Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  Everyone always had another half, the piece that made their own whole. Like some child’s silly little heart shaped friendship necklace, one would take the other and give the next half to the friend. So many different ways to describe it, Your soul flame, platonic soulmate, literally anything you could call it. However Tommy just calls his other half, Mom.

   From the second he was born kicking and screaming to the first time she held him laughing as happy tired tears rolled down her face whispering promises into his tiny ears, she had been his other half of a friendship necklace. 

 She’s been beside him his entire life, it’s always just been the two of them. No dad in sight, Tommy was apparently a product of a one night stand, She had no real way of getting back in touch with him. Nor did she want to, she didn’t want to burden someone with a child they didn’t expect. She could love Tommy enough for the both of them. So it was just them. 

  Tommy loved his mom, she was there when he needed her. She did everything she could’ve for him and no they didn't live well off. They weren’t that lucky little family who had a big home and the single parent had money to spare, the second his mom got into bad habits her parents cut her out of their lives. She wasn’t able to get a good high paying job and until she got pregnant with Tommy she lived life running from place to place.

 He didn’t live in a cool home, Tommy’s home was a small apartment that was shady as hell, dirty as fuck, and rodents ran free. The walls had water spots, the floor creaked everyday and there’s always the smell of drugs in the air. It was small and could easily get messy, the kitchen water felt slimy and the lights flickered a lot.

  But it was his home, his mom lived here. She gave him the only room there was, choosing to sleep in the living room. She would scrap money everyday to feed him, try her damn best to get him things he needed or wanted. She worked her ass off for him to succeed, yet everyone judged her everyday. They assume he’s been abused, neglected, mistreated. One rumor came about where she supposedly tried selling him for drugs, that wasn’t true at all and Tommy cried upon hearing it.

 She never hurt him and no one believed it.

 And at some point, Tommy stopped listening to the rumors. He knew the truth. Why should they try to trick his mind? Sure his situation wasn’t the best, but he didn’t fucking hate it. When his mother got ill, Tommy did everything he could to make her feel better. When she got drunk, he helped her in bed and gave her pills with water. When she messed up, Tommy was there to put her back together.

 And she did the same for him. Whenever he got sick, she wouldn’t rest until he got better. When he got beat up on the walk home, she took care of his wounds and threatened to shoot the fuckers. When Tommy broke and got lost inside his head, she’d stay by his side until he came back.

 It was the two of them against the world. 

  And the world seemed hell bent on separating them from each other, it’s just a shame Tommy refused to let that happen.

  Being poor as fuck had it’s advances however, You learn to adapt into a money filled world. At age ten you learn how to dodge dirty shoes when you steal a candy bar, at age nine you’ve learned how to trick the rich into sparing some money. Tommy knows that's a dick move, but it's surviving and helping his mom. He learns how to sew, which becomes a favorite hobby. His mom couldn’t keep up with buying new clothes after he ripped them, so Tommy asked for some needles and thread. He went into the public library for days and used the old dusted computer to watch videos on how to sew.

 His mom didn’t have to worry about that anymore, not when he could patch the holes in their clothes. He learns how to find newspapers without buying them, learns that people throw away good things in the trash and suddenly dumpster diving is a fun pass time. He learns that some grocery stores toss out food, he finds the ones that haven’t expired and runs back home.

 He learns which alleyways to avoid, which roads to take. He learns the neighbors below them have a lot of kids, though they always get taken away by fancy cars at some point. He learns Mr. Clo’s is the only good resident in the building, he brings them pie on the weekends and promises Tommy one day he’d teach him.

   “I wish you’d stop running around all day, I worry about you.” His mother tells him after dinner one night, brushing his dirty hair with a frown as Tommy winces when knots are pulled. And Tommy responds back saying, “I’m helping, it’s my job like you’re job is to be my momma!”

 School is an iffy subject, he goes and he learns. But the school is gross, it’s old and the budget for it went down years ago. The teachers smoke around the parking lot, the playground’s equipment is rusted and the kids are mean. They liked to pick on him, his clothes, his hair, his always muddy hands. Whatever they could find, from kindergarten to now, Tommy was a target.

  But he stays calm, his mom told him to stay in school and behave. So Tommy listens and he does his homework, he gets the A’s and B’s. He only screams at the kid’s, never hitting back or throwing things. He promised his mom he’d be good, so he’s staying good.

 But out of school, he bites and punches in alleyways as kid’s cheer, Fight! Fight! Fight!. He calls them names, shoves fingers into dirty mouths, he kicks and he pulls. Most of the time he wins, only when they let it stay between him and the other. Sometimes he loses when they fight in a group.

“What happened this time?” His mother asks after a bad one, presses a wet cold rag on his bleeding forehead. “Who was it? If this happened in school I swear-” She rambles in rage as Tommy chooses to look away.

  He’d shrug and wince when she pressed too hard on accident, “It was just a playful fight that went wrong, it won’t happen again Momma.” He’d tell her, lying straight to her face and she’d know. She always did and soon the school was called, they were watched for weeks. Soon walking home alone stopped, she took off shifts to walk him to school and back. He hated himself for that when money got low, he promised he’d never fight again. She had been so stressed, blonde hair messy and greasy for weaks and eyebags that never left.

 She was worried, so Tommy told her, “I’ll run If they try to hurt me, I won’t ever fight again. You can go back to work momma, I’ll be okay.” And with a heavy heart and many promises, she goes back to those never ending hours and Tommy goes back to walking alone.

 He’d never admit it to her face, but he missed it when she walked with him. But sacrifices are to be made, he’d make a million for her.

They aren’t perfect, they might never be. In this world people will assume, they’ll hunt for them, hurt them in many ways. But why be perfect when you could be with each other? Tommy didn’t need a fancy house or fancy clothes, he didn’t need to go places to know she loved him. Tommy never needed much, he knew he was loved. The kid never needed to be perfect to know that.

 But the sad thing is, in this world a life like that isn’t acceptable. One mistake, one final phone call can take it all away. Because others didn’t care if you were happy with the situation, they see a teen holding himself together in a tough situation with a mother involved with drugs and booze, they see not a home like he did but a neglectful home. They look at Tommy’s appearance, old clothes, worn shoes, messy hair and faded bruises, eyebags stuck on pale skin and that’s all they need.

  And there’s a reason those friendship necklaces are cut in half, there’s all the reasons why the pieces never connect unless the owners reunite them. The world forces them away, forces them to wait hours, months, years even before they’ll ever be put together again.

 There’s a reason they break off.

  When Tommy was seven he made the promise to be something in this world, to get them out the bad part of the city and into the rich life. “I’ll make my own business, I’ll be a billionaire and we can have a big mansion!” He promised his mom, showing her the childish art he had drawn for that idea. Two stick figures with blonde hair, one long one short, just for them. A badly drawn house in the back, money surrounding them and a horse.

 “What’s the horse for?” His mother teased, pointing at the drawing of said horse, which by the way didn’t look anything like a horse. But he was seven he wasn’t an artist, yet his mother just knew somehow. Mom brain she tells him, she just knows things he’d think she wouldn’t.

  “It’s my pet horse I’ll buy, he’s name’s gonna be Jeremy!” Tommy giggled, shoving his face into his mother’s hands, “He’s gonna have his own room and everything, the richest horse.” 

  And oh did he love making her laugh, her head fell back as she snorted and the paper crinkled under the strong grip. “Who- Who said you could buy a horse?” She giggled out, pushing back his curly hair as she set the drawing safely down on the old table. 

 He whined trying to push her hands away, “I did- cause I’ll be the rich one!” He argued back with a pout, she only smirked.

  “Well let’s just put a pin on the horse idea yeah? Keep up this dream though, you might make it become reality!” She gasped out playfully, shooting up the couch grabbing onto his sides quickly as he busted out laughing. That same drawing got put in a broken glass frame in the living room, a dream waiting to happen.

 And still at fourteen Tommy Holds true to his dream, he could’ve stopped trying at any point. He could’ve skipped his classes, avoided school, refused to do his work or projects. But he needed a good grade, he needed to go to college one day. The bullies don’t matter, the constant disapproval from strangers doesn't matter.

  At the end of the day when he tells his mother goodnight and sleeps in a broken bed, he knows what he’s doing this for.

 However Tommy’s known for his anger, he’s quick to act on it. He’d been one red slip away from getting kicked out the school and his mother resorted to begging him to try. “If a teacher upsets you, act like they aren't there. If someone tries to hurt you, run away. I know it’s hard, sweetheart, but we can’t afford this.” And he tries he does, he ignores the teachers cruel remarks and the kids who attack.

  But sometimes he cracks. Once in fifth grade a teacher tried to smack his wrist with a ruler, all because he didn’t fuckin hear her. So when she missed, it’s not his fault she “ accidentally ” hit her own wrist. She raged a storm about it, sent him to the office and they called his mom, yet the second the teacher started insulting him his mom brought out the big guns.

 “Why in god’s green earth would he hit you unprompted?” She questioned crossing her legs, Tommy sat beside her glaring at the principal and teacher. 

  The red-faced teacher pointed her nose up and spat, “He wouldn’t listen to me, so when I went to show him how to respect someone he attacked me.” 

 “You tried to hit me first!” He screeched out, ready to defend himself before his mom could even start to believe her, “She got that stupid ruler and tried to hit me cause I didn’t hear her Mom!”

 Both the principal and teacher winced at his volume and the air went thick, his mother hummed pushing him back down gently before She stared blankly at the two. “How is it, you come and bring me out of work to complain about my son hitting you, when you’ve tried to attack him first?” She started sitting up as they both started to stutter, “Are you that stuck up ma’am? It’s fine for you people to hurt the kids, but the second the kid hits back it’s not? You’re teaching them that it’s fine to attack, that this behavior is acceptable by doing it to them.”

  “Miss smit-”

 She sent a harsh glare to the Principal, shutting him up quickly with her hand held high and she continued, “You shouldn’t even be raising a finger to my boy, if anyone should be punishing him it should be me his mother. I never once gave permission for you to punish him like that, If anything I should smack both you’re fucking wrists ten times for even attempting to get him in trouble for this!” She started to stand up as her shoulders shook, Tommy watched in awe as she stepped towards the other two adults.

  “If anything, what he did was in self defense. I’d rethink heavily on how you treat these kids. If I get called for something like this again I’ll come into this school and teach all you motherfuckers what respect truly is.” She finished pointing a deadly finger at them as they both slowly nodded, backing away with her own satisfied nod she grabbed both Tommy and her bag before heading out the door.

  They didn’t even attempt to stop her when she signed Tommy out, a rare treat of going to an ice cream store happened later that day as Tommy cheered about how cool she had been.

In that same year, Tommy was suspended for dumping a tray of food onto another kid. He refused to apologize, refused to clean it up, refused to talk until his mom brought him home. When she asked why he did it, he told her.

  “They kept saying bad things about you. They deserved it, I’m not gonna feel bad for it!”

 And even though she told him to not fight battles for her, Tommy still did. He always would and because of these, it ended up being his own downfall.

 See his mom knew that if someone called the police on them, it’d take one look at where they lived and who she was before Tommy would be snatched away from her in a heartbeat. She drank, she smoked, she did bad things and they lived in a bad place. Didn’t matter if Tommy was happy, it wasn’t acceptable. So they stayed careful, did everything they could so someone wouldn't call. Tommy ran from cops if he needed to, his mom stayed out of sight from the law as well.

 But all it takes is one tiny little trip and everything crashes down. Like he said, anger had always been his first go to. And sometimes it goes too far, he goes too far. 

  On a Monday morning, Thomas Smith walked into his worn down school with a frown on his face. His blue jacket was wet from someone running their car over a puddle on his walk, his hair was dirty because the shower stopped working, the bottom of his shoe broke. He clearly wasn’t having a good day, and it was only going down from there.

 The kids were laughing, staring at him as he stomped to his locker, and normally he ignored it. Until he walked up to his broken locker and saw it , Hanging by clear tape was a photo of his mom passed out drunk at someone's house. It wasn’t a new photo, but it wasn’t old either. She was there, laid out on a table in short clothing clearly buzzed. He had ripped it off the second he registered it, glaring at it with scrunched eyes as kids laughed louder.

  Another thing he’d never admit was how his mom’s habits embarrassed him sometimes.

 But when he shoots up to find the culprit, he sees the photo surrounding the school. On the walls, other lockers, in kids' hands. Everywhere the photo was printed out to hang, to expose him. They laughed louder when he rushed to take them all down, frantic to stop it all.

 And then, Kacy John walked up with a toothy grin, showing her chipped and crooked teeth as she snatched one of the papers out of his hand. “Wow Thomas, I never took your mother for anything good, but now we know what kind of cheap whore she really is huh?” She cackled, snorting loudly as the paper waved in front of his eyes. Everyone circled them, laughing louder and mocking him, mocking his mother.

   Tommy was told to never hit a girl.

 But when she turned around to show the picture to everyone screaming, “Look at her! This is Thomas’s future, a drunken bitch like his mum!” He suddenly didn’t care about the rule, it’s a free world his brain whispers. Equal rights, equal fights. 

  And Tommy lunged with a raging screech, yanking her braided hair down as she screamed. Punching him, he kicked her leg. She screamed for help as her dirty nails scratched his skin and Tommy landed a punch right into her nose. The other kids gasped, cheering on their fight or yelling at him to stop. Some ran for help and Tommy kept fighting.

 The papers had flown out his hand, scattered all around the ground as they both rolled, trying to get the upper hand. Soon teachers are there screaming to stop, pulling at them and everything.

 Kacy’s last mistake was spitting at him, “You’re just pissed off cause I'm right! You’re mothers nothing but a drunk, you’re nothing but a disaster waiting to happen like her!” and Tommy sees red.

