Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Xmen Revolution. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
What Friends Are For; (Tommy)
Topic Started: Aug 28 2010, 07:19 AM (293 Views)
Wallflower
Unregistered

Date: August 18th
Time of Day: 12:30pm



Laurie was mad at herself. Mad because she had spent so long cooped up on her room feeling sorry for herself because of he behavior of her stupid best friend. Mad because she had spent way too long pining away at him, and subsequently trying to get over him. And mad because she was on her way over to visit him in the infirmary, about to see him for the first time in a few months. Why did this make her mad? Because while she had planned on talking to him for some closure, she hadn't planned on visiting him in a vulnerable state that would make her fawn all over him in her endlessly loyal nature, concerned for him. She had wanted her conversation with him to be short, sweet and simple. To simply talk about what had happened, agree to going back to being good friends and just leave it at that. His injuries were bound to make her care that much more, and make the conversation that much harder for her.

News spread fast around Xavier's. When she had heard what had happened to Tommy out on the grounds, Laurie immediately knew that she had to go see him. Yes, she was mad and upset about how they had left things in New York, but he was still her best friend, and she was not about to abandon him when he was in pain. Damn her loyal nature. It was a burden, it really was. And to add to that, she was terribly confused as to why anyone would want to beat Tommy up in the first place. He wasn't that terrible of a person, to deserve such a brutal beating.

So there she was, walking pointedly through the halls of Xavier's clearly in a hurry, flying down stairs and weaving in and out of masses of students in order to get to her destination. She had actually never been to the infirmary, and really had no idea where it was. Half-way through her walk she realized this, and had to stop and ask someone if they knew how to get to the infirmary. The school could be a confusing place sometimes, so many stairwells and winding halls, half of the time Laurie had no idea where she was.

When she finally reached the sub-levels of Xavier's, Laurie's heart was pounding, and not in a good way. She was incredibly nervous. Come on woman, pull yourself together. You've gotten over your stupid schoolgirl crush on him, there's no reason to be this nervous. It's just Tommy. You'll be fine. Still, Laurie made sure she took her sweet time walking down the hall, prolonging her visit as much as possible. Was she acting childish and ridiculous? Yes. Did she know this? Of course. She simply had to brace herself before she faced the leading cause of her recent hermit-ism.

She stood in front of the door to the infirmary, looking just as pathetic as she felt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before pushing the door open and taking a step over the threshold. When she opened her eyes again, she had to blink a few times under the harsh lighting before her eyes could really adjust. She saw lines of hospital beds and medical machines in just about every nook and cranny. Not every bed was full, thank heavens. In fact, the majority were empty. As she scanned each of the beds, still positioned just inside the door, her eyes finally locked on Tommy's and she winced at just the sight of him. He had always been so strong, it was strange seeing him in such a vulnerable state.

Laurie finally closed the door behind her before walking slowly up to his bed. His white hair blended in with the white hospice linens, but the rest of him was plain to see, every visible chunk of bare skin covered in bruises and scrapes of all shapes and sizes. What the hell... There was no trace of a smile on her face as she examined her friend's unfortunate condition. She was damn near on the verge of tears. She had no idea who would do this to someone like Tommy, or for what reason, but damn it if whoever it was didn't make her sick to her stomach.

When she made it up to his bed, his face was turned in the opposite direction. She fidgeted with her digits nervously as she looked him up and down, not exactly sure what to say first. She decided on sitting on the stool next to his bed for a while, hoping it would calm her down. She wasn't even sure whether or not he was awake, and therefore decided that was her best bet as an opener.

"Tommy..." she began gently, her tone a little unsure. "Tommy, are you awake?"
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tommy Shepard
Unregistered

There was a saying where Tommy came from. Yes, people from Jersey have sayings too. Bad begets bad. His father had always told him that, in part as a way to keep his son on the straight and narrow. Tommy's father had always seen the world as a dangerous and seductive place and he had always feared his son was the type of person who was just to susceptible to things such as that. The gist of the saying was as follows : You do bad, you get bad, the universe saw to it. Tommy had, for the first part of his life,tried to live by that, not so much because he believed it, but because if his father cared enough to go spouting out idioms then the least he could do was follow them. That, however, was before things got complicated.

