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Though he wouldn’t ever say it out loud, Tommy was scared.
Of course he was! His old family knows about his new residence in Essempi Lake, and according to Dream, demanded that they come over and visit him. The entire community at the lake tensed up when Dream had announced the bad news, bringing concerned eyes onto not only Tommy, but Sally and Niki as well. Talk about one hell of a late 18th birthday present.
If Tommy could even remember anything about how shitty they were, he would be having one hell of a panic attack, which he would have to suppress in order to salvage his reputation as the biggest man. Luckily enough, the procedure to cure the Hanahaki given to him by the royal family worked like a charm thanks to Bad, thus giving Tommy the side effect of losing his memories of anything beforehand with no known way of getting them back. Not that he would want to remember, he’d rather not have unnecessary trauma, thank you.
Dream had explained that they would be arriving in three days at mid-afternoon and will leave around the evening, giving the lake a couple days to prepare for the longest, most tense four hours of their lives.
Everyone had objected to the royal family meeting Tommy, and some had even decided to come up with any excuses to why Tommy wouldn’t be able to join them.
Tommy probably would have stayed in his mind spiral if it weren’t for Purpled taking his hand in his and squeezing it. Not enough pressure to be painful, but enough to snap Tommy out of it.
As Purpled had given him a reassuring smile, Tommy realized what he must do, and came up with an idea to mess with the royal pricks.
After getting everyone’s attention, Tommy proposed that since none of them can avoid the shitshow of what would happen, they “bring the shitshow to them”, as Tommy had eloquently put it.
As he explained further, slowly but surely, everyone as Essempi had matching shit-eating grins on their faces.
And now Tommy is looking at himself in the mirror, taking deep breaths to mentally prepare for the dinner party the lake had planned.
His old family thinks that they can hurt Tommy again?
Let’s give them one hell of a wake up call.
~~~~~~
The residents of SMP lake decided to host a dinner in “honor” of the royal family “blessing” them with their presence.
People that were previously caught up in the family drama like Niki, Sally, and Tommy remained hidden from their views until then. The rest of the lake claimed that they were out running errands (which technically was true, they just happened to use that time to release any panic attacks and anxieties they would have).
Now, everyone save for the formerly mentioned was sitting at a table made of smaller foldable ones positioned to make a circle. The table was outside, seeing that none of the houses had a big enough space to accompany everyone.
Everyone was giving the family looks of disdain, but Purpled in particular was suppressing every thought screaming at him to jump across the table at them. These were the people that harmed his best friend. He remembered the days before Tommy’s ritual, where the boy had cried into Purpled’s shoulder, screaming at what he did wrong to deserve his old family’s scorn. He remembered Techno’s indifference, Wilbur’s avoidance, Phil’s negligence, and Tubbo and Ranboo’s replacing of Tommy.
Purpled knew everything, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t use that ammunition to make the family’s life hell for the few hours they’re stuck with them.
Of course, Purpled asked Tommy if it was okay to flex how much better a friend he was at Tubbo and Ranboo, and Tommy consented. He wouldn’t want to wave Tommy around like a trophy, after all. That would almost make him as bad as the shits across from him.
Eventually, everyone was settled, with an empty seat to the right of Purpled for Tommy, and empty seat beside Jared for Sally and Fundy, and an empty seat beside Puffy for Niki.
“So, if I may ask,” Philza began, getting everyone’s attention, “how is Tommy doing? I hope you’ve been treating him well.”
“Why, because you guys didn’t?” Purpled mumbled. He tried to say is quiet enough so the royal family was out of earshot, but a glare from Technoblade implied that he must have heard it. Oh well. Purpled just stared back, refusing to show any emotion. Go ahead Techno, Purpled though, try to prove me wrong.
Techno turned away, and Purpled grinned to himself in victory.
