TW: abuse (actually happens in this chapter) and major self-blame for abuse
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⚠️THIS IS A HEAVY CHAPTER!!! IT IS AN EASY ONE TO SKIP, YOU WONT MISS MUCH!!! PLEASE SKIP IT IF YOU AREN'T UP TO READING IT!! THERE WILL BE A SUMMARY IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, LOOK AFTER YOURSELVES!!⚠️
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Tommy put the last thing away, the terror that had been building up hitting a high cord. He knew what was about to happen. He knew, but he turned around anyway. He met Dream's gaze for a second, before letting it fall to his feet, not able to hold the eye contact.
"You were late," Dream said in a calm but somehow deadly tone.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?" Dream hissed, and from the way he said it, it almost sounded like he didn't really care to know, but Tommy knew he had to answer.
"The cashier wouldn't let me buy the food. I tried to convince her I was fine. She said I wasn't old enough. The manager told her to let me buy it, but it took them a long time."
"You should've tried harder," Dream snapped. Tommy wanted to say he did the best he could, but he knew better then that. That would only infuriate Dream more. So, he simply nodded weakly.
"Do you think you can just go around wasting my time? I had to wait for you to come back."
"I'm sorry sir."
"I already had a shit day at work, and I come home to you, not doing your jobs. Don't ever fucking waste my time again."
Tommy nodded, but he saw the clenched fists by Dream's side and he knew what was coming.
"You know the rules. Not a scream. Not a cry. Not a yell. Not a sound. You deserve this and you fucking know it. Don't ever, ever complain. I'm doing this for you. To better you. You understand?"
Tommy nodded. He understood. He deserved this. He failed. It was his fault. He didn't do what he was told and this is the result. He should know better. He should be better. He should have done what Dream had said. Shouldn't have taken that extra time to help Ranboo home. Shouldn't have waited when the cashier told him to. He should've just run. He knew how to run.
He was the reason this was about to happen. It was his fault and only his fault. Those thoughts were the ones that sealed the deal. Puffy would not hear about this. She would not hear about his failure and his mess and his deserved punishment. At least Dream only punished him when he deserved it. So many places just hit him. Here, he deserved it. Here he was the one causing his pain. Here it was his fault. Not Dream's, not the fist that had just landed in his stomach, not Ranboo's, not Eret's, not the cashier's. His. His fault.
So, Tommy obeyed the rules this time, even as hit after hit came. Even as he fell to the floor writhing in pain and the hits kept coming. Even after all he felt was pain, he did not make a sound. He simply let it happen, his mind repeating the same two words again and again. His fault. His fault. His fault.
Tommy was the one that had failed and he knew it. Tommy was the one who had wasted Dreams time and he knew it. Tommy was the one who hadn't done exactly what he was told and he knew it. Tommy was the one who had broken whatever trust Dream may have had in him and he knew it. Tommy was the one who had caused this and he knew it. He deserved this and he fucking knew it.
So, silence continued, only interrupted by Dream's heavy breathing and the slam of each blow against Tommy. Dream did not hit his face. He was not that stupid. School would not find out. Tommy would not tell them because he deserved this. If he told them, they would simply send him back to Dream for a second punishment, one for speaking out of turn.
Tommy felt blow after blow slam into him and he did not make a sound. His teeth were gritted so hard they hurt like the rest of him, but he did not make a sound. He deserved this. He knew he did. As Dream threw Tommy around the room, smashing his body into the table and the door and the walls and the floor and his fist, again and again and again, Tommy stared blankly forward. He felt every bit of the pain. He felt every piece of agony that spread across him and he knew it well. He knew the pain and he knew he deserved this.
Tommy did not cry. Did not scream. Did not yell. He simply took it. Silently and agonisingly he took each blow. He waited for unconsciousness to win. He knew it would eventually. Knew that was how beatings like this ended. He imagined they probably went on long after unconsciousness overtook him, after all, how was Dream supposed to know the difference between a silent conscious Tommy and a silent unconscious one?
Consciousness stuck with Tommy far longer then he would've liked. Far longer then it usually did. As the words rang around his head again and again, for perhaps the millionth time, Tommy was still conscious. Every fibre of his agonised body called for him to scream or cry, but he didn't. Even as his brain yelled at him to do something, anything, he stayed, unmoving, without a sound. He felt his body being shoved against a wall, and a hand gripped his shoulder.
Dream's face, with his piercing, venomous green eyes stared at him. They made sure Tommy was awake, and then his mouth opened and he spoke. Tommy barely picked up the words, his mind now hazy, barely registering anything other then agony.
"Never fucking break my rules again. There is so much worse that this could have been. Be fucking grateful I'm stopping here." And with those words, Dream shoved him back against the wall, and finally, finally, Tommy fell into unconsciousness. The blackness of unconsciousness was a blanket of safety Tommy didn't want to ever lose.
Words: 1000
"I wasn't expecting bribery to work" - my sister
A/N: yeah, bribery works. You owe me a cake. Also, I bet you cried, well, you asked for this. You made me write three chapters right after each other, it was clearly gonna end in angst. (that note was directed at my sister)
To everyone who did not demand this: uhhh I hope you are ok... this was a heavy one, I'll admit... I hope you liked it at least