 “You-” He growls digging his fingers into her arms, “Know nothing-” His left hand rolls behind his head as Teacher’s demand he stop, “About my mother!” He screams as her eyes widen, his fist connected with her nose as everyone grows louder.

 Kacy cries out, falling to the ground as blood rushes down her nose, the teachers pull him away from her as his breathing grows fast. He had broken her nose and even as they drag him harshly into the office, he only lets out a satisfied laugh. 

 This was that last mistake however, when he doesn't respond to the teachers or the Principal they call his mom. They call the cops. “You attacked a girl for no reason- This is it for you kid.” They grin cruelty, like monsters under his bed waiting to sink in their teeth. But Tommy doesn’t regret it yet, he won’t regret defending his mom.

  The cops get there first, one of them tries to sweet talk him, but he just looks out the stained windows. They ask him where his mom is, Tommy shrugs and tells them, “I dunno- work maybe.” And they don’t seem satisfied with that answer, they ask him what happened.

 “I solved a bullying problem.” He responded back coldly.

 And that sweet talking cop sighs, “You broke a girl's nose over some pictures kid, that’s not solving anything kid.” With that Tommy grins and he whispers taunting them, “I solved it, you people just won’t realize until later. I don’t really regret it either.” 

 Tommy refuses to regret it.

 Until an hour later his mom rushes in, wearing a dirty waitress outfit and equally messy hair. “I’m so sorry I’m late- my boss didn’t tell me until I got a break. What happened?!” She questioned, immediately moving towards Tommy but the cops blocked her way with that same frown.

 Seeing her eyes widen in fear is enough to make him sit up, “What- What happened?” She whispers to him, but the cop motions for her to sit away from him. That’s all it took for the principal to clear his throat and start explaining.

 “Ms. Smith, you understand that Thomas had one last chance here, we gave him multiple chances and each time he pushed us.” The old man starts and Tommy glares, “And I’ve tried to keep the law out of this, but Thomas has assaulted a girl. Broke her nose and he attacked first this time.”

 He stands out of his chair with a growl, only to be pushed down by the meaner cop, “She’s been bugging me for years! I’ve tried my fucking best to get you people to help me, so I’m so sorry that i took the issue into my own hands you bitch.” He shouts and his Mom tries to get him to stop yet the principal grows colder. Served the man right for finally getting called something, the guy had it out for Tommy the moment Tommy came to this school.

 “Breaking her nose over a harmless prank is not helpful.” The man shoots back causing his mom to finally speak, looking curious and worried that it makes Tommy’s heart ache.

 “What- What was the prank?” She asks Tommy, however the other adults take it into their own hands to answer, sliding one of the photos towards her with judgmental looks. The look of devastation that swims in her eyes makes him want to hit them all, to break Kacy’s bones more. She didn’t deserve this, she shouldn’t have even brought into his issues to begin with.

  The nice cop pops in, placing a hand on her shoulder, “We understand why he acted out, issues at home can cause some problems in some children. But this? Attacking a child like that? It brings in some concern for us ma’am.” Tommy hates them, hates how they swim over what Kacy did and only attacks him for what he did. She should be in here, she should be getting scolded too.

 It just gets worse when the principal coughs once, directing everyone's attention to the man.

  “Thomas will be expelled, this again was his last straw. Just as it’s your last straw, Miss. Cases like this cause concern for people like us.” The principal starts up once more, fear sinks into his skin at the words. “If the girl's parents wish to press charges they very well could, Child services have also been called about his situation with you .”

 Blue eye’s meet darker ones, both in fear and worry as Tommy looks at his mom for comfort, and like a truck slamming into a car those dreaded words are spoken. Ones they’ve tried so hard to run from.

  “If deemed unfit as a home and parent, Thomas will be taken away from you.”

  Now, Tommy regrets.

  They end up leaving Tommy and his mom alone in the office, something about talking to the girl and her parents. So it’s just him and his oddly quiet mom, who’s just been staring at the same photo since they left.

  He hates that he couldn’t protect her from that, he hates that she’s not speaking. “Are you- Are you mad at me?” He mumbled, staring at her with pleading eyes. She doesn’t answer him for a moment, the paper crinkles under the weight of its grab.

  “Mom…?”

  And finally she looks at him, red puffy eyes and all. “Why- Why couldn’t you have just ignored this?” She whispers disappointment wretched across her face, “Tommy I can’t- this isn’t something a simple sorry can fix now! They’ll- they might take you away…” 

  She breaks off in a sob, the paper falling out her hands and Tommy can’t help but rush to hug her. It’s supposed to be them against the world, he couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from her ever. That couldn’t happen, she wouldn’t survive without him, he wouldn’t survive without her. He’d run if he had to, run from wherever they put him, he’d go back to her each time.

  “They won't, Mom, we can get past this. We always do, yeah? C’mon momma..” He tried to sound cheerful but it only fell off as his own eyes started to water, he was truly scared. They’ve had scares before but never like this. Never this far, they always got out of it before it got bad. But because of him, because he couldn’t control his anger, he screwed them both over.

  He’s scared, but he holds his mom and stays brave for the both of them. Someone had to and if it had to be him so be it.

    Whatever happens, he’ll still go back home with her. He’d find another school, maybe homeschool, they’d be fine and this entire day would be nothing but a faint bad memory in both their minds. Something they’d laugh about when he turned twenty one day, “ Remember when I broke a kid's nose? ” He’d remind her as they celebrated. It’d be fine, that’s all he has to tell himself. 

  They’d- they’d get through this.

   And just like that, the nice cop comes back in with a sad pitying frown. His hold on his mother gets tighter when she looks up, he even catches some kind of disappointed look on the cops face when she takes in the sight. But before Tommy could even make some kind of snark the cop spoke up, “You both can go home, however Thomas isn’t- he won’t be allowed back here. The paperwork can be filled out in the coming week, the girl’s parents are upset but they found out what she’d been doing to Thomas.” 

  There’s a pause, a shift in the air that brings no hope. “They won’t press charges, but some things were brought to light and we- some people will be coming to see you both. See the living situations and if Thomas needs to be rehoused or not.” She continued as both of them winced, the exact opposite of what they both wanted to happen. 

  “Do we have any time to- a date or anything?” His mom stutters in a panic, sitting up near the seat and Tommy follows. 

  “You have a week, that’s all I can give you.” The lady responds back with a sigh, “I don’t judge based on appearances, I can tell you’re both happy with whatever situation you live in. But a word of advice for you?

  The cop turns firm, staring at only his mom and never him. Like he wasn’t even there to begin with. His mother shakes under the stare, pale as a ghost. “I’d recommend getting your act together for your kid, he’s gonna need a steady hand during all this.” She warns once and all his mom could do was slowly nod.

  They get escorted out, his locker clean as if he was never there. There would be no more of him here, no more fights and mean teachers. No more sloppy lunches that tasted like acid, no more lonely walks to school and back with homeless people trying to rob him blind. 

  No more of this and suddenly, his dream seems too far to each as they walk quietly home. His mother is far gone in her head as Tommy pulls her hand so she doesn’t run into anything. Keeping an eye out for danger as she walks like a brainless zombie, whispering things he couldn’t understand as they go. 

  He helped her inside the lobby of where they lived. Waved hello to the landlord who was just staring at the wall, he guessed he was either drunk or high. Maybe both, but he kept going. Moving past the elevators that had been broken since he could walk so he could get to the stairs, helping his mother step by step as they went.

   “You wanna take a nap in my room for a bit mom? I can start cleaning up, you need a break..” He questioned small, pulling his own key out as they reached their floor. She nodded once, blank and silent as they moved towards their door. The thing was one kick away from caving in, they had to put furniture in front of it at night for safety reasons. Hell they were meant to have it fixed a month ago but the money wasn’t right during the time.

  A click and the doors open, he pushes his mom in gently and she just moves past her sleeping area straight towards his door. It opens and closes, he can hear her moving about before everything goes quiet. Tommy just stands there, closing the front door when he hears her muffled cries and he regrets everything again. He’d make it up to her, he swore it, he’d clean until the house was spotless. Maybe go out and get enough food to make it seem like they were stocked, tidy the place up.

  He promised he’d be there for her, so even as his own hands shook and the fear weighed him down. Even as his soul pleaded to let himself cry, to be the one comforted, he kept moving. He owed her so much, he got them into this and he’d help them out of it.

  He- They had to stay together, she needed him more than ever.

   But he needed her too.

 During the night he stays up cleaning, from wiping down the walls to scrubbing the floors. Stains stayed no matter what he did, there was some gross growth going on in one of the corners but a simple furniture change hid it. The kitchen hadn’t even been touched yet, the living room looked only slightly better and the bathroom would need work tomorrow. His mother had gone to sleep a few hours ago after she had a call with someone, he knows it was her parents based on how she made comments like, “Mom please-” “He’s your grandchild, you have to help-” before the sound of the phone crashing on his door rang it and his mother screaming into his pillow.

 That enough told him it didn’t go well, the fact she was desperate enough to actually call them for the first time in years worried him. She didn’t even come out to comfort him which told him he fucked up bad this time, she never closed off this bad before on him.

 He could handle this though, he’s fourteen for god's sake he didn’t need help with something like cleaning. There was no worry about getting sleep for school since well, he didn’t have a school to worry about currently. So staying up for a night wouldn’t affect him, he’s done it before even on school nights.

  There’s also the issue that he hasn’t actually touched the area where his mother slept, he was far too terrified to find something he wouldn’t like. She also wasn’t the biggest fan of him snooping either, there were things even she wanted to keep from him. Though he already knew that drugs hid under the lumpy couch and alcohol hid under blankets. She had her issues, she kept them away from him. Tomorrow he’d ask her to toss them out, just this once.

  He also would have to toss out his little creations, dumpster diving came with little scraps that he used to build shit with. No one wanted to see some rusted piece of metal that was built into a fake dog after all. He liked to build shit but actually going out to buy parts was worthless, why buy shit if they tossed it out for the taking a week later?

 He had once when he was ten done a project about that, talking about how companies could help out the poorer communities by giving them the shit instead of tossing out what didn’t sell. He had brought in the things he found and put together, and told his teacher how some parts were from a robot creating kit that got tossed because it didn’t sell well. He showed the parts from some building place that threw away a stock that was ‘sold out’, telling his class how things like that didn’t need to be thrown away just because some rich person didn’t buy it.

  He got a B- and a nickname after that, Dumpster kid. All because he made right comments about companies, but whatever they could stay scrounging for things. At least he knew how to survive.

  “I don’t wanna actually throw out my shit..” He mumbled as he laid on the clean part of the floor, tired already from all he’d done. “I could ask Mr. Clo to hold onto it, he’d-” If anyone walked in he’d know they’d immediately think he was odd for whispering to himself, he could think it and not have to open his mouth but sometimes just saying things helped him more. Made more space in his head for new things. 

  Soon his brain started making odd little scenarios, one where this was a dream and he was just worried for nothing. One where he woke up in his bed and the apartment was clean, he liked that one. God he was tired, he would’ve loved to get up and go sleep on his bed but he didn’t want to disturb his mother. He could’ve gotten up to sleep on her bed but frankly he’s too terrified and the last time he slept on her mattress he woke up with back aches and bug bites. The couch would work but it hurt his shoulder and currently the floor just seemed more comfortable than even the softest pillow in the world.

 He shouldn’t sleep here. Regardless of it being clean things still ran about and it still wasn’t the healthiest place to rest, he’d wake up feeling worse than ever too. It was only three in the morning too, he still needed to clean things and figure out a plan. Needed to figure out how he’d apologize for this one, to make his mom less mad. You’ve stressed her out so much, you always do.

He shifts onto his side as his eye’s burn, he just - he hates himself for everything. It’s his fault, he could’ve been better. He could’ve kept walking, could’ve ignored all of the people who hurt him. Would that have been good enough for her, to let them talk shit about him and her? Would that have made his mother happier if he just stayed quiet?

 He loves her.

 Would he have come home ready to hide everything that happened that day like he’s done many times before? Wait for her to come home at late hours, fix her a small meal and bid her a goodnight hug, if he just walked away would he have been forced to hurt quietly again?

 He loves her.

 If he apologized now, would she let him sleep in his bed, he wouldn’t kick her out, they both needed to sleep on the only clean thing in this house. No - He gave her the bed, he told her to sleep there. It’d be rude to ask her to scoot over, she needed space. He could suck it up for one day, she suffered more. He’s a good son, he helps her because she needs it, he’s a good fucking son.

He loves her…

 His throat closes up as he’s forced to choke down his own sob, He’s supposed to be the brave one right? He’s meant to help them both out, the hope for their future was in his fucking hands and he crushed it. He let her trust him with this, promised he’d be better and turned around and shot the bullet for a lie he didn't even know he created. And she let him, she let him fall. Why - why is he the one laying on the floor? Why is he the one cleaning and worrying, planning for the end of the week? He should be the one laying in bed, he should be the one getting told by someone else everything would be okay.

 Tommy’s eyes had closed before he had known it, slowly falling asleep as rage festered into his heart. On the cold floor alone, curled in a ball as the final tears fell. Tommy’s brain soon drifted off, falling asleep with one last thought.

  He hates her.

 There’s nothing making noises between them anymore, his mother slept soundly in a bed while her son slept cruelly on a harsh floor. The only sound beginning neighbors who didn’t sleep and car’s honking with people from outside yelling. The world keeps spinning, it doesn’t stop for people like them. And Tommy dream’s of a cage locking him out from ever reaching his mother.

 When he wakes up, the lights are off and the house is dead silent. His door to his room was left open as sunlight poured in from his window, his neck hurts when he moves it yet the second he realizes he’s on the floor he stays still. There was no sign of his mom, meaning she had left without even waking him up.

