Assumption's and Falsehoods

Chapter 4: Dream Is A Good Parent :)

Dream was a good guardian figure. He gave Tommy his space after their disagreements. And if he was tracking Tommy's phone? Well, Tommy didn't have to know. I mean how else was Dream supposed to keep him safe? Tommy wasn't a very good kid, he was reckless and loud, he could easily talk to the wrong person and get himself hurt. Tommy was flighty sometimes, Dream sometimes had to force Tommy to leave his room to be with him.

He had always wanted to adopt. His mother had adopted him, she too was a young woman bringing in a ten-year-old. Puffy hadn't spoken to Dream in years, Dream was afraid she'd take Tommy away.

Dream had some unconventional ways of disciplining Tommy, practices he was sure his now child psychologist mother would disagree with.

Originally, they hadn't allowed Dream to adopt, and he was truly heartbroken. He'd found the perfect kid, a blond ten-year-old, in a similar situation Dream had been as a kid. Though the people running the process antagonized Dream. They didn't like his records and looked back to two years prior when he'd been in prison. Dream didn't mind though. He was content to continue visiting Tommy. He'd give him gifts and praise, and eventually, he convinced Tommy to come with him.

They tried investigating Dream when Tommy went missing; They couldn't find him.

Tommy didn't know what had happened was illegal. He didn't know that Dream never went through the process of adopting Tommy. He didn't know that legally, he didn't exist. And he didn't have to. Dream had always thought all of those background checks and screenings were holding the system back, preventing kids like Tommy from ending up in good homes like Dreams.

Tommy started out as a good kid, ever content to stay home and be with Dream. He hadn't questioned why he wasn't in school, or why he wasn't allowed to go out in the backyard like the other kids. Tommy was perfectly content spending time with Dream.

That is until Dream made a mistake. While Dream was distracted, Tommy went out on his own and made friends with some other street rats . Some kids named Ranboo and Tubbo were responsible for corrupting his kid. Although now he supposed that Tommy might've been too fucked up to be worth it in the first place. After Tommy met them, all of his progress began to fall apart, and Tommy started to suffer because of it.

At first, Dream would force Tommy inside, trying to shelter him from the vermin outside. But he sooner understood that it made Tommy less inclined to listen. So he cut his losses and let Tommy talk to those kids. It was alright, Dream just made sure to remind Tommy how grateful he was to be allowed out alone.

This proved to be effective, as being called ungrateful seemed to make Tommy realize how wrong he was, and encourage him to apologize. He let Tommy know how grateful he was to have anything. Food, water, a guardian that didn't rightfully abandon him when they realized how much trouble Tommy was, clothes, a roof over his head. And suddenly he had his old Tommy back again.

But then Tommy hit teenagehood, something Dream had feared for a while. Tommy began to be rebellious, even calling Dream abusive in the worst of their fights. To remedy this sudden misbehaving, Dream just ramped up the discipline. Instead of Dream giving Tommy a slap when he talked back, it became beatings, instead of Tommy's dinner being taken away from him Dream started taking away his food for the day, or even several days if Tommy was especially accusatory. When Dream didn't want Tommy to leave to his friends, he began slipping stuff into his food. Tommy wouldn't leave if he was sick.

Of course, Tommy would sneak out after the worst fights, but Dream just let him (Most of the time at least, sometimes he'd grab Tommy and beg for him to stay. It used to work like a charm, Tommy's eyes would shine with guilt and he'd stay, although it didn't work as well as of late). After all, he knew where Tommy was. When Tommy came back, Dream would assure him that he loved Tommy and that it was all out of love. Sometimes Tommy would stay in the living room curled up against Dream watching a movie afterward willingly and sometimes Dream would have to force him.

Dream knew that under all that screaming and crying that Tommy loved him. Dream had trained him well to not trust the authorities, so Tommy hid the injuries and didn't tell a soul. Dream knew Tommy wanted to stay with him. Why else would he be putting forth all that effort to not get Dream in trouble? Dream would go as far as to say that underneath all the begging and pleading , Tommy agreed with Dreams' methods of discipline.

If Dreams mom let go of that therapist bullshit talk, Dreams sure she would agree too. She even might've been proud of him. It was truly terrible that his dear mother let university poison her mind so badly.

All that was really important to Dream was that Tommy knew that Dream cared .

After all, that's what made Dream a good guardian. He cared enough and loved Tommy enough to ensure he would grow up to be a good person, not like those other parents who hesitated to discipline their kids. Those kids would grow up to contribute nothing, being nothing but pests to the world. Not like Dream's Tommy. Tommy would one day have all of the fight lovingly beat out of him until he was good . Only then did Dream think Tommy would be allowed to leave, provided he visited. Tommy could only leave Dream once Dream could guarantee that his Tommy would be a contributing member of society.

Dream thought he was a good guardian.

Even with all of the bruising and the blood.

He was sure.