Disclaimer: I don't own BWoC.
Spoilers for season 1 episode 2 "The Bookmobile."
It was Becky's fault the old bookmobile librarian had been freed. Merton was in the process of dismantling the Lair and choosing items to take with him to college, and she had been snooping in his bookshelves hoping to find some dirt on him when she had found the book they had hidden away. The librarian had taken a different form, and it had taken Tommy far too long to realise that the kindly new librarian in their high school was the same one that had trapped Pleasantville citizens into books when her bookmobile had come into town. She had trapped Merton this time, which was a stupid rookie mistake that Tommy hadn't expected from him. The wolf in him growled at such a weakness.
The librarian was currently trapped in a new book titled Babylonian Magic For Dummies. Tommy put it aside for Merton to deal with later and went to look for him on the shelves. He was in the Occult section, of course. The book said American Gothic down the spine, and front cover had a picture of Merton with a pitchfork and a pair of round spectacles. He had a bored expression on his face.
It was a surprisingly slim book given Merton's tendency to ramble, but Tommy knew that Merton had a few details he kept to himself if resolute secrecy about the Pleasantville werewolf were any indication. The book itself was like Merton and organised to a fault, full of footnotes and references; the back even had an index and bibliography that Tommy really hoped he wouldn't have to read through.
The first few chapters were Merton's early and adolescent life. Tommy read about how Merton and Becky had been inseparable as kids until he'd performed a lobotomy on her favourite teddy bear. (The book included detailed labeled diagrams of the teddy's innards.) He read about Merton buying his hearse at a garage sale for a discounted price because he'd helped the previous owner with an exorcism back in middle school. He had never realised how much crap Merton had really taken for being 'weird' till he'd read his earlier chapters about eating alone at lunch and doing all the extra credit in his classes because his teachers had been his only friends.
Tommy rubbed at the crick in his neck and got up to buy a soda from the vending machine. The final bell had rung a few hours ago, and the hallways were quiet. There was Merton's locker, stripped now of its black rubber spiders and pictures of Aleister Crowley. It would be someone else's locker next year, and the thought depressed Tommy more than it should have. At least Merton would never be too far; they had signed on as roommates in State University. Tommy had protested that everyone had told him living together was one of the best ways to break up a friendship, but Merton had pointed out that they practically lived together anyway. Tommy couldn't argue with that. One of his footballs was taking up space beside Merton's collection of skulls on his desk, and Merton's all black wardrobe was broken up with the occasional letterman jacket or bright polo shirt. Merton had even found Tommy's signed John Elway card in his tarot deck once, and Tommy had asked if it had meant he would meet Elway in the future, just to see Merton roll his eyes.
Yeah, they would get along fine as roommates, just as they had in high school. Tommy'd always had a secret fascination for the supernatural, and Merton unabashedly wore his heart on his sleeve, showing everyone exactly who he was at the risk of letting himself be mocked or get hurt. Merton was the brave one of the two of them. In comparison, Tommy was bland, and he often wondered whether the wolf was the only thing that kept them together.
Tommy returned to the library to finish the book. He wasn't sure if reading Merton out of the book constituted an invasion of privacy, but he figured Merton wouldn't be in a position to complain. You didn't exactly bite the hand that read you out of a Babylonian cursed book. Or something like that.
The last chapter was labelled Romances. Tommy rolled his eyes and braced himself for a thousand words of purple prose. Instead, he found a picture on each page with statistics at the bottom. Maggie Williams, one said.
Met: first day of kindergarten.
Description: played together at recess.
Crush Dates: September 2, 1983 – September 4, 1983
Crush Level 1: pushed Face Into Sandbox.
Tommy laughed. Only Merton would find that a defining characteristic of a relationship.
He flipped through more pictures and read about Suzie (Level 3: kissed on a dare), George (Level 6: summer fling- made out in the back of the hearse), and many others that never made it past 7 or 8. Lori was one of the stronger ones, but even her history was short-lived.