Tommy had learned, among so many other things, that life didn't always live in black and white. Things got messy. They got confusing, and more often than not, you get stuck making due in life's gray areas until something comes to knock you back on your path. Tommy had done a lot of bad in his time at the Institute. Yes, he had a good heart, and yes, he had done his part to save the world at least once. He had even done his best to befriend a new brother who had been anything but the sort of guy he imagined would be his family. Still, with a wandering eye and a libido to match his sped up metabolism, the white haired mutant was starting to leave a trail of girls in his wake. He hadn't done any of it maliciously. At most his sins were ones of ignorance and indifference. Still he had hurt people, good people who didn't deserve it. Maybe that was why he was in a hospital bed today. Well, that and that rat bastard Julian Keller.

Laurie Collins was one of those girls. He hadn't spoken to her in months. They had had no huge falling out. It's just, what do you say to somebody you left stranded on the crowded streets of New York City. She had wanted more from their relationship and, though he didn't like to admit it, he fed her fantasy. There was something about a beautiful girl wanting him that stroked his ego, even if in the end he couldn't bring it to fruition. They had nearly kissed. He pulled away, acted like a jackass. He didn't have the stones to be a man about it and face up to what he had done. Now, he had even messed things up with Kimmy. It all seemed like such a waste, and it was all his fault.

The kicker to all of it, the worst part was, he still considered the girl his best friend. They had a connection that ran deeper than physicality, deeper than shared humor. There was something there and , even if it couldn't be romantic, he shuttered at the thought of it being lost to him.

He ached a bit as he was rustled into the waking world. The pain meds were beginning to wear off. His powers made things such as that nothing more than fleeting helpers. He opened his eyes to find Laurie there. Through the blur he could tell she looked stoic but concerned. He coughed a bit clearing his throat and sitting up in his bed.

"Laurie, I can't believe you came. It's been...awhile." He felt awkward so, as always, he resorted to humor, his stalwart. "Well, it's good to see you made it back from the city okay."
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Wallflower
Unregistered

When Laurie was growing up, she didn't have many friends. She simply wasn't the social type. She had always been withdrawn and much too insecure to really put herself out there and make friends, even before her power developed. She had been an awkward and generally unhappy kid, with no idea where exactly she fit in. And then, her powers had developed. She gained popularity overnight, and having been so alone all of her life she fed off of the constant attention - but it was a dishonest kind of attention. No one really liked her, it was simply her power invoking that feeling upon them. When she had been informed of this by her mother, she had crashed back down to earth, hard. What she had thought was popularity was just a huge lie, and with that realization she had retreated farther into her shell, unwilling to trust even herself.

And then she came to Xavier's. For a long time at Xavier's, she was the same Laurie she had been before - uncomfortable, insecure and distrusting. It had taken her quite some time and hard work to gain control over her power, and even then she didn't trust the honesty of the feelings of those around her. And then, she met Tommy. It had been one of the rare instances that Laurie Collins could be found outside of her room. She had left simply to get food, but instead of eating it in the corner table of the cafeteria by herself, she had decided that day to bring her food outside. Still a good distance away from most of the students, Laurie had settled down to eat when Tommy had zoomed by, knocking over her spaghetti in his wake and spilling it all over her.

Tommy was the first boy at Xavier's that had actually spoken to her. It had been awkward at first of course, Laurie being the social cavegirl that she was, but Tommy's care-free attitude and contagious happiness had eased her a little bit. She knew that he wasn't affected by her power, or he would have been as uncomfortable as she had felt. It was then that she realized that she really did have control over her power, and that she didn't have to be so damn afraid. For the first time in a long time she had held a conversation without unintentionally screwing with someone's emotions. For the first time in a long time, Laurie had made a friend.

