Tom's P.O.V

Ever since I went to the shower earlier today, Tord hasn't left his room. I tightened my tie to my uniform and pressed my ear to his door. Dead silence. It honestly was too quiet for Tord. He always had some background noise like music or a movie. 

Sighing I moved away from his room, "Edd I'm heading out now!" I yelled out.

"Alright! Be safe!" He called back from his room.

I rolled my eyes and walked out. Shoving my hands in the pockets of my dress pants I strolled on to work. Stopping for a minute I admired the motorbike that has yet to move since Edd and I came home Yesterday. Whoever dates the guy or girl who owns the bike is one lucky son of a bitch.

A couple minutes later I walked in and checked in. Going to my station I got ready and waited for the people to stroll in.

Nearly two hours into my shift, Casey has bothered me only once and I only had one dick of a customer. Nearly two hours of ease, Until a rather unfriendly face showed up. He is a relatively large man. An alcoholic to the core. He is also a sexual groomer. Guess how he got to me? Very nice and gave me things. After a while he asked for things in return...and I complied...Reluctantly of course, but he has a way of getting you to do the things he wants.

He sat in front of me and gave me a sick smile, "Hey Thomas~"

Of course he couldn't tell but I rolled my eyes, "Leave me alone, Justin."

"Ah is that how you talk to your boyfriend?"

Clenching my fist I slammed a glass down of the counter, "I am not your fucking boyfriend!" I hissed.

"I beg to differ. Look at they way you are when your in my bed." My eye twitched and he tapped the glass I had slammed down, "You know how I like my drink, baby."

Growling I snatched the glass and put two ice cubes in and filled it with scotch, "Scotch on the rocks. Neat." I said through clenched teeth and slid it to him.

He took it and chugged it. He slammed the glass down and smiled, "So Thomas-"

"Tom" I corrected him.

He glared at me, "So Thomas, I want you to come back. It's been a while since you let me take that sweet ass of yours."

Taking a deep breath I glared at him, "No."

"No? You don't tell me no. Remember last time you told me no?" He snarled. I flinched at the memory and rubbed the cigar burn on my wrist. He smiled and leaned forward, "You know no one likes you right? They all pretend. But in their eyes you're a freak. I hear the whispers They all despise you. But me? I love you Thomas. I care for you."

This is how he lures me in. He breaks my self confidence, which is next to none. But not this time. I won't fall for it again. Never again, "That's a lie. I have two friends who care a great amount about me."

He laughed, "My god baby, they are lying to you!"

My blood boiled, "No they aren't! They have been my friends since kindergarten! I won't let you break my confidence anymore so you can get your fucking pleasure!"

"How dare you accuse me of that!" He growled but I saw the amusement in his eyes.

I decided to make my point across. To tell him everything I always wanted to say, "Because you're a rapist! You lure people in by making them feel worthless. Make them feel like only you care! You take that trust and then you sexually assault them! I hate you! You're a lazy fat shit and I would kill you on the spot if I wouldn't be arrested for it!"

Justin narrowed his at me, "You are coming with me after your shift!"

"No i'm not!" 

He reached over the counter and grabbed my arm in a tight grip. I yelp in pain, "L-Let me go!" I cried out. The other bartenders and customers looked at us in shock.

"Listen here you little bitch, You are coming whether you like it or not!" He yelled, not caring who heard.

Tord came up behind Justin and I felt hopeful. Tord gripped Justin's collar and yanked him off his chair, "He said let go you ungrateful swine." He growled, "Learn some god damn respect, will ya?"

Justin got up and glared at Tord. I ringed my hands together in fear, "And who the hell do you think you are?!"

Tord pulled out a hand gun making me and others around us gasp. He pushed the barrel to Justin's chest, "Your worst fucking nightmare, mate. So I suggest you leave now. You are messing with a real close friend of mine and that doesn't settle well with me." That made my heart flutter a bit.

Justin scoffed and glared at Tord, "And what should I be afraid of, foreign boy?"

Tord clicked off the safety and I chewed my lip, "I am more powerful than you think, you fat pig. So run along before we have a greater problem."

Justin snarled and pushed Tord aside and walked out, but not before glaring at me. He ran a finger across his neck and I flinched in fear. "Hey Tom..." Tord reached over the counter and touched my cheek with his metal prosthetic, "Are you okay?"

