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Tommy was walking home, so needless to say he wasn’t expecting to get tackled from behind.
The world tipped around him. Concrete slammed into his head. Black spots danced in his vision. By the time Tommy had recovered even slightly, someone had grabbed him by the hair. There was a camera in his face. Tears welling up in his eyes, Tommy gasped painfully when the fingers in his hair jerked his head back until his neck was strained. “Awwww, look at him.” The person holding the camera dropped down. “Hi, Toms.” Blinking, Tommy stared at the person in front of him. A black sports jacket and trousers, fancy dress shoes, a white button-up shirt and black tie. This wasn’t a school uniform. This was someone who liked to dress that way. Curly golden-brown hair drifted down in front of sharp gray eyes. Grinning crookedly, one of his college friends—Nick—rested his elbows on his knees, phone up in front of his face. Reaching forwards, he grabbed Tommy’s chin. “He’s so scared. Aw, you gonna cry?”
“Nick—“ Face contorting, Nick moved. Tommy felt pain strike across his cheek. He was pinned to the ground, a knee pressed in between his shoulders. Nick had slapped him. “What—“
“Shut up—“ Another familiar voice— Chris? —growled. Tommy’s head was pulled back a little bit more. Then, he was smashed face-first into the ground. Crying out, Tommy tried to move. More hands grabbed his hands, and then he was hauled to his feet. Nick rose, too, keeping the camera on Tommy’s face.
“You want to know what this boy did? Huh?” Nick jerked his head to the side. Then, casually, Chris and the others—Tommy glanced back, could see Paul and Ricky and Jason—shoved him into one of the alleyways. Panicked, he glanced back. Glanced around for a camera. There was CCTV everywhere in Britain. There had to be something that could catch what was going on.
It was pointed the other way. No, no. Digging his heels into the concrete, fighting back against the hands shoving him to the alleyway, Tommy growled. Dug his heels into the ground. Come on, come on.
“You don’t—you don’t need to do this. I promise. I don’t—“ He was shoved forwards. Then, there was a sharp kick to the back of his knees. He was thrown to the ground again. Someone kicked him in the ribs.
“Oh, you know exactly what you did. You’ve been looking at us, huh?” Jason asked, kicking Tommy in the ribs again. Pain split across them. Gasping, Tommy curled up on his side. Grabbed at his ribs. Something felt wrong. Jerking his hands away, he dropped his head to the side. Wheezed. “Come on. We know what all of you are like.”
“All of who?” Tommy coughed, pushing himself up. There was another kick to his face. Nick was still filming him. Chris dragged him up by the front of his shirt. Shoved him against a wall. There was a cold light to the green of his eyes. Leaning forwards, he grinned at Tommy.
“Come on. Really? You’re still denying it? Everyone at college knows. Everyone saw those little pictures.” There was a punch to Tommy’s stomach. Then, there was a second punch, followed by a sharp elbow to the underside of his sternum. Gasping again, Tommy tried to kick weakly at Jason. Heat rushed to his eyes. There was a sharp scoff.
“Aww, he’s crying.” Chris mocked. Next to him, Nick kept on filming and laughed sharply. Paul and Ricky were there, too. Ricky was leaning against the brick wall of the alleyway, keeping watch. Meanwhile, Paul took a step forwards.
“Hold on, Jason. I want a hand at him.” Paul announced, cracking his knuckles. Jason held Tommy to the wall, and Tommy glanced at him.
“Hold on—what did I do—I swear I didn’t—“ A fist slammed into his face. Something popped in his jaw. Everything whited out. Tommy kicked as hard as he could, fought back. When his vision cleared, he was lying on the ground. Paul was on top of him, punching again and again and again. Weakly, Tommy tried to move his arms. Tried to defend his face. Copper flooded his mouth. Something was wrong with his face. With his jaw.
Whimpering, he laid against the concrete. Coughed again. Something smashed into his nose. His head was bashed into the ground again. One of his hands came up to defend himself. A hand wrapped around it. Squeezed.
