What one can hide

Chapter fourteen- safe

Trigger Warnings- Effects of child abuse

The trip to the hospital did not take as long as Tommy thought it would. Of course, the nurses were confused as to why the boy was at the hospital again, this time with a different injury. After telling the nurses a shitty excuse that he was just clumsy, they looked over his injuries. Tommy was told that his ribs were only fractured and within a few weeks, they should be healed over. Tommy was given more pain medication that would cover about six weeks and was told to ice his ribs as frequent as possible. The nurses said he could either stay at the hospital overnight or go home, and figuring the thin mattresses in the hospital wouldn't be very comfortable, Wilbur offered for Tommy to come to his place.

Now, Tommy sat awkwardly on the couch in Wilbur's living room. The tv was playing some sitcom that Tommy didn't bother paying attention to. The ache in his ribs had since subsided after leaving the hospital, the medication finally kicking in. Any quick movements or hard laughing flared up the pain a little bit, but other than that, he was fine.

The noise of the television covered the hushed voices of Techno and Wilbur, who were discussing something in the kitchen. Normally, Tommy would've tried his best to overhear the conversation, but he was too worried about the fact that now thousands of people knew all about his personal life.

Techno and Wilbur sat next to Tommy on the couch, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Feelin' alright?" Techno asked once they had gotten Tommy's attention. He hadn't even noticed the two had made their way out of the kitchen.

"Yes, Techno," Tommy looked at the pink-haired man, "Same as the first ten times you asked me," he chuckled.

Techno laughed back as he replied, "Just checkin'."

They hadn't talked about much after the hospital, other than the endless questions of whether or not he was okay. On any other day, this would've annoyed Tommy, but he found it rather comforting. They cared.

"Tommy, I know a lot happened today and all, but what are you going to do? Do you have any other family you can live with?" Wilbur asked.

Truthfully, Tommy hadn't really thought about it all that much, he had a lot of other things on his mind, he didn't even think about where he would live. "Guess I can't go back, huh?" The reality of the situation finally hit him and slight panic set in. His dad had no siblings and he wasn't in contact with his mothers side at all, so that was ruled out. Technically, he could go back to his dads, but he knew his friends would never let him do that. Just thinking about it made him anxious. Imagine the punishment I would get if I went back, Tommy thought, he'd kill me. Tommy's heartbeat picked up as he tried to think of what the hell he was going to do. "I, um, I don't know, man. I don't want to go back, Wilbur. Maybe get into the system? I don't know." He twisted the ends of his sleeves into a ball as tears welled up in his eyes. He looked down, hiding his face. Even though his friends that sat with him had truly seen him at his worst, Tommy still didn't like people seeing him upset.

Despite his best efforts to hide it, Wilbur could see the tears showing in Tommy's eyes. "Hey, it's alright I'm not letting you go back," Wilbur reassured, "Techno and I were just talking in the kitchen and I wanted to make sure you didn't already have plans before I asked."

"Asked what?" Tommy said, not letting any tears spill over.

"Asked if you wanted to stay here with me? I have a spare room we could make yours, it'd be nice having you here, only if you want to, of course." To be honest, Wilbur was praying that Tommy would accept his offer. He couldn't imagine the kid having to go into the foster system at 16.

To say the least, Tommy was stunned. His heart fluttered at the idea of living with his brother, one of his best friends. Tommy sat there, containing his excitement as Wilbur studied his face, trying to read his expression. Of course he wanted to move in with Wilbur, but that's a big commitment. He didn't want to be a burden, and besides, what if Wilbur would change his mind? Decide the kid was too much for him and kick him out, send him back home? What would he do?