Chapter Text
A glass shattered against the floor. The lights in the house were all turned off, the only light came from the television playing some black and white TV show. The man on the couch lay, unmoving, with a half-empty beer in his hand.
The boy in the green hoodie quietly crept across the floorboards, careful not to make any sort of sound as he creaked open the door.
When he heard the familiar cough and the clearing of a throat, he went still.
--
Tommy didn’t really want to go back to school, but his desire to see Tubbo overruled any other thought. When he got to school, he looked everywhere, but he couldn’t find any sign of him. He spotted Nick and Nikki in the familiar spot in the cafeteria, and he gulped before joining him. There was a boy sat with them, one he didn’t recognize. He had a large birthmark on his face and long, messy black hair that covered his eyes.
“Hey,” Tommy greeted, stopping at the table. “Where’s Tubbo?”
“Tommy!” Nikki cried in surprise, jumping up to latch onto his arm. “Whoa, I can’t believe you’re back!”
“What?” he asked, confused. “I was only gone a week.”
Nikki frowned. “But… We thought…” She shook her head suddenly and pulled out her phone. “I’ll tell Tubbo. It’ll cheer him right up.”
“What’s wrong with Tubbo?” All the color drained from his face.
“Oh, he’s fine!” Nikki said quickly. “There was… There was an accident, and… He’s okay, but he’s been on bedrest for the last two days.”
“What happened?” How could he not have been here?
Who the fuck touched his Tubbo?
“It was really an accident,” the boy piped up. “He...got in a fight.”
“A fight?” Tommy clenched his fist. “Who hurt him?”
The boy bit his lip. “He… He wouldn’t say. I was planning on seeing him afterschool if you guys wanted to go with me.”
Tommy shrunk back. “His mother won’t allow me near,” he said. “You… You make sure he’s okay for me?” It felt wrong. He wanted to see him. He wanted to see Tubbo so bad.
“You’re Tommy, aren’t you?” the boy said instead, smiling as he reached his hand out. For the first time, he got a good look at his eyes. They were two different colors. “I’m Ranboo. It’s a pleasure.”
“Hi,” he greeted, reaching out to shake the hand outstretched to him. He didn’t miss how both his arms were wrapped up. “How’d you know me?”
“Tubbo talks about you all the time,” he said. “He was really worried about you when you didn’t show up. There was… there was a rumor going around…”
“About Tubbo?”
“About you.” Nikki’s eyes were tearing up. “We didn’t really know what to think. Some said you’d been expelled. Other rumors weren’t so kind.”
The bell rang, but Tommy didn’t want to move. “What’s that mean, Nikki?”
She bit her lip, unsettled. “Meet up with me afterschool. You know where the seniors parking is? Meet me by the big tree.” That was all she offered before scrambling to her class.
Nick was the last to move. “Hey, Tommy,” he greeted, finally meeting his eyes. “I’m… glad to see you’re okay.”
He met his eyes uneasy. “What’s going on, Nick? What’s…” It was only for a slight second, but he didn’t miss the bruises peaking out from his sweatshirt as he tugged the strings tighter. “Nick?”
“Just stay away from my brother, okay, Tommy?” His eyes were pleading. “Stay away from Dream.”
It shouldn’t be that hard, considering he doesn’t even attend school here. He was a proper adult.
Didn’t stop his sentence from stilling Tommy to his core.
He could barely focus in any of his classes. Turns out, though, Ranboo was in his science class. When the teacher announced they needed to pair up, Tommy looked out the window and didn’t look up until he heard the chair next to him scrape against the floor.
“Hi,” he greeted again. “Wanna be my partner?”
“Depends,” he said, “How smart are you?” Ranboo had really big ears, and they dropped a little bit at his question. “You’re not gonna cheat off me, are you?”
He looked down at the notebook with nothing but scribbles in it. “I don’t think I’d want to do that,” Ranboo said, stifling a laugh.
At the end of the day, he met up at the tree, but Nikki was nowhere in sight. He fished his hands into his pockets, glaring at any person that walked by. He watched Nick walk out to be picked up by Dream, who caught his gaze.
He gave him one last glare before driving out of the parking lot.
“Sorry!” Nikki said, running to catch up to Tommy. Her face was red, and her hair was falling out of her ponytail. “I had… club business.” She sighed heavily and Ranboo came up from behind her. “Okay. You guys ready?”
“For you to explain what’s going on?”
She dropped her shoulders. “We’re going to go see Tubbo, right?” She fished her keys out of her pocket and started towards her car, and Tommy chased after her.
“I can’t! His mother properly hates me.”
“We’ll sneak you in,” she decided. “It’ll be easy.”
Tommy would’ve disagreed if the prospect of seeing Tubbo wasn’t so damn appealing. He climbed into the car, cringing at the number of bottles in the floorboard. “Damn, Nikki,” Ranboo said in amusement.
“I know, right?” Tommy said, pushing past the red bull bottle to make room to sit down.
“It looks so much cleaner than usual!” he said instead, and Tommy’s eyes popped out of his head.
