Everything Stays

by Batmansmom

Summary:

Tommy made a promise and he intends on keeping it...

Even if it costs him a chance at having a family again

Chapter 1: Chapter One

Tommy sighed as he stared out the window at the passing traffic, the car's worn leather seat was familiarly uncomfortable and the car stunk of cigarette smoke and cheap fast food. Most likely due to the person next to him.

 

“You can’t keep doing this Tom” his caseworker said sharply inhaling one last time before flicking the smoldering cigarette butt out the window “You’re getting kicked out faster than we can find homes at this rate the only places you’re going to be calling home is either a group home or juvie.”

Tommy was only half-listening, he had heard this conversation before. His caseworker liked to reiterate this point each time he had to pick Tommy up from whatever home he had managed to get himself kicked out of as if this time maybe the message would finally stick.

“Whatever” Tommy grumbled “It’s not my fault you keep putting me in shitty homes” he sighed again slumping into the seat. His eyes wandered off the window and down to the ragged faded backpack that carried his little belongings. The once bright red bag had been with him since he had been in the system, about ten years now. It was frayed and patched countless times with varieties of fabric giving it a rather odd look. It had been gifted to him ages ago by one of his first foster families before they had decided the rambunctious four-year-old was a bad influence on their biological kids. Their real kids.

“A Shitty home is still a home” his caseworker snapped, knuckles white with how hard he was gripping the steering wheel and Tommy couldn’t help but tense. Jim took a deep breath, god this kid got on his nerves, and forced himself to relax. “Look I know this is… difficult for you but you gotta try Tommy” he said glancing over at the fourteen year old sitting next to him. “You’ve got four more years, just four and then you can be on your own and independent but until you get there you gotta suck it up.”

Tommy has never wanted to jump out of a moving car more than he did right now, he clenched his jaw and looked away “just suck it up, got it” he replied sarcastically.

Jim sighed, what was he going to do with this kid?

***

Tommy shouldered his backpack with ease as he stepped from the car, he didn’t wait for Jim before heading up the stairs and through the main door. Tommy didn’t need to, he had been here often enough. He navigated the halls without issue finding his way to the communal sleeping area and plopping his bag down on his regular bed.

“TOMMY!”

The excited cheer made Tommy smile just a bit as he turned just in time to be nearly tackled by the force of the hug the other person was giving him.

“Hey Tubso” He said, hugging his best friend back until the other male pulled away. Tubbo was grinning up at him, brown hair disheveled and wearing a too big green button up shirt that made him look like a child playing dress up using his dad’s clothes.

“You’re back” Tubbo stated

“I always am”

“How was this family?”

“Weird, boring, pretty sure they were growing weed in their basement. How have you been?”

“Decent” Tubbo paused “bored without you that’s for sure.”

“But I’m back”

“You are”

They stared at each other for a moment and then Tommy pulled Tubbo into another hug, which was quickly reciprocated. “I missed you big man” he murmured holding his friend close.

“I missed you too” Tubbo said, holding just as tight as Tommy was. They had known each other for a long time, almost seven years, and it was the closest either of them had to a family. The only seemingly constant part of their lives was each other, no matter how many times they were separated.

Eventually they pulled away again, both smiling. Tommy shook his head fondly “Clingy Bitch”

“Sure I’m the clingy one” Tubbo said rolling his eyes, “so how’d you get kicked out this time?”

“Well the family they sent me too was this really big christian family right?” Tommy started a smirk appearing on his face “real big believers in the big G you know what I mean? So....”

“So?”

“So i kinda ya know… pretended I was being possessed by a demon”

Tubbo’s jaw dropped with a shocked grin “you didn’t” he said giggling

“You should have seen their faces man, especially when my nose started bleeding. Didn’t even plan that bit either, it was just a random nose bleed that happened at the perfect time” Tommy snickered “yeah… they weren’t too willing to keep me around after that” he said as Tubbo dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“That has to be one of the best ways you’ve gotten kicked out yet” Tubbo said once he had recovered.

“Eh” Tommy shrugged “I still think the instant mashed potato thing was funnier”

“Yeah but you had to clean that one up after and you wasted like 20 dollars on instant mashed potato packets”

“Good point”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a bell echoing throughout the building. Tommy sighed and took his backpack and hid it securely beneath the bed. “C’mon big man, dinner time we can keep catching up after.”

“Race you there!” Tubbo said, taking off.

Tommy smiled, “cheater” he called after his friend as he ran after him. He had missed this.

***
Tommy quickly fell into a familiar schedule, wake up, eat and cause as much chaos as possible with Tubbo before reluctantly completing school assignments and chores under the threat of separating him from his friend. The two were joined at the hip, always talking or planning, taking advantage of the time they had knowing it was limited. Knowing eventually one of their caseworkers would find them a new home as they always did.

One night, as the two lay awake in their beds, Tommy asked Tubbo a question that had been on his mind for awhile now.

“What if we just… left?” Tommy said, next to him he heard Tubbo sit up a little.

“Left?”

“Yeah, just grabbed our bags and left, together”

“Like, run away?”

“Yeah I guess so” Tommy shrugged, turning on his side and sitting up slightly to try and see his friend’s reaction.

“We’d get caught” Tubbo sighed dismissing the thought “we’d get caught and even if we didn’t there's no way we’d make it on our own”

Tommy lied back down. “You’re probably right,” the silence stretched between them, both boys trying to imagine what it would be like. Running away together, living together, never having to worry that they might never see each other again. “But we could try” Tommy said after a moment.

“We could try” Tubbo echoed “but if we try and we fail, we’d probably never see each other again.”

Tommy hadn’t thought of that. He didn’t bring it up again.

***

Bliss lasted a whole three weeks before Tubbo’s caseworker found him a new home. The two friends had clung to each other on the day Tubbo was set to leave whispering promises of ‘see you soons” hoping the statement would prove itself true as it had in the past. Then Tubbo was gone, swept away by his Caseworker into a car to take him to his new home. Tommy had watched from the window until the car was far out of sight and didn’t move until the dinner bell rang.

***

The next month and a half passed in a blur, he stuck to the schedule although causing chaos was significantly less fun without Tubbo by his side. He joked around with some of the other kids there his age, swapping stories and bonding over making penises out of lunch food. It was fun, but they weren’t Tubbo.

Then one Friday afternoon, Tommy’s caseworker Jim called him away from his usual after-school activities of being an immature 14 year old and Tommy knew what was coming.

“I found you another foster family” Jim started rolling his eyes at the dramatic groan that Tommy let out hearing the news. “Brat don’t start with me. I had to pull a lot of strings and go through a lot of families and connections to find you a new home.”

“Alright alright” Tommy said holding his hand up in defeat “when am I leaving?”

“Week from now, right after morning bell”

“Why so early?”

“They live pretty far away so it’s gonna be a long drive”

Tommy nodded, “alright, got anything else to tell me big man?” his caseworker shook his head.
“Nope, now go get back to whatever it is you do in between traumatizing foster parents” Jim said waving Tommy out of the room. Tommy nodded and found his way back to the common room, back to the group of boys he had been hanging out with since Tubbo left. He sat with them but didn’t join in on the jokes or the prank ideas the way he normally would, instead he appeared to be deep in thought. If anyone noticed his unusual silence, they didn’t say anything.

***

The next friday, Tommy found himself once again sitting shotgun in Jim’s frankly disgusting car. He had the window rolled down this time, if he was going to be sitting here for hours he needed some kind of fresh air to counteract the smell. The ride was fairly silent, Tommy had once again packed his little belongings into the beat up faded red backpack and prepared for a whole new shit show. After all,this family had seen his track record and had still decided they wanted to foster him, there had to be something seriously wrong with these people.

The four hour drive flew by fairly quickly, Tommy had spent the entirety of it dissociating and staring out the window watching the scenery change. It didn’t feel like long at all when Jim’s stupid car pulled into a driveway. Tommy rolled up the window and was quick to exit the car, he wasn’t exactly excited to meet his new foster family but even meeting strangers was better than staying in that stupid car. As Tommy shifted the backpack onto his shoulders he examined the house. It was nice, bigger than most of the homes he had stayed in. It had two stories and was a nice light blue color with a white trim, As he looked up at the second story, he saw movement in one of the windows, someone pulling back a curtain and a face peering out the window. Tommy looked away suddenly feeling nervous, why hadn’t he asked Jim any questions about the family?

Jim either didn’t notice Tommy’s nervousness or didn’t care, he grabbed Tommy’s folder and walked past Tommy towards the front door “Lets go kid we got shit to do” he reminded as he passed the 14-year-old.

Tommy took a deep breath and then reluctantly followed Jim up to the front door. Jim knocked three times and then took a step back. There were footsteps and then the door opened, behind it was a tall man, with scruffy blond hair and gentle brown eyes. Seeing the two of them, he smiled.

“You must be Jim and… Tommy? I’m Phil, It’s so nice to finally meet you in person please come in” he said, opening the door up more and standing to the side. Tommy hesitated for a moment, glancing at Jim before stepping inside the house.

Chapter 2: Chapter two

The inside of Phil’s home seemed just as nice as the outside, the whole place just had a comfy lived in kind of vibe. As Phil led them into the living room, he paused by the stairs.

“BOYS” He yelled and Tommy had to resist the urge to flinch back “COME DOWNSTAIRS, TOMMY’S HERE”

‘Great,’ Tommy thought to himself, ‘not only are there other kids here but they probably already know all about me. This is totally unfair.’ From Tommy’s past experiences, he knew it was never good when the foster family already had kids. Foster parents had often favored their kids over Tommy, believing them when they blamed Tommy for something even when it wasn’t true. Usually these situations ended with Tommy being labeled a menace or a liar and being sent back with more than a few bruises and scars to show for his time in the house.

“Tommy?”

His head snapped up looking over to where Phil was standing, the man gave him a small smile.

“Would you like to sit down?” Phil offered gesturing towards the couch and the two armchairs that were in the living room. Tommy hadn’t realized he had been spacing out, he nodded and went to claim one of the armchairs, his caseworker grabbing the other one. Two sets of footsteps echoed on the way down the stairs, one was more rushed and loud while the other was calm and nearly silent. He heard as the louder one reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way towards the room. A boy with a mop of wavy brown hair and brown eyes entered the room, not hesitating to sit down on the couch. “This is my oldest, Wilbur” Phil said with a fond smile as Wilbur gave a wave. The second set of footsteps had hit the bottom of the stairs and was coming towards the living room. Another boy, with long light pink hair that was pulled into a braid, glasses and the worst case of resting bitch face that Tommy had ever seen, entered the room. “And this is my other son, Techno”

Tommy blinked “thats a weird fucking name” he commented unable to help himself before snapping his mouth shut. To his surprise Phil just laughed and moved on, turning his attention over to Jim

“You have the last documents that I need to sign right?” Phil asked and Jim nodded, pulling them from the file.

“Here you go” Jim said, setting the papers on the small coffee table along with a pen. Phil glanced over them quickly and then signed them and dated them and handed them back to Jim.

“Is there anything else or are we done?”

“We are done, kid’s all yours. If you have any problems you know my number” Jim said taking the papers and placing them back into Tommy’s file. He looked over at Tommy “good luck kid” the don’t fuck it up went unsaid but Tommy nodded anyway. He already knew, he had done this enough times. Phil stood and walked Jim out before returning to the living room.

“So now that all that legal stuff is out of the way, why don’t we do quick introductions and then Wilbur you can show Tommy where his room is going to be so he can get settled in, yeah?” Both of Phil’s kids nodded easily agreeing, Tommy didn’t bother answering it wasn’t like he really had a choice in this. “Right, I’ll go first. My name is Phil, I’m 41 and I’m excited to have you here Tommy”

Tommy paused unsure how to respond to that, he settled on an awkward ‘um… thanks” and Phil nodded seemingly satisfied.

“Wilbur, how about you go next” Phil suggests looking over at his oldest.

“Okay,” Wilbur smiled “I’m Wilbur, I’m 17, I’m a senior in highschool and I play guitar. Techno’s turn”

Techno sighed looking deeply inconvenienced by the whole thing “Um I’m Techno, I’m 16, I play video games sometimes”

Phil smiled and turned his attention to Tommy “alright Tommy your turn” l

“Uh I’m Tommy, I’m 14…” He trailed off

“Got any hobbies? Or anything you like to do?” Phil asked and Tommy shook his head “Okay… what about a favorite book?” another head shake “favorite movie?”

“Up”

“Like the pixar movie?” Wilbur asks, a teasing smile already making its way onto his face.

“Yeah like the pixar movie.”

“Cool cool that’s cool”

The silence stretched awkwardly for a moment before Phil finally broke it.

“Hey wil how about you show Tommy his room so he can get settled in” Phil suggested and Wilbur nodded standing up, Tommy followed suit and stood up as well.

“Sure thing Phil, c’mon Tommy” Wilbur said, leading Tommy to the stairs.

“You call your dad Phil?” Tommy asked as he headed up the stairs after Wilbur.

“Yep” the older boy said offering no explanation as he walked down the hall at the top of the stairs. He stopped at the third door on the left side of the hallway and opened it “this is your room, bathroom’s next door” he said pointing to the second door on the left “first door is techno’s room, across from him is Phil’s room and mine’s across from yours. If you need anything you can get any of us unless it’s 4 A.M then you should go to Techno, he’s the only one who’d be coherent enough to actually be useful at that time.” Wilbur said with a joking grin. Tommy just nodded.

“Alright, thanks,” he said, going into his new room and closing the door behind him, locking it just in case. The room was pretty plain, the bed sat in the corner of the room already made. There was a plain wooden desk facing one of the two windows in the room and a desk chair. Next to the desk was a bookshelf that was mostly empty save for a few novels. It wasn’t bad, certainly better than his usual accommodations. With that, Tommy set the backpack down on his desk, not bothering to unpack it. Just in case. He sat down on the bed, and took a deep breath, these people seemed nice enough, but that was almost always what it was like on the first day. He needed to take advantage of the next few days while they’re still getting used to him. Tommy lied down on the bed, and started to think about his game plan. No matter what happened, he had to be prepared for when the other shoe dropped.

***
About an hour later, Tommy was pulled out of his thoughts by someone knocking on his door.

“Tommy it’s Wilbur, Phil made sandwiches for lunch if you want some” Wilbur said before heading back downstairs where the rest of his family were. Tommy waited until Wilbur’s footsteps were faint before getting up and opening the door. He peeked into the hallway cautiously before stepping out of the room and heading down the hall.

‘This could be some kind of trap’, Tommy thought to himself as he hesitated for a moment by the stairs, ‘regardless they’re offering food and I’m not gonna be the idiot to reject it only to regret it later if they decide that feeding me isn’t worth their effort’ and with that he headed downstairs.

It wasn’t difficult to find the kitchen, he just had to follow the annoying sounds of Wilbur talking. Tommy stood awkwardly in the entrance of the kitchen for a moment before Phil noticed him.

“Oh! Hiya mate there's a plate on the counter for you, if you want another just let me know” Phil said offering Tommy a kind smile before focusing back on what his eldest child was talking about. Tommy made his way over and grabbed the plate, on it were a few strawberries and a ham and cheese sandwich. He made his way over to the table where he saw Techno sitting, empty plate in front of him, nose buried in some book. Tommy sat at the other end of the table, eating the meal quickly. He didn’t notice Phil or Wilbur approaching until the chairs on either side of Tommy were pulled back. He couldn’t help but tense up and hold the sandwich a bit closer to his chest.

“So Tommy how are you settling in?” Wilbur asked.
“Uh alright I guess” Tommy shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“The room’s a bit plain isn’t it? I was thinking we could head out tomorrow and you could pick some stuff out to decorate it with. We have to get your school supplies too so we could make a trip of it.” Phil suggested.

A part of Tommy faltered, again, wondering silently if this was some trick to make Tommy owe them or something. Tommy pushed the thought aside, if Phil was offering to buy him stuff he wasn’t going to turn it down. “Sure sounds good,” Tommy said, finishing off his sandwich. “When do I start school?”

“Monday, you’re going to the same place as Wil and Techno so they can show you around and help you find your classes” Phil said with a small smile.

Tommy nodded and stood with his now empty plate “where should I put this?” he asked.

“The sinks fine, someone will wash it later”

Tommy nodded again, standing there awkwardly “well um thanks for the food” he said before heading back upstairs. Phil watched him go, a thoughtful look on his face.

Notes:

hope everyone is enjoying so far! this is my first ao3 fic so please let me know what you think!

Chapter 3: chapter three

When Phil had received a call from Jim practically begging for his help with one of his cases, Phil had been intrigued to say the least. For one he wasn’t entirely sure how Jim had even gotten Phil’s number, he wasn’t a caseworker Phil had worked with before. Perhaps there was a file somewhere with his number and a note that said ‘Incase of problem child call this number’ or maybe he had gotten it from Techno or Wilbur’s old caseworkers. Regardless of how it happened, the call intrigued him. He had called Jim back, asked more questions about this problem child Jim was so desperately trying to place and hung up assuring the man he would at least think about it. He talked to his boys, unsure of how they would feel about possibly having a younger brother.

“I don’t mind Phil” Wilbur said when he had asked the boy his opinion “so long as the child doesn’t try to stab me in my sleep or something I don’t care”

Techno had a similar response.

“As long as he doesn’t mess with my stuff I don’t care”

Reassured now that his sons wouldn’t mind, Phil spent hours pouring over Tommy’s file. Every complaint, every incident, any and all information he could get on this so-called problem child. The more he read, the more he noticed the similarities between Tommy’s file and the ones that had belonged to his sons. Tommy’s previous homes all did their best to make Tommy out as a trouble-maker, as a hopeless case that no parent could conquer. But as Phil read more and more about the conditions of each home, about what Tommy claimed had really been happening in those walls, he just saw a kid in desperate need of a good home. He might be a bit of a prankster, his last home certainly proved that, but the child wasn’t dangerous, just scared. So Phil called Jim back asking him to send over any papers he needed to sign with the promise that Tommy’s new home would be ready for him in one weeks time.

***
When they arrived on his doorstep that next friday, the first thing that struck Phil was how horribly skinny and small Tommy looked. The second thing he noticed was the faded red backpack and how tightly Tommy was holding the strap, as if afraid someone would try and rip it away from him. Phil swore then and there that he would never give the boy on his doorstep a reason to look at him with so much fear.

He led them towards the living room, yelling upstairs to his sons as they passed. Phil paused and made a small mental note to himself when he noticed Tommy had tensed up and immediately started disassociating. Phil waited for his boys to come downstairs and then signed the last few papers necessary before walking Jim to the door.

“We’ll be fine” he reassured the other man “we’ll see you in three months for that check in”

“Yeah if the brat lasts that long,” Jim shook his head “I’m tellin’ ya Phil, the kid’s pride and joy is getting himself kicked out of every house that has the balls to take him in.”

“It won’t happen here” Phil said with a finality in his tone “we’ll find him a new hobby, because I’m not giving up on this kid”

Jim sighed, shaking his head in disbelief “good luck to ya Phil” he said before walking back towards his car.

Phil waited until Jim pulled out before he closed the door and made his way back to the living room “So now that all that legal stuff is out of the way, why don’t we do quick introductions and then Wilbur you can show Tommy where his room is going to be so he can get settled in, yeah?”

***

Phil looked up from his phone when he heard his eldest coming back downstairs.

“Did it go alright?” he asked looking up at his son as the teen walked over and sat next to his father.

“I think so,” Wilbur shrugged “I mean he didn’t like try and stab me or something so I’d say it went well”

“Wilbur” Phil sighed “be serious please”

“I am being serious Phil, getting stabbed by a small orphan child is a very serious matter”

“Wilbur are you sayin you’re so weak that you would succumb to a malnourished child with a knife?”

“Oh shut up Technoblade”

“HAH what a nerd can’t even hold his own against a malnourished child with a knife”

“At least I’ll have died in the glory of battle, you’re probably gonna die in some plain boring way”

“Technoblade never dies Wilbur you know this”

“Oh yeah? Let's test it”

“Boys” Phil scolds, both of them freeze, Wilbur half-way to standing up and Techno looking ready to make a mad dash to the kitchen, presumably to grab a knife so he can turn the chase around before it even begins. “Behave” is all Phil says and Wilbur is sitting down again and Techno is completely relaxed. “Now, I think we should have a plan for Tommy”

“Why would we need a plan for Tommy? Phil I seriously doubt the kids going to attack Wilbur he’s just being dramatic”

“Not for that reason Techno” Phil said, starting to sound a bit exasperated “look, Tommy’s a flight risk. He’s just been put into a new environment with a bunch of people he doesn’t know, he’s stressed and if his file is any indication the kid will do almost anything to try and get himself sent back.”

“Do we know why?” Wilbur piped up “where does he go when he gets kicked out of homes?”

“According to his file he returns to some orphanage in the city, same one everytime” Phil said with a shrug.

“Why would he want to go back there?” Techno asked a puzzled frown on his face “it sounds miserable”

“I don’t know” Phil smiled sadly “maybe it was safer there for Tommy, maybe it gave him a sense of stability or comfort always returning to the same place, we don’t know. What we do know is that whatever Tommy tries to pull, we won’t be sending him back. And when he realizes we aren’t sending him back, he might panic or do something drastic like run away. Which is why I need you two to be looking out for him, starting right now.”

“HEH?” Techno groaned “Bruhhh how are we gettin stuck on babysittin duty”

Phil sighed for what felt like the 60th time today “Techno” although he hadn’t raised his voice his tone left no room for argument “I’m not asking you to be looking out for him 24/7, but it would make me feel better if I knew that you two were looking out for him at school.”

“We can do that dad” Wilbur agreed while Techno glared at him.

“Kiss up”

“I’m going to punt you into a lake”

“Wil you don’t have the strength to fend off a malnourished child that’s threatening your life, how are you gonna have the strength to punt me into a lake?”

Phil buried his face into his hands as the two started bickering again “if there’s a God please give me strength”

***

Phil was a lucky man. He must be considering he had been blessed by God today. The rest of Tommy’s first day had gone smoothly, admittedly the kid had only come out for lunch and dinner but that still felt like a solid start. After all when Phil had first taken in Wilbur he had to leave the kid’s meals outside of his bedroom door because Wilbur had been too scared to eat with him. ‘Oh how times have changed’ Phil thought as he watched the now 17 year old attempt to swallow a chicken wing whole, bone and all.

“Wilbur stop that you’re going to choke and Techno” Techno turned to stare at Phil innocently but Phil knew better “stop daring your older brother to do things that will likely kill him or give me a heart attack”

“But what's the point of darin someone to do somethin if it isn’t life threatenin” Techno complained as Wilbur set the chicken wing back down on his plate.

“You are one twisted guy Technoblade, you knew this could kill me and you still dared me to do it? Despicable, truly a betrayal I never expected”

“Your the idiot who thought he could swallow a chicken wing whole without choking, it’s really just natural selection at this point”

“I-”

“Okay and on that note, Wilbur, why don’t you go see if Tommy wants to join us for movie night, Techno you start on dishes and I’ll grab the snacks” Phil interrupted, he could feel the start of a headache coming on..

Wilbur stood up from the table, leaving his plate and chicken wing behind and climbed up the stairs. He paused in front of Tommy’s room and then knocked, gently, on the closed door “Hey uh just wanted to see if you wanted to watch a movie with us? Phil’s making popcorn” he said awkwardly through the door.

