What I Hate About You

Chapter 8

Tord jumped at the voice behind him, almost dropping Susan. He stood awkwardly wondering how Tom would react to the communist who broke into his room and kidnapped Susan from her sleeping place. Especially after pretty much burning his living room. He waited, holding the guitar tighter. "Ruin the couch now you wanna ruin my guitar?" Tom said, surprising calm.

"I-It wasn't me," Tord panicked, "And I was only looking."

"Well then," Tom said stepping closer to Tord, stopping only centimeters from his face. Tord felt the other's hot breath against his own, it intimidated him slightly, "I hope you like what you see."

Tom pulled away and yanked Susan from the commie's hands. Setting her back down next to his desk, he sensed that Tord still hadn't left the room. "What do you want?" He groaned, turning to face him.

Tord hesitated. He hadn't been able to talk to Tom the whole time he had been in his apartment and was scared he would mess something up. What did he want? He wanted a lot of things. He wanted to stop being a prick to the only friends he had left. He wanted to get out of the mess that he so desperately wanted to finish. Can't be cocky with this answer, he thought. There was one thing he really wanted to know. But it could cause Tom to kick him out for good. He decided to take his chance. "Why do you hate me so much?" He said almost painfully, "What do you hate about me?"

Tom stared at him. The three inch height difference was now starting to bother him. Still, he held his ground and tried to say what he really meant. The things that Tord truly needed to know. What a convenient series of events. Now he could scream when he really needed to. "You really want to know..."

Tord nodded his head slightly, his eyes sincere. He was definitely not joking about this. The tension between both boys was pretty horrifying to be honest. What was he supposed to say to Tom. That he was sorry? Nope, he did that already. Now he stood in his enemy's room. Waiting for some sort of answer to reassure him, or give him a reason to leave.

"Well maybe it could be that you killed Jon, tried to kill me, and ruined our house," Tom said keeping his voice as firm as he could, "You come here all dressed up, say that stupid thing you always say about us being your friends when we're not."

Tord flinched. He looked at Tom, astonished at how well he was keeping himself together. He was finally standing up to him and saying exactly what he wanted. Tom shuddered again, "And even before this mess started, you had some way to toy with me." He twitched his hand as if to scratch the scar left behind after Tord's experiments...

"You've come up with so many ways to fuck with our lives," here is where the tears let loose, "I don't even have a couch anymore! It's just a matter of time before you kidnap us and kill us off one by one. Or worse! Use us as one of your lab rats. Do you want to turn me into that horrific monster again?!"

Tom looked down, satisfied with his little rant. The teardrops splashed on his shoes as he held himself, shaking furiously. Tord didn't even know what to do. Is this really what Tom thought. How in god's name would he gain back the trust of someone this far gone. You lost him too long ago, Tord thought. He stood back for a bit before putting a hand on Tom's shoulder, gripping it tightly. "I'm changing," he said trying to calm the boy in front of him. At this stage he was desperate, "I don't want to be like this anymore. I promise I will never hurt you guys again. You're the only people I have left."

Tom appreciated the comfort for about ten seconds. His breathing slowed as he straightened his back. With that he pushed Tord's hand off his shoulder and sighed. They both stood in silence again and stared at the floor. Tord was about to say something again when Tom started giggling. It started out quiet and soon crescendoed into loud gut filling laughs. He held his sides to keep himself from falling apart. Tord chuckled nervously. "What's so funny?"

Tom snorted between laughs, "You burned my couch!" He laughed harder, "It was so old, man. I hated that thing."

They both laughed their asses off, clearing the tension that was so obviously there before. Taking a few more breaths, Tord looked at Tom. He still had a smile on his face and it was genuinely bright. He observed the way Tom's lower eyelids squinted upward, how his nose barely scrunched, and how a few teeth would come out of hiding when he started to giggle again. He couldn't lie, he liked seeing Tom happy. And he hoped he would be able to see it more often.

v v sort of long author's note v v

haha! two chapters in one month! I thought I couldn't do it! mainly because of every little problem slowly eating its way beneath my skin but ANYWAY! Idk I guess I was in a good mood this month. I mean it's almost over but whatever. maybe I could keep this up? probably not.

still, thank you guys so much. I love your comments and support and I really appreciate those of you who stick around even when I'm completely unorganized. I was thinking of ditching the story because of how slow I was but i was like nope! finish what you started! anyway, love all yall so much c: