It was way past midnight, and even though he didn't want to admit it, Tom was dead tired.
All of the others were fast asleep in their beds, and he was still on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. The TV was on, but turned down to the lowest volume so he wouldn't wake his friends. At first it posed as a distraction, but know it was just too bright, and was hurting his eyes, so Tom shut it off.
So now the brunette sat in the darkness alone, listening closely to the noises of the house.
He could hear the quiet creaking of the floor boards, the drip of the leaky tap in the downstairs bathroom, the hum of the fridge, and of course, Matt's loud ass snoring.
What would he do now?
Any normal person would head up to their room after hours of binge watching a show they didn't even like.
But let's just say Tom wasn't like other people in this circumstance.
Sometimes Tom would get a little...well, afraid, of the things that go bump in the night. Among other things...
He had been considering asking to sleep beside one of his friends until the morning comes, but he felt like that would be a little weird.
He wouldn't hear the end of it if any of them found out that he was afraid of-
"Tom?" The Norwegian accent cut through the man's thoughts.
Tom glanced over to Tord, standing there in his PJ'S, looking tired and pretty confused.
"What the hell are you doing down here? It's 3 in the morning..."
"Well wouldn't you like to know," Tom answered, crossing his arms. If he was afraid to let Edd and Matt know what he was so afraid of, there was no way in hell he was telling TORD what he was afraid of.
"Yeah, that's why I asked, bastard," Tord spoke in an unimpressed tone.
"Since you took a tone with me now I really want to know,"
Tord sat beside Tom, smirking.
Tom huffed and turned away from Tord.
"Go away. I...I'm sleeping down here tonight, that's all."
"You've been sleeping on the couch for 3 weeks straight Tom. Did you really think that no one would notice something was up?"
The way Tord spoke almost sounded caring.
It made Tom feel comfortable.
Or maybe it was the fact that was 3 am, and Tom was scared out of his mind that made him want to open up to Tord.
"Whats wrong?" Tord probed.
The brit sighed deeply, looking down.
What was telling the truth going to do to him?
Make him feel better? Ohohoho. Scary.
"I...I-I'm scared...I'm scared that there's a monster under my bed." He confessed.
Tord snorted.
"You WHAT?"
Tom frowned, standing up.
"You heard me, asshole!!"
Tord started to laugh, very loudly, making Tom scowl.
"Yeah, yeah! Laugh it up commie!!"
"Guys, what's all the noise about?" Edd asked.
Tom glanced over to the direction of the voice, and saw that the laughing and yelling had roused both he and Matt from their sleep.
This day just gets better doesn't it?
Once Tord managed to stop laughing enough to breathe and speak, he explained the situation.
"Tom thinks that there's monsters under his bed!!" The Norwegian exclaimed through fits of giggling.
Tom rolled his eyes (or lack thereof).
"Shut it Tord!!"
"I just find it funny that you, a grown man, is still afraid to sleep in your own room, and that's the reason why you've been stinking up the couch for 3 weeks!!" Tord laughed.
"Wait...this is the reason you've been sleeping on the couch for so long...?" Edd asked, looking over at Tom.
The brunette looked down.
"Well...yeah, kind of..."
"It really bothers you that much?" Matt asked. "I had monsters in my closet for about 5 years and I just lived with it honestly. They moved out after they went to possess Eduardo's house," he stated.
"Matt you're not helping," Edd said.
"Look guys, I'm sorry for waking you all up, I'll just go to sleep now," Tom mumbled.
"On the couch?" Matt asked.
"Well where else?" Tom replied.
"Uh, your BED?" Said Tord. "You're ruining the couch with your Tom-smell,"
Edd pinched his nose bridge.
"Look, guys, just stop fighting, it's 3 in the morning and I don't want to have to deal with this right now. Tom, would it make you feel better if we checked your room for monsters?" He asked.
Tom gazed at Edd blankly.
"Well...uh...I guess.."
"Great, well upstairs we go. Anything so I can just go back to sleep." He started to trudge up the stairs groggily. Matt and Tom followed behind.
"WE??" Asked Tord.
Edd turned around. "Yes, we. Now get your Nosrki butt up here, we're going monster searching,"
Tord rolled his eyes and followed behind the three men, looking disgruntled.
Once they reached Tom's room, Edd turned on the light, and everyone but Tom gasped.
The walls and floors had giant claw marks on them, along with the door of the closet. Tom's pillows were all bitten and torn up, along with his blue blanket.
"I bloody told you! This is why I was scared! I wake up every morning and I see more mess there than when I went to bed!!" Tom exclaimed.
The others exchanged worried glances.
"Okay, we're gonna check now, so don't worry." Edd said.
The three ventured into the room.
"Nothing here," Matt said after opening and looking into the closet.
"Nothing here either," Tord said as he looked behind the door of the room.
"And nothing under your bed," Edd said. "Can we go to sleep now??"
"But I still don't feel safe!" Tom whined.
"What do you want us to do, sing you a lullaby?" Tord asked.
"If you do, I happen to have a great voice for that," Matt added.
"No, wait, I have an idea," Edd piped up.
"What is it?" Tom asked.
"We'll trap the monster!" He said with a smile.
And then the plan was in place.
There were strings set up in the room so that if the monster came out from under the bed, from the corner, or out from the closet, it would trip and trigger a big net that would fall on it.
"Just be careful not to set it off if you get up in the middle of the night," Edd warned him.
"Okay, thanks," Tom said.
"Good night," Edd said. They all turned to leave.
"Wait..." Tom said suddenly.
"What is it?" Matt asked.
"Can you, uh...can you please tuck me in?" Tom asked.
Edd sighed, and maneuvered over all the strings so that he could get over to Tom's bed and tuck the poor guy in.
"There, can I go back to bed now??" Edd asked.
Tom nodded happily.
They all turned to leave again.
"Wait," Tom exclaimed a second time.
Edd groaned. "What do you want? A glass of water? Warm milk? A bed time story?" He put his hand on his hip.
"I just...thank you, guys...this really means a lot to me. I feel so much safer now," Tom said.
A warm smile spread across Edd's face.
"Good night, Tom."
"Good night Edd. Good night Matt. Good night Tord. I love you all..." Tom mumbled as he started to fall asleep.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shit.
Tom was up again, he didn't know what time it was, but all he knew is that he was really fucking hungry.
He didn't remember eating today.
He didn't remember much of anything that happened in the last 24 hours.
Tom groaned and got out of bed, his large black feet hitting the ground with a loud thud.
As he pushed himself out of the bed, and started to walk, he found that his leg was caught on something.
When he tried to get it off, he stumbled over his tail and went falling to the ground.
Suddenly a big net dropped down on him, trapping him.
Tom swatted at the net with his claws, trying to break free, but it was no use. He was tangled in the net now.
He gave up, starting to cry, then everything went black.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tom yawned and covered his eyes. The sun was shining rather brightly through the window, and it had stirred him awake.
He wanted to go close the blinds so he could go back to sleep again.
The brunette yawned and tried to stretch, but then soon found that he was tangled in a bunch of strings, and a large black net.