On the other side of the door, Tommy hesitated. On one hand they were offering him food again, something Tommy hated to say no to. On the other hand this would not be like the last two times he had come downstairs. He would not be able to just eat as fast as he could and then run back upstairs. Instead he would have to stay and watch a movie that likely would last several hours.

As Tommy contemplated the pros and cons of this very important and life altering decision, WIlbur stared at the door to Tommy’s room in confusion. There hadn’t been an answer or any sound at all, perhaps the child was asleep? “Tommy?” he called “you uh you alright in there?”

“Yeah yep perfectly fine here big man just uh just give me a second”

Wilbur sighed and leaned against the wall waiting for an answer, if this had been Techno he would have just shouted up the stairs and been done with it, but Phil had said that shouting around or at Tommy was something he’d like to avoid. Wilbur understood why, of course, he had his own experiences as a ‘problem child’ within the system and he had been there when Phil first brought Techno home. He’s had his own fair share of panic attacks and nightmares from shouted hateful words and insults so of course Wilbur understood. But still, it was a tad inconvenient having to walk all the way up the stairs just to ask Tommy if he wanted to watch a movie with them. The door to Tommy’s room swung open slightly, the movement caught Wilbur’s eye and he looked up in time to see his new foster brother peering out at him cautiously.

“What uh what movie is it?” Tommy asked shifting nervously in the doorway, his hands fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt.

“I don’t think we’ve picked one out yet,” Wilbur said, keeping his posture as relaxed and non-threatening as possible.

“Could uh-” Tommy hesitated fidgeting with his shirt nervously “could we watch Up?” he asked glancing up at Wilbur.

Wilbur grinned “I don’t see why not! C’mon Phil makes the best popcorn” before leading the way back down the stairs towards the living room, Tommy in tow.

Notes:

OK first three chapters are out! I have a few more ready to go but I don't want to post all of it in one day! expect updates soon and please let me know what you think!

Chapter 4: chapter four

Tommy woke the next morning in an unfamiliar bed, in a strange room to someone knocking on the door. He blinked blearly as memories of the day before rushed to the forefront of his mind.

“Hey mate, sorry to wake you up, normally I let you kids sleep in on the weekend but we got errands to run so let's get going” Phil said through the door as Tommy climbed out of bed and sleepily made his way over to his backpack.

He waited a moment as he heard Phil move away from the door, Tommy didn’t open his bag until Phil’s footsteps had long faded and he was positive it was safe. He opened the bag and grabbed his change of clothes, underneath of which were all of Tommy’s most valuable items. A disk player with headphones both of which he had stolen from a GoodWill. Two disks, one inside the player and the other safely stored in it’s plastic case. A broken compass he and Tubbo had found while exploring the small wooded area near the orphanage. Henry, a cow plushie he had received from his last christmas with his parents. And finally, carefully protected in a ziplock bag were a small wad of cash, pictures of his parents and the only picture he had of his best friend.

Tommy looked down at these keepsakes for a moment, relishing in the familiarity of the objects before carefully covering them up with the rest of his clothes. He changed quickly and grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste from it’s spot in the front pocket of his backpack and after checking that no one else was in the hall, he made his way over to the bathroom where he finished getting ready for the day. He left the bathroom and returned the toothbrush and toothpaste to their spot and started to leave his room when he stopped.

Was he allowed to go downstairs? Or was he meant to wait for Wilbur to come and fetch him. He wasn’t sure. If he waited in his room, Phil might think he went back to sleep and he really didn’t want to piss the guy off before the shopping trip. But if he went downstairs when he wasn’t allowed that would probably make Phil mad too. So Tommy stood in the doorway of his bedroom, looking down at the hardwood floor with his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out which action he was meant to take. He was so caught up in this panicking cycle of indecision he didn’t notice Wilbur opening his bedroom door and stepping into the hallway to see Tommy standing still looking like he’s seconds away from a panic attack.

“Tommy?” Wilbur called softly, trying to get the boy’s attention without scaring him. It didn’t work, Tommy flinched back at the sound of his name. “You alright?”

“Yeah yeah perfectly- perfectly fine big man” Tommy said with a small smile as if trying to prove to Wilbur just how perfectly fine he was.

“Alright…” Wilbur said skeptically, but he didn’t push “C’mon let's go get some breakfast I think Phil made waffles'' And with that Wilbur turned away from Tommy and headed downstairs. Tommy was quick to follow.
***

Breakfast had been a simple affair, Phil had in fact made waffles and Tommy decided that no one could make better waffles than Phil. After finishing a plate of the fluffy delicious masterpieces the family (and Tommy) headed off to the shops.

Shopping, Tommy decided, was the worst. The prospect of getting new stuff had been appealing at first but it quickly became a minefield. The school supplies bit had been easy enough, Tommy just stood back and let Phil or Wilbur throw things into the cart that they thought he would need, until Phil looked at him and asked if he wanted to get a new backpack for school. The question made Tommy freeze up, certain it was a trap. Only for Phil to rush to reassure him that if he needed a new backpack that he was free to pick one out. The group had waited patiently while Tommy cautiously looked at the backpack options before deciding to just grab the cheapest one he could find.

Phil had looked at the bag doubtfully before sighing “if that's the one you want mate that’s fine but it looks a bit flimsy” he then reached up and grabbed another backpack, sturdier and more expensive but the same plain black as the other one “how about this one? It’s a bit sturdier.”

“But it’s more expensive” Tommy murmured uncertain “I’m alright with the other one really”

Phil paused “Let me worry about the prices mate, all I want you to worry about is grabbing things that you like or need” he said carefully phrasing his words. Tommy still seemed uncertain, shifting in place for a moment.

“Could I-” he hesitated, his voice getting smaller as he went on “could I get the red one?”

Phil smiled softly “of course” he said reaching up and grabbing the red bag and putting it into the cart before returning the other two bags to their spots. “Alright come on, still have more to buy.” he grabbed the cart and started walking again down the school supplies aisle. Techno wasn’t far behind him but Tommy paused trying to wrap his head around what had just happened, what Phil had just said.

“You alright Tommy?” Wilbur asked for the second time that day, Tommy jumped a bit having forgotten the teen was standing next to him.

“Yeah, yeah just fine” Tommy said jogging a little to catch up with Phil and Techno. ‘This family is so weird’ he thought to himself ‘it’s kinda nice’.

***
The rest of the trip went about the same way, Phil would stop and ask if he needed something. Tommy would hesitantly admit that he did and go to pick out the cheapest one he could find only for Phil to remind him that that wasn’t necessary. By the end of the trip Tommy was exhausted and also owned more than he’d ever had in his entire life. He had even bought Tubbo a gift for when he eventually went back, the small bee plushie sat next to his old red bag on the desk as he sorted through his new belongings.

There was the new backpack, the school supplies, the few decorations he had picked out for his new room and several new sets of clothes that he not only liked, but actually fit him. The clothes thing had been a long and awkward process, mostly because Tommy had never been given the opportunity to pick out new clothes for himself before. But he had gotten through it and it had been kind of… fun.

That was the scariest part, Tommy was really enjoying his time with this family and it had only been a day. ‘Just wait for them to get used to you’ he thought to himself ‘the other shoe will drop, shit will hit the fan, something will happen and even if they don’t now they’ll learn to hate you. They always do.’ but some other traitorous voice in his head asked ‘what if they don’t?’ and Tommy let himself sit with that thought for a moment, that hope before shaking it away. ‘They will, and even if they don’t, we can’t stay. No matter how nice these people are, Tubbo isn’t here which means we can’t stay’. Because even if this was the nicest family Tommy had ever stayed with, they weren’t Tubbo and Tommy would always return home to Tubbo.

Notes:

Technically I'm posting this next chapter on a different day... it's just really early in the morning is all! Thanks so much for the lovely comments and the kudos!! seriously super appreciate the support and it's incredibly motivating! So much so that you can probably expect another chapter to be coming out today! Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Chapter Five

Tommy had been 4 years old for exactly 3 days when he was first placed in Saint Joseph’s Orphanage. He had been young, scared and still scarred from the fire that had taken his home and his family from him. His first foster parents didn’t understand why he had screamed and thrown things and cried when they tried to light candles or start the fireplace. Eventually they decided they didn’t want such a troublesome child in their home. Tommy was 4 years old and seven months the first time he had been sent back to Saint Joseph’s.

***

Tommy groaned, arm flailing blindly trying to shut off whatever was making that annoying noise next to him. His hand hit something and sent it spinning off his nightstand and onto the floor. The noise continued but it was at least muffled now so Tommy turned on his side away from the noise and the light shining through the bedroom window and let himself drift closer to sleep again.

Until several loud knocks on his bedroom door sent him jolting up.

“Tommy get up we’re gonna be late” Wilbur said voice muffled through the door. Tommy groaned and flopped back down. Right today was monday and his first day at his new high school.

“I don’t care” he mumbled, curling back into his warm bed.

Wilbur sighed and started knocking again “Tommyyyy” he cajoled “get up or I’ll just keep annoying you until you’re too awake to go back to sleep”

Tommy groaned again and reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and over to his bedroom door, unlocking it and opening it to glare at a way to cheerful Wilbur “you are the worst you know that?”

Wilbur gave him a self satisfied grin “i might be the worst but you’re awake so I’m the clear winner of this standoff” he said seeming all too pleased with himself.

“Whatever bitch” Tommy grumbled “I’ll be down in a few” he said as he closed the door again.

“You have five minutes and then I’m coming back up and I’m knocking until you’re out here with a smile on your face ready to-”

“Wil stop annoying the child and go eat breakfast” Techno interrupted dragging his older brother away from Tommy’s bedroom door, much to Wilbur’s discontent if his protesting squacks were anything to go off of.

Tommy stretched and yawned, letting his brain wake up and he stumbled back over to his bed and leaned down to pick up the thing still making the very annoying noise. Tommy stared down at it for a moment before turning the alarm off and setting his new phone down on the nightstand. Yeah, his new phone. That was a thing for him now apparently. Tommy was still convinced that at any moment it would be snatched away from him. Tommy had never had his own phone before but Phil had insisted on it.

“What if I need to get in contact with you and you aren’t with Wilbur or Techno? What if you want to go somewhere or if you need someone to come and get you? Please just take it, if only for my peace of mind” Phil said when Tommy tried to reject the offer of the new phone that was too expensive and far too fragile to be trusted to Tommy of all people.

In the end Tommy had reluctantly accepted the phone and was immediately added to the family group chat.

“Sleepy Bois Inc?” Tommy read the group chat name out loud with a raised eyebrow.

“Haha yeah that was Wilbur’s idea,” Phil said with a fond smile.

“It’s because none of us can get to sleep at a decent time, so therefore we’re almost always sleepy” Wilbur said wisely, face dead serious.

“Uh ok… I guess that makes sense” Tommy said with a shrug.

“I wanted to call it The Antarctic Empire” Techno said with a frown.

“And that makes less sense anyway thank you for the phone Phil”

Tommy shook himself out of his thoughts, right he had school to get to and as much as he wanted to linger and put it off, he didn’t want to make the others late because they were waiting for him. Which for some reason they were insisting on doing. He grabbed a pair of his new clothes, jeans that weren’t ripped and a t-shirt that hadn’t belonged to someone before him and changed quickly. He then grabbed his new red backpack full of his new school supplies (the old one was still on his desk, still packed just in case he had to grab it and go) and headed downstairs.

The other two were sitting at the kitchen table, Wilbur was shoveling cereal into his mouth like his life depended on it while Techno was calmly finishing a piece of toast and watching Wilbur in grotesque amusement. Techno spotted Tommy first and shoved a piece of toast towards him. Tommy grabbed it and sat down taking a bite out of the toast.

“Where’s Phil?” he asked looking around the kitchen for the older man.

“Getting ready for work probably” Techno answered monotonous as always. Tommy just nodded and finished his piece of toast. Techno grabbed his plate and Tommy’s and headed over to the sink, leaving them there for whoever would be tasked with washing dishes that night. Just as Phil hurried down the stairs with a backpack of his own.

“Wilbur hurry up or we’re leaving without you, I’m gonna go start the car” Phil said heading off towards the garage. Wilbur shoveled the last of the cereal into his mouth at this and ran over to dump his bowl and spoon in the sink while Tommy ran back upstairs to brush his teeth and put on deodorant and to fix his hair a little so it didn’t look like he had just crawled out of bed. And then they were off, Tommy and Wilbur stuck in the back seat since Techno had called shotgun and the car was filled with the soothing sounds of Wilbur and Techno bickering.

“It is completely unfair that you get the front seat” Wilbur was arguing “You’re the shortest one out of the three of us”

“If you wanted it so bad you should have said so before I did” Techno replied calmly.

“Or you could have just been a nice brother and let me have it”

“Why would I do that?

“Why would you be a nice brother? I don’t know because you love me?”

“Love is a strong word I prefer the term tolerate”

“Boys please” Phil interrupted “I would like to drop you off without wanting to drive the car off of a bridge”

“Sorry Phil” The two said in unison.

Meanwhile Tommy was thinking about (dreading) his first day at this new school. He switched schools a lot and he found he was either behind on the curriculum or ahead, never perfectly on schedule. He was really hoping this would be a case of being ahead, being behind meant weeks of extra work that he usually didn’t do which meant he got lost and didn't understand what they were talking about which usually lead to bad grades and summer school. But if he was ahead he at least had a chance to adjust for a week or two until the rest of the class caught up to him and he had to start paying attention.

“You alright back there Tommy?” Phil asked glancing back at the blond who hadn’t said a word since they got in the car.

Tommy looked up and over at Phil “yeah yeah I’m fine old man, keep your eyes on the road you got precious cargo back here” he said and then he froze. ‘Oh fuck’ he thought to himself eyes going wide as Wilbur and Techno both looked to stare at him. ‘Oh i fucked up, I said that out loud oh fuuuuuuck’ he tensed up, waiting to be yelled at. Waiting to be hit. Waiting for the car to be pulled over and for him to be kicked out. But to Tommy’s surprise none of that happened. Instead Wilbur and Phil burst out laughing and even the stoic Technoblade seemed to be suppressing a smile.

“Oh get owned Phil he got you there” Wilbur laughed as Phil reached backwards awkwardly to swat at him.

“I’m not old, you lot are just too young” Phil argued his tone teasing.

“Hate to break it to ya Phil but 41 is pretty old” Techno said with a smirk.

“You’re grounded all of you”

“But Phiiiiillll” Wilbur whined pathetically.

“Alright alright get out of the car you fucks”

Tommy blinked, he hadn’t even realized they had arrived at the school or that the car had stopped too caught up in the teasing conversation he had accidentally started. Strangely enough he wasn’t feeling as reluctant anymore. He got out of the car, holding his backpack tightly as he followed Wilbur and Techno into the building. The two brothers lead the younger to the main office and over to the front desk.

“Excuse me” Wilbur said to the receptionist sitting there.

“Oh hello!” The lady smiled at them “what can I do for you?”

“It’s my foster brother’s first day, his name is Tommy Simons?”

“Oh your Phil’s boys aren’t you? Of course, Tommy you can follow me over back here” The receptionist said cheerfully, standing from the desk to lead Tommy back into a quiet room with a few desks “Today’s going to be pretty simple, we just need you to complete a placement test so we know which classes to put you in” she explained gesturing for Tommy to take a seat.

Tommy sat down in one of the desks, setting his backpack down next to him as the receptionist went back out to the desk. A few moments later a man came in the room with two pencils, a scantron and a test booklet. He placed them down in front of Tommy “here you go, take as long as you need. I’ll be sitting over there, just let me know when you’re done” he said before going and sitting at the front of the small room facing Tommy.

Tommy sighed but picked up the pencil and opened the booklet.

Notes:

Yay!! Another chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed this one! Please let me know what you thought in the comments, it really means a lot to me!

Chapter 6: Chapter six

Tommy was seven years old and 1 month when he first met Toby. He had frowned when they had been introduced “what kind of name is Toby?” he said crossing his little arms. Toby didn’t seem offended by the comment.

“Well what kind of name is Thomas?” he shot back, Tommy made a face.

“A bad one that's why I have a nickname, do you have a nickname?” Tommy asked

“No my name is too short to have a nickname,” Toby explained with a shrug.

“Guess I’ll just have to give you one” Tommy decided with a nod “wanna go scare Ms. Davis?”

Toby grinned at his new friend “only if after you help me get snacks from the kitchen”

“Deal”

***

The test didn’t take Tommy very long to complete, he handed it to the teacher who had given it to him and then was told to sit and wait in the office. Apparently, they were going to review it right away so he could talk to his counselor and figure out his schedule after. While he waited, Tommy pulled out his new phone along with the headphones that had come with the device. He plugged the headphones in and opened an app called spotify that Wilbur had insisted he download while helping Tommy set up the phone.

“It’s basically a necessity if you like music,” Wilbur told him while Tommy pressed the download button and typed in his new password.

Tommy wasn’t sure whether he liked music or not, he hadn’t really had a chance to experiment with it except occasionally when his previous foster parents turned on the radio or played music from their own phones. But he wasn’t about to tell Wilbur that so he just downloaded the app and created an account with the promise to explore it later.

Which is what he’s doing now. Clicking on random categories he clicked on song titles that piqued his interest and listened to samples of songs, sometimes adding them to his playlist but mostly just moving on to the next song. It was more entertaining than he thought it would be as some of the songs (the ones he’d end up saving) seemed to transport his brain into an entirely different dimension, into a different story. He saw scenes playing out in his head like a movie and Tommy was instantly addicted. He was so distracted by his search for music he didn’t notice the teacher who had administered the test walking over to the nice lady at the front desk until they called his name.

“Thomas?” he looked up from the phone pulling his headphones out “Your counselor will see you now, Ms. Adams is down the hall, second door on the left.” Tommy nodded and stood, grabbing his backpack and wrapping the headphones up, stashing them and the phone in his pocket with the promise to return to it later. He walked down the hall and paused in front of the door that led to his councilor’s office. He took a deep breath and knocked three times before opening the door and peeking in.

“Thomas?” a lady, who Tommy presumed was Ms. Adams, asked.

“I prefer Tommy actually,” he said with a nod as he entered the office and sat down in the chair across from the councilor.

“Nice to meet you Tommy,” Ms. Adams said with a smile that Tommy could tell was fake “lets talk about your schedule”

***

30 minutes later, Tommy walked out of the office with his schedule in hand along with a locker number and combination and a note excusing him for the rest of the day.

“You’ll start classes tomorrow,” Ms. Adams told him “no point in throwing you in midday”

Tommy had just nodded along with it, any excuse to delay going to actual classes was a good one.

They were probably expecting Tommy to call to get picked up, or maybe to walk home if it was close enough, neither of those ideas were real options to Tommy. For one, he still didn’t have his new address memorized and had no idea how to get there from here. As for the other option… well, as nice as Phil seemed, Tommy didn’t want to push his luck by calling the man out of work just to pick him up from school. So no, Tommy wouldn’t be going ‘home’ instead he found a nice place to just hunker down and wait for the school day to end.

He passed the time mostly by looking through Spotify and creating playlists, daydreaming about epic adventures to the different songs. As time passed Tommy let his mind wander, he built his own world, one where he and Tubbo were traveling the world together. One with magic and swords and fights for freedom. Fights that he and Tubbo won.

‘Music’ Tommy decided ‘is amazing,’ as the daydream continued to play in his head. He’d had these kinds of daydreams before, they’d been his favorite escape for as long as he could remember, but they were never to this level. The music Tommy had chosen was adding to the dramatic scenes playing in his head. He was so engrossed in the daydreams and the music, Tommy ended up blocking out most of the world around him, that was until someone was shaking his shoulder.

Surprised, Tommy flinched back away from the touch and the person let go immediately.

“Sorry,” Wilbur said looking down at the blond in concern “didn’t mean to scare you but you didn’t hear me calling for you”

“My bad big man,” Tommy said pulling the headphones out and wrapping them around the phone “I should’ve been paying attention, don’t you have a class to go to?” he asked looking up at Wilbur.

“Tommy the last bell rang like 15 minutes ago, Tech and I were looking for you… have- how long have you been here?” Wilbur asked with a small frown as Tommy stood and stretched, grabbing his backpack.

“Uhhh I think since like 10:30ish” Tommy shrugged “I finished the test and got my schedule but Ms. Adams said I’d just start tomorrow so I found a place to sit and wait for school to end.”

Wilbur stared at Tommy “wha- why didn’t you just call Phil? He would have picked you up, you didn’t have to stay and wait” Wilbur said as he started leading them both over to where Techno had been looking for Tommy.

“I didn’t want to interrupt his day, besides I didn’t mind waiting” Tommy shrugged, he didn’t see the big deal, it had been kind of nice to just sit and listen to music and let his mind wander but Wilbur was still giving him a weird look.

“Alright if you say so'' Wilbur sighed letting the subject drop as he caught sight of Techno “Tech! Found him c’mon let's go, Phil’s waiting outside” He called out to the younger. Techno nodded walking over to them as the group of three headed for the main doors. Techno caught sight of Phil’s car and smirked.

“I call shotgun,” he said before taking off towards the car.

“Wha-” Wilbur cut himself off, realizing what was happening “oh hell no you got it last time!” he complained, sprinting off after Techno leaving Tommy behind.

Tommy couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the two race to get to Phil’s car, Wilbur had managed to catch up to Techno because of his longer legs but it didn’t help much when Techno stopped suddenly and placed his foot out tripping Wilbur.

“Oh you bitch” Wilbur shouted as he went down, Techno just grinned slyly and bolted over to Phil’s car sliding into the front seat.

Tommy calmly stepped over Wilbur and got into Phil’s car before making eye contact with Techno and the both of them burst into laughter as Phil sighed. Wilbur finally got into the car, glaring at Techno who just shrugged at the older male.
“Better luck next time Wil”

“That's not fair you cheated”

“All's fair in war Wil”

“Don’t you mean in love and war?”

“Oh no. There's no love in this, only violence”

“You ass just wait tomorrow I’m getting the front”

Techno snorted “sure Wilbur keep saying that eventually maybe it’ll be true”

“I swear to-”

“ANYWAY” Phil interrupted loudly, shooting his two sons a glare “Tommy!”

Tommy flinched as the attention was turned to him.

“How was your first day of school?” Phil asked, glancing back at the boy through the rearview mirror.

Tommy shrugged “it was pretty good, I got my schedule sorted out with my counselor today so classes for me start tomorrow”

“That's good” Phil smiled, “are you nervous?”

“Uh” Tommy paused thinking about the question “not really, I’m used to having to start over”

“Okay well if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed in any of your classes or if you’re struggling you can always talk to me” phil said with a nod “and I’m sure Techno and Wilbur would be happy to help too if you’d rather talk to one of them.”

“Thanks,” Tommy said, trying to at least appear grateful for the offer even though internally he knew better than to try and ask any of them for help. The rest of the car ride was fairly calm, mostly just more of Techno and Wilbur bickering back and forth. When they finally pulled into the driveway, Tommy was the first one out. He just wanted to go back to his daydream from before and to maybe find more songs for it.

***

Phil frowned a bit to himself as Tommy went straight upstairs to his room as soon as they got home. He turned to look at his two sons, Techno just shrugged and Wilbur looked confused too.

“Did something happen at school?” he asked them.
“Not that I know of” Wilbur said “he didn’t seem upset or anything when I found him, maybe a little out of it but-”

“What do you mean when you found him?” Phil asked, narrowing his eyes at his oldest “did- did you lose him on his first day?” he asked in disbelief.

