridgewood clan put out a hit on the human wives of male members with the strong strains of the hell beast DNA. Anthony and Harris had a strong strain locked within them, even if they didn't show it. Their life cycles would be cut in half but, it was for the good of the clan. Their words, not mine. Harris saved me before he sacrificed himself." She showed a bunch of scars on her shoulder. She was almost crying too.

"So, you're..." Maple was about to ask before Annie cut her off.

"Not anymore but, I miss the guy every day. Paul reminds me of him. That's why I like the guy." Annie blushed while Paul looked like a mess.

"So, why does our boss want to start a war?" Maple looked at me now. I wanted to look away.

"They had a complicated relationship for a while now. I have a feeling that they dated or was "dating" before the Red Army existed. He cared about Tom enough to move him while he was in a coma to the Red Kingdom. It was also interesting when I caught them a few times out together. I didn't want to believe it until his twin sister's wedding when he confess and kissed the guy." I continued.

"I have a feeling that they're both trying to protect each other from the storm that's brewing. But, Tom wanted to fight this on his own and return back when he was done."

"I didn't know about that." Maple looked away.

"No one does." I patted Maple's shoulder.

"Where are they?" Paul asked.

"Probably laying down. It's been a tiring day to say the least. If you want, I know that you keep an overnight bag. So, how about you stay for the night. We can watch movies for a while until we fall asleep in the living room." Nearly everyone chimed in. I decided to stay for the night just because.

"So, this is how you guys relax? I never heard of such things before." Sonya was curious. She rarely gets time off and the time she does get off was spent doing something to better her clan.

"We could throw in some video games. Teach Sonya here how to play these games so that she can relax for once." Annie giggles. Everyone decided to pile into the living room for a sleepover.

Meanwhile in the guest room

"Tom?" Tord looked at Tom while he was asleep. The brunette was fast asleep in the middle of the bed. He actually looked cute to Tord who slowly walked over to him. He wanted nothing more than to cuddle the man on the bed.

As he approached the guy, he heard Tom murmur something in his sleep.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Tom scowled before turning his head. Tord was shocked until Tom said something else.

"He's more than that! I don't want him to get hurt..." He curled up. But, Tord knew one thing about Tom.

When he cared about someone, he didn't want them to get hurt. He watched over their group after all.

Tord decided to cuddle next to Tom to calm him down and it work. Tom was nuzzling his neck while sleeping peacefully.

"Classic Silly Tom..." He said as he fell asleep. 

A/N

Aw! A fluff chapter for once. This book will be longer than the last one so I can add in a few more things. The next chapter will be a slow one because I'm running out of ideas a little.