The Neighbor's New Kid

Chapter 26

A couple of days since the incident had passed, and Tommy was not at all pleased when he realized that he got scared of a fucking green balloon. Ponk said the color green might be triggering some sort of flight or flight response from him—to which he says "bullshit" 'cause he was fine around Tubbo, and heck, Phil's with him right now! Maybe it's the shade. He thought before shaking the thoughts away. That's ridiculous, he's fine. He's a big man who's not scared of colors!

"Tommy?" Phil called, "You alright mate? You've been glaring at your cards for a while now."

Tommy let out a hum, shaking his head, eyeing the cards he was holding. He shuffled them around, "I'm fine," he said shifting around in his bed. It still stings, but he had to pog through the pain though, but hey, it was way more tolerable this time around. Ponk said he was doing very well recovering that maybe he can get out by next week!

Not that he's very excited about it.

"Are you sure?" Phil asked, "You know you can always tell me if something's bothering you."

Tommy hummed, "I'm good, big man," he insisted. There was no way in hell he's saying he's gotten wary of colors. Fucking hell, he was pathetic."Have any fours?" He asked.

"...we're playing Old Maid," Phil said.

Tommy looked at Phil, then back at the cards, then back to Phil, "Go fish."

"You have no clue how to play this game, do you?"

"Nope!"

"I explained the rules earlier!"

"Phil, Phil, Phil," Tommy laughed, "I know my Go Fish skills are unfathomable, but no need to be so grumpy about it."

"We're not even playing Go Fish!"

"You know what, I'll give you this game," Tommy said, "Can't have you straining those old eyes of yours, next thing you know you'll be wearing nerd glasses like Wilbur."

Phil shook his head, with a sigh, not really mad or anything, the game was running too long anyway. Besides, it was lunch time, and he was getting hungry. "You can just say 'I quit', you know," Phil pointed out.

"You quit? Okay, that makes me the winner then!"

"You little shit."

A knock came from the door, interrupting their bickering. It was Sam who was holding a familiar backpack and a folder. "Oh, Sam," Phil smiled, "Back already?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, I've gotten everything."

Phil's smile got wider, which Tommy found odd. Sam's great and all, but why is Phil of all people so happy to see him. Pretty sure they've only known each other for a few weeks. "Great," Phil's words caught Tommy's attention. "I'll be going now then," he said, "Techno's probably waiting for me."

Oh, right. He's been so used to Phil, Wilbur, and Techno being with him, he forgot that they probably had their own stuff to do. Well, Dream did say he was a hassle to take care of.

Sam nodded at Phil as he left the room, shooting a quick goodbye to Tommy, which he returned with a not so enthusiastic wave. Sam eyed the boy before heading over to him. Tommy couldn't help but groan as the man sat on the stool next to him. "Hello Tommy," Sam greeted.

Tommy sighed, "Hello Samuel," he said.

This time, it was Sam that let out a sigh, "You knew this conversation was coming sooner or later," he said. "You should be allowed to be released by next week, and we need to do preparations."

Tommy rolled his eyes as the backpack was handed to him. He opened it up and found his clothes inside. "Those are everything that we could retrieve from D—from the house," Sam stuttered.

Tommy hummed, setting it aside. "So, where am I going this time?" he asked.

"Ahh, well," Sam said, opening the folder. "There's a lovely couple that would like to take you in, they've been fostering for almost five years now, and so far they have a pretty clean record, even had a few good comments from some kids they fostered. They live a town over, so it'll probably be a whole day's ride."

Tommy looked past Sam, at the couch littered with random things. On it were the white board Tubbo brought, Ranboo's sunglasses that he left behind, One of Wilbur's sweaters, Techno's books, and the cards Phil bought him.

Sam looked behind him, and saw what caught Tommy's attention. "You know," he started, "I have another offer, if you wanna hear it?" Sam asked.

Tommy shrugged, "Whatever you want, big man," he said.

"Well," Sam flipped through the files, "There's someone from this town that's willing to take you in..."

Tommy straightened up, "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," Sam started, "It just depends whether...you want to stay here or not."

Tommy thought about it for a moment. Moving to a new town means there's less chance of Dream finding him again. Then again, it wasn't like he's going to be any safer if Dream's still wandering around. But if he's here, then he'd know immediately if he'd been caught. Maybe help catch that bastard as well. But is he really willing to take that risk?

"I...don't know," Tommy said.

"Maybe knowing who you're staying with will help you decide," Sam said. "I talked to them about it already, and Phil said that they'd be willing to take you in."

Well...now that was an offer.

If Tommy's gonna be honest he didn't really wanna leave. Sure the couple sounded decent enough, but he's had good foster parents before, yet it didn't last. It isn't always the parents anyway, sometimes it's the siblings or people from school that are the problem. He's never had...well he never had actual friends. Who's to say he wasn't just gonna get shit on when he goes there.

At least here, he had Tubbo and Ranboo who still come by after school to visit him despite his numerous attempts to avoid them in the past. Besides, with the small time he'd stayed under Phil's wing when he got sick that one time, they'd been really nice. Hell, they're watching over him while he's in the hospital!

....Then again...wasn't that trouble enough? He really shouldn't ask more from them.

Sam hummed, observing the conflict present in the boy's face, "If you want to think it through some more then..."

Tommy nodded. He hears Sam shuffle to stand up and set aside the folder. "I'll get you some lunch, yeah?" Sam offered.

Tommy nodded again, staring blankly at the wall.

Hmm, what to do, what to do?

+++++

Hey guys! There's been a lot going on at school, as usual and I wanted to thank you guys for for being so patient! I haven't been doing anything outside of school work recently, that said, I haven't had time for any mcyt/dsmp content 'cause it takes so much time to catch up, so the characterization might sometimes be a bit eh. Also, my past fixations are dragging me back so there's also that lol.

I'm planning to put everything else on hold apart from "The Neighbor's New Kid" and "Dreaming of a Reality That Was Never Meant To Be". Once I finish one of them, I might open the spot up for the story that has gotten the most people's interest.

I very much would love not to drop or put anything on hold, but I just don't have as much time as I did back in 2020 lol. I hope you guys understand, and as always, thank you so much for the support!! <333