“Well,” Sam smiled, less at Phil and more at the memories when Tommy slipped up and called Sam dad, “he’s been doing amazing. He’s been staying with me and Ponk—“ Sam gestured to the person to the left of him, who smiled with his eyes (due to her mask covering their face) and grabbed Sam’s hand “— and while Tommy is a handful, I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”
“And you said you didn’t want any kids.” Ponk teased, causing Sam to go bright red.
Purpled rolled his eyes at the sight. They were always so sappy with each other.
He saw Punz lean in towards his peripheral. “Phil did not like that comment.” He whispered with a snicker.
Purpled looked back up at Philza, only to have his attention be caught by the fork Philza apparently bent into a U shape.
Purpled looked back at his brother with a baffled look, to which they both fell into suppressed giggles.
“Is something funny?”
Purpled and Punz looked up to see Prince Technoblade staring down at them. His face showed no emotion and no mercy. “Well? I’m curious.”
Purpled glanced at Punz, silently communicating what to say.
Follow my lead, Punz had conveyed back. “Oh, we were just remembering how long it took for these two to get together.” They answered cooly as he looked back at the prince.
“It took like, what, six years for you guys to make a move?” Purpled teased. “That has got to be the longest six years ever.”
“Yeah, well in my defense, Sam was always up in the castle doing his job, so I nearly saw him.” Ponk explained.
“You should’ve seen how happy she was when Sam said he was retiring.” Eret piped up. “They were baking and cooking food with lemons all week.”
The entire table laughed at that. Purpled vividly remembered having lemons almost exclusively for a month. Lemon cakes, lemonade, lemon squares, the list went on.
“If, we can get back on topic.” Wilbur said, bringing the tables bright mood down exponentially. “It’s nice to see that you guys are taking care of my brother so well.”
Purpled gripped his fork as he fantasized about stabbing the crown prince in the eyes. How dare he consider himself Tommy’s brother. After how miserably he treated him?
Punz squeezed his shoulder: a technique the former used to ground Purpled. It was a way to say “stop” or “later” or any other synonym without causing a scene.
“But you’re not his brother.” Puffy said, crossing her arms. “Not anymore, at least.”
Purpled tensed up, while he was thankful Puffy said what was unspoken, he was worried about how the royal family would react. So does most of the lake, he thought as he looked around, each person looking at Puffy with baffled eyes.
“Excuse me?” Wilbur asked.
“Well, it’s not like he remembers you.” Skeppy said. “Believe us, we—“ he gestured to himself and Bad, who was sitting next to him “—did the ritual that both got rid of his memories and the Hanahaki. You’re welcome, by the way.”
The family was silent at that. Their reactions varies from Technoblade baring his tusks to Ranboo shrinking in his seat.
“And while we are on the topic of being thankful,” George nonchalantly picked at his food, “you should all thank Sam, since he was the one to pick up the Hanahaki when you all didn’t, and brought him to a place he could properly heal.”
“And while we are on the topic of being thankful, we should thank you all, really.” Karl leaned forward and rested his head on his arm. “If it weren’t for your negligence of Tommy, we wouldn’t have had this amazing person be brought into our little family. So thank you.”
“Do not talk about Tommy like that.” Tubbo balled his hands into fists. “He isn’t a toy to be traded and borrowed.”
Now, it was Purpled’s turn to speak up. “Funny, coming from you, your Highness. Didn’t you ‘trade’ Tommy for Ranboo?”
Ranboo shrunk in his seat even more, either avoiding eye contact or being incredibly interested in his lap. On the contrary, Tubbo furrowed his eyebrows as Purpled stared right back at him.
“And how did you know that, exactly?” Philza leaned forward, fire in his eyes. “Didn’t you all claim that Tommy forgot his memory?”
Purpled didn’t falter. Maybe he would under normal circumstances, but this man hurt his best friend. “Why? Worried that he’ll recognize you? It’s true, your Majesty, Tommy did lose his memory. But before the ritual, he told us everything.”
There was a tense silence. Philza seemed to attempt to come up with anything to defend his previous statements, but he came up blank.
“Everything?” Ranboo finally spoke up.
