Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy always hated school. The blaring noise of the school bell ringing down the corridors marked the start of lunch at Redwood Secondary School. The hallways buzzed with chaos as everyone exited their lessons, the noise of laughter and chattering echoing off the lockers. Tommy trudged along the corridor, staring at his shoes, trying to blend into the sea of teenagers but wishing he had a pair of headphones to dull down the noise, it was just too loud for him, it made him want to just curl up in a ball and cover his ears.

As he turned the corner to head down the stairs, a voice spoke.

“Ew, what are you looking at, you scruffy care kid.”

Tommys head snapped up to see who was speaking to him. It was Jason Anderson, the school's bully. His friends circled Tommy and Jason, hoping for a fight. Tommy put his hands in his pockets and clenched his fists. Growing up in foster care, you get used to avoiding confrontation, but Tommy's patience was wearing thin today.

“Not you, why would I willingly look at a grimy beast like you...” Tommy mumbled, looking up, but Jason didn't know when to stop.

“It's gone around school that your real parents ditched you because they couldn't stand you,” he taunted. “I can't blame them, actually, but is that why you're in care? Because your parents thought you were unbearable to be around?”

Tommy looked at the floor again, digging his nails into his palm. He would say something back, but his ears were ringing, and he would pay to be out of this school right now. He tried walking away, but was greeted by a massive crowd of seniors circling him in.

"You're not even wanted by anyone, are you?" Jason sneered. "You're a charity case nobody cares about."

Tommy felt like an animal, cornered in by a cage. He could feel the rage building up inside him, but he couldn't hear anything but his mind repeating the same five words. Get me out of here.

“Can you just shut up?” Tommy said, looking Jason in the eye. “Your voice is jarring.” He saw a few people pull out their phones, getting ready to record the inevitable fight.

“Make me,” Jason said. “What you gonna do, get your mummy and daddy? Oh wait-” Jason was cut off by a punch in the mouth. He tried going for Tommy's nose but missed, making Tommy ram him into the lockers, punching Jason's face. Jason was yanking Tommy's hair, his dull nails scratching all over his face.

Tommy, using a large amount of his body strength to hold himself up from the older boy trying to drag him to the floor, used the remaining bit of energy he had to elbow Jason square in the nose, making him release Tommy and clench his now bleeding nose.

All of a sudden, a teacher came up behind Tommy and grabbed him from under his armpits. tommy thrased in his arms trying to get out of the teachers grip so he could carry on pounding jason's nose.

"GET OFF ME!" tommy yelled, violently thrashing to get the man off him. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he yelled again as jason got up of the floor clenching his nose.

"Fucking freak.." he said walking off covering his nose.

"Who are you calling a freak, you fucking tramp" tommy yelled trying to get the teacher off him so he could have a round 2.

"tommy. calm down." the teacher kept repeating but he couldn't. he had this grown adult touching him, the crowds of year 11's circling him still recording thr after math of the fight. He had the scraching noise of teachers saying stuff on the walki-talki. the teacher stopped restraining him as tightly, holding him by the top of his sholders instead of under his armpits and began guiding him through the crowd and into an office.

the office was almost as bad as the corridor. the noise of the teacher typing on his keyboard, he smell of the air freshener, the footstes from around the office, the ticking of the clock. it was all too much. tommy grabbed his bag from the floor and walked out of the office and into the bathroom, the teacher following him and standing outside of the cubicle he was in.

After that, nearly everything was a complete blur. He remembered getting forced into an different office and being told he was suspended, and he remembered having to sit in reception, waiting for his foster parents to come and get him. But he couldn't remember the conversation with his head of year or the aftermath of the fight very well. He just knows it happened.

“Tommy,” Mr. Turner, the foster dad, said, walking into the school's reception, “grab your bag, let's go, Sue is waiting in the car.”

Tommy just nodded, picked up his bag, and followed Mr. Turner to the car. Daniel Turner was a stern man; he rarely ever smiled, and you could tell by the way he acted that he didn’t want a foster kid and that his wife made him agree to it.

Mrs. Turner was alright, nothing special really. Tommy thinks that getting a foster kid was an impulsive decision for her, like a child getting a hamster and then getting bored of it after two weeks and just leaving it.

When Tommy got in the car, he could tell something was up. Mrs. Turner couldn’t even look at him, not even bothering to acknowledge him, and Mr. Turner seemed even colder than usual (which Tommy didn’t think was possible). However, it made for a really awkward car ride home.

“Can you put the radio on?” Tommy asked, his voice hoarse.

