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

Chapter 19

As the group packed up, readying to leave, Conner bounded over to Tommy's side of the group.

"Next class is chemistry!" He beamed, seemingly ecstatic that the next class was one they had together. Tommy smiled weakly and got to his feet, following the excited Conner to class. Conner just rambled about this that and everything, seeming full of a pure joy Tommy didn't recognise, nor understand. He was loud. So loud. Tommy wondered if that was allowed. Tommy couldn't be loud. He had to be quiet, but Conner seemed a constant ball of energy and noise and laughter. It was weird. Unnatural. Wrong.

Still, Conner cleared a path through the crowd, which meant that less people bumped into Tommy, meaning less pain. That at least was nice. They waited outside the class, Conner still rambling about something Tommy didn't understand. He just smiled slightly every now and then, hoping to appease the loud boy. It seemed to work, because every time he did so, Conner's smile grew.

Tommy listened to him, trying to understand the excitement and the topic, and barely getting either of those things, but hey, Conner was happy, which meant he probably wouldn't hurt Tommy. That was something.

The teacher arrived, letting them in, and Tommy sank gratefully into the seat, appreciating taking the painful weight off his legs. He'd get better eventually. Just had to deal with the pain right now. He wondered what the weekend would be like. Wondered if Dream would just leave him be, or if he'd be working constantly. Probably working.

The teacher started, pulling Tommy back into reality as he scrambled to write the notes. This class didn't seem as eternal as the others today had, but it was still achingly long. When the teacher let them go, Tommy packed up, ignoring the pain that came with every movement. He found his way to the next class, where Ranboo was waiting at his desk, with no teacher in sight.

"Mr. Bad let us in, but had to get something from his office," Ranboo explained, seeing Tommy scan the room for the teacher. Tommy nodded silently, slipping over and sitting in his spot next to Ranboo. He was exhausted and everything hurt and he was ready to give up and cry, but he wouldn't. He wasn't allowed to.

Ranboo started to talk about his last class, apparently he had had Chemistry as well, but with a different teacher. They had done an experiment and Ranboo had accidentally smashed a beaker. Ranboo was laughing like it was hilarious, but Tommy was trying not to shake with fear. Smashing things was bad. Was Ranboo hurt? People always hurt Tommy when he broke things. Why was Ranboo laughing? He couldn't be laughing at something like this. It was insane. He was hurt, wasn't he?

Ranboo just kept talking about it like it was the funniest thing ever. Apparently the teacher had understood it was an accident, and had help clean it up. What. The. Fuck? That doesn't happen. People don't understand when things are accidents and they certainly don't help fix it. That's not how people work. Tommy knows that. He'd have to clean it up, then take the beating as punishment. It didn't make sense that Ranboo was so relaxed about it.

Ranboo, however, didn't seem to notice Tommy's confusion, just moving onto another topic. He was basically talking to himself, since Tommy wasn't making any sound, just listening, but Ranboo didn't care and that didn't surprise Tommy. People preferred him when he was quiet. That was how it was. Dream had not permitted him to talk at school, so Tommy would not. Dream had not permitted him to cry when he was alone, so Tommy would not. He would not break Dream's rules. Dream clearly had them for a reason. The reason was to make Tommy better. That's what he had said. Tommy needed to be better. He needed to.

When Mr. Bad returned and the class started, Ranboo subdued into whispers mixed in with silence as they listened to him teach.

"Ranboo," Mr. Bad sighed after Ranboo whispered something else to Tommy. Ranboo was bad at the whole whisper thing, he was a loud whisperer. Ranboo looked up guiltily at Mr. Bad.