“Yes.” Dream answered. “He told us everything you all did, or didn’t do, in your case.” Dream glanced at Ranboo, who shrunk in his seat even more.
“He cried, he screamed and he wept because of you guys. You all caused him so much trauma that you should be considered lucky that we are civil.” Foolish stretched, showing his bulky muscles as a warning. "So don’t think for even a second that you all have a clean slate just because he doesn’t remember.”
“Tommy even mentioned in his letter to you guys that he didn’t want you all to find him.” Quackity brought up, pointing to the family with his fork. “So the fact that you all are here and demanded that you see him really shows how little you all care for him.”
“We were afraid that he might’ve been dead!” Wilbur almost yelled.
“Then why did you force us to bring you here You were told that he was alive and happy, and you could have left it at that and realize that he’s so much happier without you all and leave him alone.” Sapnap pointed out, heat coming off of him so much that Purpled could feel it four chairs down. “Do you really want to apologize because you feel bad? Or do you just want to apologize so you can feel better about your pathetic lives?”
The family was stunned silent at that. Antfrost took that as a prompt to continue where Sapnap left off.
“According to Tommy and Sam, you all didn’t even care that you were treating him like shit up until it was too late. If Tommy didn’t have Hanahaki, you all would have continued to hurt him and be none the wiser.” Antfrost nearly hissed out. “Or did you all know? And just didn’t care?”
“Well maybe he was hurting us, too!” Philza shouted. “Maybe he reminded us too much of a member of our family that left us too soon!”
“That has got to be the stupidest reasoning I’ve ever heard.” Puffy said after a short pause. “And I’m a therapist, I’ve heard of some weird coping mechanisms.”
“We did not come here to be disrespected.” Wilbur said through his teeth.
“Then leave.”
All eyes turned to Sam. The nice façade gone. Only a father whose son was hurt by the people before him.
"No one is keeping you here. You are free to leave if you are uncomfortable, your Highness."
“We are not leaving before we see Theseus.” Technoblade said.
The table was at the tensest it had ever been. Both sides unyielding. Purpled knew the royals won’t take no for an answer; the rest of Essempi Lake must know that too.
“Fine.” Dream gave his arms up in surrender. “Be careful what you wish for, your Highness.”
Technoblade’s eyes widened but a margin. He must have been surprised at his friend and rival using formalities.
“Hey, guys! Sorry we’re late!”
The entire table turned to find Niki, Sally, Fundy, and Tommy appear over the horizon.
Jared and Purpled stood up from their seats to meet up with their respective lover or best friend. As he walked past the table, Purpled glanced at the royal family, curious to see their reactions.
Ranboo was beginning to breath quicker and turned away like the coward Purpled assumed him to be. Tubbo nearly rose out of seat, but thought better of it, eyes filled with regret. Philza had the audacity to smile. Technoblade tensed up, closing his eyes. Wilbur was the worst, seeing not only his “brother”, but his ex and “best friend”. He blinked rapidly; Purpled assumed it was to keep tears from pouring over.
He tore his eyes away from them to run up to Tommy and envelop him in a tight hug, nearly spinning him around.
“Hey.” Tommy said quietly. Not a good sign.
“How are you feeling?” Purpled whispered to him.
“I feel like dating a lot of women and then cheating on them with more women.” Tommy mumbled into his shirt.
“Oh, your worried.” Purpled translated, pulling from the hug and turning Tommy away from his old family so he didn’t have to face them. “We can say you feel sick, and you don’t have to meet them. I’m sure everyone will understand.”
Tommy paused, gnawing on his lip. “No.” He shook his head. “I knew what I was getting into. I might as well follow through. I’m not a pussy.”
Purpled smiled at him, doing his best not to glance at the royals who were staring at him like a hawk. “I saved a seat for you right beside me. You know what to do if you feel uncomfortable?”
Tommy nodded, lips curving upward. “Step on your foot and run as fast as possible to the lake under the guise of a chase.”
