Lottie and Tom Ch. 01

Chapter 1:

"Eek! I'm so relieved and excited at the same time!"

Lottie squirmed in the passenger seat next to me as I drove us back home. Okay, technically it wasn't her home as she didn't officially live with my dad, mum and me, but she might as well have done. Charlotte 'Lottie' Davis was my best friend and had been since we first met 14 year years ago back on our first day of school.

I remember it as clearly as yesterday. My mum dropped me off with an awful lot of hugs and tears and "I can't believe my little Thomas is going off to big boy school already! Where has the time gone?!" Looking back on it, it was a fairly prolonged and embarrassing goodbye, but hey I was only 4. The teacher was a nice older lady with grey hair. She tried her best to put me at ease with the whole situation but she also had about 25 other kids to meet and appease so she showed me over to a sandpit and left me to wallow in my abandonment. I sat there sobbing for a few minutes before a girl plonked herself down opposite me. She stared at me with her big green emerald eyes for a second before speaking.

"Hello." She said.

"Hello." I replied, rubbing my eyes with the sleeve of my jumper.

"I'm Lottie." She said, flicking her red hair over her shoulder and out of the way.

"My name is Thomas."

"Can I call you Tom?" She asked.

No one had called me Tom before. Everyone used my full name. "Sure."

And from that moment on we have always been friends. Over the primary school years we grew closer, so much so that our parents also became friends and it wasn't rare that once or twice a month we would sleep over the other's house, especially if our parents went away. We told each other everything.

Then, when we were 10, Lottie's dad died. Freak plane accident in Asia when he was away on business. Everyone on board was killed. Lottie was taken out of school by her mum the day she found out. I didn't know until after school when my dad picked me up and told me what had happened. He also told me that they were our guests for the next couple of days and that I was to make sure Lottie had everything she needed. Neither of us had any brothers or sisters and I remember that night our parents just left us to our own devices as they digested what had happened. They even let us sleep in the same room, but we were far too young to get up to anything naughty so they probably didn't give it a second thought. I just remember spending the whole night trying to cheer my best friend up. I acted the fool, I told her jokes, and I let her play with my favourite toys. In the end we watched a film while I comforted her.

After that day we truly became inseparable. Which was convenient for our mums because so had they. The death of Lottie's dad had made our mother's as close as sisters – they were always chatting away together, either in person or on the phone. We even started holidaying together. Not that Lottie and I minded of course. We thought it was brilliant, just another excuse to spend some time together and hang out.

A couple of years later, her mother got some big time promotion at work. She was a lawyer and became head of the firm or something. It started earning her serious money but also meant that her workload increased and her hours became incredibly unsocial. To the point where Lottie was walking home with me from school and staying at our house as late as 8 or 9pm several nights a week.

We both finished school with good grades and went onto 6th form; me to study Maths, Physics and Chemistry and her to study Maths, Physics and Further Maths. Today we had both had our last ever A level exam. It was an amazing feeling. The weight had finally lifted from our shoulders and we now had a nice long stretch of several months holiday before going off to University. Life was good.

"Mm!" Lottie said as she ran her hands through her hair. I glanced over at her quickly and saw that she was relaxing, eyes closed, back into the seat.

"What?" I asked.

She opened her eyes and turned her gaze on me. She smiled. "Oh nothing. I was just thinking about how much I'm looking forward to this summer! We have the 6th form prom next week, and then we're going on holiday with our parents the week after. Then when we get back we will still have over two months before University starts."

"I bet you we get bored out of our brains." I muttered turning my attention back to the road.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find one or two ways to entertain ourselves."

The way she said it made me look at her again. It used to be that I could take one look at her and know exactly what she was thinking by her expression, but more and more recently I was finding her harder to read. "Why? What do you have in mind?"

She smiled and turned away from me in her seat to look out the passenger window. When I continued to stare she shrugged and said, "I just don't think we'll get bored. Anyway," She said brightly, changing the subject, "what do you fancy doing for the rest of today? I was thinking swimming."