“No no I didn’t mean it like that, he was just- well he didn’t have any classes so once he got his schedule figured out he was just waiting for school to get out and so- we didn’t lose him we just couldn’t uh find him at first” Wilbur explained poorly.

Phil blinked at Wilbur slowly “so… you lost him”

“I DIDN’T LOSE HIM-”

Techno tuned out the conversation when Wilbur started trying to defend himself, there was no winning against Phil, even Wilbur should know that.

Notes:

Hi guys! hope you enjoyed this chapter! thanks for all the support on this story! please feel free to comment and let me know what you think of everything so far, it really inspires me! There probably won't be a chapter out tomorrow :( but there will be one on sunday! Love you guys <3

Chapter 7: chapter seven

Notes:

CW: mentions of physical abuse! keep yourselves safe!

Tommy curled his knees closer to his chest, his hands covering his ears and his eyes shut tightly as the yelling outside of his closet door got louder and louder. ‘It must be one of their bad days’ he thought to himself ‘if I just stay here and stay quiet maybe they’ll forget I’m here.’ Unfortunately, Tommy was never that lucky. The seven 1/2 year old and whimpered in fear as the closet door was yanked open sending it banging harshly against the wall. He felt a large rough calloused hand grab his arm and pull sending him sprawling out of the closet.

“Useless brat” his foster father growled lifting his foot up, Tommy’s eyes widen and then snap shut bracing himself for the pain that would follow-

***

Tommy shot up, heart beating far to fast and breaths coming short and uneven. Everything felt too hot and his pajamas were sticking to his skin, he cringed and threw his blankets off of him in the hopes of getting some relief from the heat. He looked around the dark room, eyes searching for the threat that must be lurking somewhere in the room. It took a few minutes for Tommy to calm down as his eyes kept scanning the room, eventually declaring it safe. He took a deep breath, flopping back down on the bed as the adrenaline drained from his veins. ‘Safe’ he reminded himself ‘you’re safe’ and the other voice (the traitor) reminded him ‘for now’. Tommy sighed and swallowed harshly, as he reached and grabbed his phone from the nightstand next to his bed.

He turned it on, squinting as the brightness of the screen assaulted his eyes. 3:14 AM. Fuck. With a groan Tommy peels himself out of bed and stands walking towards the bedroom door as quietly as he can. Normally he wouldn’t risk getting out of bed and waking everyone else up, but he really really needed water so creeping as quietly to the bathroom as he can to get some seemed like the best option. He opens the bedroom door flinching as it creaks, he slips out of his room as soon as the door is open just enough for him to get out and sneaks his way to the bathroom. If Tommy had been more observant he might have noticed that the room next to the bathroom still had lights on. But Tommy wasn’t being super observant, too concentrated on getting a glass of water.

He slipped into the bathroom and grabbed a small flimsy paper cup from the cabinet above the sink filling it with cold water and downing the whole thing in one go before filling it up again and repeating the process. Then he heard floorboards creak behind him. Tommy whirled around, immediately tensing at the noise. Familiar pink hair stood out against the darkness as Technoblade stood awkwardly in the door frame.

“Uh hi” Techno said, sounding just as awkward as he appeared.

“What are you doing up?” Tommy asked, surprised, trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake anyone else in the house.
“Well what are you doing up?”

“I asked first asshole”

“I’m always up at this time” Techno shrugged as Tommy narrowed his eyes.

“How do you even function?” he asks, filling his paper cup with water again.

“Who says I do?”

“Touche”

“Now what are you doing up? Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Techno’s tone was teasing but Tommy still tensed at the repeat of the question.

“Can’t a man just have a glass of water in peace?”

“He can, too bad there aren’t any men in this bathroom”

Tommy in spite himself cracked a smile at the banter before arguing back “I’m a man”

“No you’re a child”

“You’re like two years older than me”

“Exactly thats what makes you a child”

“If i’m a child what does that make you?”

“Uhh” Techno paused and thought about that for a moment as Tommy tossed his paper cup “your superior”

Tommy stifled a laugh as Techno smirked to himself proudly, once Tommy had calmed down slightly he nudged the other’s arm “c’mon follow me” he said leaving the bathroom and waiting for Tommy in the hallway. Tommy hesitated unsure where this was going, it was really late after all and really he should go back to bed and get some sleep before school tomorrow but… “c’mon nerd” Techno said and Tommy found he wanted to follow, so he did.

Tommy followed Techno into his room which was completely bathed in a dark red color from LEDs in Techno’s room. Techno walked over to his bed and switched the LEDs to a dimmer white yellow light showing the real colors of Techno’s room. Much to Tommy’s surprise, most of the room was decorated in light blues and grays which didn’t seem to really fit Techno’s whole aesthetic from what Tommy knew about him.

“Well?” Techno said, Tommy looked at him as the other sat down “don’t just stand there sit down”

Tommy nodded and quickly sat down on the other side of the bed “uh nice room” Tommy murmured suddenly starting to feel a bit more awkward than he had when he originally agreed to follow Techno into the room.

Techno snorts “thanks” silence stretched between the two of them for a moment before Techno cleared his throat “so you uh wanna tell me why you’re really awake?”

“No not really”

Techno sighed he should have expected that answer “uh okay well um lets just… lets just talk” he decided with a nod.

Tommy laughed “just talk? At 3 AM? Talk about what exactly?”

“I don’t know what does one normally talk about in the early hours of the morning?”

“The only person who’d possibly have an answer to that Techno is you”

“Fair point… well okay why don’t you start us off”

“Start us off?”

“Yeah just I don’t know start the conversation”

“Okay” Tommy paused “What the hell sort of name is Techno?”

Techno snorted in amusement “thats what you want to talk about? My name?”

Tommy nodded feeling more confident as a small smile grew on his face “Yeah no seriously where does the name Techno even come from?”

Techno huffed, trying to hide his laughter “well technically it’s short for Technoblade”

“See and that's even weirder! Where did that name even come from?”

Techno couldn’t hide his laughter this time “well I did choose it myself when I was like nine” he started to explain.

“Wait you chose that name yourself?” Tommy interrupted “that's… somehow even worse than if your parents had named you that… why would you choose Technoblade of all things?”

“Alright well again I was nine and i was an even bigger nerd than you are” Techno said dryly “I don’t know I read it in a book somewhere and thought it was cool”

“So what’s your real name?”

“That is my real name”

“No I mean the name Phil or whoever gave you”

Techno tilted his head “heh? Do you mean like my legal name?”

Tommy nodded “yes technoblade like your legal name”

“Uh I don’t know”

“What?”

“Yeah I have no idea what my legal name is”

“Well… why don’t you just ask Phil?”

“Because Phil doesn’t know either”

“Phil doesn’t know either?”

“No. Legally on like the adoption papers and everything my name is Technoblade because by the time I was shuffled into the system my like original birth certificate was like lost or something”

Tommy stared blankly at Techno before whispering “you’re adopted?”

Techno absolutely fucking lost it, he couldn’t help it, it was 3 AM and there was something just so funny about the shocked look on Tommy’s face upon the apparent realization that Techno is not infact Phil’s biological kid. “Yeah Tommy I’m adopted, Phil adopted Wilbur and I a few years back” he said once he was able to calm himself a little.

“So you and Wilbur are-”

“Yeah”

“Huh” Tommy stopped and processed that information for a moment. He had thought this whole time that Techno and Wilbur were Phil’s Biological kids, he would have never guessed that they were ever in the system, that they had ever been like him. “Okay so you picked out your own name because no one knew what your parents had originally named you… and you went with Technoblade?”

“Yes I went with Technoblade, again I was nine when my brother and I picked out our names”

“Okay but Wilbur ended up with at least a semi-normal name, you still landed on Technoblade”

“Wrong brother Tommy”

“Wrong broth- you have another brother?”

Techno laughed but this time it sounded bitter “yeah I have- had? A biological brother, and his name was much worse than mine”

“What…” Tommy hesitated sensing they were approaching a much more serious topic “What was his name?”

“Ranboo”

That… yeah thats way weirder than Technoblade”

“In his defense, he was seven when he picked it out” Techno paused “he is- he would- he’s around your age you know”

“Oh”

“Yeah”

“So… what happened?” Tommy asked hesitantly.

“I was twelve” Techno said taking a deep breath “it was maybe a year before Phil started fostering me? We ran into a pretty bad house, I- we couldn’t stay there so I shoved a backpack in his arms and told him to run. I told him I’d come find him. But then the police showed up and things got… messy… haven’t seen him since” he finished awkwardly.

Tommy wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.

“You didn’t have to tell me that I’m sorry for asking, I didn’t mean to make you share it all…” Tommy trailed off.

“No I” Techno paused “I wanted to... “ he looked over at the younger boy “I just- you aren’t alone Tommy. I’m not good at the whole comforting feelings thing, not the way Wilbur is, but you- just- you aren’t alone. Wilbur and I didn’t know that you didn’t know that we- look us foster kids gotta stick together. Wil and I got lucky, we found a safe haven in Phil but we still know what it’s like so if you ever wanna talk we’re here for you” Techno finished awkwardly. This wasn’t really how he had pictured this conversation going but still, pretty good for a 3 AM ramble.

Tommy nodded “thank you Techno” he murmured, finding that he meant it.

“No problem gremlin child, now go back to your room. You have your first official day in classes tomorrow, you’ll need the rest”

“...hypocrite”

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Bit of a later update but thats okay. Please let me know what you thought! Comments and kudos are really helpful and motivating!

Chapter 8: Chapter Eight

The not quite eight year old sat quietly in the back seat of his social worker’s car, knees up to his chest arms wrapped around them to keep his legs firmly in place.

“C’mon Tommy” Jim scolded him “you have to try kid, you have to at least try before calling me or you’re never going to find a home.

Tommy’s ribs ached as he took a deep breath “but I did try” he mumbled, the bruises he had gotten for calling Jim to come get him were still a dark red and hurt everytime he moved “I really did”.

He saw Jim roll his eyes in the reflection of the rearview mirror and Tommy sighed, Jim never believed him anyway.

***
Tommy woke up once again to the annoying sound of his phone alarm ringing, he reached over tiredly tapping his phone screen until the sound stopped. He sat up and stretched as the memories of what had happened last night came back to him. The nightmare, running into Techno, the weird conversation… Techno’s brother. Tommy sighed what happened last night was even more confusing now, why had Techno told him all of that? Why bother telling Tommy of all people about his brother? Tommy shook his head, he didn’t understand, he wasn’t sure he ever would.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door, the sound was becoming familiar. He pried himself from bed and opened the door slightly to see once again that it was Wilbur knocking on the door. The older male was already dressed and ready for school as he shot Tommy a much too cheerful smile for 7 AM.

“Tommy! C’mon get ready Tech and I get to help you find your classes today!”

“Oh yay” Tommy murmured sarcastically.

“Aww Tommy don’t be like that! It’ll be fun! It’ll be a good bonding experience”

Tommy smiled mischievously “you know Wilbur, Of all the people to bond with I’m not sure you’d be my first pick”

Wilbur gaped at Tommy before dramatically stalking over past the bathroom to Techno’s door “Technooooo The Child is bullying meeee” Wilbur groaned bonking his head against Techno’s door. A moment later Techno opened his bedroom door.

“You probably deserved it” Techno said passively.

Wilbur stared at him for a moment before opening his mouth and shouting “PHIIIIIILLLL TOMMY AND TECHNO ARE BEING MEAN TO MEEEEE”

Tommy stiffened, flinching back at the loud noise resisting the urge to cover his ears. He heard a sigh and the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and he immediately backed farther into his room. Should he close the door? Wilbur sounded like he was joking but what if Phil didn’t see it that way? Should he hide? Grab his stuff and run? Would they hurt him? What was the safest course of action? What could he do to keep them from hurting him?

And then Techno was in front him, back towards him and feet planted firmly in front of the door as Phil finally reached the top of the stairs.

“Phil would never hurt you” Techno whispered, so quiet Tommy almost missed it “but if he ever tried, if anyone ever tries… I’ve got you”

Tommy stared at Techno, Techno who was standing in front him, completely immovable. Techno who had known him for a total of four days. Techno who just last night had confided in Tommy about his brother.

Techno who wasn’t going to let Phil or anyone else hurt Tommy.

Tommy had been told that before, been promised safety before. But for some reason, he found himself believing it when Techno said it. Which is why, even as Phil came into view, Tommy found his panic subsiding.

He was okay, he was safe… Techno’s got him.

Phil looked between the three boys, confusion evident on his face “everything alright?” he asked.

“Everythings fine” Techno assured him before Wilbur or Tommy could say anything “Wilbur’s just being a little bitch”

“Well I wouldn’t have put it that way” Wilbur mumbled but surprisingly didn’t argue. He had seen how Tommy reacted to his yelling, and the way Techno had reacted to Tommy. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened between the two, but he knew he had scared Tommy and he didn’t want to do any more damage than he already had.

“Okay” Phil nodded, still looking a bit confused “Wilbur, Techno why don’t you two head downstairs and get breakfast, lets let Tommy get ready for the day yeah?” he said leading the way down the stairs.

“Yes, Phil,” the two boys said in unison, Wilbur immediately followed after Phil but Techno turned to Tommy first.

“You good?” he asked looking at the younger.

Tommy nodded “fine, now get out of my room bitch i gotta get ready”

Techno cracked a small smile “whatever, see you in a few minutes loser” he said before heading downstairs.

Tommy took a deep breath, gathering himself before closing his bedroom door and getting ready for the day ahead of him.

***

Breakfast was cereal and toast again, cereal for Wilbur and toast that techno had made for him and Tommy. Breakfast was quieter than it was yesterday, it felt different than it did yesterday. And when Tommy chose to sit down next to Techno instead of on the opposite side of the table, no one said anything. All that happened was Techno sliding a plate of toast over to Tommy and even after Techno had finished eating, he didn’t move to get up from the table until Tommy was done too.

He still beat Wilbur when it came to getting to the front seat though. Sure things had changed a bit, but not that much.

“You absolute dickhead, give me the front seat” Wilbur said as Tommy climbed into the back.

“Uh no.” Techno said with a bored looking expression.

“I will wrestle you out of that seat if I have to Technoblade”

Techno sighed “You can try but we both know that’s a fight you will lose so I don’t see the point”

Wilbur groaned but he climbed in the backseat, crossing his arms and pouting like a child “This is so unfair”

“Aw Wilbur don’t you want to sit next to me?” Tommy said jokingly “what happened to bonding?” He seemed more at ease with the family than he had yesterday, even after the incident that happened this morning.

“You said you didn’t want to bond with me!” Wilbur argued as Phil got into the car, ready for work. “Phil why do my brothers hate me so much?”

Phil sighed “i’m sure they don’t hate you Wilbur, don’t be dramatic”

“Yeah Wilbur, Tommy and I don’t hate you” Techno smirked “we’re just bonding”

“Bonding over what, bullying me?”

“Yes.” Tommy answered with a grin.

“Bullying you is the best bonding activity” Techno said with a nod “it’s how I bonded with Phil”

Wilbur gasped “Phil is this true?”

Phil was too busy laughing to give Wilbur a proper answer.

Tommy found himself smiling as the familiar banter continued ‘I could get used to this’ he thought to himself watching the family before frowning at the thought ‘I could, but I won’t’
***

“Do you have your schedule?” Wilbur asked as they walked into the building.

“Yep,” Tommy said, holding the piece of paper his counselor had given to him yesterday.

“Can I see?”

Tommy hesitated for a moment but handed the paper over to Wilbur who studied it for a moment.

“Okay so your first class is geography and it’s right across the hall from my english class so just follow me okay?” Wilbur said, handing the paper back to Tommy.

Tommy nodded and turned to look at Techno who gave him a rare smile “good luck nerd, I’ll see you at lunch” Techno said before separating from the other two and heading off to his class.

Wilbur frowned “he never says goodbye to me the jerk” He mumbles “c’mon’ he said as he started off down a hallway in the opposite direction that Techno had gone.

***

Classes were boring, mind numbingly boring, Tommy found himself mostly daydreaming, entering his own fantasy world instead of paying any attention to the teachers. In between classes either Techno or Wilbur would be waiting for him to show him where his next class was. Tommy tried memorizing the route so they wouldn’t have to do that tomorrow but this school was so much bigger and far more confusing than his previous one. Tommy kind of gave up on memorizing the layout once Wilbur mentioned that there was a second third floor.

“How does a school have more than one third floor? That just doesn’t make any sense” Tommy said, staring at Wilbur in disbelief.

Wilbur shrugged “I don’t know, they just don’t connect so we have two of them. The second one isn’t much of a floor anyway, it’s like one hallway with just math classes.”

“That sounds like the definition of hell,” Tommy said, only half joking.

Wilbur laughed “c’mon your next class is this way”

***

The bell rang signifying the end of biology, one of Tommy’s most boring classes. He left the classroom and waited by the door, his next period was lunch, and one would think he’d be able to find the cafeteria by himself but Wilbur had insisted he wait for them. Tommy wasn’t sure why he was listening to Wilbur of all people but here he was waiting for the taller male.
He didn’t have to wait for long before he saw a tall mop of brown hair heading towards him.

“Tommy!” Wilbur grinned “how was class?”

“Boring” Tommy answered, it was the same answer he had been giving all day.

“Yeah most classes here are” Wilbur nodded “c’mon Techno’s gonna meet us at our table”

“Techno has 5th period lunch too?” Tommy asked as he followed Wilbur down the hall through the crowd of other students.

“Yep! And so do most of our friends” Wilbur said with a nod “you’ll meet pretty much all of them save for maybe Puffy and Sam, they usually end up in the library rather than the cafeteria”

Tommy sighed, meeting people right now sounded exhausting. He had enough new things in life he didn’t need more. “The library sounds nice can we go there instead?” he asked.

“Nope!” WIlbur said cheerfully wrapping an arm around Tommy’s shoulders “I want you to meet our friends, they’re all very excited to meet you”

“Your friends know about me?” Tommy asked surprised.

“Yep” Techno said, popping out from nowhere on Tommy’s other side startling the blond boy.

“Jesus”

“Nope just me”

“Fucking a warning or something man christ” Tommy said “so how do your friends know about me?”

“Wilbur wouldn’t shut up about you yesterday” Techno answered with a shrug.

“All good things” Wilbur jumped in to reassure him.

Tommy paused, frowning a bit at that “why even talk about me if it’s only good things?”

Wilbur shrugged as Techno chuckled a bit “why wouldn’t I want to talk about my new little brother?” he said.

Tommy frowned more “foster brother” he corrected softly “your new foster brother”

Wilbur faltered for a moment before quickly trying to cover it up “right sorry foster brother” he agreed.

They walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria in silence and Tommy found he himself wishing he hadn’t corrected Wilbur.

Notes:

Yay! Another chapter done! I really enjoy reading the comments on previous chapters, it's super motivating! So if you guys are enjoying the story please let me know! Not sure if I'll be able to post a chapter tomorrow but if not there will be one on wednesday! Love you guys!

Chapter 9: Chapter nine

Wilbur and Techno’s friend group as it turned out seemed less like their friend group and more like Wilbur had friends and Techno was there too. Tommy discovered this almost immediately when they walked in together and headed towards a table where two people were sitting. The two people, one a smaller girl with blond hair and the other a boy with orange hair and dark eyes, jumped up from the table immediately at the sight of them.

“Wilbur!” The girl cheered coming over and greeting Wilbur with a hug.

“Niki” Wilbur cheered back as he hugged the smaller girl, shooting a grin at the boy with the orange hair. He let go of Niki and high fived the other boy “what's up Fundy?”

“Not much Wilbur” Fundy said “English is kicking my ass again, hey Techno”

“Hi Fundy. No I’m not helping you with your english homework again”

“I didn’t even ask you yet!”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Hi Techno!” Niki said, giving Techno a bright smile.

“Hullo” Techno then walked around the group and sat down at the end of the table before pulling out his lunch. Tommy moved to follow but Wilbur reached over and wrapped an arm around Tommy’s shoulders again and dragged him back over to the group.

“Oh is this Tommy?” Niki asked excitedly “hello I’m Niki I’m friends with Wil”

Tommy paused and considered being polite “Are you Wilbur’s girlfriend?” he asked obnoxiously as that first option went right out the window.

Niki laughed “no no Wil and I are just friends”

“Oh... that’s so embarrassing for you Wilbur” Tommy said with a grin.

“Wha- what? No it’s not! I never said Niki was my girlfriend” Wilbur sputtered while from his seat at the table, Techno smirked to himself.

“But you like her right?”

“I uh not not in that way Tommy!” Wilbur said, his cheeks going red.

“Are you sure about that Wilbur?” someone from behind them asked, “you’re looking a bit red there pal” Tommy turned quickly having been so caught up in teasing Wil he hadn’t heard anyone approach. The owner of the voice was shorter than him and wearing a hat and weird red and blue glasses.

“Oh shut up Jack” Wilbur said as his cheeks got redder. Wilbur noticed Tommy staring warily at Jack and was quick to make introductions. “Jack this is Tommy my new brother- I mean foster brother”

If Jack noticed the quick correction, he didn’t comment on it. Instead he just offered a smile to Tommy.

“Well now that introductions are out of the way, how about the rest of you sit down, it’s starting to hurt my neck looking up at all of you” Techno said, breaking the awkward silence. Tommy was quick to take a seat next to Techno, while Wilbur’s friends seemed nice he felt better with Techno next to him.

“So…” Tommy began “if wilbur doesn’t have a crush on Niki who does he have a crush on?”

Wilbur groaned and let his head fall into his hands “I’m going to punt this gremlin child into a lake”

***

Lunch went smoothly, Tommy did his best to joke around and make a good impression with Wilbur’s friends. After all Wilbur had talked about him (all good things even!) and Tommy found he wanted to prove whatever it was Wilbur had said about him was correct. The idea that he might not be living up to what Wilbur had said about him made his stomach drop, though Tommy wasn’t sure why the rest of him was so caught up in what Wilbur of all people thought of him.

Once the bell rang, he said goodbye to everyone and followed Wilbur to his next class.

“So what did you think of them?” Wilbur asked, glancing at Tommy.

“Your friends are pretty cool” Tommy said “Still not sure about that Fundy guy though seems like he might be a wrongin”

Wilbur paused looking at Tommy in confusion “what? Fundy? Why?”

“Well he’s got a funny name doesn’t he” Tommy grinned in a way Wilbur knew he was joking “and he’s a man, not a big fan of them”

Wilbur caught on to the bit and smiled continuing to walk with Tommy “well you’re a man aren’t you? And Techno’s got a funny name, why aren’t you two ‘wrongins’ then?”

“Well clearly I’m the only good man,” Tommy stated “and techno’s name isn’t funny, it’s badass”

“Right of course, my bad” Wilbur said sarcastically pausing in front of Tommy’s classroom. “Good luck I’ll see you next passing period”

Tommy sighed, he wished lunch was longer, but nonetheless headed into the classroom.

***

Most of the day went on without a hitch, Tommy would blank out for most of the class period and then meet Wilbur or Techno in the hall where he would go to his next class and repeat. He ran into a problem though at the end of his last period. He was waiting outside the classroom for Wilbur when two of his classmates approached him.Tommy knew immediately from their body language that he wasn’t going to like where this was heading

“You’re the new kid right?” One of them asked.

“Um yeah… I’m Tommy” Tommy answered awkwardly looking around for Wilbur but not yet seeing the mop of brown hair.

