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Tommy is a very big man.
In fact, some even say he’s the biggest man ever.
He isn’t afraid of anything.
People are afraid of him, terrified of just how cool and strong and fucking epic he is.
He’s not scared.
Especially not of the horror movie that he and Wil are currently watching.
“You good, Toms?” Wilbur asks partway through the movie after feeling the couch shift from Tommy jumping, but that’s just because jumping is fun, not because he got startled or anything.
Tommy just nods his head to that, certainly not because he’s too scared to speak, nope nope nope, his nonverbal response is only because Wilbur is a wrong’un, Tommy shouldn’t even waste his time talking to him.
When Tommy sees Wilbur smirk at his lack of verbal answer, he does what the biggest of men do.
He flips Wilbur off, shoving him with his feet when his brother merely laughs at him.
A scream from the tv draws Tommy’s attention to the screen, his stomach flip-flopping uncomfortably when yet another person dies, a splatter of blood filling the room like a deadly cloud.
As the movie continues, it’s like Tommy is stuck, not wanting to watch the horrors unfolding on the screen, but unable to look away out of fear of missing whatever happens next.
By the time the movie’s over, Tommy is…
Fine, he’s perfectly fine, of course he’s fine, his name is Big Man TommyInnit, there’s no way a silly little movie would scare him.
“How was it?” Wilbur asks with a knowing look as he turns off the tv, descending the room into darkness that definitely doesn’t scare Tommy. “Did you like it?”
“No, it was fuckin’ stupid,” Tommy grumbles angrily, subtly scooting closer to Wilbur now that it’s dark. “They all should’ve just ran away, I’d never get killed like them.”
“Of course not,” Wilbur agrees in an amused tone, a cheeky grin tugging at his lips as he continues, “Let me guess, you’d kill the killer?”
“Damn right I would, he’d be dead before he even realized I was there,” Tommy confidently says, the 8-year-old’s chest puffing out with pride. “No one can defeat Big Man Tommy.”
“No one at all,” Wil confirms as he nods his head, feigning a yawn as he says, “Well, I’m exhausted now, time for me to go to sleep.”
“Wait, you’re sleeping after that?!” Tommy exclaims in an appalled tone, not able to imagine sleeping any time soon now.
While shrugging his shoulders, Wilbur asks with a growing smirk, “I mean why not? It’s not like it was scary or anything, right?”
“Course not!” Tommy loudly says without hesitation, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest as he continues, “I ain’t scared of any stupid killer.”
“Same here,” Wilbur agrees as he too stands up. “Night then, Toms.”
“Night…” Tommy mutters as Wil begins walking away, and being all alone now certainly doesn’t make him feel afraid or anything, that’d be crazy.
In the darkness, Tommy makes his way to his room, trying his best not to imagine a looming figure with a large, bloody axe in all the doorways he passes.
Once in his room, Tommy quickly shuts his door, placing a few pillows in front of it as a barricade, and that’s something he does every single night just for fun, it’s certainly not to try to keep out any scary killers or anything, nothing like that.
And then he lays down to sleep.
Only to bolt upright a few moments later, remembering how in the movie one of the people died in their bed, unaware of the killer entering the room while they slept.
So that means he’ll just have to stay awake.
Easy peasy.
Super duper easy.
He can do this for hours.
He’s just… a bit bored.
Sitting all alone in his room like this…
Only memories of the deadly killer to keep him company…
He’s just bored, not at all scared.
That’s how he finds himself knocking on his dad’s door.
“Come in!” Phil calls out, surprised that one of his boys is knocking on his door, but he’ll always let them in without hesitation.
“Dad…” Tommy starts as he steps into the room, but he trails off, too embarrassed to say why he’s there.
But Phil must be able to hear something in his son’s voice, his dad switching on the lamp at his bedside table as he asks, “What’s wrong, Mate?”
“I… can’t sleep,” Tommy finally admits, staring intently at the ground so he doesn’t have to see Phil’s face.
“Want to come lay with me?” Phil asks in a kind, understanding tone, his arms opening in invitation for a hug.
Without looking up, Tommy weakly asks, “Can Wil and Techno come here too?”
“Course, Mate,” Phil agrees without hesitation, sitting up and getting out of bed as he suggests, “Why don’t you get comfortable while I go get your brothers?”
Not needing to be told twice, Tommy rushes to Phil’s large bed and makes himself all cozy, burying himself in blankets so that not even his head can be seen.
A few moments later, Phil returns with Wilbur and Techno in tow, the older of the two brothers feeling guilty when he sees Tommy hiding in the blankets, knowing that he wouldn’t be scared if they hadn’t watched that movie together.
The three of them settle into bed, Wilbur on Tommy’s left and Phil on Tommy’s right, Techno clinging to Phil from behind.
Surrounded by the warmth of his family, Tommy pokes his head out of the blankets, being met with Wilbur’s eyes looking at him worriedly.
In a terribly soft tone, Wilbur asks him, “You know nothing’s gonna hurt you, right?”
“Are you sure?” Tommy hesitantly questions in return, not really believing those words.
“Of course, I’ll protect you,” Wilbur replies with a small, reassuring smile, Phil and Techno voicing their agreement as well.
And surrounded by his family who hold him close while promising to keep him safe, memories of that movie slowly begin to leave his mind. Instead, Tommy is filled with warm feelings of safety and love as his family continues to surround him.
So even though Tommy is a very, very big man, he decides that, maybe just this once, it’s okay to be scared.