he was nothing. (Eddsworld)

One.

"Gah! Fucking stop!" Tom groan, Tord plunges his fist into Tom's chest one more time, then Edd tears Tord off of him.

Blood pours out of Tom's nose and onto his hoodie and the carpet, painting the hoodie a purple colour and the carpet bright red. He breathes heavily, having the the weight of Tord that was restricting air finally off of him. Matt grabbed Tom's arm, lifting him from the ground.

They had been fighting a lot more recently and it was becoming a pain for everyone. For Tom it was a literal pain. Tord, being the stronger of the two, would usual come out victorious. Edd and Matt were getting tired of having to break them up every time. Tord was getting tired of Tom being a dick.

But everyone except Tom was even more tired of Tom being an alcoholic. He's been drinking a lot more lately and it's getting bad. Whenever he's drunk he'll break things or start unnecessary fights with Tord. Even though Edd and Matt were working hard to make Tom happy- alcohol free- nothing seemed to work.

But in reality, Tom has to tread the hardest path, says himself. He's an eyeless freak with an alcohol addiction, jobless, and an abusive "friend." Meaning Tord, if you didn't already know. Tom's been dealing with everything until now. Now he's finding it a bit difficult to remain sane and sober.

He's had to bite his lip and dig his nails into his palms until there was blood to stop from crying when him and Tord were verbally fighting. "Jackass." "Freak." "Eyeless twit." That voice whispers in his mind.

"Tom, oh no, let me get you a bandaid!" Matt says, scrambling for the first aid kit.

"Matt, that's not going to work." But Matt was too far away to hear him. Tom sighed and stood up to the best of his ability, having to lean on the wall for support since Tord almost broke his ribs.

Then that oh so recognizable feeling comes back to Tom's face. Tears. His face goes warm and a small lump forms in his throat. His eyes go from dry to slightly moist. I'm not sad! Stop crying! He yells to himself, clenching his fists. But his body doesn't listen.

He's sad, make tears, his body says. He squeezes his eyes shut, there's still room to save myself, Tom decides. But no, once the warm liquid is a nanometer out, he's run off into his room, ignoring Edd's calls for "Are you okay, Tom?" "What's wrong, Tom?" In between those comments, Tord's name is added. "Calm down, Tord." "Stop it, Tord." "You shouldn't have started the fight, Tord." Tord should listen.

Should have. That's one phrase Tom hates. Should have, meaning: if one could go back in time, they would do things differently. But time travel doesn't exist yet. "Should have" doesn't fix anything. Tord should have not hit Tom. But he did and that's what's important!

Anything ending in -ould have, except for Edd, Tom doesn't like. Should, would, could. All past tenses. Would is usually followed by an if. Tord would have not hit Tom if Tom hadn't said that. Well Tom did say that and Tord did hit him, therefore that word if useless, except for Tord who can use that word to make Tom look like the bad guy.

Could. Tord could have not hit Tom. Tom could have not said that. But he did! Who cares if he could/should/would have!? He still did and there's no changing that!

The tears push past his eyelids and slide down his face. Tom thrusts his face into his pillow and groans at the pain in his chest and nose. The blood is clearly staining his pillow, but that's okay, it'll wash out. His pillowcase is dark blue anyway. No one will notice. A sob bubbles up in his throat, even through his best efforts to push it down, it erupts from his lips into the pillow. He can taste the blood, the gross metallic shit makes him shiver.

He removes his face from the pillow and sits up, pinching the bridge of his nose and grabbing a tissue. He stays like that for a while, the thin white sheet capturing the blood. After a few more tissues, his nose is finished mourning and he leaves the room, ready to be scolded by the mother of the house, Edd.