After that, they grew closer. Laurie had considered him her savior, rescuing her from herself. He had pulled her out of her chronic depression and made her happy, and pretty soon they were attached at the hip. She listened to him whenever he had a problem, and made sure she did her best to help him just as he helped her. Over time they developed a very deep friendship, a strong understanding of each other's feelings. Unfortunately Laurie had mistaken their strong bond for a romantic one, but she knew better now. In his absence, she realized that she had only developed such feelings because Tommy was the first boy that ever really paid attention to her. That mistake had caused a lot of jealousy, anger and sadness - feelings that Laurie thought she had grown out of - and she vowed never to be so naive again. Tommy was her best friend, and would ever only be just that.

When she heard the sheets next to her rustling, Laurie looked over at him and winced when he turned towards her. His face was ten times worse than the rest of him. Poor guy, what the hell, she thought to herself as she watched him struggle to sit up. She quickly reached behind him to adjust the pillows so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Undoubtedly in his current state discomfort wasn't completely avoidable.

"Of course I came you nut," said Laurie in disbelief. She would have smacked him upside the head if he wasn't in such a state. She was about to explain why truthfully - because he was still her best friend - but choked at the last minute. Instead, she blurted, "you still owe me twenty bucks." No he doesn't. Shut up.

"Well, it's good to see you made it back from the city okay."

Laurie damn near wanted to punch him for that statement, but she knew that he was only kidding. No doubt seeing her for the first time since he had been such a weenie would be awkward for him. Hell, it was awkward for her! She had been the victim of his idiocy after all. "Yeah, it only took me a few months," she replied with a bit of shrug, as if that were nothing. Feeding his humor seemed to be the best thing to do at this point. "I see that fat butcher came and found you, hey? Looks like he brought the pain," she said, scooting a little bit closer to his bed in the rolling stool. "Never mess with fat men who wear aprons."

"But seriously... what the hell?" she asked, of course in reference to his current condition.
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tommy Shepard
Unregistered

She was there. After what seemed like a lifetime apart, but in real people time was probably no more than a few months, Laurie sat in front of him. The pieces of their relationship seemed to click back into place with her presence. The dull aching absence that Tommy had grown accustomed to was suddenly filled. If Julian had done any good with his crazy violent act, it was that that moment brought this one. Tommy felt a pang of pain as he realized that it took this act to bring the one time inseparable duo back together. Then, as with most of the speedsters feelings and urges, it passed, leaving him with simple gratitude.

"Never mess with fat men who wear aprons."

"Funny," he said, instantly veering back into their unique back and forth. "That's exactly what my fortune cookie said the other day. I knew that was sort of strange." He peered grinning into her eyes. There was too much here to throw away over stupid hormones and mixed signals. It was time to let those things go.

She pressed on, wanting to know exactly what happened to get the boy in the position he was in. He sat up, wincing with the slight pain that shot through him as he moved around.

"I don't know. It's fuzzy. He just attacked me. There wasn't any real reason for it. None that I could see anyway. I wasn't myself. I think I took a bad reaction to that flu shot or something because I was all woozy and slowed down. I think I could've took him otherwise. And that nurse," His eyes trailed off. "She watched the whole thing. It was so weird. When it was over he just knelt down beside me. I think he was apologizing."
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Wallflower
Unregistered

Regardless of how long Laurie and Tommy had been apart from one another, as they sat in the infirmary side by side it was as though that evening in New York had never happened and as though Laurie hadn't come dangerously close to returning to the girl she had vowed never to become again. But the reality of the situation was that it had happened. Her best friend and ray of sunshine had disappeared from her life, and she hadn't known how to handle it so she fell back into her old habits. She had thought that she had grown emotionally stronger since her first days at Xavier's, she thought she could handle being alone. Turned out she was still an emotional basket case on the inside, and still needed just a bit more guidance.