“Thank you,” she chirped. “It took me forever!”
Tommy was speechless.
As promised, they did sneak him up through the house. They made their way to Tubbo’s room, and Tommy hid in the garden. A couple minutes later, they’d opened the window and Tommy had to pull up a garden chair to climb through.
He almost wished he hadn’t.
Tubbo was fast asleep in his bed, chest rising and falling rapidly. A short, wheezing sound escaped him with every exhale, and his eyebrows were furrowed together.
“Tubbo,” Nikki said, shaking him gently. “Wake up! I brought visitors.”
He pried open his eyes weakly, managing a smile. “Hi, Ran. And…” He struggled to sit up, chest wheezing with effort. She helped him up. “Tommy?”
“Hi,” he greeted, running to his side, kneeling to grab his hand. “Hi, Tubbo.”
“You’re really here,” he said, weak fingers reached out for him. Tommy squeezed him in response.
“Here,” he said, voice cracking. “Tubbo, what happened to you?”
He withdrew, starting to shake within himself. “No, no, I--” His eyes widened, and the color was drained from him. “It wasn’t…”
“Tubbo, breathe,” Ranboo instructed, exaggerating his own breathing.
He shook his head frantically, dragging his fingers through his hair. “I can’t,” he cried, covering his mouth with his hands. Footsteps started, and Tommy was pushed under the bed by Nikki.
“Oh, Tubbo,” his mother drawled, stepping into the room. “If you kids are only going to upset him, I don’t want you here.”
“Ma’am, he’s really hurting,” Nikki said, voice pleading and soft. “He needs to--”
“I’m his mother, and I’m the only one who knows what he needs,” she spat. “I think it’s best if you leave.”
Nikki reluctantly climbed off the bed. “I’ll see you later, Tubbo.” He was still shaking as his mother pushed them out of the room.
Tommy could barely keep it together as he felt the bed dip above him.
“I thought I’d made it clear,” she snarled. “You are not to talk about what happened. We don’t need any of this getting out of hand, now do we?”
Tubbo was sobbing now, and he rasped out a “no, no.” The trepidation in his voice was unmistaken.
“Good. I’ll bring dinner up for you in a bit. You get some rest.”
The door slammed, and Tommy instantly crawled out to engulf Tubbo into a hug. “It’s okay,” he said, hands tight around him as he rocked the crying boy. “It’s okay, Tubs. We’re okay. We’re all gonna be okay.”
“Tommy,” he hiccuped, grabbing onto his cheek with all the strength he could manage.
“I’m here,” he chanted. “I’m right here.”
“He… He hurt--”
“Who?” he asked, watching Tubbo fight being awake. “Who hurt you?”
“Dream,” he rasped. “Dream, he--” A coughing fit took over him, and Tubbo was shaking his hand, fighting to keep himself steady. He was so damn tired, the sobs and excitement draining him of energy.
---
He was going to kill him.
The next day after school, he spotted Nick. He felt uneasy about it, but he couldn’t help ducking behind a tree and watching Nick look over his shoulders before walking down the path. He followed, not too closely, to avoid being seen. Luckily, Dream hadn’t come to pick him up to day.
Sure, he felt really bad, but he just… he had to get revenge.
How could Nick stand to defend Dream after all the damage he’d done?
Nick stopped in front of his house. He pressed his ear up to the door, and Tommy snuck into the backyard, treading lightly to look out. All the lights were off in the house. There was no car in the driveway.
He found a window and timidly peeked through it. He saw no sign of life, just an absolute chaotic mess of a home. It was hard to see, only having the sunlight as any source of light in the room.
He followed around to the kitchen, and he finally saw someone, Nick. He was pouring something into a glass before walking into a different room, and Tommy walked through the outside of the house to a different window.
His jaw dropped.
Dream. That absolute bastard.
Nick, now free of his sweatshirt, was littered in bruises. His collarbone was shaded in ugly purples and yellows, and there were short cuts across his arm, all carefully placed that no one would see it at school.
Even the glimpse Tommy had found was nothing compared to the real thing.
He felt sick, suddenly climbing through the window. He had to do something. There was no way he could keep silent as this sick bastard kept hurting innocent people.
He creaked around the corner where Nick padded up the stairs. He followed after him, reaching around the corner.
He fell to his knees at his bed. “I brought some water.” Tommy peered further to try and get a better look. Who was he talking to?
Nick peeled back the blanket and helped--
Holy fuck.
Was that really… Dream?
His face was a scarred mess. His lip was fucked up, and his left eye was swollen shut. His fingers shook when he took the water from Nick. “Please,” he said suddenly, head falling into his lap. “Dre, please, let’s just go.”
“No,” he said softly, voice croaking. “You’re almost through senior year. Then we can go, I promise.”
“I don’t care about the plan anymore,” he hissed, grabbing him tightly. “You… You didn’t see what happened to Tubbo… What he… What that monster did to him. What he did to you. ”
“Just a little while longer,” Dream promised, cupping his face. “I’ll keep protecting you until then. Just… let me handle him, okay?”
