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A few days later after the final attack towards Tord, he was trying to get adjusted to normal life in the house.
Edd was carrying a tray of bacon to Tord, “Good morning! How are you liking it here so far?”
Tord smiled warmly, “I’m doing great!”
Tom entered the room warily, “Oh, I keep forgetting we let the commie back into our life.”
Tord smirked, “Of course you keep forgetting! Classic, stupid Tom!”
“And you keep forgetting that we’re not entirely friends yet…”
“Right… is frenemies a better term?”
“Sure, I’ll take it. But don’t expect it to become more than that!”
“Knowing you, I don’t expect it.”
Edd was happy at the progress that Tord made, “Ahh, just like old times!”
Suddenly, Matt screamed and slammed the door to his room when he ran out, breath dramatically uneven, “Who stole my favorite mirror?!”
Tom rolled his eyes, “You came all this way out here to tell us you lost your stupid mirror?”
“Is it stupid to be this good looking?”
“You’re a pain sometimes, Matt.”
“Excuse me?”
Meanwhile, Tord was in the middle of everything, breath becoming uneven and palms sweating as he remembered how he used to slam the doors when his soldiers in the army messed up. He remembered how harsh he used to be to innocent people during his reign. He hyperventilated some more, vision going blurry until Edd called out to Tord, “Hey, Tord!”
Tord scrambled to his feet, “Yes, Edd?”
“Are you doing okay?”
“Y-yeah. Just remembered something I didn’t want to…”
“I know how it feels, Tord!” Matt chimed in. “Ugh… I cringe every time I remember the time in high school when I sat in pudding…”
Edd scowled as he remembered the memory as Eduardo was the one who put the pudding on the cafeteria bench, “Yeah…”
Eduardo himself heard the whole thing from his house somehow, “Ha! We got you good, Matt!”
“Shut up, Eduardo!”
Tord was awkwardly caught in the middle of everything again, “I’m just gonna…” and he dashed to his room.
Tord ran in and locked the door to his room, hyperventilating madly. He tried to wipe the sweat off of the palm of his human hand, but it was no use. His stomach twisted, his vision began narrowing as everything around him turned to static. A ringing pierced his ears as images from his past flashed in his head as he was gripping it. He felt like he was about to throw up any second.
Matt suddenly barged into the room as he picked open the lock, “Whoops! Found my mirror! Sorry for yelling at you, Tord.”
However, Tord only registered the door slamming open, not focusing on the apology at all. He grabbed Matt by the collar instinctively and pulled him up towards him, “Get out of my room!”
Matt started sweating in fear, “Do you want the mirror or…”
Tord realized what he had done and dropped Matt, tears in his eyes.
Matt groaned in pain from being dropped, “Okay, no mirror. I’ll go now…” he walked out of the room awkwardly.
Tord reached out for Matt, “Wait!” It was too late. Tord collapsed into his bed, face down into his pillow, tearing up, “I’m sorry…”
Matt walked into the living room, oblivious to what was happening to his friend, “Hey, guys!”
Tom rolled his eyes, “What is it now?”
“I found my mirror!”
“Oh… lucky you,” Tom said sarcastically.
“Hey, do you think one of us should check up on Tord? I mean, he was acting a bit weird…”
“Nope! He’s probably planning world domination right now.”
“But how would you know that?”
“I just do, okay? I know him better than anyone in this house!”
Matt looked around the house. “Where’s Edd? I should tell him the great news I have!”
“He went to the store to buy our groceries for the week. And cola,” Tom replied dryly.
Having an idea, Matt went up to Tom, “You know… Edd probably knows Tord the best! He probably thinks Tord would do no wrong!”
Tom was bewildered, “What?! That’s insane!”
“So I’m just saying, why don’t you check up on Tord to prove him wrong?”
Tom stood up, “That’s right I will!”
Matt smiled, knowing Tom fell right into his plan, “Yay! Maybe this is a chance for you and Tord to bond!”
“Don’t push it, Matt.”