But he was back in her life now, and at least for the time being she would no longer have to worry about going back to that place. They were falling back into their familiar pattern; cracking jokes as they always did, and why? Because it was a very good way to distract both of them from his current condition. Keep things as lighthearted as possible for as long as possible, and hopefully mental and emotional recovery would be just a bit faster. "See, even your fortune is telling you to keep your distance from angry fat men with knives and aprons, and you still don't listen," she said, chuckling lightly. "I would facepalm you right now if you weren't... well y'know," she said, gesturing to his current state a bit awkwardly, frowning. "You may be fast, but they have a pretty wide body slam range." You're a terrible person.

As he sat up and winced in obvious pain, Laurie immediately reached out and gently grabbed his shoulders - very gently - in order to stop him from moving. "Quit it, you'll just hurt yourself more. Stay where you are," she ordered, obviously concerned and upset. She absolutely hated seeing him in pain. It was enough that he had been forced to endure such a beating, she didn't want him to move around and experience even more pain while he was supposed to be recovering.

Laurie listened to his story and tried to follow it, but as he went on she could feel the anger swell inside of her. Why would anyone just attack him? He didn't do anything to deserve it. The pure anger and pain she felt for her friend was evident on her face as he recalled as much as he could. It sickened her to her very core, and she damn near felt physically ill as she just looked at his injuries and tried to understand who in the world would be possessed to do that to someone as wonderful as Tommy. Her stomach turned at the mere thought of it. All she wanted at that moment in time was the ability to make his pain and suffering go away, and also to absolutely fuck up the person responsible.

This guy - whoever he was - who hurt Tommy would be in for a world of pain if Laurie had the stones to hunt him down and confront him. Why didn't she have the stones? Regardless of the fact that she could use her power, she had no idea what this was and how advantageous she would be over him... but if he could manage to do this to Tommy, she wouldn't have a chance in hell of making it out of there breathing. Whoever and wherever this guy was, she could only hope that he was getting what he had coming to him. There was a special place in hell reserved for him, that was for damn sure.

"So whoever it was who did this to you... he didn't have a reason?" she asked, still utterly confused, the anger dripping from her tone. "I just can't understand who would do that to you..." she said, reaching out and gently grabbing hold of his hand. Try to stay light Laurie, for his sake. "I mean you can be a a huge butthead, but never a butthead worthy of such brutal violence," she said, trying to lighten her tone and doing a very terrible job. "Do you even know who this guy was?" she asked, though she wasn't even sure she wanted to find out. If she found out, regardless of her insecurity and disbelief in herself, she would show up at his door guns blazing, and God help his soul if that was ever the case. "You know what, don't tell me. I don't want to become a murderer."

As she sat beside him and observed his current state, and heard the pain in his voice, she decided that she wouldn't pry anymore. She had heard enough, and she was positive that Tommy would much rather be discussing something else rather than reliving such a terrible ordeal. "Well I hope they're getting what they deserve," she said firmly, ending the discussion. Those people didn't deserve her attention at the moment, Tommy did. He was all she cared about and she was going to make sure that he knew it. "Do you need anything?" she asked as she stood up and began hovering over him in a very maternal manner, still trying to rid herself of the feeling of disgust she felt towards the culprit of Tommy's pain.
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tommy Shepard
Unregistered

"Thanks Laurie," Tommy coughed out, his throat still sore along with the rest of him. He felt bad, like some louse. Though he hadn't meant to hurt her (or anyone else for that matter) he had seemed to. It was like that for the speedster, always had been. Good intentions often bred less than stellar results. Like a white haired Gilligan floating through the twenty first century, he always seemed to hurt those closest to him. "For everything Laurie. I mean that. I haven't been great to you and...oww," His jaw ached as he spoke. There seemed to be little he could do these days without it causing him pain. But his pain was better than someone else's he assumed.