Purpled nodded back, his smile showing teeth. “Okay then, Tommy. Are you ready? Jared made sure to get you fresh Coke.”
Tommy’s eyes lit up at that. “Well why didn’t you say so, bitch? Let’s go then!” He began marching over to the table, dragging Purpled with him. Purpled managed to match pace with him as they made their way back to the table.
“Hey, boys!” Sam smiled at them. “How are you, Tommy?”
Purpled looked at Tommy for an answer. The person in question just shrugged. “It was okay. Couldn’t find any women, so I consider that a failure.”
Sally, who was back at the table with Fundy in her lap and Jared beside her, giggled. “Do I not count as a woman, Tommy?”
“I mean women who are single, bitch!” Tommy joked.
Sally rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Of course, my bad.”
Everyone at the lake knew Tommy well enough to know that there wasn’t any actual offend or insult meant when he called people bitches or pussies. The lake never took offense to that when they learned, and just joined in on the banter to humor him.
“Hey, that’s no way to talk to a lady, young man.” Philza scolded as if he was Tommy’s authority figure.
Huh, it looks like they never learned that, Purpled thought, glancing at Tommy to make sure he was okay.
Tommy just stared at him, no sense of recognition in his eyes. “And who the fuck are you supposed to be, bitch?”
Philza’s eyes widened as he leaned back. Guess the old man finally realized that Tommy doesn’t know them.
Part of the plan was for Tommy to pretend that he doesn’t know that the royals are his old family, and that they were visiting because of Dream’s rivalry and friendship with Techno. Tommy was supposed to play the oblivious, innocent soul while his old family suffered. And so far, Tommy seemed to be playing that to perfection.
“Tommy, this is Emperor Philza of the Antarctic Empire. And these are his sons.” Sam explained.
The royals were just staring at Tommy in shock. Why were they so surprised? Surely they understood that Tommy doesn't remember them.
Be careful what you wish for indeed, Purpled smiled to himself as he remembered Dream’s words.
Tommy glanced between each of the sons, seemingly waiting for something. “What, are you going to make me guess your names? Or am I just going to have to make up nicknames for you fuckers?”
“Full warning,” Dream piped up, appearing to love every moment, “his nicknames are never flattering.”
“Shut up, green bitch!”
Dream just laughed at that and went back to eating his food, watching the shitshow go down.
“I’m Technoblade.” Technoblade grumbled out.
Wilbur frowned, avoiding eye contact. “Wilbur.”
“I’m Tubbo.” Tubbo had said with a strained smile. “It’s nice to meet you!”
Ranboo didn’t say anything. Just staring at the ground like it was his lifeline.
“That’s Ranboo.” Philza said for the poor enderman.
Tommy scoffed. “Those are shitty names. I’ll just stick with your Majesty and Highnesses instead.”
“Are you sure?” Wilbur asked. “We really don’t mind when our official titles aren’t used.”
Tommy looked at his food, deciding which part of the meal to eat. “Yeah, but that implies that we’re close, or like each other, or friends.” He looked up to Wilbur. “And we are nothing more than strangers, your Highness.” He said as he took a bite of his bread.
Purpled almost choked on his drink, luckily managing to fake any laughs he let out into a fit of coughs. Holy shit Tommy, he thought, you’re putting them through hell, you amazing asshole.
“Well, maybe we could be friends?” Tubbo suggested, blissfully hopeful. “You seem like a fun person to hang out with.”
Tommy laughed at that. “Sorry, your Highness, I already have a best friend.” He beamed at Purpled.
Purpled smiled back. “Oh!” He turned back to Tubbo. “I don’t think I even said my name, yet! I’m Purpled. It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.” He bowed his head as he spoke, fake sugary sweetness coating his voice.
He looked back up to see Tubbo staring at him with a look in his eyes that Purpled was well acquainted with thanks to his experience in Bedwars: sheer hatred and jealousy. “Well, you can have more than one friend, Tommy. The more the merrier.”
