#not tagging a fic as bucktommy feels weird shsbsbdhdbd that's usually all i write

[tommykinard217]

for the writing game! 🍻 please - the chimtommy bestie bros we deserve

Send me emojis from this post and I'll write a couple of sentences (or more) for the corresponding idea/wip! This absolutely got away from me but I don't regret it

Making friends was something that never came naturally to Tommy. The deep seated fear that people would realize there was something wrong with him, something broken, made it hard to connect to people.

Sure, he had Sal, but they bonded over mutual bitchiness and an unspoken pact to back each other up whenever Gerrard turned his ire on them.

Sal didn't know. That Tommy was gay. Tommy did his damn best to hide it. Using a revolving door of fake girlfriends to placate him and Gerrard.

Howie though. Howie saw right through him. He really shouldn't have been surprised. Howie's ability to put two and two together is what saved him from dying an explosive death in a shitty fucking mall.

He didn't bring it up in front of anyone else. He didn't even mention it to Tommy himself. But it was the way Howie would always deflect the second Gerrard asked why his girlfriend never made them any dinner, asking Tommy if he had seen that new movie that just came out or if he could maybe see why his car was making a weird noise.

It was the way Howie would squeeze Tommy's shoulder and steer him away whenever girls at a car started flirting with him. Usually to take his place, but he understood the real sentiment.

It could all have been brushed away, but Tommy just knew that Howie knew, and that he was waiting for whenever Tommy was ready to say the words himself.

He didn't think he'd ever be able to, but knowing Howie would stand by him regardless...it was nice.