A Song of Two Hearts [A TomTord Highschool AU]

Chapter 8

Tom was very surprised when he saw his phone flicker a message, especially from Tord. He felt like ignoring it, what possible good could that Commie want? But for an unknown reason he decided to halt his strumming, which had turned peaceful after about half an hour of his emotional rampage. He slowly opened up the message, expecting insults.

Tord: Wanna go shoot stuff in the old range?

Tom had to stare at it for a moment. His utter confusion filling in. Tord wanted to spend time with him? Alone? Since when?

Tom: You aren't high or something, right?

Tord: 100% sure.

Tom: Why me????

Tord: We both know Edd and Matt wouldn't enjoy it. The noise, the smell. Not their cup of tea

Tom: K, meet you there

He stared at his phone for a second. Utterly confused as to why he said yes. This was the Commie, he hated him. So why did he just willingly decide to hang out with him? Regardless, Tom had said yes. Regardless of how lame it was, he had to go now. So Tom threw on his blue hoodie and headed for his door. Though, he halted when he reached the locked exit point. The melon man was most likely right out that door. Most likely ready to beat his ass, or yell at him until he wanted to disappear into a black hole. So he quickly turned around, went to the window, and jumped out. It was almost muscle memory at this point to climb down the side of the house.

Eventually Tom reached the abandoned gun range. It's walls were slightly decaying, and the interior was trashed. But the range still worked. The stalls were still in relatively good shape, and the bullet proof wall still stopped bullets. It was everything needed to shoot, and the best part was it was free.

Tord stood there waiting against a worn down table. He had a couple cases spread out, each containing a gun that was well kept. Below the table was several boxes of ammo, and by each case was a multitude of empty magazines.

"Aight, how does this work."

Tord looked up, almost surprised to see Tom there. "Well, first we gotta get to filling these mags. Otherwise we can't shoot." He tossed Tom one of the bananas. "These hold 30, make sure to count when filling. If you put too many in it'll jam. That's hell to deal with."

"Which way do they go?"

"Shows it if you look in on the mag."

Tom saw a small arrow pointing in the direction the tip would face. He sat down on the dirty ground. Then Tord tossed him one of the containers full of bullets, and they got to work in almost complete silence. The soft clicking of the magazines filling up was a comforting rhythm.

Eventually they had an array of magazines filled, each ready to be used. Tord finally took the guns out of their cases briefly stating what they were.

"M-16, 9 mm, .40 cal, revolver." Tom just stared in confusion, not remembering any of the names. "Aight, so here's how you load." Tord walked over to one of the stalls and beckoned Tom over with his head, moving to the side to let Tom see his hands. He quickly shoved a magazine into the Walther 40 Caliber. "The magazine goes in like this, slam it in so it doesn't fall out. Bullets face the barrel. Pull back this to cock it, and then take off the safety." He quickly pulled back the top of the gun, letting it quickly rush back into place. He then moved his thumb to the side and flipped the safety. "Now you always aim down range, don't wanna die from your ignorance. This baby is ready to fire, all you gotta do is pull the trigger. Nice and soft, doesn't need much. Keep your hand away from the hammer, it'll cut your thumb off."

Tord turned towards the target hung a ways away, and started shooting. His shoulders were relaxed and his shots had little time in between them. The empty shells flew around the stall, and the smell of gunpowder started to arise.

Tom flinched at the bang of each shot. It was loud, and slightly scared him. Tord turned around to a slightly shaking Tom.

"Shit, you okay Jehovah?" Tom softly nodded his head, but the tremors in his hand betrayed that notion. Tord quickly rushed passed him and grabbed something from a bag. Before Tom could ask, Tord had gently placed a pair of headphones over his ears. Everything sounded quieter, and he felt a lot safer. After that Tord slowly pushed a pair of goggles over Tom's eyes, making sure not to hurt him. Tom gave a weak thumbs up.

"You wanna try now?"

"Sure."

Tom slowly moved towards the gun, but then realized there was still an empty mag in the gun.

"Uh Commie, help?"

Tord quickly realized his dilemma and dropped the mag, replacing it with a new one. Tom followed what he remembered: cock the gun, take the safety off, keep hands away from the hammer. And then he shot. The shock rushed through his arm. He almost liked the feel. It caused a jolt of adrenaline. He suddenly felt Tord's hands on his shoulders. They were softly massaging. He looked back questioningly.

"Relax, it messes up your aim if you don't."

Tom relaxed, settling his stance again before opening fire.

Eventually Tom got comfortable on his own with the handguns. They went through the majority of them, and soon they were out of ammo. Except for the M-16. Tord carefully picked it up and carried it over with him. "Watch me." Tord quickly pulled back the charging handle. It slung against the metal and made a soft ping after locking into place. Tord then flipped the safety with his thumb. "This baby is automatic. If you hold the trigger she'll keep firing. Be careful." He then lodged the gun into his shoulder, carefully aimed down the sight, and started blasting the target.

Tom was both amazed and scared by the gun. This one was clearly more deadly than the others. But the control Tord had over it made it almost beautiful. And the concentration on Tord's face was calling to Tom. He looked so different. His eyes focused ahead, locked on to some far target. His eyebrows furrowed and his shoulders softly shook from recoil. It made Tom's heart flip. But that wasn't Tord's causing, definitely just Tom's excitement and adrenaline.

Tord eventually dropped the empty mag and popped in a new one, carefully handing the gun off to Tom. He made sure Tom didn't burn himself on the hot barrel of it. Tom didn't feel comfortable with the gun however. This was different from the others, it was close to him and he wasn't sure if he was a fan of that. Or if he was even holding it correctly. Tom almost dropped the gun when he felt Tord's arms slide along his, his chest pressed against Tom's back.

"Hold it like this."

"O-okay."

Tom swallowed. He didn't know whether he should like or hate this feeling. His heart was going off in quick beats, and his face was completely red. Tord covered Tom's trigger finger and slowly pushed it back. The gun let off a bullet, but Tom was so lost in his head that he didn't notice.

"Do it on your own this time."

Tom squeezed the trigger on his own this time, and he felt the shock push him slightly into Tord. The gun was off course slightly, so Tord used his arms to shift Tom in the right direction.

"Nice job."

Tom almost couldn't comprehend that. He was too concentrated on Tord's warm breath falling very close to his ear. He was overwhelmed by everything, and he liked it. Though he would never say so. They continued on like that for a bit until Tord backed away from Tom to let him fire on his own.