"You know, I'm supposed to heal quicker. Super speed, super everything else. If this doesn't go ahead and stop hurting I'm not sure what I'm gonna do." He was feeling sorry for himself, slipping back into the self indulgent habits he had always taken with Laurie. It made him feel good that he could, that he still had her in his life.

"Stupid Keller. I hate that kid. He's always had it out for me. He's nothing but a spoiled loser who hates himself cause he gets everything handed to him and he knows without that he'd be screwed."

"So whoever it was who did this to you... he didn't have a reason?"

"You know, I don't know. He just kept apologizing and saying he had to. At least, I think that was what he was saying. And no sweetheart, I don't need anything. Do you think you could just stay with me awhile ?" That would be enough, for now anyway.
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Wallflower
Unregistered

Laurie shook her head as he tried to thank her. "Don't even worry about it, friend," she said with a small smile, though frowning when she heard him cough. She really hated seeing him like this, and with nothing she could do but watch. Why her best friend, of all people. Why Tommy? What did he ever do to anyone? The whole thing just made her burn. If life was a cartoon, Laurie's face would be red with anger and there would be steam erupting from her ears like a kettle. As she imagined that she held back a little bit of a laugh. That would just be silly. But when she looked back down at Tommy she immediately sobered up.

And then he continued. Going on about how he hasn't been a good friend to her. Admittedly, for a while she had been very mad, and she really did appreciate his apology to her. But that was in the past now. She had moved on, she had realized how juvenile and untrue her feelings for him had been, and they certainly weren't worth messing up a friendship and bond as strong as theirs. Plus, she missed their movies nights.

But she also realized that she should be the one apologizing. She put him in that position. She never should have tried to kiss him, it was foolish and a mistake that every day, she wished she could take back. It would have saved them both a lot of grief in the long run. "You don't have to apologize for anything Tommy, I was the one who put you in that position," she said, shaking her head. "I never should have tried what I did."

She let out a heavy sigh and took his hand. "But it's all in the past now, friend. What matters is the here and now and the here and now is us being best buds again. And you getting better," she said, patting his hand before getting up and wandering around his bed, making sure al of the instruments were where they were supposed to be.

Really wish I was more knowledgeable about this crap, maybe then I could help. She felt so useless, just sitting there and watching him as he winced every time he made a movement.

"I guess it's the drugs or something slowing your body down. And maybe it's a good thing that your body is healing at a normal rate. It's doing a very thorough job, fixing every broken bone and ligament in there. No stone goes unturned," she said with a smile. "I know it hurts, but you just have to rest, take your medicine or whatever it is you take that numbs the pain and sooner or later you'll be running around like a lunatic once again," she said, patting his hand again. She rubbed his cheek a little before settling back in her set at his bed side.

"Keller?! That stuck up little snob?" she asked in surprise. "I knew he was a scumbag but I didn't think he would ever sink this low," she said, the anger and disgust evident on her face. "All I can say is he better be getting everything he deserves and then some. Someone should beat the sit outta him and see if he likes it," she said, huffing a little. No, no she was not a please Wallflower. Not at all.

Naturally, when Tommy asked her to stay she agreed. That was all she wanted really, to be there for him when he needed her. That was what she had always given him before and that wasn't about to change. Not only was she giving him company in the process, but he was giving her back all of the aspects of her personality that had disappeared after he left her in New York. He was doing her a huge favour, asking her to stay, and she would be forever grateful.

"So I miss our movie nights," she said, attempting to change the subject to something a little more lighthearted. "It feels like it's been so long. Once you're out of here and yourself again we're having one immediately. And I'll give you an extra big bag of caramel popcorn crap just for you," she said with a smile. She hated that disgusting food, but she endured it for Tommy's sake.

"What do you say? What kind of movie night should we have?"
Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Free Forums. Reliable service with over 8 years of experience.
« Previous Topic · Xavier Institute Archive · Next Topic »
Add Reply