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Standing awkwardly in the corner of the room seemed to be the only thing Tommy could do.
He resisted the urge to thump his feet against the ground- it was his brother's birthday he should be celebrating it with him, not being anxious in a corner. But looking out at all of the people in the room, all of Wilbur's friends no doubt, made him freeze in his tracks.
Tommy forced his ears to stay perked up- no matter how much he wanted to just cover them up, it was so loud- and scanned the place for either one of his brothers.
Wilbur was talking to some of his friends and he was pretty sure Techno was in the kitchen talking with Niki, the only other person he knew there besides his dad, so there was no point in trying to talk to one of them. Tommy was loud when he spoke, he doesn't feel like being loud, he doesn't even really feel like talking, but if he tries to just hang around someone he knows they'll surely try to talk and he doesn't know how to tell them he doesn't want to.
He was already on the verge of going to his room or something just to try and lessen the noise, but when the music started up, it threw him over the edge. It was sudden too- loud and sudden. He jumped and turned to face the speakers the noise had come from, his heart thumping in his chest.
Tommy took in a deep breath- did he even get any air?- and went over to the bathroom, locking the door behind him with shaking hands and sliding down the wall with his back to it. He tried tapping his thumb against his fingers, counting to four and then restarting but it didn't help calm his heart. His paws subconsciously thumped against the ground as he sucked in air, finally allowing his ears to flatten down against the back of his head.
Tommy swallowed and stood up- he couldn't stay in the bathroom forever- looking at himself in the mirror. He quite frankly looked like a mess. His hair was a mess, though that wasn't too out of the ordinary, his hands were shaking, and his ears were a huge giveaway with how they were pressed down.
He combed his hair with his hands as best as he could and looked at the bathroom door. Maybe he should go outside, there's no one outside as far as he was aware. There was certainly no music or loud talking. Yeah, he should go outside.
He hesitantly cracked the bathroom door open and immediately recoiled at how the sounds amplified, sending his heart right back into overdrive. Tommy quickly slipped out of the bathroom and walked down the hallway to the outside door, fumbling with the lock desperately for a few seconds when his hands refused to cooperate with him.
Every second that he struggled to get the door open, the louder the music seemed to get in his ears. The lights in the hallway seemed to burn straight into his eyes- when had they gotten so bright?- while he tried to turn the handle, his sweaty, shaking hands made it more difficult than it needed to be.
When he finally got the door open, he stepped outside and closed the door behind him, stopping to just stand there for a few moments to clench and unclench his hands.
Tommy bit the inside of his cheek and sat down against the wall next to the door, pressing his fingers to the pulse point on his wrist.
He still couldn't calm down, he wanted someone with him and- what was wrong with him? There were too many people inside and now all of the sudden there were too few people outside?
He teared up and he made a noise in frustration- why couldn't he just be normal? Tommy's hands grasped at his hair and he found himself tugging at it, the dull pain not doing much to prevent the tears. He gasped in, growing light headed after holding his breath for too long in an attempt to not cry.
Tears rolled down his cheeks and, God, he just wanted his brothers, or a hug, really either one of those options was fine with.
Tommy continued to cry, the pressure in his chest only getting worse until the back door suddenly opened. He immediately went quiet and scrubbed at his eyes, trying his best to breathe quietly.
He looked up and saw the silhouette of another hybrid, their long ears and short fluffy tail giving away that they were a rabbit- he hadn't seen another rabbit hybrid in a while.
Any hope that they would just walk past him was lost when they turned around, their eyes widening at the sight of him.
“Oh holy- are you okay?”
And Tommy isn't sure what it was that set it off- the concern in their voice, the fact that they were actually worried, maybe the hope that they would stick around- but he found his vision going blurry again. He hiccuped and mentally cursed himself, his face flushing red from the embarrassment of crying in front of someone he doesn't even know.
“Oh, oh please don't be upset, I'm sorry- I can- I'm sorry,” Tommy shook his head at the person's words, they probably thought he was crying because of them.
Maybe he was, he's not sure, at first he thought it was because it was too loud but he wasn't inside anymore so why was he crying. The frustration from before returned, bubbling up from his chest to his throat and he tugged at his hair again. Why can't he just stop crying, he's in front of someone he needs to just-
Tommy's eyes snapped open as something was placed on his lap, his heart jumping in surprise. It was heavy, but more like the weight of a cat or dog in his lap than something else. It took a moment for his eyes to actually focus and his hands slowly unclenched from his hair to prod at whatever was in his lap.
It was soft, and squishy, and from what he could see from the dim light that the porch light gave, it looked like a giant moth.
“Is that helping? Sorry if I scared you, you just started crying and I didn't know what to do so I kind of just-” the other rabbit hybrid made a vague gesture with their hands- “placed it on your lap. It helps me calm down sometimes.”
Tommy took a few moments to just breathe and try to get to a stage where he wouldn't immediately burst into tears again. He found himself copying how the other person was breathing and wondered for a split second if they were purposely breathing in an exaggerated way.
“No-” Tommy winced as his voice cracked- “No, you're- you're fine. I- thank you.”
The other person smiled before responding.
“You’re welcome, I'm Ranboo by the way.” Ranboo's name seemed familiar, Tommy was pretty sure they were Niki’s sibling.
“I'm Tommy.”
“Oh! You're Wilbur's brother?” Ranboo perked up.
“I- yeah,” He confirmed.
“Niki’s talked about you before, she really likes you, y'know? She says you're a good friend.”
No. He didn't know. He knew that he and Niki were friends, but he didn't think that she told other people about him- even if it was only her family.
“Oh,” Tommy said awkwardly.
He was silent for a few seconds before realizing he was still holding the stuffed moth.
“Do you- uh- want this back?” He asked, holding the moth out to Ranboo.
“You can hold on to it for now, you seem like you need it,” Ranboo said before quickly adding on, “no offense!”
Tommy laughed, his heart feeling lighter.
“None taken, I might actually have to get one of these for myself.”
They went silent again, but the silence was a lot less awkward this time. Tommy turned his attention to the sky, staring up at the stars twinkling above.
“So, did you also come out here because it was too chaotic inside?” Ranboo finally spoke up, drawing Tommy's attention back to him.
“Yeah…it's loud in there, and there's too many people,” Tommy responded, suddenly feeling a bit happier knowing that he wasn't the only one that felt overwhelmed inside.
“Mhm, I don't know how other people can endure it, it hurts my ears,” Ranboo gestured to their ears, they were white and spotted with black patches, they stood out from their brown hair.
Tommy nodded in understanding, he hated sudden noises, and if a loud noise went on for long enough it would start to give him a headache.
“I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to leave soon, but if you have discord, we could add each other?”
Tommy straightend up and smiled excitedly.
“I do! My phone's inside though,” he said.
“That's okay! Do you remember your username?”
Tommy nodded and told Ranboo his username as they typed it in, making a mental note to check his discord after the party was over to accept the friend request and annoy Ranboo.
Later that night, after everyone had left and the house had been cleaned up, Tommy sat in his bed, his ears perked up as he messaged Ranboo, sending him memes and chatting about random things.
He eventually fell asleep with his phone in his hand and a smile on his face.