“Well new kid” the other one sneered “we have a ritual of sorts for new students like you”

Tommy had to keep himself from laughing, instead forcing a plain, bored look on his face “what is this? A bad coming of age movie? Why don’t you just move along dude I’m just waiting for my brother”

“I’m sure your brother would understand, after all this is a very important part of welcoming you to our school”

“Listen pal-” Tommy started, taking a step back as the two boys stepped closer “I could kill you right now”

“Oh could you?” the biggest one sneered “why don’t you try it”

“Tommy!’

Tommy has never been so glad to hear Wilbur’s voice, as WIlbur jogged over. He paused looking down at the two bullies who had clearly been trying to pick on their new target, who happened to be his little brother. Something cruel flashed in Wilbur’s eyes as he forced a smile.

“Tommy? Are these boys bothering you?”
The bullies at this point were very obviously regretting now their decision to attempt to bully the new kid. Wilbur wasn’t particularly strong but there was air around him that made people reluctant to mess with him. Not to mention, he was Technoblade’s older brother, and no one messed with Technoblade.

“No no not bothering him” one of the bullies rushed to reassure the much taller male “just- just saying goodbye uh goodbye Tommy”

“Yeah uh bye Tommy” the other one followed suit and the both of them hurried off in the opposite direction.

Tommy was a bit confused, he had been pretty sure that the bullies wouldn’t bother him around Wilbur, but he hadn’t expected them to act so… scared.

“They seemed a bit skittish,” Tommy commented as he followed Wilbur towards the front doors.

Wilbur just laughed “it’s the perks of being Techno’s brother” Wilbur explained “you’ll understand soon enough, once the word spreads that you’re Technoblade’s little brother those types won't bother you again”

“They’re that scared of Techno? Really?”

“Yeah… lets just say Tech used to be a bit of a loose cannon when Phil first started fostering him. Got him a bit of a reputation” Wilbur shrugged.

“Oh… well what did he do?”

“I think that’s a story for Techno to tell” Wilbur said “speaking of- TECH OVER HERE” he called out to the pink haired boy who was just leaning against a wall reading a book. Techno looked up seeming kind of annoyed to be interrupted but joined them anyway.

“Is Phil here yet?” Wilbur asked and Techno shook his head.

“Not yet, he’s like 5 minutes away” Tech said “how was your last class Tommy?”

“Pretty boring” Tommy shrugged “just like the rest of the day.”

“Boring is better than just bad” Techno pointed out as he crouched down to tie his shoe “rather it be boring than bad”

“That’s true I suppose” Tommy sighed quickly growing bored as they waited for Phil. “so… what did you do to make everyone so scared of you?”

 

Wilbur let out a startled laugh “Tommy!”
Techno seemed unbothered by the question, he just shrugged “well uh I threw a guy into a locker once” he said nonchalantly.

Wilbur looked at Techno in disbelief “yeah and you broke his nose and gave him a concussion so bad he was sent to the hospital”

“That was more the locker’s fault then mine I think”

“So you’re story is that the locker sent that guy to the hospital?”

“Yep, oh look Phil’s here”

Wilbur’s head snapped towards the front door, where indeed Phil’s car was waiting “I call front!” he shouted turning to run towards the car but quickly tripped seemingly over nothing. Techno snickered and walked past his brother. While Tommy stared at Wilbur’s shoes bursting into laughter a moment later.

“Yeah right” Techno said as Wilbur stared at his shoelaces which were tightly knotted together.

“When did you-?”

“My shoes were never untied Wilbur, but yours were… good luck with that knott” Techno smirked walking to the car. Tommy looked between Techno who was climbing into the front seat and Wilbur who was still on the ground.

“Tommy? You wonderful child… help me out here?”

“Sorry Wilbur” Tommy said with a sly grin “I wanna hear more about how the locker sent that guy to the hospital” he then raced off to Phil’s car climbing into the backseat.

Wilbur sighed “whats the point in having siblings if they just leave you to suffer”

***
Tommy was eight years old when he proposed the idea to Tubbo. It was a quiet night, all the other kids were sleeping but Tommy knew Tubbo was still awake.

“No one wants us” he said, aloud glancing over at Tubbo who was in the bed next to him.

Tubbo groaned “don’t remind me, that was like the sixth house this year”

Tommy was silent for a moment before saying “what if we just stopped?”

Tubbo sat up “What? Stopped what?”

Tommy turned to face Tubbo “stopped trying, none of these houses want us anyway. So what if we stopped trying to fit in with them”

“And do what? Stay here until we age out?”

“Yes. exactly.”

“Don’t you want to have a family Tommy?”

“Well that’s the thing, I was thinking…” Tommy paused taking a deep breath “what if we were just each other’s family.”

“I don’t think thats how that works Tommy”

“Well why not?” Tommy sighed and rolled back over onto his back “if you could be my brother Tubbo, would you want to be?”

“Of course, you’re my best friend in the whole world”

“Exactly, so lets just be each other's family”

“But they wont let us stay here, we always get sent off to a new home eventually”

“Thats why we make a promise”

“What kind of promise”

“To always come back” Tommy stated, turning once again to face his friend. He was aware of what this promise would imply, that neither of them would ever be able to find a family in the homes they would be placed in. But for Tommy, Tubbo was family enough and he was certain that there wouldn’t be anyone as close to family as Tubbo was. “A promise that No matter how far they send us, we’ll always find our way back here. To each other.”

“Are you sure Tommy? What if you find a home you really want to stay in” Tubbo asked unable to imagine himself ever finding a home. He had been told enough that he was far to stupid for any home to truly want him. What kind of a family would want a kid who couldn’t read no matter how hard he tried.

“No home is worth staying in if you’re not in it Tubso” Tommy reassured “I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else without you. Tubbo- Toby” Tommy made a face but this was a serious promise which meant using his best friend’s full name “Toby I promise that I’ll always come back home to you. Do you promise to do the same for me?”

“I promise Tommy”
***

Tommy sighed as he reviewed the day. He was lying in bed, headphones in, going over everything. He wasn’t entirely sure what to think. He liked Wilbur’s friends, he liked joking with Technoblade, he liked that Wilbur referred to him as his brother even though they hadn’t yet known each other for a week. He liked this house, and a part of him really wanted to stay. At least, for a little while. After all, Tommy had made a promise and he wasn’t one to break such a serious vow.

But still, Tubbo wouldn’t mind if Tommy stayed for a bit longer than he normally would… would he?

Notes:

Hi guys, sorry this is late. Thank you for all of the wonderful comments on the last chapter! It's really cheered me up. Things have taken a bit of a turn in my life recently, my dad lost his job and my younger siblings are really sick (they got covid) so I'm dealing with a lot right now. I'm not sure when I'll post the next chapter. On a happier note, it's my birthday today! I'm turning 20 which is pretty cool! Hope you guys have a good day and please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter! Again comments are really motivating and they make me very happy so feel free to tell me what you thought of the chapter! Love you guys <3

Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

Notes:

Hi Guys! It's been awhile! Sorry for not updating, luckily things are going a bit better now. Anyway enjoy this chapter and please feel free to let me know what you think of it!

It’s been a week and so far the other shoe hasn’t dropped. Phil hasn’t yelled, hasn’t hit him, hasn’t called him nasty names or deprived him of food. Wilbur and Techno haven’t touched his stuff, they constantly include him during lunch, they walk with him to each of his classes even after he’s memorized his schedule. It’s the best house Tommy’s ever been in and Tommy has done his bit too, he doens’t steal or hurt or yell or get himself into trouble because this family hasn’t given him a reason to feel like he needs to do that. But Tommy is still Tommy, and even when he isn’t trying to get into trouble he still manages to just fine. And really he should have expected that at this point.
The big red F at the top of his first quiz in geography was proof of that. Tommy himself didn’t much care about the grade, geography was stupid anyway, but how would Phil feel when he found out? Would that be the turning point? Somehow, Tommy hasn’t given Phil a reason to show his bad side, would this finally do it?

“Tommy!”

He looked away from his paper in alarm, his teacher was staring down at him looking slightly concerned. Tommy glanced around to see he was the only one left in the classroom

“Your brother’s waiting for you” His teacher said, Tommy looked over at the door to find Wilbur was indeed standing there staring at him with open concern. Tommy quickly packed up his things, shoving the failed quiz into his bag and walking over to Wilbur.

“You alright?” Wilbur asked as they walked towards Tommy’s next class.

“Just fine big man”

“Are you sure?” Wilbur frowned “you seemed kind of upset,”

Tommy hesitated, on one hand he didn’t really want to talk about the bad grade but on the other, Wilbur might be the best way to measure how pissed Phil might be about this and it was always better to be prepared to get beat up then not.

“I failed a quiz in geography” Tommy answered finally with a sigh.

“Oh” Wilbur said “well do you need help in that class? It’s okay if you do, I really like geography so I could probably help you study for the next one if you want”

Tommy nodded hesitating again before asking “is Phil going to be mad?”

“About what?”

“The quiz”
Wilbur shook his head “Phil doesn’t really get mad about much” he said “the only time I think I really saw him get mad was when Techno sent that guy to the hospital”

“Oh” Tommy thought about that as they walked the rest of the way to his class.

“I need to get to class” Wilbur sighed and then looked at Tommy as he hovered just outside his classroom seemingly lost in thought “but if you’re worried about how Phil might react to the quiz grade, you can always ask Techno or I and we can just be in the room when it happens. Phil’s great and he won’t hurt you, but if you’d feel better having backup, just in case, you can always ask me or Tech.”

And Tommy smiled, just a bit “Thanks Wil” he murmured and then headed into his next class with the reminder that no matter what happened with Phil, Techno and Wilbur have his back.

***

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, Tommy once again sat with Wilbur and Techno and their group of friends at lunch and then later watched as Techno once again beat Wilbur to the passenger side seat. They were on their way back home when Phil started asking about everyone’s day.

Wilbur had just finished telling Phil about how apparently he was destined to be the only competent person in his entire class when Phil decided to cut him off.

“As wonderful as this conversation is Wilbur, I don’t need another hour long rant about how you hating anteaters makes you superior to everyone else in your grade” Phil sighed “how about you Tommy? How was your day?”

Tommy tensed up glancing at Wilbur who gave him a small encouraging smile “it us it was pretty good” he paused, hesitating for a moment “but I uh well I failed a geography quiz” and then he braced himself for Phil’s reaction. Would he yell? Stop the car? Kick Tommy out right there on the road?

But Phil just nodded a little “alright well do you know what you did wrong? On the quiz I mean”

Tommy, despite the reassurance Wilbur had given him earlier, hadn’t been expecting this response. Phil was so… calm… and Tommy for the life of him couldn’t figure out why. “Um yeah I just got mixed up on some of the names and such” he eventually answered when he realized the car was silent with Phil waiting on his answer. And then Phil smiled. Smiled like Tommy hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Alright well if you’re struggling in the class, I’m sure Wilbur could help you or if you want we could find someone to tutor you” Phil offered.

Tommy nodded a little “yeah Wilbur offered earlier when I told him, I um I have a test coming up so if you don’t mind” he trailed off looking over at Wilburn

“Sure, when is your test?” Wilbur asked.

“In like a week”

“Ok great, plenty of time to study” Wilbur smiled and Tommy found himself smiling back.

***

The weekend soon arrived and Tommy was upstairs, listening to music and playing some game on his phone when Phil called from downstairs.

“BOYS I’M GOING TO THE STORE I’LL BE BACK LATER DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID WHILE I’M GONE”

Which was quickly followed by the sound of the garage door opening and the front door shutting. Tommy didn’t think anything of it it and just continued playing on his phone but apparently the peace wasn’t meant to last as someone knocked on his bedroom door.

Tommy sighed and reluctantly got up from his comfortable place on his bed to open and unlock the door. “What?” he asked seeing it was Wilbur who had knocked, not that that was particularly surprising, Techno rarely came to bother Tommy.

Wilbur instead of answering just revealed what he had been holding behind his back, two nerf guns. He handed one off to Tommy who took it with a confused grin. “You wanna help me take down techno?”

Tommy’s smile widened into something much more chaotic and his eyes lit up “hell yeah” he said excitedly, loading the nerf gun.

Wilbur grinned and loaded his own nerf gun “lets do this” he said leading the way over to Techno’s bedroom door. He help a finger to his lips as they crept over to the door, Wilbur on one side and Tommy on the other. Wilbur held up three fingers and mouthed counting down to Tommy.

One

Two

Three!

The two burst into Techno’s bedroom guns at the ready only to find it empty.
“What? Where’d he go?” Wilbur asked lowering his gun, brows furrowed in clear confusion.

“Try behind you”

Tommy and Wilbur spun around to see their brother, holding two nerf guns, one trained on each of them. “Guns on the ground boys”

“Now technoblade lets talk about this brother to brother”

“I see no brothers here Wilbur, only allies who made the mistake of betrayin me”

“Technoblade-”

“Stop speakin traitor and put the gun on the ground”

“Fuck it” Tommy said aiming his gun at Techno and pulling the trigger, watching as the harmless projectile bounced off Techno’s leg.

“Tommy,” Wilbur began sounding terrified “what have you done”

But Tommy wasn’t done yet he turned aiming his gun at Wilbur.

“Tommy” Wilbur said taking a step back, holding his hands up in surrender as Techno watched mildly amused “Think carefully about what you’re about to do”

Tommy grinned “eat my bullets bitch!” he shouted as he shot Wilbur square in the chest.

Wilbur gasped dramatically, hand convering the area the harmless bullet had bounced off of “oh you’ve done it now,”

Tommy laughed loudly “well boys I think I’ve won this fight”

“Don’t be so sure” Wilbur said smiling mischeviously “Techno”

“Heh?”

“What do you say we team up to show our new little brother whose boss”

Tommy looked at Techno warily, during the chaos he had let the nerf guns drop back down to his side rather than pointing it at Wilbur and Tommy. Techno made eye contact with Tommy and then looked at Wilbur.

“Actually Wilbur,” he said raising the nerf guns and pointing both of them at the eldest “I was thinkin I would team up with Tommy”
Wilbur sputtered “what- Techno-” he stopped catching sight of Tommy’s face, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen the blond smile so hard.

“Hahaha yea bitch! I got the blade on my side” Tommy cheered. Wilbur looked between the two of them and then glanced not so subtly behind him towards the stairs.

“Don’t even think about it” Techno said leveling both guns so they were aimed at Wilbur’s head.

Wilbur paused, looking at Techno and then sprinting off down the stairs.

“After him!” Tommy yelled chasing after Wilbur with Techno right behind him.

***

Phil was disappointed but unsurprised when he returned from the store to find the house in shambles. The kitchen was a mess having been ransacked for baking pans to be used as makeshift shields. The living room was torn apart, pillows and blankets being used to construct forts. The dining room had blankets tossed over the table and the chairs were out of place around the room having been used to block their enemies path in this full out brother vs brother vs brother nerf war. Stray darts could be found in every room but despite the mess, Phil’s sons were no where to be seen.

“Boys?” Phil called out cautiously as he approached the stairs, this wouldn’t be the first time Techno and Wilbur had decided to ambush him with foam darts. But he got no response as he slowly crept up the stairs. The first place he checked was Wilbur’s room, frowning a bit when he found it empty. Then he turned to Techno’s room, knowing better than to just walk into Techno’s room, he knocked first. “Techno?” he asked opening the door a bit and peaking inside.

Techno looked up and held a finger to his lips as his dad entered the room and Phil couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Techno was sitting at his desk, an essay pulled up just doing homework and on the other side of his room was his brothers. Both lying down on Techno’s bed, Tommy out like a light and Wilbur quietly scrolling through his phone with one hand, his other arm trapped under Tommy’s sleeping form.

“You comfy over there Wil?” Phil asked keeping his voice low so as not to wake up the youngest of the group.

“Mhm” Wilbur nodded a bit looking up from his phone briefly as Phil gave him a disbelieving look. “Well I can’t feel my arm but I’m good”

Phil held back a laugh “Okay well why don’t we move Tommy into his room okay?”

“Don’t you dare” Wil said holding the younger closer to him.

Phil sighed “Techno would you mind moving your brother his room please”

“Which one?”

“The sleeping one”

“Nooooooo” Wilbur whined “I don’t need my arm anyway! Just don’t move him”

“Wilbur”

“Dad”

“Wilbur”

“Dad”

“Wilbur you have homework to do and I’m sure Tommy would feel more comfortable waking up in his room than with you right next to him”

Wilbur sighed reluctantly “okay” he mumbled and Techno stood up walking over to his younger brother and his older brother. Carefully he picked Tommy up, doing his best not to jostle the younger, pausing when Tommy murmured something in his sleep, fearing he had woken the younger up. He relaxed and smiled a bit though when all Tommy did was lean closer to Techno.

“Thats adorable” Wilbur whispered jealously “Why didn’t he do that with me?”

“Obviously he likes me better”

“He does not”

“Does too”

“Does not!”

“Does too”

“Does-”

“Boys!” Phil interrupted “Stop that you’ll wake him up”

Both brothers glanced down at Tommy as if remembering why they were being quiet in the first place. “Sorry dad” they said together and Phil just shook his head.

“Techno will you put Tommy in his room please”
Techno nodded carrying the blond out and next door, glad the bedroom door was already open slightly. Tommy’s room was the only one that hadn’t been wrecked or littered with foam projectiles during the nerf war and Techno found himself thankful that the room was still intact and easy enough to cross. Gently, Techno set Tommy down on his bed and quietly snuck back out of the room, closing the door behind him.

***

That night Tommy slept with no nightmares for the first time since he was seven years old.

Notes:

Thanks so much for reading! Hope everyone enjoyed! Hopefully I'm gonna be updating a bit more frequently now that things have calmed down a bit in my life. Thanks so much for all of the nice comments they really cheered me up! See you guys next time!

Chapter 11: Chapter eleven

Notes:

I'm Sorry

 

tw for violence and panic attacks in this chapter

“Dream” Tommy sobbed, arms still raised in a pathetic attempt to defend himself “Dream please stop I’m sorry”

“You have to learn Tommy '' Dream said, smiling cruelly down at the younger boy as he brought his foot back to kick Tommy again. “And you’ve made it clear that this is the only way you’ll understand the lesson”

“Dream no no no stop please stop I’m sorry I won’t do it again”

“I know you won’t Tommy”

Tommy whimpered as a hand gripped his hair and forced his head up, forcing him to look at Dream.

“I know you won’t because if you ever try something that stupid again I’ll kill you” Dream’s eyes gleamed in amusement at the obvious fear on the 11 year olds face. He let go of Tommy, letting the boy’s head fall back to where it was before. “Pathetic” he sighed, lifting his foot up again and kicking Tommy to the ground.

The 11 year old curled up on himself, arms raised to protect his face as Dream brought his foot back again-

***

Tommy woke up, heart racing, tears already threatening to spill over. He looked around, trying to ground himself but as he felt something rise in his throat he realized he didn’t have time to remind himself which house he was in. He needed to get to the bathroom. Now. So he jumped out of bed and sprinted over, not even bothering with the bathroom light as he collapsed next to the toilet just in time to spill his guts out.

Great. Just great. He had gotten exactly three days of reprieve from the nightmares only for them to return with the worst of the worst. Tommy groaned and closed his eyes, letting his head rest against the cold porcelain side of the toilet. He wiped his mouth, cringing at the bitter acidic taste in his mouth but he couldn’t get himself to stand and brush his teeth.

“Tommy?” The lights flicked on.

Tommy tensed, forcing his eyes open and curling in on himself a bit, turning his head to look at the person who had just said his name.

Phil was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, not quite inside but not quite out, looking down at the blond with clear concern.
“You alright mate?”

“I uh yeah I’m- uh I’m all good big man” Tommy stuttered backing up a bit as his heart rate picked back up. What had he done? Running so recklessly though the house at god knows what time… he had woken up Phil, he should have known better.

“You sure mate?” Phil asked, stepping into the bathroom, peering at Tommy with that same concerned look. “You’re looking rather pale, are you feeling sick at all?”

“I uh-” Tommy backed up more as Phil entered the bathroom, not stopping until his back hit a wall. His vision blurred as tears threatened to spill over. Why was his heart beating so loudly? The lights were too bright and his head was starting to hurt and Phil was saying something but Tommy couldn’t hear him. He felt lightheaded and there was a weight on his chest like someone was on top of him. It was all too much, so he closed his eyes and covered his ears and waited for it all to be over.

The lights flicked back off.

***

When he finally opened his eyes again, the bathroom was dark and his ears were ringing. Sitting criss-cross on the opposite end of the bathroom was Phil with his eyes closed. Tommy could tell from his breathing that he wasn’t asleep, just waiting. Reluctantly Tommy uncovered his ears and took a deep breath.

“Hi” he murmured, his voice sounded hoarse and shaky and his volume had been barely over a whisper.

Phil opened his eyes and smiled softly at Tommy “hi” he whispered back “Want some water?” he asked, pulling the cup carefully from the counter above him.

Tommy stared at it for a moment, trying to remember if he heard Phil leave the room at some point before dismissing it and simply accepting the water. He got through about half of the cup before remembering he needed to breathe. The two sat in silence as Tommy sipped the rest of the water.

“That was pretty scary” Phil said softly and Tommy found himself nodding a little “how are you feeling?”

“Like I got run over multiple times” Tommy answered honestly, staring down at his now empty cup.

“Does this happen… often?”

“What?”

“The panic attack… do those happen often?”

Tommy had never had a name for it before “i uh kind of? I don’t know, they aren’t usually this bad” he mumbled.

Phil nodded a bit “Okay is there anything I can do to help you when those happen?”

 

“I uh… no- I don’t think so? I don’t know” Tommy stuttered “I didn’t know there was a way to- to help when that- when it happens”

“Okay” Phil nodded again, his tone of voice hadn't changed even though Tommy wasn’t able to answer his question. “Okay that’s okay, is there anything I can do now to help you?”

Tommy paused and considered the question before shrugging “I don’t know” he mumbled starting to feel frustrated with all the questions.

“Okay” Phil said again “thank you for answering my questions, is it okay if I hug you?”

“What?”

“Is it okay if I hug you?” Phil repeated and for the first time that night Tommy looked up to meet his eyes. There was something soft and kind about how Phil was looking at Tommy, it was something Tommy wasn’t used to seeing from an adult. “It sounds like you’ve had a rough night, mate. It’s okay if you don’t want one, you can tell me no I won’t get mad… but it seems like you could use one”

And Tommy, despite everything in him telling him he should say no, that trusting Phil would be a mistake, that trusting Phil isn’t like trusting Wilbur or Techno, Tommy nodded.

Phil smiled softly and slowly so Tommy could see what he was doing before he did it, walked over and wrapped his arms around him. Lose enough that if Tommy wanted to he could easily pull away. Tommy leaned into the touch, hugging Phil back and he melted. He choked back tears as he wormed his way closer, clinging to Phil as if afraid the moment would end and Phil would pull away. Instead Phil pulled Tommy closer, tracing circles on his back and he softly shushed the boy in his arms.

“It’s alright, you’re alright, I’ve got you” he murmured and Tommy let himself believe it as drifted to sleep in his dad’s arms.

***

When Tommy woke up he was back in his room and his stupid phone alarm was going off. WIth a groan he sat up and shut the stupid thing off as last nights event came back to him. It was no wonder he felt like shit. Tommy dragged himself out of bed and slowly got himself dressed, much more sluggish than he normally was, Wilbur had ended up knocking on his door three times telling him to hurry up. On the fourth knock Tommy had yanked the door open feeling tired and frustrated.

