Thank you for the reviews.

This is going to be the first of a three-part series of Tommy's first term at university. This is just the start and I... I have warned you guys. Not so much this chapter but the next...

I did go to university but I didn't move away... so part of this is what I saw when I went to visit friends and stuff like that.

Plus if you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I cried while writing this chapter and I do have a child. His name is Tommy Edward Mason and I have put this boy through way too much. I love him a lot.

MMU is Manchester Metropolitan University.


University

Tommy tried to stop his leg from bouncing as he waited for his mum and Eddie to open up the hall. Sophie had already hit his hand away from his face, stopping him from biting the skin around his thumb. He knew that she was bound to say something about his leg soon enough.

"Will you stop it? I knew we should have walked but no, you wanted to go with Dad and Rachel. Tommy, you're a genius. You would have got the grades."

"I know."

"And you can probably check now to see if you have gotten into MMU."

"I know. I just don't want to."

"Then, please, can you just chill." She paused. "As this is the last time we are sort of going to be here, shall we see how quickly we can get around the school?"

"What? One last telling off for running in the corridors?"

"Worried I would beat you?"

"No chance of that with your tiny legs."

"Sorry, not all of us can be 6ft."

"I'm 6ft 3"

"How the hell do you get to be 6ft 3 when I am only 5ft 5?"

"Because I am a boy and my dad was 6ft 1."

"Dad's 6ft 2."

"And Auntie Melissa is…"

"Oh, shut up."

"You are the average height for a woman."

"I thought I said shut up."

He couldn't help but smile as she tried to keep a stern face. He glanced over to her and her lips started to curl into a smile. She nudged him with her elbow.

"I'm only going to say this once because it is only a small part of me, but I don't want you to get into MMU."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to go. Because I am going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too. I just… I want to get away. I'll probably end up coming back."

"Then why go?"

"Because it is just three years of my life. I don't want to regret it."

"But why so far away?"

"It's not like I am going to London."

"It would have been bloody easier to get to London. You could have gone to Edinburgh and that is only an hour and a half away. Manchester… Manchester is like four hours in the car."

"Maybe but… I could spend a little more time with Dex. Just think. You could come and visit and we could cause all the mischief that we should have made as children."

"Fair point." She sighed. "I just… worry about you sometimes. I worry that you are going too far away."

"I'll be fine."

Tommy was slightly grateful that the doors of the hall opened at that point. He was also glad that he wasn't the only one waiting and there were a few others that were as desperate as him to get their results. They stood up at the same time and started to walk towards the hall.

"Tommy, let us know when you have got them and we will come over," Eddie said as they passed him.

Due to the number of envelopes, it took them a little longer to find Tommy's than he had expected. Sophie remained by his side throughout and he held up his envelope as they walked over to the side of the room. Sophie remained on his right while Eddie took to his left, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tommy looked up at his mum.

"I am sure you have done enough but if you haven't, there is always clearing." She said.

He took a breath before he opened the envelope and pulled the piece of people out. His smile grew as he read his results.

"All As." He said.

"What?!"

Tommy had told himself that he wasn't going to cry but as soon as Eddie placed his arm around his shoulder as his mum took the paper off him, he couldn't help himself.

"We are so proud of you," Eddie said.

"My clever boy." His mum said before she kissed his cheek. "My extremely clever boy."

"I think you got in," Sophie said before she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He tried to remember how he was feeling at that moment. He knew that he might need it in the coming months.


"I am going to miss you," Sophie said.

"You'll have to give me a couple of weeks to settle in and then we will have to organise when you are going to come down," Tommy said as he packed.

"And spend like eight hours on a train."

"You could always get the sleeper train."

"You'll call?"

"Of course."

"I… I know I spent 13 years without you but… I just don't want to be without you."

"You didn't know about me then."

"Did Rachel tell you about me?"

"She mentioned it once. Because she mentioned why she wasn't with Eddie. It was blunt and short. She didn't really know you."

"Of course."

Tommy pulled over the top of the suitcase and zipped it up before he grabbed his pillow and hit her with it.

"Don't go all soppy on me." He said.

"But I love you, Tommy."

"And I love you too Sophie." He paused. "How about we have a day? Just us two, before I go."

"Just sitting on the sofa. Watching crap films. Eating a load of junk."