 No blanket, no goodbye, not even waking him up to move to his own bed. She left him there, left the house and went off to do whatever the fuck she did. He’s slightly upset, growing more upset when he sits up with a wince. Standing up seemed harder as the blood rushed to his head and his bones popped with each step, but he couldn’t stay down there forever.

 Stepping into the kitchen he sees a note on the counter and almost refuses to read it, but his heart moves before his brain and soon he’s holding it close up.

  I have to work today and I won’t be home until later. My boss wasn’t happy about my early leave. Please behave and don’t cause anymore trouble, Tom’s. You should clean up your room, it helps a lot.

  Thank you for last night, I love you lots.

 And just like that, the hate disappears like it had many times before. Guilt sets in, regret comes back and Tommy stands alone in the apartment with no one to comfort him but himself and a little note he’d throw away at the end of the day.

 Time keeps going, Tommy starts cleaning again. It’s just how life works and he has to live with this fact, not much he can do anyway.

 All day on Tuesday Tommy stays inside cleaning, he fixes his bed to his best ability and brings down all his crafts to Mr. Clo’s who happily holds onto them for him. He cleans his floor and walls, throws out anything that looked far to gone to save and makes it look like a normal teenage boys room. He thinks about going out to find something to hang on his walls, to help make it look  more out there and less of a neglected kids room.

 He works in his room all day and by seven his mother had yet to come home. So Tommy takes out five dollars and heads downstairs towards the little gas store at the end of his block. He’d buy a small dinner that tasted like rat food, get his mom those little sandwiches she liked and go back home to keep working.

 By Twelve A.M his mother had yet to come home and the sandwiches were put in the fridge. He started up in the bathroom after he finished his own food, worrying about the dark spots he couldn’t get rid of in the shower. At One he’s tired and barely able to stay up, so Tommy falls asleep in his room without managing to get out his dirty clothes or under his blankets.

 He never wakes up to his mother coming in.

 On Wednesday he wakes up to see his mother’s area in the living room cleaner, looking more like someone had come to sleepover on a spare mattress instead of a hobo lying in the room. He still doesn’t touch it, there’s no note waiting for him.

 He spends half the day finishing the bathroom, the other half is spent digging in trash to find things he could use to make their home look better. He finds a shoe rack, there was a small desk someone had thrown out, he even found some fake plants. All of those get brought inside and cleaned three times before he even starts to decorate them.

  Tommy goes to bed without eating on the couch, purely by accident but he gets slightly woken up by his mother slamming her knees into the new desk before giggling. Hushing herself when she noticed Tommy as she limped past, straight into his room before he heard his bed shift as someone laid down to rest.

  He ignores the hurt he feels when he realizes she was drunk.

 Thursday he wakes up before she leaves, he catches her slinking about getting ready quiet as a mouse before he calls her out. It’s only when she moves to the kitchen when he opens his mouth.

 “You were drunk last night.”

  She flinches, freezing in her steps as Tommy’s words drift into her ears. “It was just some stress relief, you know how it helps me.” She replied back slowly, making sure she didn’t look back at him as she rummaged around.

 He huffed, pushing his messy hair back as he sat up. “Yeah I know, but-” He cuts himself off with a shake of the head, looking over at the fake plant by the door before he switches the subject, “Do you like what i did with the place? I’ve been working my ass off mom.”

 She only shrugs cursing when she doesn’t find whatever she was looking for, “Yeah cause everyone loves coming home to someone's trash inside.” She snarks out as her eyes rolled, “I love slamming my knees into a desk my kid found in the trash, real lovely.”

 So maybe one day he would take anger management classes, but that one day wasn’t today when he glares at her and speaks before he thinks, “Yeah and everyone loves it when they work by themselves to clean a fucked house while their mom’s out partying and barely making time to help out!” Venom seeps through his words as he harshly lifts himself off the couch when his mom turns around sharply to glare at him.

  “Don’t you dare-”

He interrupts her pointing his finger as he steps towards her, “Everyone loves comforting themselves on a cold ass floor and waking up on that same floor while someone’s mom is out there, in what they thought was working, but really maybe that mom was getting high!” He screeches louder, his mom flinches back as her glare grows colder. It’s just them against each other. “I love it when I stress out about making sure we stay together and my mother, who should be the fucking adult in this, goes out and leaves me, TO DO THIS MYSELF!”

 He hadn’t even realized she was holding a plate until she slammed in on the ground, breaking it into tiny pieces that flew in different directions as she stomped her foot shouting back. “You’re stressing out?! How the hell do you think I feel, I could go to jail ! I could lose you , the apartment, my jobs?! How am I supposed to react when you’re the reason we got into this mess in the first place?!” Now it was his turn to flinch back, except he had already backed off when the plate broke. He had already moved away in fear of her, “You couldn’t just do one thing and walk away but it’s my fault? I made you punch her, I made them expel you and call child services on my ass?!” She stressed harshly, gone was the nice mother he knew, replaced with the one he hated the most.

 They’ve fought before, it’s been worse than this where they both walked out with bruises or some kind of injury either physically or mentally. This was the rare time where they both clawed into each other, the blame going anywhere but them. These are the fights that leave permanent reminders in one's mind, the ones you can’t really forget regardless of the apologies that could come after. This is the fight where the only way to get out is to hurt back.

  And Tommy’s just a kid who’s been put in a situation one should never be brought into, he’s been taught the way to survive in this world is to fight back with all the cruel intentions one could do. This is how the world worked for him so without a beat, cold and quiet, he tells her.

 “I’m not the one in that photo, am I?”

 On Thursday morning Tommy is left alone once again in the apartment with a bruised eye and a broken heart. He doesn’t clean at all that day, his mother doesn’t come home.

On Friday he cleans and steals from grocery stores. He stocks up the kitchen with the stolen food, he cleans everything including the glass no one picked up, he doesn’t cry or look at the swollen eye, he waits for her to come home.

 That night she does, crying and apologizing in his arms as he holds back his own tears whispering, “It’s fine, I went too far. It was my fault.” And he knows it’s all it took for them to forget, but he wonders if it would’ve happened if she didn’t come home high as a kite. Would she have cried to him sober?

  He knows the answer was no.

 On the weekend, she’s in and out. She doesn’t come home doped up on drugs or drunk from booze. She told him she’s gone back to work, she’d help out more and he believed her. When she was home she helped clean, even buying real plants to put inside with money she had put aside. They were happy, the stress was still there but they were happy. She doesn’t point out his black eye and he acts like it was never there.

 On Monday he wakes up to knocks on his door and his mother is gone.

 The lady who came in, followed by two cops, was really nice to him. Her name was Puffy and she apparently was the social worker that they sent to check on his living situation. She could tell he was nervous, especially around the cops. 

 But the first two questions came, “Where’s your mother at?” She questioned him gently and Tommy flinched away from the loving hand, “And what happen to your eye, it doesn’t look-”

 “Good? I know, black eyes never look cute.” He spits glaring at her as he moves further away, “She’s probably out getting breakfast or some shit, we never got a time from you fucks so don’t blame her.” And Puffy frowns, sending a look towards the other two members in the room.

 He dodged the question about his eye.

  “She was meant to get a call, I was told she got it. Is there any way you can contact her?” She questions as his anxiety pushes past his throat. He lied about the breakfast thing, if she got a call she wouldn’t have left him. She was meant to be here, she was meant to save the day.

 He shakes his head, looking at the front door wondering how fast he could bolt but the cop closest to the door seemed to realize what he was thinking because the man blocked his sight from it. “I don’t have a phone.” he slowly tells her, inching further away from them as the air grows thick.

 Puffy didn’t seem satisfied with that answer however, “Well, I’m sure she won’t mind if I take a look around right? We are on a strict schedule, I’ll just question her when she gets here!” The curly hair lady tries to sound cheerful but it falls short when he stiffly nods, moving out her way so she could look.

  And Puffy’s thoughts? She already didn’t like this, from the drive here she saw how unacceptable the place was. The streets littered with drunk people, homeless people, kids playing in the streets and people high-tailing it the second they saw the cop car. Dirty and ruined, smelly and broken. Houses were half destroyed or cluttered with things, buildings looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in years.

 And Thomas’s apartment gave her red flags before she even got out of her own car. There had literally been a man on crack screaming on the stairs and the landlord seemed nervous around them, not hesitating to point out the apartment before the guy all but ran for it. Don’t even get her started on the smell or how dirty the place looked, Thomas’s door looked nowhere near safe.

 In all honesty Puffy was expected to see some rabid kid and a trashy looking mother, probably even a step-dad or boyfriend who's appearance would've screamed “I HIT THEM!” Without actually opening his mouth, really she already expected the worst.

 She didn’t expect a small blonde kid who looked far too bright to belong here to open the door in some dirty pajamas instead of a mother. She’s had cases where the brightest of kids come from the worst background possible, she’s seen kids look out of place before yet it never failed to surprise her. 

 The black eye on his face was already the next worst sign for her, how anxious he was and ready to bolt worried her. The fact he had no way to call his mother, who wasn’t even here, concerned her.

 The fucking mattress in the living room almost enraged her until she softly asked him, “Is that where you sleep?” and he quickly shook his head pointing towards a door across the room.

 “That’s my mom’s bed, I have the only room here.” And, ok. That isn’t bad per say, but still enough for concern. Instead of commenting she sends him a softer gentler smile, “Would you care to show me? I won’t touch anything.” Without a fight he agreed, bringing her over to his room as the two cops stayed behind.

 She noticed a very badly written name on the boy’s door, Tommy had been colored in blue crayon’s on the wooden part right below the knob. Clearly written by a very much younger version of the fourteen year old now, her heart ached as she took in the small room presented to her.

 The bed was clearly broken, though she can tell someone tried to fix it and hide it. The room had ripped posters on the wall that had food stains on it, his closet was behind held shut by fucking rope of all things and really the only clean looking thing in here was some small blue blanket o his bed and a very used stuffed animal of a penguin. 

  “This is- this is your room?” She whispered holding onto the doorknob as the boy walked in, grabbing the penguin only to hide it quickly in his jacket. 

 He nods mutely and all he gets back is a concerned hum before she asks him to show the other rooms. The bathroom was horrible, even when she could tell someone tried hard to clean it it was just a safety hazard. The kitchen would have reminded her about an abandoned one she explored years ago, the fridges lights didn’t even work and she swore she saw a rat run across the floor.

 It’s clear to her that the place wasn’t something a child should live in, but she had to wait to see the mother before she did anything. Puffy understands single mothers, she was one and she had one. It was hard and hell she’s lived like this when she was little. But she also knows the horrors of this too, she’s experienced it in herself and other kids.

 In an hour she questions Thomas, “Do you like it here?” He responds, “Yes.” She asks him, “Does your mother take care of you?” He spits back, “Kinda her job, yeah?” The cops ask him, “Has she done any drugs, does she drink?” Thomas refuses to answer them, so Puffy asks him the same thing and all she gets is a shake of his head. “Does your mother hit you?” is the last question before he shuts down on them.

 He glares at her and responds with to much hate a child should have, “She doesn’t, fuck off already.” After that he doesn’t open his mouth again, looking at the door in worry instead.

 In an hour the mother shows up and everything goes to shit.

 Tommy thought the rage he felt days before was bad enough, but the one he felt now as his fucking mother walked in the door giggling and acting like a teenager sneaking back in was way way worse. He literally saw red as he stepped up to her, her clothes looked stained and he could smell the weed from where he stood originally. So did the other three, which when she registered they were in she had paled so fast.

  “Ms. Smith, glad you could finally join us.” Puffy spoke up coldly, the gentleness she used with Tommy far gone as the older woman glared at his mom. “I hope you don’t mind us looking in your house, or the questions I’m supposed to ask?”

  She stutters standing straight as her hands move to fix her knotted hair, “I - Uh yes- I didn’t realize you were coming here today.” She stammers out, moving towards them as Tommy groans.

  “Good. My first question, do you know what happened to your son’s eye?” Puffy starts off right away, she wasn’t meant to start with that but well. Puffy knew how this day would end, she knew what would happen the second she walked in this building.

 Ms. Smith sends a pleading look at her son, she catches the guilt swimming around and her stomach churns when she also sees Tommy look away. “He- He got in a fight.” The mother whispers, looking away slowly as Puffy’s glare deepened.

  “Hm, you don’t mind if we have these gentlemen,” She pointed towards the cops, “Look around where you sleep, yeah? I don’t like messing with people's things when they aren’t home.” I want to watch you fight when we find things you’ve hidden, Echoes in her mind cruelly, With how the lady started to shake they already knew what was about to be found. She couldn’t say no and soon the cops rummaged around.

 Under the blankets they pull out a case of hidden beers and the blonde lady whines. She catches the heartbreaking look on Thomas's face, there’s clothes being pulled out and she sees how most of them had been stitched up. They check pockets and find some cash, a few bits of trash, the worst of the clothes was a little bag of weed that made Tommy glare at his mom.

 But when they lifted the mattress? That’s when it went down, A small bag of white dust that made the cops glare, more bags of weed, cigarettes, needles. So many things that had her step back in shock and the mother inch away.

 But Thomas was the first to react, turning harshly towards his mother. “What the fuck- You-” He stammers as his voice cracks and no one gets to stop him when he walks up to her, “You promised me- You said you stopped?! You told me you threw all that away last night mom!” 

 “I- I tried I did-” She tries to defend herself, reaching out for her son who slaps her hand away. 

