Two Sides of a Story (SBI AU)

Chapter 23- Safe For Now

Tommy POV

Tommy kept his eyes on his feet as he walked. So many years apart had stolen all of the conversations they could have had. Now he could barely look at Sam, let alone find the words to talk to him. The fear of resentment towards him was too overwhelming.

Sam barely seemed to notice, "How's your mother doing Toms?"

The blonde thought for a moment, again searching the older boy's face. "She's good."

"Does she still make those amazing apple pies?" he continued, ignoring the confused glances from Karl and Quackity.

"Not as much." Tommy admitted. He could barely remember what they tasted like or even how good they really were. When the taxes began being implemented into daily life the queen stopped baking as much. Now it was a rarity to even spot her in the kitchen.

"That's too bad." Sam commented. Quackity and Karl walked ahead of them, murmuring between each other. Tommy couldn't help but feel guilty. He should have just run off instead of burdening them. Sam seemed to read his facial expressions, his eyes following the other two. "They don't know who to trust."

Tommy nodded, he didn't blame them. He finally met the older's eyes, "Why would the Sleepy Boys even want me?"

Sam paused, "I'm not a hundred percent sure. If I had to guess, I would say probably has something to do with the way you helped Rivers Hollow."

The blonde huffed, "Anyone would have done the same-"

"But that's not true. From what I heard, you were the only royal there helping. And even when the outlaws were present, you didn't arrest them. You focused on your people. And not just the rich or better off. You helped everyone."

Tommy looked at him with wide eyes... How could he know all that? "You're overexaggerating." He certainly didn't deserve all that credit.

"I am not!" Sam exclaimed. "You're the only royal that cares, that's the sad truth."

Tommy was silent at that. How could he argue? Even he knew it was true.

They continued to walk through the forest in silence. Tommy kept glancing at Sam, the longing guilt lingering. He wished he could have stopped them. He should have stopped them. Why could he never protect the people he needed to protect? One glance at Sam made it all come spilling out.

"I'm sorry!"

Sam raised an eyebrow, stopping. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I couldn't stop them..." his voice trailed off. He could never stop them. He couldn't save Sam's reputation. The child's death was only his most recent failure. Closing his eyes, he could still picture the memory. The life being strangled out of the child... It broke his heart all over again just thinking about it.

"Tommy breathe. You need to breathe." Sam's voice cut into his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed his accelerated heart rate or his out of control breathing. His eyes widened as he realized he was shaking. Sam was looking down at him, the concern nearly causing him to burst into tears.

"Breathe." he continued, wrapping his hand around Tommy's. "Come on Toms, in and out... in and out." He continued to repeat those words, bringing Tommy back to reality. 

Tommy followed his instructions, focusing on the repeating words. It took a few minutes for the blonde to finally regain control of his breathing. Bright blue eyes met brown ones. "I-"

"Don't apologize Toms, please don't," Sam stopped him, giving him a sad look. He paused, "Are you okay now?"

Tommy slowly nodded, shakily getting to his feet. He could feel Quackity and Karl's stares burning him in the back. He forced himself forward, not wanting to be more of an inconvience than he already was. "We should get going."

Sam hesitated, wanting to say something. But he shook his head, trailing behind the blonde. 

They didn't talk about Tommy's panic attack or what had caused it. And that was the way Tommy preferred it to be. They walked in silence aside from soft murmuring between Quackity and Karl. They were there before Tommy even realized it.

Quackity came to an abrupt stop, his eyes scanning the tree line for something. Putting a finger to his lips, he stepped forward half an inch. An arrow whizzed past his face, nearly missing his eye. Tommy stared wide eyed as Quackity seemed completely unbothered by it.

"Who goes there?" a voice called out.

Karl rolled his eyes, shouting, "Who do you think?"

There was a pause before three figures appeared from the shadows. Tommy immediately recognized them as the Sleepy Boys.

Techno had a scowl on his face, his gaze fixed on the arrow in the tree. "You know there are other ways to get our attention that don't involve setting off our traps."

"But it's the easiest one." Quackity smirked. He stepped forward, shaking hands with the man named Phil.

The man stepped back, his eyes landing on Tommy. The blonde couldn't help but shrink back. What was he going to do if he refused?  "Why do you have the prince?" his voice trailed off.

Quackity rolled his eyes, "Long story short, he needs a place to stay."

"What the castle wasn't comfy enough for you?" Wilbur snickered. Techno elbowed him, sending him a glare.

Phil smiled warmly, "We'd be more than happy to take him in for as long as he needs."

"What?! Did you forget that he's a prince? He's our enemy!" Wilbur hissed, clearly having not gotten Techno's warning.

"Wilbur." Phil silenced him with a look. Turning back to Tommy, he beckoned him inside. "Follow me." Turning on his heel, he began to disappear back into the shadows.

Tommy hesitated before following, trying to ignore the glare from Wilbur.

Maybe this wouldn't go as well as he hoped.

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Hope you liked it!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

-Snowy