Chapter Text
Every boy at Abingdon school learnt something far more important than anything any of their miserable teachers had to drone on about for hours, something that had to become a crucial instinct; this place was a cruel petri dish with the law of survival of the fittest. No one was safe from getting beat at least twice from someone, especially not from one student in particular.
Thomas E. Yorke.
Mean and scruffy with a severe Napoleon complex. By his looks you’d guess he was the number one kid to get picked on when in truth he was at the very top of the pecking order. The foolish and unwise were unassuming, all it took was one too-proud boy thinking he could beat the “Salamander” in a fight to have him then limp to the other end of school all the way to the sick bay bleeding.
Thom was a right proper bully, he would fight any boy that bothered him, no matter the grade or stature, even with his vision and size being a disadvantage he had his ultimate ways around it; he packed away a surprising amount of muscle on his otherwise skinny body, his hands were small yet compact and boney-knuckled, and he was very hard to keep in one place, along with training lessons from his boxing star father added to his mix of prestige.
Not one student dared to speak to him or get in his way, even a few students who would attempt to coerce him into becoming friends so they could gain some sort of immunity would end up getting jumped anyways. Thom loved it. He loved being able to pick on just about anyone and never get in trouble because of how sweet and kind he presented himself around teachers, he could fuck up all the instruments in the music room and hit a boy over the head with a clarinet and always get away with it.
This really bothered Ed, that tiny wretched arsehole practically ran the school, and by some miracle he’d never had a run in with him, yet he found himself anxiously thinking about Thom constantly or watching him kick in someone’s face in from afar, a sort of sick fascination he desperately tried to shake. All the while his best mate Colin couldn’t catch a break, as much as he’d like to stand up and confront Thom, beat him and watch him cry and beg to be let go… he knew best not to. No one could win a fight with him.
He hated thinking about Thom so much, because of him Coz stepped out of school with cuts, bruises and aching limbs and had to witness the horror on Jonny’s and Mrs Greenwood’s faces at the state of him, cleaning him up just for him to get beaten the next day. He’d be dead if he uttered a word to them about who did it too.
Colin only ever wanted to use the music room to read, study or practice bass because of how unpopulated the space was, but it was unpopulated for a very good reason. That room was deemed “Yorke territory” and no one was to stay in there for too long or be in there when Thom was, the library was Colin’s new place of stay but unfortunately he wasn’t to play bass anywhere else but the music room, and he wasn’t always so lucky with his timing.
Ed was just thinking of ways to stop him anyways, he really didn’t want to see poor Colin bleeding out behind the English block or find his body stuffed inside a tuba. He couldn’t help how much he fantasised about putting Thom in his place, having him submit and beg while he was doing so. It was a tough case!
Ed was great at keeping his cool, until one evening Colin came running up to him after school sputtering that Jonny wasn’t at his usual waiting spot and that he couldn’t find him anywhere, Ed’s stomach dropped as his mind quickly fastened onto where Jonny might be and who might be responsible.
“Coz, where does Jonny wait for you?”
“Near the music block, but only where the younger grades stay! No where near where Thom lurks, I always tell him to never go there!”
“Jonny wouldn’t ignore you about something like that, I get the feeling Thom came to him..”
Colin’s face paled further. “Ar- are who saying Jonny’s in danger!?!”
Seeing the pure horror in Colin’s eyes made something in Ed snap. “Hold on Coz, let me go find him, stay here.”
“But-“
“Don’t try following me.”
After dismissing Colin coldly he finally let his adrenaline rush to his head and ran off to the music block. Colin must’ve only looked on the outside because as soon as he peeked into the junior music room, there Thom was pinning Jonny’s meek frame to the ground, spitting threats and profanities in his face as the younger boy under him tried to kick and wriggle free.
Ed thought fast, he had to sneak up on Thom to take the advantage as he was notorious for being able to escape the grip of anyone. He crept up to him as swiftly as possible and hulled him off of Jonny by his arms and rammed him into one of the bathrooms conveniently close by.
