Lots of information and lots of OOC!! Enjoy!
.:.
"MATT!" Tom shouted as he made his way up the attic stairs. He could see from the ledge of the staircase that Matt was still was in his bed. He would've been still napping if Tom hadn't rudely interrupted his beauty sleep.
"Wha-- T...om?" Matt sleepily sat up, looking so out of place and confused.
"Get up. Now." Tom demanded, walking to the center of Matt's room.
"Erhmm... but my feet hurrrt!" Matt whined, kicking his legs in slightly and crooning his head back. He looked like a fucking child.
"I said -- Now!" Tom walked to Matt and pulled on his legs, bringing Matt to the floor and almost injuring him.
"TOM!! WHY WOULD YOU--"
"No! You're going to shut it and listen to me because I'm freaking out!" Tom was never one to show weakness, or get physical with his friends, but he was so distressed that it was painfully obvious in his tone of voice. He sounded scared, hurt, angry, and sad all at once. "I need help and I need you and you have to help me or... or I don't know! I'll tell Edd!"
Matt sat there, completely flabbergasted at this new display of emotions that was so out of the norm for Tom.
"What... would you tell Edd?" Matt asked.
Truth is, Tom didn't really know. He just wanted everything to go his way at this very moment and he was willing to show emotions that he's never shown before. He feels like he's going insane almost. Why is he acting hysterical?
"That's beside the point." Tom growled. "Point is, I need you to tell me the truth."
"Okay."
"Okay, then spill. What was that mess yesterday?"
"Uhm...." Matt went to sit on the floor comfortably, folding his legs over the other and looking up at Tom, "You choked and passed out and woke up and you had a therapy session with Tord and went to your room and I came in there and you kicked me out."
"Go to when you came into my room. What was that whole thing about a disease?"
"Oh!" Matt looked surprised that he didn't get what Tom meant until now, but then his expression changed to one of sadness and sorrow, "About that... I'm sorry. I'm just trying to look after--"
"Matt." Tom cut the ginger off, "I know Tord put you up to it. I just want to know why you did it. Did he threaten you?" Tom had prepared himself to give Tord a world of pain if he heard that he did, in fact, threaten Matt to prank Tom into believing some dumb disease that could or could not be real.
"What? Oh!! Oh no! No-no-no! Tord has nothing to do with it!" Matt raised his hands in a surrender motion and shook his head, "Well... actually he kind of does, but not really?" Matt looked off and stared in contemplation, scratching his chin.
"What does that mean?" Tom narrowed his eyebrows, still unconvinced that Tord is innocent.
"Well... like I said before, you're in love with Tor--"
"Stop it. I'm trying to have a serious talk."
"So am I! I'm serious!"
"No. you're not. You're telling me lies and disgusting things. I want the truth."
Matt was about to answer, but then stopped himself. He looked at Tom, as if searching for something in his eyeless sockets. There was a moment of silence where they both stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak up.
"You have Hanahaki Disease."
Tom was about to yell at Matt for continuing with this dumb charade, but something stopped him. There was a tone in Matt's voice that seemed so serious, as if this topic was important to him and he couldn't let it be made fun of.
Tom breathed out a sigh, defeated, "Okay, so... this disease... is real?"
"It really is."
Tom couldn't believe it. If Matt is telling the truth, then he is bearing a disease that was diagnosed in him at birth that made him grow flowers in his lungs and cough them up. To be honest, he should've expected this. First, his parents are a pineapple and a bowling ball, his hair is gravity defying, and he has no eyes but still can see. What's a little disease that could potentially kill him? There's nothing in this world for a freak, like him, anyway.
"Thanks." And with that, Tom made his move to go back downstairs and drown his sorrows in Smirnoff and Vodka.
"Wait, Tom!" Matt was standing now, fumbling to catch Tom's hand and grip onto it. When they made contact, Matt tugged the man back, sending him flying away from the stairs and almost tumbling to the ground.
"Okay, seriously." Tom ripped his hand from Matt's grasp and rubbed at the skin, as if it was in pain, "I'm sorry I pulled you to the ground, but you don't have to go throwing me everywhere!"
"Sorry..." Matt looked like a little kid that was caught breaking a glass window with a baseball bat. Scared and sorry. Tom softened up his expression, but only for a little bit before he went back to scowling.
"What do you want anyway? I just want to go back to my room."
"Tom, I need you to please listen to me!" Matt was urgent now, his anxious mood rubbing off on Tom and making the eyeless freak's heart speed up in anticipation.
"Okay. You know what?" Tom sighed and rubbed at the bridge of nose, "Okay. I'm sitting on the ground, and I'll listen, and then I'll go to my room and you'll leave me alone. Okay?"
"Okay!!" Matt was ecstatic, plopping down onto the ground where he stood and waiting for Tom to do the same. Tom, lazily and carefully, sat himself down in front of Matt and slouched forward, waiting for what the ginger had to say. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Matt breathed, his chest puffing out, and sat up straight. He looked way too excited to be explaining to Tom about his disease that'll eventually kill him.