"Sounds perfect."

"We should start with Legally Blondes."

"I quite like Legally Blonde."

"Yeah well, Legally Blondes is an hour and a half of your life you will never get back."

"Sounds perfect."

She smiled at him but he knew that she was still thinking about how he wasn't going to be there. He was trying to stop himself from thinking about it. He knew that once the term to start, he could just throw himself into his work, like his mother did.


"It's a bit cosy in here." His mum said.

With just a look for Eddie, Tommy knew that she was going to try and stall from leaving him. If anything, he felt the same way. He didn't want them to leave but they had to. It was his choice to move this far away.

"It's only for really sleeping. You've seen the main part." Tommy said.

"Still."

"It will be fine Mum."

"I am sure it will be. It is nice that there are so many of you all sharing together."

Tommy sighed before he walked over to his mum as she carried on talking and wrapped his arms around her waist. He picked her up and started to carry her out of his room, waiting for Eddie to move first. She made a bit of fuss but she was slightly smiling at him when he put her down.

"You have a long drive back to Scotland," Tommy said.

"I know."

"I am 18, Mum. I can look after myself."

"I know."

"And I will call you tomorrow. Mainly because I promised Sophie that I would call her."

"I will hold you to that."

"I love you." He said before he kissed her forehead.

"I love you too."

He allowed her to hug him and he knew that it was hard for her to let him go. It was hard for him to let her go. It had been him and his mum against the world for so long. When she let him go, he smiled at her. Eddie also hugged him.

"I am always a call away." He said to him.

"I know. Love you."

"Love you too mate. Have fun."

Tommy watched them go, maybe making sure that his mum was actually going to go but also to confirm that for the first time in 18 years, he didn't have his mum to fall back on.


The knock at the door surprised him. He had meant to go to the communal area but he was still getting used to the fact that he was, sort of, on his own. He had almost text Dex to see what he was doing, just to see a friendly face. He didn't expect the two girls standing outside his door.

"Hi, I'm Lucy and this is Jade. We had the idea to get pizza for the whole of our floor and for us to eat it all together to get to know each other. We just wanted to know if you wanted to join us and which pizza you wanted."

"Sounds like an amazing idea. Of course, I'm in." He said as he took the menu off her. "I'll have the Texas BBQ. Do you want the money now or later?"

"I mean if you have the cash now, then that would be great. I think most people are just going to transfer it to us later."

"Mum said to always carry a bit of cash." He quickly ran into his room. "Here, have 20." He paused. "Sorry, I'm Tommy."

"We will knock around when it is here."

"Great."

If anything, it put Tommy at ease. There was where he was going to start to break the ice with people.


"Didn't you carry your mum out of your room earlier?" Jack said.

"She wouldn't have left if I didn't," Tommy said.

"Not ready to let you go?"

"None of them are. Mum and Sophie have definitely been worse."

"I think it was your dad that helped me out earlier," Jade said.

Tommy almost said that Eddie wasn't his dad but he stopped himself. These people didn't know that he wasn't his dad. It would save trying to explain. Although would these people really ask too many questions?

"Step-dad." He said. "Eddie's my step-dad. Not that it matters."

"Uh, I hate my step-dad." Someone else said.

"You just seemed close. That's all." Jade said.

"We are. I do see him as my dad. A better man than my actual father."

"If it is any consolation, I don't think my parents wanted to leave me. Actually, I should check my phone. See if they got back to London okay."

"Travelled far as well?"

"Where have you come from?"

"Greenock, Scotland."

Jade did a double-take. "But you don't have the accent."

"Might have been up there since I was five but I just never picked it up. Sophie's boyfriend has a lovely Glasgewian accent."

"Telling me something?"

He laughed. "No. Not gay. Just spent many nights talking to Sophie about boys. I mean she did the same with me and we talked about girls. I can appreciate when a guy is good looking without being gay, can't I?"

"Very modern of you."

He smiled at Jade. He wasn't stupid. He knew what she was suggesting. Not that it was what he was looking for at the moment. Mia had definitely made him more wary.

He looked around at the other people in the room. He hadn't spoken to everyone yet but they seemed like a great group of people. Maybe the feeling of loneliness would go. Maybe Sophie was wrong. Maybe the distance would do him a bit of good. Only time would tell really.