A door slammed, and Tommy paled, but the others reacted worse than he did. “Go,” Dream hissed.
“I won’t let you keep getting hurt,” Nick cried. “Please, Dream, I--”
“Get the fuck out,” he spat, and Nick scrambled to leave. He didn’t notice Tommy as he fled into a different room.
Tommy should leave.
He knows this.
But… for some reason, he stays. He creeps into the room and hides in a small crevice in Dream’s room.
He really, really shouldn’t be here.
That much is obvious when a man stumbled into the room. “You lazy fuck,” a voice snarled. “Really, stayed home from work today, too?” He stomped his way across the room. “I slave to put food on the table for you, and this is how you repay me?”
He grabs Dream in a tight grip, squishing his jaw uncomfortably. Tommy can’t bear to watch. “I’m sorry,” Dream managed, sounding so small. So defeated.
He wants to throw up.
“Worthless piece of shit," he cursed, striding over to rip him up, the younger groaning in pain. "Just like your bitch of a--"
“Get the fuck away from him.”
This was a mistake. This was a really, really bad mistake.
Tommy was standing, fists raised at the monster of a man in front of him.
The man was enraged. “Who the fuck are you?”
Dream scrambled up out of his bed, grabbing onto his father. “Please, don’t--”
The man lunged at Tommy, and he quickly avoided, grabbing Dream and stepping in front of him. “Run!” he said, and Dream didn’t move. “Just, run! Go!”
His father managed to get a hit on Tommy, throwing him roughly against the wall. Tommy groaned, cringing at his skull bashed against the wall. He howled in pain as he raised his fist and brought it against his face.
He sputtered, blood rising from his lip and kicked wildly to get the man off of him. “You sick fuck,” he hissed, raising his hands to grab at his eyes. He howled in pain, dropping the boy.
Dream was there, grabbing his wrist, and all of a sudden, they were making it out of the house. Nick dragged Dream most of the way, and Tommy tried to support him from the other side. They ducked through the back, following Nick’s lead, as they got out of his eyesight.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Dream hissed once they were safe. He fell to his knees, and Nick went down with him to support him. “You just fucked us up!”
“What the hell do you mean?” Tommy challenged. “He was gonna, he was gonna kill you!”
Dream’s face fell. “And? You just put Nick in danger because of your thoughtless--”
"I'm fine, Dream."
“No,” Dream said, softly. “Nick, it’s…”
Thunder cracked all of a sudden, and Tommy flinched with it. They need to get out of this rain. Somewhere safer.
“Why are you here, Tommy?” They both looked so defeated.
“I… I thought you hurt Tubbo. He said…”
“What? No, Tubbo, he… he tried to save us,” Nick said. “Just like you.”
“And he got hurt because of it,” Dream cut in. “I can’t protect all of you fucking pricks that don’t know how to mind your damn buisness!”
Tommy was solemn-faced. “Maybe it’s really not,” he said. “But…”
“Just go,” Dream said. “I can handle dad, get him to calm down so he doesn’t--”
“You can’t go back,” Tommy swore. “There’s no way in hell you can go back there!”
Dream rose, grabbing him by his collar. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Dream, stop!” Nick cried, grabbing at his brother.
“I hate people like you,” he hissed. “You should stay the hell away from all of us!”
Tommy stopped, watching as Nick struggled to pull his weakened brother off of him. He staggered with exhaustion, falling back against the teary-eyed man.
“Dream, were you… trying to protect me?”
“People like you get eaten up in this world, Tommy,” he snarled. “Kind people have no place around people like us. You get taken advantage of.”
He’s not really sure he completely understood. He couldn’t follow each and every one of his words, but he sunk to his feet.
And for reasons he can’t explain, he wrapped his arms around Dream. “You were trying to protect Tubbo,” he said, less of a question and more of a statement. “By keeping me away. You didn’t…”
“No one else needed to get hurt,” he managed. “That’s why you need to go, Tommy. Before something else happens.”
Tommy clenched his fist. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Another flash of lightning sounded, and Tommy wrapped the two men into a hug.
“I can’t leave,” Dream said. “That’s my Dad, Tommy.”
He pulled away as Nick sobbed brokenly. “That’s not how proper dads are,” he said. “I should know. Mine was shit, too. Doesn’t mean it’s worth it to stay.”
“We can’t go,” he said, shaking his head. “Nick, if you go, you’ll only get hurt. We can’t leave.”
“I know somewhere we can go,” Tommy said, begging with his tugs. “We can be safe.”
“He won’t ever hurt you again.”
Phil had been on the phone with everyone he could, trying to figure out why Tommy hadn’t come home yet. It wasn’t unusual for him to take a while when he walked home, but they had a strict rule of him being home for dinner.
When there was a knock on the door, Phil swung it open, quick to engulf him in a hug, but he stopped short at the sight of the three boys, all helping each other to stand.
One, he’d recognized as the one who had just been picking fights with his son.
“Please,” the boy said brokenly, “Can you help me?”