Unlikely

Vengeance is a Pretty Thing

"Holy fucking shit..." Ranboo whispered, staring at Tommy like he had just come back from the dead.

Well, actually, that was probably accurate, seeing as Theseus was believed to be dead and now Ranboo had just puzzled together the truth of everything.

Tommy didn't mean to make it so obvious! But Smith got him absolutely livid, so he tossed aside his carefulness in his mission to get rid of the asshole once and for all, saving Ranboo from being continuously hurt like he had been for the past five years.

He knew that the king and queen would take Ranboo's word for anything, hell, the dude could probably accuse Tommy of murder and they'd believe him! That was the thing about Phil and Kristin. They wanted to trust their children more than anything in the world, and they wanted their children to trust them.

But Tommy knew that Ranboo would never tell them anything unless he saw that he wasn't really alone in the tortuous life he came to know with Smith. Sure, Tommy offered the journal as a point of 'proof' but they had all the proof they needed! Especially if you saw the heavy bags under Ranboo's eyes.

Tommy rushed to close the doors, checking the hall quickly to make sure no one heard Ranboo curse.

He whirled back around, the doors shut and locked behind him, "you can't tell a single soul."

"So it's true!" Ranboo exclaimed, a growing amount of horror on his face, "how- why- your family!"

Tommy rolled his eyes, "your family, Ranboo. They're not mine anymore, I... I left them in a terrible way, I can't call them my family anymore."

Tommy often pretended he was happy with his choice. His choice to leave his family behind. But he wasn't. He wasn't proud of himself even in the smallest of ways. The only good thing that came out of leaving was meeting Purpled and eventually becoming the knight he always dreamed of being; but was it worth throwing his family to the side?

Purpled is the only one who's seen Tommy's breakdowns through the years, hushing the constant apologies that spilled past his lips as he carefully held Tommy in his arms during the dead of the night. It wasn't a common occurrence, but Purpled could read Tommy's emotions like he was an open book, and knew exactly when Tommy was nearing his breaking point.

Purpled stuck by his side every time.

Tommy couldn't call his family his own anymore, that much was true. He would admit that what he did was cowardly and dumb, but he couldn't just run up to the royal family and say, "hi it's me! Your dead son Theseus! I sure missed you guys, let's hug it out!"

Yeah... they wouldn't take the news all too well.

Tommy broke an entire family's hearts. He left them behind. Let them mourn him. They full heartedly believed he was gone.

In a way, he was. Theseus was gone and Tommy took his place, finally being the person he always wanted to be. Himself in every way. He finally felt comfortable in his own skin, like he was living as he was meant to be, not boarded up in a castle looking pretty.

Tommy chuckled at the sudden realization that, if he stuck around, him and Ranboo would've been brothers.

"Why in the world are you laughing?!" Ranboo panicked, pacing around the room with his fingers tangled in his hair, "I don't think this is a laughing matter Tommy!"

"I dunno, it kinda is." Tommy said, "it's funny that we're kinda brothers. In an odd way."

Ranboo paused in his pacing, whirling around to face Tommy with an incredulous look on his face, "of all things to focus on, you decide to focus on that?"