  Thomas looks ready to fight her, making Puffy and the cops step up but what Tommy says next makes them all stop as they watch the young boy break down, “I’ve spent this entire week making sure we looked acceptable enough, a week of no help from you, a day of hurting. I stressed out over this and you- you do this?!” He cries out clutching at his jacket where Puffy knew the penguin laid. 

 “Tom-”

  “Why can’t you just be a normal mom…?” The boy whispers brokenly, Like Puffy said she’s handled cases like this. She knew her answer from the start and just by seeing the kid break she knew this wasn’t a place he should live in. He might love his mother but Thomas needed a real home, it never gets easier.

 So when Puffy sends a look at the cops and coughs to get the two's attention she says the words they dreaded most. “I need Thomas to get a bag packed of his things,” With those words the two watch in horror as the cops step up, one pulling out handcuffs as they approach his mother.

 “I’m sorry to say this, but you’re being placed under arrest for Child neglect, Child abuse and possession of illegal substances.” Puffy continues even as Tommy backs into his mothers arms, holding them tightly as they both shake. They both step back the closer they get, his mother pleads towards them.

  He locks eyes with Puffy who frowns sadly at him, “Please cooperate with us, we will get a court date settled to see if Thomas can truly live with you. But for now you both need to accept this.” The cops grab his mother, moving her away from him as they both screech, reaching for each other as they force handcuffs onto her.

  Puffy’s hand settles softly on his shoulder, “You’ll see her again, you don’t have to watch. How about we go pack your things yeah?” She tries knowing sometimes this worked, that sometimes the child needed comfort more than they needed force.

 But Tommy was a difficult child who didn’t want to leave, one cry from his mother is all it takes for him to snap into his mind and bolt out the front door. Everyone shouting at him as he ran slamming into walls before he reached the stairwell. His heart beating across his chest as Puffy calls out his name telling him to stop before heavy feet rush down the hall.

  He’s running down the stairs before they can say one more word and one of the cops follow, demanding he stop and Tommy screams back , “Fuck off!” As he hops over the railings almost towards the lobby door. In his mind he thought if he got away they couldn’t force him into a new location, they couldn’t take him from his mother or his home.

 In Tommy’s mind this was his only option and just as he busted into the lobby gunning it for the front glass doors, he’s tackled onto the ground with a pained grunt as the cop demanded he stay still.

 Tommy screams as loud as he can, no one helps him.

 Soon Puffy walks down worried with the other cop in tow dragging his crying mother out the front doors as Tommy’s held tight by the other cop. When they both see each other they struggle more and Tommy cries out, “Let me go- I wanna go with my mom!” yet no one listens even as he screams louder.

 He sees Puffy had a bag of his shit, his heart drops to his stomach as he struggles harsher and the grip grows stronger. People watch them but no one helps him, no one stops them. Soon he’s dragged outside and watches his mother get shoved into a cop car screaming his name, begging to see him one last time.

  He turns to Puffy and begs, “Don’t take her away- I wanna stay! I like it here, why isn’t that enough for you?!” But Puffy sighs as they move to a fancy black car, she places his bag in the bag as the cop starts pushing him in as well regardless of his struggle to get out.

 “This is for your own good, both of yours.” Puffy tells him sweetly, Tommy flips her off and tries to throw his things at her screeching as they officially get him in slamming the door shut. His hands reach to open it, as he tugs it doesn’t budge. He almost breaks the window to get out when he sees the cop car start to drive off as his mother’s face watches him from the back as they leave.

  His heart breaks as he screams for her, the fight in Tommy disappears even when Puffy finally gets in. The lady tries to talk to him, to comfort him, but Tommy stares blankly out his window as he’s forced away from his home.

  He cries when he’s ignored as he begs to just go back home.

  He doesn’t know how long it’d been since they took her away and forced him to leave, at some point Puffy tries to feed him but Tommy in pure rage dumps the food all over her car floor. She didn't try again, at one point she stopped for gas yet wasn’t able to seeing as he tried to bolt out her own door when she opened it.

  “I know it’s scary, but you’re gonna be taken care of kiddo.” She’d try to tell him, try to ease his stress.

  Tommy responds back, “I’m gonna get us both in a crash if you don’t let me out.”

 Finally they reached where Puffy worked, Tommy dumbly thought he’d be able to run for it once she let him out but apparently Puffy was a snitch. Two bodyguard looking people were waiting outside and the second his door was opened they stood beside him ready to grab him if he ran for it. People inside didn’t spare him a glance, hell he even saw a few sad looking kids just sitting in the lobby waiting. One of them had looked up at him with a bruised face and sent him a pitying smile even, he didn’t like that.

  Soon he’s placed in Puffy’s office, the lady telling him, “I’ve got to make a call regarding you for a moment so sit tight, here’s some fidget toys and books in the corner if you wanna do something.” And with that same stupid soft smile the white and brown haired curls disappear from his sight. The two buff people left once she did and that’s how Tommy’s first escape attempt happens.

 He had checked the door, saw it was left unlocked and immediately ran out the room. But sadly they expected it because he was dragged back in before he even made it into the lobby. The second attempt was him trying the unlocked door one more time only to be pushed in gently by the new security guard waiting for him. 

 They lock the door after that and so his third attempt is out the window, only to realize there was fucking bars outside on it. He mentally curses whichever kid tried this and ruined it for him. He does try the ceiling, back at his old school they figured out they could move the tiles on the roof and get inside. This ceiling was a rich one though because it didn’t budge.

  So he does the next best thing, he destroys Puffy’s office. 

 He throws the books and toys on the floor, pushes the furniture over and swipes everything off her desk. He’s screaming curses and demands as he breaks shit, so now he’s stuck sitting on a chair he had to turn back up with another security guard waiting in the room with him.

 He sticks to the silent treatment after that and takes in satisfaction when Puffy is let in her destroyed office gasping at the sight. He’s ready to be told to leave, to get yelled at even. However he gets neither as Puffy turns toward him with a strained pitying smile, “You aren’t the first kid I had that destroyed my things, I guess I made the right call with your foster home placement too.” She tells him before moving to fix her things as Tommy sits in shock.

 He wants to feel bad for being a bitch, she was just doing her job. But he didn't get up to help her, she was the one that also took him out a place he liked. So he sits and he pouts, thinking of a million ways to escape from them and go back home. He watches her judging every move Puffy makes as she hums little show tunes as the lady cleans his mess.

  An hour goes past, she’s finished cleaning twenty minutes ago and now she sat at her desk looking through files as Tommy watches in boredom. Puffy did try to talk with him but he held strong to the silent treatment bit, she gave up after the tenth question. 

  A knock on the door startled all of them, yet he watches as the security guard lets in some random man dressed in a brown sweater and cozy black pants. His hair was braided in the front and honestly the man resembles Tommy a lot, Blonde hair like his, blue eyes like his though darker. If this man walked in his house randomly one day, he’d have immediately thought it was his real dad.

  Though that's washed away when Puffy sits up with a friendly smile and greets the man, “Phil, it’s great to see you. Thank you for coming on short notice….” She draws out looking towards Tommy as ‘Phil’ does too. Tommy immediately hates the man when he looks at Tommy with way too much kindness, he could sense how rich the fuck was too. “Phil, this is Thomas. Thomas this is Phil-” Puffy starts introducing him and Tommy frowns.

  “- Your Foster parent!” She finishes smiling at the two like Tommy’s world didn’t just crash and burn once more because of her.

 The Phil fucker smiled at him warmly, “It’s nice to meet you, I hope we both can work this out together yeah?” The man says so so sweetly that Tommy wants to gag, he inches away from the cheerful man who didn’t even look hurt at his reaction.

 Tommy’s fourth escape attempt was trying to push past Phil so he could get out the open door, not only did he fail miserably but he also didn’t make the guy look even slightly stressed. In Fact he swore the man found it funny .

  “I’m gonna fucking burn this place to the ground .” He grunts out finally as he’s forced back into his seat, no one bothers to look worried.

 He hates them.

Chapter Text

    “C’mon sweetie, you got this! Walk to me c’mon!” A young blonde female cheered from the floor, staring at the little baby who was trying to eat his hand a few feet away from her. “Tommy, sweetie c’mon wall to Mama!” She tried again, even rattling one of his toys to get his attention.

 He just blew a spit bubble instead.

 She sighed, placing down the toys as she rubbed her forehead. Tommy hadn’t spoken yet, he hadn’t even walked and he was already one. Doctors told her not to worry, but she couldn’t help it. It was - it was tiring taking care of a baby to be honest, she loved him more than ever but from the start she had doubts. Her parents didn’t want to be involved, she didn’t want to burden some guy she slept with once. She was far too paranoid to let him be adopted, also the fact she had grown attached so the option went out the window.  

  She loves her son but she knew she couldn’t be some perfect mom he deserved, the thought made her cry nearly. She had her issues, ones no child should be around and she had no one to help her with them. Therapy cost too much and she had no one to take care of him if she went into rehab, they’d take him away from her. Maybe she’s selfish, maybe she’s dumb. Tommy could go to a loving home, one where he’d get the life he deserved.

  But she’d be alone, she’d lose her only kid. He could be mistreated, hurt, sold. She’s heard stories, she’s seen aftermaths. Her bright little baby could go into a liar's hands and leave in a casket that just broke her. The system was fucked, there was no granted he’d be a lucky kid in his first placement. 

  She was nineteen and she had no one to lean on. She couldn’t help the stressful tears that started to fall or the way her body started to shake, but just as she was ready to break she heard a coo. Looking up she saw her son looking at her curiously, like a miracle waiting to happen or like he had just known she needed comfort. Tommy leaned onto his knees. Steadying himself up with a few little trips as she stared in shock. He looked so determined, so ready to get to her that it made her heart swell with love and adoration. 

 He’s on his feet, swaying a bit but he giggles and so does she. Tommy holds his arms out with a wide smile showing his baby teeth, a step towards her has her cheering already.

 “C’mon baby – you can do it!” She laughs wetly, wiping away her tears as her focus goes on him and only him.

 Another step, he’s almost there. He’s walking and oh is she so proud. Leave it to her kid to do this as soon as she was ready to give up, her little fireball.

  “C’mon Tommy just walk-”

 “- Towards the car! Stop - Stop trying to run good god!” Phil stresses watching as Tommy struggles once more against the security guards who kept trying to help him into Phil’s car. They’d been out here for half an hour because the boy refused to get in, screeching every kind of horrible thing so someone would help him out. When they first went to leave, Thomas had refused to get up so they had to pull him out. Then in the lobby he ran in circles when he got free as everyone watched, some of the kids cheering him on as well. And when they finally caught him, he held onto the fuckin doors screeching.

  Phil dumbly thought once he got out, he’d calm down and get in. But no, Tommy as soon as he got outside tried to run. He would get free, be chased, dragged back to the car and then it’d repeat. At first Phil found humor in it, then he got slightly annoyed, now he’s tired and sad for the boy. He had the honor to never experience this before with the twins, they were brought to his house.

 They were also seven so- not much of a fight they could put up other than crying and temper tantrums. And he’s fostered a few other kids, only two of them put some fight into it. But god he hasn't experienced a kid who put that much fight in not being placed, usually they gave in after the first two hours if they were new to the whole thing. They aren’t happy, sure, no one is when they get put in these situations.

 But he has never once in his life seen a fourteen year old that was smaller than a fucking security guard manage to not only shove them aside but also give them both bruises and bite marks. Phil can tell you this, he will never get the image of Thomas almost mauling one of the security guards faces off out of his head. That shit was gonna stick with him till the day he died.

 For a kid who’s situation was down-right sad, he wasn’t blind he saw the black eye and caught glimpses of faded bruises on the kid's stomach when they somehow managed to get him upside down. He was stubborn enough to go back to the person who hurt him. Puffy told him about where the kid lived, the situation was explained in great detail.

 Phil would've thought someone would’ve been happy getting taken out from that living situation. Thomas was not happy, in fact he was pissed off greatly and in the young boy’s eyes they were the bad people.

  “I’m gonna fucking break your hand if you touch me one more time you big bitch!-” Thomas screeches as they finally, finally , get him in the car all the way this time. Pushing him when he tried to run out again, until god finally loved them again and they were able to close the door. Locking it so he wouldn’t get out, though Phil Worried for his windows.

  Thomas was banging his fists screeching out threats on the poor things, Phil worried about what would happen once he got in too. But he sends a grateful look at the two tired and very messy guards who seemed ready to bolt the second Phil said goodbye, which they do. In all honesty Phil doesn’t blame them, especially not when he has a stare down with said kid who was flipping him out in the car, that he didn’t want to get in anymore.

 “It’s just a kid-” He whispers to himself, quickly unlocking his car and having to push the kid back when he tries to bolt and soon he’s in the locked car choosing to not look at the rabid kid. 

  Thomas however didn’t take that as a good thing, “Oh look the kidnappers a pussy- you’re scared of a kid? The kid you people stole?” The young boy taunts, Phil starts the car and watches as Thomas tries to rip open his locked door. “Did you put me on fuckin child lock?!”

  “I feel like you’d jump out the car if I didn’t.” He responds back as the car drives away from the building, Thomas grunted watching in rage as the building slowly disappeared.

 The car ride wasn’t exactly fun for him or Phil. Not that Tommy had wanted it to be fun, oh no he wanted the man to suffer as much as he was. “Isn’t this technically kidnapping?” He snorts out to Phil who looked so shocked he almost hit the breaks. Served the fucker right.

  “What the hell- no? This isn’t kidnapping?!” He responds back loudly, staring at Tommy as if he had three heads.

  It was in fact kidnapping, That’s all Tommy would accept. “You guys took me against my will, without my parents permission and refused to bring me home. You bring me to a new location, won’t let me talk to my mom, won’t let me go. That’s literally kidnapping.” He states quickly with a deadpan, Phil looked fucking pale. “See you guys think you’re doing a good thing, but you aren’t. What, you guys like ruining peoples lives?”