“Fuck off Wil- uh…” He stopped seeing that this time the person knocking wasn’t Wilbur, but Phil instead. “Uh hi… sorry… WIlbur’s being particularly annoying and I thought that… um… anyway”

“It’s alright mate” Phil said with a smile “I was just wondering if you were feeling better since last night?”

“Uh yeah” Tommy answered awkwardly “a bit”

“Okay well I just wanted to check, if you aren’t feeling up for school or need to leave early just let me know okay?”

“Yeah okay” Tommy nodded “thanks Phil, I’ll be down in a minute”

“Alright mate see you downstairs” Phil nodded and Tommy watched as he turned and headed back downstairs before closing his bedroom door.

As promised a minute later Tommy was downstairs plopping down at the table in his usual seat next to Techno. Techno looked at him for a moment offering the usual piece of toast for breakfast but didn’t seem particularly surprised when Tommy declined. Instead, Techno stood up and went into the pantry, grabbing a few granola bars and shoved them into his bag for Tommy to have later.

Breakfast was quieter than usual and Tommy couldn’t help but be thankful for it as he let his head rest on the table. He closed his eyes with the excuse of not wanting to see Wilbur’s dumb face so early in the morning and other than some quiet protestive sputtering on Wilbur’s part, no one argued.

When it came time to climb into the car, Tommy was shocked to see Techno climbing into the backseat despite having made it to the car first as usual. Wilbur laughed gleefully at the sight.

“Yes I won! I get the front seat today!” Wilbur cheered quickly claiming the passenger side seat as Techno rolled his eyes.

“You didn’t win, I chose to get in the back today.” Techno said, rolling his eyes as Tommy climbed in next to him “I wanted to sit with Tommy, you always get to so I decided it was my turn.”

Wilbur narrowed his eyes at this, no longer looking as excited about getting in the front seat “wait… no I want to sit with Tommy” he whined and Techno sighed.

“Well I got in the back seat first so guess you’re still a loser huh Wilbur”

“This is so unfair, Phiiiiiiiiiil Techno stole my seat” Wilbur complained as Phil got in the car. The man sent his oldest child an unimpressed look.

“Weren’t you two just fighting about the front seat?”

“Yeah but Phil he’s stealing my Tommy Time”

After that Tommy decided to tune out the conversation, instead letting his head rest against the cold window of the car as Phil pulled out of the driveway. Eventually he was pulled out of his thoughts by Techno tapping his shoulder.

Tommy sat up a bit and looked over at Techno who offered him a small rare smile and handed him the two granola bars he had grabbed earlier. Tommy smiled back and took them gratefully, putting them in the front pocket of his backpack.

“Thanks, Tech” Tommy murmured.

“No problem kid, are you alright?” Techno asked and Tommy just nodded in response. The older boy sighed “Okay, well you seem pretty tired, why don’t you try and get some sleep. I’ll wake you up when we get to school”

Tommy didn’t argue, returning to his previous position of resting his head against the car window, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Notes:

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!! Please let me know what you thought, comments are super motivational for me and they help me to keep writing even when I'm struggling with it. I'm also thinking about starting a discord server so let me know if any of you guys would be interested in that! Until next time <3

Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve

Notes:

Thanks idontwannaputmywattpadusername for the general idea for this chapter! You might have left that comment over a month ago but I was waiting to use it! TW: violence, trouble with eating I guess?? it's not eating disorder related but it is there so please keep yourselves safe.

The attempt at extra sleep didn’t help Tommy at all. Mostly because no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t go back to sleep. He climbed out of Phil’s car with a groan, letting Wilbur gently grab his hand and drag him along. He kept stumbling over his own feet but Wilbur made sure to keep him steady as they headed towards Tommy’s geography class.

“You sure you’re alright Tommy?” Wilbur asked as they reached the door leading into the classroom. Tommy didn’t feel like he had the energy to vocally answer Wilbur so instead he just nodded but Wilbur just looked more concerned. “Okay… well, if you’re feeling like you can’t make it through the rest of the day just- just text one of us, please? So can we help you?”

“Okay wilbur” Tommy mumbled sensing another nod probably wasn’t the confirmation that Wilbur was looking for “i’ll see you later”

“See you later Toms”

***

Classes were worse than usual and by the end of geography his head was killing him and the lights were too bright. The hallways felt louder than usual, more crowded, so Tommy stuck closer to Wilbur than he normally would, staying oddly quiet the whole walk to his next class. Wilbur kept shooting him concerned glances but Tommy ignored him, opting to focus instead on looking down and away from those stupid lights as much as possible. He disappeared into his classroom before Wilbur had the chance to worry over him again

***

Techno was the one who walked with him next period, he stopped Tommy before the youngest could escape into the classroom.

“Did you eat the granola bars?” he asked, voice quiet as if he could tell Tommy was already overwhelmed by the noisy hallway.

Tommy shook his head, wincing as the motion sent another wave of pain through him. Techno didn’t seem surprised by his answer.

“Do you think you can eat at least one? And drink some water? You don’t look so good and gettin food in your system should help” Techno said and Tommy could hear the slight note of concern in Techno’s voice.

‘If Techno is concerned enough to show it then I must look like absolute shit’ Tommy thought as he nodded and pulled the granola bar out of his bag. “Sorry” he mumbled, biting into the granola bar.
“You don’t have to apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong” Techno told him “we’re just worried about you”

Tommy resisted the urge to ask why.

***

Lunch by far was shaping up to be the worst part of Tommy’s day. Rather than involve himself in whatever conversation the group was having like usual, he instead let his head rest against the lunch table and tried to ignore everything.

It wasn’t working very well as Wilbur was too stubborn to let Tommy ignore him.

“Toms please? You need to eat something” Wilbur said softly, nudging his little brother’s shoulder again in an attempt to get the boy to lift his head.

“Mmm no leave me alone” Tommy mumbled, voice muffled slightly as he didn’t move from his spot at the table. He could feel the concerned looks he was getting from the other people sitting at the table but he was too tired to care.

“Do you want me to call Phil? You don’t have to stay if you aren’t feeling well”

“No.” Tommy said sitting up suddenly feeling much more awake “I’ll eat your stupid sandwhich just don’t call Phil”

Wilbur studied him for a moment. “Okay” he sighed, handing the sandwich over to Tommy “as long as you eat something, I won't call Phil. But Tommy, you know there is nothing wrong if you can’t make it through the day. Phil wouldn’t mind picking you up-”

“I don’t want to bother him,” Tommy interrupted, taking a small bite of the sandwich.

Wilbur paused as if debating how to respond before setting on saying “Phil wouldn’t mind Tommy, you wouldn’t be bothering him at all”

Tommy frowned at that but didn’t say anything, instead opting to take another bite out of the sandwich. He tried to ignore the sounds of teenagers yelling and talking over one another but as the minutes ticked past the noise seemed to grow louder and louder. His own table was being oddly quiet, likely because of him but Tommy couldn’t find it in himself to feel guilty about it. Were the lights in the cafeteria always this bright? Tommy could have sworn they hadn’t been this bad yesterday, maybe it was the headache. Someone from the table behind them started screaming something at their friend, Tommy couldn’t make out exactly what was being said but he flinched anyway as the loud voice assaulted his ears.

“Tommy?”
He looked up from the sandwich he was no longer eating ‘my hands are shaking’ Tommy noted silently to himself before his eyes met Niki’s who was looking at him with so much open concern if felt like it was physically hurting him.

“Are you alright?” she asked softly.

“I um” Tommy stuttered his chest feeling tight as it all seemed to rush at him all at once. The yelling and chattering, the too bright lights, the pounding in his head, his hands shaking and the concern in Niki’s eyes, it was all too much. He dropped the sandwich onto the plate and stood abruptly, ignoring Wilbur’s protests and he mumbled “bathroom” as an explanation before taking off as fast as he could, willing his legs to take him as far from the noise as he could.

***

He ended up in some random bathroom across the hall from the library, all the way on the other side of the school. He knew immediately he had made a mistake coming in here when he saw two boys from his last period class in there trying to introduce some poor freshman’s head to the urinal. The same two boys that had tried to beat him up on his first day before Wilbur scared them off. They looked up as he came in.

“Uh” Tommy mumbled, eloquent as ever “sorry fella’s wrong door” he said backing up towards the bathroom door. The two bullies had left him alone since Wilbur had intervened but from the look in their eyes, Tommy had a feeling that was about to change.

The two boys let go of the other freshman, who didn’t hesitate to run out the door past Tommy as the bullies headed towards him.

“Hey hey lets uh let's slow down here guys let’s not do anything you might regret. You wouldn't wanna get Technoblade involved in this” Tommy said trying to hide the panic and fear in his voice as he took a step back as the bullies got closer.

“Technoblade isn’t here right now, neither is Wilbur. You don’t have anyone to hide behind this time.” one of the bullies sneered as Tommy took another step back.

“Try me dickhead” Tommy sneered back, forcing every ounce of false bravado into his voice trying to ignore the pounding still going on in his head as he held up his fists in a (rather pathetic) fighting stance. “I’ll kill you right now”

“Go ahead” the other one challenged, smirking “hit me, c’mon lets see what those little stick arms can do”

Tommy hesitated, but he wasn’t one to shy away from a challenge, even a stupid one that would likely just get him hurt. He pulled his fist back and sent it flying forward into the bullies face. The bullies head snapped to the side with the force of the punch but other than that the bully seemed unaffected, even amused at Tommy’s attempt to hurt him.

“Not bad,” he said with a cruel smile as he stepped forward towards Tommy “okay it’s my turn now”

‘Should have seen that one coming’ Tommy thought to himself as he stepped back again trying to put space between him and the bullies and slowly inching his way towards the door ‘honestly Tommy stupid move hitting the guys that clearly want to beat you up’. He glanced backwards trying to see how close he was to the door before realizing his mistake.

Pain bloomed in his cheek as one of the bullies’ fists collided with his face.

***

He felt his ribs snap under the force of the foot stomping down on him as another sob racked his body. “Please stop please stop I won’t try to call him again” he cried out as the man above him kicked him again. He opened his eyes slightly, just enough to see Dream watching him with a twisted look in his eyes, like he was enjoying seeing Tommy in pain.

His foster father paused for a moment and Tommy thought with relief that maybe it was over and then he felt pain blossom in his nose as his foster father targeted his face instead of his ribs. Tommy could feel warm, sticky blood drip down his face, mixing with tears and snot as his foster father picked him up by the back of his shirt.

“Don’t you ever fucking try and call him again” the man said holding up the cracked flip phone Tommy had been trying to use, his social worker’s number still half-way typed in “you hear me? Otherwise I’ll break more than just a few ribs and your nose”

Tommy nodded sluggishly and the man let him drop back down to the floor where Tommy curled up in a pitiful ball and hoped that he wouldn’t be attacked again. As the man turned towards his son,

“And you, Clay, why didn’t you try and stop him” the man started yelling again, so Tommy curled in towards himself again, his hands reaching up shakily to cover his ears as he closed his eyes and waited for it all to be over.

***

“-mmy… Tommy!”

Tommy opened his eyes, his hands still covering his ears as he snapped back into reality. He looked up slightly and saw something green in front of him and he couldn’t help but flinch back, whimpering when his head collided with the cold tile walls that made up the school’s bathroom. The person in front of him stepped back a bit, reaching up and taking off the green checkered face mask that had caused Tommy to flinch back so hard.

“You with me?” The other boy asked and Tommy nodded a little wondering why he could taste blood in his mouth. “Okay good, I’m Sam… you are Tommy right? Wilbur and Techno’s brother?” Tommy nodded again, the words sounded muffled even though Sam had taken his mask off. “Okay it’s going to be okay Tommy, you’re brothers are on their way over”

“How do you-” Tommy paused struggling for a moment to formulate his thoughts into words but Sam waited patiently for the younger boy to finish “how do you know my brothers?”

Sam smiled a little “we’re friends, I just don’t like the cafeteria, it’s too loud. So I sit in the library instead during lunch”

Tommy nodded a little and closed his eyes letting his head rest gently against the cold tile hoping maybe it would ease his headache. Sam watched him for a moment and then stood up going over to the sink and grabbing a few paper towels before running them under cold water. He returned to Tommy and hesitated.

“Tommy? Is it okay if I clean you up a bit?” he asked, waiting for Tommy to nod again before scooching closer and lightly dabbing at the blood under his nose and then over his split lip. The silence didn’t last long though as the bathroom door creaked open.

“Sam?”

“In here puffy”

Then the sound of footsteps coming closer and Tommy forced his eyes open again. Standing with a worried look and clenched fists was a girl with frizzy white hair and a colorful rainbow tye-dyed t-shirt. He closed his eyes again not wanting to see the look of anger and pity that was on the girl’s face.

“What happened to him?”

“Couple of sophomores, I saw them leaving and they seemed pretty pleased with themselves. I don’t know their names but I’m sure Wilbur could figure it out if I gave him a description.”

“Isn’t that Wilbur’s brother?”

“Yeah… Techno’s on his way over too, he’s gonna be pissed”

The door creaked open again and two sets of footsteps made their way inside.

“Tommy!” that was Wilbur
“Speak of the devil” Sam muttered stepping to the side to let Wilbur through, Techno stood behind him looking murderous although he was clearly trying to cover it up as Wilbur crouched down in front of Tommy.

“Tommy?”

Reluctantly Tommy opened his eyes again to meet Wilbur’s worried brown ones. No words were spoken but Wilbur didn’t need them with the look Tommy was giving him.

“Call Phil” Wilbur said, glancing back at Techno who nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold back his anger if he opened his mouth. As Techno grabbed his phone, Wilbur gently scooped Tommy up, frowning when Tommy whimpered in pain at the movement.

“I’m sorry” Wilbur murmured quietly, pressing a kiss to Tommy’s forehead as the teen let his eyes shut again.

Notes:

Thank you guys for all the comments and kudos holy moly! seriously we are almost at 600 kudos and that's like crazy to me dude! I know I don't really respond to comments often but I do read all of them and I really do appreciate all of the lovely comments I've been recieving. It's super motivational! Thanks again for read <3

Chapter 13: Chapter Thirteen

Notes:

Here's this week's update! It's definitely one of the longer chapters I've written for this fic so I hope you enjoy it! Warning there is mention of injury, bullying, and hospitals! And thanks so much for all the kind comments!

Tommy woke up to white walls and his brother sitting next to him, holding his hand and glaring at a woman that Tommy has never met.

“we’re not leaving” Wilbur spat “and you can try to make us but it won’t end well for you”

“Don’t be ridiculous” the woman, who Tommy was pretty sure was the school nurse based on the scrubs and just general attitude (all school nurses in Tommy’s experience seemed like they’d rather be anywhere else than here), frowned “while I’m sure you’re concerned for your foster brother” Wilbur seemed to hold onto Tommy’s hand a bit tighter as the nurse put emphasis on the word foster “that’s no excuse for skipping class. Thomas will be just fine with me until your dad can arrive”

“I just found my brother unconscious, bleeding and bruised on the floor and you want me to just leave him and go back to class? As if I could focus on my education of all things while my brother is hurt and alone with an adult he doesn’t know.” Wilbur snarled.

“How dramatic, he’s fine, I’ll give him an ice pack for his head and I’m sure your dad can handle the rest” the nurse said dismissively “kids get into fights all the time-”

“You call two older kids ganging up on someone smaller than them a fight?” Techno growled from where he was standing on Tommy’s other side. He sounded pissed and Tommy silently noted that he was seeing all sorts of emotions from Technoblade today which was weird, he wondered why.

“Well he isn’t exactly innocent in the situation if the state of his hand says anything” the nurse said crossing her arms, Tommy flexed the hand that Wilbur wasn’t holding to find it did indeed hurt, he wondered if that was from the first punch or if he had fought back at all when they ganged up on him. He couldn’t really remember it very well.

“Yeah he hit back in self-defense when two older kids ganged up on him and decided he’d make the perfect punching bag” Techno argued and Tommy turned his head slightly to see his older brother. Techno’s arms were crossed over his chest and his face seemed calm, but Tommy could see the anger in his eyes, in the way Techno was tense, in the way Techno was clenching his jaw like he was holding himself back from screaming.

“He could have instigated the fight,” the nurse argued.

Wilbur laughed but he didn’t sound amused “yeah sure my little brother started a fight with two kids older and stronger than him for the hell of it, what the fuck is wrong with you”

Tommy winced a bit because technically he had thrown the first punch and admittedly it was probably one of his more idiotic decisions but really they didn’t need to bring that up.

The nurse started to say something back but Techno interrupted “he’s awake” he said looking down at Tommy with a surprising gentleness, all the anger from before seemingly gone. At least it was on the surface.

“Hey Toms” Wilbur said, voice soft as he peered down at the younger boy with open concern “how are you feeling?”

“Like i got beat up” Tommy mumbled “and kind of dizzy” he admitted after a moment.

“You might have a concussion,” Techno said with a small frown tugging at his lips “do you remember if you hit your head at all?”

Tommy shook his head wincing at the spike of pain that shot through his skull.

“I’ll go get an ice pack” The nurse said with a nod.

“Since when does an ice pack cure a concussion” Techno grumbled to himself as the nurse left.

“Phil’s on his way here” Wilbur said and gave Tommy a smile “thanks for getting us all out of school early”

Tommy laughed, wincing again because apparently the world hated him and he couldn’t do anything pain free today “getting beat up was a small price to pay for our freedom” he joked feeling a small bit of pride when he heard Techno snort in amusement.

“Lets just not make a habit of it” Techno said.

“Well it’s hardly my choice if someone decides to beat me up” Tommy protested.

“Guess I’ll just have to teach you how to throw a proper punch” Techno shrugged “so you can defend yourself and not get beat up”

“Absolutely not,” Phil said, shaking his head as he and the nurse entered the room. The nurse came over and handed Tommy the ice pack which he awkwardly placed against his head, unsurprised that it did absolutely nothing to stop the pain.

“But Phil, he should learn how to defend himself,” Techno complained.

“And if Tommy wants to do that, we’ll sign him up for self-defense classes. Where he can be taught by a professional”

 

“Phiiiiil c’mon I taught Wilbur self-defense!”

“No you tackled Wilbur and got frustrated when he didn’t learn how to stop you from doing that” Phil countered a frown on his face.

“Well… okay but I wouldn’t take that approach with Tommy”

“You better not” Wilbur said with a frown “you broke my arm that way”

“Not my fault your bones are so breakable”

“What-”

“Boys. Enough” Phil sighed “Tommy are you good to walk?” Tommy nodded sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed “good, I’ve already talked to the front desk about pulling you three out of the day and I’d like to get a closer look at Tommy’s injuries so boys if we could save the arguing until we get in the car that’d be great”

Tommy stood shakily as Wilbur stepped a bit closer and steadied the younger boy. Tommy thanked Wilbur softly and then reached for his backpack only for Techno to grab it.

“I’ve got it” Techno mumbled and without another word slung the bag over his shoulder along with his own.

With the help of his brothers, Tommy slowly made his way out of the school and into Phil’s car. He didn’t let go of Wilbur’s hand the whole time.

***

The car ride home was quiet and while Tommy usually enjoyed the conversations that often followed at the end of the school day, he found himself grateful for the silence today. He was still holding the ice pack letting the cold numb his hand. While it didn’t have any effect on the raging headache, it was helping his bruised and aching hand. His other hand, the non-injured one, was still holding Wilbur’s hand. Tommy had been trying to convince himself to let go but the rest of him was being uncooperative, it helped that Wilbur didn’t seem to mind.

As they pulled into the driveway though he finally managed to force himself to let go of Wilbur, “sorry” he murmured but Wilbur just gave him a reassuring smile as they got out of the car and walked inside. Techno was still insisting on carrying Tommy’s bag for some reason even though they were only a few feet away from the door.

Phil walked them over to the living room and sat Tommy down on the couch “Techno go get the first aid kit please” he said as he crouched in front of Tommy examining the visible bruises on Tommy’s face. “What do you think kiddo? Anything feel broken?” he asked as Techno ran upstairs to get the first aid kid.

Tommy paused taking stock of his injuries, as far as he could tell it was just bruises, bad bruises for sure but just bruises “i don’t think so” he answered hand moving up and running carefully along the bridge of his nose checking for any breaks he winced a bit but was satisfied that it was just bruises.

Phil nodded as Techno came back down the stairs handing him a plastic white box with bandages and other basic medical supplies. “Well that’s good” Phil said as he pulled out bandages, disinfectant cream, Advil and some other bottle of something that Tommy didn’t recognize. “Can I see your hand?” Phil asked and Tommy hesitated but set down the ice pack and let Phil see his injured hand. Phil took it gently and prodded a bit at Tommy’s knuckles checking to make sure nothing was broken before unscrewing the cap on the bottle Tommy didn’t recognize to reveal some type of cream. “This should help with the bruising” Phil explained as he applied it to Tommy’s hand. “Okay if I put some on your nose too?” Tommy just nodded a bit wincing again as the movement caused his head to throb. Phil gently applied the cream to Tommy’s nose and then to a bruise on his cheek. “Wilbur will you go get Tommy a glass of water?”

Wilbur nodded and walked towards the kitchen returning quickly with a glass of water that he handed to Tommy.

“Here” Phil said, passing two pills from the Advil bottle to Tommy. Tommy took the Advil gratefully as Phil rewrapped his hand. “So” Phil took a deep breath “who did this to you?”

Tommy had been expecting the question but he still hesitated in answering. His foster family had been oddly kind this entire time, something Tommy wasn’t used to experiencing after an incident like this. But what if when they talked to the bullies, they found out that Tommy had thrown the first punch? What if they got angry? What if… what if they sent him away?

‘They were going to eventually’ a voice inside his head whispered ‘what do you care anyway that’s the plan. Don’t get attached when you know you have to leave’

“Tommy” Techno said, voice oddly soft as the blond boy broke out of his thoughts and looked up at him “we aren’t angry with you, we won’t be angry with you. We just want to help.”

Tommy nodded slowly and took a deep breath before turning towards where Wilbur was perched waiting for the answer of who the fuck dared to lay their hands on his little brother.

“Do you remember those assholes who tried to beat me up on my first day?”

Wilbur nodded, jaw clenched “it was them?”

“Yeah”

 

“Wait wait back up” Phil said looking between Tommy and Wilbur “someone tried to beat you up on your first day?”

“Yeah after my last class these two guys came up to me with the classic disney channel bully lines but they ended up getting scared off when Wilbur came to pick me up.” Tommy explained “they stopped trying to mess with me after they found out that I’m Wilbur and Techno’s younger brother”

Techno had to hide his smile hearing Tommy refer to himself so easily as their younger brother, Wilbur was not nearly as good at hiding his joy at the sentence but tried to pull himself together before Tommy noticed. Then Techno frowned.

“Wait, they knew you were my little brother and they still attacked you?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

Phil knew that look “Techno” he said, a warning evident in his tone.

“They were warned Phil,” Techno said, shaking his head. “Everyone in that school knows what happens when they mess with someone I care about, I make sure of it. Now they will suffer the consequences of their decisions.”

Phil sighed “just try not to get suspended again please” he said, deciding to apparently just leave it at that.

“Wait, what are you going to do?” Tommy asked, suddenly feeling a bit of concern for the people who had just beat him up.

Techno grinned, something violent and angry “they’re going to learn why people call me the blood god”

Tommy for the first time since getting to know Techno, felt just a bit afraid of the older boy.

Phil just sighed again, looking tired “Techno please”

“Blood for the blood god Phil” Techno said.

“Techno no”

“Techno yes”

“I second that,” Wilbur jumped in “Techno yes”

“Wilbur please don’t encourage your brother to put people in the hospital”

“Even people who clearly deserve it?”