“You don’t even try to hide it. It’s like with your other friends.” Paul growled. Shook him. Something in Tommy’s wrist popped. He could barely hear anything going on around him. Everything was a sharp red tone, heart pounding in his ears and throat. His vision was swimming with black dots in his eyes. Blinking, he tipped his head to the side. Tried to gasp something out. “What’s his face. Greg?”
“George.” Nick corrected behind the camera. One of Tommy’s arms was grabbed and he was hauled upright. Thrown to the ground again. Sprawled out on his front, Tommy laid there. Tried to move. He couldn’t feel one side of his face anymore. His jaw hurt. “Aww, don’t have anything to say, Tommy? Not going to defend yourself?”
Someone curb-stomped his arm. Pain shot through his bones and Tommy jolted. Cried out. There was another kick to his ribs, and he laid there. Tried to raise his head. He could hear Nick and the others talking. Mocking him. Talking about how he was one of “those people”, how he was probably staring at them when they changed, how he was lying to them and manipulating them into thinking he was “normal”.
Swallowing weakly, Tommy tried to raise his head again. Everything dulled out. Dropping his head down, he squeezed his eyes shut. Someone crouched down in front of him. Nick, from the sound of his voice. “All those people are like that. They’re not really interested in friends. Not of their own sex. They’re just interested in getting someone. Ain’t that right, Toms? Huh?” A hand dragged along the side of his face. Swallowing, Tommy looked at him. Sucked in a breath. “You’re so pathetic. Weak, really. You and all those other gay people are just so disgusting . You have a crush on me, don’t you?”
“Ew, that’s so gross.” There was a sharp noise. Metal on metal. A chill ran up Tommy’s spine as a flash of silver caught his eye. Blinking, he tried to push himself up again. His heart clenched up, pounded harder and harder. “Scared? You should be.”
Stinging, sharp pain split his nerves at the small of his back. It was right next to his spine, thankfully vertical and not horizontal. Somehow, they’d missed it through the hoodie. Stiffening, he stared at Ricky as he ripped out the knife. Let out another pained noise. Why? He stared at them. Why are you doing this?
All of a sudden, Chris’ face changed. “Whoa, whoa. Why’d you stab him?”
“Because he’s one of them. You saw that clip. It’s disgusting . A mental illness or something.” Ricky said. Then, he moved the knife around and stabbed Tommy in the back of the shoulder. Jolting, Tommy let out another cry.
“Well we don’t need to shank him.” Chris pointed out, moving over. Ricky tore the knife out again, twisted it this time. Then, he faced off with Chris, holding the bloody knife in his hand. Cowering, Chris ducked his head. “Nevermind.”
“Get the fuck out of here.” Ricky growled, shoving him back. Swallowing, Chris glanced down at Tommy. His eyes were wide. Like he hadn’t attacked Tommy, too. Stumbling back, Chris turned and then sprinted away. No, wait. Please. Tommy tried to push himself up again. Tried to let out a soft noise and get himself up. Nothing worked. Instead, he was left splayed across the concrete.
Everything started fading in and out. I’m dying, Tommy realized in a shocking moment of clarity. I’m never going to go home, he realized. Twitching his fingers, he sucked in a breath. His breathing hitched up as something red dripped by his eye. I’m bleeding. Head swimming, he tried to move. Gasped. His breath was sharper. He couldn’t feel his hands or legs. Coughing, he sucked in a breath.
“Oh, stop crying!” Someone ordered. There was a sharp kick to his ribs. This one rolled him onto his back. Someone stamped on his stomach. Jerking, Tommy stared up at the people who were supposed to be his friends. Someone kicked him in the head, and he let out another pained noise without trying to.
“Hey!” Someone roared. The others all looked up. “Stay right where you are!” Of course they didn’t listen. Instead, all of them sprinted off, leaving Tommy on the concrete. Swallowing, he raised his head as best he could. Someone ran by him. Their friend crouched by his side. Fingers checked his pulse, and he let out another noise.
“Oh gosh. Hey, kid. Look at me.” Hands settled on either side of his face and Tommy cried out. Full-on, let out a wail. “Shit, shit. Okay. Your jaw’s broken, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t hurt you on purpose.” Squeezing his eyes shut, Tommy kept sucking in ragged breaths. Everything faded in and out.
He blacked out to the person calling for an ambulance.