  “It’s an entire legal procedure, so it’s not kidnapping.” Phil responds shortly, hands tightening on the wheel as they take a turn. 

  “So legal kidnapping?” 

  “No-” 

  Neither of them speak for a moment after that, Tommy slouches down his seat with a long sigh watching as they pass buildings he knew. He watches as kids he’s seen on the daily play around happily, some kid’s he even played kickball with were out. There’s homeless people walking about, the one alleyway he’s had multiple fights in. It hurts to just drive away from what he’d known, to be forced away from this was odd.

  And he opens his mouth, “When can I go home?” he questions sadly looking at the small store his mother worked at on weekend nights, “When can I even see my mom?”

  Wasn’t that the question of the day, one Phil didn't really love answering. Foster kids with parents still living always had that question, when can I go home? When, always when. When am I leaving, when’s the next placement, when’s my family coming for me? It wasn’t fun to explain reasons on why it wouldn’t happen soon, to lie and make false promises just so they’d feel better.

  Phil down the years learned lying did more harm when the hope would fade, so he doesn’t lie when he tells Tommy. “I don’t know. Everything’s in the hands of the law, whatever they decide is what happens. You’re in the system until they know she’s able to raise you properly.” And somehow it’s the wrong thing to say as Tommy turns red, shaking slightly.

  “She was raising me properly, it just wasn’t good enough for you fucks.” He spits out, slamming his feet on the floor in rage, “I was happy with her, you guys think you know everything about us but you don’t.”

  “Thomas-” Phil starts slow yet Tommy screeches.

  “Tommy- It’s fucking Tommy I’m so sick of everyone calling me Thomas. You’d have known if you fucking asked, but asking isn’t something you people do.” He shouts glaring at the tired man, he’d have felt bad if he wasn’t close to losing it really. “I’m Tommy, not Tom or Thomas. Not kid or kiddo, I’m Tommy.”

  They pass by a group of teens walking on the sidewalk, Teen’s Tommy had known from school who he knew he’d never see again. “Alright, I’m sorry. I’ll call you Tommy now, yeah?” Phil says knocking him back into the real world, He huffs and nods.

  Another quiet moment comes between them, the second Tommy notices the highway sign. One that he knew took them out the bad part of his town into a richer part he sat up worried. In a split second he debated something, if it was worth it or not. He decides it’s worth it and so he looks at Phil with a fake nervous smile.

  “Can you uh- sorry I’m just stressed. But can you open the window please? Tight spaces bother the hell out of me, it’s why I’m more jumpy in the car.” He questions itching at his head, and sure it’s not a lie. Tommy hates tight small spaces with a passion, they freak him out. So sue him for using his issues against Phil, who thinks about his question for a split second before putting his trust into Tommy and rolls the window down letting the cool smelly air into the car. 

 “Thank you..” He mumbled out, sinking into his seat with a little grin that Phil took as a good sign, he eases up as well, unknowing to just what the kid was about to do. Fun fact, Tommy was not buckled in. 

  He sits up again and Phil thinks nothing of it, the air feels nice. “You know- The street we just passed? I ran from the cops there.” Tommy randomly states leaning closer to the window testing his moves. Phil hums confused and Tommy continues as his grin grows. “Yeah, people don’t pay attention to details so it’s easy to just you know- get away.” He finishes watching closely as Phil slowly catches on.

 He’s done a million stupid things in his life and this wouldn’t be the first. Fight to survive, run to live. The slowest fall back and the fastest win the game, that's how his life worked and that’s what he followed. In one quick motion Tommy flips Phil off before all but halfway crawling out the open window of the moving car as Phil screams in shock.

  “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING-” The man screams as Tommy’s halfway out ready to tuck and roll as the car swerves and people watch in shock of this teen halfway out the car. He laughs loudly, he scoots out more and just as Tommy’s prepared to jump.

  Phil pulls him back in with strength he didn’t know the man had and the window is rolled shut as they both breath harshly.

  “Are you fucking stupid?! You could’ve gotten badly hurt?!” Phil screams pulling the car to a halt, Tommy just stares at the window as his heart races. “Kid you can’t do shit like that- I won’t stand for that kind of behavior. I get it, you’re scared and you hate us. You want to go home, but trying to kill yourself and acting out won’t bring you home any quicker. It lands you in a fucking hospital with broken bones, do you understand.” The older spits out, glaring at the young boy who hadn’t even moved during it all. The car doesn’t move and neither do they.

  “Yeah.” He whispers finally, “Yeah I understand.” He doesn’t, he wouldn’t ever understand.

  The window doesn’t roll down again when Phil starts driving again.

After the window event Tommy doesn’t talk anymore. He’s forced to watch as the place he grew up in changed from what he was used to. Dirty, abandoned, low-budget, nothing about it screamed perfect and instead it screamed “The world damned us, the poor and the unfortunate, they let us go and they do things like this?” It told a story of corrupted people who worked in these conditions to survive, money was not some playful thing in this part. It was everything he had known. To suddenly the world seemed perfect in the part Phil drove into, perfect new buildings, clean streets and windows. The apartments seemed like a vacation home and the stores seemed like a story-book. The grass wasn’t dry, it wasn’t even real. It was fake green grass that was cut to be perfect, people holding their child’s hand instead of the children roaming free. Everything seemed so genuine.

 The true corrupted people, they look down at the poor and the dirty as they know they’re greater. “I have fortune, I have luck. For you have nothing, not even a soul.” A girl read to them once in fifth grade. He remembered how they gave her a fake medal, for her amazing truth. 

  “I know I should’ve told you this earlier, But well given everything that’s happened,” Phil starts, Bitch he thinks in his mind, “We weren’t able to make your room look amazing, I’ll take you shopping sometime this week but first I wanna let you settle in. I also have two boys, both twins and they’re private but rowdy. If they bother you let me know, they can be pushy at times.”  

  “They sound like a walking nightmare then.” He huffs out, not looking at Phil once as they pass a lady and her oddly cute dog. 

  Somehow Phil took it as a joke because the man laughed as they turned into a neighborhood. “They truly are. Little shits.” The man finishes fondly, Tommy takes notice of how big the houses were here. Sure where he lived people had two story homes, but dear god these looked like genuine mansions. 

  And then Phil pulls into his driveway, Driveway wasn’t that funny? The man had his own personal fucking space to park in instead of the streets, yet everything switches when he looks at the mans house. A whole nice ass garden in the front, beautiful rose bushes that Tommy’s only seen on small field trips back when he was younger, Fucking garden gnomes that Tommy wanted to smash. There’s a swing on the porch- a whole swing to sit on. It was amazing, big, a storybook house.

  It made him want to puke.

 “The boys aren’t home yet, so that gives you enough time to look around without them bothering you, yeah?” Phil cheers out unlocking the car, Yes Tommy almost bolts until he feels a warning hand get placed around his wrist, “Please don’t run, I really don’t wanna have to call the cops for a search party.”

  “Don’t touch me.” He spits out shoving away from the man as he steps out, “I won’t fucking run as long as you back off.” With that he slams the door shut, smiling at the wince Phil gave in return. 

  He doesn’t even wait for the man as he bounds up the stairs to look at the swing, if he was allowed outside he’d definitely find himself napping on the thing. There were even carved flowers in the wood, something that itched happily at his brain. Without even knowing, Phil had watched, surprised at how amazed the boy was over it.

  Soon the door unlocks, “Why is your door fucking Pink.” Tommy gagged at the sight as Phil chuckled fondly. “Two eight year old's asked for it, I didn’t have a choice in the door really.” , and Tommy is welcomed in, though he’s made to take off his shoes which he found odd but ok. From the start he saw an opening to the living room, down the long hall he saw a few rooms. One apparently an office, another a bathroom and a storage room. Photos hung on the walls, he takes note of two teenage boys with Phil in the first frame. One had freshly dyed pink hair as another had faded blue with brown coming back. There were a few old ones with some random lady holding what he guessed was a younger version of the teens, but soon the lady stopped appearing.

  Hell there were even badly drawn pictures or words framed on the walls. He follows Phil down the hall gasping when he sees the huge fucking kitchen, he felt like his entire apartment could fit in that room holy shit. The stairs were possibly the coolest part, he could picture himself sliding down them really.

 “Tommy- Tom I don’t think this is safe!” An old friend he couldn’t truly remember cried out holding his shoulders as the five year old let out a wild giggle. Both were at the top of the kid’s stairs, a wooden board underneath them with a rope tied around to hold onto. “Tom c’mon why don’t we go outside, mama won’t be happy if we get hurt- '' The kid tries again, Tommy remembers scoffing as he sets forward.

  “We won’t get hurt, C’mon don’t you wanna at least try?” He whines holding the rope tired as the boy loudly says “NOT REALLY!” Yet with a giggle Tommy shakes his head, pushes off the stairs and they both screech as they bump and slide down the stairs.

  In the end they lose control and fly off, Tommy knew he broke his arm because of it and he’s pretty sure his old friend got a scar on his face after. He remembered writhing in pain holding his broken arm as he cried loudly.

  “No more stairs sliding.” His mother scolded after they walked out the hospital with his new cast, “I mean it Tom, never again.”

  Walking up the stairs with a grin the first thing he says is, “Do you have any boards?” To Phil, picturing how fun it would’ve been and how frightened he could make the man. To his surprise Phil does say yes, they had some in the shed and asked what Tommy wanted it for.

  Shrugging he laughs out, “I like building shit.” And Phil does nothing but nod, leaving it at that as they reach the second floor. 

 “My room’s in the back, there’s green stickers on it so if you ever need me just knock. Techno’s room is the one with the keep out sign, Wilbur’s is right beside his it has little animal stickers. I do ask you don’t go in without them asking, they value privacy.” Phil tells him as if Tommy would bother any of them anyway, if anything all the man did was let him know the main rooms to avoid all three of them.

  And soon they stop at a clear door, void of any stickers or mess. At Tommy’s home his door was adorned with old stickers, scratches, and paint. It was his and now he didn’t have it. It was clear this was his new room, he didn’t even wait for Phil to tell him when he opened the door seeing a blue wall, a desk by the window and a bed on the right side. Hell the entire room looked new, it looked clean.

  He hated it more.

  “Like I said, we can go shopping later to decorate the room so it won’t look so bland.” Phil’s voice comes out, the man leaning in the doorway as Tommy walks in with a distasteful look. “Feel free to rearrange things, no one’s gonna yell if you do.”

  “Why the fuck would i rearrange a room that’s not really mine?” He snaps back, turning around to face the man, “No use in changing shit If I’m gonna be gone in a week’s time. Seems wasteful.” 

  The older blonde just frowns and shakes his head, “I’ll leave you be for now, the boy’s will be home soon and I’ll start dinner. Is there- Uh is there anything you’d like? I’m pretty sure I can cook whatever.”

  Is there? He didn’t really feel hungry, actually he hadn’t really thought about eating anything nor had he had anything to eat. He didn’t have a chance when they took him in, he dumped the food Puffy bought for him and after that nothing. It would suck to sleep with an empty stomach, but he felt off asking for food from some stranger.

  “Meatballs?” He asks slowly, giving in because why the hell not. It’s free and it’s easy to eat, he also really likes meatballs. 

 But Phil looked put off by it, his stomach twisted at the look, “Just meatballs? You don’t want anything else?” He asks, wincing, confused and it makes Tommy frown deeper.

  “Just meatballs.”

 With a slow nod Phil leaves, closing the door, leaving him alone in a strange room that felt cold. When he turned back to look at the window, he took note of how there weren't safety bars on them. Someone could break in or out easily, that didn’t sit well with him. But he also noticed how easy it was to open said windows, how there was a part of the roof he could sit at and how easy it was to just leave.

  He could leave right now, Phil wouldn’t even expect it and Tommy could go. But he’s never been around these parts, he doesn’t know the roads like he did in his place. This was new and frightening, this was different. He doesn’t leave in the end, choosing to learn the roads before he even attempted some grand escape anyway.

  Secretly he hoped Phil would take him to his apartment so he could at least get his shit, he’d definitely ask at dinner. If Phil told him no then Tommy would just find the nearest bus, ride to his home and stay. Easier said than done, he’s a fast runner away. Surely enough he really wanted to explore outside, break those garden gnomes and lay on the bench swing. But the thought of walking out was tiring, the idea of leaving the room wasn’t fun.

  So Tommy sits on the clean bed and imagines countless ideas of running away, being reunited back with his mother, being rich as fuck like these people.

 He just…stays.

 After some time Tommy discovered some issues, the main one being he was dirty as fuck and it felt wrong staying on anything clean. The next being how the only clothes he had were the ones he wore, everything else was at his house and Tommy didn’t really want to sleep in scratchy jeans of all things.

  He finds himself standing awkwardly in the kitchen watching in shock as Phil was dancing in an apron to whatever was playing on the man's phone. It wasn’t the weirdest thing he’s ever seen, but it definitely went on the list when he watched the man perform a fucking high note to the fucking spoon. Hell he really debated on if asking if he could shower was worth it.

  It took one image of sleeping in jeans to decide yes, it was worth it. So he coughs, snorting into his hand when Phil jumps before turning around embarrassed. 

  “I uh- I wanted to know if I could use the shower.” He says trying his best not to laugh, really he was. It just- it’s kind of hard not to.

  Phil though shook away his embarrassment, “Yes- Yes you can, you don’t have to ask. You can just put your clothes in the dirty laundry, I’ll wash everything later.” He says waving his hand in a carefree motion, Tommy frowns though.

  “I need my clothes though.” He says back, confused. What the fuck did they expect him to do? Walk around naked? No fucking thanks.