I gave Tord a genuine smile and kissed his cheek. I giggled as he burned red, "Thank you, Tord."

He gave a hesitant nod, "N-No problem, Tom..."

Andrew, my boss, ran up to me, "Tom, I heard what happened! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah I'm fine, Andrew. My friend here stepped in."

Tord quickly recovered from the kiss and smiled. He held out his hand, "I'm Tord Larkson. Pleased to meet you."

Andrew shook his hand, "Like wise Tord. I am Andrew Castillo. The owner of this fine establishment."

I rolled my eyes at Andrew's proud face but Tord seemed amazed, "Really? It's one fine place your running."

Andrew beamed at the complement, "Well thanks. It's nice seeing new faces around here. I know Edd and Matt, But I have never heard of you before."

I cut in before Tord answered, "Tord is a old friend. He used to live with Edd, Matt and I before he moved back to Norway."

"Yes. I recently come back from Norway and I'm living with them again." Tord said with a smile.

"Fascinating." Andrew smiled, "Tom why don't you take the rest of your shift off and we can all talk? I know Edd and Matt fairly well, And I like to know there is another person there to watch you. I know many customers like to mess with you."

"Whoa Tom, this stuff happens often?!" Tord asked.

"Umm...yeah?" I rubbed the back of my neck, "Can we talk about that later? Or not at all?"

Tord and Andrew shared a look and they nodded, "Okay Tom...Well let's go to my office. It's quieter there." Andrew offered.

"Yeah okay." I said and motioned Tord to follow us to the back.

Someone grabbed my arm and I was about ready to swing, "Hey Tommy! Calm down will ya?" Casey smiled.

I rolled my eyes, "I will be there in a minute, Tord. Just keep following Andrew. I need to deal with this headache.

"Hey!" She cried out.

Tord laughed, "We meet again missy. Thank you for telling me where Tom was."

She looked at Tord and blushed, "Oh yeah! No problem sir!"

I looked between the two and Tord ruffled my hair with a smile, "Hurry then. We'll be waiting."

I shoved his hand away, "Just go." I grumbled and fixed my hair.

Tord walked away and Casey squealed, "Oh my god, Tom he was so hot!"

Smiling softly, I looked at him walk into Andrew's office, "Yeah I know he is..."

She gasped and hit my shoulder, "That is the guy you like?!" I blushed and nodded, "Jesus Christ Tom you sure have a good taste. Like DAMN look at that fine piece!" She drooled, "But whats with the scars and hand?"

Rolling my eyes at her fan-girling I crossed my arms, "He was in an explosion."

"Oh! And he managed to survive?"

I laughed bitterly, "That's what I said...Up until the other day, I thought he was dead. A while back he had moved to Norway and couple years later he came back unexpectedly. We fought. I nearly killed him and he was just...gone. Or so I thought. For three years we believed he was dead and then he just shows back up. I don't know how I feel about it."

Casey held up her hand, "YOU almost killed someone?! I would've NEVER expected that! You're waaaay to sweet to do anything so harsh. You're rude. Not evil."

I looked down, "No I was real pissed at him. And trust me, Tord would beg to differ about the evil thing. I am sure he hates me for that day."

She sighed and grabbed my shoulder, "Tom I doubt that. They way he looked at you was defiantly one of love. And the way he protected you from Justin. The way he smiles at you. Yeah, I don't think he hates you."

I blushed, "You think so?"

"I know so." She reassured and slapped my back, "No go. As sweet as Andrew is, You know his patients is practically nothing. And as for the Tord guy, I'm sure he is getting worried. You better hurry."

Nodding, I hugged her and kissed her cheek, "You're a wonderful friend, Casey." 

She laughed, "I know I am! No go!" She pushed me in the direction of Andrews office.

Taking a deep breath, I walked to the large Ebony door. I knocked before entering. Tord sat across from Andrew at his desk. Tord had a cigar between his index and middle finger while Andrew sipped at a beer.

They smiled at me as I sat next to Tord, "I hated the cigarettes before and now you move on to cigars? Are you trying to give us secondhand lung cancer from your obsessive smoking?"

Andrew snorted and Tord frowned and put the cigar out, "Fine then...At least I don't make everything smell like booze."

I gasped, "I don't even drink that much anymore!"

"You work in a bar. I seriously doubt that." He retorted.

