They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 4

TW: bullying, panic attack, mention of su!cide

Tommy stood outside the massive school, unsure of where to go. He had been forced to switch schools, since Dream lived far from his last foster house, so now he had to find his way around.

He had English first, ok, that shouldn't be too hard. He slowly walked inside the school, gripping the straps of his bag tightly, nerves filling him. The nerves themselves were less so for the new school and more for the sheer amount of people, all of which could hurt him if they wanted to. Plus he couldn't fight back. He couldn't risk getting sent to the office and having Dream have to come in.

He had barely stepped inside the school gates when a group of the eldest in the school stepped in front of him, blocking his way forward. Tommy stopped, knowing how this would go.

"Hey newbie. Welcome to my halls," The tallest of them sneered, "Either you do as I say, or you are fucking dead."

Tommy simply nodded, not cowardly. He stood up straight, looking the older guy in the eyes, letting him know Tommy wasn't afraid, and agreed to the terms.

"First things first, give me your lunch money," The guy insisted. That was bad for 2 reasons. 1, he had no money to give, and 2, he had no money for lunch, so his guess that he was only getting one meal was proven correct.

"I don't have any."

"Don't lie to me you little shit."

"I really don't. All I have is an apple. You can have it if you want."

"I. Want. Your. Lunch. Money. Are we clear?"

"I've already given you everything I have."

"You little shit," The guy growled, lunging at him.

"Oh come on Schlatt, he's been here for 2 minutes, give the kid a break," A new voice said, as another guy pushed through the crowd. He was tall, slightly taller then the first one but with much less muscles.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Wilbur?" The first guy, Schlatt? asked. If Tommy was honest, he agreed, what was this tall - but weak looking -, guy, doing fighting someone who could clearly beat him up, and was obviously the head of the school amongst the students.

"Nothing's wrong with me. You're the one attacking an scrawny 13 year old." The tall guy, Wilbur? replied. Schlatt turned on him, raising his fists, and Wilbur raised his eyebrows, "You sure you want to do that?"

With those words, Schlatt growled, letting his fists fall to his sides. Tommy stared at Wilbur in stunned amazement. How had he manage to subdue Schlatt so easily?

"What's your name new kid?" Wilbur asked, his tone relaxed and non-threatening, but now Tommy knew something was up, it had to be if Schlatt was scared of Wilbur. Tommy also knew that he should answer anything he was asked if he didn't want to get beaten up.

"Tommy."

"Alright Tommy, I'll show you to your class, let's ditch these dicks," Wilbur grinned giving the group of bullies the middle finger and beckoning Tommy to follow him. Tommy did so. Wilbur beamed, seeing Tommy walking just behind him, "What class do you have?"

"English with Mr. Bad."

"Despite his name, he's actually a pretty good teacher, don't swear in his class though, you will never hear the end of it," Wilbur smiled, leading Tommy down a different hallway, "I have Music next, which isn't far away, so I'll help you find your next class afterwards then I'll show you around at recess."

"Thank you."

"Why'd you move schools?"

"I moved houses," Tommy replied, it wasn't technically a lie, just implied something different to the reality.