  Now it was Phil’s turn to look equally confused, “Uh- kid we aren’t gonna steal them from you. You’ll get them back when they’re washed.” He says as it sounds like a promise, again Tommy still ended up confused and slightly concerned.

  He takes a step back, “So what the fuck am I meant to wear in the mean time, a towel?” He snaps, tired of going back and forth with the man already.

  Finally and thankfully, Phil catches on making a small oh sound. “Shit sorry- I didn’t think about it if you had other clothes. Uh- I have some old clothes you can borrow until we go shopping if you’d like. I can probably snag one of my son’s hoodies, those fuckers are the softest thing I’ve ever felt.” And Tommy winces again, not really up to wearing some stranger's hand-me-downs, or some kid's hoodie that he’s never met. He doesn’t want to be screamed at for stealing something he was offered, that was never a good first impression.

  Noticing his apprehension Phil laughs, “None of us mind, really outfits here get stolen daily. It’s just until you have your own clothes, I swear you’ll be fine.” 

 It’s this or no shower and sleeping in gross clothes. With a sigh he gives up, takes the offer and soon he finds himself in some rich looking bathroom. Seriously, the shit not only had a tub but the shower was separate. Which then had him debating on which one he wanted to do since he option was two, somehow instead of picking he finds himself looking at the large mirror.

 He looked like a wreck, like some kid who fought their way out a garbage bin. The black-eye still looked bad, at the time Tommy made a promise to his mother to never tell anyone how he got it. He was a south kid, they always looked bruised and the lie would be believable. He’d never tell anyone it was her, they couldn’t afford that.

  Tommy didn’t like the kid in the mirror, he- he felt wrong. He was dirty and poor in some rich clean place, staining it’s wood and ground. He wasn’t meant to be in a place like this, this wasn’t how things were supposed to work. If Tommy walked into a rich man's house he’d be screamed and shot, they’d say the street rat was robbing them. Not them welcoming him in, no screams or insults thrown.

  He picks the shower and no matter how long he waits for the warm water to turn cold, it never does. It’s not slimy, it’s perfect and god it felt nice. His hair felt so clean for once, he had felt clean.

 Tommy can’t decide on if he likes that feeling or not.

  By the time Tommy leaves the bathroom Phil’s son’s had shown up. Walking out the steam covered bathroom in some long pajamas Phil gave to him with a fucking long ass t-shirt, he couldn’t put on the red hoodie without the worry building up. He heard three different voices downstairs, one he knew was Phil’s and two others he didn’t know.

  It almost made him turn around and walk straight back to the room he was staying in, key-word being almost. Tommy knew he couldn’t avoid the two kids who lived here, not while he was staying after all. He’s also not a bitch who hides away from people, Tommy was loud by nature to be seen and shown how he could win. He was not a pushover, especially towards rich fuck heads.

  So with a determined huff he steps down the stairs as the voices grow louder, the smell of meatballs hitting his nose. A bright laugh rings out, Tommy finds out who's who when he steps in the kitchen seeing two teen’s sitting at the table while Phil places plates down.

  One had Pink-hair, though it looked slightly faded at the top. They wore red glasses, a brown turtle-neck and a few necklaces. The other had brown hair, curly and messy unlike the straight haired guy. He was wearing a blue sweater with some college shirt underneath, the same pair of glasses resting on his nose. They screamed for attention, shining stars who you’d see when you walked past. 

  “Tommy! I was getting worried you drowned..” Phil said in surprise, catching sight of the now cleaned boy, both the twins turning in surprise as well at the sight of the kid. “Come sit, I was just about to set dinner down. Oh-” He starts cutting himself off as he sends a look at his sons.

  “Tommy, these are my son’s, Wilbur and Techno. Boy’s say hello.” Phil says though it’s more so a demand as Tommy turns his attention back to the two. Neither looked ecstatic to see him, Tommy felt the same.

  The brown-haired guy sat up first, forcing a strained smile on his face instead of the real one Tommy saw before. “I’m Wilbur, I have the brown hair just so you won’t end up confused. It tends to happen .” The guy says near taunting him, Tommy quirks his eyebrow up.

  “I don’t think it’d take much to notice who’s who. Ya both got different noses.” He says back in the same tone, taking pride in how Wilbur’s smile fell just as fast. “So that mean’s Techno’s the other kid, nice to know.” He finishes as Techno sends him a little glare he couldn't care to find himself offended over.  Instead he moves to sit at the end of the wooden table, looking anywhere but the three even as stressed Phil placed down the food.

  “Dad said it was your idea for dinner, Why just meatballs?” Wilbur tries again, ignoring the warning glance both Techno and Phil sent him. Tommy narrows his eyes as the older boy grinned sharply.

  With a shrug Tommy reaches to stab his fork into the meatball, “I like them separate, nothing wrong with that.” He replies back shortly, tension slowly rising as Phil looks pale.

  Two could play at whichever was better game, Tommy fought with thirty year old's and won. He could beat some seventeen year old dirt bag. Wilbur had nothing on Tommy that could’ve helped him in any way, this is the surviving part Tommy talks about. You don’t go into the world and let the world push you, you push the world and make your way to the top. In this case Wilbur was the world and Tommy was pushing.

  “But meatballs? You could’ve picked anything, literally anything but this.” The boy shoots back, taking a bite as Tommy does the same. The two other residents quietly ate dinner in prayers that the two didn’t go for the throats. “Seriously, have you ever had a normal meal?”

  His leg twitches, “Have you ever had a normal thought?” Tommy questions back, happily biting into his food as he takes the point. Wilbur doesn’t look very pleased, irritation wiping onto the boy’s face as Tommy grins more. “Just a question, don’t get so uptight!” He coos sweetly, ignoring Phil’s pleading looks to stop.

 Wilbur grits his teeth, forcing that little smile back onto his annoying face as he laughs all fake like. “Yes, just a question, that’s- all.” He spits out, hands shaking in silent rage. “You know since we’re asking nice little questions , don’t you love learning about your foster sibling that randomly showed up , let me ask you another one yeah?” He says sweetly, copying Tommy’s tone as well. Phil makes a shushing sound towards Wil, but Tommy tilts his head.

 Leaning forward the boy laughs again, “Tell me Thomas , how’d you end up here?” And as soon as the question leaves Wil’s mouth, Phil shoots forward and Tommy lets the sweet fake persona fall quickly as he turns a withering glare on the boy.

  “Excuse me?” He mumbled out darkly, Techno leaning up seemingly ready to stop whatever fight broke out next. “I don’t think I understand. Sorry.”

  "What's your story? There’s a reason you’ve been placed into foster care yeah? Was it an abusive mom or dad, parents left you?" Wilbur hums out with a daring glare, Techno watches on as Tommy grits his teeth. “Or was it something you did?”

  " Wilbur ." Phil starts with a warning tone.

  But Wilbur huffs as if he was some innocent kid and Tommy knew the truth, "I'm just asking a simple question dad, I wanna get to know the kid. Surely he doesn't mind, right Thomas ?" The boy teases cruel and horrible as Tommy has the sudden thought to stab the boy with his fork. Jail wasn’t worth it, jail wasn’t worth it, he just had a shower he didn’t want another.

  "It's. Tommy ." He says instead as his leg twitches once more. 

  "Well Tommy, answer me. It's rude to not respond to a question, surely your mother taught you that." Wilbur sighs out, placing a palm on his face, "Oh maybe she didn't- is that it? Is your mother the neglectful one?" He hates him- He actually fucking hates the guy more than he hated Puffy, oh god he would’ve rather been locked in a room with Kacy then stay around this insufferable asshole a minute longer.

  "William craft I swear to god-"

  Everyone goes silent when Tommy slams his fork down glaring at Wilbur who dared to swallow nervously, who knew he went across a line he dared to take. How is it Tommy’s fault? You cross a line knowing it’s dangerous, you go into the field knowing you could die and yet still cry wolf when the exact outcome you knew would happen happens? It’s not his fault. But Phil looked worried and tired, he didn't even take a look at Techno.

  Tommy does what he knows best and opens his mouth, raising his shoulders up as his heart beats faster.

  "Have you ever experienced a broken nose?" Tommy asks sweetly, the brown haired boy looked offended at the question. He looked scared, that was all Tommy needed.

  "Tommy-" Phil warns, yet Tommy's not a fucking pushover. He’s not gonna be the one who gets scolded, never in his life will he be the one who gets scolded for fighting back.

  "It's painful the first time, you feel it even after it heals. Honestly it's easy to break it, so tell me, have you experienced it?" He questions again slowly standing from his seat, taking note finally on how Techno seemed ready to lunge if he lunged towards Wilbur, that wasn’t a fight Tommy thought he could take. 

  Wilbur shakes his head sweating.

 And Tommy grins sharply, "Well William , Let's hope you never do." He starts slowly, pushing his seat back as everyone watches him carefully, "Talk about my mother again though and I'll break it so bad you'll be a crooked nose fuck head for the rest of your miserable self centered life."

  All three looked nervous, though Techno looked more pissed. Tommy couldn't find it in himself to care, his hunger disappeared during all this so with one last glare he stormed out the dining room leaving behind a half full plate and a disgruntled family. 

  He doesn’t witness Phil letting out a groan before he places his head on the cold wooden table, knowing he’d have to have a chat with the boys before his house became a fucking war-zone.

  So much for dinner Tommy thinks as he slinks into the soft bed, holding back the tears as he’s forced to fall asleep in an unfamiliar area knowing his mother was somewhere he couldn’t go yet.  

 So much for a good fucking house , he thinks bitterly as he falls into a restless sleep.

   Phil downstairs tells his boys goodnight before he washes the dishes, sighing as sleep begged to fall in. So much for a good impression, he thinks as the water runs.

The house is tense the entire night, Tommy is not to blame.

Chapter Text

    Sleep didn’t come easy for Phil after last night, he laid in his bed twisting and turning thinking over the night. What could’ve gone right, if things could’ve been worse. In a sick way that had his stomach churning his brain had screeched about how ready Tommy was to attack his kid, it screamed to kick the boy out and protect his own. Was it safe for Tommy to be here? Yes it was, Phil wouldn’t give up. He knew he’d have to have a chat with Wil about this, he’d have to set some ground rules for peace.

  Waking up wasn’t much easier, he could hear Wilbur and Techno fighting playfully about something in one of their rooms and the neighbor’s dog barking at something. Though he couldn’t hear anything from Tommy, maybe the boy was just quiet. Maybe he was still sleeping, whatever it was Phil didn’t mind. 

  Soon he’s out of bed letting his bones pop before he walks out his room, he knew he’d have to make breakfast. Really only Wilbur ate in the morning, but Tommy might always eat at every meal time. Another thing he’d have to get used to, what they’d all have to get used too. But what did the kid like? What was he allergic to?

  He’d have to check on the kid’s files, he wasn’t able to get them after yesterday's whole- whatever the hell that was. Puffy was an old friend, she wouldn’t mind him coming in to retrieve things. However first things first was to check on the kids, something he did every morning before the day actually started.

 It was easy to pinpoint which room the two boys had stolen, Techno’s room which was typically where they went since Techno’s spot in the house had the best Wi-Fi reach. He heard Wilbur call Techno a cheat and with a little laugh he knocked before opening the door, Techno was sitting in his chair and Wilbur was laying upside down on Techno’s bed.

  “Isn’t it a bit early to be shouting?” Phil teased, he always did. No matter what the two would always start the day loud, even when they were little. 

  But Techno scoffed, rolling his eyes, “Tell that to the whiny one, I’m being quiet and Wil’s pouting while being a sore loser!” The boy stressed out, receiving a look from Wilbur.

   “That’s because he’s a cheat dad. He’s been playing dirty this entire round!” Wilbur complains, rolling to his side when Phil laughs at the two.

  “Well, reminder that I’m not the only person in the house you can wake up anymore.” Phil sighed leaning on the doorway, watching as the two immediately looked displeased at the mention of Tommy. “Don’t look like that, I want you two to treat Tommy nicely. I mean it- no more of last night got it?” He scolds with a light but stern look, Phil would like to live in a peaceful house without three kids trying to kill each other every minute.

  With a shrug and another pout Wilbur nods, “Sorry dad, I’ll behave .” And Phil would’ve believed him if not for the whispered, “As long as he does too.” And he didn’t really have to worry about Techno, the boy wouldn’t do anything unless one of the other two made the first movement.

  Phil smiles with a pleased hum, “Great! Now I’m gonna go check on the kid and then make breakfast, after everyone’s done you two need to get ready. Today is a town day!” He tells them cheerfully, laughing as he closes the door to their complaining. 

 The next person he needed to see was Tommy, wake the kid up and ask what he’d like for breakfast. The reason Phil had given Tommy an upstairs room was mainly because it was within hearing distance, Phil or his boy’s would’ve heard the kid trying to run in the night. The other was because of them being on the second floor, he had prayed Tommy wouldn’t attempt to leave through the window. Flight risks tended to do anything no matter the cost, which Tommy proved by trying to jump out the car.

  But Phil didn’t hear anything, not a squeak of the window or door. That meant good things right? It meant Tommy had stayed in the house, that Phil wouldn’t have to call the cops and Puffy for a runaway kid. It meant Tommy had stayed and Phil could put more trust into the kid.

  He knocks on the door a few times, not walking in like he did with the boys. He didn’t want to learn what could happen if he did, there were throwable objects in the room. Nothing, not even a whine came from the room. Phil took that as a sign the boy was still asleep, And look he’s raised Wilbur, one of the heaviest sleepers he had known. He could deal with another, so Phil opens the door with a gentle smile. 