“Sorry, but we can barely handle these two—“ Dream gestured to Tommy and Purpled with his finger “—as it is, so we might have to put the cap on one best friend for Tommy.”
“That’s fine,” Tommy pulled Purpled into a side hug, “this bitch is the only one I need.”
“Same here. If I ever get married and have a wedding, Tommy would be my best man.”
Purpled caught how Tubbo and Ranboo’s eyes widened at the mention of a wedding. He recalled how hurt Tommy said he was when he realized that his best friends and brother forgot to invite him to their wedding. So when he and Tommy were coming up with things to say to annoy and irritate his old family, Purpled made sure to include Tubbo and Ranboo’s “forgetfulness”.
“Of course I would, P boy.” Tommy playfully punched Purpled in the shoulder. “I’m the biggest man.”
“P boy? Seriously?” Tubbo said judgmentally.
“No one calls him P boy, but me, you dumb bitch!” Tommy shouted, this time with insult behind the words. “Anyway, I’d be happy for you as long as I’m attending, so don’t leave me off the guest list!” He half joked, knowing that two certain “family” members happened to do such a thing to him.
“Of course!” Purpled exclaimed, really wanting to see Tubbo and Ranboo’s reactions but thinking against it to keep up the thinly veiled illusion that he isn’t antagonizing the shit out of the family. “Who would forget to invite their best friend to their wedding? That’s ridiculous!”
“Definitely someone you should drop from your life, that’s who.” Sapnap agreed, bringing a drink to his lips.
“That reminds me,” Karl said, “we remembered to invite you all, right? I’d hate to exclude any of you.”
Purpled took this chance to sneak a quick look at the family, pretending to look around the table for anyone that would answer Karl. Phil and Techno shot a look at Tubbo and Ranboo, who were looking at each other nervously. Wilbur likely would have joined Phil and Techno in worriedly looking out for the couple if it weren't for him longingly looking at Sally and Fundy like he was doing a soliloquy in a Shakespeare play.
"We did invite everyone?" Quackity repeated. "Oh, that's good. I would hate to be the asshole Purpled is referencing."
"Seriously, who does that?" Eret asked.
"That actually reminds me!" Jared clapped his hands as he looked to his girlfriend. "Sally, can I borrow you for a second?"
Sally looked at Jared for a couple seconds communicating whatever lovey dovey topics they were thinking about with their eyes. Sally eventually smiled a nodded, prompting Niki to take Fundy from her lap as the couple walked into the nearby woods.
"Does anyone know what they're up to?" Dream asked the table. "I know what you're gonna say Quackity, so just stop right there."
"I think he's gonna finally propose to her!" Niki beamed.
The rest of the table (save for Wilbur who nearly fainted) gasped and said variants of "aww" and "fucking finally" and "I'm so happy for them!"
Purpled was just confused. Didn't Jared propose to Sally earlier this week? He looked at Tommy to see if he had any answers, but the poor boy seemed just as confused as he was.
Punz cleared their throat, gaining both boys' attention. He gestured for them to lean closer, and they obliged. "Sally and Jared are pretending to get engaged now so they can show Wilbur that Sally has moved on and is way happier with Jared than with him." Punz whispered
Purpled looked back at Tommy with newfound enlightenment in his eyes as they both shared a quiet yet drawled out "Oooohhhhh."
"Why didn't we know about it?" Tommy asked. No malice was apparent in his voice, just confusion.
"Sally and Jared told everyone while you two were off scheming whatever you two had planned for this dinner." Punz flashed a smile and a thumbs up. "Nice job bringing up the wedding by the way. Tubbo and Ranboo were practically squirming in their seats the whole time."
Purpled shared a grin with Tommy. "Yeah, well like Sally and Jared, we needed to show how much Tommy has moved on and how much better a friend I am." He pulled Tommy in yet another side hug, the former resting his head on Purpled's shoulder.
"Well keep up the good work." Punz paused before letting out a low chuckle. "Don't look now, but I can see Tubbo's glaring daggers at you from my peripheral vision."
