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

Chapter 85

TW: Mentions of abuse, panic, neglect

Wilbur helped Tommy pick out sheets for his bed, as well as finding the softest, fluffiest blanket Tommy had ever felt. If Tommy had his way, that blanket would be wrapped around him at all times. The sheets Wilbur found were a fairly bright red, while the fluffy blanket was black. Wilbur said something about the blanket toning down the red, Tommy didn't really know what that meant, so he just agreed, knowing that was the safest option. After that they found Phil waiting at front of the store.

"Hey guys," Phil grinned, "Tommy, I got you something."

Phil passed Tommy a bag, and after a second of hesitation as Tommy tried to gage if he was allowed to look inside, and Phil just smiled at him, Tommy opened it. Holy shit! Holy shit! it was a phone! A good phone! Nothing like anything he'd had before. 

"This is too much," Tommy whispered holding the bag back out to Phil, certain that it was a test. There was no way Phil was going to spend that much money on Tommy. Especially not after last night. Phil however didn't take it when Tommy held it out.

"It's yours, so you can stay in contact with Puffy, and also to use in general. If you want to go out and I'm not home, you'll be able to send me a message letting me know where you are. It's yours," Phil insisted, and Tommy stared at him in shock. No way. No fucking way. This couldn't be real. There must be some sarcasm Tommy wasn't detecting, or a test Tommy had to pass. There had to be some reason. No one would spend this much on him. Not now, not ever. It was far too much. Far, far too much. Tommy did not need this much. He really didn't.

"Really, it's ok, I don't need this," Tommy insisted, desperately trying to work out what he was expected to do. What did they want from him?

"I've already bought it for you Tommy, it's a gift, you don't have to need something to have it, you can just have nice things sometimes," Phil said, still not taking the bag back from Tommy's outstretched hand.

"Really?" Tommy asked, his voice cracking as he spoke. As soon as the word was out he regretted it, knowing it would backfire. He knew he shouldn't question people, knew he shouldn't ask if they meant something. He braced himself for a blow, but Phil just nodded.

"Really," Phil promised. Tommy stared at Phil, unsure what was going on. Why was Phil acting like this was nothing? Why was he doing this for Tommy? Why wasn't he mad that Tommy had failed the test? Why wasn't he furious?

"Thank you," Tommy whispered, too terrified to work out what else to say. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't know.

"You're welcome," Phil smiled, his voice soft. Nothing about Phil seemed angry. Nothing about Phil implied Tommy had failed a test, but Tommy knew this didn't make any sense. There was no way this was real, but he couldn't see anything in Phil that told him that. Phil seemed so genuine, and maybe that's what terrified Tommy the most. Phil was clearly a good actor. A really good actor. He must be waiting until Puffy trusted him. Tommy had no idea how bad it would turn out to be when Puffy did eventually trust Phil, but if Phil was this good an actor, this willing to spend money to convince Tommy that he was a good person, then Tommy knew that there was a high chance this would go very very badly. Phil then nodded his head towards the till, "How about we go buy what you got here."

Wilbur nodded happily, and Tommy did everything he could to hide the panic as they walked. They were walking straight towards more money being spent on Tommy. It felt like walking into a trap. As though at any moment Phil would turn around and grab him, yelling at Tommy for thinking that he could possibly get away with this, but Phil didn't do that. He just walked towards the till, waiting in line and then paying for what Wilbur and Tommy had gotten.

When nothing went wrong and Phil gave Tommy the bag of newly purchased items, Tommy didn't know if he should relax, or feel even more terrified. It was so weird and wrong. Tommy didn't recognise any of this as something he had seen before. No one ever went this far to reassure Puffy. Either Phil thought Puffy would take Tommy out of a house simply for not having a phone, or Phil was doing his very best to get Puffy off his back as soon as possible. Tommy desperately needed it not to be the second one, because he couldn't deal with the thought of how awful it would probably be as soon as Puffy trusted them. It would probably be far too much. He didn't know if he would even survive this house.

Phil and Wilbur seemed completely oblivious to Tommy's terrified thoughts as they headed back to the car as though nothing was wrong. Tommy trailed behind them, trying to force down the terrified thoughts and that stupid feeling that someone was watching him. He knew it was wrong. He knew no one was there and he refused to give in and look over his shoulder. Not when he had already checked and found no one. It was his stupid brain playing tricks on him and that was all. Nothing else. Just his broken, messed up, terrified brain.

He shoved down his anxiety, knowing there was nothing he could do about what would happen when Puffy trusted them. He knew that he just had to wait it out and see how bad it got. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe he'd survive just fine. Maybe when it got too much he'd be able to call Puffy and get out of there. Maybe he'd be ok.

Words: 1000

A/N: I was working on my book yesterday (It was originally a fic, but is now a proper book to be published eventually) and then I was rereading an old favourite fanfic and was like "oh x is gonna happen at some point" then I realised that x happens in my book, not that fic- XD