  “Tommy? Sorry to wake you but-” He starts in a small whisper, pushing the door more open and his smile is wiped off his face at the sight. A messy bed, no sign of the kid. He could feel the stress running at him, yet he immediately turns to run to his kid’s room as he barges in, scaring them both.

  “Have you seen Tommy since either of you’ve woken up?!” He stresses and judging by their  widened eyes he takes it as a no. With a curse he moves towards the stares, rushing for the front door as his son’s follow behind though Wilbur moves to the kitchen and Techno to the living room. Tommy isn’t in either and Phil sees the unlocked front door making his worry heighten.

  He’s fully prepared to rush out into the cold without being properly dressed to find this kid. What he isn’t prepared for is almost tripping out the door at the sight of said blonde kid bundled up in the hoodie he was given last night on the porch swing, and here’s the kicker, not only was Tommy just sitting there he was also holding the neighbors dog in his lap cooing over the damn thing.  

 Which mind you is odd when you know, that fucking dog was the meanest shit to ever exist and has chased Phil into his own home more than he could count. Yet here it was, loving on Tommy like it wasn’t Satan living in the body of a dog.

With a surprised look Tommy looks up at them, confused as hell with how panicked Phil looked and the same surprise on the twin’s who showed up behind their dad. Instead of greeting them in a normal fashion, Tommy raises the dog’s paw up and makes it wave as he says, “How do?”

 He almost laughs when Phil falls to the ground after that.

 When Tommy wakes up the first thing he hears is one of the boy’s screaming about some game and another laughing at him. It’s still early in the morning when he looks out the window with squinted eyes, he really didn’t want to get up but he’s pretty sure staying in bed isn’t an option. God knows who Phil would send in to see if he ran off or not sometime during the night. He’d rather not see Wilbur, the urge to punch the shit out of the man was still there.

  He figures it won’t ever go away really.

  He’s pretty much figured out that Techno was gonna stick on Wil’s side too, no sense in backing up some kid that would be gone soon really. As long as neither gave him trouble, Tommy would keep away. Phil was the only one who somewhat mattered, though Tommy would still sell the man for a crumb on the streets if given the chance. It’s very very safe to say that he didn’t wake up happy or liking the family still. 

  It hit him that the day really had started, at first he grew excited at the thought of being able to leave. In the day it’d be easier, directions wouldn’t be as hard as it could be at night. He hasn’t heard Phil yet and he’s pretty sure the twins wouldn’t care about him running.

  So yes Tommy originally was gonna run and never look back. Originally he was ready to leave. That’s until he steps out the door and catches sight of a little golden puppy barking at him in the front yard. That’s until his heart swelled at the sight and he fell under the trap of cooing at the puppy who had run up to him yipping and yapping. He takes it as the biggest win in the world when the dog licks him, screw the collar that the dog wore. This dog was his now.

  “Oh you’re gonna be spoiled so much, my mom’s gonna love you holy shit.” He coos standing up holding the puppy. It licks his face making him feel slightly gross at the feeling of dog slobber, but sometimes you have to make a sacrifice. This was that sacrifice he guesses as he lifts up the dog unconsciously heading back up the porch to sit down. “I’m gonna call you Boss. You like that? Yeah of course, it’s a cool ass name for a cool ass dog!”

  He gets a huff in return as he sits on the swing, the dog getting comfortable in his lap like Tommy was some bed and at this point he would be. “You’re owners won’t miss you, I reckon. There’s a million dogs, they can live.” He tells the dog, oddly not caring that the sight might look weird. A teenager sitting on the porch talking to someone's dog like it was human. But Tommy’s talked with rats before, this isn’t worse.

    “I would kill for you.” He randomly says, scratching behind the puppy's ear. “I will genuinely murder a man for you, You don’t mind small spaces though right? Our apartments not all that big and you’re gonna be a big ass dog so it’ll be small but-”

  That’s when he hears a loud set of feet running downstairs inside the house, cutting him off his speech as he stares at the door curiously. Thinking it might be the twins running about he shrugs and looks back down at the dog. And then the front door slams open.

 Then Phil halfway falls out the door looking at him in shock. Tommy wasn’t one for reading the room of course nor did he care, instead he holds up the puppies paw without a care and makes it wave at Phil taking great pleasure in the shock he gets back. “How do?” He asks, grinning madly as he lets go of the paw, “You look like you’ve just ran through a dryer.”

  The twins peek out from their dad, giving that same shocked look to Tommy when they see the dog. Phil however stands straight placing a hand on his heart, “I feel like I went through a dryer. Why- You do realize you didn’t tell anyone you were outside right?!” Phil starts up with a scolding tone, he looks tired and Tommy would’ve taken pity on him if it wasn’t for the parenting act.

  He pulls the dog closer as he leans back into the swing, “You do realize that A. You aren’t my mom or dad. B. I don’t have to ask shit because again, you aren’t my parent.” He shoots back with a shrug, rubbing at the dog's back as he continues, “I’ve never had to ask to go outside before , I’m not gonna start now. Be glad I didn’t go running, oddly easy to do however.”

  Honestly at this point he wants to make a point system on how many times he can annoy these people because the twins look fired up and Phil just looks downright tired. He’d have felt bad really he would’ve, if they weren’t people he hated of course.

  “Tommy, I know you had different er- rules where you lived.” Phil starts bringing his hands together slowly, He gets ready to roll his eyes, “But you’re living in my house for the time being, I have rules I’d appreciate you’d follow. No one minds you going out, it’s the not telling me bit I don’t like.” Tommy rolls his eyes as he takes notice of the sleeping dog in his lap.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Tommy sighs out, looking near bored even as his brain laughs like a devil. Phil nods, looking slightly more calm and Tommy knows he’s about to get another point. “When did I ask? I don't recall ever asking ‘Oh hey strange man, tell me what you’d love for me to do! Tell me, how do I make your life easier?’ oh wait- I never asked, did i?” He spits out, he doesn’t really grin since he’s annoyed now, the day barely started and he’s already down to having another horrible day.

  Wilbur looks red in the face as if Tommy just killed his bloodline, Techno doesn’t look as mad but Tommy’s been around enough blank faces to tell what they hide. Phil for once actually looked upset at Tommy and that’s what he’s aimed for. He wants to see the reality in these rich fucks, not the hiding away to seem innocent phase. He wants to see them break and crumble under the weight that's called Tom’s reality, that he’s not some easy going kid you can love easily. 

 Thomas is the kid who’s ready to stop what he does wrong and fix it, Thomas is the kid that didn’t face reality and people loved Thomas. Tom is the kid that faced life first, that started pushing away Thomas because Thomas wasn’t right for this world. Tom became the tough truth as Thomas was the loving lie.

  In this result Tommy lives and breathes, he shows those he cares about that Thomas, sweet and loving. Ready to bend to their will, to show them he’s a good kid. Tom is the one he shows to everyone else, the kid who’s ready to fight and hurt so he can survive. Tommy is the kid that makes people hate him so he can stay safe.

 He’s not easy, he doesn’t think he ever will be and these people need to realize this before they truly get too far into their heads. He’s lived a life where if you had the slightest crack that was it, the beasts would take you down and you’d die. 

  “All I ask is that you try.” Phil pleads with a sigh, the dog ends up waking up during his thought process leaving Tommy behind as the real owner calls for him. “Just try, that’s all you have to do.”

  He frowns and stands up, “I do. This is me trying.” He says back, pushing past all three without a care to get up to that room he’s staying in. He refuses to look back even when he feels them staring, refuses to make a promise that he’d try for these people he barely knew. He is trying. That’s why he hasn’t left yet, he’s trying for her.

 He’s only trying for his mom.

 The car ride is once again not pleasant, for one both Techno and Wilbur are on both his sides as a safety precaution. Really Tommy hadn’t wanted to go in the first place but neither of the boys wanted to babysit him and Phil had to go see Puffy, so without his consent they forced him in the car and drove away from the house.

  He will say when Phil said he could control the music, it was funny because Tommy asked for his favorite station and everyone looked at him odd for it. Which then resulted in Phil telling him, “We usually use the aux..You could just hook up your  phone-”

  “I don’t have one, I don’t see the use for a phone I’ll just break.” Tommy interrupts with a bored tone, taking note of the sour look Phil gave, “It’s not because my mom didn’t get me one, I know that’s what you guys think but fun fact. Phones break, Phones cost a shit ton of money, I’ve never needed one to begin with.”

 He doesn’t think they really cared for it still, just another blackmark on his mothers record for them.

But that wouldn’t do, he realizes. If he wants them to believe him, if Tommy wants to go home he has to show them she was the best mother she could’ve been. He’s never been one for telling his life, in fact he had a record in his old school for being so reserved you’d get twenty bucks just by getting him to tell you his favorite thing. 

  This was for his mother however, for her he’d do anything. “Once when I was seven, she bought me this play phone.” He starts softly, not caring about the surprised looks he got as he speaks on the memory, “Told me I’d have to learn one day, so for every night I’d sit in my bed and pretend to call her. The thing had this really annoying ringing sound so when I called she came.”

  Every night he remembers secretly, every night she came on the first ring. “I’d get so happy when she walked in my room, ‘Tom’s what is it now?’ she’d ask me every time.” He doesn’t realize how he’s started to smile with the memory, losing himself in the talk, “And I’d say, ‘Momma I want this, Momma I want a hug.’ she’d laugh and call me silly.”

  Wilbur, to his own surprise, looks at him with interest and asks, “Did she ever- did she ever do what you asked?” and to his shock as well, he sees the gentleness floating in the boy's eyes.

  Yet he nods looking away sharply, “She did. She always did even when she was barely awake. I broke it when I was eight, cried for days about it but you know…all I had to do was call her name and she’d still come running for me.” He shifts in the car seat, looking down at his hands as he tries so hard to ignore the looks. 

  “She would’ve always ran to me at the first call.”

  The car goes silent after his story, Tommy wrings his hands as his heart aches. He feels Phil make a turn when Wilbur shifts slightly towards him because of it just as he did to Techno, there’s no music. No one talks or makes any noise, he wonders if he helped her case at all. 

   Could he tell them that at nine she stopped coming? Because an empty house and a working Mother could not run to her child when he’s alone in the night, a mother could not hug him if the world took her away.

 He breathes in, leaning his head back and says, “She’s a good mom.” To the silent care and wonders, who was the liar in this world.

 Him or her?

 They say nothing and he doesn’t either, this is how the world works. You admit and you speak, you wonder if the truth can save you or kill you. But you don’t get an answer right away, in fact sometimes you’ll never receive the answer. Tommy has asked that question, who was the real liar over and over again. And over and over again he never finds out, he doesn’t think he wants to.

 It’ll hurt if he’s the liar, if he’s forcing himself to pretend for the sake of happiness. It’ll kill him if his mother is the liar, for she’s the reason he’d have to force to pretend in the first place. There’s not a win either way, in this game Tommy will break.

  Sometimes staying quiet is the best thing one can do, Tommy knows this much.

Here’s another fact about Tommy.

 Tommy’s heart was built on creation. He loved making things, loved the little robots he learned to create with thrown out or stolen scrape and the fake blue-prints for ideas he knew he’d never get to do. He loved to build, he wanted to do something like that in life. He learned how to get another's trash and make it into something amazing, people threw out things and Tommy used them to his benefit.

 His favorite build however was the whole reason he dreamed to become an inventor. 

 In first grade Tommy built a bomb, sounds scary right? Well in good news it wasn’t a real bomb, not one that could destroy anything anyway. No it was worse, Tommy built a glitter bomb to light up in his math teachers room all because he was a bitch. The teacher hated Tommy, had gone so far as to slap his hands with rulers and Tommy had never been a little bitch.

 Or the times where his teacher would tell Tommy, “You’ll be nothing in this world, your mother's gonna get you killed before you're even fourteen.” When no one was around to hear, times where Tommy wondered why this man wanted to hurt him so much. He figures it’s because Tommy reminded him too much of himself, except Tommy wasn’t gonna become some old guy working in a bad paying school with horrible kids he picks on so he can feel some kind of pride.

 Tommy really hated him.

 And because Tommy hated the man, he decided to be the worst memory for the rest of his teaching years. 

 Four days he stayed up, four days of bombs that didn’t work and glitter stuck on the walls floors and ceiling. His desk had a patch of glitter stuck on it since, but he finally made one and he brought it to school.

 That day when they go to lunch, Tommy sneaks the bomb into the Teachers desk and sets the trap. He tied a red string around the switch, tied it around the drawer and closed it before running away to join his class. 

 He remembers sitting at his desk, acting like he was working on his work like all the other students when the Teacher opened his desk to grab a pen. He and all the others lift up their heads at the screech and loud echoing boom of something exploding. 

  He remembers falling out of his seat laughing his heart out with the other students at the pink glitter covered teacher standing in shock at the mess, this is the thing that set him off on creation forever.

Now as he stands  in front of Puffy’s office with Phil, he wonders if he can sneak another into Puffy's desk. That goes down the drain when the women opens the door with a kind stupid smile staring at them.

  While she’s holding is fucking penguin. 

 Tommy was so caught up in everything he hadn’t even realized he didn’t have the damn thing, Which made a lot of sense of why sleeping last night sucked ass. He’s never slept well without it, so in a fear maddening mind he steps towards Puffy and snatches the stuffed animal away from her grasp fast, holding it close to his heart as he glares at the two.

 “The fuck you’d do to him?’ He spats backing away from them, he knows how people can be with things like this. His mom had a friend over once who tried to burn the penguin all because Tommy was crying over spilled orange juice on him. “I swear to god if you messed with him I’ll kill you.”

