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

Chapter 24

TW: Mention of su!cide

After school, as Tommy had done on Friday, he ran. He sprinted to the shops, got everything he needed and ran back to Dream's house, making it safely on time. He swallowed down the sigh of relief, knowing not to make noise, and silently he put the food away.

Tommy found his way upstairs and began to study, but his mind wasn't focusing, and he gave in. Not today. He moved to his window, looking out. The window opened just enough for him to squeeze through. If he was careful, he could make that gap between the window and the tree, it wasn't far. He had done much harder ones when escaping the worst of the foster families. A quick inspection of the tree told him he'd be able to climb it. Yeah, this might work.

With that sorted, Tommy closed the window, leaving it just slightly ajar, careful not to accidentally lock it. He let himself back into the chair by his desk and attempted to at least distract himself with study. It wasn't very effective, but it got him through the agonising wait.

When it was time, Tommy went downstairs and made dinner. He cleaned the kitchen perfectly, so that all he would need to do was wash the plates. He sat through a silent dinner, and as soon as Dream was done, he quickly cleaned up. Relief filled him with the realisation that maybe Dream didn't know. Maybe Dream hadn't read his file. That would make this easier.

He slipped back upstairs, pulled a hoodie on over his current long sleeve shirt, and slowly, silently he pulled himself out of the window and into the tree. Silently he climbed down, not so much as breaking a twig, knowing the importance of his silence.

Once he was down safely, he walked down the street, his footsteps not making a noise. Then, he ran. He needed to be at the school before Techno got there, so he ran. He arrived, tired, but alive. No one had tried to follow him. He was safe.

The car pulled up a few minutes later, and Tommy watched from the spot he had chosen as his hiding spot. He waited until he heard Ranboo's voice. When he did, he knew it was them and not Dream, and so he stepped out from the cover of the shadows, and over to them.

"Hey Tommy," Eret smiled, she was the first to notice him, but with those words, the rest of the group turned and saw him. It was just Techno, Eret and Ranboo. That was good, not too many people.

"Th-thank you," Tommy murmured. He hadn't been completely sure they would actually show up.

"It's ok, we're happy to help," Eret promised and the other two nodded their agreement.

"We've got a long drive ahead of us, we may as well get started," Techno suggested quietly, and Ranboo nodded.

"You can sit in the back with me," Ranboo said to Tommy, and he just nodded, sitting down in the seat Ranboo had told him to. Eret sat in the passenger seat, and Techno drove. Music was playing quietly from the radio, but other then that there was no noise. It was unlike them, they were a group of friends who seemed happy to talk whenever. It was probably Tommy's fault. He wished he didn't have to do this. He wished he didn't have to ask them to help. He knew he shouldn't have. He knew it was dangerous, but he couldn't have walked this far and he didn't know how to drive. If Puffy had just put him in a house in L'Manburg he'd have been fine.

Tommy knew that wasn't fair to Puffy. He knew she had tried to keep him in the same city, but every time he was removed from a house, people wanted him less. Every time he got older, people wanted him less. Every time he got kicked out for being a 'problem child' people wanted him less. They hadn't wanted him much to begin with. They'd wanted him even less after Tubbo's death. Who wanted a kid who's brother had killed himself? Who wanted a kid that was likely to do the same thing? No one. No one except the people who used him as a punching bag or a slave or both.

Group homes had always been the best, simply because it hurt less, kids didn't do as much damage as adults. Sure Tommy was still a punching bag, but the fists did less. He sometimes even had a friend there. Those were the times he found out that some kids got houses they didn't get hurt in, often they didn't last long for whatever reason, but still, they didn't always get hurt, and some lasted. Tommy hadn't gotten a house like that and he wondered if maybe that meant he deserved it. Maybe that meant he was supposed to go through it. Tommy didn't know. What he did know was that people weren't good for no reason. They never were. Not to him.

That thought made him curl up closer, protecting himself from the car full of people he simply couldn't trust. Not now, not ever. They were nice right now, but Tommy knew it only took a second- a single mistake- a look in the wrong direction, and they would change. Tommy knew how fragile kindness was, how easy it could turn to cruelty. Just asking them should've done it, if Tommy did anything wrong today, he'd pay for it. He knew that.

The silence in the car stretched, broken only by the soft music, and at some point, Ranboo's faint snores. That sound made Tommy relax, ever so slightly. Eret and Techno couldn't get to him, and Ranboo was asleep. That was safer. Maybe he'd survive tonight. Maybe.

As soon as he had the thought, it started to rain. Of course it fucking did. Tommy should've seen that coming with his cursed luck.

Words: 1000

A/N: sorry this chapter wasn't as good, and also a lot of short chapters recently, it is going to get better, I actually have a bit more of a detailed plan now, sorry for the few filler chapters and stuff, I hope u still like it