Thomas had been banging his head on the table a million times and he was sure they would form bruises. He knew. He knew bringing Newt with him to meet his family was a very very bad idea. With his mom's ability to overshare things and his brother's unfiltered curiosity, it was a death wish. He deeply regretted his decision and he was so close to driving Newt to a hotel and just stay there. He was just glad that Chuck decided to go to bed after Thomas' birthday dinner (yes, his mom and Chuck remembered and threw him a small party) because tomorrow was Monday and, unlike the three college people, he has to wake up early for school.

"Oh, look at this!" Ana picked up a green photo album and placed it on the table so that everyone in the room can see. Thomas eyes widened so much that he was sure his eyes was gonna pop out. Not the freshman photos. Please, God.

His pleas were obviously not given a chance when he heard Teresa laugh her lungs out. He looked at her with so much resent.

"What?! I forgot you had a buzzcut in high school!" She boomed and Thomas swore his murdering tendencies were surfacing.

He was about to scream at her in annoyance (well, not so much annoyance as embarrassment because he was sure he was embarrassed as hell and the only way to counter that was with aggression) when he felt warm lips graze his cheeks.

"You looked adorable, Tommy." Thomas turned to Newt and saw that the blonde was giving him a genuine smile. He smiled at the blonde and turned to his mother again, giving her the stink eye. "Just one question." He heard Newt say.

"Sure, babe." Thomas answered. It took him Newt's change in facial expression to realize what he just said. I CALLED HIM BABE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?! He blushed furiously and he was sure the blonde was gonna lecture him later about that.

"Why the buzzcut? Don't get me wrong, it's cute and adorable but," Newt trailed off as he grabbed the album from Ana and flipped the page to where Thomas was at the beach where he was shirtless and he was still a scrawny little kid with a buzzcut for a haircut. Good Lord, of he could just turn back time.

"I - um..." Thomas stuttered, he never really knew why that was. He was obviously a kid who does not know what he was doing at that time. "I - I don't kn-know?"

"Was that a question?" Newt smirked at the brunette and Thomas made it his job to punch Newt playfully on the arm before taking the album away from him and shifting Newt unto his lap and swayed him from side to side. 'Sappy as fuck.' He thought but he did not really bring himself to care that much.

Little did they know that Teresa and his mother were already holding hands and looking at them with teary eyes as they cooed together. Thomas' peripheral vision caught this and craned his head towards them.

"What's going on? Are you guys sick?" Thomas asked, a little perplexed.

"It's nothing... It's just..." His mom trailed off as she wiped a tear from her eyes, she was a drama queen like that but he loved her still. "You guys look so happy." Her voice cracked. HER VOICE JUST CRACKED. It was like one of those girls from a sitcom where their friend just got engaged and they were emotional and squealing.

"And you guys are clearly made for each other!" He heard Teresa but in, dragging her and his mother's hands, which was intertwined, to her chest and sniffled.

"Okay." Thomas groaned as he lifted Newt up and stood before grabbing the blonde's hand and made his way to the staircase. "Obviously you two, for some reason, is having a mental breakdown so, I'm going to take Newt and keep him away from you two." Thomas gestured towards them and his mom just gave him an exasperated sigh. Thomas bowed to the two women and started to head upstairs, dragging Newt with him.

"Aren't you gonna take Teresa home?" His mom called for him.

"She's gonna spend the night here."

"Actually..." Teresa countered.

Thomas made sure to drag out his sigh as he descended again.

"What?" He looked at her painfully and she just laughed.

"I really want to see my folks."

"Fine." Thomas said as he dropped him head. Newt just chuckled behind him as he dragged his hands behind Thomas' back. "You're lucky I love you." He finished. Thomas turned around to grab his keys before Teresa stopped her again.

"I was wondering if Newt can drive me?"

Thomas stopped in his tracks.

"He does not know the place, T. He can't."

"You have gps!" Teresa countered. God, she was devious. If they were on another planet, she would be a master thief or some evil genius. He was about to laugh when something occurred to him. He turned to Newt with a curious look.

"Wait," Thomas stalked towards him, "you can drive?" The brunette squinted his eyes because for the 4 or 5 months he had known Newt, he never once saw the blonde drive.

"Yeah, I can." Newt's face suddenly sported a lopsided grin that made Thomas' insides melt and jump at the same time.

"You don't know the neighborhood." Thomas retorted, not wanting Newt to go. He wrapped his hands around Newt's waist and pulled him closer, "I just got you and I don't want to lose you too soon." He smiled as Newt slapped his face lightly.

"Sap." Newt grinned.

They were about to kiss when Teresa and Thomas' mother coughed behind them.

"As much as I enjoy watching you two make heart eyes at each other, the kissing passionately front I'm not okay with." Teresa said, walking towards Newt and waking him from Thomas' grasp.

"Newt, can you drive Teresa?" Ana asked politely.

"Yes, Ana. I can." Newt answered, "And no," he turned to Thomas, "I won't be taking any bribes."

"Fine." Thomas said as he grabbed Newt's wrist and hugged him from behind, "Just come back, okay?" He nosed Newt's neck and he can feel the blonde heat up.

"Stop being a sap, Tommy." Newt whispered as he pulled back from the hug and Thomas nearly cooed at how Newt was blushing. Probably because Thomas decided to be touchy feely in front of his mom.