  Puffy only raises her hands in a peace like way, “No! God no- I just saw him sitting on the floor after you’d left. He’s been tucked safe inside my desk, no one except me has touched him okay?” She looks shocked at the thought of messing with the penguin, but Tommy doesn’t really trust it.

  Instead he shoves the thing down his shirt like he’s always done when someone suspicious was around it. Neither of the adults say anything on it and soon he’s left in the hallway with a, “Stay here.” From Phil as the two step into the office for whatever they had to do involving him.

  He notes how there's no security guards waiting for him this time, so instead of staying put Tommy decides to explore. In his defense, if they were that worried about him moving about they’d have either let him in, had one of the twins who are sitting in the lobby be with him, or a security guard be placed on watch. Instead they did the dumb mistake of trusting him, so now he’s gonna figure out a way out this place and possibly a vending machine to steal from.

  “Stupid bitches.” He giggles out as he reaches the stairs, he knew the building was a good walk away from his apartment but he’s walked two hours just to get home before. Hence why he was gonna steal some shit, he’d need drinks and snacks for the walk anyway.  

  He’s laughing all the way down prepping to do his trick when he sees Techno of all people wasting his money on the vending machine Tommy planned to rob, which wasn’t great seeing as he’s meant to avoid them to get away.

  But Tommy hates wasting money and he hates giving it away to vending machines so in the goodness of his heart he shouts, “The fuck are you doing?”

 Techno jumps, shocked at seeing Tommy by the stairs looking upset. Which he understood, he was meant to be up with Phil not down here. But to save face the boy huffs "Getting a snack?" Techno responds unsure, waving his hand at the machine as Tommy scoffs.

  “I can see that, But you people have no idea how to just take the shit without spending a cent?” He asks hopping off the last step as he bounds towards the machine with a cheeky little grin as the other looks very confused. 

  Techno shrugs, “You’re meant to spend money to get food, kid, that’s how these machines work.” 

  But Tommy shakes his head and pushes the older man away, “Maybe over there, but in this side of the city all the machines are busted. The mayor doesn't give a shit about giving us fancy machines.” He explains, yanking the quarter out of Techno's hand as he stuffs it in his hoodie, “What did you want?”

 To Tom’s surprise, Techno doesn’t even blink at the act. Simply pointing at a bag of cookies with watchful eyes, curious and slightly concerned as Tommy nods before moving to the right side. “What exactly are you doing?”  

  “Getting you-” He starts with a larger grin, lifting up his left leg before slamming it straight into the side of the machine with a large thud as snacks fall to the opening on the bottom, “Your snack, for free!”

 While Techno looks pale, Tommy moves to snatch the food he likes and tosses the ones he doesn’t out the way. The trick seemed easy but it wasn’t, he learned which sides looked the most dented. How hard he had to kick, how to save his leg from getting messed up and how to bolt afterwards. But it paid off with free snacks, never once had he used a dollar on these machines since learning and he still wouldn’t even when he had all the money in the world.

  “That’s stealing.” The older boy finally speaks up shocked, flinching when Tommy shoved the cookies he wanted into his hand. “Phil’s not gonna be happy about you stealing kid-”

 With a quick roll of the eyes Tommy moves past Techno, “I’m not stealing, the city is. Overpriced snacks in stupid money stealing machines? Those are the thieves, I’m a human who needs food to survive.” He huffs out, moving farther away as his feet ache to run before Techno notices.

 There’s a hand on his shoulder, “You know running won’t work well in the end right? Phil and Puffy will call the cops, you’ll be placed in a tightly secure home if you try.” Techno warns softly, letting go just a quick as he walks past Tommy. “I don’t like you, I don't want you in our house. But I’d prefer you to be somewhere safe and loved than my dad worrying about seeing you dead on the news because he couldn’t help you.” He admits without hesitating, without remorse as Tommy looks at him with blank eyes. 

 He’s gone as soon as he finishes, leaving Tommy in the cold quiet hall with no one but his thoughts. Knowing Techno just gave him a choice to run or stay, neither being a fun option for Tommy in the end. But one determined safety, he just…he didn’t know which one. 

  Phil stands with his phone in his hand, just about to call security in a panic when Tommy walks out the exit door stairs with a frown. Letting the door close with a loud shut as Phil’s heart slows in its pace.

  “When do I talk with Puffy?” The blonde asks quietly, not once looking up at Phil.

 That doesn’t stop the man from giving a small smile back.

   “Why did you keep the penguin?” He demands the second they get inside. The first question he needed to know.

 “Because he’s yours. I Swear I made sure no one touched him.” Puffy whispered as she walked in behind Tommy as the door shut, “He stayed in my drawer, I promise.”

Tommy stays quiet, moving to the farthest seat away from the woman as he checks over the stuffed toy to make sure. He didn’t get to it earlier, but he needed to know what was wrong with it. To see what they did to it, would they mess up his penguin to punish him? Would they take it back?  

  Puffy studies him for a moment before she shifts in her own seat, preparing to question the boy and hopefully make him feel more safe. To get the answers they needed, If Tommy didn’t speak she didn’t know what would happen. Puffy knew his mother kept to the same story, swore she never hurt Tommy. But Puffy learned in life, parents lie in these situations to save their own asses. 

 In the same cases, sometimes the parents win and the child is put back with them. In most of those cases, the child never lives to see their adult years. Those are the cases that haunt Puffy, the ones she wished  she could go back in time for.

  “Tommy, I think you understand by now what situation you’re in correct?” She begins as the boy seizes up, it hurts her heart to witness these parts but she knew she couldn't show it. “To help me and the police understand better the questions I’m about to ask..you have to be honest with them. That's the only way I can help you hun.”

Tommy nods once.

 And so, she begins with the first question. “How did you get the black-eye?”

  He doesn’t speak at first, shrugging as he twists the penguin's fin with a soft motion. Puffy can only sigh, “You have to answer these to help me understand, I know it’s hard but work with me alright?”

 The blue eyed boy frowns, “School, I got in from school when I fought that girl.” He answers, he lies.

 Her lips twist, knowing the lie when she hears it yet she doesn’t call Tommy out on it. “How long have you lived in these conditions?” She asks, watching as the tension eases up when she directs the questions away from the eye.

  “My whole life.” He speaks up, “Before you get that sad look, understand I love how I’ve lived. It might not be perfect or pretty, but I liked it.”

 She says nothing to that, Tommy huffs again.

 “Has your mother ever hurt you before?” The worst question so far, she watches the fire build in Tommy’s eyes as he grits out a no. She notes down the defensive parts towards his mother, how Tommy was a bear ready to claw down them all to protect his mother. 

 “Do you feel safe with your mom?”

 “Yes.”

  “Have you ever run away from home before?”

 “Every kid has, I’m not special.”

 Each question comes with more snarking comments, each question hurts Puffy when she sees this broken little kid who knows only how to defend. Who was raised to fight even with the smallest things, a wild animal no one taught right.

 Puffy asks her final questions.

 “Are you happy with your mom,” Puffy starts slowly as a stern yet sad look grows on her face, one that was prepared to get the truth and only the truth “Or are you happy with the idea of her? Are you happy with the idea of something you could have?”

 The fire grows and Puffy is only a small bucket of water that can’t do much to stop it.

Tommy snarls as he stands up, rage burning in his eyes as he coldly looks towards the older women with nothing but pure hate. “I love my mom, I was happy with her. I loved my life, loved my home no matter how fucking gross it was. I was happy and you guys ruined it, You hurt me more than she has. You ruined me- took me away from the things i needed and expected to be seem as fucking heroes?” He shouts loudly, kicking away the chairs in his way as Puffy backs up in shock.

  “You say you’ll help me, that- that you’ll listen to me! But you’re a fucking liar, you’re all liars that stole me away!” His voice cracks as he storms up to her desk, Phil could be heard shouting from behind her locked door yet Puffy does nothing but stare.

  She stares at the little boy that had tears streaming down his face with a heaving chest, shouting the worst at her as he cries without realizing. What gets her the most is how he holds the penguin closer, like it would save him from a monster. Save him from her . 

 “I hate you-” He sobs out, “I hate you, I hate you, hate you.” He repeats, curling in on himself as he hurts.

   “I want my mom.” Is the phrase that will haunt her all day, it haunts her when Tommy leaves her office with a concerned Phil behind the boy. It haunts her when she sits back down, when she looks through report after report. 

 It haunts her all the way until she goes to bed.

 Tommy doesn’t let Phil push him inside when they get back, instead he demands to have space and forces the three to leave him on the porch. They never got around to shopping, Tommy refused to leave the car when Phil tried and so the man gave up.

Now Tommy sits on the porch stairs with his head halfway tucked into his knees as he hugs himself, staring at the clean street with short hate. Picturing it as his street, dirty and ruined. But so exciting and loved by him, something he never feared.

He enjoyed the time by himself with the space to think, to just imagine and slip away from it all. Just him and the world, his world. 

 A world that hated him, spat on him like trash. Called him vulgar words and tortured him for the sake of laughs, a world that used him as a puppet.

 His perfect world, his sick little world.

A world that whispered sweet lies in his ears, told him he’d be safe and loved while stabbing him with the weight of its words. Promising he’d be okay while tossing him off a cliff into a cold void of grabbing hands and watching eyes. A horrible world, a cruel world.

 But his mother swims in that void with him, his mother holds his wounds when the world stabbed him and his mother jumps after him when he’s pushed. His mother loved him and that’s why he was fine with that world.

 But now, he was a universe away and she didn’t follow him.

 She didn’t save him and he wonders when she became the cruel world.

 Tommy wonders…he wonders if it was worth it anymore. If lying to himself was okay, but he never gets the chance to think about it when the wood creaks behind him and a snobby laugh booms in his ears. He should've know the gentleness he received earlier wouldn't stay, that the other boy in the house wouldn't play nice forever.

 Because Wilbur was sad, he had to hurt others to make him feel better Tommy figured.

  “You’re really having a pity moment on my porch? That’s sad as fuck man.” Wilbur snorts from behind him, kicking lightly with the tip of his shoe on Tommy’s back while the boy grits his teeth.

  This makes Wilbur give a fake whine, “What? Did it not go well for you? Did Mommy say to keep you away?” He laughs again, like he was the funniest fucker in the world. “I bet she’s cheering in her little jail-cell right now. Happy to be away from you and your destructive little self.”

 That makes Tommy stand up, whipping around to glare at the older boy as he closes his hands into a tight fist. “Shut up, how hard is it to not talk all the time?” He spits out, wishing to wipe off the ugly smile from the brunette's face. 

 It’s the smug cheeky smile the older has that does Tommy in after he speaks. Wilbur, who thought he knew all about Tommy. Wilbur, who was so privileged he thought he could get away with whatever he said. Like the world relied on his witty hurtful comments, like a strived baby needing milk to live. 

 “It’s just the nasty truth Tom, don’t get so butt-hurt.” Wilbur keeps on with a hateful chuckle, “Just because you and Tech had a little bonding moment doesn’t mean that’s a clear sign you’ll stay. No one can love a street rat, no one will care for you.”

  And then Wilbur gets in his face, bending down to his height as he glares down Tommy. “Phil can’t wait to get your flea ridden ass out this out, let's be honest here. You know you belong in the same place as your mother.”

  Tommy- in all his well-being and believe him when he says he tried his best to keep peace with Wilbur. Does try to keep his cool, but there’s so much he can take from one certain single bratty person. There’s only so much he can build up into a tight box locked in his heart, but there’s no room left to handle Wilbur And his comments. So what if he has to leave Phil’s, it’ll be easier to get away. So what if this could ruin everything, if this is what messes up it all for him then he knows he tried either way it went.

 But Tommy's tired.

  So he smiles back, tilts his head and says with fake cheer, “Hey dickwad.” That gains the man's attention, an insult on the tip of the brunette's tongue.

 Tommy swings his hand back and launches it just as fast. 

 And that said insult is immediately switched with a painful yelp and the sound of a back hitting the floor as Wilbur holds his nose with a pained groan. Within a few seconds Tommy can see blood start to drip from the side of his face.

  Shaking his hand, Tommy doesn’t hesitate to spit on the man's shoes. “You got something on your face William , You should clean that before the perfect police come for you, yeah?” He laughs out with the same tone Wilbur had not even a minute ago.  And just like that, Tommy walks inside the home with a happy little grin even when his knuckles burn slightly.

 Leaving Wilbur on the floor of the porch, who stares at Tommy’s back with shock as he clutches his nose with a wince. Not once expecting the younger to actually fall through with his threat, or to do it like it was the easiest thing he’s ever known to do.

    And Tommy hates how his hand aches from the punch, how weak he felt after.

Chapter Text

Hiiii, an update of great news! Troubled teens is coming back and so am I!! The fourth chapter is still in the works but I'm almost done and it should be out sometime this week or the next!

  I'm sorry for all the waits with all the stories I had, I didn't have a computer for awhile and personal things happened that caused me to be pushed back more.

  Techno's passing was one of these and I'm still greatly upset by this but I feel like I'm ready to write again!

 Not only do I have troubled teens in the works again, I have other aus too! I will admit I'm not a big part of the dsmp anymore and went into other fandom's, but Tommy is still a huge thing for me so I'll still be writing about him!

 I would also like to say this given the news on twitter, I do have a life out of ao3 and writing is not the most important thing in my life. Writers are put through a lot and when people ask me about stories it somehow makes me less motivated.

  I do ask that if I don't upload for awhile you respect this. I'm 18 years old and i have things that need to be done cuz adulting lmao.

  Nothing has happened to me personally just what happened to that one writer has me frustrated. Please respect the people that write the stories you love :) we have things we go through too.

 Other than all that, I'm excited to come back! When I finish the chapter, which hell could even be tonight if I become that motivated, I'll delete this note and post it!

See yall soooonn!!