The Return (Eddsworld AU)

Chapter 1

     It was time. I had thought about this for weeks but never dared to execute my plan. I was going to apologize to my friends. Hopefully, they would forgive me and would accept me in the friend group. Just like old times. My mind was racing at the thoughts of them not accepting me as their friend. 

    I was not ready to go back to my old friends, but at the same time I really wanted to apologise for all that I've done. Truly, it was all my fault that they fell apart, and I wanted to fix their relationship with each other, one step at a time. Their trust issues are high, their worrying and anxiety is through the roof, and they still have yet to process why I did what I did to them.

     Mainly, it was my father's legacy that I wanted to keep alive. The Red Army was passed down to me from him, which was passed down from my grandfather. I didn't intend on breaking up the whole household and then some with far's wishes, but it had to be done. Or had it? I still feel guilty about it till this day. Why couldn't I have done differently? Why couldn't I have resigned and handed the role to Paul, or Patryck? Why did I have to be in charge of countless murders of innocent people?

     But, other than that, it was because of power. Leading an army got to my head too much, and so I thought that projects like my giant robot were way more important than my friends' relationship. That isn't true. In fact, it was the complete opposite. But, ruling over an army blinded me. And now, I realise that too late.

I slumped onto my bed, dwelling over my self-regret. I checked to see if my phone turned on, pressing the power button while staring at the black, cracked screen. Nothing. I sighed, tossing the phone aside and staring up at the ceiling, my arms lying across my chest as it rose and fell slowly. Then, the memories came back. I remember running through the hot summer sand on the beach, flying my crimson kite made of the finest silk. I felt a pile of sand pummel beneath me, and then I saw my first friend. He stared at me with wide, black eyes. That was the first time me and Tom met. Tears started to fall down my face, and more visions started to appear. I remember seeing a bunch of paint splatters on the floor in art class. The smock that Edd wore when we were both in elementary was covered in greens and browns and yellows, he was painting sunflowers that day. The royal purple comb that Matt used to always carry around with him during secondary school, just to look nice for the ladies who always crushed on him. More tears. Until, two memories that made me break down appeared: the day that me and Tom decided to take things a step further, and the day we broke up.

     "Tord, I've got to admit something.", Tom had spoke. I looked up from the book that I was reading. "Hmm? What is it, Thomas?", I asked. "I've, uh, started to grow more fond of you over the past few years, and I was wondering if...", he trailed off. "If...?", I questioned. He sighs. "If we could be more than just friends. Like, lovers? I...don't know how you'll respond to that, though." I gazed at him with a slight blush and asked, "Wait, really? You-you mean that?" Tom nodded, embarrassed. I blushed a tad more. "If that's how you really feel, then...sure! We can be lovers! Just gotta tell the others about it." He smiled and said, "Great! And yeah, the others would definitely be surprised if we told them about this." We ran downstairs and told Edd and Matt the news, and they were supportive of us. We held hands, kissed, and even wore matching t-shirts at one point. But that changed after a year and a half. Tom grew more aggressive, and so did I. He was always drunk, I was bipolar, it wasn't a good combination. Abuse occurred on both sides, mainly Tom abusing me. A beat-down happened, and I was put in the hospital. And from there on out, we vowed to never date each other ever again.

     I started sobbing uncontrollably, curling into the fetal position while clenching my red body pillow, hugging onto it and gasping, "Why me? Why does this have to happen to me?! God, why me?!" I continued sobbing in anguish, soaking my pillow with dreaded tears. I felt like my whole world was being torn apart bit by bit right in front of me, and that there was nothing that I could do about it. I wish that I could turn back the clock to the time where I was thinking about leaving to the big city, so that I could stay with Edd and the rest of them instead of going. I looked over with teary eyes at the empty picture frame on the wall where a photo of my friends used to hang. My father burned the picture, saying that I didn't need friends, as they would only distract me from my duties in becoming a leader.

     A half-hour passed, and I felt numb and exhausted from all the crying. My body started to drift off, my breathing slightly heavy from hyperventilating earlier. Every breath I took in was shaky. I tried to calm down, but steadying my breath was unlikely to happen. I tossed and turned in my sleep, a wave of shame and depression washing over me.

     I woke up in a cold sweat when I heard someone knock hard on the door. I groaned weakly and climbed off my bed, seating myself at the edge of it and rubbing my head; I had a major headache from stress, and my left side was in terrible pain. I got up to answer the door, moving quite slower than I normally do whilst stumbling. The person at the door knocked louder and yelled, "Sir, are you okay? You don't sound alright. Open the door, sir!"