A Skull to Lean On
A/N: Hey guys, just a little oneshot that came into my head. I felt so bad for Tommy when he got that Dear John letter. ENJOY! R&R PLZ!
Tommy was walking. Just walking. He wasn't going anywhere in particular. In his back pocket was a letter for his girlfriend – ex-girlfriend – Kimberly. She was training for the Pan Global games in Florida and sent him a letter saying she had found someone else. It was a punch in the gut to rival Goldar's to say the least. He stopped by the lake and remembered when he kissed Kim before asking her to the dance. The picnic tables reminded him of their date even if Zedd had interrupted later on. The park, the juice bar, school, the youth center; hell everywhere he went reminded him of their time together. Billy and Kat had tried taking him away but Mondo had disrupted that. Tommy collapsed on to a bench and pulled out the note. He stared at the handwriting hoping it would change if he looked at it hard enough or he could detect some sort of forgery. But no, this was her writing and the words were the same. He had never felt like this, ever! He didn't know what to do with himself. He couldn't cry, couldn't get angry, nothing.
"Brutal isn't it?" came a voice from behind. Tommy turned to see Skull standing there.
"What do you want Skull?" Tommy asked none-too-nicely.
"Easy there big guy, I heard what happened with Kim and the letter." Skull came around the bench and Tommy moved over so he could sit down. Skull glanced at the paper in Tommy's hand, "Is that it?"
"Yep," Tommy handed it to him and fell back looking out over the lake. Skull read the letter before heaving a sigh.
"Like I said, brutal isn't it?"
Tommy huffed, "Yeah it is."
"I know how -" Skull started to say until Tommy cut him off.
"No you don't know how I feel. You just liked her, you were never with her. You never had her and thought that everything was great only to have her leave without any warning." Tommy pushed off the bench, kicking a rock into the water. "When did you think that you had the girl of your dreams only to lose her to someone else?"
Skull remained on the bench, his eyes unreadable. "Have you forgotten the policeman's ball?" he called out. Tommy wanted to kick himself, Kim had been under a love spell and had fallen for Skull but he didn't remember that for Skull it was real. Not only that, but he was the other guy in that scenario.
Tommy turned to Skull, "I'm sorry Skull I -"
"Don't worry about it; I didn't expect you to remember. Hardly anyone does….except me of course." He added in afterthought. "You know Tommy, for a couple of hours I had the girl. Kim was never just any girl, not to me anyway. I've been crushing on her since kindergarten."
"Kindergarten? Really?" A small smile ghosted across Tommy's face.
"Yeah," Skull smiled, "I remember when I met her too. This was way before me and Bulky became friends. I had fallen off the jungle gym and hurt my arm. The teacher made me sit quietly off to the side until she could get some bandages and ice. So there I was, crying my eyes out, when this little midget -" Skull held up a hand a couple feet off the ground to illustrate his point, "with pigtails in frilly pink dress comes up and asks me if I want a cookie." Skull leaned forward, hands clasped, "You know she stayed with me the entire time, even when the teacher came back and patched me up."
"So what happened to you guys?" Tommy asked.
"Ah you how it goes. We grew apart. She went into gymnastics, I fell in with the Bulkster, but I never forgot our friendship. I thought she did though, until the night of policeman's ball." Tommy could sense they were coming to point of this as Skull continued, "She talked about us being friends and all that and in that moment I knew she remembered. See that's the thing with Kim. She puts her relationships above everything else. She could have taken pity on me, ignored what happened, but she didn't. Why? It's because she values the people in her life, even a guy like me."
"I still don't get what that has to do with me. If I held any value to her I would've gotten more than a letter." Tommy said evenly.
"Tommy I know you feel. Like you've been tossed aside like garbage. That all the time you spent together means nothing to her but you're wrong, it does, and the evidence is the letter. The same way she didn't technically have to patch things with me that night, she didn't have to send you that letter either. She is in FLORIDA right now, how easy would it have been for her to just keep it quiet? But she cares about you way too much to do something like that. She does love you man, just not in that way anymore." Skull stood up to face Tommy, "She gave me the choice to be friends with her or not. This letter is her way of giving you that same choice, the rest is up to you."
"I see your point," Tommy conceded. "What should I do?"
Skull put up both hands, "Hey that's all on you buddy, I can't force you to stay friends with her."
"I don't want to lose everything I had with her." Tommy thought aloud, "But after everything a letter?"
Skull rolled his eyes, "Dude come on. If Kim could've gotten on a plane she would have. She is training for the Pan Global Games; I don't think they consider break-ups high priority."
Tommy laughed, "I guess so. Thanks man." Tommy and Skull shook hands.
Skull grinned, "Just don't let Bulk find out about this," the two laughed and turned to walk away. Tommy turned to look at Skull's retreating figure, "I won't forget you either." Tommy turned back and started off to the youth center, maybe a couple rounds with the punching bag would help clear his mind, who knew? Maybe his luck would change…