No one replied. Instead, Mrs. Turner just hit the play button, making the radio start up. When 'Vienna' by Billy Joel started playing, Tommy's face lit up instantly. His favorite song.

Tommy hummed the tune under his breath, the noise making the car ride seem slightly less awkward. Tommy’s fingers went through his hair, finger curling the dark brown (already quite curly) locks that hung down to his chest. He just wished this car ride would go faster; the tension in the car was thick, making him uncomfortable, slightly scared even.

He rested his head on the window, looking at the trees. He recognized where he was, approximately 13 minutes away from the house, depending on the traffic.

It only took two minutes longer than it usually did to get home. Tommy thought it had been longer than that, each second feeling like a minute. As the car pulled into the driveway of the white victorion style home, his finger tapped against his leg, the atmosphere around him making him incredibly uncomfortable, giving him the need to run. But he didn’t.

The “family” walked into the house together. Mrs. Turner's head hung while Mr. Turner had that usual cocky walk he always had.

“Tommy,” he began, “we are going to have a family meeting at the dining table.”

Tommy just hummed and followed the Turners to the table. Mrs. Turner had finally looked up, revealing a sad look on her face, and Tommy could tell what it was instantly by that look.

As the two foster parents pulled their chairs out to sit, Tommy resisted the urge to cover his ears as they scraped against the floor.

Tommy sat opposite the two foster parents, breathing heavily, preparing for the words he knew were about to be said. He knew it wasn’t going to be a “family meeting” as Mr. Turner claimed it to be; there was hardly a family there, just a couple and a tagalong foster child.

“Tommy,” Mrs. Turner said for the first time since picking him up from school, “we have some bad news.”

Tommy didn’t even look at them.

“We have no choice but to send you back; we can’t handle you, you're too much.”

Chapter Text

Of course they were. Even though Tommy knew it was coming, it couldn’t help but hurt. It hurt every time, even in the worst home he had ever been in, the leaving part still hurt. It was just a constant reminder that he wasn't wanted or loved by anyone.

“Alright then..can I go pack my stuff?” he mumbled, staring at his shoes.

“yeah..Sam will be here in half an hour.” Mrs Turner said, sounding like she was about to cry.

It was winding Tommy up more by the second. How could she sound like she was about to cry when it was her and her husband's choice to send him back. If anyone should be crying, it was him.

Tommy stood up, his chair scraping on the tile floor as he tucked it back under the table and he walked up the stairs making sure not to even look at the tuners as he was going.

He walked straight into the bedroom he had slept in for the past 2 months. It wasn’t his bedroom, never would be and never was. He sat down on the bed and emptied his school bag all over the white sheets, the fancy new stationary tumbling out, crumpled up homework and catch up sheets littering the bed ( a pen that had leaked slightly leaving a small ink stain on the sheets).

The tuners had gotten him this bag on his second day in their home. To anyone else it wouldn’t be much special but it was much better then something designed to hold rubbish carrying around her stuff, so he decided to keep it.

The first thing he grabbed was the small, scraggy, green blanket that he had since he was a baby. The ends were frayed and it looked like if it went in the washing machine it would completely deteriorate, but he didn’t care. It was his. Then he grabbed his pyjamas off the bed, yes they were old and too short on his legs, but they were his. He threw them into the bottom of his bag, making sure to be extra careful with the blanket.

Then she pulled out a quarter-full bin bag full of clothes from underneath the wardrobe, he didn’t want Mr or Mrs Tuner taking them while he wasn’t there. He grabbed his very limited selection of clothes out of it. 3 t-shirts and 2 pairs of pants, that's all he had, all he needed. He piled them into the bag, not bothering to fold them or make them neat.

He threw more of his little bits into his bag, his toothbrush (that he had had for at least 3 years) and his sketchbook. All things most people wouldn’t care that much about.

The last thing Tommy put in his bag was Henry. His stuffed cow that he had spelt with since he was born. It was so old that it had gone all floppy and had a white (that looked a bit stained now) patch on it. He placed it into the bag as carefully as he possibly could, acting like if it hit anything too hard it would break.

He zipped up the bag and threw it over his shoulder. He took his phone out of his pocket. It was 2:30 now. Sam would be here in 15 minutes and Tommy quite frankly didn’t want to wait around for him.

He knew the turners wouldn't let him leave though. So how could he get out without them seeing him.. He brainstormed in his mind 100 ideas a second going through his head when he got a great idea.

He walked over to the window and looked out of it. His bedroom was at the front of the house. The window being directly over the roof covering the front porch. Tommy knew exactly what he was going to do.

