The Neighbor's New Kid

Chapter 2

When Tommy saw the man that he was supposed to live with, he didn't have much thought about it. Not when he's still with his social worker, Sam. The man wasn't gonna try anything. At least, not yet. "Yes, I'll take him from here then," the man, Dream, said. 

"Yes, of course," Sam said. "I appreciate you coming down to get him instead of us coming to you," he added.

"It was no trouble. I know you folks can be busy, with all the children that is," Dream smiled.

Something about the smile made Tommy feel uneasy. He couldn't pinpoint why, maybe it's because it looked a bit too thin, like it was being forced, or maybe it was the emotionless eyes that accompanied said smile. Either way, Tommy didn't like it. He'd seen smiles like those, and nothing good ever came out of smiles, he assumed. 

"—mmy? Tommy?"

Tommy snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Dream who in turn hummed at him, "Yeah, we'll work on paying attention," he said. "C'mon then, to the car." He placed a hand on the back of Tommy's backpack, leading the younger outside.

Dream made him sit at the back before getting in the driver's seat. He started the car and began driving. "My house's pretty far, it took me five hours to drive here you know?" Dream said.

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows. Dream must've noticed his movement from the mirror, "You might be wondering why you're going off to such a far away town. Well, I'll let you into something a bit personal," he started. "Your parents, they were good friends of mine back when we were in high school. I never really received much word from them until one day our class had a small reunion and one of our old classmates broke the news to me that they had died in a fire."

Tommy winced at the mention of his parent's deaths. He was seven at the time. He couldn't really remember much about it, other than their yells telling him to get out of the house.  

"When I learned about it, I also found out that you were lost in the foster system," Dream continued. "It took me a while to find you, but when I did, I immediately asked to take you in. It took a while but with you not having appointed guardians and me being your godfather, it was easy."

"That's a lie," Tommy said. "I was never told that I had godparents."

"Oh?" Dream raised an eyebrow. "Now he speaks," he whispered. "But it's true, really. I even have proof in video."

"Then why didn't CPS immediately bring me to you then?" Tommy asked.

"Well, think about it, Tommy. They have no siblings and your grandparents are gone. You don't have an appointed guardian. I haven't been in contact with them for a long while. You didn't even know that you had a godparent. Who was gonna tell CPS about me? Godparents aren't automatically gonna be your guardian you know. It was a bit of a process," Dream said. "But...I was willing to go through it for you." 

"Were you really?" Tommy asked.

"Of course!" Dream smiled at him. "Maybe one day I'll be able to actually adopt you."

Yeah, that wasn't a convincing smile, but Tommy nodded anyway. apparently, that was the wrong response as Dream frowned. "That's it?" The older asked. "I went to all that and not even a thank you? I really have to teach you manners," Dream said.

"T—thanks," Tommy said despite not wanting to. 

Dream hummed, "Stuttering shows hesitation, and shortening it doesn't make it sound genuine. Say it again, and we'll keep doing it until you do it right."

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows, "Thank you," he said. 

"Still doesn't sound right," Dream said.

"What the hell do you mean?!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Yelling at an authority figure, yeah that's another no," Dream said. "Y'know, I know a few parents who'd punish their children for talking back, but this might be a new experience for you, so I'll let it slide. Now, say 'Thank you' again, like you mean it this time, especially since you're thanking me for two things now."

Tommy was confused. What was this man going on about? His way of wording things sounds off, but he couldn't tell why and that was pissing him off. "Thank you, Dream," he said, trying to sound genuine this time, because even if he didn't want to, it was better to keep things from escalating while they were on the road. 

"There we go," Dream smiled. "You'll be a perfect little boy in no time."

After that, the two stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Dream allowed Tommy to sleep while waiting, but the boy didn't really want to, who knows what Dream would do while he was asleep. He doesn't want to wind up dead in a ditch somewhere. So he didn't sleep, he just stared at the passing surroundings from the window. 

"We're close," Dream said as he took a right. Two minutes later, Dream stopped the car in front of a decent sized house. "C'mon." Dream got out of the car before opening the door, letting him out. 

Dream mad sure the car was locker before walking to the house's front door. Tommy clutched his backpack closer to his chest and was going to follow but stopped when he felt a presence watching him somewhere. He turned to his right and stared at the white fence that separated Dream's house from the neighbors. 

There was nothing there. Sure, Tommy was being a bit paranoid, but why wouldn't he be? he was five hours away from the group home he was staying at and now he was supposed to live in this new place he has no idea about. Shaking his head, Tommy ignored the fence and followed Dream inside the house.

"Here is your room," Dream said opening the door to a bedroom with gray colored walls and nothing but a bed and a dresser in it. "You can unload your stuff in the dresser. I'd rather you not put up much things as anything but clothes are essential in a bedroom. It'll do you good to have a clean room." 

Tommy walked inside and placed his bag on the bed. "Windows have locks," Dream stated. "Heard you were a bit of a runner, you see. I removed the door's lock so I can easily come and see if you're alright. I won't be holding a tour, just call for me if you need to go outside your room. You know, just so I can keep an eye on you because, again, you're a runner.  This is all for your safety, do you understand?" Dream asked. "I don't want you getting hurt. Especially with what you've already been through," he said with a frown.

"Yeah, I get it," Tommy said. No he didn't.

Dream hummed at the response, "It's bad to lie, Tommy." He approached the boy, raising his hand. Tommy instinctively flinched at the action but instead of a slap or a punch like he'd expected, he was pulled into a hug. 

Tommy had never been more uncomfortable in his entire fourteen years of life other than in this moment right here. Dream hugged him after reprimanding him for something he did wrong while running a hand through his hair. Tommy squirmed under the man's touch, but Dream only held him tighter. "It's okay, parents hugging their child is normal," Dream said. "I have so much to teach you," he whispered. "Aren't you excited to learn?"

Tommy gulped.

"Sure, big man."

+++++

AHHH I hope this chapter was alright. If you have any suggestions with how to write certain part, feel free to comment it! It'll help me out lots!

Thank you for reading! Comments and suggestions are appreciated!

-LuminaStarCrest