“In this case? Yes.”

“So you’re sayin that in other cases of people who deserve to be put into the hospital I can do that?”

“Techno” Phil sighed and took a deep breath “we’re going to pretend this conversation didn’t happen,” he said turning back to Tommy “alright does it hurt anywhere else?”

“Uh” Tommy stuttered “my chest hurts a bit”

“Okay, can I see? There might be some bruising there” Phil asked and Tommy nodded before pulling up his shirt a bit wincing at the sight of the many dark bruises that spanned his ribs. Phil didn’t appear to react much only gently prodding where the bruises were checking to make sure no ribs had been broken. Satisfied that it really was just bruising, Phil gently spread the same cream he had put on Tommy’s other bruises on these ones.

Wilbur and Techno on the other hand couldn’t hide their reactions fast enough. Tommy caught sight of the dark angry look on Techno’s face before he could cover it and heard Wilbur gasp at the sight of the dark bruises on Tommy’s chest. Phil put the cap back on the bottle and set it aside.

“Anywhere else?” he asked just to be safe and Tommy shook his head. “Okay, do you feel dizzy at all? Or nauseous?” Tommy shook his head again “any vision problems? No? Okay, if any of those answers change come get me or one of the boys ok? You might have a concussion but as far as I can tell it’s only a minor one.” Phil nodded seemingly satisfied, he packed up the first aid kit “i’m going to go put this away, why don’t you boys pick out a movie, we can order take out later for dinner,” he stood up and headed upstairs to put away the first aid kit.

Wilbur moved from where he had been standing and sits down next to Tommy, Techno is quick to follow sitting on the other side of the boy. Wilbur grabbed the remote and turned on the tv “have anything in mind Toms?” he asked smiling a bit to himself as Tommy leaned against him slightly.

“Can we watch up?” he asked hopefully

“Again?”

“It’s a good movie!”

“You’ve got a bit of an unhealthy obsession with it, even if it is a good movie”

 

“Please?”

“Alright fine”

“Pushover”

“Shut up Technoblade”

***

The first time Tommy watched Up, it was already halfway over on a tiny TV and on the other side of the hospital room he was confined to. It was also the day he learned he’d finally be freed from Dream’s family, after living with them for over a year and a half. His time there was the longest he had ever spent with a family that the system had placed him with. The only family he had ever spent two birthdays with after the death of his parents.

When Tommy had first arrived in the home, the family had appeared kind. They bought him new things, they celebrated his birthday with him, Tommy was happy. But everything changed after the three-month check-in when Tommy decided it was time for him to go home to Tubbo. Nothing he did would make the family send him back, instead they only got meaner and crueler with their punishments. Now a year and a half after Tommy made another promise, this one purely for himself.

“I, Thomas the biggest man, promise never again to allow myself to rely on or trust the families that I’m placed with ever again.”

***

But now, as Tommy sat watching the same movie he had been when he made that promise, sitting comfortably between two older brothers with his dad half asleep on the armchair, half-eaten Chinese food in front of them, he thought ‘maybe I’m allowed to break a promise or two… just this once’.

And for once no inner voice argued with the idea.

Notes:

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter please feel free to let me know! I read every comment and they're really motivating when I'm struggling to write! Thanks so much for all the love <3

Chapter 14: Chapter Fourteen

Notes:

Hey guys! If you're enjoying this story so far, you should totally check out the new one I'm writing after you finish this chapter! It's called the Skies We Seek and it's a superhero au that I'm having a ton of fun writing so far. Anyway onto the chapter!

Tommy had never been so glad to have gotten beat up in his life. He had gotten to sleep in because Phil decided keeping Tommy home so they could watch and make sure he didn’t have a concussion was the better decision than sending him to school the next morning. Phil then called himself out for work and spent the whole day fussing over Tommy. And Tommy, surprisingly, let him after a little bit of convincing from Techno before he left for school. Which meant that Tommy spent the whole day either napping, catching up on valuable sleep, or curled into Phil’s side on the couch in the living room watching movie after movie with a plate stacked with waffles. It was, decidedly, one of the best days he’s ever had.

They only moved when Phil reluctantly told Tommy that he had to go pick up Wilbur and Techno soon from school. To which Tommy quietly asked if Phil thought that Wilbur and Techno would want to watch movies with them when they got home. Phil in answer had smiled, ruffled Tommy’s hair and said “I’m sure they’d love too” and was endlessly proud when the action hadn’t caused Tommy to tense or flinch away. “Do you want to come with me to get the boys?” Phil asked a moment later as he stood to grab his keys.

“Do I get to sit in the front?” Tommy asked, a mischievous smile on his face which turned into a proud one as Phil laughed.

“Sure mate just don’t be too surprised if Techno tries to wrestle you out of it” and with that they hopped into the car and drove to the high school.

Techno had not in fact tried to wrestle Tommy out of the front seat, instead he had offered a rare small smile to his younger brother and said “don’t get used to it gremlin” before climbing into the back with Wilbur.

 

Wilbur meanwhile appeared overjoyed by this, “though this is not my victory,” his brother dramatically said “any win against Technoblade is a win for us all good job Tommy- ow Techno why” he was cut off by Techno elbowing him in the ribs.

“Not my fault you’re weak”

“Daaaaad Techno’s being a bitch again”

Phil just sighed “So Tommy what movie do you want to watch next when we get home?” he asked, apparently deciding to ignore the antics of his two oldest children.

“Mm Finding Nemo looked good” Tommy murmured after a moment of thinking, also ignoring the bickering coming from the back seat.

“Oh Tommy I almost forgot!” Wilbur said, sitting up in his seat and grabbing his backpack. He opened the front pocket and reached inside, pulling out a little plastic baggie full of chocolate chip cookies which he handed it to Tommy.

“Where’d you get these?” Tommy asked, taking the cookies.

“They’re from Niki” Wilbur explained “she was worried about you so she made you cookies”

“Oh” Tommy said holding the cookies closer to his chest a small smile forming on his face “that- that was really nice of her”

“Yeah, Niki’s a really good baker and she tends to stress bake, so whenever she’s worried about any of us we usually get some kind of cookie or cake out of it” Wilbur explained with a small smile which quickly turned into a pout “unless you do something really stupid, then everyone gets cookies and cake but you.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“... shut your mouth gremlin and eat your cookies”

***

That night found Tommy curled up, once again on the couch with a movie playing in the background as he scooted closer to Wilbur who was gently running a hand through Tommy’s hair. Tommy found himself leaning into the touch as his eyes began to feel heavy, he scooted a bit closer and let his head fall and rest gently against Wilbur’s chest. The hand in Tommy’s hair paused for a moment but just as Tommy began to wonder if perhaps he had done something wrong, Wilbur resumed the soothing motion.

“How fucking jealous are you of me right now Techno” Wilbur whispered loudly to Techno.

“So incredibly jealous, have fun sleeping on the couch tonight” Techno whispered back, although he actually made a real attempt to be quiet.

“Wha- Techno!”

“I’m not helping you move him, so unless you wanna wake the little gremlin up, you’re stuck”

“Daaaaad make Techno help me”

“Sorry mate, you got yourself into this one” Phil said, not whispering but still making sure to keep his voice quiet.

“My own family betrays me, why am I not surprised”
“Drama queen”

Wilbur sighed and leaned down a bit and whispered to Tommy “Toms you are the best brother, the only family I have left the other’s have betrayed me can you believe it?”

Tommy chose not to respond and just shifted closer to Wilbur, wanting to keep up the sleeping act if just for a bit longer. He didn’t want to separate from his brother now, not when he was so warm and comfortable and Wilbur was holding him like he was something precious, something worth protecting. So he didn’t move, even as he heard the other two members of his family climb up the stairs to their rooms and soon enough he drifted off to the sound of his brother’s heart beat.

***

The next morning, Tommy wasn’t so lucky as to escape school again.

“Sorry bud” Phil said as he shook Tommy awake, he and Wilbur had ended up falling asleep up the couch as neither wanted to move. “I’d let you stay home but I don’t want you to get behind, so you should probably go upstairs and get ready while I wake Wilbur”

Tommy nodded and headed upstairs, he changed quickly and got ready before grabbing his backpack and heading downstairs. For the first time since Tommy had arrived at the house, he was downstairs before Wilbur was. Techno was in his usual spot halfway through his toast. He looked up as Tommy entered the kitchen and pushed a slice of toast towards Tommy.

Tommy took his usual place next to Techno and the two ate in comfortable silence.

 

“I’ll be walking you to all of your classes today” Techno said quietly as Wilbur finally made it downstairs, his hair still looking like he had just rolled out of bed.

“You don’t have to do that” Tommy murmured back “no one’s gonna mess with me if Wil’s around, and some of my classes are on the other end of the building to yours”

“It’s not about that” Techno paused “well… it’s kind of about that, it’s less making sure no one messes with you and more about sending a message”

“A message?”

“Making it clear that you’re my little brother, and that messing with you regardless of whether or not Wil or I are around is only going to piss me off” Techno explained and Tommy couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Technosoft”

“Shut up”

“Softnoblade”

“Shut. it.”

“Techno-”

“Not another word gremlin, eat your toast”

Tommy just smiled and took another bite as Wilbur finally sat down at the table, apple in hand rather than his usual bowl of cereal.

“No cereal?”

“Not enough time” Wilbur said as he took a bite out of the apple.

“We’re leaving in 5” Phil said as he walked past them towards the garage to start the car.

Tommy finished up his toast and Techno grabbed his plate standing up and putting both plates in the sink, as he did Tommy smiled a bit as an idea formed. He stood and grabbed his bag dashing towards the garage “I call the front!” He said racing towards the car.

“Oh no you don’t gremlin!”

***

Tommy did end up getting the front seat much to Techno’s amusement. Wilbur was overjoyed that Techo had lost the front seat again, that was until Techno pointed out that Wilbur was even less likely to ever get the front seat.

“I can’t believe both of my brothers are against me, I thought we were a team Toms” Wilbur complained dramatically.

“Well Wilbur you know what they say, there’s no u in Team! Bitch!” Tommy said with a grin that got bigger when Techno chuckled.

“Alright that’s enough you two” Phil said, but he was smiling too so Tommy figured he didn’t really mind.

“This is so unfair” Wilbur pouted, slumping grumpily in his seat.

“You’re right Wilbur this is very unfair for you” Tommy said grin still on his face

“Yeah I mean really what’s Wilbur meant to do against two geniuses such as ourselves” Techno joined in “he couldn’t even manage to beat one”

“Phiiiiiil tell them to stop bullying me”

“Stop bullying your brother”

“Phil if I disown Wil then can I go back to bullying him? Because then I wouldn’t be bullying my brother, I’d be bullying WIlbur”

Phil just sighed, he wasn’t awake enough for this.

***

Techno kept true to his word, he walked with Tommy to each of his classes, even the ones that Wilbur usually walked him too. Between that and the dark bruise on Tommy’s face they were getting lots of stares, lots of whispers and lots of room in the hallway. It seemed no one was particularly keen on crowding around the obviously injured boy and his very pissed off older brother.

When lunch came around, Tommy was surprised when Niki stood and quickly pulled him into a hug, and then was shocked to see the worried look on her face when she pulled away and looked at the bruise on his face.

“Tommy! Are you okay? We were so worried about you” she said softly.

Tommy found himself smiling a little, it was nice to feel so cared for. “I’m alright Niki, thanks by the way for the cookies they were delicious”

“Yeah you’re not allowed to get hurt anymore” Fundy said stepping next to Niki with a small smile on his face at the sight of Tommy “if not for your sake then for mine, I told Niki that you probably didn’t need 20 cookies just for you and she threatened me at knife point” he shivered at the memory as Niki his his arm a little to hard to just be playful.

“I did not, Tommy ignore him, he's spreading lies” Niki said smiling at Tommy.

Tommy grinned “Don’t worry Niki, I knew Fundy was a wrongin from the start”

“Hey!”

***

Tommy couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as he, Wilbur and Techno walked to his last class of the day.

“The guys who beat you up, are they actually in your class?” Techno asked.

Tommy nodded “yeah but hopefully they won’t try anything while the teacher’s there.”

“If they do,” Techno said, turning so he was facing Tommy “you text me, I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the period, you text me and I will handle it”

 

Even though Tommy knew he would never text Techno in the middle of class regardless of what those pricks did, he nodded anyway.

“Good” Techno seemed to relax a little “Okay I need to head to class, I’ll meet you here after ok?”

“Ok, thanks Tech” Tommy smiled “See you after last bell”

Wilbur turned to Tommy once Techno was gone “good luck Tommy, and seriously if anything happens text one of us. I know it might seem ridiculous but we care about you Toms and we don’t want to see you hurt again” Wilbur said, his voice oddly soft.

“I’ll be fine, Wilbur,” Tommy insisted with a small smile “now go, you also have a class you need to get to now shoo” he said, making the little shooing gesture with his hands.

Wilbur laughed “alright alright, see you later Toms”

“See you later Wilbur”

Notes:

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter please feel free to let me know! Comments are super motivational and while I usually don't respond because I'm very awkward, I do read every single comment left (usually multiple times), Again if you've been enjoying this story, I encourage you to check out the new story I'm writing. I'll likely be posting the second chapter of that one a little later today! Anyway thanks again for the love on this story it means more than you can know <3 I'll see you guys next time!

Chapter 15: Chapter Fifteen

Notes:

Hey everybody! I know... another update, surprise!! Don't get used to it lol I've just been super motivated these last few days to keep updating everything. I updated my other story too! So if you're enjoying this one you should totally check it out! byeee <3

Tommy spent his last period class doing his best to ignore the snickering that came from the two bullies behind him. He ignored the whispered taunts, the pieces of paper being flicked his way, even how they kept kicking his backpack and spilling his stuff all over the floor. They’re actions only seemed to get bolder and meaner as Tommy’s teacher continued to ignore what was happening in the back of her classroom. Tommy decided he’d had enough though when a pair of scissors was thrown at his head.

‘Seriously?’ he thought to himself as he picked the scissors up from off of the floor ‘and she’s still not going to say anything? They just threw scissors at my head, surely that constitutes some kind of reaction’. But no, his teacher stayed quiet, apparently too invested in the lesson to notice that scissors were just thrown across her classroom. With a sigh Tommy raised his hand waiting for the teacher to notice him.

“Yes Tommy?”

“Can I use the restroom?”

She frowned at the question but nodded regardless. Relieved to get away from the idiots tormenting him, Tommy grabbed the bathroom pass and rushed out of the room. Once he was safely in the bathroom he took a moment to just breathe, as he pulled out his phone.

‘Techno said to text him if anything happened,’ he thought debating over Techno’s contact for a moment before shaking his head ‘no this is just stupid stuff, don’t bother Techno over stupid stuff. This is nothing, I can handle this’ and he put his phone away.

A moment later, it became very obvious that leaving the classroom had been a mistake. Tommy’s head shot up as the bathroom door opened and the two bullies walked in, grinning at Tommy like it was christmas morning.

“You’ve got to be shitting me” Tommy groaned “just fuckin leave me alone!”

“But that’s not fun at all” the taller of the two of them said “You really were the perfect fucking punching bag last time.”

“Yeah you’re so skinny” the other one chimed in “I bet if i kicked you just a bit harder than I did last time I could probably feel your ribs break.”

“That’s fucked up” Tommy said backing away as they walked closer “you’re fucking crazy and you must have one hell of a death wish because my brothers are going to kill you”

The taller one laughed “yeah I saw Technoblade hovering over you the whole day, not sure why I was ever afraid of the guy. As angry as he seemed he still didn’t do shit, just glared at everyone.”

Tommy took another step back, and then another, he was cornered, again. He could almost already feel the new bruises. He glanced around quickly, watching the bullies from the corner of his eye as he tried to think of a plan. His eye caught on the only stall in the boys restroom. That could work. It would buy him some time at least. Refocusing his gaze on the bullies he took another step back.

“Listen fellas, why don’t we talk about this? What do you want? You want money? I… I don’t have any but I could probably scrape together a few dollars. Or- or I’m pretty much a certified genius, I could do your homework?” Tommy offered as he slowly moved closer to the stall.

“I already told you” the shorter one said, an evil smile gracing his face “I want to feel your ribs break”

“Uh huh yeah um that’s not gonna work for me sorry fellas” Tommy said as he took off towards the stall. He managed to shut and lock the door, backing up away from the stupid gap that went under the door as he pulled out his phone again. He clicked on Techno’s contact as one of the bullies started banging their fist against the flimsy stall door making the whole thing shake.

“C’mon out Tommy” the shorter one said in a creepy sing-song voice.

“What is this a horror movie?” Tommy retorted hesitating for a moment over the keyboard, ‘should he really bother Technoblade about this?’ Tommy thought ‘I mean is it really that big of a deal if I get beat up again?’ and then he remember Niki’s worried expression and how Wilbur had argued with the nurse and the way Techno had been glaring at anyone who got a little too close to Tommy and he came to the startling realization that yes, yes it was a big deal if he got beat up again, because he had people here who cared about him. Genuinely cared about him.

‘Well shit’ Tommy thought and with a sigh he typed out a quick message to Techno explaining the situation he had gotten himself into as quickly as he could. He waited a few moments, watching as the message was delivered and read and then three little dots popped up showing Techno was typing. Then something grabbed his ankle, pulling him forward with enough force to make him stumble. He glared down at the hand bruising his ankle and brought his other leg up and stomped down on the person’s wrist as hard as he could. Whoever had decided to try and drag him out by ankles yelped and let go.

“You’re putting up much more of a fight then you did last time” One of the bullies commented “that’s good, it’s always more fun this way”

“You’re one twisted bastard” Tommy mumbled shaking his head “seriously how did you two go from disney channel villain lines to gory horror movie lines? You get someone to tutor you on how to be better villains?”

“Yeah” the other one said “we learned loads of new stuff, if you come on out we’ll show you!”

“I’m gonna have to pass, sorry, don’t really want broken ribs today” Tommy said “seems like we’re at a bit of a stalemate fellas”

“Okay new offer, you come out, we get to beat you up and in exchange we won’t fuck up your older brother”

“Techno? Yeah good luck trying to beat him up. You must have a death wish to be threatening Techno of all people” Tommy scoffed.

“No, not Techno, the other one. The tall one who usually walks you to class”

“Wilbur?” Tommy frowned doubtfully “so you’re saying if I don’t let you beat me up, you’re going to go after Wilbur… whose 6’5, a senior, has lived with Technoblade for several years and, let's be honest, likely has a few screws loose… that Wilbur?”

“Honestly I’d pay to see you try” a familiar monotone voice said from the other side of the bathroom “I’m the one who taught him how to throw a punch afterall and he’s already pretty pissed at you for attacking Tommy” Techno paused, his voice suddenly taking a much darker and angry tone “and he’s not the only one.”

Tommy listened as Techno’s footsteps drew closer, he couldn’t really see what was going on but assuming by the loud noises and the pained whimpers that followed he was pretty sure Techno just threw both of the bullies into a wall. The sound of fighting ensued from outside of the stall door, and while Tommy was tempted to watch Techno kick ass, he kept the door closed and instead tried to wait the fight out.

After a few minutes there was the sound of someone hitting the ground, a moment later and the sound repeated.

“You’re a monster” one of the bullies, the shorter one from what Tommy could tell, shouted.

“If I’m a monster, I wonder what that makes the two of you.” Techno snarled “honestly I’m surprised cowards like you had the balls to threaten both of my brothers as if there wouldn’t be consequences for spilling their blood.”

“C’mon man listen we’re sorry we’ll leave Tommy alone, we won’t even look in his direction, swear just please-”

“You were warned against touching my family,” Techno interrupted “blood for the blood god”

Then there was the sound of what was probably bones breaking and both of the bullies went silent. Tommy listened as Techno approached the stall door.

“Tommy? You can come out now”

Tommy shakily unlocked the door, opening it to see Techno looking less put together than usual, with blood dripping from his knuckles and a concerned look on his face.

“I’m not going to hurt you” Techno said softly, reassuringly “I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to, but I need to know if you’re hurt at all”

Tommy shook his head a little “no no I’m uh I’m fine” he said once he felt like he had his voice back “I just um” he paused awkwardly then stepped closer and hugged his older brother “thank you”

Techno hesitated for a moment and then hugged his little brother back “anytime Toms, I swear, I’m not going to let anyone hurt you ever again” he murmured “i’ve got your back”

“I know”

***

Wilbur was obviously confused when the final bell rang and he went to pick up Tommy from his final class only to find that he and Techno were already waiting for him outside of the classroom and Techno’s hands were bruised and still a bit bloody. Then the confusion turned into delight as he put the pieces together.

“So when do I get to beat those fuckers up?” Wilbur asked only half jokingly after Tommy and Techno filled him in on the full story.

“Funnily enough they were threatening to beat you up when I walked in” Techno said.

“Wait really?”

“Yeah, I told them I’d pay them to try”

“You fucker, aren’t you supposed to be all protective over me?”

“But it’s so much funnier to watch you get beat up”

“You know what I think would be funny? Strangling you. How does that make you feel Technoblade huh?”

“I agree, I think that would be hilarious.”

That’s not-”

“I call the front seat” Tommy interrupted, taking off towards the door where Phil usually picks them up only to trip on tied laces.

“Sorry Gremlin” Techno said as he passed over Tommy and went out the door towards Phil’s car

“How the fuck did he do that?” Tommy asked, looking up at Wilbur who paused next to him.

Wilbur just shrugged before sighing and kneeling down to help Tommy untie the shoelaces “you’re lucky your injured and almost got beat up again today, otherwise I would have just left you here” he says hands fumbling a bit as he tried to undo the complicated knot.

“Sure you would Wilbur” Tommy said rolling his eyes as Wilbur finally got the knot undone. The older stood up and offered a hand to Tommy pulling the younger boy up onto his feet. Together they walked to Phil’s car.

“Phiiiiiil” Tommy whined as he climbed into the car “Techno beat up my bullies and then tied my shoelaces together so I would trip when I tried to run to the carrrrrrr”

“Fuckin… What?” Phil stuttered, turning to look at his middle child “Techno!”

“Wait wait, which one am I in trouble for, tripping Tommy or beating up those guys?”

“Both!” Phil exclaimed as he pulled out of the school’s parking lot “Tommy’s injured and you could have made it worse!”

“Oh please, he tripped over shoelaces, he’s fiiiiiiine”

“And I thought we talked about not solving our problems with people through violence”

“They were gonna beat up Tommy! It was in defense of my brother” Techno said, crossing his arms.

Phil sighed “should I expect a call from your principal?”

“Probably”

Phil sighed again “well… did they get the message at least?”

“Oh yeah definitely, they won’t be messing with Tommy again any time soon”

“Okay, is that because they’re afraid you’ll beat them up again or because they need to take a trip to the hospital and only God knows when they’ll recover enough to even think about bullying your younger brother again?”

“Eh… probably both”

“Techno I swear to god”

Tommy listened to the conversation, giggling the whole time. Phil sounded exasperated, but he had a smile on his face so he clearly wasn’t really angry about Techno beating people up.

“Well… are your hands ok? How hard did you hit them?” Phil asked after a moment, sounding more concerned with the state of Techno’s hands than he had when he heard Techno had probably put two boys in the hospital.

“I’m fine, just bruising and some tiny cuts. I’ll wrap my hands once we get home and get some ice and I’ll be all good” Techno reassured him.