He opened the window as carefully as possible, not wanting it to make a noise that anyone could overhear. Once the window was fully open he climbed onto the window sill, not letting his feet hit it too hard.

Tommy had to move fast, not wanting the chance for anyone to alert his (ex) foster parents that he was climbing out a window.
He put his first foot out of the window, holding on to the window sill. He made sure his foot had a good grip on the roof before hoisting his other leg down. He stumbled a bit on his first few step and noticed that the roof was slanted downwards, so Tommy kneeled down so his hands could touch the floor as he walked towards the edge of the roof.

He looked down at the floor at the drop from the edge of the roof, it was quite a big one. He thought about it for a minute. There were some pillars holding the roof up that he could try to slide down and some flimsy trellis covered in vines that looked like it could snap at any moment, there was also a gutter pipe going around the roof that gave Tommy an idea.

He turned around so he was facing the house and held onto it. Once He felt like it could hold his weight. He lowered his first leg down, his second leg following shortly after so he was holding himself up. Then he let go and dropped down on the grass.

It didn’t hurt at all which Tommy was shocked by, he's done tons of stuff like this before but it usually hurts. He stood up straight and adjusted the bag on his back making it more comfortable and began walking away from the house he's been staying at for the past few months, not bothering saying bye to Mr or Mrs tuner.

He walked for a good 20 minutes before he came across the local park. Tommy decided to stay there for an hour or so just trying to stall seeing Sam, not avoid it completely.

He sat on a bench near the playground in the park and checked his phone. He saw 6 missed calls and 25 texts from sam. Oh fuck. They knew he wasn’t there, that means he will be out looking, giving Tommy a lot less time then he thought he would have.

Tommy looked up from his phone, his fists were hurting. Tommy looked at them and saw how they were red raw and bleeding slightly.

“Oh fuck…” he mumbled to himself.

“Mummy! Can we go on the swings..Pleasee.” a young girls voice rang out across the silent park. Tommy looked up from his hands and saw a blonde girl and her mum walking up to the playground.

“Sure honey.” the girl's mum said.

Tommy watched as family’s came pouring into the park and wondered what was going on. He saw how all the kids were wearing the same uniform, and figured that that school had just finished and they were all going home. He couldn’t blame them, it was one of the last nights before it gets cold for autumn and winter.

He sat on his phone but occasionally glanced at some of the families. He thought about how happy the kids looked and how the parents looked like they didn’t mind the kids running round, being noisy and annoying.

He thought about how he didn’t get anything like that when he was a kid, getting punished for being too loud. He thought about how none of his foster parents wanted to keep him for acting like some kids on the park.

Tommy took a deep breath in, trying not to get upset about it, grabbed his bag and left the park, deciding to just wander the streets rather than sit at the park.

He walked round multiple roads, just mindlessly wandering around until it was gone half 4. He pulled out his phone, sat under a tree in a different park. He looked at his notifications and saw 36 missed calls from sam and over 100 texts.

Tommy clicked on Sam's number and began calling him. It only rang once before he heard Sam's familiar voice speak through the phone.

“TOMMY? IS THAT YOU?” Sam yelled down the phone, clearly worried.

“Can you stop shouting? Please "Tommy said, acting like he hadn’t been missing for 2 hours.

“STOP SHOUTING? TOMMY YOU RAN OFF WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING FOR TWO HOURS," Sam shouted even louder down the phone, loud enough for Tommy to move the phone away from his ear and still hear him. “DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I’VE BEEN? ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME!”

Oh yeah, Tommy forgot about that.

“I’m sorry, yeah. Can you just come and get me.. I’m at Logstedshire park.”

“Ok, I'm on my way.” Sam said. finally calm.

Chapter Text

When Sam arrived, Tommy was not in a good way. He was still sat under the oak tree but instead of being sat with his legs in front of him and back leaning on the tree, he was curled up in a ball, pulling at his messy blonde hair.

The second Sam saw him, he ran towards Tommy and tried to calm him down but nothing he did was working.

“Toms..whats wrong..calm down..” Sam kept repeating but Tommy wasn’t responsive. “Stop pulling your hair.” sam said grabbing tommy’s hands.

“Get off” Tommy mumbled, trying to get his hands away from Sam, but Sam didn't budge.

“Do you want to come to the car with me toms.. It’ll be quiet there.” Sam offered. Tommy just nodded and stood up. Sam walked him to the car.

Tommy got in the back seat, behind the passenger seat and put his bag in the seat next to him. He did some deep breathing that Sam was telling him to do.

