"Alright, what's our plan?" Tom asked, leaning backwards in the drivers seat, glancing between Edd and Matt. Edd sat in the passenger seat, drinking a can of cola, before sighing, putting the can in the cup holder. "How do you even expect to get in the building?" "That's what I meant." Tom hummed, looking back at Edd. Matt exhaled slowly, rubbing his knees nervously. "You can't seriously hate him that much?" He asked. "It's not that hard to forgive and forget-" "Get out of the car, Matt." Tom said simply. Edd looked at Tom with a look quickly, before sighing. "Tom, he does have a point, all you've been talking about while we were eating is Tord, Tord, To-" "Okay, do you want me to do this thing alone?" "I'd rather you don't do it at all!" Edd snapped, leaning forward in the chair for a second before sighing, his gaze softening. "We can still go home. Just forget about him." He said, a desperate plea disguised as a soft offer. Tom sat there, staring at Edd quietly, his eye twitching, however he didn't say anything. Not yet, anyway. He let out an annoyed exhale. "You act like you care about him sometimes." "Act?" Edd snapped quickly, before instantly shutting up. Tom stared at him for a half second, slowly shaking his head and looking forward, leaning on the wheel, clutching it tightly, nodding. "Okay. I'm going to ask again. What's our plan to get in there without getting caught by Patryk?" He said the name like it was a slur. "I mean, aren't there usually back doors to buildings?" Matt asked, glancing at the building in the distance. Edd instantly looked at him, shaking his head 'no' desperately, but Matt ignored him. Tom paused, looking over at Matt, lifting a brow. "Keep talking..." "We could go to the back of the building, and then probably get into the building-" Edd quickly cut Matt off. "Yes, but there could be guards everywhere back there!" "Then the roof?" Matt said, glancing at Edd, noticing his panicked look and instantly shutting up. "Never mind, it's stupid." "No. We're-- /I'm/ dealing with this." Tom said, getting out of the car, slamming the door shut. Edd flinched, before sighing, glaring over at Matt. "Seriously?" "What? I was helping!" "Helping /who/, exactly?" "Both of you." "What about Tord?" "What about him?" Edd's breathing hitched, staring at Matt like he didn't even know who he was for a second, before shaking his head and looking out the window, not seeing Tom. He was probably already far in the building. He exhaled slowly, getting out of the car. "Edd? Edd, what are you-" He didn't let Matt finish, slamming the door, flinching as the noise echoed throughout the place, some people looking over at the car. Edd took a breath, and started walking towards the building, staring at the ground. Tord deserves a....third chance. Right? Maybe if he could just be spoken to, it's not going to be bad. He deserves forgiveness. Edd still believes that. And god, that's pathetic, isn't it? Tord hurt Tom, destroyed their house and car. Used them for his robot. Pretended to come back and be their friends. So why does Edd want to forgive him? He can't explain it. He wants to punch Tord, to scream at him for what he did, but also cry into his shoulder and beg desperately to be friends again and forgive him over and over again. But all at the same time, he doesn't know what he wants to do. He'll figure it out. He walks behind the building, noticing the door ajar. He sighed, walking inside, closing the door behind him, looking around for any sign of Tom. Not seeing him. So he needs to move quicker. 'I hate you Tord... and yet... I still want to be friends. Or...at least...friends again.' The hallways were silent. Not a single soldier seemed to appear out in the hallway. It made Tom feel...weird. Not nervous, not scared. /Never/ scared. But..weird. He walked down the hallways in quick strides. Where was Tord? He didn't know. He was blindly walking, taking random turns and opening every door he came across. That's one way to find someone, right? Sooner or later, he's bound to find him. After a while of walking, Tom bumped into a door as he tried to open it. But it didn't budge. It was locked. Tom narrowed his eyes, glancing up at the door like it offended him, before knocking on it. "Tord, if you're in there, I SWEAR TO-" "When did you get in here, Tom." Tom stopped. That answer was not something he wanted, but the shock quickly turned back into anger. "I just want to talk, "old friend". Can you unlock the door?" "No." "Tord. Tord, don't be like this." Tom said, pressing himself against the door, trying to make his voice seem calmer, though he was seething, wanting to break down the door and start choking Tord. He would come into the room calmly and then get to the fight in a second. "You pretend like you're so calm when you know the only reason that you're here is because you know I'm still here."
(continued) "TORD, I SWEAR TO--" Tom slammed himself against the door, before sighing through gritted teeth. "Okay, you want to be like this? You want to be this stubborn? You're making this a whole lot easier." He growled, slamming against the door..once..twice, until he felt the lock on the door unclick, the door opening, and Tom staggered inside, almost tripping, but catching his balance, glaring up at Tord. Tord had a calm expression on his face, though his face was mostly hidden. Tom didn't know why he'd do that. But that relaxed face wasn't something he wanted to see. He wanted to see Tord scared. Petrified. Not this- calm... tired look on his face. But for another reason he couldn't explain, it made him feel.... worried? No. He's not a fool. He wasn't ever a fool. He wasn't going to just stop and worry and care about Tord just because he looked so traumatized and hiding it behind calmness. The curiosity instantly snapped into shock as a blue light covered his face, and he glanced down slightly. He saw the arm. The crimson-like- red colored robotic arm, aiming at his... His face. "I'm going to count to three. If you're not outside this building, if you're just staring at this. I'm going to fire." Tom's breathing hitched slightly, but he didn't move. "One." Just punch him. What's stopping you? He's just standing there. 'You came here to finish the job, so why can't you? Why is this stopping you? How is this a threat?' "Two." `He's never started a fight. He's usually just walks away. He's not going to. But what's stopping you? DO SOMETHING. Run, yell, scream, push him, SOMETHING. He's a coward- but- why when I look at him do I think of...that-- day? Let it go, Tom, just let it go. Just get the job done. Don't stand here like a coward, that's pathetic. That's letting him /win./ You've never let him win before, don't start now.' Tom's hands curled into fists, glaring at Tord, taking a breath. Tord just stared at him in dismissal. He didn't chuckle. He didn't laugh. Didn't tease. Just cold, numb, quiet dismissal. ...and regret. "Three."