“Well that’s good at least, and Tommy did you get hurt at all?” Phil asked, glancing at the blond through the rearview mirror.

“No, no I’m fine, Techno got there before they had a chance to do anything” Tommy answered quietly.

Phil nodded again, seeming to relax a bit with the knowledge that both boys involved were okay.

“Phil, aren't you going to ask if I’m alright?” Wilbur said mocking hurt in his voice.

“I thought you weren’t there Wil?” Phil said, frowning.

“I wasn’t” Wilbur confirmed “but I was, apparently, threatened according to Technoblade”

“Yeah it was pretty funny” Techno nodded “I walked in and they were threatening to beat up Wilbur if Tommy didn’t let them beat him up”

“It’s true” Tommy confirmed “I was pretty skeptical of that one myself”

“Yeah… I offered to pay them to try”

“How much were you going to pay them?” Phil asked curiously.

“I don’t know, like 20 bucks maybe?”

“Like 20 bucks each or…?”

“Nah probably 20 bucks total”

“Is that really all my pain is worth to you Technoblade?” Wilbur interrupted.

“Um…” Techno pretended to think about that for a moment before nodding decisively “yeah pretty much”

“I hate this family,” Wilbur said with a pout.

“It’s okay Wilbur, we hate you too” Tommy said with a grin.

“Gremlin”

“Bitch boy”

“Child”

“Fish fucker”

“Fish… what?”

“You heard me”

“What… where’d you even get that one from?”

“I don’t know you just seem like the type”

“I seem like the type.... To have sexual intercourse with a fish?”

“Yeah… but I think the fish would probably top”

“Tommy, what the fuck”

“what? I’m just sayin man you’ve got that kind of vibe!”

“He’s kind of right Wil”

“Shut your mouth Technoblade”

“Just tellin ya the truth”

“If that’s the truth then I’d rather live my life only hearing lies”

“Drama queen”

“Alright!” Phil interrupted looking thoroughly disturbed as he pulled into the driveway “I think that’s enough idiocy for one day, Tommy I’m sure you have plenty of homework to do and Wilbur you probably have some to do as well. Why don’t you two go do that, in separate rooms, so I don’t have to hear you bickering from all the way downstairs.”

Tommy grinned “Phil I have a question for you”

 

Phil sighed, mentally preparing himself for whatever the hell was about to come out of Tommy’s mouth next “and that is?”

“What is your opinion on Samsung smart fridges?”

Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter, as always if you enjoyed please feel free to let me know! Comments are super motivational to me and really encourage me to keep this story going. Also I've set up a discord server, here is the link: https://discord.gg/kugysfzf so please feel free to join that! I also got a linktree set up that has links to my Twitter and the Spotify playlists I use to write both of my stories https://linktr.ee/batmansmom Thanks again for reading and I'll see you guys next time <3

Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen

Notes:

Whattup!! Here is this week's chapter, hope you guys enjoy it! As always feel free to let me know what you think and I'll see you at the endnotes!

Tommy had been in this house for a month. A whole month! That’s the longest he’s spent in a house in ages, been even longer since he stayed that long in a house he actually liked. And really, he was having more fun in this house than he’d had in ages! Between the nerf wars and the movie nights and seat wars he was starting to feel more and more at home here. He- he didn’t want to leave.

‘Tubbo wouldn’t mind if I spent another month with them would he?’ Tommy thought to himself as he got ready for dinner, they were driving to the next town over to have dinner at some nice restaurant in celebration of Tommy’s first month in their home. ‘Surely not, he would understand. Tubbo will be fine, he’s survived without me for much longer. It wouldn’t be too selfish of me to stay another month, would it?’

Lost in thought, Tommy didn’t hear at first the knocks on his door. It wasn’t until his door creaked open a little that he realized someone had been trying to get his attention. He turned around to see Wilbur peaking into his room with a worried expression on his face.

“Sorry Toms, I knocked and called your name but you didn’t respond, I was kind of worried” Wilbur apologized “are you almost ready? We’re leaving in a few minutes here”

“Yeah! Yeah gimmie a second I just gotta grab my phone” Tommy said searching his room for a moment for said device before lifting it up triumphantly “found it!” he cheered putting it into his front pocket “alright let's go bitch boy”

“I- yeah okay c’mon gremlin,” Wilbur said shaking his head with a fond smile as he and Tommy walked down the stairs together.

“There you two are,” Phil said looking up from his phone after hearing their footsteps coming from the stairs “c’mon Tech’s already in the car”

Tommy groaned “oh that ass I bet he already grabbed the front seat and everything”

“You could always try and guilt-trip him out of it” Wilbur offered “just hit him with the ‘but Techno today marks exactly one month since Phil started fostering me, don’t you care about it at all and I’m sure he’ll fold”

“Oh, that’s evil!” Tommy said with a grin “I’m gonna go see if that works!”

Phil sighed as he watched Tommy take off towards the car turning a glare towards Wilbur “Will” he scolded.

“Hey I’m just offering suggestions, Tommy was the one to take it” Wilbur said defensively although he was grinning too “and also, anything to get Techno out of the front seat. This is a war after all, Phil”

Phil just sighed “go get in the car,” he said shooing his eldest child towards the garage. “C’mon we don’t want to be late because you three are obsessed with some war for the front seat”

Wilbur laughed but ran to the car with Phil close behind.

***

Tommy did end up in the front seat thanks to Wilbur’s suggestion. Technoblade didn’t take being guilt-tripped very well it seemed. The conversation in the car was weirdly civil despite the long drive. Well civil for this group at least.

“I spy with my little eye a bitch” Tommy said when Wilbur tried to convince them to play car games for the long ride.

“Oh! Oh! Is it Wilbur?” Techno asked

“Ding ding ding you are correct Blade!” Tommy laughed and while Wilbur was trying to look mad he couldn’t help but smile just a bit.

“Never mind, I don’t want to play car games with either of you,” Wilbur said forcing himself to stop smiling so he could pout instead “Phil will play car games with me, won’t you Phil?”

“I would mate but I’m a bit busy driving the car and making sure none of us die” Phil answered.

“God you are such a downer Phil, hey I have a new car game idea let's all bully Phil!” Wilbur suggested causing Phil to laugh.

“Yeaaah” Techno cheered “let's bully the old man!”

“Enough you two, stop it” Phil sighed.

“But Phil,” Tommy joined in with a grin “it would make for a great bonding activity!”

“Yeah! Bully Phil! Bully Phil! Bully Phil!” Techno chanted.

“No no, Phil’s right” Wilbur interrupted “besides if we say something to mean or shocking, his heart might give out and the car would crash”

“Wilbur what the fuck”

“It’s alright Phil” Tommy soothed “there’s nothing wrong with having heart problems big man, especially at your age”

“You little shit! I’m not that old”

“Sounds like something an old person would say,” Techno said.

“Phil, I know you are still mourning your youth, and I don’t mean to be insensitive, but you’ve been on that denial stage for a long time buddy, maybe you should try and move on to another one,” Tommy told Phil, sincerity coating every word.

Phil just groaned as his kids all burst out laughing at his expense.

***

After an hour and a half of ‘Phil is so old’ jokes, they were finally getting out of the car. They couldn’t find parking close to the restaurant so they had to walk a bit but no one seemed to mind. Phil led the way as his three kids walked together with Tommy in the middle.

“Wilbur the only way I’m teaming up with you for next nerf wars is if you somehow convince Niki to make me cookies again,” Tommy told his older brother “sorry pal but that’s the price”

“Tommy c’mon there has got to be something else you want” Wilbur groaned “something more attainable? Please Tommy-”

“Tommy I could probably get those cookies for you” Techno interrupted much to Wilbur’s distress.

“Really?” Tommy asked, looking up at Techno slightly surprised.

Techno shrugged “Niki is my friend too, and unlike Wilbur, I haven’t gotten on her list”

“Wait wait, her list? Her list of what?”

“Of idiots that no longer have a right to eat her cookies,” Techno said with a smirk as Tommy let out a laugh. “So if I get you Niki’s cookies, you’ll be on my team next nerf war?”

“Oh absolutely Technoblade, you have yourself a deal!” Tommy agreed with a grin.

Wilbur seemed less thrilled “Oh come on this is so unfair” he groaned “give me another thing I can do, please? That can’t be the only thing you want”

“Okay,” Tommy said “beat up Technoblade and I’ll team with you”

“Tooommmyyy” Wilbur groaned “why must you give me impossible tasks”

“They aren’t impossible for Technoblade”

“Yeah because he’s Technoblade” Wilbur argued and then sighed “whatever I guess I’ll be by myself… again”

Tommy snickered as they approached the restaurant, he couldn’t help the warm feeling in his chest at the idea that the reason they were celebrating was because of him! Because he did something as simple as stay. It was... Weird to think about. As they stopped near the front doors to the restaurant though (the place seemed pretty popular considering there was a line leading out the door just to get in) Tommy spotted something far too familiar for him to ignore.

He watched in disbelief as a familiar mop of brown hair wearing that same damn green button-up turned down an ally that passed between this restaurant and the next.

“Uh Phil I- is it okay if I just go and see something? I’ll uh- I’ll be right back” Tommy said distractedly.

“You… okay mate?” Phil asked, sounding concerned so Tommy did his best to shoot the older a reassuring smile.

“Just fine, I just need to check on something,” Tommy said, already starting to walk off towards where the person had gone “I’ll be right back!”

“Tommy-” Phil started a small frown on his face but the blond didn’t stick around to hear what he was about to say.

“I’ll be right back” Tommy called to him as he started following the familiar figure “I promise!”

If Phil tried to say anything else it was lost in the cars and the people passing by as Tommy jogged after the figure, turning down the alley to see the other approaching the exit of it.

“TUBBO!” He shouted, causing the figure to stop and turn as Tommy started to grin and run closer to his best friend, only for that smile to fall when he got a better look at the other.

“Tommy?” Tubbo asked with a grin stretching across his face but that’s not what Tommy’s eyes focused on. Instead he was much more attentive to the dark purple bruises on his best friend’s face “Tommy what are you doing here?”

Tommy ignored the question as he hugged the smaller boy close “Tubbo what happened? Your face-”

Tubbo winced at the reminder “oh uh yeah… that. I’m okay Tommy, really I’m fine just… just a bad home”

“Have you called someone to come and get you yet?” Tommy asked concerned as he examined the bruises.

Tubbo’s face fell a bit as he looked down at the ground “I uh well I tried and they- they found out I was trying to call my social worker and thats- that’s kind of how I got these bruises” Tubbo mumbled.

Tommy winced sympathetically and pulled out his cell phone pressing it into Tubbo’s hands.

“Tommy” Tubbo started to protest “Tommy I can’t take this, you’re foster parents-”

“Phil wont be mad” Tommy said and was surprised at how certain he was of it “I uh I ran into a really good home, really they’re amazing- This is my one month anniversary with them”

Tubbo took the phone and pocketed it, he was smiling again as he listened to Tommy “that’s great big man I’m happy for you, are you going to stay?”

“I- what?” Tommy blinked, thrown off by the question “No- no of course not Tubbo, I’ll be home in like a week, maybe two. I promise.”

“Tommy” Tubbo sighed “Tommy you don’t have to do that, if you’ve found a good family you should stay with them”

“But I made a promise-”

“Tommy we were eight” Tubbo interrupted “we were eight, if you’ve found your place, if you want to stay, don’t let promises we made as children get in the way of that.”

“But-”

“No.” Tubbo shook his head “no, Tommy if you’ve found a home and you want to stay, then stay.”

“It’s not home though Tubbo” Tommy said in an oddly soft tone “If you aren’t there then it’s not home.”

“Tommy-”

“I’ll see you in a few weeks big man” Tommy interrupted as he started walking away “use the phone, call your social worker, I’ll be there in a few weeks”

And Tubbo watched helplessly as his best friend left with plans in mind on how to ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

“Tommy Innit you are a fucking idiot.” Tubbo sighed, shaking his head as the blond turned the corner and out of sight.

Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter, as always if you enjoyed please feel free to let me know! Comments are super motivational to me and really encourage me to keep this story going. Also thank you so much for over 800 Kudos! The support I've been getting on this story is just absolutely insane! Also, I have a linktree set up that has links to my twitter and the Spotify playlists I have set up for both stories I'm writing https://linktr.ee/batmansmom and if that wasn't enough I also have a discord server! It's meant to be a place for artists, writers, editors and readers to all come together to enjoy Dreamsmp/SBI content together! It's also where I'll be posting updates and announcements so if I'm unable to post a chapter that day that's where you'll know and I was thinking about starting to use it to get opinions on certain details like chapter titles and also whether I should post later in the day or earlier that kind of stuff. So here's the link to that https://discord.gg/9qM4wBPp feel free to join, thanks again for reading! Until next time <3

Chapter 17: Chapter Seventeen

Notes:

Ayup!! Here's some content for ya. Do Enjoy.

CW: Self-sabotage, yelling, Phil acts like a Karen to protect his son, anteaters

To my Discord Server:
Thanks for the prank ideas!! Remind me not to piss you guys off too much.

Tommy had never been so reluctant to cause chaos. He had decided he would start a few days after the one-month dinner, not wanting to completely ruin the night. He had been oddly quiet throughout the dinner, something that all three of his foster family members commented on but he just waved them off saying he was fine. When asked why he had run off he gave them a forced smile and said he thought he had seen a friend of his from one of his previous foster homes but had been wrong. They didn’t push, and Tommy couldn’t decide if he was grateful for that or not.

The next day Tommy couldn’t get himself into the mischievous mood, he just felt… sad. His family members had noticed this as well. Wilbur had pulled out his guitar and played Tommy a few songs in an attempt to cheer him up. It had worked at first, Tommy was always happy to hear Wilbur’s music, but as he was listening a voice in his head reminded him that this would likely be the last time he heard Wilbur play. Listening to Wilbur’s music was bittersweet after that reminder.

Techno, upon realizing that Tommy was upset about something, asked Tommy to help him cook lunch for everyone. It was some potato-related dish that Tommy didn’t recognize but he had fun flinging ingredients at Techno and dodging as Techno threw them back until it turned into a full-on food war. One that ended up with no potato dish at the end, but Tommy didn’t think Techno minded too much that his lunch plan didn’t work out. As they cleaned up the kitchen, that same voice reminded him that this was likely the last time he and Techno would laugh together, and much to Tommy’s horror, a few tears spilled at the thought.

“Tommy?” Techno asked, sounding concerned “are you ok?”

“Just fine big man,” Tommy said, wiping the tears away as he shot a smile at Techno. The older boy clearly didn’t believe him but he didn’t push. Tommy was grateful. (He wasn’t, he wished Techno would push. Wished anyone would push. Wished he could just tell the truth, that he needed to leave so that this family could send him back without hating him.)

When Phil realized that Tommy wasn’t himself, he suggested a movie night. They put on Up without Tommy having to ask and Tommy found himself safely curled into Phil’s side as he watched the movie. This time when the voice reminded him that he would soon no longer have this, this safety, this security, this love, Tommy couldn’t hold back his tears this time.

If Phil noticed that his shirt was wet or that Tommy was shaking with silent sobs, he didn’t say anything. He just ran a hand soothingly through Tommy’s hair, comforting him like it was the easiest thing in the world like it was second nature. Tommy only curled closer to Phil, letting himself enjoy this, knowing that come tomorrow he’d never have the chance to have it again.

***

The next morning, Tommy started doing what he did best, making a nuisance of himself. He started his day early, at exactly four in the morning he headed downstairs not bothering to try and be quiet as he bounced down the steps and into the kitchen. He started rummaging through cabinets and pulling out plates and pots, with no real plan in mind, just trying to make as much noise as possible. His plan worked at least a little as the stairs creaked as someone came down them into the kitchen. He turned to see a tired-looking Phil standing on the other side of the kitchen looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“Tommy mate, what are you doing? It’s four in the morning” Phil asked, having clearly just been woken up.

“I was hungry,” Tommy said, giving Phil a grin, trying to ignore how his heartbeat increased and the guilt was already pooling in his stomach. Phil sighed and nodded.

“Well since I’m awake I can whip up something for you if you’d like? How do waffles sound?” Phil said, already reaching into the cabinet for the batter mix. Tommy stared in disbelief as Phil lumbered about the kitchen grabbing tools and ingredients to make Tommy’s favorite breakfast, even after Tommy had purposely woken him up.

“Uh yeah, sounds- sounds good” Tommy mumbled, not sure how else to respond. He had expected yelling or even a disappointed look at the minimum. But Phil didn’t seem to mind at all that Tommy had woken him up at four in the morning on a Sunday, one of the few days Phil could sleep in. Phil worked his way around the kitchen quietly putting the things Tommy had pulled out away, careful not to wake anyone else in the house.

When Techno and Wilbur came down, Tommy was staring at his empty plate with a confused frown on his face. This might be more difficult than he originally thought.

***

Throughout the day, Tommy did things that made his stomach do flips and his heart skip a beat as he waited for his family members' reactions. He had brought in a stray cat even though Wilbur was allergic.

“Look,” Tommy said holding up the small black cat to show Phil “I found this”

“That’s… nice Tommy,” Phil said with a pained smile as black cat hair fell onto the living room carpet

“Can we keep her?” Tommy asked “I’ve already got a name picked out for her, it’s Indigo. It’s a good name innit?”

“That’s a lovely name Tommy,” Phil sighed “unfortunately Wilbur is allergic to cats so she does need to go back outside now”

Tommy frowned “okay,” he said, only to sneak the thing upstairs a few minutes later and hide her in Wilbur’s room. They had found out of course, and while Phil looked a bit disappointed, he hadn’t yelled at Tommy at all. Techno had just found the whole thing funny, especially since Wilbur still hadn’t stopped sneezing.

The next thing Tommy resigned himself to doing involved sneaking back into Wilbur’s room and finding his guitar. He messed with the knobs for a few minutes watching as the strings went slack, satisfied with his work he snuck back out. Only to sneak back in an hour later with tape and pictures of anteaters he had printed out using Phil’s computer. He wasn't sure why he was targeting Wilbur so much, maybe because he was easy to prank? Regardless, he started putting up pictures of anteaters on every surface he could reach. Satisfied that he’d done what he could for today, he then went over to Techno to bother him into driving Tommy to the nearest target.

After half an hour of pleading, begging, and annoying, Techno relented and borrowed Phil’s car to drive Tommy to target. There, Tommy spent some of his precious emergency money buying the supplies he’d need. He kept the bag hidden in his backpack on the way home and when Techno asked what he had bought, Tommy just held up the chocolate bar he had stolen.

“You made me drive you 15 minutes for a chocolate bar?” Techno asked looking mildly annoyed “you could have walked to a gas station and gotten the same thing”

“You just don’t understand,” Tommy shook his head “this is Target chocolate Blade, it’s much better than gas station target”

He glanced over to see Techno trying to hide an amused smile as he shook his head “whatever”

***

Once at home, Tommy got to work on the rest of his ideas. He poured glue into one of Phil’s hats, having taken inspiration from a clip from Matilda he had seen a few years back. His final prank, the one he was the least excited to pull off, was putting hair bleach in Techno’s shampoo. He had just finished when Wilbur started screaming as he entered his newly decorated room.

Tommy forced a smirk on his lips as he exited the bathroom walking over to see Wilbur glaring angrily at his room “I redecorated your room for you big man, what do you think?”

“I hate it” Wilbur spat, while Phil and Techno came up to see what the commotion was about.

“But Wilbur I worked so hard”

Behind him, Phil and Techno burst into laughter at the sight of Wilbur’s room. The man’s hate for anteaters wasn’t exactly a secret, making this a perfect prank if Tommy did say so himself. But he was a bit confused by Phil’s reaction. In previous foster homes, targeting their kids with pranks and mischief was almost always destined to work. No one wanted some strange kid targeting their own children with mischief and pranks. Their real kids came first, that’s just how it worked. But here Phil is, laughing with the rest of them.

“What did you do to my guitar?” Wilbur suddenly shrieked and Tommy took that as his cue to leave.

***

Later that night, Tommy waited anxiously for Techno to finish his shower, thoughts only on the hair bleach that resides in Techno’s shampoo. But when the older boy finally came into the living room, his hair was perfectly normal.

“You didn’t use your shampoo” Tommy blurted out, then internally cursed himself because really how would he know just by looking at Techno that he hadn’t used it.

Techno, thankfully, didn’t question it “nope,” he said popping the p “it smelled weird so I threw it away.”

‘It smelled weird’ Tommy mouthed to himself before sighing, he probably should have expected that not to work. Techno always seemed to be three steps ahead.

***

Monday rolled around and none of the chaos Tommy had created yesterday had had its desired effect which meant Tommy had to resort to drastic measures. It took Tommy exactly eight minutes and thirteen seconds to get himself sent to the principal's office for ‘having a vulgar mouth’ as his teacher liked to put it.

It took much longer than that for Phil to drive back to the school, he had been halfway to his place of work when he had gotten the call. Thirty-seven minutes and forty-two seconds after being sent to the office, Phil arrived. He sat down next to Tommy in the principal’s office with an easy smile, looking nowhere near as annoyed as Tommy had hoped he’d be.

“What's all this about then?” Phil asked, turning his attention critically towards the principal.

“It seems your foster son Thomas was spewing some awful language during his teacher’s lecture. Including cussing her out and insulting her several times within just the first few minutes of class. Normally for a first offense we wouldn’t have called, just given him detention and sent him on his way but due to his… situation-”

“You mean because he’s being fostered” Phil interrupted bluntly “you’re treating him differently because he’s a foster kid.”

The principal cleared his throat awkwardly “well we think higher disciplinary action is required-”

“Well I think that’s a load of shit” Phil interrupted again and Tommy watched his foster father in disbelief. Was Phil defending him against the principle?

The principal seemed just as surprised as Tommy “excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Phil said, crossing his arms and leveling a glare at the principal “where was this attitude weeks ago when my son-” Tommy’s cheeks warmed as he tried to hold back a smile, Phil had just called him his son. “Was getting beaten up by two older students in the bathroom”

“Well- I”

“No. Here’s what’s going to happen” Phil interrupted yet again “you are going to let Tommy off with a warning and I’ll consider not suing the school”

“Under what grounds?” The principal challenged but Phil was unshaken and more terrifying than Tommy had ever seen him.

“Child neglect and endangerment,” Phil said mouth pressed in a thin line. Tommy got the feeling that Phil wouldn’t have resorted to this had the principal not tried to get him suspended for saying swear words because he’s a foster kid.

The principal backed off muttering a “fine” under his breath.

“Great, I’m taking Tommy out for the rest of the day” Phil nodded, standing up, Tommy was quick to follow, slinging his bag over his shoulder. As they walked out, Tommy couldn’t help himself, he flipped the principal off before disappearing from the office.

***

The car ride home was silent up until they pulled into the driveway.

“Want to tell me what happened?” Phil asked, his voice a great deal kinder than it had been moments ago when dealing with the principal.

“Nothing happened” Tommy shrugged trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing “her lecture was just boring so I thought I’d spice it up a little”

Tommy tried not to feel too proud of himself when Phil laughed, he was trying to make the man take him back not laugh at his jokes.

“Okay well, the next time you think the lecture needs to be ‘spiced up’ maybe find a way to do it that doesn't send you to the principal’s office” Phil grinned getting out of the car.

Tommy couldn’t help but grin back, trying not to feel too relieved that his plan hadn’t worked.

He had someone waiting for him, after all.

Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter, as always if you enjoyed please feel free to let me know! Comments are super motivational to me and really encourage me to keep this story going. Also thank you so much for over 900 kudos and 18,000 hits! The support I've been getting on this story is just absolutely insane! Also, I have a linktree set up that has links to my twitter and the Spotify playlists I have set up for both stories I'm writing https://linktr.ee/batmansmom and if that wasn't enough I also have a discord server! I'm planning on posting some cannon facts about the characters and the universe there that likely won't show up in this story on there! It's also meant to be a place for artists, writers, editors and readers to all come together to enjoy Dreamsmp/SBI content together! If you want to join the rebellion rising up against me for my crimes, then you should consider joining my discord! It's also where I'll be posting updates and announcements so if I'm unable to post a chapter that day that's where you'll know and I was thinking about starting to use it to get opinions on certain details like chapter titles and also whether I should post later in the day or earlier that kind of stuff. So here's the link to that https://discord.gg/kn5fZhuM2e feel free to join, thanks again for reading! Until next time <3

Chapter 18: Chapter eighteen

Notes:

New Chapter!!! Yaaaaaay! As always if you enjoyed please let me know in the comments below! Comments are super motivational and I tend to read them over and over just to give me a confidence boost when I'm writing. Anyway enjoyyyyy

CW: yelling, emotions

To my Discord Server: Traitors are specifically banned from reading the ending to this story. you don't deserve it (/j)

With his previous plans having failed, Tommy decided to start going for less prank-type nuisances and for more real serious problems. He started with school as it was by far the easiest place to get in trouble. He did refrain from causing more trouble with his geography teacher though, he had a feeling that involving Phil with more school stuff would likely only succeed in getting the older man mad at the school. Instead, he focused on his last few classes of the day managing to earn himself detentions for the next two week, which didn’t really bother Tommy at all. After all if everything went to plan he would only have to worry about serving four of those detentions. 

 

As soon as he was handed the detention slip, he took a picture and sent it to Phil saying he would need to be picked up a bit late. He expected outrage, disappointment, a demand that he walk home instead of wasting Phil’s time. Instead he got a text message that said ‘alright mate just let me know if the school is pulling that biased foster kid shit again and I’ll set them straight’. 

 

Tommy tried not to smile at the text, willing frustration to build up in its place. Seriously, how much would it take for Phil to react the way Tommy needed him to? 

 

After class, he wasn’t surprised to see a concerned-looking Wilbur marching up to him. 

 

“Phil said you got a detention” Wilbur said with a frown “are you okay? What happened?” 

 

Tommy just shrugged trying to seem nonchalant, even though knowing Wilbur was worried about him because of something so simple made his chest feel warm. “My teacher was being boring, so I had some fun, played a prank.” 

 

Wilbur’s eyes narrowed a bit “you’ve been doing that a lot recently, don’t tell me you’re bored of us already?” his tone was joking but his face betrayed that the question was serious. 

 

Tommy scoffed “of course not,” he reassured rolling his eyes “just having some fun” 

 

Wilbur didn’t look so convinced and Tommy tried not to feel guilty. He wanted to stay longer, he did, but Tubbo… Tubbo would always come first. Tommy wasn’t so selfish to abandon his best friend in exchange for another month or two max with this family. It didn’t matter if Tommy got himself intentionally sent back or not, he’d always end up at Saint Joseph’s. It was just the way it was meant to be, who cared if Tommy wanted to speed the process up a bit. 

 

“Anyway, I have to go. And you have to challenge Techno to the front seat” Tommy teased “without me there, you might finally have a chance” 

 

Wilbur smiled a little at that “you’re fucking right, okay, good luck with detention Toms! See you later!” Wilbur said before taking off down the hallway, ignoring the several teachers shouting telling him to slow down. 

 

Tommy smiled fondly, even if this couldn’t last he would still miss it. Still miss them. 

 

***

 

When Phil picked him up an hour and half later, he didn’t seem mad or disappointed at all. Instead he shot Tommy a smile as the blond climbed into the front seat.

 

“So how was detention?” he asked casually as he started the drive home. 

 

Tommy shrugged “boring, I don’t know I just sat on my phone the whole time” 

 

“I see” Phil nodded “Wilbur said you got it because you were pulling pranks?”

 

Tommy swallowed the anxiety that came with the question and forced himself to smirk “yep!” he said cheerfully, not bothering to elaborate. 

 

“Okay,” Phil nodded again. “I don’t mind you having a bit of fun but just try and keep yourself out of the principal’s office. I don’t want to have to speak to that dickhead again”

 

Tommy just nodded and they spent the rest of the ride in silence. 

 

***

 

Day after day, Tommy got himself into more and more trouble at school. This resulted in calls home, notes home and about three months worth of detentions. No one was eager to try and go beyond that and suspend Tommy (even if he deserved it at this point) because of the last incident with Phil. No one wanted to be responsible for getting the school sued. 

 

Beyond the actions that the school took, there were no other punishments for Tommy’s misbehavior. Phil or Wilbur or even Techno had tried pulling him aside to talk about it but Tommy had just waved them off, dismissed it as him just having some fun. They clearly weren’t convinced but they never pushed, never demanded to know more. 

 

By the end of the week, Tommy was starting to get frustrated. Seriously, how much trouble did he have to get in to get them to give up on him? At this rate, Tommy was going to have to get himself arrested before they’d even consider sending him back. As if sensing his sullen mood, Phil chose not to ask him any questions or try to start a conversation when he picked Tommy up two hours after school had ended. 

 

When they arrived home though, Tommy wasn’t so lucky. 

 

“Tommy, I’d like to talk to you for a moment in the living room” Phil said once they stepped inside, for a moment Tommy started to hope that this would be it. That Phil had finally had enough. “I’m not mad,” Phil reassured poking a hole in that hope quickly “I’m not sending you back, I just want to talk to you” 

 

Tommy sighed but followed Phil into the living room, taking a seat on the couch while Phil sat in his usual chair. 

 

“You have been acting out a lot lately” Phil started “and I was wondering if you could tell me what happened that made you start acting like this?” 

 

“Didn’t you read my file?” Tommy sighed “I’m always like this, I was just playin’ nice before”

 

“Tommy I’m going to be honest with you, I did read your file-”

 

“Great so you know generally I’m a nuisance” Tommy interrupted “thats just how I am Phil, no fixing it”

 

Phil frowned a bit at that “Tommy I read your file, you only started trouble after the family you were staying with started it first.”

 

Tommy stared at Phil dumbfounded, he didn’t think that part had been in his file. He was completely positive that Jim hadn’t believed a word out of his mouth about the homes he had been in. So why would Tommy’s point of view be in the file?

 

“Tommy? You with me?” Phil asked, leaning forward a bit and gently setting a hand on the fourteen year old’s shoulder. 

 

“Yeah yeah I’m uh I’m with you” Tommy mumbled shoving that whole shitshow into the back of his mind, he could process that later. 

 

“So, Tommy, I wanted to know what happened on our end” Phil continued “I wanted to know where we messed up, so that we can do better. So you don’t have to feel like you have to resort to making trouble in order to stay safe”

 

“You guys didn’t do anything” Tommy said quickly “you didn’t- this- none of this is your fault! This is the best home I’ve had in- in forever” he blurted out. He didn’t mean to share that much, but he also didn’t want Phil, or Techno, or Wilbur to think that he hadn’t enjoyed his time here. That he hadn’t felt safe here. He didn’t want them blaming themselves because Tommy had to leave. 

 

“Tommy” Phil sighed looking at him in a way that Tommy had learned that Phil didn’t quite believe him. 

 

“I’m serious” Tommy crossed his arms “I don’t- I want to stay but I- I need to go home-” he paused, internally cursing himself for letting that slip. What was he doing, explaining this to Phil? Why did he care so much about how these people felt? He just needed to go home to Tubbo, it didn’t matter how the family felt when he did. 

 

“And where is home, Tommy?” Phil asked, his tone reminded him of the one time Tommy had seen a therapist. The comparison made him flinch a bit as he stood up. 

 

“Fuck off” Tommy snarled looming over Phil “why do you even care?” 

 

“Tommy-”

 

“No just- just shut up man!” Tommy snapped “why do you give a fuck? I have been nothing but a burden to you for this last month, causing nothing but trouble in the last few days. What is it going to take to get it through to you?” 

 

“What-?”

 

“WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR YOU TO FINALLY JUST FUCKIN SEND ME BACK?” Tommy yelled letting the frustration that had been bubbling, boil over. He glared venomously as Phil looked at him with something that looked almost like pity. 

 

“Nothing you could do is ever going to make me send you back Tommy” Phil said softly “nothing, Tommy this probably isn’t the right time to do this but-” 

 

“No” Tommy shook his head sitting back down “don’t- don’t say it-” 

 

“Tommy, I want to adopt you” Phil murmured “I want you to be a part of this family officially”

 

Tommy just stared, silently shaking his head “I- I can’t-”

 

“You don’t have to answer now” Phil reassured him “take the time you need, but Tommy we love you. We love having you here and we would love it if you stayed with us, if you became a permanent part of our lives. And nothing you do is going to change that. Nothing.” 

 

Tommy just nodded silently trying to process what Phil had just said. “I’m- I think- I just need some time to myself” he choked out and Phil nodded. Taking that as permission to leave, Tommy bolted up the stairs, ignoring the worried look Wilbur shot his way as he went past him, and locked himself in his room. 

 

Finally alone, Tommy couldn’t hold it back anymore. He grabbed Henry from his spot, hidden in his closet and hugged the plush cow close as he started to cry. How was he meant to leave now? How was he meant to leave knowing there were people here who loved him? 

 

How was he meant to leave when he had people here that he loved? 

 

***

 

The answer Tommy found was waiting until four in the morning and packing as much as he could into his beaten-up red backpack. He paused listening carefully to make sure no one was awake before dashing to the bathroom and grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste. Trying to ignore the pang in his chest as he took it out of the toothbrush holder, away from Techno and Wilbur’s toothbrushes. Tommy was not getting sentimental about toothbrushes of all things. 

 

He dashed back to his room and shoved those in his bag as well. He double-checked that he still had his emergency stash of money and thought about the snacks that were in the kitchen. Were there any that he could risk grabbing that wouldn’t make to much noise? He glanced at the clock again and sighed, he couldn’t wait much longer. Phil got up at five and he hadn’t been able to leave earlier because Techno had been up until fucking three-thirty like the bastard he is. 

 

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he carefully descended the stairs, avoiding the ones that creaked. He paused at the bottom, listening carefully once again for any signs that someone in the house was awake. Not finding any, he continued on his way, towards the front door. His hand reached out in the dark, searching for the lock so he could unlock it. After a few tense minutes, his hand finally found the lock on the door and he undid it with a click. He reached for the handle, ready to pull the door open when something else clicked behind him and the lights turned on. 

 

“What are you doing?”

Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter, as always if you enjoyed please feel free to let me know! Comments are super motivational to me and really encourage me to keep this story going. Also, thank you so much for over 20,000 hits and 1,000 kudos!!! The support on this fic has been just absolutely insane and I super appreciate it. I have a linktree set up that has links to my twitter and the Spotify playlists I have set up for all of my different stories I'm writing https://linktr.ee/batmansmom and if that wasn't enough I also have a discord server! I'm planning on posting some cannon facts about the characters and the universe there that likely won't show up in this story on there! It's also meant to be a place for artists, writers, editors and readers to all come together to enjoy Dreamsmp/SBI content together! If you want to join the rebellion rising up against me for my crimes or if you want sneak peaks at upcoming fics, then you should consider joining my discord! It's also where I'll be posting updates and announcements so if I'm unable to post a chapter that day that's where you'll know and I was thinking about starting to use it to get opinions on certain details like chapter titles and also whether I should post later in the day or earlier that kind of stuff. So here's the link to that https://discord.gg/kn5fZhuM2e feel free to join, thanks again for reading! Until next time <3

Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen

Notes:

We've made it! Here it is, the end! Never thought I'd make it this far so I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has left a comment or a kudo on the fic! You all have helped me so much when it came to keeping this fic going and I am so proud to say that it's finally finished! Thank you for reading this fic, and if you enjoyed, please feel free to let me know in the comments down below! If you enjoyed reading my writing, consider subscribing or checking out one of my other two fics and I'll see you in the next one!

A note to my discord: ayup good luck lol

“What are you doing?” Wilbur asked as Tommy turned to face him. He looked disappointed, Tommy hated knowing he was the reason behind the look. 

 

“I need to go Wil” Tommy tried to explain “I need to leave- I can’t- I can’t stay here” 

 

“Why?” Wilbur said taking a few steps towards him “why can’t you stay?” 

 

“I just-” Tommy frowned curling his hands into fists as he stepped closer to the door “I just can’t” 

 

“That explains exactly nothing, Tommy,” Wilbur sighed. “You know, if you would just tell us why you need to leave, maybe we could help you with whatever is going on” 

 

“No, I don’t think you would” Tommy shook his head “You’d probably tell me I’m being stupid, and that it’s a stupid reason to leave” 

 

“If it’s important enough that you feel the need to run away, even when it’s clear you want to stay” Wilbur crossed his arms “then it’s not stupid. Whatever it is that’s convincing you that running is your only option, it’s not stupid. It’s wrong, it’s not your only option, but it’s not stupid” 

 

Tommy hesitated before reluctantly taking a step away from the door, it was clear that Wilbur wasn’t going to let him go until he heard why Tommy was leaving. And while Tommy knew he could outrun Wilbur, if he tried to go he had a feeling Wilbur wouldn’t hesitate to wake everyone else up and Tommy couldn’t outrun Techno. 

 

“C’mon, lets talk in the kitchen, I’ll make us some hot chocolate” Wilbur said, waiting for Tommy to walk past him and into the kitchen before he started on the task. Tommy sat down at the table while Wilbur went through the steps of heating up the milk and stirring in the hot chocolate packets before pouring himself and Tommy a cup. He set the mug down in front of Tommy and took a seat next to him. For a moment they just sat, sipping hot chocolate quietly as Tommy gathered his courage. 

 

Wilbur can be trusted right? Tommy thought Wilbur’s been looking out for me, Wilbur was in the system too, maybe he’ll understand and let me leave. 

 

Wilbur cleared his throat “so, want to tell me why you want to leave so badly?” 

 

Tommy nodded, taking another sip of the hot chocolate, delaying his answer as much as he could as he figured out the right words. 

 

“I have a brother” he said after a moment “We aren't related by blood or anything but we’ve known each other for years, he’s in the system too so we don’t really get to see each other very often. I ran into him last week when we went out to dinner. He had run into a bad home and was having some trouble getting away. So I gave him my phone and told him to call his case worker, I was originally planning on staying another month with you guys, but seeing him like that- I just didn’t want him to have to go back and heal on his own.” 

 

Wilbur nodded slowly “it sounds like, regardless, you never intended to stay with us though” 

 

“I wanted to” Tommy admits softly “I wanted to stay, but I’m not so selfish as to abandon one family for another, our situation is shitty but Tubbo’s been with me through it all. I’m not going to leave him behind because I found a family that doesn’t treat me like shit.” 

 

Wilbur nodded a little, contemplating this for a moment “so then, if Tubbo was here, would you stay?” 

 

“If Tubbo was here, I wouldn’t even think of leaving” Tommy said, taking another sip of hot chocolate “but he’s not, and I’m not going to tell Phil we’re a package deal, that doesn’t seem fair. Adopting one kid is expensive enough, nevermind having to adopt two so the one you’re trying to adopt doesn’t fuckin book it the first chance he gets” 

 

Wilbur took this in silently “okay, thank you for telling me why you want to leave” 

 

“So you’ll let me go?” 

 

“No. Absolutely not.” 

 

“But- but I told you-”

 

“Yep!” Wilbur grinned “and now I’m going to go fix it for you! PHIIIIILLLL” 

 

“Wilbur what the fuck” Tommy panicked as there was a loud crash and footsteps thundering down the stairs. 

 

A moment later, Phil appeared in the entryway, looking worried. 

 

“Wilbur? Tommy? What are you two doing up? What’s wrong?” 

 

“Dad I found out why Tommy doesn’t want to stay” Wilbur said cheerfully as Tommy glared at the older boy. 

 

“You fucking bitch shut up I told you that in con-fi-dance” 

 

“Oh” Phil sighed relaxing a little “okay well uh that’s good but couldn’t it wait until morning?” 

 

“No Tommy’s trying to run away, I caught him trying to sneak out the front”

 

“You bitch shut up shut up shut up shut up” 

 

“What’s goin on?” Techno asked appearing silently behind Phil causing the older man to jump slightly. 

 

“A warning Techno, jesus christ” Phil said holding a hand over his heart. 

 

“Sorry you’re right, wouldn’t want your heart giving out on you, not when you have at least another year or two in you before your old age catches up with you” 

 

“Shut the fuck up” 

 

“So what’s going on? Why does Tommy have a backpack? And why does Wilbur look like that?”

 

“Wilbur looks the same as he always does, mate.” 

 

“My question still stands” 

 

“Tommy was trying to run away” Wilbur interrupted and Tommy growled at him, cursing the older boy out under his breath “and I know why because I’m the best brother in the world”

“Wilbur you bitch you absolute fucker you are my least favorite brother in the world” Tommy said bitterly. 

 

“Mhm sure I am Toms, anyway the reason he wants to leave so bad is because he doesn’t want to get separated from his brother”

 

“brother?” Phil questioned looking at Tommy “your file didn’t say anything about you have a brother” 

 

“Well- we aren’t exactly related by blood” Tommy explained reluctantly.

 

“Phil remember that kid who called you from Tommy’s phone and warned you he was gonna start pullin shit” Wilbur said “yeah that’s the brother”

 

“Wait back up Tubbo called you?” 

 

“Oh that makes sense”

“Wait no stop ignoring the question, why did Tubbo call you?”

 

Phil turned to look at Tommy and gave him a small smile “if I had to guess mate, I would say it’s probably because your brother was just as worried about you as were about him. Well now that we know the problem, let's sit down and talk this through '' Phil said, taking a seat next to Tommy.

 

“What is there to talk about?” Tommy scowled “I’m not staying here, I’m going back to Tubbo” 

 

“You could do that” Phil nodded “but that isn’t the only option” 

 

This can’t be happening right now Tommy thought to himself as he let himself hope just a bit this can’t be happening. 

 

“What we could also do is I could reach out to Tubbo’s social worker and request to foster him and we can see how that goes. We could also reach out to a few families that live nearby, like Niki’s family or Jack’s and see if their parents would be interested in fostering. But only if you’re okay with Tubbo being nearby but not in the same house.” Phil took a deep breath “or if you don’t want to stay with us I could contact both social workers and a few families I know who have fostered before and try and get you two in a house together. Which option would you prefer we start with?” 

 

Tommy stared in disbelief at Phil as he heard the options before quietly asking “you- you would really do that for us?” 

 

Phil reached forward and gently took Tommy’s hands in his own “no one deserves to be ripped away from a loving family, blood related or not. I would love to find you two a good home where you never have to worry about being separated again” 

 

Tommy’s eyes were not watering, he was not crying, there was just a lot of dust in the air. 

 

“Can we go with the first option?” he asked, sniffling a bit as he wiped furiously at his eyes. 

 

“Of course we can” Phil smiled, “can I give you a hug” Tommy nodded and Phil wrapped his arms around the boy pulling him close as Tommy tried not to let anymore tears escape. “I know mate, it’s okay, I’ve got you” Phil murmured and Tommy broke. The stress and fear of this past week finally catching up to him as he sobbed into Phil’s shoulder. 

 

*** 

 

Tommy waited anxiously by the door, Wilbur and Techno next to him smiling at his obvious excitement. It had taken over two weeks for this day to come, but it was finally here. Tubbo would be joining them as a new part of the family, and Tommy couldn’t help but wait by the door for his best friend to arrive. 

 

“Are you ready?” Wilbur asked throwing an arm around his shoulder “is your room and everything prepared?” 

 

There wasn’t another bedroom for Tubbo to use, not that that had been an issue for Tommy. He had no problems with sharing a room with the other boy. It did mean that they had to redecorate and move the furniture and things around a bit so they could fit another bed and desk in the room which had been a lot of work. 

 

But it’s all worth it Tommy thought because I finally get to go home. 

 

“I’m pretty sure you’re forgetting something” Techno chimed in “didn’t you have a gift-”

 

“THE BEE” Tommy shouted, bolting up the stairs. He ran into his bedroom and grabbed the bee plush from off of his bed. It had been one of the things Tommy had picked out when he and Phil went shopping for the first time, it was always meant to be a gift for Tubbo and now Tommy could finally give it to him. Downstairs, someone knocked on the door and Tommy raced down the stairs, nearly tripping in his excitement shouting “I’LL GET IT” 

 

He passed Wilbur and Techno who were watching with amused smiles as he stumbled to a stop and yanked open the door. 

 

“TOMMY” Tubbo shouted, rushing forward and practically tackling Tommy with the force of the hug.

 

“Hey Tubso” Tommy said, hugging the other boy back. 

 

 The social worker sighed, seeming tired as Phil came out from the kitchen with a smile on his face. At the sight of Phil, Tubbo let go of Tommy, grabbing onto his arm instead as he narrowed his eyes at Phil. Phil didn’t seem to mind though, he just smiled and held a hand out to Tubbo.

 

“You must be Tubbo, it’s nice to finally meet you” Phil said “I’m Phil, behind you is Techno and Wilbur, and you already know Tommy. Tommy why don’t you show Tubbo where he’ll be staying while I talk to his social worker” 

 

Tommy nodded, dragging his friend towards the stairs, pausing and looking back at Wilbur and Techno “c’mon, don’t be rude bitches we have a tour to give!” he grinned and Wilbur laughed. 

 

“You heard him,” he said with a smile, grabbing Techno’s arm and dragging him along. “We have a new little brother to show around” 

 

“Great” Techno deadpanned, “as if one wasn’t enough, now we have two little gremlins in the house.” 

 

Tommy just laughed before loudly whispering to Tubbo “Wilbur’s a weird one and Techno’s a prick but they’re alright as far as older brother’s go” 

 

“We heard that”

 

Tubbo nodded as the four of them walked up the stairs, he paused and turned to look at the two older boys “how do you feel about nukes?” 

 

Wilbur and Techno exchanged glances before they both smiled “Tubbo I think this is the beginning of a beautiful family dynamic” Wilbur said with a manic look in his eyes. 

 

And he was right. 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Tommy Innit will return in Ever So Slightly coming to AO3 soon

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this chapter, as always if you enjoyed please feel free to let me know! Comments are super motivational to me and really encourage me to keep this story going. Also, thank you so much for over 23,000 hits and 1,100 kudos!!! This fic has been super fun to write and I can't wait to keep the series going! I have a linktree set up that has links to my twitter and the Spotify playlists I have set up for all of my different stories I'm writing https://linktr.ee/batmansmom and if that wasn't enough I also have a discord server! I'm planning on posting some cannon facts about the characters and the universe there that likely won't show up in this story on there! It's also meant to be a place for artists, writers, editors and readers to all come together to enjoy Dreamsmp/SBI content together! If you want to join the rebellion rising up against me for my crimes or if you want sneak peaks at upcoming fics, then you should consider joining my discord! It's also where I'll be posting updates and announcements so if I'm unable to post a chapter that day that's where you'll know and I was thinking about starting to use it to get opinions on certain details like chapter titles and also whether I should post later in the day or earlier that kind of stuff. So here's the link to that https://discord.gg/kn5fZhuM2e feel free to join, thanks again for reading! Until next time <3

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Home is a complicated place