Odd Love

Chapter 11; Paranoia

      Tom lay curled, staring at the nest with wide, watching eyes. He had not left his room in the two days since the incident. Edd had checked on him once, but after seeing the brooding and protective monster, he didn't come back. Every time he heard footsteps going past his door, Tom would tense and bristle up, darting over to the nest.

     He shifted his position and climbed onto the nest, laying around the oval objects. Tom's tail hung over the edge of the blanket pile and twitched on the floor. Hunger screamed in his stomach, but his only focus were the eggs. His eyelids drooped, heavy with exhaustion; Tom had not slept for more than an hour at a time, always waking up with the fear that another egg would be dead.

     Incomplete and paranoid thoughts ran rapid through him, leaving his head hanging lazily down on his chest. He just felt so drained; both emotionally and physically.

     His eyes wandered around haphazardly, trying to use distraction as a dispirited tactic of keeping himself awake. Then, his eyes caught something in the corner of his peripheral. Shiny bottles of alcohol- most of them half finished- were littered in the shadowy crevices under his bed. Tom stared for a moment, hesitantly shoving his twitchy hand under the bed and grabbed the liquor. He made sure to continuously view the nest in the corner of his eye. Tom contemplated, holding the heavy and clear glass in his hand.

     Matt will be angry.

     He turned to glace back at the nest again, before shakily opening the bottle. He shook his head, apologizing silently to the elephant in the room.

     I just need... 'something'.....

     He put the alcohol to his lips, chugging the burning liquid as over 2 months of sobriety went straight down the drain.

     It's just a sip.

     ...

     Two hours later and Tom was beyond hammered.

     His usual tolerance was gone from the weeks of withdrawal. Tom pushed himself up, seemingly unconcerned about the state of the eggs at the moment.

     Tom was stumbling to his feet, his body swaying back and forth as he reached for the door knob, grumbling when he missed it the first couple of times. Tom's throat burned from the vodka's abrasive way of going down. It made his voice hoarse and grating. He slammed his door shut as he stepped out, murmuring curses as he sauntered forward.

     He entered the kitchen, squinting at the bright lights. Edd and Matt sat at the table, Edd's hand promptly on Matt's back as he blankly stared at a plate of food. They both turned and gawked at him, quiet whispering going silent. Tom tilted towards them, his legs barely catching him as he took strides forward, leaning on the table heavily when he reached it.

     "...Tom?" Edd checked, his voice unsure, even though it was undoubtedly him in front of them.

     "... Noooooo shit sherrrrlock..." He scoffed, slapping hard at the hand on Matt's back. Edd retracted his arm quickly, giving Tom a look of slight hurt as he cradled his sore digits. Matt looked at him, his eyes portraying shock, eyebrows slightly furrowed. Tom laughed, abruptly yanking up Matt by his wrist, tightly wrapping an arm around his waist. He smiled, pressing himself idly to Matt's body, roughly leaving sucks and sloppy kisses on the side of his neck.

     The gingers confused face became furious as he smelt the alcohol on him, shoving the shifter away, huffing as he glared hard stares at him.

     "Edd. Leave." Matt spit out, his bitter eyes never leaving Tom. Tom crossed his arms as Edd immediately filed out, both their eyes traveling with him, watching him glance back a few times as he quickly opened his bedroom door and entered it promptly.