Fic: Butterfly Effect 30/?(BWOC, Tommy/Merton, NC17)
I am feeling kind of poorly. My throat's been hurting since I got to work and my glands are swollen and I'm starting to think I might be coming down with something. JOY. At least I have tomorrow off.
Word count for the day: 1952
Who knows what tomorrow will be like, writing-wise. Depends on whether I actually get sick or not, I suppose. In the meantime, however, here is the next chapter of Butterfly Effect. I'm not sure I like it, and it might get rewritten when I get to the final edit, but after three days I'm tired of looking at it, so it's getting posted. Doesn't that sound fabulous? Aren't you super-excited to read it now? Previous chapters are here in case you need them.
It took forever to get assignments back at this school. Merton wasn't used to being kept waiting, and considering they were out in the middle of nowhere, he wasn't sure what their teachers had to do that was so much more important than grading their math tests. But it took over a week to get them back, and it was all Merton could do to keep himself from muttering 'about time' as his test landed on his desk.
He got a perfect score, of course, but he barely spared a glance at his own paper. The grade he was really interested in was Tommy's; they'd worked hard to make sure Tommy understood all the problems that were covered on the test, so in a way Tommy's grade reflected on Merton too.
"So?" he asked when the bell finally rang and he followed Tommy out of the classroom, "how'd you do?"
"86," Tommy answered, grinning proudly as he handed his paper over. "That's the best grade I've gotten in math since eighth grade."
"86?" Merton repeated, ignoring Tommy's self-satisfied expression as he yanked the test out of his roommate's hand. He scoured the page for mistakes, rolling his eyes when he spotted one their teacher didn't even catch. "A B? We can do better than a B."
"Are you kidding? If I get a B in pre-Calc my father will probably have a coronary."
But Merton was already planning for their next study session, going over the mistakes on Tommy's test to see what he still needed to work on. And it wasn't bad, really, considering what Merton had to work with, but he was sure they could get an A next time if Tommy just applied himself.
"You can do better," Merton assured him, waving Tommy's test to illustrate his point. "These mistakes are really basic. All you need is a better grasp of the basic formulas and you'll get an A next time."
"You really think so? Thanks, M…uh…thanks, man. That's really cool of you."
Tommy flushed and looked away, and it took Merton a few seconds to figure out why he suddenly looked so nervous. It had been so long since Merton had talked to anyone besides Tommy that he forgot about the last names rule, and until now he'd never really thought about the fact that it was kind of strange that Tommy used his first name when they were alone.
He'd never really stopped to wonder why before; Merton had sort of asked him to, sure, but that didn't mean Tommy had to go along with it. He was kind of a stickler for the rules, after all, but he'd been breaking this particular rule since they moved in together.
Merton glanced over his shoulder to find Krauss and Roberts following them, a few of their cronies trailing behind. Krauss was pretending not to notice them, but Roberts was looking right at Merton, grinning in that way that made Merton's skin crawl. And he didn't really care that Tommy's ex-friends hated him, but he knew what they were capable of, and if they overheard Tommy breaking rules there was no way they'd just let it go.
"We'll work on it after dinner," Merton said, turning back to Tommy long enough to nod in the direction of his next class. "Wouldn't want to miss out on Warfare for Dummies."
That got him another smile, and just for a second Tommy stopped looking so tense. It only lasted a second, but it was kind of nice to know that he could distract Tommy even for that long. There wasn't much to look forward to for either of them, after all, so if Merton could do something little to cheer him up, he wanted to do it.
He veered off the path and across what passed for the lawn, boots crunching the brittle grass under his feet on the way to his next class. Most of the day he and Tommy were in the same classes, but being a first-year student meant Merton had to take some lame History of Warfare requirement while the rest of the squadron was in Leadership Training. Merton had no idea what they taught these guys about leadership, but from what he'd seen so far, it wasn't much.
"Cadet."
Merton stopped in his tracks at the sound of the voice behind him, hands curling into fists as he waited for the rush of panic to pass. When he finally turned he found Krauss standing a few feet away, hands clasped behind his back and looking like he'd just sort of appeared rather than running after Merton. And he wasn't bad-looking, Merton had to admit, but he'd probably be a lot cuter if he'd stop looking so miserable all the time.
Of all Tommy's so-called friends he was the least terrifying, but he was also the one who lost his roommate because of Merton. Then again, he had his own room now - also thanks to Merton - so maybe he just wanted to express his gratitude.
"Yes, sir," Merton said, pulling himself to attention and managing not to roll his eyes.
"You and I need to get a few things straight."
Merton wasn't sure how to answer that; he wasn't even sure Krauss was expecting an answer. For all he knew this entire conversation was a trap to get him in more trouble, so in the end he decided just to keep his mouth shut.
"You're nobody," Krauss said after awhile, voice laced with scorn and it might have bothered Merton if he cared what any of them thought of him. If any of them could think for themselves in the first place. "You don't matter at this school, but Dawkins does, and I'm not going to stand by while you drag him down with you."
"All I did was help him with his math," Merton said, and he was probably supposed to add a 'sir' in there somewhere, but this whole conversation was already ridiculous enough. He knew what it was about; he wasn't stupid, and neither was Krauss. But he wasn't doing anything, and it wasn't his fault Tommy was too nice for his own good.
"You might be fooling Dawkins, but nobody else is buying it," Krauss said, taking a step forward and Merton was pretty sure that was supposed to be menacing. He wanted to laugh, because none of them gave Tommy enough credit. They didn't even know him, not really, and they had no idea what Tommy knew. He knew a lot more than the rest of them did about Merton, and so far he was okay with everything he knew. The fact that the rest of them couldn't handle it wasn't Merton's problem.
"Are you done? Because I'm going to be late for class."
Technically that probably counted as insubordination, and Merton half expected Krauss to threaten to write him up or sentence him to more KP duty or something. Instead he just looked at Merton, eyes narrow like he was trying to figure out what he was missing. Then he shook his head and took a few steps backwards.
"I'm watching you," he said, glaring for another second before he turned on his heel and headed back the other way.
And okay, that was a threat, but Merton couldn't tell if Krauss was planning to finish what the Eckerts had started, or if he was just worried about Tommy's reputation. If he was, he had a funny way of showing it, because he'd cut Tommy out of his life along with the rest of his friends. It was their fault Tommy spent all his time with Merton, and Merton wasn't about to bail on him the way everyone else had, no matter who threatened him.
~
Tommy didn't really mind that none of the other guys wanted to talk to him. Okay, so it was weird to ride to and from away games on the same bus with the rest of the team while they all pretended he wasn't there, but it wasn't the end of the world. He didn't have to spend the trip going over plays in his head anymore, and he didn't have to keep the guys in line. All he had to do was show up, really, and it was kind of…nice.
He just wished the other guys would wait until he wasn't around to talk about him.
Not that he could make out much of what they were saying, but judging by the laughter and the pointed glances in his direction, it was pretty obvious the joke was on him. And that…okay, that hurt a little bit, but he knew he hadn't done anything wrong, so mostly he just tried to ignore it.
"Hey, Dawkins."
Tommy managed not to flinch at the sound of Chuck's voice, dragging his gaze away from the bus window to look at the other boy. He was sort of sprawled across the seat in front of Tommy, grin firmly in place and Tommy knew that couldn't be good.
"So, how are things with the boyfriend?"
It was obvious what he was doing. Everyone on the bus was watching Chuck show off, and Tommy knew this was just another way to assert his power as the new team captain. Only Tommy had never resorted to belittling a team member to prove he was in charge, and if that was the kind of team captain they wanted, he was glad they'd forced him to resign.
"Don't be a jerk, Roberts."
"What? I'm just trying to make conversation. I mean, it must be nice to have your own personal math tutor. Part of the whole 'friends with benefits' package, right?"
The whole team was staring at him now - everyone but the coach, anyway, because he was talking to the bus driver - and Tommy could feel the heat creeping up his neck. And he didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, because Chuck was wrong. There was nothing going on between Tommy and Merton, but if everybody in their squad believed it, it might as well be happening.
"It's not like that," Tommy said, though he didn't even sound convincing to himself.
"So what's it like, then? You learning something besides math from your private tutor?"
And now he was really blushing, but that was the worst thing he could do, because there was no way the team would believe nothing was going on if he couldn't even deny it without turning bright red. Not that they were going to believe the truth anyway, not when Roberts' lies were so much more interesting. And Tommy wouldn't care, except that this was exactly the kind of lie that could get him and Merton both in more trouble than either of them could talk their way out of.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said, and God, that sounded lame.
"Hey, I'm just saying you're lucky," Chuck answered, voice rising a little and Tommy heard a few of the guys laugh uncomfortably. "It's not like the rest of us have a roommate who's willing to blow us and then do our math homework."
As soon as Chuck said it Tommy pictured it, and that was exactly the wrong thing to do. Because he could see it, Merton on his knees and okay, Tommy had never actually gotten a blow job before, but he understood the basics. And he shouldn't be picturing his roommate sucking him off, but as soon as he did knew it wouldn't be the last time.