Thom was now crammed in between the old tiled wall, pressed to his chest, and Ed’s hulking form, yelling and trying to violently jerk or bite his way free. They really weren’t lying when they said that the boy was hard to keep in place, Ed had to press his whole body weight on him to have him stop squirming whilst he still tried fighting and bucking with little success.
“Who the fuck are you!? Get the fuck off of me you huge sack of shit, I’m gonna bash your teeth in real bad if you don’t, I’ll rip your ugly face to shreds and cut up your fucking limbs and put them in Miss Copley’s minifridge!!” Thom must’ve finally grown tired of struggling and was now resorting to hurling threats and insults. Ed couldn’t care less though, he still could hardly believe this was happening. Him, Edward James O’Brien was the only one who had defeated Thom Yorke, the school’s top tyrant, the amount of times he imagined doing just this was now the present reality.
He couldn’t help but watch Thom struggle, ever since the day the boy showed up he had to admit that he thought Thom was sort of cute and- absolutely not cute, he was nasty and horrible and nothing about him was attractive at all. He had to be cautious, he couldn’t afford to let his mind slip, what was he thinking?
Ed turned him around to his front, surprised to see his uneven eyes widen at the sight of him momentarily before scowling again. Interesting, did Thom do that every time he was in a fight with someone taller than him? Should he be entertaining that idea? Thom tried to wrestle free again grunting and spitting but Ed leaned on him again and wrapped one hand around his neck holding his head high. He let out a strange gasp which Ed tried desperately to ignore. “Let- m- me go you-”
Ed lowered his voice as much as he could and spoke right in Thom’s ear, his scent was shockingly sweet and pleasant with undertones of grass and sweat, he couldn’t resist letting one of his fingers play with the soft blond hair at his nape. “Or what Yorke?”
Unexpectedly Thom let out a frail whimper and let his grimace falter for a millisecond, this confused Ed. He really should be beating him up by now but found it impossible to bring himself to it.
“Ff- fuck off!” Even the venom in Thom’s voice was weakening.
“That’s not happening, you know what will happen though? I’m going to make you beg that you never laid a finger on anyone here, you won't even be able to choke up how sorry you are once I’m done with you.” Ed shifts his hand to Thom’s collar, reeling him in and thrusting his body hard against the wall to wind him. The teen in his grip cried and went a little limp, clearly exhausted, Ed felt a traitorous twinge of guilt in his chest. Remember why you’re here! “Everything that you’ve ever done to my friend Colin, you’ll regret till you're dead! You crossed the line going for his baby brother, how fucking cruel of you!”
“Th- those twats are your friends!? That’s-“
Ed slammed him to the wall again, that twinge returned when he heard that pained noise from him again. “Quiet!! I don't want to see you around them ever again, got that?!”
In his grip, he could feel Thom shaking, more puzzling was the way he was looking at Ed and the way it made something in his heart kick. He was panting, his lovely cheeks were rosy and his blue glossy eyes, pupils dilated, were fixed on his, looking so pitiful; Ed could feel himself slipping again.
“Did- did you hear me?” Ed’s act of anger was being replaced by something very dangerous the longer he glared into Thom’s eyes.
“Mmh.”
“What was that??”
Thom’s eyes flashed to his lips, he felt his throat bob from under his knuckles as he gulped. They weren’t truly having a fight, not one punch had been thrown, something far more intense was happening. This was the darker part of Ed’s fantasies that he never let himself explore and realising this was what was happening now made him want to panic and scream and run but at the same time he pondered if it would really be so bad to tease it.
“What do you want Thom?” He hissed shakily, growing tired himself.
Thom licked his lips. “kiss-“
Ed’s hand came to his neck again, tightly holding his head in place as he leaned his face closer. “What?”
Thom let out a high pitched whine. “M’ sorry... please- I wanna.. you’re-”
He could feel the shorter try to push his face closer to his, still with his gaze locked on Ed’s lips.
This made him freak out, he couldn’t let this be reality. Ed shoved Thom to the wall one last time before pushing himself away and swinging a strike to his face, knocking him to the ground before making his way to leave.
“Wait! Come back, d- don’t leave! I l-”
The bathroom door slammed shut before Thom could finish, again he was left all alone.