#tom hanniger x yn

[mlmxreader]

A Big Mistake | Tom Hanniger x gn!reader

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↳ ❝ :0 I finally got around to watching My Bloody Valentine (the 2009 one) and I noticed that you write for Tom! Would you be willing to write something with 20. “Uhm, just a by the way, but everyone knows about us now” with him please? ❞

: ̗̀➛ You and Tom live a happy, quiet, life in the comforting shadow of secrecy, and away from the bigotry of Harmony and its people, until one silly mistake completely crumbles it to pieces.

trigger warnings: ̗̀➛ swearing, mentions of hallucinations, mentions of gaslighting & planting false memories, heavily implied saneism

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spotlight fundraiser : ̗̀➛ Support Muhammad's Surgery & Children Amir and Malak

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It had been years since the incident, and although you knew that Tom was innocent, it was difficult for him to get past it; his mental health had suffered tremendously, and he blamed himself for believing the false memories that Axel had planted in his head.

But he was doing better, now, and he lived quite comfortably with you; the fact that you had animals helped, as he found a sort of solace and peace when he was helping you with feeding, cleaning, health checks, and everything else. He found them to help massively when he was hallucinating, as he could turn to them and see if they were reacting or not, and it helped him keep his calm.

Granted, he still had his bad days, but he was comfortable enough to at least tell you as such. Usually bad days meant spending the entire time in bed watching old films, but you enjoyed it as much as he did.

He did appreciate it, though. The fact that he could actually be honest about what was going on inside his head and not needing to worry about how you would look at him; all of his old friends would have run a mile and called him some truly horrendous things. But not you. You just asked how you could support him, and made sure to make the adjustments.

But nobody outside of the two of you and his psychiatrist actually knew about the relationship; you both wanted to keep it a secret, as neither you nor him wanted to know what the people of Harmony would say about it. The whispers, the comments about his mental health, the awful thing that had happened so long ago.

It was easy to blame the man who had been gaslit and had false memories planted in his head, than it was to accept that their old sheriff was a corrupt, violent, and evil person. It was easy to blame the mentally ill man and point a finger at him, than to admit that mental health did not factor into violent acts.

But that was nothing to worry about right now.

You watched as Tom sat on the floor, careful in his execution as he mixed in bits of calcium dust with vegetables for the invertebrates as one of the snakes sat across his shoulders; a smile on your face as you dared to take your phone out, snapping a quick picture.

At the sound of the shutter, he looked over at you, and dared to smile. "You're takin' pictures of me again? Seriously?"

You shrugged, sitting opposite him. "Can you blame me when you look like that?"

A bit of blush coated his features as he ran a hand through his short brown hair. "Wait there."

You did as he said; he put the snake back into its tank, and put the various foods into the invertebrate tanks before coming back. He gently took your hand in his own, leading you to the bed so that he could sit down and pull you onto his lap; carefully, he grabbed your phone and pulled up the camera. Pointing it at the mirror opposite as he pressed a kiss to your neck and quickly pressed the shutter button.

You grinned, not thinking anything would happen as you tossed the phone onto the bed beside you and turned around to face him; slowly and softly kissing him for a moment, you both smiled into it as he laid one hand on your jaw and the other at the back of your neck. You grabbed his shirt, balling it in your hands in a desperate attempt to keep him close.

Tom dared to let his hand run down to your back, pulling you down with him as he leaned back; you instinctively put your hand out, swiping the phone and not realising.

You laughed softly, pulling away from him and reaching for the phone at last so you could set it on the bedside table; Tom watched as your smile faded, and your eyes widened slightly.

"Baby?" He whispered. "What's wrong?"

"Bollocks," you breathed out, resting a hand on your forehead. "Uhm, just a by the way, but everyone knows about us now... or at least they will soon enough."

He furrowed his brows as he tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

You showed him the phone. "I must have fucking hit share when you pulled me down... fuck!"

"Don't worry," he told you gently. "It'll be fine."

You shook your head, tossing the phone away in frustration. "Tom. Be fucking serious. You know what people in Harmony are like, you know what they think of you, and-"

Tom could tell you were worrying about him more than yourself, and gently tugged at your shirt collar to distract you. "Listen to me, would you? It'll be fine. I mean, fuck, instead of going to Harmony for our food, we can just go to the town on the other side."

You frowned. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"I know," he reassured gently. "I know, it's fine. It's an accident."

"I'll delete it, I'll-"

"Don't." He murmured. "C'mon, we've been a secret for, what? Three years now? I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think."

"I'll call Patricia, she'll-"

"Do nothing," he insisted. "Just... focus on me, alright?"

It made him want to laugh, the amount of times you had said that to him and now he was repeating it back like it was nothing; he grinned to himself as he cleared his throat.

"You're right," you relented at last. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Axel's gone, and, and if push comes to shove, I can always take a few bruises for you anyway if anyone gets a bit chopsy... right?"

"You wouldn't-"

"If I had to, I would," you insisted. "You're more than worth it... most of the time."

Tom tilted his head to the side as he lifted a brow. "Most?"

"Well, I can't say I'm keen on you when you fucking steal off of my plate," you pointed out with a soft laugh. "Can I?"