Behavioural Tutor

14 // Panic

Tommy eventually broke out of the hug, to wipe his face of the sticky tears now rolling down his cheeks. His sobs had died down now, but he was still silently shaking. After a few seconds, he managed to regulate his breathing enough to make eye contact with Bad, but he instantly regretted it.

Bad looked like he'd seen a ghost. His face was pale, and he wasn't moving. The senior's brain was screaming at him to do something, but it was taking all of his self control not to get demonetised.

Tommy just sat there in shock, trying to work out where he'd slipped up. They were hugging a second ago – so it couldn't be that bad... right? He could feel his breathing becoming irregular again, and tears stated to form in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall down his face.

"Tommy..." Bad finally managed to choke out. "Y-your face. It's all bruised."

...

Oh. That's all? Jeez Tommy was really over reacting. He thought he'd done something wrong; like misbehaved. If Bad was reacting to his bruised face, he could easily cover it up with more lies.

Wait... no this is just as bad he thought. It's worse. Bad is a human lie machine. He'd read Tommy in an instant; as soon as he stated speaking he'd know Tommy was lying. This is bad – very very bad. If his dad finds out...

NO! No calm down this isn't happening. Tommy's world was spinning, his ears were ringing he could no longer make out Bad's concerned future just centimetres in-front of him. This was it – he was getting caught.

They were finally going to find out what he'd blocked out for so long. School would finally realise what happened behind closed doors. No no no no no! This couldn't be happening. What would they do? Would they send him away to child services? He'd never get to see Tubbo again!

Wait – no Tubbo isn't Tommy's friend anymore. They're over. Tommy had to repeat this thought in his head a few times. Were they really over? After all their history together? All because of some stupid babysitter sticking his nose in places it doesn't belong.

Everyone was out to get Tommy. He had no friends anymore. No; that also wasn't true. He had Techno. The only person by his side throughout all this. Techno was like his brother, (despite knowing him for less than a week) so there was no way Tommy was letting Techno leave like the rest of them. Techno was the only thing he had left.

His thoughts kept circulating through his brain. The ringing became unbearable – piercing his skull. Tommy felt his head gravitate towards the floor, and slowly... slowly... the world went black.

WHAT THE F-

NO! CALM DOWN BAD... Was he really about to swear? What had Tommy done to him, to make him so worried as to almost break his pact. He promised to himself never to swear. He learnt from experience it only brought up bad memories for the kids he helped.

But this was a whole new level of distress. Tommy had just passed out onto the floor.

In retrospect, shouting Tommy's name and shaking the small child probably wasn't the best way of preventing his panic attack... but Bad was freaking out.He couldn't think clearly.

What. Just. Happened.

His brain was overflowing with thoughts, so he did the only logical thing he could think of.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Bad screamed. "I NEED- I NEED- I- HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" He couldn't think strait. He knew whatever they did next with Tommy had to be carefully thought out. Since Bad couldn't even talk in full sentences, someone else should handle the situation. Someone Tommy trusted.

Phil heard the calls, and immediately rushed into the room.

Okay – so not him. Tommy clearly didn't trust Phil after the episode in his office just moment prior. He saw the way Tommy kept glancing at Phil, flinching when he came too close. They needed someone else.

Tubbo just passing by, but when he heard the shouting, rushed towards the source, and into the office, to be met with a rather disturbing scene.

No- not him either. Tommy and Tubbo had clearly been in a fight. There was no way he'd feel comfortable enough to trust him. Why couldn't anyone useful come into the room?

Principal Ranboo came rushing into the now crowded office. He dropped the folder he was carrying once he saw what was unfolding.

Did Tommy seriously have no friends? Why wouldn't anyone remotely useful hear the cries for help? Tommy didn't trust the teacher; that was very clear.

Next came a random student, running in to see what was going on.

Okay – this was all becoming too much. There was only one person able to help Tommy right now. The person whose name was the last thing Tommy said before falling unconscious.

Technoblade came running into the room.

Finally! Someone who could help.

Once he saw what was unfolding, he immediately rushed in to help. The crowd was quickly dispersed of, but an even bigger huddle of people was gathering around the doorway of the office. People were really nosey, huh.

Techno strode forward, shoving anyone unfortunate enough to be positioned between him and Tommy. Techno picked up the motionless boy, and clutched him to his chest (in a defensive position).

"Alright- so tell me which one of you caused this." He glared at everyone in the room, before his eyes landed on Bad. "What. Happened."

"The whole thing or just-" he was cut off.

"Bad. Tell me what happened." Techno spoke slowly, as if to elongate the threat he was implying. "Tell me what happened right now." He gritted his teeth and sent daggers into Bad's eyes.

In response, the therapist nervously cleared his throat before answering. "I asked him about his face, then he started panicking and fell unconscious."

"What's wrong with his-" Techno looked down at the boy he was tightly clutching. "Oh."