Blackthorns and Wild Buttercups (Indefinite Hiatus)

{Oak Trees} - Chapter Three

A deep sigh escaped his lips, he didn't even get to go back to his temporary place of work for his last paycheck. Maybe he should try to change his appearance to be more different than before, he had tried changing his appearance once before but it wasn't enough to fool them. However, in his current situation a new opportunity presented itself and maybe he could improve on a concept he had tried before, and maybe—just maybe—this time it would work.

"Now approaching WoodHaven Boulevard," an automated voice spoke from the VA system. Tommy's expression perked up at the familiar name, then he got an idea: He's already been here before so maybe they wouldn't suspect he'd come back or at least the chances would be lower that they'd check here, right?

He nods before muttering to himself, "Lets see what happens."

A woman nearby, opposite to Tommy, glances at him worriedly. It takes Tommy a few seconds to process how fucking crazy he probably looks talking to himself in public.

Doesn't help that I look like a literal corpse because of insomnia.

Tommy sits in silent embarrassment, waiting for when the subway doors open.

And eventually they do open, quick to want to leave the Subway cart, he grabs his things and makes his way out of the station and to the stairs which lead up to the surface.

The sounds of the city greet him as he reaches the top of the stairs to the surface, the afternoon wind sweeps through his chestnut brown hair and the warmth of the air holds Tommy in a familiar embrace; a small but emotion-filled smile forms on his face.

It feels good to be home.

Deciding to wander around for a bit, he eventually stops at a nearby park he used to visit as a child to rest. As he sat in the shade he felt his stomach growl, the surrounding noises blocked off most sound so he could just barely hear it but it most definitely made its point known. He sighed as he got up from his spot, he'd have to get something to eat.

After a bit of time searching he managed to find a main metropolitan store, he would have gone out somewhere to eat but he knows he doesn't have too much money to spend.

At least it's something.

Tommy walks through the aisles of the store, glancing mindlessly at the items that litter the store shelves as he passes by. Eventually, he made his way to the snack aisle, yea, it wasn't the most healthy selection of options to choose from but he'd get what he wanted for now. He was having a shitty enough week as it is, alright?

I just want to have something good happen to me for once.

As he took a step back to fully examine the walls of confectionaries, he backed up into someone accidentally knocking them down.

Tommy blurted out,"Oh shi-crap, my bad."

He moved out of the way before trying to help the person out, "I wasn't paying attention, sorry dude."

Helping the person up, Tommy noticed a familiar camera faced individual staring back at him. As he opened his mouth to say something, he was interrupted.

"Toms?"

"Cory," he smiled, "Nice to see you again, how've you been?"

"How have I been? How have you been!?" Cory grabbed a hold of Tommy's shoulders and shook his friend in an exaggerated manner, "It's been forever dude, you should've told me you were back in town!"

Tommy shrugged and half-lied, "Phone broke and I lost all my saved phone numbers. I would've called you if I could, Cores."

"Oh, sorry. Just got a bit too excited," Cory removes his hands from Tommy's shoulders.

"It's alright by the way, so what are you doing back in town?"

Tommy ran his hand through his messy locks,"To make a long story short, some stuff went down and I had to move back. I'll probably stay at one of the nearby hotels or something until I can get back on my feet again." Cory frowned.

"I-it's not anything serious, I'll get it all back in time! Don't worry about me, Cory," Tommy tried to assure his friend.

The blondette stood for a minute in silence, his expression thoughtful. A bead of sweat drips down Tommy's freckled cheek, had he done something wrong?

Tommy's worries eventually came to a halt when Cory's expression perked up, he had an idea, "Toms, Tommy, Dude!" Cory bounced up and down in place.

Tommy said a bit louder than he intended, "What?! I'm right here?"

"You could crash at my place! Like old times!" bleamed Cory.

Tommy was stunned by Cory's offer, he was really tempted to accept, but it seemed almost too good to be true and what if it was?

"What if it was a trap—a trick?" A part of his mind fed him.

"What if it isn't?" Another part of his mind rebutted.

Cory wasn't one of them, surely! Well—he could but he probably wouldn't sell him out. They were still friends, Cory wasn't like them, right? He was different, he was just probably being paranoid because of what recently happened. Plus, he really needed a place to stay and keep a low profile, when he really thought about it they probably wouldn't be expecting him to be with another person so that was another thing...

...But he didn't want Cory to get involved with his history, he'd have to think about it for a bit.

"Ah, it's all cool." Tommy looked a bit surprised, "I get it, tell you what—you can stay at my place until you can get a job and move out to somewhere else. Just one night at least."

"Yea that's all and good, Core but-," Tommy paused before finishing with a hushed voice, "-how will I repay you?"

Cory held out his open hand to Tommy. Confused Tommy just stared at it for a few moments, what? Getting his confusion, Cory used his other hand to point at one of Tommy's. Tommy shakily placed his hand on top of Cory's before the blondette gently placed his other hand on top of Tommy's and held it there that as he spoke with a smile, "Toms, we've been friends for a long time so you should know this by now—even if we haven't talked in a while. I'm not your friend because I want something from you, I'm your friend because I care a lot about you and I don't want to see you hurting."

They stood there for a bit as Tommy processed what Cory said whilst wiping away the stray tears that slid down his face without his knowledge.

To lift the mood a bit he grabbed something from the assile shelf before nudging Tommy on the shoulder.

"Um, yea?" Tommy said timidly.

Cory grinned as he presented a certain candy bar, "You're not you when you're hungry."

As Tommy looked at the bar a smile sneaked its way into his face, it was a fucking snickers bar.

The brunette muttered jokingly, "I hate you, you know that."

"Mhm, yeahhh~. Come on, the milk in my cart is gonna expire by the time you're done sulking."

"Oh, shut up. You'd probably drink it anyway."

Cory exclaimed, "That was one time!"

"Twice actually, Creamdip." Tommy corrected.

They continued to mindlessly chatter to one another, feeling as though Tommy never left. It was familiar, not the familiar that reminded him of the white walls, lab coats, and tests; but instead the familiar that reminded him that maybe things would be a bit better this time around.