Now wasn't the time, though, so he forced the image to the back of his mind and focused on not giving in to the urge to punch Chuck in the face. That would get him kicked off the team, and if that happened his father really would kill him. Being star quarterback was the only thing he still had going for him, and if he had any prayer of getting into the Citadel he had to stick it out until the end of the season.
"Shut up," he said, the words coming out in a growl and drawing the attention of the coach.
"What's going on back there?" he barked, and Tommy flinched at the way Chuck grinned at him.
"Nothing, sir," he answered through gritted teeth, hands still clenched at his sides and he really, really wanted to hurt Chuck. He wasn't even sure why, because he didn't care what Chuck thought of him. It was just that he was so smug about all Tommy's failures, and it hadn't been that long since Chuck had called himself one of Tommy's friends.
The bus pulled back onto school grounds before Tommy could make things even worse, and he did his best to ignore Chuck's smirk as he filed off the bus behind the rest of the team. His face was still flushed and he could feel the rest of them staring at him, but Tommy pretended not to notice. All he really wanted to do was get back to his room and forget this whole conversation ever happened, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Dawkins," the coach said as soon as Tommy stepped off the bus, and yeah, it definitely wasn't going to be easy.
"Yes, sir."
The coach was staring at the note some underclassman had handed him, but when Tommy answered he glanced up sharply. "You're to report to the Dean's office, pronto."
It took Tommy a second to answer, but finally he managed to pull himself together long enough to nod. "Yes, sir," he repeated, heart skipping a beat as he turned toward the Dean's office.
He didn't worry so much about the others finishing what Eckert had started, at least not while Chuck was with him at away games. If anyone was likely to do something to Merton it was Chuck, after all, but now he wasn't so sure. He couldn't think of another reason for the Dean to summon him, anyway, and it was hard to stop himself from taking a detour to the infirmary just to make sure Merton wasn't lying on the cot in the back again.
Instead he forced his legs to carry him to the Dean's office, moving more slowly the closer he got to the Dean's door. When he finally reached it he took a deep breath and knocked, steeling himself for whatever bad news the Dean was going to deliver this time.
The door swung open and Tommy drew himself to attention, eyes straight ahead as the Dean himself stood aside and gestured for Tommy to enter. When he did he saw that they weren't alone, and his heart sank at the familiar sight of two silver stars.
"General," he said, pulling himself back to attention and keeping his eyes straight ahead as the General turned to look at him.
"Son."
Word count for the day: 1952
Who knows what tomorrow will be like, writing-wise. Depends on whether I actually get sick or not, I suppose. In the meantime, however, here is the next chapter of Butterfly Effect. I'm not sure I like it, and it might get rewritten when I get to the final edit, but after three days I'm tired of looking at it, so it's getting posted. Doesn't that sound fabulous? Aren't you super-excited to read it now? Previous chapters are here in case you need them.
It took forever to get assignments back at this school. Merton wasn't used to being kept waiting, and considering they were out in the middle of nowhere, he wasn't sure what their teachers had to do that was so much more important than grading their math tests. But it took over a week to get them back, and it was all Merton could do to keep himself from muttering 'about time' as his test landed on his desk.
He got a perfect score, of course, but he barely spared a glance at his own paper. The grade he was really interested in was Tommy's; they'd worked hard to make sure Tommy understood all the problems that were covered on the test, so in a way Tommy's grade reflected on Merton too.
"So?" he asked when the bell finally rang and he followed Tommy out of the classroom, "how'd you do?"
"86," Tommy answered, grinning proudly as he handed his paper over. "That's the best grade I've gotten in math since eighth grade."
"86?" Merton repeated, ignoring Tommy's self-satisfied expression as he yanked the test out of his roommate's hand. He scoured the page for mistakes, rolling his eyes when he spotted one their teacher didn't even catch. "A B? We can do better than a B."
"Are you kidding? If I get a B in pre-Calc my father will probably have a coronary."
But Merton was already planning for their next study session, going over the mistakes on Tommy's test to see what he still needed to work on. And it wasn't bad, really, considering what Merton had to work with, but he was sure they could get an A next time if Tommy just applied himself.
"You can do better," Merton assured him, waving Tommy's test to illustrate his point. "These mistakes are really basic. All you need is a better grasp of the basic formulas and you'll get an A next time."
"You really think so? Thanks, M…uh…thanks, man. That's really cool of you."
Tommy flushed and looked away, and it took Merton a few seconds to figure out why he suddenly looked so nervous. It had been so long since Merton had talked to anyone besides Tommy that he forgot about the last names rule, and until now he'd never really thought about the fact that it was kind of strange that Tommy used his first name when they were alone.
