I'm absolutely obsessed with the Tom and Nicki pairing at the moment so I, naturally, found myself writing about them. Thank you to HedgieX for reading this over and reassuring me that it was worthy of posting :)
The song 'Can You Tell' by Ra Ra Riot inspired the title. It's a perfect Tom and Nicki song.
Tom sighed loudly as he walked down the corridor; he'd had an exhausting day. The majority of it had been spent dealing with the gang chaos that was plaguing the school and trying to convince Rhona and Shona that, whilst he admired their interest in current affairs, staging a protest in support of Kony 2012 wasn't a good idea. He didn't think Michael would appreciate the school being defaced with posters and stickers, and he had a feeling that the cleanup operation, should such a defacing occur, would somehow end up being his responsibility.
The last thing he wanted to do was engage in a gossip filled conversation with Janeece who, unfortunately for him, was making a beeline for him as he headed towards the playground. He could see the look of excitement on her face as she approached him, and he quickened his pace. Apparently not quickly enough, though, as she fell into step with him.
"So, I saw you and Miss Boston in Sainsbury's on Saturday." Janeece began.
Tom rolled his eyes. It was just his luck that Waterloo Road's biggest gossip happened to have been in the same supermarket at the same time as them.
"Is there something going on between you two?" She asked curiously, and with a tone of excitement that suggested it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference whether he confirmed or denied her accusations; he and Nicki were still going to be the talk of the school.
Honestly, not even he was sure what was going on between them. All he knew was that she had been so supportive over the past few weeks, helping him with Josh, and they'd been spending an increasing amount of time together, hence the weekend supermarket trip. Not that he was complaining; he really enjoyed spending time with her.
Mistaking his silence for confirmation that something was in fact going on between the two teachers Janeece began to screech. "I knew it, I knew it!"
Despite him shaking his head and attempting to deny any romantic involvement with his colleague, she continued, not allowing him to get a word in edgeways.
"So, are you doing anything nice for her birthday tonight? I bet you've got something really romantic planned…"
He came to an abrupt halt and spun round to face Janeece, who now had a puzzled look on her face.
"It's her birthday today?"
She nodded in confirmation.
"Why didn't she say anything?" He wondered aloud, more to himself than his nosey companion.
"Michael has every member of staffs birthday marked on his calendar." She offered by way of an explanation for her knowing.
Once Tom had escaped the over excited secretary and reached the safety of his car, he pulled out his phone, composing a text to Josh. He was relieved when his son replied a few minutes later, ensuring him that he was feeling a lot better today, and in agreement that Nicki deserved someone making an effort to do something special for her birthday. He promised he'd be fine if his Dad wasn't home straight away.
After a quick trip to the nearest supermarket to purchase all things party related, Tom found himself standing outside Nicki's house. His palms were suddenly sweaty and he internally scolded himself for feeling so nervous. Forcing himself to stop being so ridiculous he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Tom, hi." She greeted him, a puzzled smile gracing her features, as she opened the door. She had changed out of the formal trousers and blazer she had been wearing at school that day into pyjamas; Tom thought, that seeing her standing there in her fleecy attire and slippers with pom poms on, was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen.
"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday today?" He questioned, crossing the threshold into her house.
"It didn't seem important, not with everything going on with Josh," She ducked her head, "I didn't want you to feel obligated to do something…" She trailed off at his incredulous look.
"Of course it's important!" His tone insistent, "We're friends, right?"
She nodded in agreement.
"Well, friends celebrate each other's birthdays."
She nodded again, a grin on her face. It felt good, having someone wanting to do something nice for her, because they wanted to; because they thought she deserved it.
Whilst she had been pondering this feeling Tom had found her living room and made himself comfortable on the floor by her
coffee table. She laughed as she walked in and was greeted by the sight of him, grinning goofily, a cardboard party hat sat crookedly on his head.
"I don't know why you're laughing." He smiled as she sat down.
Standing up he placed a hat, the same as his, on her head. Her breathe caught in her throat and she shivered as his fingers brushed her neck whilst placing the elastic underneath her chin. Sitting back down, smiling at her, his attention turned to the carrier bag next to him.
"I bought party food." After a lot of rustling around, he began pulling out the bag's contents one by one, a variety of cakes and biscuits soon adorning the coffee table.
Halfway through the evening they had moved from the floor onto the sofa and now sat, wrapped in blankets, watching Tom's film of choice. Despite him insisting that he had chosen a romantic comedy because he thought she would like it and protesting halfheartedly about watching it, it had become clear to Nicki that he was enjoying it. His eyes hadn't left the screen for the past hour as he had become engrossed in the storyline. She, on the other hand, had no idea what had been happening on screen. Tom's fingers tickling her skin as he stroked his hand along her arm had proven to be too much of a distraction for her to be able to concentrate on anything else. The way his arm had wound its way around her shoulder and her legs had ended up over his, so she was almost sitting on his lap, wasn't helping either. Her heart beat fast; being in such a close proximity to him was making her flustered.
Despite her trying to resist the tiredness that was threatening to overcome her body, she couldn't help but yawn. Tom tore his eyes away from the television and looked into hers, holding eye contact for a long moment, before she blushed and hid her face with her blanket. He laughed at her, tugging the blanket away and stroking a stray piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear.
"I should be getting back. Josh will be wondering where I've got."
She felt a twinge of guilt. It was selfish of her to be taking up Tom's time, time that he should be spending with his son.
"You've been great, supporting Josh and I these past few months. It means a lot to both of us." He pulled her closer to him and she was about to reassure him that it was fine – that it was what friends were for – when he began again, in a whisper, "I'm not sure I could have got through it without you."
She snuggled further into his embrace, staying like that for a further ten minutes before she jumped up with a sudden burst of energy, not wanting to keep Tom from his son any longer. She held out a hand for him and pulled him to his feet. They walked to the front door, still hand in hand, collecting Tom's coat on the way. Butterflies invaded her stomach and, deciding to be brave; she leant towards him and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you for this evening; you didn't have to."
He shook his head "No, but I wanted to. Night, Nicki."
She smiled, watching him walk down her drive way and onto the street. Closing the door, she leant against it and sighed. She would never admit it to anyone but Tom Clarkson made her feel like one of the lovesick characters in the film they had watched and, she was even more reluctant to admit, she liked this feeling, a lot.