"Hanahaki grows special flowers in your lungs that don't grow from water! In fact, they grow from heat and air! Not, like... sunlight heat... but, like, blood heat!" Already Tom was disgusted and didn't want to hear more. "But it takes a lot of blood to make them grow and it has to be the right amount! Not too much and not too little! And the right amount of blood and air comes when you're experiencing heart break!
The flowers bloom and multiply a huge bunch when you're experiencing heartache and yeah! And then you'll breathe and they'll go into your windpipe! When that happens, it's always important to drink water because, for some reason, these flowers hate water! I don't know why, they just do?"
Tom was sort of interested at this point. "So you're telling me that drinking water prevents me from dying?"
"Yeah! I mean - wait - no. It kind of does? I mean...." The ginger fumbled around for an answer.
"Matt, I'm asking a question."
"Yeah, I know. Okay, well, it sort of does? But, when the disease gets worse more flowers will appear in your windpipe and then it doesn't work. So, water isn't going to always help."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Tom didn't want to sit here, on the floor, in front of Matt, anymore. He rather sit in his room and drink this all away. Maybe water couldn't help, but Vodka probably could.
"Uhm... the flowers really just don't like anything wet, so it's not only water. But y'know..." Matt shrugged.
"Matt, have I told you today that you're being really uncharacteristically smart?" Tom said, bored and wanting to hang the topic. He didn't want to hear about his inevitable death anymore.
"Nah! But I just know this because I ha-- I mean -- researched it!" Matt was calm until he messed up what he was saying, seeming panicked now and looked all over the room on anything except Tom. He looked worried, as if a big secret was let out. This brought Tom's attention.
"You... what?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" Matt waved him off and coughed loudly to fill in the silence, "I just-" another cough, "researched it a lot!"
Tom stared Matt down. He was about to bring it up again, but that was when Matt decided to speak up.
"Anyway, back to it! Hanahaki Disease..." Matt started, "Well, like I said before, it can kill you! It also happens because you feel unloved by someone that you're in love with! So... there are two options on how to cure it." At this, Tom perked up, "One option is that you have to feel loved again by the person you love. This shouldn't be too hard, and it can actually lead to the both of you falling in love and date and get married and--"
"What's the second option?" Tom interrupted.
"Oh... uhm... surgery. It kind of takes away the flowers and your love for that person."
"Wait, really?" This was the best news Tom has heard. He doesn't have to deal with Tord or this disease or anything! He would just have to pay some doctor to play around in his lungs and take out those stupid flowers and everything will be fine! Well, sort of. Surgery wasn't always the most fun option, but it's better then being told that he's in love with Tord. "I'll do that!"
"No, Wait! I..." Matt hesitated and fumbled with his fingers, picking at his nails slightly, "You can't do it."
"And why not?" Tom glared. Here he is, thinking that maybe Matt wanted to help him, but instead the annoying ginger is trying to get him killed. Maybe everything that Matt was saying are lies and he's feeding him information that'll actually kill him. He wish he had more trust in his friend, but this is a matter of life or death.
"Because... it's really expensive. And you just shouldn't do it."
"I'll get the money somehow," Tom stood up and brushed off his legs, "for now I'm going to set up an appointment."
"Tom, please," Matt stood up and grabbed Tom's hand, only to have it roughly pulled from him. Tom stared at Matt angrily, almost as angry as all those other times he's glared at Tord. Matt faltered. "I... please. You need to talk to Tord."
"And why the fuck should I? We hate each other! There is no love!" Tom vented, "If I ever loved him, I'd either kill him or myself! He's a horrible person that only thinks of himself and if he, by any chance, has any feelings at all, it sure to hell would not be love. He's a menace!"
"Well, uh..." Matt walked backwards a couple paces away from Tom, "I thought about it and I found out your relationship..."
"We're enemies." Tom snapped, "Nothing more."
"Yeah, that too, but..." Matt paused, "You two love hating each other."
Matt is sounding more of a sappy therapist than Edd. He's saying all these things that sound like he's done all this research and knows everything, even when Tom knows more about himself than anyone. Tom refused to respond, looking at Matt and daring him to continue.
"You and Tord fight and only fight with each other... and you two fight like no one else! You just have this... relationship that no one else can have?" Tom hated the word 'relationship' when used with Tord, but he didn't interrupt Matt, letting him continue, "And I think it's because you two get along so well with not getting along! Anyway.... this thing does exist. It's like a love-hate. Only you love to hate that person so much that you fall in love with all the things about them that make you insane!"
Matt sounded so passionate talking about love. All of this was way too weird. First, Matt is sounding a lot smarter than usual, and now he's talking like he's some love genius.
"Okay." Was all Tom could say.
"So you think that you love Tord?" Matt sounded hopeful.
Did he love Tord? Did Tom love the way that the Norwegian got under his skin and picked apart all these things he hated about himself and showed it off to everyone? Did he love Tord because of the way he beats him up and leaves bruises all over him like he got into some gang fight? The answer, probably no.
But there was something there besides hate.
But it can't be love.
"Why do you care?" Tom snapped, and then he turned around on his heels and stomped down the attic stairs, leaving Matt to look worried and hurt.