They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 18

Summary of last Chapter: basically Dream was mad at Tommy, told him that this was a just punishment and beat him until he fell into unconsciousness, Tommy blames himself for the punishment, believing Dream when he said it was just

TW: vague mentions of the abuse, and description of bruising

Tommy didn't know how much time had passed in unconsciousness. He did however know that everything still hurt like hell. He didn't move. He felt the cool tiles beneath him and relaxed slightly, focusing on the cold of the tiles and trying to block out pain as best he could. He didn't know if he could move. He wasn't ready to try.

He forced his eyes open, searching the room for a clock. His eyes locked on it and he sighed in relief, he still had half an hour before he had to get up. He had to admit, he was not ready for this one. He knew Dream expected him to go to school. That meant he'd be expected to do his jobs too. He was lucky Dream didn't kill him for not making dinner.

Tommy stared at the clock for a long minute, before registering that it would probably take him longer to move around then normal, meaning he'd have to get up earlier, meaning he had to get up now. Fuck.

Tommy slowly moved his arm, wincing at the agony. He pulled himself over onto his back, where he lay, panting from the effort. After the few seconds of recovery time that he gave himself, he pushed his body up to sitting. He looked around, and found he wasn't far from the table. He used it too pull himself up, bracing himself against it. Yeah, that had fucking hurt.

Slowly but surely he made his way upstairs. Step 1 was to shower and get changed. He checked his clothes, no blood, that was good, Dream hadn't actually made anything bleed. Slowly he peeled the clothes off, trying not to look in the mirror. Still, he caught his reflection out of the corner of his eye and hissed. His whole body was covered in bruising, to the point where the only part of him that was his normal skin colour was his unmarked face. Even his hands were bruised.

This would not be fun, but he already knew that. He silently pulled himself into the shower, letting the hot water fall over him and taking in the bliss that came with the warmth. He attempted to ignore the agony as each drop of water hit his bruised and battered body.

After a minute he got out, pulling on long pants and a hoodie. After a moments thought he went searching through his bag and found gloves to hide his bruised hands. Then, slowly, he made his way down stairs to do his chores. He found the note that listed them, as well as a warning to do better today.

Tommy would follow that advice. He wouldn't be late again. He couldn't.

Slowly, he did the tasks Dream had set, and once done, he grabbed his bag, inhaling slightly as the straps pressed against his bruised shoulders. Slowly, slowly, he made his way to school. He got there just as the bell called for the first lesson of the day.

Tommy found his way to his class, biting down the yelp every time someone brushed to heavily past him. It was something he wouldn't normally notice, but now every little thing hurt like hell.

He got to class, as painful and exhausting as it was. By the time he was there, the teacher had already let in the class, although Tommy wasn't the last one to arrive.

He found his way to his spot and collapsed into his chair, pulling out his notebook and readying for class to begin, at least this one he was alone, no one else from the group in this class. The lesson went on for what felt like an eternity, and through that time, Tommy's pain didn't improve in the slightest. When the teacher said it was time to pack up, Tommy held in a groan at the idea of moving. He pulled on his backpack and slowly started heading to the door.