He'd never really stopped to wonder why before; Merton had sort of asked him to, sure, but that didn't mean Tommy had to go along with it. He was kind of a stickler for the rules, after all, but he'd been breaking this particular rule since they moved in together.
Merton glanced over his shoulder to find Krauss and Roberts following them, a few of their cronies trailing behind. Krauss was pretending not to notice them, but Roberts was looking right at Merton, grinning in that way that made Merton's skin crawl. And he didn't really care that Tommy's ex-friends hated him, but he knew what they were capable of, and if they overheard Tommy breaking rules there was no way they'd just let it go.
"We'll work on it after dinner," Merton said, turning back to Tommy long enough to nod in the direction of his next class. "Wouldn't want to miss out on Warfare for Dummies."
That got him another smile, and just for a second Tommy stopped looking so tense. It only lasted a second, but it was kind of nice to know that he could distract Tommy even for that long. There wasn't much to look forward to for either of them, after all, so if Merton could do something little to cheer him up, he wanted to do it.
He veered off the path and across what passed for the lawn, boots crunching the brittle grass under his feet on the way to his next class. Most of the day he and Tommy were in the same classes, but being a first-year student meant Merton had to take some lame History of Warfare requirement while the rest of the squadron was in Leadership Training. Merton had no idea what they taught these guys about leadership, but from what he'd seen so far, it wasn't much.
"Cadet."
Merton stopped in his tracks at the sound of the voice behind him, hands curling into fists as he waited for the rush of panic to pass. When he finally turned he found Krauss standing a few feet away, hands clasped behind his back and looking like he'd just sort of appeared rather than running after Merton. And he wasn't bad-looking, Merton had to admit, but he'd probably be a lot cuter if he'd stop looking so miserable all the time.
Of all Tommy's so-called friends he was the least terrifying, but he was also the one who lost his roommate because of Merton. Then again, he had his own room now - also thanks to Merton - so maybe he just wanted to express his gratitude.
"Yes, sir," Merton said, pulling himself to attention and managing not to roll his eyes.
"You and I need to get a few things straight."
Merton wasn't sure how to answer that; he wasn't even sure Krauss was expecting an answer. For all he knew this entire conversation was a trap to get him in more trouble, so in the end he decided just to keep his mouth shut.
"You're nobody," Krauss said after awhile, voice laced with scorn and it might have bothered Merton if he cared what any of them thought of him. If any of them could think for themselves in the first place. "You don't matter at this school, but Dawkins does, and I'm not going to stand by while you drag him down with you."
"All I did was help him with his math," Merton said, and he was probably supposed to add a 'sir' in there somewhere, but this whole conversation was already ridiculous enough. He knew what it was about; he wasn't stupid, and neither was Krauss. But he wasn't doing anything, and it wasn't his fault Tommy was too nice for his own good.
"You might be fooling Dawkins, but nobody else is buying it," Krauss said, taking a step forward and Merton was pretty sure that was supposed to be menacing. He wanted to laugh, because none of them gave Tommy enough credit. They didn't even know him, not really, and they had no idea what Tommy knew. He knew a lot more than the rest of them did about Merton, and so far he was okay with everything he knew. The fact that the rest of them couldn't handle it wasn't Merton's problem.
"Are you done? Because I'm going to be late for class."
Technically that probably counted as insubordination, and Merton half expected Krauss to threaten to write him up or sentence him to more KP duty or something. Instead he just looked at Merton, eyes narrow like he was trying to figure out what he was missing. Then he shook his head and took a few steps backwards.
"I'm watching you," he said, glaring for another second before he turned on his heel and headed back the other way.
And okay, that was a threat, but Merton couldn't tell if Krauss was planning to finish what the Eckerts had started, or if he was just worried about Tommy's reputation. If he was, he had a funny way of showing it, because he'd cut Tommy out of his life along with the rest of his friends. It was their fault Tommy spent all his time with Merton, and Merton wasn't about to bail on him the way everyone else had, no matter who threatened him.
~
Tommy didn't really mind that none of the other guys wanted to talk to him. Okay, so it was weird to ride to and from away games on the same bus with the rest of the team while they all pretended he wasn't there, but it wasn't the end of the world. He didn't have to spend the trip going over plays in his head anymore, and he didn't have to keep the guys in line. All he had to do was show up, really, and it was kind of…nice.
He just wished the other guys would wait until he wasn't around to talk about him.
Not that he could make out much of what they were saying, but judging by the laughter and the pointed glances in his direction, it was pretty obvious the joke was on him. And that…okay, that hurt a little bit, but he knew he hadn't done anything wrong, so mostly he just tried to ignore it.