When he woke up, he was lying on a gurney.
People were rushing him towards somewhere. “Does he have any medical allergies we need to pay attention to?” Someone asked. To Tommy’s shock, he heard Techno’s voice. The words were hard for him to make out, because he was still drifting in and out of consciousness.
Reaching up, he touched his face. He was on his side. Something was wrapped around his neck. Something else was attached to his face, currently. His fingers brushed plastic. White walls rushed by. “Hey, kiddo. Tommy? That’s your name, right?” Tommy groaned, tried to look at them. There was something over his eye. Blinking, he looked at the nurse. “Hey. You’re alright. We have you. We’re just going to take you into surgery. You’ll be alright, you’re in good hands.”
Groaning, Tommy tried to open his eyes more. They drifted shut without him trying to. This time, he was somewhere else. Being shifted onto another bed. Everything ached. The nurse above him glanced over, smiled softly and touched his hair. “Hey, kiddo. You’re out of surgery, we’re just putting you into the ICU. We’re going to put you out again, you shouldn’t be awake right now which I’m sure you can probably feel.” He smiled down at Tommy. “Okay, count down from ten.” Tommy nodded weakly. Something was wrong with his jaw. He couldn’t open it at all.
The last thing he realized was that his jaw was wired shut, and then he was unconscious again.
A hand on his arm brought him back to himself. Opening his eyes, he looked over to see Techno there. Techno reached up, ran a hand through his hair. Eyes closing slightly, Tommy slumped into the bed a little more. Took a breath through the plastic mask strapped to his face. This was fine. This was better, actually. Much better than being in the alley.
With his friends…who weren’t his friends. Smiling tightly, Techno looked down at him. “I’m so sorry, Toms. This shouldn’t have happened. Not to you.” He whispered. “Not to anyone.”
Tommy paused. Tried to open his mouth. He couldn’t, though. There was a rapping sound at the door, and he and Techno glanced over to see Phil walking in. Their dad had that sort of smile he got when he was trying to be reassuring but was being torn apart on the inside. “Hey, mate. Nice to see you awake.” He whispered softly. Walking over, he settled down on Tommy’s other side. “You won’t be able to talk for a little while. They broke your jaw. Kristin is picking Wilbur up from university, they’ll be here any moment.” Nodding, Tommy swallowed. His eyes watered, and he sniffed.
They broke his jaw. His friends broke his jaw . And he didn’t even know why. Lifting his hands, he looked down. Froze at the sight of his own body. At the bandages and gauze on his arms and fingers. The IV in the crook of his elbow. Panicked, he looked to his dad again. Phil looked to Techno, who nodded.
Softly, Phil began explaining. “They managed to stab you a couple times. Uhm, your jaw was broken. You have some broken ribs. A lot of bruises.” Looking to the side, Phil bit his lip. “They have it filmed.”
He had seen it filmed. He had seen someone holding the phone. Had heard them laughing and joking about it. Shoulders shaking, he reached up. Looked at his hands again.
Techno held onto him as he started crying.
+++
Technoblade @TheRealTechnoblade . 6m
Whoever spreads that video will need to answer to me.
Bumblebitch @beesbeesbees . 5m
Replying to @TheRealTechnoblade
Mhmm of course sir absolutely we are all looking away respectfully
+++
“Tommy, which milkshake do you want?”
Reaching over, Tommy shuffled through his cards. Immediately, he showed Techno the card for a strawberry shake. Nodding, Techno headed off. Tommy followed him. He was limping slightly. Then, quietly, he started writing something down on the index card. So clearly, this was going to be something long.
They had already figured out why Tommy had had the shit beaten out of him. His friends had heard he was gay. That was it. All they had gone off of was a rumor that he was gay and they had wrecked him for it. Which, as someone who was aroace, Techno found absolutely horrific. To make matters worse, they had posted the video. They wanted other people to see it. They used Tommy’s phone for some of it, too. Hacked his account and posted it to YouTube. To Twitter. To any site that they could get it to. It had taken a lot of work and emails to get people to take the videos down. People had seen Tommy getting hurt.
