Pain - A TommyInnit Angst

Chapter 23

One week to go.

Six days.

Five days.

Four days.

Three days.

Two days.

One day.

Tommy woke up to Wilbur softly shaking him awake. He had slept in Wilbur's double bed with him the night before, because he had been overwhelmed by panic and vivid nightmares. (A/N: Please no shipping, this is all platonic.)

He slowly opened his eyes. They were still sore and puffy from crying the night before.

'Wil... I- I'm not ready for this. I can't fucking d-do this.'

He felt more tears leaking out of his eyes, and turned over, burying his face in the pillow.

'It's going to be really hard, but after today it's all over. You just need to keep thinking about that, okay?'

Tommy nodded, turning back over to face Wilbur, still softly crying. 'I'm gonna make you some breakfast, are you gonna be okay to get changed?'

Looking over, Tommy saw the suit that Wilbur had bought him sitting on the chair.

'I'll be okay.'

• • •

'Toms, you have to eat something.' Wilbur sighed, looking at the shaking, terrified, boy sitting in front of him. As he looked at Tommy, he felt an indescribable wave of rage wash over him as he wondered what monsters could possibly do this to their own child. He had never met Tommy's parents before, and he knew it would take all of his self-control to not attack them in the middle of the courtroom.

Despite his intense nausea, Tommy managed to force down a couple of apple slices, gagging on them slightly.

They spent the car drive in silence, both engrossed in their own thoughts. Tommy was leaning against the window, staring wistfully as he saw a flash of the blue sea as the car passed by a gap in the scenic houses. He thought about that day when Tubbo had come over, and they had all gone and walked on the beach. He smiled slightly at the memory, turning to Wilbur. 'Can we go to the beach after everything's finished today?'

Wilbur looked slightly surprised but smiled broadly. 'Of course we can. It'll be good for you to get some fresh air.'

Tommy focused on that. Although each second meant he was closer to seeing his parents, each second he was also closer to never having to see them again. Each second he was closer to walking on the beach with Wilbur, and being truly free.

• • •

Tommy knew that his parents were across the room from him, but thankfully Wilbur was standing in the way, so he couldn't see them. Yet. His heart was pounding and his mouth felt dry, as if someone had sandpapered his throat. Everything happened too fast; he was called up, and he was standing in the front of the courtroom.

They were there.

Tommy tried to look back at Wilbur but he couldn't help but study his parents' faces. They looked terrible; ashy grey, and his father had messy stubble growing on his chin. He swallowed, the terrible feeling of guilt rising up again.

He did this to them.

Closing his eyes, he remembered what Wilbur had told him. They weren't his parents; they were monsters.

Monsters.

A man began to speak to Tommy. 'Mr. Simons, do you believe that your parents were abusive?'

'Yes.' Tommy replied without hesitation.

'Physically?'

'Yes.'

'Could you please tell us a brief version of events about how this all began and escalated, from your perspective?'

Tommy swallowed, beginning to shake. He fixed his eyes on Wilbur, desperately trying to imagine that he was alone, at home, telling these things to him, and him only.

'I was probably about eight, and that's when they started making me miss meals if I did something wrong. A-and then they started... they started h-hitting me. It wasn't that bad at first, but then it got worse and they... they started breaking bones and stuff.'

'What bones did they break?'

'M-my ribs, mostly. And a couple of fingers.'

'How did it escalate from there?'

Tommy took a deep breath. 'I, uh... I t-tried to run away. I didn't make it far, and when they found me... they... they hurt me really badly. They, uh, c-cut my toe off.' He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to squash down the memories, but they wouldn't leave.

'Which toe?' The voice of the man brought him back to reality.

'M-my little toe on my left foot.'

'Thank you, Mr. Simons. I'm now going to ask some more specific questions.'

Tommy nodded.

'The last Wednesday when you were at home, what happened?'

He relaxed slightly. He could do this one; he'd practiced a couple of days ago. 'I didn't reach the weight target they set me, so t-they took me upstairs. My d-dad... he held me down, and my mum got the knife, a-and... she c-carved into my back. And my dad strangled me. I couldn't breathe a-and I thought I was going to die.'

'What word did they carve into your back?'

Tommy paused, looking over and staring at his parents. He locked eyes with his father.

'Failure.'

'What happened then?'

'W-well halfway through the carving, our neighbour knocked on the door b-because I was screaming. So my dad went downstairs and told her everything was okay, a-and... they, uh, carried on. My dad kicked me, and I blacked out. When I woke up, t-there was... there was blood everywhere, and I had burns on my legs.'

'How long did this event go on for? While you were conscious.'

Tommy thought. 'I think maybe like half an hour.'

'Thank you, Mr Simons. Am I correct in saying you have a history of self-injury and a suicide attempt?'

He began to panic. 'Y-yes, but that's not what this was. I only did that stuff because of what they were doing to me. P-please... don't make me go and live with them again, they'll kill me, they'll-' He couldn't continue. He couldn't breathe. He felt hot tears streaming down his face and inwardly cursed himself for not managing to keep it together. Through his blurry eyes, he looked at his parents.

They were smiling.

They were fucking smiling.

'They burned me. They hit me, sometimes so hard it would knock me out. I'm fucking terrified of them, they made my life a living hell. I can't sleep at night because of nightmares, I have flashbacks and panic attacks nearly every day. I spent three weeks in a mental hospital after a suicide attempt because I couldn't handle the idea of having to see them again in court. They're not my parents, they're monsters.'

Tommy didn't know what made him say all of that so suddenly; perhaps it was the terror that they wouldn't believe him, the anger of seeing the smug expressions on his parents' faces, the pent-up emotions from years of abuse.

'Thank you.' The man seemed slightly shaken from Tommy's outburst. 'You can go and sit down now.'

He didn't know if he would be able to walk properly. He was shaking so hard that his legs buckled underneath him at every step, but he made it eventually, and collapsed into Wilbur's outstretched arms.

'Toms, you were amazing.' Wilbur whispered as Tommy sobbed into his shirt. 'It's all over now. It's all over.'

A/N: Thank you all so much for almost 2k reads, that's insane! Remember to drink some water, eat something and vote if u want! <3