"Come on, Newt!" Teresa shrieked and dragged Newt's wrist again before fleeting towards the door. "I'll make sure your precious blonde angel gets home!" Teresa shrieked and Thomas shook his head in annoyance.

He turned away and noticed that his mom was not in living room. He then heard clanking of pots and he walked towards the kitchen.

"Need help, Mom?" Thomas asked, leaning on the counter behind her.

"It's okay, Tom." His mom answered him and gave him a smile when she turned to him. Thomas nodded and was about to retreat back to his room when his mom called back again.

"You two aren't together yet, are you?"

Surprised and a little scared was an understatement because right now, all Thomas can think of was to run far far far away.

"Wh-what?" Thomas refused to look at his mother. How could he be so stupid to think that his mother would believe such a thing? But Thomas and Newt acted like a couple, what gave them away?

"Oh, honey." His mom chuckled and when he felt warm hands on his shoulder, he was being turned and was faced with a smiling face. "I believed that you were boyfriends at first but then you called him 'babe' and he kind of flinched."

Thomas bit his lip and really wanted to slap himself for letting that pet name slip out. It was stupid and unacceptable. He did wanted to give Newt a pet name for sometime now. May it be "babe", "baby", "honey" or "love" but now was not the right time.

"Sorry." Thomas said as he bowed his head down before he realized something, "Wait, did you say 'yet'?" Thomas asked, confused.

"Obviously you two need to work things out before moving on." Ana explained, "Whatever he needs to fix will be over and you two can be together. Just give it time."

"I am giving it time." Thomas whispered.

"Good." Ana patted his back and returned to the piling dishes, "He looks at you like precious angel, you know."

"You mean, I look at him like a precious angel." Thomas snickered as he sat on one of the stools for the counter.

"Oh, Tom." Ana chuckled again, "I know that your smart but when it comes to these thing, you are just downright stupid."

"HEY!" Thomas yelled at his mom and Ana just chuckled louder before the woman faced Thomas again with a grin on her face.

"Ask him out." She beamed.

"What?"

"It's bound to happen one day." Ana tapped her fingers on the counter as she leaned in.

"But you said give it time."

"Yes, but it's just gonna be a lunch or a dinner."

Ana pushed on and he just had a distaste for the idea now that they were here. Back in the car, he was excited to ask Newt out for a date but now, now he felt nervous, afraid and he was sweating. How could he ask Newt out without actually letting the blonde now that they were on a date?

"Ana? Tommy?" A voice was heard from the front door as it croaked open and then suddenly, Thomas' heart was beating out of his chest.

"Go get 'em, Tiger." He snapped back to Ana, who just gave him a wicked smile. He groaned as stalked towards the door. When he saw Newt there smiling at him and making grabby hands at him, he felt his heart stop. Newt was perfect in every single way. If it wasn't for Newt's curious stare, he would have not even realized that he stopped from walking.

"You don't miss me?" Newt teased as dropped his arms to his side, faking a pout. Fucking adorable!

"Um, N-Newt?" THIS WAS IT.

"Yeah, Tommy?"

"Would you like to go to lunch tomorrow? With me?" Thomas croaked out and he was so sure that his plan to make this as subtle as possible was thrown out a window and got hit by a ten-wheeler truck because he was positive he was all kinds red in the face.

What's more, is Newt was just there standing, mouth gaping open. Did Thomas made the wrong move?

"Tommy..." Newt started and that was it for Thomas. The rejection. Oh God, it felt awful.

"O-Oh, um, okay." Thomas scratched the back of his head and swayed from side to side, trying not to panic.

"Sorry." Newt whispered, seemingly ashamed of how he reacted.

"No! It's fine!" Thomas beamed. He knew it was a lie. He knew it hurts. He knew it was like a million bullets was introduced to his heart. And he also knew that this was not the time to rush the blonde but still, he felt terrible.

"Tommy..."

"Let's sleep, yeah?" Thomas said, turning his back to the blonde, "You must be pretty tired."

Thomas started his way on the stairs. He knew giving Newt the cold shoulder was not the way to do it but he can't help it. It was not even a cold shoulder! More like a can't-look-at-you-right-now-because-I-just-made-a-fool-of-myself shoulder! It was awful!

When he got to his room (which was already turned into a guest room), he plopped down on one side of the bed. The bags were there already when Chuck politely offered after catching Thomas and Newt making out in front of the front door. He heard the floor creak slowly and he knew that Newt was there. Thomas did not want this to be awkward, it was so stupid! It was their first day and he just had to ruin it.

"I-I think I'll go home." Newt whispered so very silently that Thomas almost never got that. Almost.

Thomas' head snapped back so quick, he was surprised it was still intact with his body. "What?!" Thomas sat up on the bed and waited. Newt's head was down and he was fiddling with his fingers.

"I can't keep doing this to you, Tommy." Newt said shakily. Thomas immediately knew that Newt was crying. He got up and neared the blonde.

"Hey, hey." Thomas tilted his chin up and when he saw Newt's face, which was wet with tears, he can't help but feel an ache in his chest far more greater than the rejection downstairs. He kissed the blonde on the lips chastely before pulling back, "I'm fine and you're not leaving."

"I keep hurting you..."

"No, you're not."

"I keep pushing you away..."

"Newt..."

"I can't make you happy..."

"That's not..."

"And I hate myself for doing those things to you because I..." Newt stopped and looked Thomas right in the eyes, pool of emotions spreading like wildfire in the beautiful brown orbs, "I-I think I'm in love with you."