I rolled my eyes. "You know I hate swimming!" No one understood where my dislike of swimming came from. It wasn't as if I had some childhood trauma or fear. It wasn't even as if I disliked exercise. I kept myself in pretty decent shape by jogging and going to the gym. I just didn't like swimming.

"Yes. But I don't." She countered.

"Sorry Lottie. But I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm taking us home then meeting up with Richard, Harry and the guys. We're celebrating the end of exams by getting hammered."

She looked at me. "And you didn't invite me?"

"I didn't think you'd want to come!" I protested. "You don't like half of my other friends."

She turned back to the window and shook her head. "All they do is leer at me like I'm some piece of meat."

"Well if you didn't dress so provocatively –" As soon as the words were out of my mouth I knew I'd said the wrong thing. She whipped her head round so fast that I half expected her to get whiplash and stared at me open mouthed.

"Provocatively?!" She repeated in anger. "When have I ever dressed provocatively?!"

"I err..." I was at a loss. I knew in my heart that she didn't dress at all in that way. It just wasn't her. But I had dug so far down this hole that I was damn well getting myself out.

"You can't think of a single time, can you?" Her eyes glowered, daring me to answer. Keeping one eye on the road I looked at what she was wearing for inspiration. It was a simple red dress with a high neckline, sleeveless and floaty whilst at the same time hinting that she had some curves underneath. It finished just above her knees.

"You get your legs out a lot!" I jumped on what small evidence I had.

"You mean I wear dresses?!" Her irritation spiked.

"Yes! And the lads have noticed! They like your legs."

That silenced her for a moment and I relaxed slightly in the car, knowing I had finally said the right thing. It was almost a whole minute before she spoke again. "Do you like my legs, Tom?"

Again, I spoke the truth without thinking. "They're alright, I guess. As legs go I mean." I sensed this wasn't the answer she wanted so I added, "I've never really thought about it before if I'm honest."

"Oh." She frowned and I could have sworn I heard disappointment in her voice. She didn't speak again. The silence lasted about a minute and a half before I could no longer bear it.

"Are you alright, Lottie?"

"Oh, just take me home Tom and go out on the piss with your fucking friends." She spat her words with venom and refused to look at me. I sighed and focused on the road again. As was always the case with Lottie, if I said the wrong thing I could flip her mood in seconds. We drove the rest of the journey in silence.

Chapter two:

It wasn't as big a knees-up as I had been expecting in the end. Most people either couldn't make it or didn't fancy it and so what was supposed to be an epic blow out night turned into, Richard, Harry and I having a few quiet drinks down the pub.

"I don't get you!" Richard said to me suddenly as we were midway through our second round of pints.

"Huh?" Was all I could be bothered to reply with.

"You and Lottie." He said, in the same way someone would state the topic of a PowerPoint presentation they were about to give. "What's the deal?"

Although I knew exactly what was coming as he and Harry gave me the same talk every time we drank alone, I humoured him and played his game. "What do you mean?"

He looked at me as if I was thick. "When are you going to tap that?!" Harry nodded along approvingly. That annoyed me.

"I dunno. When is Harry going to 'tap' your big sister?" It was a long standing joke between us that Harry and Richard's sister, Rebecca, were going to get together because she had once walked in on him taking a shower and hadn't immediately left.

Harry stopped nodding and coughed. "Err, that will never happen."

Richard shook his head. "No it won't!" He said sternly, his eyes darting to Harry for a split second before coming back to rest on me. "You and Lottie though." He shook his head. "I just don't get it man. You essentially live with this smoking hot girl and you don't go near her. If that was me I'd jump on her every chance I got."

I sipped my pint before responding. "You just don't get it dude. I mean... She's Lottie. And come on, she isn't that hot!" I don't know who I was trying to convince, them or myself, but even as I said the words, I knew I didn't mean them. I had never thought about Lottie in that way before. She was the closest thing I had to a sister. The thoughts that entered my head felt like they should have been taboo, but to my complete surprise, I felt my cock slowly stirring in my trousers. I banished them as quickly as I could.

"You're wrong Tom. She is insanely fit." Harry disagreed with me. "She's got to be what? An 8?" He looked over at Richard. "8.5?"

