Chapter Text
"Y! M-C-A! It's fun to stay at the- Hey! What are you doing?!"
Tom was standing on the bar counter, dancing and singing along to YMCA, as Matt dragged him down from there.
"You're drunk, Fletcher!" Matt yelled over the music at Tom who was still trying to do the dance moves along with the song.
"No, I'm not!" Tom slurred, but Matt still grabbed his arm and started dragging him along.
He knew Tom well enough to know that he would be absolutely miserable in the morning when being faced with all his drunken actions. So he wanted to spare him a little and get him home before it went too far. Ever since Matt sobered up, it had been his unofficial job to help his friends out when they got a little too drunk. It was rarely Tom getting too drunk, though. Matt was a bit worried about him.
"I don't wanna go home, Matt!" Tom whined as Matt found their jackets and started helping Tom put his on. Of course he was too drunk to do it himself. He made Tom put out his arms in front of him, so he could guide the sleeves over his hands and up his arms. Then he zipped up the jacket and felt a bit like a dad taking care of his kid. Tom looked into his eyes, they were swimming, and smiled sheepishly at Matt.
As they got outside and the cold air hit their faces, Tom stopped in his tracks.
"Oh, crap," he said before bending over and vomiting all over the pavement. Matt sighed and put his hand on Tom's back, trying to comfort him.
"I'm gonna go get a bottle of water, are you gonna be okay?" Matt said. Tom looked up during a break in the vomiting and nodded. Matt quickly went back inside to get some water from the bar. On the way he ran into Danny.
"You going home with Tom, ay?" Danny said with a grin. He knew all about Matt's more than friendly feelings towards Tom. Matt rolled his eyes.
"He's drunk as Hell, Dan, it's not like that at all."
"Keep telling yourself that, mate," Danny teased and winked. Matt punched his arm lightly and hurried along to the bar.
When Matt got outside again, Tom was sitting a bit away from the mayhem he caused. He was sat on the ground with his back against the wall, leaning his head back with eyes closed.
"You alright, mate?" Matt said as he reached him. Tom opened his eyes and gave him a tired smile while nodding. Matt handed him the bottle of water and he greedily started drinking it, desperate to get the taste of bile out of his mouth. Matt took out his phone and called a cab. When he hung up the phone, he turned to look at Tom. He was staring at him with a silly smile across his lips.
"What?" Matt said and smiled. He couldn't help but smile whenever Tom did. It made his heart flutter.
"You're always so nice to me," Tom said.
"Of course. We're mates," Matt said with a smile.
"I know, but you're nice to me... It's different than the other guys," Tom said and got a puzzled look on his face. Matt could feel his heart beating faster and nervously laughed at Tom.
"You're rambling, mate."
Tom laughed, too, "Yeah, maybe you're right..."
Five minutes later, the cab pulled up and they got in. Sitting in the backseat, Matt gave the address to Tom's place. Tom sighed beside him and put his head on Matt's shoulder. Matt froze, not wanting to move a muscle. He felt like that time he saw a deer in his backyard and was afraid that every little movement would break the spell and make it run away. All of a sudden Tom also snuck his hand into Matt's. After letting out a content sigh, he started lightly snoring.
Matt noticed the driver eyeing them in the mirror, but he didn't care right now. He felt so happy feeling Tom leaning against him with his hand in his.
As they reached Tom's place, Matt lightly squeezed Tom's hand and said, "Hey, you're home."
Tom stopped snoring and after a second of realizing what he was doing, he quickly sat up and pulled his hand out of Matt's.
"Sorry..." he mumbled before quickly getting out as Matt was paying the driver.
When Matt was done paying, Tom was already at the door, trying to get the key into the lock, but seeing as he was pretty drunk, it was a pretty hard task. Matt took the key from Tom and unlocked the door. As their hands touched for a second, Tom quickly pulled away. He pushed through the door and ran into the house. Matt frowned as he followed him in.
As he entered the house, he could hear Tom vomiting once again in the bathroom.
He shuffled to the bathroom door and asked, "Are you okay, Tom?"
"Yep..." Tom weakly answered from the other side of the door. Matt leaned against the wall next to the door and slid to the floor. He closed his eyes as he waited for Tom to emerge.
He could hear Tom shuffling around in the bathroom, flushing the toilet, turning on the faucet, brushing his teeth.
When Tom finally exited the bathroom, Matt was almost asleep with his head leaning against the wall.
"You didn't have to wait for me," Tom said and smiled sheepishly.
"Don't be silly, mate, I wanna make sure you're okay," Matt just said and got up from the floor.
"Let's get you to bed," Matt said and put his hand on the back of Tom's back to lead him to the bedroom.
"You're too sweet," Tom mumbled and Matt's heart fluttered a bit at his words.
As they got to the bedroom, Matt helped Tom get his clothes off. Despite Tom throwing up, he was still way too drunk to keep his balance while taking off his skinny jeans. Matt pushed him down on the bed and grabbed his legs.
"I can do it!" Tom whined.
"Shut up and let me help you," Matt said and couldn't help but chuckle about the whole situation. He grabbed the pant legs and pulled them off of Tom's legs. Tom couldn't help but giggle, too. Matt helped him pull his shirt over his head and off, too. As he was sitting there on the bed in just his boxers and sheepish look on his face, he looked so innocent and vulnerable. Matt's heart was swelling in his chest.
Tom crawled under the covers and sighed.
"I feel rubbish, Matt," he said.
"I know," Matt said with a smile and sat down on the bed.
"Will you please stay with me for a while?" Tom asked innocently and looked at him with puppy eyes.
"Of course," Matt said and laid down on the bed next to Tom. Over the covers. He didn't wanna push it.
"I like you so much," Tom said, lying with his back to Matt.
"I like you, too, mate," Matt said, trying not reveal that his heart was pounding out of his chest at Tom's words.
Tom turned around to face him and smiled. Matt smiled back.
"Thanks for helping me tonight," Tom said.
"I told you, it's all good," Matt said and couldn't resist the urge to reach out and caress Tom's cheek. He knew he was crossing the line a bit, but Tom didn't seem to mind. He closed his eyes as if to savour the moment of Matt's touch. Or maybe he was just trying to sleep. Matt didn't know.
Tom reached his hand up to Matt's and intertwined their fingers. They didn't say anything, just stayed like that as they both drifted off to sleep.