My Admiration is a Secret

Part 6

I sat quietly watching from my place at the kitchen island whilst Tom paces around the kitchen with my phone pressed to his ear, listening to the eerily long rings. I can't help but relax when his shoulders visibly express his relief when someone, I can only hope is Dipper, picks up.

"Hey! Um, sorry, I'm Marco's friend. Is this Dipper?" He asks, sounding unsure of himself, and like calling is almost a sin. There's a moment of silence on our end; but what I can't hear only seems to put Tom back on edge, his expression switching from shocked to fearful then to rage in a matter of seconds. "Where the hell is he?"

"Tom?" I ask, seeing the slight smoke rising on his wrists.

He quickly raises a finger to me, letting me know I need to be quiet but he does calm himself just to put me at ease. "Cipher I fucking swear, if you've done a damn thing to him-!" He pauses, his eyes widening slightly before screaming into the phone- "Because I don't fucking trust you!" His lip lifting in a slight snarl. "He's not a damn toy! He's a human, Wake him up: I want proof that you aren't lying!"

I bite my lip nervously and toy with a loose string on my jacket, listening to Tom curse Bill out and demand that he hear from Dipper right this very second only to have, I assume, Bill refuse insisting he's fine and that he's asleep. Finally though Tom is settled by an in call photo Bill sent to the phone of Dipper sleeping peacefully swaddled in what looks like warm fluffy blankets. Seeing me relax makes Tom cool it a bit, but he still sends me to the bedroom, like what he has to say will upset me or something, but just knowing Dipper's fine is enough for me. Just to keep him calm I do as he asks and even shut the door behind me since he clearly wants privacy. Despite this. I can still hear. Thin walls. And anger.

"Listen here Cipher; you better treat this boy like he's made of god damn china! Cause I swear if you hurt him, I will personally beat the ever loving shit out of you before locking you back in that fucking stone prison. You fucking got that!" ... "Several! Because I don't fucking trust you! You're a damn psycho-! Hey! Bill!" ... "Fuck!"

I jump at the sound of what I can only assume to be his fist making contact with something and judging by his last words, I'm not going to like what just happened. Without thinking I run out to find Tom hunched over with his arms extended against the island to hold himself up with his head low. My phone sitting right in front of him with the words 'call ended' flashing across the screen. His wrists are flaming, but I can see how his arms are shaking with his struggle to get it under control. "Tom?"

He stiffens at my whisper, his flames almost instantly dissipating as he picks up my phone. "It's fine." He mutters, more to himself than to me, but I let it slide and look up at him as he walks up to me and hands me my phone back so I can put into my pocket where it belongs. "He's fine, Bill's just an ass and doesn't understand the term 'reassurance'." He huffs, gently pulling me into a hug sensing my growing anxiety. "We can call again in an hour or so and hopefully Dipper will be awake and able to answer instead of that prick."

"Tom...Why did you get so scared when I brought them up? From what Dipper's told me; Bill can't hurt them, it'll break their deal, and from what I understand but he refuses to see...Bill um..."

"Yeah, I know." He sighs, dragging me to plop down on the couch, keeping an arm thrown lazily over my shoulder while he throws his head back  to close his eyes in frustration. "He does, but like I said in the call, that by the way I know you were still listening to," He points, making me blush. "he's a psycho. He might have good intentions, but he's got shitty executions that more often than not end up with him locked away for extremely long periods of time in isolation. Anyone would go mad under those circumstances."

I sigh, relaxing into his side. "I'm still worried and want to call again later, like you said, but...maybe Dipper is exactly what Bill needs."

Tom chuckles, finally calming down enough to allow humor to enter the situation. "Even if he is, the guy deserves a hell of a lot better than Bill."

"Oh I'm not denying that!" I smile. "But he can at least help him into the right direction."

We laugh for a bit longer at Bill's expense, but our laughter is soon cut short when Tom suddenly decides to ask something that I know's been eating at him ever since this morning. 

"So...Speaking of deserving better...Star called me while I was at the store..." I nearly pale, already knowing what he's about to bring up. "She asked me not to tell you, but you have the right to know, They upgraded from just notes to flowers."

"Did...did they have a card from a shop or anything? I mean, maybe we can find out where they got them from an-"

"They were Nerium oleanders and water hemlocks...Marco, I don't think these letters are just um harmless stalking. These are two of the most poisonous flowers out there!" He frowns. "I just, I don't think who ever this is is sending them because they like you."

The pit of my stomach felt as if it were about to turn inside out, I felt sick, horrified, cold, just an absolute mess of a bunch of different things at once to the point I wasn't even sure I could even begin to understand what I was feeling, all I knew is that what went from harmless, and actually kinda cute, letters have quickly become frightening to the point I feel physically ill.

Tom must of noticed the color drain from my face because he almost instantly got up and brought me a glass of water that I could only half hazardly grasp between my hands, he lead the glass to my lips but I think I was on auto-pilot because I don't remember much after that. I'd seen his lips moving and heard muffled noises, but just couldn't make them into words before I found myself rushing into the bathroom to hunch myself over the toilet and empty my stomach.

The only thoughts running through my mind being very simple.

What do they want?