My Own Medicine ¦ TomTord

Chapter Ten: Before I Fall Asleep

"Mhm..." Tord yawned, still being on the phone with Tom. He didn't even realise it but it was already past midnight and they were in the middle of a conversation. It seemed as though they got pretty comfortable around each other.

"And that was pretty much the last time I saw her. After high school we never really talked, you know." Tom had rambled on about some girl from his class.

Tord was laying on his stomach, his phone resting on the soft pillow. He was almost asleep. He spoke in a lazy tone, mostly just agreeing with everything Tom said. "That's crazy, I never knew that." He yawned.

"She didn't even give me back my ten pounds and if I remember correctly fifty-eight cents." He continued.

"No way, imagine how rich you'd be now." Tord quietly laughed while closing his eyes.

"That's what I was thinking." Tom agreed.

"And then what happened?"

"I guess she has a kid now, I mean- since the last time I checked up on her-"

"Good for her."

"Yeah, she was an overall nice person."

"Excluding that she owes you?"

"Excluding that she owes me." He laughed.

That was the last that Tord heard before completely falling asleep. To be honest, Tom had a very sweet laugh, sweet as in dumping a bunch of sugar in an energy drink and eating chocolate with powdered sugar and caramel on top of it. See? That sentence was enough to leave anyone with a sweet aftertaste in their mouth. A part that made it so sweet was that it was a rare occasion that Tom actually laughed.

Even in his sleep, he could hear Tom rambling about something.

Though later in the night even Tom fell asleep. So in conclusion, the phone call was still going, all night.

The first who woke up in the morning was Tord. His whole right side was aching, he probably slept on it wrong. He groaned as he got up, noticing the phone on his pillow. He raised his eyes brows and blinked a few times before picking it up and checking it, noticing that he was still on a call with Tom for... 8 hours?! He kind of panicked and spontaneously hung up. He could remember last night, they had the best conversation but he felt embarrassed about how he fell asleep. But that was the past now... He sighed and remembered his dad's remark from yesterday and went to look for a hairbrush after putting his pack of cigarettes and lighter back in his pocket since when he was sleeping, they fell out.

When he got ready for the day, brushed his teeth and combed his hair. Then he got kind of hungry so he went to the kitchen to look for something to eat.

"Good morning Tord," Patryck smiled, seeing him in the kitchen. "Why are you up so early?"

Tord looked back at Patryck and shrugged. "My right side started to hurt so I couldn't fall asleep," He explained. "But it's better now."

"Glad to hear it," Pat smiled. "Do you want pancakes?"

Tord began to smile back. "That would be nice." He said as he sat down at the table.

Patryck began making the pancakes, he got out the flour, butter, sugar, milk... And whatever else you'd need for pancakes.

"Dad, have you seen my arm?" well that was a sentence that Tord never knew would come out of his mouth.

"Yeah, it's in the living room."

"Thanks." Tord walked into the living room, finding his arm on the table. It seemed a bit different though... Maybe a bit shinier? Could it be that one of his dads polished the arm while he was in his room? Still, he put it back on and waddled back into the kitchen.

"Umm... Did you do anything to it?"

"To what?"

"To my arm. It seems a bit different."

"Oooh yeah!" Pat remembered. "Paul polished it."

Well, that was a nice surprise. He thought that was sweet but wouldn't say it, maybe just a thank you to his dad once he would wake up.

Patryck served Tord breakfast before sitting down and eating the pancakes together. "As soon as Paul wakes up and gets ready, we're taking you back, alright?"

Of course, Tord felt sad upon hearing that sentence. "Yeah, I guess it is." He sighs.

"I'll still come back though."

"Someday, yes. Just not for a good month or two."

"That's a bummer." He pouted.

"If you don't take care of yourself it might be longer," Pat warned. "Just try to eat more often, get some good sleep and if you can, smoke less."

Tord crossed his arms. Although it was logical and everything, he thought that some of it was utter bullshit.

"Got a problem?"

Tord sighed, burying his face into his red hoodie. "No..."

In the same second, Paul walked into the kitchen. He was already dressed and ready to go, though Patryck wouldn't let him go anywhere without breakfast. "Good morning." He said before sitting down.

Tord knew that this was a bad time, especially after Pat's lecture. "I'll be right back," Tord announced before standing up and putting on his shoes.

"Where are you going?" Pat asked.

"To... To get some fresh air." He answered after a bit of hesitation. His hand was already on the doorknob. He stepped outside and closed the door before pulling out his pack of cigarettes. He lights it and puts it in his mouth. He couldn't handle stress without tobacco, this time, it was Pat's lecture about how important it is to eat and sleep healthily. He knew that he couldn't do that every day, his habits were already too strong. And all the other times he would smoke, it was usually because he just couldn't function without nicotine or he was, again, very stressed out. Fuck it, let's have another cig.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Paul had already eaten his breakfast. "I think I'm gonna go for a smoke before we go."

Pat nodded before giving Paul a small kiss on the lips.

Paul stepped outside and saw Tord. "Fresh air, huh?"

The Norwegian flinched at the sudden voice. He looked at his dad and exhaled. "Yup..." He sarcastically answered.

Paul laughed before lighting his cigarette and inhaling the smoke.