SBI family AU

Flowers

Niki knew something was wrong before she heard him. She quickly opened the door and found him curled in on himself, his laptop completely ignored.

"Techno? What's wrong?" Niki placed a hand on his back, only for him to jerk away, "Techno?"

Techno curled up tighter and covered his ears, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm-"

"Techno, please, tell me what's wrong," Niki placed a hand on his back again, this time he started shaking.

"Please, I'm sorry-" Techno started crying and Niki hugged him.

Niki ran her fingers through his hair, which seemed to calm him down, "Techno, what's wrong?"

Techno took a shaky breath and dried his tears, "He- he sent flowers-"

Niki looked at him confused, "Who?"

"M-My father..." he clung into her, "H-He knows where I am- what if- what if he comes? Oh god-"

Niki hushed him as he started shaking, "It's ok, you'll be ok."

"What- What if he runs into Tubs- What would I even do-" Techno kept running scenarios over in his head and a sob shook him, Niki pulling him closer.

"He won't do anything if he only sent flowers. I can take them out if you want," Niki said as Techno started to relax.

Techno nodded in response and hesitantly allowed her to pull away. He motioned to a flower arrangement sitting on the windowsill and she moved over and grabbed it.

Niki spotted an unopened letter and picked it out, "Do you want this?"

Techno looked at it and tried to calm himself once again, "I- Uh... Not- Not really."

Niki frowned and put it in her purse, "I'll keep it for you."

Techno nodded and watched her leave with the flowers. His mind dragged him back to the possible scenarios and he started shaking again.

Niki came back in to find Techno with his knees to his chest and his hands gripping his head, "Techno, talk to me."

Techno stifled a sob when she placed a hand on his hand, "I- I don't mean to worry you..."

"It's ok, you're important to me so of course I'm worried," Niki smiled as she wrapped her hand around his and gently pulled it off his head, "Your fathers hurt you pretty bad, huh?"

Techno let out a sob laugh, "Yeah..."

Niki hopped up onto the bed and sat next to him, "Want to talk about it? It might help you if you get it out."

Techno looked at her and lowered his other hand, "I- I don't know if I can."

"Tell me when you're ready to then, ok?" Niki ran a finger through his hair and smiled.

Techno laid back and stared at the ceiling, "He- He used to play this game with me. Claimed it was to man me up. I would... I'd stand in front of a wall and he'd-"

Niki watched him start to cry again, "Hey, hey, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she took his hand.

Techno shook his head and cleared his throat, "He'd throw things at me. Mainly his empty glass bottles. Every flinch meant more pain, which was also supposed to toughen me..."

Niki laid down next to him and pulled him close as he started shaking, "That sounds horrible- I'm sorry."

Techno kept his eyes on the ceiling, "It's fine, nothing you could have done. He used to- H-He used to lock me in my room for days on end during the summer. He'd come in during the night randomly and he'd just- he'd just beat me with no reason," Techno stopped and looked at her, "I still don't know what I did wrong, I mean it had to be something, right?"

Niki shook her head, "I don't think you did anything wrong."

Techno looked back at the ceiling, "That's why I can't sleep just by laying down. What if he comes in while I'm asleep? I've tried to fix it, I really have. I can't sleep for more than a few hours if I force myself to sleep. I used to drink myself to sleep, but that's clearly out of the window. When it gets really bad I take a couple Benadryl. That normally helps."

Niki saw him slowly relax once again, "How bad is it sleeping here?"

He shakily exhaled, "I can't sleep unless they give me something. I don't think I've slept more than a few hours over the past couple days. I force myself to sleep when you're here, but I normally wake up soon after and just sit in silence until I fall back asleep. Then the cycle repeats."

Niki sat up and looked at him, "Do you want them to start giving you something? You need to get some rest."

Techno was about to protest, but he saw her worried look, "I- yeah, ok."

Niki smiled, "Tubbo can't wait for you to come home. He's been practicing so hard for his competition."

"I hope he's handling all this ok."

Niki frowned, "Techno are you even handling all of this ok?"

Techno looked at her, "Yeah, of course."

"Don't lie to me."