Andrew blew a whistle and we turned out attention to him, "I don't tolerate fighting in my Bar, and I certainly don't tolerate it in my office." We mumbled a sorry and he smiled, "Okay then. We were just wondering where you were, Tom."

I shrugged, "You know how Casey likes to talk. So what were you guys talking about before I came in?"

"Tord here was telling me a story about your childhood."

Tord smirked at me, "The one where we went out for ice cream and you got Ice cream all over Tomee bear and you wouldn't stop crying-" He stop short as my face turned red in embarrassment, "Aww don't be upset. At least I didn't tell about your phase with dresses-"

"NO!" I screamed and covered my face.

Tord laughed and Andrew looked amused, "Oh no, please do continue. I'm intrigued."

I covered my ears but I was still able to hear, "Okay so when we were about 14 maybe 15 years old Tom grew this weird obsession with dresses. And I don't mean like 'Oh that dress suits that girls body' or 'Dresses are nice and all. They are just so adorable.' No I mean he liked looking at dresses. He liked designing them. Matt was very pleased with that and actually put Tom in a couple of dresses. He wasn't complaining though. I think he enjoyed being Matt's model." My face was cherry red in embarrassment, "I still have pictures if your interested?" 

"P-Please don't Tord!" I squeaked out.

"Oh how bad can it be, Tom?" Andrew asked. Tord showed him a picture with me wearing a long red tight fitted dress with a slit stopping at the hip. He whistled and kept looking, "You had braces?"

I clenched my teeth and Tord rolled his eyes, "Tom hated his braces. Don't blame him though. Talk about unattractive."

The insult took me aback, "Excuse me?! At least my face wasn't engulfed with disgusting acne like yours!"

Tord's face flushed red at the reminder, "At least I wasn't sent to the principles for having alcohol on me all the time!"

Andrew sat back and just let this one play out, "At least I wasn't constantly in detention for getting caught reading hentai in every class!"

"At least I was actually liked in school!" He stood up and screamed.

I copied, "At least I didn't have to deal with your bullshit during school!"

Tord drew the line, "At least I wasn't the emo faggot who was sent to group therapy because I actually know how to control my emotions and didn't slit my wrist open!" Andrew sat up quickly and I covered my mouth with tears pricking at my eyes. I held my scarred arm to my chest. Tord realized what he said, "Ah shit...Tom i'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that!"

"Just shut the fuck up Tord..." I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and sat down.

Andrew looked between us and shifted uncomfortably from the tension, "So...Um...So Tord, have you found a job yet?" He asked nervously.

Tord looked at me sadly and answered, "No I haven't." I sighed and grabbed Tord's hand to show him I was fine. He smiled softly, "I want to find a job for either carpentering or welding."

With a smile Andrew clapped his hands together, "I can help you with that! My brother owns a shop that makes furniture and metal work. They specialize in what you want. Carpentering and welding. But the ones who can do both are the ones who get a higher pay and get more projects."

"Because if they can do both they can make more extravagant things?" I asked.

Tord nodded, "I am assuming your bother doesn't have much people like that?"

Andrew shook his head with a smile, "nope he doesn't. I will give him a call tomorrow. I am sure he would be ecstatic to take you in."

"Sounds great!" Tord beamed.

Looking at his watch Andrew sighed, "Well it's past your shift time, Tom. How about you two head out and get some shut eye?"

We nodded and got up, "Goodnight, Andrew." I smiled.

"Goodnight." He smiled.

Tord and I walked out, "I brought my bike so We can get back faster."

"Bike?" I asked. Tord smiled and pointed to the motorbike I was admiring earlier, "Holy crap that was your bike?!"

He chuckled, "Yep it's mine. It was a goodbye gift from my army."

"Of course it was." I said with an eye roll, "Let's just go. It's fucking freezing out here."

Tord got on the bike and pat behind him. I blushed and also got on and wrapped my arms around his waist, "Hold on tight, okay?"

I nodded and tightened my grip as Tord kicked on the engine. He raced out and I buried my face against his back. We past the turn to our apartments and Tord sped up, swerving around the cars, "Tord, you're going to kill us!" I shrieked.

I heard the smirk in his voice, "Relax, Tom! I know what i'm doing!"

I shut my eyes tightly,

My god i'm going to die tonight...