He nodded. "At worst she's a 7. And that is if we are being exceptionally cruel."

Harry nodded along as well. The two looked like a pair of nodding dogs. "Yeah. And that would have to be if she shaved her head, or had a tit mauled off or something."

"Whatever." I shrugged their words off. Wishing we were talking about anything but her.

Richard took several gulps of his pint then put it down in a very philosophical manner. "Listen man, we aren't trying to fuck with you here. It's just food for thought. In our eyes, Lottie is your girl and we or any of the other lads would never encroach on that. But if you don't act, one day someone is going to come along and take her away from you. She won't wait forever."

"She's not waiting for anything." I snapped back, a bit too sharply. Neither spoke, and after a moment I realised I'd gone too far. "I'm sorry." I muttered in apology.

"It's okay, man." Harry pulled an apologetic grin. "We asked for that. Anyway..."

And the topic of conversation changed. If I'm honest I don't remember much of that conversation as I wasn't particularly engaging after our chat about Lottie. I just couldn't get their words out of my mind. Every time that they had mentioned anything about me and her getting together in the past, they had teased me about her. But this time was different. This was like they were genuinely trying to offer me advice; to point me in the right direction. And I couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe they were right. Not long after, I finished my pint, made my excuses and went home.

Chapter three:

When I got home I was in no mood to socialise, so after making excuses to my parents I went upstairs to my bedroom and flopped down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I checked my phone. 10:30. – far too early to go to bed. And with Richard and Harry's words still tumbling around in my mind, sleep didn't really feel like an option. I decided to put a film on my laptop. Avengers Assemble. It is a film I enjoy and watch often and usually it captures my attention pretty early on.

Tonight however, was different and I just couldn't get into it. My mind kept lingering on Lottie. I had to concede that Richard and Harry were right. She was stunning. Her long red hair always flowed perfectly down her back, never a strand out of place. She had the most beautiful green eyes that I had genuinely ever seen and her body was phenomenal. Although I had only seen her out of conservative everyday clothes on holidays, she had a perfect hourglass figure. Her breasts and ass weren't massive but they were in proportion with her body, her stomach was flat and her legs were shapely and toned. As I thought about all this I realised that they did have a point.

But should I ask her out? Could I even ask her out? Was I capable of thinking of her as someone more than my best friend? Maybe. Probably. If I allowed myself to. But if I was, was she able to think the same way about me? I was pretty certain that if I asked her out and she said no, she wouldn't laugh in my face about it, but we would always have it looming over our friendship. I wasn't sure if it was worth the risk.

I decided to experiment and be scientific about it. I would text her. Just have a casual conversation like we had done thousands of times before but this time I would actually put some effort into flirting. And the outcome of that would decide my next move. I picked up my phone and determined that my first text should be nothing out of the ordinary, after all she might be asleep or still pissed off with me from earlier.

Hey you! Still awake? X

I hit send and put my phone down on the bed next to me. I turned my attention to the film properly for the first time. I realised that one of my favourite scenes was coming up; Thor's entrance. I got so engrossed in it for a few minutes that I completely missed my phone going off and when I checked it I saw that Lottie had text me back twice in that time.

No! Fuck off! X

Had been her first message. So she clearly was still pissed at me. But it was closely followed by:

What do you want? X

I smiled to myself. My first opportunity to test our boundaries. I had never flirted on purpose with anyone before, let alone Lottie. I decided to start out slowly.

I'm bored. Entertain me. X

Her response came back swiftly. She was not to be won over so easily. Clearly I'd have to try much harder.

Talk to your guy mates then! Are you drunk? X

I tried to keep my text short.

Nah. Our night out turned to nothing. I'm back home now watching a film. How're you? X

I hit send but had barely put my phone down before it went off again with her reply.

Oh and I'm your plan B, am I? Cheers for that!

I rolled my eyes and tapped away on the screen. I wrote out the message, erased it. Paused and then wrote it again before I pressed send.

