Till Death Do Us Part

Walk

wake up besties i just dropped the shortest and most unnecessary chapter

~~~

Michael catches up to him before he's even taken two steps.

"If they sent you to fetch me back, you can tell them to fuck off," Tommy mutters, shoving his hands in his pockets. He's going to take this time to relax, shove everything he just learnt down deep inside him and then forget any of it ever happened. Yes, good plan.

"No no, I wanted to talk to you," Michael says, looking awfully earnest. "I've been hearing stories about you my whole life, and, well, I think your really cool. I wanna know more."

Tommy raises an eyebrow. He's flattered, really, but his low self-esteem is a flame for the moths of doubt.

"I don't know if I can live up to those stories," Tommy says, facing forward. "I've changed a lot since I last saw Techno and Phil."

"Then I want to know all about the changes!" Michael says eagerly, big honest eye begging him. Tommy wavers.

"Are you sure?" He asks. "It's not very interesting. I bet your travels with Phil and Techno would give you better stories."

"But it's you," Michael says. "That's what makes it interesting."

Tommy eyes Michael with suspicion. The boy has mostly worn him down, but he's wary of how attached Michael has become to him without knowing him beyond the occasional tale. But it's been so long since he's told his story from his side, to someone who's so enthusiastically invested in him. The last person who showed that much interest while knowing the real him...

Tommy shoves the thought down. He veers off the dirt path he's been following, walking into the woods with a confused Michael behind him. It was a trail he'd forge often when he was younger, and he hasn't forgotten it. It's easier to talk about the past when you're surrounded by it, after all.

"So what do you want to know?" He says, preparing to pull everything he's pushed down to the surface, to let it pull him in every direction to appease this boy. Suddenly he's less sure about this. But he's committed.

"Everything," Michael says, hands fidgeting in excitement. "Why you left, how you survived, where you've been. I want to know the ways you've changed and the parts that have stayed the same."

Tommy reels. He doesn't know if he has the answers to most of those questions. His past is a blur of vaguely chronological plot points, each one a precarious balance of dark and light, happy and sad. He barely knows how he feels now, let alone in his past.

"That's a lot," Tommy says. "I don't know if we have enough time for it all."

"It's only mid-afternoon," Michael shrugs. "And we have the rest of the week, don't we?"

"Yeah," Tommy says. "I suppose we do."

~~~

so yeah, slay

more is coming, i have ideas and a little bit written for the next maybe five chapters and then i might end this idk lol.

take everything i say with a grain of salt i could easily disappear again for another six months by accident.

(also reminder that if you ever are bored in my absence, there is a sister fic you can read. link is in the intro <3)