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It was a day like any other; Playing with Shroud for a bit, contemplating visiting the remains of L’manberg but deciding shortly it’s a bad idea, light conversations on the Prime Path- or, at least they were light.
Usually Tommy walks calmly with Tubbo and Ranboo down the path as they chat about things they did that day, future plans. Reminiscing old memories (good memories). The coloring pages Micheal made, and Tommy feeling a little pang of warmth in his chest seeing himself drawn in the pages with them.
But that was not today. Today he was alone. Ranboo and Tubbo were away at the mansion. They didn’t say why, but asked Tommy not to disturb them. So there he was, walking by himself in the gentle breeze and soft chirping of the birds. He found a lone daisy on the side of the wooden path, and picked it to place it in his shirt pocket.
For a small moment every day, Tommy gets a strange feeling he barely recognizes- peace. He denies it, but he still has nightmares occasionally about the things he’s been through. Sometimes there’s not even a specific event that scares him, its the reminiscence of certain feelings that cloud his mind. Fear, overwhelming fear, and not remembering why. This being said, every time that little grey area of peace comes around, he treasures it.
Until the aura is broken, and the remaining shards are piercing his skin in regret.
After walking by himself for a while, Tommy notices Wilbur and Dream having a conversation near him. At first, he wants to walk faster to be out of their presence but decides to eavesdrop in fear they’re talking about him.
“Yeah man, you should’ve seen the look on their faces. I really wish you could’ve been there to see it all happen,” Dream says, waving his hands around as he speaks.
“Well, I despise Ghostbur in every way, but I do remember a bit of it from his eyes. Specifically the flames raining down, that was really cool,” Wilbur comments.
'Were they talking about L’Manberg?' Tommy thinks. Before he can stop himself he’s running over to them to disagree with their conversation.
“Hey! What happened that day wasn’t cool in any way. We almost died, Wilbur!”
“For a cause that wasn’t worth fighting for. I thought you knew better than that,” Wilbur sighs.
“What do you mean? I remember exactly what happened. You weren’t even alive!”
“Alright, what happened then? Please, tell us the story,” Dream interjects.
“Well-” Tommy pauses to take a breath to regain composure, “Well you and Techno and Phil blew it up!”
“It was a bit more than that. You were out of control, we had to teach you a lesson,” Dream flatly states.
“What kind of lesson were you trying to teach? How to never have trust in anything or anyone because they’ll target what you love the most?” Tommy challenges.
Dream chuckles, “Oh come on now, Tubbo didn’t miss you that much during exile.”
“Yes he did!... Wait, did he not?”
“He was too busy being a president to even notice you were gone!”
“That’s not true!”
“How can you be sure?” Dream smirks, “You weren’t there, and I was. You know, on the days when you weren’t in the mood for any fun. Such a shame you left exile so soon, there was so much more for us to do!”
“No no no no, you tortured me! Ghostbur saw it!”
“Wilbur?” Dream questions.
“Nope, not in my memory. Don’t remember seeing anything like that.”
“No...no-” Tommy stumbles backward a few steps. His breath quickens in a moment of panic. What really happened? Why doesn’t he remember?
“Aw, it’s alright if you don’t remember, we can always do it again some time!”
“No, I’ll never go with you!”
Dream starts laughing, “Someday you may not have a choice! You didn’t the first time!”
“Why did you even come over here, Tommy? Ah yes, precious little Tommy, interrupting other people’s conversations and making a desperate attempt to fact check them when he himself doesn’t even remember!” Wilbur joins in on the laughter.
“I don’t- I tried to-” Tommy’s stuttering results in Wilbur and Dream laughing harder and harder at the sound of his voice cracks.
“C’mon Tommy, spit out, we don’t have all day!” Dream sarcastically humors him.
The more he tried the more his words caught in his throat. He tried the best he could to not let them see him cry. 'Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t you dare do it,' The mantra repeated in Tommy’s thoughts.
Wilbur starts screaming at him, “Stop being a baby! Say it!” over and over again with Dream joining in. They mock him like a crying baby with noisy, over-exaggerated cries.
“Stop it!” Tommy tries to get their attention, though it works in the wrong way. A sob bubbles up in his throat and before he could suppress it, it was released. He turns his face away so they can’t see his tears. Wilbur yanks Tommy’s wrists and pulls him in his direction. Tommy struggles in his grip but Wilbur holds him still while Dream watches intently.
“You’re not..,” Wilbur stifles a laugh, “You’re not crying are you?” Tommy struggles harder in his grip, desperately trying to escape the situation.
“Fuck off! Let go of me!” Tommy screams at the top of his lungs. His face was drenched in tears and bright red. This only amused his bullies more, as the small flame rekindled their fire of laughter.
Wilbur coldly slaps his right cheek, and hard. Tommy is taken back at the sudden increased tension in the air and questions if it’s all just a nightmare. The stinging pain in his cheek would prove otherwise. Fear fills his face. Wilbur’s seize on Tommy’s wrists tighten more than he thought possible, and Wilbur puts his face right in front of his. Wilbur’s expression goes cold. He spits in Tommy’s face with a harsh tone,
“Grow up, Tommy!” Grow the fuck up!”
The words echo in Tommy’s head and it tears down any walls he had built up. He flings himself out of Wilbur’s clutch and falls into the dead grass underneath him. Tommy feverishly tries to wipe his tears, ashamed he had broken so easily. Dream takes one step towards him and he flinches, shielding his face. Dream and Wilbur start walking away, continuing to laugh.
“Wait! Don’t leave! I didn’t- I didn’t finish-” Tommy sighs, continuing to cry. Not only was it rubbed in his face he wasn’t able to move on as he thought he was, but he didn’t even get to have a voice in the conversation.
“FUCK YOU!” Tommy screams out in his sadness. He could feel someone was watching him. Someone was just watching as he displayed his weakness to the world.
He picked himself up off the ground and took off running the opposite way his enemies went, hiding his face in his shirt and soaking through the white fabric with his tears.
The daisy he’d picked earlier had fallen onto the ground before he'd ran off, a few petals falling off as it hit the ground.