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

Chapter 23

TW: mention of death

Eventually class was over and Tommy, as silent and terrified as ever, followed Ranboo out. He didn't want to leave the other boy's side until he knew he could make it there tonight.

Ranboo gently led him outside, seeming to understand what Tommy was doing. When they arrived at the group, Techno was already there, along with a few others.

"Hey Tech! Could I talk to you for a minute?" Ranboo called, and Techno nodded, leaving the group to join them. The group looked over, but each person's face, one by one, seemed to fill with understanding as they noticed Tommy. That scared him. That fucking scared him. As a group they all understood why it was important to let Techno and Ranboo be alone with Tommy and that was fucking terrifying, but Tommy didn't run, no matter how much he wanted to, because he needed this. He needed it badly. He'd deal with any pain as long as they got him there, he just fucking hoped they got him there.

"What's up?" Techno asked, and his voice was quiet, almost nervous. Techno cast glances towards Tommy and they seemed anxious? Why did he look anxious? It didn't make sense. If it was real, that was fucking weird, why would someone as strong as Techno be worried about Tommy? If it was fake, why would he be faking anxiety? It didn't make any sense? What was going on? Why?

"Are you free tonight?" Ranboo asked.

"What time?" Techno checked, and Ranboo looked to Tommy, who held back a flinch at the sudden eyes on him.

"Uh, 7:30... until 10?" Tommy asked hesitantly. 7:30 would give him time to disappear from Dream's sight and find a way to get away secretly.

"Yeah, I can do that, why?" Techno asked and Tommy stared at the floor, not sure how to word it.

"Where did you want to go?" Ranboo asked gently and Tommy didn't look up as he spoke.

"Into L'Manburg. Oakland Graveyard," Tommy said, his voice breaking, but still not even reaching the volume of a whisper.

"Oh," Ranboo sighed. Oh.

Now they knew.

"I can get you there," Techno promised.

"Th- Thank you," Tommy whispered, his head still down, hiding the tears. It hurt. It hurt so fucking bad and he was asking for something and it was shit and he was shit and this was shit.

"If it's that late, I need Eret to come with Ranboo, is that ok?" Techno asked gently, and Tommy nodded, not sure what else to say.

"Where do you want me to pick you up?"

"I'll be at school. Pick me up from here," Tommy decided. It was better here then at Dream's house. This way Dream wouldn't hear the car, and they wouldn't know where he lived. That was far too dangerous.

Techno nodded gently, offering him a smile that Tommy never saw, he was too busy terrified of what was to come and staring at his feet.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Tommy shook his head. This was too much already.

"Let's go sit down then, yeah?" Ranboo suggested and Tommy silently followed him, to scared to do anything else. Recess passed in a haze, Tommy sitting cross legged next to Ranboo, staring at the floor, pretending not to want to curl up in himself. Pretending he didn't want to cry and run and then cry some more.

When recess was over, Ranboo and Conner led him to the oval for sport class. Conner seemed to notice Tommy's exhaustion and pain and Ranboo's own quietness, and he matched it. Tommy didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified. He chose terrified, that was easier. Safer too. As he had once heard from a movie a foster family had been watching, "Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed"

Tommy ghosted through sport. He supposed it would've been fun if he wasn't so exhausted and out of it. They were playing frisbee, and Conner hadn't stopped laughing since they started. Ranboo laughed every now and then, but he also regularly checked on Tommy, who's eyes at some point seemed to glaze over. Tommy kept doing what he was supposed to, kept playing the game, but there was no joy in it. He didn't laugh, didn't so much as smile, and it was almost like his body was here, but his mind was far away.

When sport was over, Tommy silently followed Ranboo and Conner back to the group, shaking his head slightly when Ranboo asked if he had food.

"Hey Tommy, did you want some of these?" Niki asked, gently pushing a container over to him "They're Hawaiian pizza balls, they have ham, cheese, pineapple and pizza dough, rolled up into a ball, I made them last night and had some leftovers, they're good."

Tommy didn't know how to reject her. He was often not allowed to eat something others give to him. It had made foster parents in the past furious. At the same time, Techno and Ranboo were here and they were Niki's friends, if he said no, they might not like it and might not take him tonight. He had to do this. Dream wouldn't find out.

Hesitantly, Tommy took one and ate it, it was amazing, and he smiled, the first real smile in a while. Tommy rarely liked food. He had issues with almost all food tasting horrible to him and he didn't know why. He dealt with it because he had no choice, but these... these were amazing. Tommy had never had pizza before, or pineapple for that matter, but if these tasted this good, he was sure he wanted to.

"That's really good, thank you," He whispered, and Niki beamed.

Tommy appreciated the vague sense of energy it gave him as he slipped through the halls to his next classes, accompanied by Purpled and Ranboo to the next one, and left alone with his thoughts to the last class of the day.

Words: 1000

A/N: not the casual Spider-Man MJ quote there- XD