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"aren't you cold?"
tommy jolted, wide-eyes staring across the alley as his heart thundered against his ribs. fuck, fuck, fuck-
he'd only been in this new village for, what, a day? and he'd already been caught?
primes, he could never catch a break-
"sorry, i didn't scare you, did i?"
the stranger seemed apologetic enough, pale face twisted guiltily through blurred, drunken eyes. he didn't seem particularly intimidating, despite the faint scent of beer lingering in his presence. a baggy blue flannel hung from his frame, a dark shirt beneath it tucked into oversized jeans and ill-fitting boots. his hair seemed more than overgrown, dark curls hanging to his shoulders.
despite the clear height advantage, tommy hadn't panicked yet, which was a win in his books.
he exhaled heavily, "just a bit," tommy bit out, pressing a hand over his heart and squinting through the moonlight to actually see the stranger who'd scared him half to death.
"my bad," the man held up his hands, smiling lightly. "in my defence, there usually aren't children hidden in the alley behind the pub. this isn't exactly common."
tommy bared his teeth, hands clenching the ratty satchel in his lap as if his life depended on it, "i'm not a fucking child."
"you're, what, ten? eleven?" the man continued, staring down at tommy as he half-swayed on his feet.
he snarled, "i'm twelve." tommys eyes darted to the locked gate at the end of the alley, "prick," he added on, for good measure. he didn't feel like dealing with a drunk man in an alley so late, but the stupid gate had locked itself, and the only way out of the alley was through the door at the other end, which, according to the strange man, led into a pub.
now, tommy wasn't exactly known for his smarts, but he didn't have a death wish. there was no shot he was going into a pub.
the man paused, and, for a moment, tommy thought he'd pushed it too far. he'd delayed being thrown out long enough, it was time to just be a big man and deal with it. he'd been kicked out of places often enough that it stopped hurting anyway, he could take it.
"you didn't answer my question," he settled on, "are you cold?"
tommy knew he didn't have to answer. the goosebumps lining his thin forearms and his body's incessant shivering beneath his tattered t-shirt was obvious enough. still, he forced out, "no."
without missing a beat, the man shrugged off the dark blue flannel and held it loosely in an outstretched hand.
as soft as the material looked, ignoring the spilled beer on the sleeves, tommy knew he couldn't afford to owe anything to anyone. and so, he stared blankly before shaking his head, "that's yours. i'm not cold, really. thanks anyway, i guess."
"just take it," the mans voice had softened, though the drunken mumble. "really. you need it more than me. i live 'round the corner, it won't take me long to get home and warm up, but-" he hesitated, eyeing the half-empty water bottle at tommys side and the ancient bag in his lap, "you don't have anywhere to go back to, do you? please, just keep it."
fuck it. tommy was allowed to be selfish for once, right?
even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself as he snatched the jacket from the mans hands.
it was so painfully different to the crusted, ripped clothes he'd been stuck in, the ones stained with mud and blood and god knows what else. the jacket was agonisingly soft in his calloused hands, soft and gentle and unknown.
"it suits you more than me anyway," the man tilted his head, eyes crinkling as he smiled down at him.
tommy swallowed thickly, clutching the jacket tighter around him. this was the warmest he'd been in months. "who even are you? no normal person just gives away their jacket like that."
despite the venom laced within his words, the man only laughed, tipping his head back in amusement, "my name's wilbur. and i am normal, thank you very much."
"wait, this isn't your pub, is it? why are you going out the back entrance?" tommy narrowed his eyes, shuffling closer to the wall warily.
wilbur seemed to hesitate before settling on, "it's my friends pub, and i'm not technically supposed to be out, so he lets me go out the back so i'm not seen," as tommy hesitated, he took the chance to continue, eyes flickering to the gate at the end of the alley, "now i've really got to go, but you stay safe, yeah?"
before tommy got the chance to continue, he unlocked the gate, and slipped out, "thank you!" ringing in the air behind him.