As Techno finished chucking the strawberry slices, ice cream, and milk into the blender and started…blending, Tommy finished up what he was writing. Passed it over to Techno. Looking down, he read over it. Looked up at Tommy.
“You’re kidding me.” He said. Shaking his head, mouth pulled into a thin line, Tommy shrugged. Staring at him, Techno held up the card. “Really? They did this? They complained about this? And they beat you up?”
The card was just a couple lines of Tommy’s choppy but shockingly neat handwriting. “You know once Alan complained about me abandoning him and how he had rumors spread about how he was gay and that destroyed his social life. While the stuff with my parents happened.” Now, Techno knew who Alan was. He knew how much of a jerk he was. How he had hurt Tommy. And he had complained, and now Tommy was the one with the wired-shut jaw and the broken bones and injuries.
Setting down the freshly-made milkshake, Techno shoved a straw into it and pointed it at Tommy. Flashing his “thank you” card to Techno, Tommy shoved the straw in the tiny little gap he had to eat through and slowly started drinking. He looked tired, which meant he was probably going to need to take a nap after this. Walking over, Techno easily scooped him up. Then, carefully, he carried Tommy and the shake over to the couch and settled them down. Tucked the blankets around him. Tommy sent him a grateful smile, and Techno quickly fetched his other pain meds and held them up. Tommy shook his head.
As soon as he had finished the shake, Tommy set the plastic cup to the side. Techno shifted the pillows behind him. Yes, he was Tommy’s nurse. He didn’t care. This was his brother, he was going to care for him. Tommy’s eyes flicked closed as he drifted off, and Techno smiled and then ruffled his hair. There was a moment where Tommy’s nose scrunched up. Then, his whole face softened out, and Techno straightened his back. Smiling, he picked up Tommy’s cup. Walked back to the sink, started washing the dishes.
He might as well do the other dishes, too.
+++
Tommy opened his mouth a couple times, rubbing at the sides of his jaw.
“How’s it feel, mate?” Phil asked, softly. Reaching over, Techno touched his little brother’s knee. Wilbur and Kristin were both leaning forwards, watching curiously. This was the first day Tommy had actually been able to open his jaw since the whole…incident. The day before the whole locking mechanism had been surgically removed. He hadn’t exactly been in the mood to continue being awake, much less start chattering away like he normally would be.
Flexing his jaw, Tommy closed his eyes for a second. Took a slow breath. “Fuck.” He mumbled under his breath. The word was raspy and hoarse, which made sense. For the past four months, Tommy hadn’t exactly talked. He’d hummed a couple times, made a couple sounds, but hadn’t really done much else. Laughing hoarsely, he touched his throat. Looked around. “I sound like Corpse.”
Nudging his arm, Wilbur laughed, “Sure, if Corpse was a three-year-old.” Tommy snorted.
“Fuck you.” He dropped his head onto Wilbur’s shoulder. Laughed in a low tone. “My throat hurts.”
“Yeah, you’re probably going to need to retrain your vocal chords.” Phil laughed. “Or something. Just keep talking like you always do.”
“I wanna stream.” Tommy whispered. Looking up, he said, “I want them to know why I was gone. I don’t care if they make fun of me for—“ He cut off and started coughing. Quickly, Kristin offered him a glass of water. Tommy took it, nodded a thanks.
“How about…we film something instead?” Techno suggested. Tommy met his gaze. Then, he nodded. “Alright. We can make a little vlog of it. That sound fun?”
“Mhmm.” He winced when he opened his mouth. “Might still need to—shakes—“ He seemed almost embarrassed. Like he didn’t want to be an issue.
“On the bright side?” Techno looked at him, grinned. “Ever tried maple bacon doughnut ice cream?”
+++
TommyInnit uploaded: Four Months in the Life of TommyInnit But Boy’s Jaw is Broke…
TommyInnit @TommyInnit . 3m
Hey go check out the new vid it’s got family in it. Also yes I did actually break my jaw.
I lived bitches!
[Image ID of Tommy holding what looks to be a maple bacon milkshake, Wilbur behind him with his mouth wide open in a cartoonish caricature of someone gagging. Someone—presumably Techno—is giving Tommy rabbit ears while Kristin and Phil are laughing at Wilbur in the background.]