Where Butterflies Never Die

Chapter 2: Shedding Light of Remedy

CHAPTER WARNINGS: Referenced Child Abuse, Bullying from other kids

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“You could be my favourite faded fantasy

I've hung my happiness upon what it all could be.”

-My Favorite Faded Fantasy
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When he entered the gas station he was hit with the smell of fresh popcorn and hot dogs. His stomach growled as he looked around the brightly lit store. He could see a few people walking around the store and a cashier who just gave him a glance before going back to whatever they were doing. He could see a group of teenagers laughing and talking towards the back though their voices sounded muffled and almost like they were underwater. He wasn’t sure when that had started but for the last few months when people spoke they always sounded funny, not like how they used to be. More like he’s hearing them underwater and quite muffled. He had told his father but that only resulted in him getting in a bad mood.
 
“Nothing’s wrong with you.” He’d said. It still didn’t explain the muffled voices though, maybe something was stuck in his ears. 

He walked inside looking around with more intent, it was a normal gas station with shelves lined with brightly colored junk foods. In the back of the store, they were lined with refrigerators containing sugary drinks and cheap alcohol. 

He wandered up and down the shelves, he had quickly grabbed his stash of cash before he had run from home. At the thought of home, his stomach turned and not in a good way. He glanced towards the door and frowned. He should just head back, his father would be furious, even more so than he already was. He pulled out his phone in his pocket, maybe he could call Sapnap and get him to pick him up or even George. If George picked him up then maybe George could calm his father down enough so he wouldn’t be in such a terrible mood, yeah that sounded like a good idea. 

Before he could open the contacts on his phone someone completely collided with him making him fall almost onto his face if the other person hadn’t caught him. 

“Hey what the hell!” He half yelled getting up and spinning around to face the person that had just collided with him. 

The man was a lot taller than himself which wasn’t very hard to do, he was a lot more built. The man had bubblegum pink hair and a long scar across the face. He was wearing a deep red hoodie that kind of in a fucked up way reminded him of blood and as well as dark blue jeans and sneakers. The man was scary-looking in a way that Tommy couldn’t place. He took a step back and stared at the monster of a man in front of him. 

“Sorry,” the man said and Tommy almost missed it. 

“What?” He said as he watched the man bend down and pick up his phone and hand it to him. The screen was completely cracked and broken. When he tried to turn it on it wouldn’t work at all. He frowned of fucking course it was just his luck. 

“I’m sorry … phone.” He mumbled and Tommy could only catch a few words that he had said. He frowned looking down at the cracked piece of metal in his hand.