"Well don't say that," Purpled playfully punched Punz in the shoulder. "Now I have to look!"
And look he did. Tubbo was trying so hard to look intimidating, but he just looked constipated. As soon as Tubbo realized Purpled was staring back, he immediately looked down at his food and started eating rather quickly, which led to him almost choking on his food.
Purpled tried so hard not to laugh at that, but as he looked at Tommy and Punz, who were smiling with suppressed snickers in their throats, Purpled just couldn't take it and burst out laughing.
Eventually, Punz and Tommy joined in, unable to contain their laughter at the poor prince.
Their laughter eventually died down, but there were still some chuckles here and there. The laughs came to a screeching halt when they all flinched at Philza slamming his fists at the table. The entire table shut up at the gesture, all eyes on the Emperor, who was staring down at Purpled (and Punz and Tommy, but Purpled mostly felt like the focus was on him) with murderous intent.
"May I ask why you were laughing at my son?" Philza seethed, wings puffed out and flaring to make him look bigger.
Purpled gulped, his hand reaching for Tommy's to squeeze. Tommy's hand found his and squeezed it hard enough to be painful. Not that Purpled minded; he needed the distraction.
"He wasn't laughing at him, your Majesty." Punz said, voice low. "He was laughing at an inside joke with me and Tommy. There's no problem with that, is there?"
"Oh, is that why you laughed after looking at Tubbo?" Technoblade growled.
"He had nothing to do with this, your Highness." Tommy crossed his arms and glared at Technoblade. "If anything, I told him this inside joke of ours to distract him from the fact that his Highness was staring at him like he was about to kill him." Tommy whipped his head to face Tubbo, who froze like a deer in headlights. "Do you have a problem with my best friend and brother, Your Highness?" Those last words were spat like venom.
"I... I just..." Tubbo looked around, trying to find anything or anyone to save him from the hole he dug himself into before sighing in defeat, looking at his hands. "No... I'm sorry, Purpled."
The table seemed to move on into different conversation topics shorty after an awkward silence. Purpled was still recovering from being nearly threatened by the Emperor. As stellar as he was at Bedwars, no amount of ladder clutch can save you from a death sentence.
"Hey," Purpled looked up to see Tommy looking at him with concerned eyes, "are you okay?"
Purpled sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. It's just that it's not every day that you are nearly sentenced to prison by the Emperor."
"Well, let's change the topic then." Tommy leaned back in his seat, lifting his glass of Coke up to take a sip. "Any advice for my first Bedwars game?"
It was like a switch flipped; Purpled's eyes lit up and he shifted in his seat to face Tommy better. "Sure! We should definitely try to practice a little more with your bridging, and I have some friends that could come over to help you practice! They live all over, but there are two of them that are actually planning on staying here for a little bit! Their names are Hannah and Boomer. You'll love them!"
"What's this about Bedwars?"
Purpled and Tommy looked up from their conversation to see that Wilbur was the one who asked the question. The pair looked at each other, silently communicating on what they should do.
"Well, your Highness," as Tommy called him that, Wilbur tensed up, causing Purpled to hide his smile by wiping his nose with his hoodie sleeve, "P Boy here got me into Bedwars. It looked fun, and I'm going to my first game in a month."
"Absolutely not."
Purpled and Tommy looked at Philza, who spoke sternly. "It's too dangerous."
Purpled glanced at Tommy, confused. "Yes, he is." Purpled emphasized. "He's already signed up, and we got permission from his guardian."
"No, he didn't. he didn't ask m-" Philza stopped in his tracks, reading the room and realizing that he was no longer Tommy's guardian.
"I did ask my guardian though, your Majesty." Tommy looked at the guardian in question. "Dad?"
Sam turned to face Tommy immediately. "Yes, Tommy?"
"Can you tell the Emperor that I did get your permission to play Bedwars?" Tommy pointed to Philza, who had a look of absolute heartbreak in his eyes. "I don't know why he's insistent on me not playing. It's not like it's any of his business what a total stranger does."
