Work Text:
Now, don’t get him wrong, Tommy knew he would eventually grow wings one day.
His father, Phil, had his own pair of large, jet black crow wings protruding out of his back, and his brothers each had their own special sets as well.
But by god, Tommy didn’t actually think it was going to hurt this bad.
His family had talked about their wings with such pride and happiness, he never would have thought they would have hurt to grow in the first place, let alone be this painful.
Tommy was lying curled up in the fetal position on his bed, with his hands gripping his own arms so tightly his nails were leaving marks on them. He was sobbing, and his body was aching to a degree he was sure he had run a marathon the day before and simply had no recollection of it. His back felt like it was on fire, and he swore he would be rocking back and forth if he hadn’t already figured out that it made the pain worse.
He had already missed a few days of school at this point, and was a hundred percent sure that it would be at least another week before he even thought about returning. He hadn’t even had the energy to pick up his phone and text his friends about what was happening, and why he hadn’t been showing up.
Which he supposes is how he ended up in this position.
Someone was knocking on his window, and before he even had the chance to look up to see who it was, they were opening it as well.
The sound of sneakers hitting the floor wasn’t a familiar sound, but not entirely unwelcome either. There were only a few beats of silence before a voice broke through, “Tommy?”
He let his eyes open, despite the amount of light in his room making him just want to close them again and maybe this time actually manage to fall asleep. His eyes met those of his best friend, Purpled, and he swore he started crying harder, even if the flow of tears down his face stayed at the same pace as before.
“Tom?” Purpled questioned him again, and he just shook his head in response, he wasn’t sure he could get the words out if he wanted to. Purpled frowned, walking closer and sitting down on the edge of the bed carefully, making sure not to move it too much as his best friend was clearly in immense amounts of pain. He reached his hand out and grabbed Tommy’s, carefully squeezing it and rubbing his thumb over the other’s knuckles.
Tommy still wasn’t sure if he could get any words out properly, but he was going to damn well try. His voice cracked the first time he tried, and he had to clear his throat for the words to come out clearly enough to understand. “Thank you.”
Purpled simply shook his head, letting a smile grace his features before it quickly returned to the blank look he was known so well for, and Tommy almost laughed at the thought.
Luckily Tommy’s tears seemed to be letting up quite a bit, and he sighed, knowing he really couldn’t put off explaining for much longer. “Wings.” he stated, and he knew the one word explanation would be enough for the other, he was always the smartest out of the two of them after all.
Realization flashed in Purpled’s eyes before it was replaced with concern, and Tommy would have smacked him in any other situation, having always hated to be the cause of other people's problems, even if it was entirely justified.
Purpled just squeezed his hand again, and Tommy knew he would have to cherish it, as his friend was never exactly the biggest fan of things like physical affection. He whispered out a quick “I’m sorry” before Tommy quickly waved him off, shutting him up before he could continue with that spiel any longer.
“Do you need anything? Pain meds, water, a snack?” Purpled asked him, just shook his head again. He had already tried the pain medication, but it only helped with the achiness of his body a tiny bit, and he quickly decided it wasn’t even worth it to keep taking. He also wasn't sure he could even stomach water right now, let alone any sort of food.
“Just- stay? Please?” Tommy knew it was childish, and he hated how desperate he sounded, but he honestly wasn’t sure he could take being alone with the pain any longer, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to call up one of his brothers to sit with him. Plus, if the pain was finally starting to let up the tiniest bit, he wanted to at least have someone there for when his luck ran out.
“Whatever loser, move over.” Purpled rolled his eyes, smiling like an idiot as he took off his shoes before climbing up into the bed. Tommy moved over, making space for the other next to him, and placing his head on the other’s stomach when he was finally situated.
Purpled absentmindedly ran his fingers through Tommy’s hair, holding his phone in the other hand and scrolling through some random social media app that he only seemed to be half paying attention to.
And despite all odds, Tommy finally started to drift off to sleep.