There was only one left, and Tommy sighed in relief. Merton was almost free. He turned the page to find his own face there.
He realised he was holding his breath and let it out in a long rush. It was a candid picture, one that had never been photographed but must have lingered in Merton's memory. Merton had caught him in mid-laugh, and there was a blurry image of Merton in the foreground wearing a white funnel collar. The picture was worn and creased as if Merton had pored over it many times.
Tommy Dawkins, it said under the picture.
Met: Senior year, high school.
Description: Best friend.
Crush Dates: September 21, 1996 - present.
Crush Level 10: Stupidly in love.
"Oh," Tommy breathed. That was his picture, not the wolf. He touched the page as if he could absorb any more information from it. The book shivered. He shut it and let it fall to the floor. It burst into a tall dark cloud and reformed into Merton, who was standing with his hands up protecting his face.
He dropped his arms and gaped. "Tommy?" He grabbed Tommy's shoulders and hugged him. "Thanks, buddy. I—"
Tommy put his hands on Merton's back to keep him from pulling away. He put his mouth next to the shell of Merton's ear. "You were stupid."
He felt a shiver go up Merton's spine. "Yeah. I was. I'm sorry."
"I had to read you out of that book," Tommy said and then, for Merton's benefit. "You know how much I hate reading."
Merton laughed, but it was a high-pitched nervous laugh. "I must have been a boring read."
"Nah." Tommy breathed Merton in, and the wolf inside him rumbled. "It was pretty interesting. Especially the end."
He felt the exact moment Merton caught on, when he went absolutely still in Tommy's arms. "You read the entire book?"
Tommy could smell fear coming off Merton in waves, and he rubbed a hand up and down Merton's back. "Yeah, I did."
"Allofit?" Merton jumped away from him, his face even paler than usual. "Listen, Tommy. I, uh. I'm quite the amateur fiction writer, as you might know. Some of my pieces in particular have been up for...well, I submitted them for publication. I'm sure they'll get back to me eventually."
Tommy felt a surge of affection for him. "Merton."
Merton's eyes were wild. "Tommy. We're friends, right?"
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, of course we are. We'll always be friends."
"Oh. That's great." Merton swallowed with an audible click. "Friendship beyond the grave and all that. Listen, Tommy. Just." He breathed out and closed his eyes. "You're a good guy, and I know you must be angry. Just…make it quick, alright? As a favour to an old friend?"
"No," Tommy said and wrapped a hand around the back of Merton's neck. Merton flinched but didn't open his eyes. "I'm not going to make it quick."
Merton made an alarmed noise at the back of his throat, and the wolf snapped at Tommy to make it stop, make it stop now,so Tommy pulled Merton close and touched their lips together in a kiss.
"Oh," Merton said in wonder and did nothing for a long terrifying second and then surged forward to kiss him back. Their teeth clicked together, but then Merton turned his head and tried again, and it was perfect. Merton kissed like he talked, fast and frantic and full of energy. Tommy trailed his fingers along Merton's jaw and tried to catch his lips and slow down the kiss, draw it out despite the wolf inside crowing Mertonmineminemine.
"Tommy," Merton said, and why the hell was Merton still trying to talk? "Why would you…I thought you would want someone more…"
"More what?" Tommy murmured.
"I don't know. Normal."
Tommy would have laughed if Merton hadn't looked so downcast. "Really?" he said. "And what exactly about my life is normal?" He knocked their foreheads together and held Merton's eyes. "I like weird. I like you."
"Yeah?" Merton whispered.
"Yeah."
Merton gave him a small dreamy smile. Tommy smiled back and kissed him again. Being roommates would be complicated, but Tommy was sure it would be cake compared to the zombie hoards and ghouls and whatever else they would go up against on State campus. He and Merton were always a team no matter what. Tommy knew if they were a book, they would have been a photograph on the front page.
Merton J. Dingle and Tommy Dawkins, it would have said.
Met: Senior year, high school.
Description: Best friends, college roommates. Stupidly in love.