Sam turned to Philza with a smile, ignoring the inner turmoil Philza seemed to be going through. "It's true. He and Purpled begged me to let him play, and I wouldn't have let him if I knew he couldn't take it." He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "I know my son, you Majesty."
Philza didn't say anything to that. He just looked at Tommy, then to Sam, then to Tommy again. He looked like an idiot.
"Besides," Sam leaned back on his chair again, "Dream has been mentoring him well. He can seriously hold his own in a fight."
"It's true." Dream said, waving around a chicken drumstick for emphasis. "I like to think I've taught the child well. He's like a brother to me."
"I'M NOT A CHILD, GREEN BITCH!"
"And Purpled has been showing him the ropes of Bedwars for a while now." Dream continued, ignoring Tommy's outburst. "Tommy's in good hands."
Philza set his jaw. "You're right. I apologize."
It sounded like Philza was physically pained saying those words. It made Purpled smile internally.
A few minutes pass of conversation and eating, but the drama has mostly died down. Sally and Jared came back, causing everyone to clap in congratulations to their "engagement" to each other. Even Wilbur smiled and clapped, though it appeared to be incredibly hard for him to do.
"Hey, P boy."
Purpled looked up at Tommy, a wide grin plastered on the former's face.
Before he knew it, Tommy had stepped on Purpled's foot and ran off into the woods.
Purpled had yelped in pain, gaining everyone's attention. Not that he cared.
"Tommy, you moron!" He shouted through a laugh as he took off after the blonde.
"They do this every time." He heard Punz mutter before the table was out of earshot.
~~~~~
Tommy stopped at the lake that Essempi Lake was named after. While he did consider Operation: Cause My Old Family To Live Through Their Consequences And That They Fucked Up Big Time was a success, he still felt pretty uncomfortable.
"Shit, Tommy!" Purpled said as he came up behind him. "Did you have to step on my foot that hard? God!"
"Oh, fuck off, P boy." Tommy turned to face Purpled, who was still making his way to him. "You're just a pussy."
"Yeah, yeah." Purpled walked up to Tommy and began skipping stones. "So how was that shitshow?"
"I'd consider it a success." Tommy shrugged. "I'm sure there was more we could have done, though. And we're gonna realize what else we could've done long after those shits are gone."
"Yeah, that's fair." Purpled turned towards Tommy, momentarily halting skipping stones. "So are you feeling okay? Or did you cause severe fractures on my foot for no reason?"
Tommy chose to ignore how dramatic Purpled was being. "It was pretty uncomfortable. I could feel each of their eyes on me at all times. It almost made me believe they were remorseful for what they did to me."
"Or they were just trying to comprehend how badly you dyed your hair." Purpled pointed to the blackened hair in question. "We let you do one thing on your own for your eighteenth birthday and you fail miserably."
"Hey!" Tommy crossed his arms. "I thought I did a pretty damn good job, thank you very much... but you're right we should continue to let Niki and Puffy do the dyeing."
"I've been thinking of getting a streak of purple in my hair," Purpled sat down, patting the spot next to him for Tommy to sit, "that way I can suffer with you when they bleach our hair."
"I'm stealing that idea." Tommy sat down, leaning on Purpled, "that way we can match."
Purpled laughed at he put his arm around Tommy, pulling him close.
The pair dissolved into a comfortable silence as they stared across the lake. Not the suffocating silence that was at the dinner, but a comfortable one where they unwound from aforementioned dinner and basked in each other's presence. No words said, no words needed.
Before that night, Tommy would imagine what would happen in he happened to meet his old family. Would they kidnap him and take him back? Would they leave him be, not caring at all? Would they have genuinely apologized about their past treatment of him?
But no matter what scenarios Tommy conjured up, it didn't matter because at the end of the day, he would pull through. He had a solid support system at Essempi Lake. One that he wouldn't trade for the world. He loved the family he made here, and he would stay here, unbothered by whatever happened outside the clearing, for as long as he desired.
