Tommy ran down the corridor in tears. He wanted the ground to just swallow him up right there and then. In that moment, he hated Tubbo, and Phil, with every bone in his body. Tubbo was the only person he had ever opened u0p to - and he had just betrayed him, like he was nothing. Tubbo was just like the others. He didn't need him. He didn't need them. He didn't need any of them.

Tommy was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the rather angry male walking towards him. He was only snapped out of his thoughts when he was slammed against a locker.

"Are you even listening!?" Wilbur.

Tommy just shrugged.

"You're going to be so done when my wrist heals." Wilbur was referencing his broken hand, now encased in a large, white cast. Tommy rolled his eyes, causing Wilbur's grip to tighten. "Don't test me; I still have one working arm."

"WILBUR! Wilbur I swear if you don't let him go-" Techno was interupt do by a small sniffle from Tommy. Techno visibly tensed. "If you did anything-"

"Relax Techno, I was just leaving." Wilbur winked, let go of Tommy, and sauntered away.

Tommy fell to the ground without Wilbur supporting his weight. He didn't care anymore. Wet, sticky tears rolled down his face, for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Tommy-"

"GO AWAY!"

Techno muttered something about everyone interrupting him, but immediately refocused his attention when he realised Tommy was crying.

"Let's go. Get up." Techno wasn't much of a 'people person', but he would try to help anyway.

"Where-"

"Let's go." Techno put an arm around Tommy's shoulder and lead him towards the library. He hated the way Tommy flinched under his touch.

They sat down on a secluded sofa in a corner of the large, wooden room. It was away from the main section, not that there were many people who actually came into the library.

"Tommy, it's okay. Did Wilbur try anything?" Tommy just shook his head, and nuzzled his face further into Techno's chest. They sat like that for while, with Techno gently stroking Tommy's fluffy hair.

"Why don't you hate me?" Tommy broke the silence.

"Why would you think that I hated you?" Techno gently nudged the small child's face upwards, giving him eye contact. Tommy's face was puffy from crying, and stained red, which clashed with the deep shade of blue his swollen eye was.

"Everyone else does."

"Who's everyone?"

"Wilbur, Tubbo, Phil..."

"Wilbur... yeah I can't really argue against that. You did kinda beat the shit out of him! Tubbo's been your best friend since forever, and from what I can tell, he will continue to be your best friend. Phil - hah! I remember thinking Phil hated me too - I mean he probably did. I was a demon child!" This earned a small chuckle from Tommy. "From the sounds of it, you are too."

Tommy looked away, and an uncomfortable silence settled over them. Techno realised he had touched on a sensitive topic, but didn't really know what to say. They sat there, each scouring their brains for what to do next. Neither wanted to end the situation, they just didn't know how to continue it.

"It will work out in the end, just promise me you'll apologise."

"No."

"Tommy-"

"NO!"

"Sssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh!" An elderly librarian sent them a warning look.

"Tommy," Techno was now aggressively whispering, "it won't get better if you don't apologise."

"But Pinkieeeeeeeee" Tommy gave Techno puppy eyes.

"I told you not to call me that."

"Can't you do it?"

"It's not the same. Tommy I-" Techno sighed, as Tommy had curled into a ball against his arm. He went back to playing with his hair, thinking Tommy was asleep.

"That's not a no." Tommy smirked.

"Tommy! I thought you were sleeping!"

"Still not a no."

"You're annoying."

"I'm right though."

Techno dramatically gasped, clutching his chest like someone had died. This sent Tommy into fits of hysterical laughter, which only made Techno's acting worse, letting out a low chuckle and breaking character.

It wasn't long before Tommy was curled against Techno's side once again, this time actually sleeping. Techno was deep in thought. Tommy reminded him of himself, just somehow worse. Tommy was completely out of control. Before Techno met him, he didn't even know if that was possible! It was no secret that Techno was a nightmare.

So far, Phil was an undefeated legend. He had solved every 'case' in under three months. The school had a rule that anything that took over six months, was deemed a lost cause, and Phil's mentoring would stop. So far, Phil hadn't even come close to that deadline.

Techno wasn't sure when, but at some point, he too fell asleep, but not before he looked at the time. 10:30. This was the first class he had skipped since Phil's babysitting (Tommy had really hit the nail on the head with that name).

Techno lost consciousness with one thought on his mind: would he be a good influence on Tommy, or would Tommy be a bad influence on him?

Gosh - Techno hated how much power the small boy held over him, and they had barely known each other more than two weeks; one of which Tommy wasn't even in school!

Techno was not a people person. His only friends were Wilbur and Phil (actually he didn't really know what Phil was to him - he was more like a dad than anything). So how had this mere child wriggled his way to the centre of his life, without even knowing it?

————

When Techno woke up, he noticed Tommy had moved. He was no longer sleeping against him. Instead, Tommy was huddled in the other corner of the sofa with a large book in his hands.

"Wacha reading there, Tommyyyyyyyyyyyy?" Techno spoke in his usual monotone voice, but dragged out the last syllable of Tommy's name.

"I don't know. It looked good, so I picked it up waiting for you to wake up." Tommy closed the book and looked at the front cover. "Ah! It's called 'The Art of War'. It's really good."

Techno stared at the book, and in that moment knew that this was the start of a life-long brotherly bond.

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak." Techno chucked to himself, showing that he recognised the book.

"Oh yeah! I'm just reading that bit right now actually!"

Okay - Techno full on loved this boy now.