Tom cautiously walked into Tord’s room, eyes wide as he saw Tord crying into his pillow. “Alright, commie. Spill the tea. What plan for world domination do you have today?”
Tord looked up from the pillow, then immediately looked back down as he saw Tom, “Go away, JW!”
Tom couldn’t help but feel bad for his enemy, but he tried to brush it off, “Ugh, drop the act. You’re better off without it.”
Tord sighed and finally managed to look Tom in the eye. All the guilt he had built up for years spilled out of him with tears rolling down his face. He tried to wipe it off, not wanting to look pathetic in front of his years-long enemy. He managed to get his voice up to a whisper under all the tears, “You think this is all I am, a monster who betrayed his friends?”
Tom scoffed, thinking that was all part of Tord’s act, “Yeah!”
Tord clenched his fist in anger and fear of lashing out, “You never asked yourself what was happening underneath?”
Tom’s expression went confused, “Um, no? I mean why would I need to know the reason why someone like you destroyed our home?” However, he had started to second guess himself, wondering if it was truly right to cause long term damage to a friend.
Tord slammed his fist into the bed in betrayal, “I thought you were going to try your best to understand me…”
Tom sighed and put his arm on Tord’s shoulder, “So you’re saying that you had a reason to destroy our house?”
“L-Look, Tom. Things were never meant to go that far.”
Tom raised an eyebrow in suspicion, “Go on…”
“I know what I did was wrong, but I just thought if I did something evil, then nobody would forget me. I just thought it was—“
“Like old times?”
Tord sighed as more tears threatened to fall, “Yes…”
Tom was taken aback. So there really was a reason to the commie’s evilness. He felt extremely guilty for shooting him with a harpoon, “Oh my god…”
Tord tried to laugh it off, “Yeah, guess I deserved that shot.”
“I’m so sorry… I didn’t—“
“Know? Yeah, a lot of people say that. And I understand…”
Tom wiped the tears from Tord’s eyes while trying to keep his sarcastic persona intact, “Alright, is this the part where you cry into my chest or something? Because…” His heart was pounding is suspense and something he couldn’t name. Was he really having a crush on him? He brushed it off, “I guess you can do it.”
Tord flinched as Tom put out a hand, “Really?”
Tom nodded reluctantly, “Sure… I have nothing better to do anyways…”
Tord pulled Tom into a hug and began to cry into his chest, “Thank you…” he said softly.
Tom rolled his eyes, “You’re welcome…”
Matt was hearing the whole thing play out from outside the room, “Woah, that worked better than I thought!”
“What worked better than you thought?” Edd suddenly appeared behind Matt.
Matt yelped but quickly covered his mouth so Tom and Tord wouldn’t hear, “Oh, Edd! Tom and Tord are bonding!” He squealed like a teenage girl who found out one of her friends had a crush, because that was kind of what was happening in the moment.
Edd was also impressed, “Really? I’m happy for the two of them.”
“Wouldn’t be surprised if they kissed.” Matt meant that sarcastically but also meant that hopefully.
“We should leave them be and let nature do its own thing.”
“Agreed.” The two walked away from the room, presumably to put something on the TV.
One hour later, Tom and Tord were on the bed, still hanging onto each other while sleeping. Their faces were close together, almost touching. As they woke up, their lips accidentally touched. It took five seconds for them to notice the touch, Tom noticing first, “Ew ew ew I just kissed a commie!”
Tord also jumped back, “I can’t believe I kissed the person who shot me!” They both wiped off their lips, but they couldn’t shake off the warm feeling that they had in their chests. “Never speak of this again, Tom.”
Tom nodded, “Agreed.”
They both walked out of the room together, both very confused. Their life has changed forever. Tord, surrounded by his old friends who he works hard to earn their trust. Tom, trying to adjust to his enemy going back into his life. Edd, working hard to reform Tord and help him get back on track. And Matt, he was just Matt. But he did play a part in helping Tom and Tord bond. Maybe this was a start of a new beginning for them.