"Hey, Dawkins."
Tommy managed not to flinch at the sound of Chuck's voice, dragging his gaze away from the bus window to look at the other boy. He was sort of sprawled across the seat in front of Tommy, grin firmly in place and Tommy knew that couldn't be good.
"So, how are things with the boyfriend?"
It was obvious what he was doing. Everyone on the bus was watching Chuck show off, and Tommy knew this was just another way to assert his power as the new team captain. Only Tommy had never resorted to belittling a team member to prove he was in charge, and if that was the kind of team captain they wanted, he was glad they'd forced him to resign.
"Don't be a jerk, Roberts."
"What? I'm just trying to make conversation. I mean, it must be nice to have your own personal math tutor. Part of the whole 'friends with benefits' package, right?"
The whole team was staring at him now - everyone but the coach, anyway, because he was talking to the bus driver - and Tommy could feel the heat creeping up his neck. And he didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, because Chuck was wrong. There was nothing going on between Tommy and Merton, but if everybody in their squad believed it, it might as well be happening.
"It's not like that," Tommy said, though he didn't even sound convincing to himself.
"So what's it like, then? You learning something besides math from your private tutor?"
And now he was really blushing, but that was the worst thing he could do, because there was no way the team would believe nothing was going on if he couldn't even deny it without turning bright red. Not that they were going to believe the truth anyway, not when Roberts' lies were so much more interesting. And Tommy wouldn't care, except that this was exactly the kind of lie that could get him and Merton both in more trouble than either of them could talk their way out of.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said, and God, that sounded lame.
"Hey, I'm just saying you're lucky," Chuck answered, voice rising a little and Tommy heard a few of the guys laugh uncomfortably. "It's not like the rest of us have a roommate who's willing to blow us and then do our math homework."
As soon as Chuck said it Tommy pictured it, and that was exactly the wrong thing to do. Because he could see it, Merton on his knees and okay, Tommy had never actually gotten a blow job before, but he understood the basics. And he shouldn't be picturing his roommate sucking him off, but as soon as he did knew it wouldn't be the last time.
Now wasn't the time, though, so he forced the image to the back of his mind and focused on not giving in to the urge to punch Chuck in the face. That would get him kicked off the team, and if that happened his father really would kill him. Being star quarterback was the only thing he still had going for him, and if he had any prayer of getting into the Citadel he had to stick it out until the end of the season.
"Shut up," he said, the words coming out in a growl and drawing the attention of the coach.
"What's going on back there?" he barked, and Tommy flinched at the way Chuck grinned at him.
"Nothing, sir," he answered through gritted teeth, hands still clenched at his sides and he really, really wanted to hurt Chuck. He wasn't even sure why, because he didn't care what Chuck thought of him. It was just that he was so smug about all Tommy's failures, and it hadn't been that long since Chuck had called himself one of Tommy's friends.
The bus pulled back onto school grounds before Tommy could make things even worse, and he did his best to ignore Chuck's smirk as he filed off the bus behind the rest of the team. His face was still flushed and he could feel the rest of them staring at him, but Tommy pretended not to notice. All he really wanted to do was get back to his room and forget this whole conversation ever happened, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Dawkins," the coach said as soon as Tommy stepped off the bus, and yeah, it definitely wasn't going to be easy.
"Yes, sir."
The coach was staring at the note some underclassman had handed him, but when Tommy answered he glanced up sharply. "You're to report to the Dean's office, pronto."
It took Tommy a second to answer, but finally he managed to pull himself together long enough to nod. "Yes, sir," he repeated, heart skipping a beat as he turned toward the Dean's office.
He didn't worry so much about the others finishing what Eckert had started, at least not while Chuck was with him at away games. If anyone was likely to do something to Merton it was Chuck, after all, but now he wasn't so sure. He couldn't think of another reason for the Dean to summon him, anyway, and it was hard to stop himself from taking a detour to the infirmary just to make sure Merton wasn't lying on the cot in the back again.
Instead he forced his legs to carry him to the Dean's office, moving more slowly the closer he got to the Dean's door. When he finally reached it he took a deep breath and knocked, steeling himself for whatever bad news the Dean was going to deliver this time.
The door swung open and Tommy drew himself to attention, eyes straight ahead as the Dean himself stood aside and gestured for Tommy to enter. When he did he saw that they weren't alone, and his heart sank at the familiar sight of two silver stars.
"General," he said, pulling himself back to attention and keeping his eyes straight ahead as the General turned to look at him.
"Son."