Of course not! You would never be my plan B, babe. There is no one else in the world that I would rather be with than you. X

As soon as it went my heartrate escalated. I realised I had been holding my breath and sighed deeply. I literally had no idea how she would respond. I returned to watching the film. I was vaguely aware that Loki was now their prisoner but I couldn't focus on the film, I was too nervous.

Aww thanks, Tom. You're such a goof! But that really made me smile after a crappy afternoon. Are you sure you're not drunk? :P Xx

I grinned at her reply. At the very least I had improved her mood.

Nope. I only had two pints. Are you busy tomorrow? X

Once again her response was immediate.

No. Why? X

I decided to be a bit more daring again.

I miss you and want to spend time with my favourite lady. X

As I hit send my nervousness came back in spades. It seemed ages before my phone vibrated by my leg again.

You miss me? :P Xx

Although wanting to be honest, I decided that perhaps I should rein the emotive language back a bit.

Yes. And I want to spend time with you tomorrow. We can do anything you like so long as we're together. X

Her reply took a little longer than her previous texts.

Okay! Yeah, I would really like that! I'll come round your house late tomorrow morning but right now I'm going to bed. Night sweetie! Sweet dreams (of me) Xx

I read her text several times and after considering my options, decided not to reply. Her words excited me. Never had we been so openly daring with each other. Before that night I would never have called her 'babe' and although she did occasionally call me 'sweetie' or 'honey'; this was the first time she had openly flirted with me too. Perhaps this was just the alcohol but for the first time in my life I was genuinely thinking about Lottie in a whole other light than as just my best friend.

I remembered the summer holiday we took to Mauritius last year with our parents. She had basically lived in a bikini for the whole fortnight and those memories suddenly took on a whole new importance for me. The swell of her breasts, the way her pert little bottom swayed as she walked. How had I never noticed this before? It had so much of an effect that I was starting to get hard. Usually I jack off 2 or 3 times daily but today I just hadn't had the chance, what with nerves for my final exam this morning, then going out in the early evening with Richard and Harry. As I realised this, my balls felt really tight. I needed release.

I stopped the film on my laptop, shut it down and locked the door to my room – just in case my parents decided to check in on me. I quickly stripped naked and lay there on the bed, just gently stroking my raging erection. Just the thought of Lottie in a bikini had me at full hilt. I closed my eyes and imagining that my hands were hers, I quickly jacked myself off while fantasising about what she looked like naked. It took literally no time at all for me to cum. Jizz shot all over my chest. Luckily I had tissues on the bedside table next to me to clean up with.

I lay there in post orgasmic bliss for several minutes. I had wanked using just my memory and imagination before but that was the first time that I had used memories of Lottie. I waited for the guilt to come wash over me but it never did. I got up, put on my pyjama shorts and went to the bathroom to wash up and clean my teeth. As I slipped back into bed – under the covers this time – A serious thought entered my head. Regardless of how Lottie felt about me, my feelings for her had intensified. Something in me had awoken and was growing stronger by the minute. Regardless of how she felt about me, one thing was now desperately obvious. I was falling in love with my best friend.

Chapter 4:

As it was my first day off and so my first chance of a lie in; naturally, I woke up early. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. I looked over at the alarm clock. 08:24. Fantastic! I thought sarcastically. I could hear my mum crashing and banging downstairs as she got ready for work. I got up and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. My mum looked up and smiled at me brightly as I entered.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this morning." She said. "I thought the plan was to have a well-deserved lie in every day for the next 2 and a half months."

"Yeah, but sod's law dictates I wake up early." I grumbled as I sat down at the table opposite her. She sipped orange juice in her posh work blazer, the one she wore when she needed to look smart and impress. I nodded at it. "What are you all dressed up for?"

"I'm giving a presentation later this morning to a lecture hall of over 100 company guests." She answered neutrally as if it was nothing.

"Bloody hell mum!" I said, feeling my eyes open wide for the first time this morning. "Good luck!"

"Luck is for the ill prepared." She chided, "What have I always taught you, Thomas?"

I groaned and muttered the words my parents had drilled into me since the age of 11. "Piss poor preparation leads to piss poor performance."

"Exactly!" She said triumphantly, before adding jokily, "so I need all the luck I can get."