Tommy's world was perfect.
A crack of a tree branch signaled someone new joining him and Purpled. He turned around, expecting Sam or Dream to inform them that the royal family was departing.
Unfortunately, he was met with a certain goat hybrid prince instead.
"What are you doing here?" Purpled glared at Tubbo. "Can't you see that this is a friend-only time? Beat it."
Tubbo froze, about to say something, but thinking against it as he turned to walk away.
"Actually," Tommy was surprised at the words about to come out of his mouth, but didn't fight it, "can we talk, your Highness?"
It was both Tubbo and Purpled's turn to be surprised. "What? Tommy, you can't-"
"Purp."
That shut Purpled up. He looked at the prince with scorn, waiting for his answer.
"Yes, actually." Tubbo nodded, playing with his fingers. "I would like that."
"Purpled, can we be alone?" Tommy raised a hand before Purpled could outwardly protest. "I'll catch up with you in a bit. I just want to tell him something."
Purpled sighed, shaking his head. "Fine." He walked toward Tubbo, leaning in to whisper something. Most likely a threat of the "If you hurt him I will wear your horns as a trophy" variety. A classic Purpled threat.
Once Purpled was far out of earshot, Tubbo spoke up. "I just want to apologi-"
"I'm going to stop you right there." Tommy said, no playfulness, no joking banter; this was pure malice. "There is no amount of apologizing that will ever right the wrongs you let alone the rest of your family has done to me. So don't even bother."
Tubbo didn't say anything to that, he just nodded a looked at the grass.
"Look at me, Tubbo."
At the sound of his actual name and not his title, Tubbo looked up, almost excited that his name came out of Tommy's mouth. "Yes, Tommy?"
"I want you to remember this, and tell the rest of the royal family as well, okay?"
Tubbo nodded, curious as to what Tommy was going to say.
"I hate you."
Tubbo took a step back out of shock. Tommy didn't know why; he clearly should have seen this coming.
"You think that just because I don't remember the shit you did means that I'll forgive you? You gave me Hanahaki, Tubbo. Not just you, but your father, your brothers, and your husband as well. What did you think was going to happen tonight? That I was just going to run back to you all with open arms?" Tommy laughed at the idea. "No, because I have a new family here. I have a father that loves me and remembers I'm there and spends time with me. I have a brotherly mentor that has my back and teaches me to fight. I have a best friend that won't ditch me for another and would actually remember to invite me to his goddamn wedding. You should have seen how shocked I was when my family told me that I told them what you did. I was baffled at how shit a friend you were."
"Tommy-"
"And I don't give a flying fuck if you all have 'gotten better' or 'feel bad' because guess what? I've moved on from you guys. It doesn't matter if you worked on yourselves or not, because I am in a new chapter of my life. A chapter that has made me the happiest I've been. And I'm not going to let entitled pussies like you ruin that."
Tubbo's eyes started to water, but Tommy couldn't find it in himself to care.
"So I want you guys to cut all contact with me, and never talk to me again. If you see me in public, ignore me. If you think enough time has passed that I would give you all a second chance, think again. If you find yourself passing through Essempi lake, take the long route around. Understand, your Highness?"
Sniffling, Tubbo quickly nodded.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to meet up with my best friend. So fuck off."
Turning away from Tubbo, Tommy grinned at the idea of getting the jump on Purpled as he ventured off in the direction Purpled ran.
Eventually, Tommy reached Purpled, who hugged him and brought him to the Awesamdude household. They sat on the couch, eating the sweets Niki baked for them earlier.
They didn't know if the royal family had departed yet, nor did they care. They knew that the adults would protect them if something were to happen. So they snuggled up in comfy blankets, leaned on one another, and slowly dozed off, eager to find whatever adventure found the two in the morning.
I'm home, was Tommy's last thought before the sweet lure of sleep took him, where he didn't think about his old family at all, with all the adventures he'll have with his real family in his dreams instead.