INSOMNIAC||•Tomtord

CHAPTER 20

SOLACE
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TORD wakes up with a jolt when he feels a cold rag drip against his forehead, the water droplets flow down through his face and ear and he cringes at the sensation of it. He leans up only to be pushes down roughly by Tom he is at his side. "Hey commie, stay still! You're still sick!" He looks at him confused. "What?" He asks and his body throbs all of a sudden, he winces. "You're sick,"  Tom says. "I am?" Tord blinks at him, "You caught a cold, fucker." Tom glares at him and Tord sweatdrops. "Probably cause of the rain." He sighs as he digs himself deeper into the sheets. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" Tom's voice turns a little softer and Tord can't help but smile. "Maybe so you could take care of me?" He teases and Tom stands up before slapping him with the wet rag on his forehead. "Ow,  I was just kidding." He groans and Tom doesn't respond to that and instead crosses his arms. The silence is comfortable this time, but Tord wants the man's presence beside him. "Hey, Jehovah." He calls out and the brit looks at him with a scowl. "What is it." he spits out rather than asking. "I'm a little lonely here," he taps on the empty side of the bed, encouraging him to come beside him. "Absolutely fucking not. I'm not catching a cold because of you!" Tom yells and Tord whines. "Please," he pleads, "I won't do anything stupid." He pouts and Tom ends up giving in. "Move aside." He commands and Tord obeys. The bed dips beside him at the weight of Tom, and Tord inches closer to him. "Thanks," he says softly, and the other hums. Tord shivers as his face is still red. He lets out a cough and covers it with his hand. Tom watches him before getting off the bed and Tord grabs his wrist. "Where are you going--" be whines and the male swats his hand away. "You need to take your meds, commie," he says before grabbing a pill he had brought with him along with the wet rag after Tord had collapsed. He sits beside the norski again and hands him the pill, who takes it quickly and gulps it down. "Drink this." Tom grabs the glass of water on the table beside and Tord gulps it down in a go before handing it back to him, and he places the empty glass back on the table. Tord hugs him from behind and Tom's caught off guard as he looks down at the norski with a glare.

It doesn't last long when Tom gives up, letting Tord do what he wants: who cuddles against his shoulder. "If you cough on my face I will punch you." He warns him, and Tord hums. "I feel like a child all over again," he says and Tom stays quite. "Are you saying I'm your fucking mom or some shit?" He huffs and Tord flinches. "..my mom was..." he turns away, and his breath shivers. Tom notices it and hesitates for a second, then places his hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, just...I never really had a good experience with her." She was good to me. What am I saying? She loved me, didn't she?
"Tord," Tom calls his name softly, it's a little surprising how his usually rough voice sounds so gentle. The norski finds himself crying again as he looks up at him. "Do you...want to tell me?"
Tom asks nervously, and Tord has a hitch in his breath. He lets out a deep sigh, and finally decides to open himself up. "I really love my mom. But...sometimes I think I never did enough to make her proud. Was she even happy to have me as her son? Sometimes..." He bites another sob, and Tom frowns at the sight of him. "...I wish, I could've done better. If I was a better son. Maybe then she'd still be alive. She'd live a better life now." He cries, and he feels so vulnerable. "I just...want to say, I'm sorry. If I was present in the last of her moments, maybe I wouldn't have been haunted by my mistake every night." Ah. I said it. He looks up at Tom who stares at him, his hand lingers atop of Tord's own. "Is...this why, you couldn't sleep all this time?" He asks and Tord nods. "But you can now. Can't you? I'm here." Tom says as he squeezes his hand. "Have you ever thought of... apologizing to your mom?" He asks and Tord feels the guilt crawl at his back. "I'm a coward, Tom. I can't...I just— I can never bring myself to even walk by her grave. I am a terrible son." His lips quiver, and the Brit's eyebrows knit together. He knows the feeling very well of losing parents but, to see Tord at such a state as he is hurting— the root of his sleepless nights all these years. This man needs comfort. Tom's not sure if he can provide much of it. "I'll go with you. Let's go together and apologize to her, yeah?" Tord looks up at him, eyes red and face flushed. He is a mess. "Us?"
He asks with eyes wide open, and Tom nods. Tord muzzles into his chest as he cries some more, letting all of it out. And Tom rubs his back in the silence of his crying. 

They wake up the next day, Tord nuzzled into him. Tom wakes up first and pushes the male way when he realizes he's too close. "Hey. I told you stay away a bit. I wouldn't want to get sick either." He groans and Tord moans. "Good morning to you too, asshole," he earns a swat on his head at that. Tord winces and rubs his throbbing head. "Go freshen up. I'll meet you downstairs." He says before leaving Tord alone in his room. The events of last night play on his mind he grabs the nearest pillow to shove his face into and let out a muffled scream. He's still sick, but his temperature feels a little lower than last night. He coughs again, then rips the sheets off of him and makes his way to the bathroom.  When he returns back and enters the kitchen, Edd looks up at him and his face softens. "Tord. You look terrible."
"He got sick," Tom says as he grabs the cereal from the shelf and places it on the table. Edd gives a side eye at Tom, who raises his hand in defense. "What? Don't look at me like it's my fault!" Tord sighs and settles himself in the chair. "Probably cause I was drenched from the rain yesterday."  He sighs, and Matt chimes in. "Oh, yesterday was quite the storm."
"Speaking of that," Edd clears his throat. "I'm sorry about yesterday, I was a little too upset, I'll admit. But you really shouldn't have hid it from me." He explains, fiddling with his fingers and Matt glances between them. "Uh, what is this about? Am I...missing something?"
"Tord and Tom are dating." Edd says with a deadpan and Matt gawks. Tom suddenly drops the cereal box and he turns red. "Edd! We're—" Tord looks at Tom, and he bites his lip and pauses. "–We just did so recently." Tord cut him off with a smile, but falters when he starts coughing. "I have no idea how you two even managed to actually start going out, but... Congrats?" Edd tilts his head and Matt still stare at them. "I can't believe you two," he blinks twice and sighs. "It's because I actually learnt to tolerate this guy's bullshit." Tord chuckles and Tom throws a spoon at him and he nearly dodges with a snort which turns into coughing and Tom frowns, "Take your meds after breakfast today, I am not reminding you again." He scoffs and Tord gives a small smile. "Sure," and they eat breakfast together that morning.

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[A/N]
I'm so glad I'm almost done with this fic! Tord opening to Tom after so long was the final nail to the coffin,, anyways, epilogue coming next soon,,, not sure when exactly tho. Possibly in a few days that's for sure-- I haven't been doing well mentally since the last day of my school wasn't so great and heartbreak shit so expect some of my biased writing in the epilogue ;-;
Anyways thanks for sticking around till the end!! See you in the epilogue!(it's gonna be long one so I hope it's worth it<3)