In…1..2..3…4… and out…1…2…3…4… he did this multiple times until he was calm, sam not driving until he knew Tommy wasn’t worked up anymore.

“You good now tommy?” Sam said softly.

Tommy nodded.

“What happened, you sounded fine when you were on the phone to me?”

Tommy mumbled something that Sam couldn’t understand.

“Didn't quite get that toms.”

“I was in the park waiting for you, and Jason from school showed up…” Tommy told Sam a bit clearer than before.

“The one you had a fight with today?” Sam interrupted.

“Yeah, him. Well he showed up and started shouting at me… and he tried taking my bag….”

“HE DID WHAT?!” Sam shouted, getting angry at the idea of someone trying to rob the kid he was responsible for. He stopped shouting when he saw Tommy flinch slightly though. “Sorry.”

“Well he tried taking my bag, so I stood up for myself and he ran off and said he was getting his dad, and then..the thing happened.” Tommy finished the story and Sam went silent. he was angry, but he knew he couldn’t do anything.

“So..where am I getting put?” tommy said, trying to change the conversation clearly not wanting to speak about it anymore.

“A group home just for tonight and then hopefully a foster home.” Sam told Tommy, starting the car.

“Oh…” Tommy replied.

“The foster home I have in mind is really good with kids like you.” Sam said.

Kids like him. Kids who have behaviour issues and can’t focus. Kids who can’t sit still and are genuinely just massive fuck ups.

Tommy didn’t reply, he put his head on the window and watched as Sam drove out of logsteshire.

“Can you put the radio on?” Tommy asked sam.

“Sure.” Sam said as he pressed the button to turn on the radio.

The music made the car ride less awkward. Tommy tapping his leg to the music and Sam humming the tune. Tommy stared out of the window, watching the fields and forests go by, eventually leading them into where the rest of the houses and shops are.

“Do you want mcdonalds?” Sam asked abruptly, flicking his indicator to go through the drive through.

“Yeah please.” Tommy mumbled, head still on the window.

“What do you want?”

“Please Can I have a 6 nugget meal with medium chips and medium coke.” Tommy said.

“Sure.” Sam answered, pulling up to the order box. Sam said his and Tommy's order and they carried on through the drive through, paying for the food and picking it up. he pulled into a parking space so they could eat when Sam's phone started ringing.

“One sec I need to take this.” sam said passing tommy his food and drink then climbing out the car so he could speak without tommy listening in.

Tommy began eating awkwardly, the music being one of the only noises he could hear along with Sam shouting bits and pieces down the phone. He had no idea how Sam became a social worker. Usually they have to pass tests about coping in stressful situations without getting angry and shouting but when Sam got upset he shouted a bit.

Tommy had almost finished all his food when Sam got back in the car. He was rubbing his eyes and even tommy could tell he was stressed (and he got told by everyone he was rubbish at reading people).

“What’s wrong?” Tommy said with a mouthful of chicken nuggets.

“Just a change of plans.” Sam said, taking out his meal and started eating. “I’ll tell you after we’ve finished eating.”

Oh. a change of plans. Tommy hated those things.

Tommy carried on eating his chicken nuggets while he waited for Sam, only taking tiny bites so they lasted long enough for sam to finish.

“You done toms?” Sam asked, noticing Tommy not eating anymore.

“Yeah.” Tommy replied, wanting to know what plans had been changed.

“Same, pass me your rubbish so I can put it in the bin.” Sam said. “I don’t want any of my other kid’s knowing about this. I’ve already been accused of favouriteing you.”

Tommy passed his rubbish forward, Sam got out of the car and Tommy watched put all the rubbish in the bin through the window. He wished Sam would just hurry up and tell him what the plans were.

Sam climbed back into the car and put his seat belt on. “Put your seatbelt back on Tommy, were setting off again, it’s gonna be a long drive.”

Tommy nodded and put his belt on.

“Alright so what i'm going to tell you was not my plan or idea ok?” Sam said, starting to drive again. “The group home i was originally was going to have to take you to has just had to take in a bunch of kids on an emergency.”

Sam looked at Tommy through the rear-view mirror.

“So you're going to have to go to the foster home tonight.” sam finally told Tommy the news.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Tommy shouted. “I AINT DOING THAT.”

“I know you don’t want to, but isn’t up to me what to do with you, I just have to do what my higher ups tell me, you know that toms.”
Tommy went quiet and stared at his feet.

“Its a 2 hour drive, so it’ll be gone by 7 by the time we get there.” sam told him, turning the radio up slightly.Tommy just nodded, put his head on the window and played subway surfers on his phone until he drifted off into a light sleep.