~Chapter 3-Pain~

The next morning, Tom and Matt woke up to the smell of waffles. The duo walked into the kitchen and saw Edd making a few huge waffles, some sausage and bacon.

"Hi, Edd." Matt greeted with a smile.

"Oh. Hi guys." Edd turned and grinned at them. "You guys are up early."

"The smell woke us up." Tom stated. "What's with all this food?"

Edd shrugged with a small smile. "I figured it's time for us to do something different besides just cereal for once. Besides, you both love waffles, don't you?"

Tom and Matt nodded with grins. "Great! Go sit down and I'll serve you some."

Matt and Tom went over to the table and sat down. Matt abruptly frowned when he saw the chair beside him that Tord usually filled empty. "Hey Edd," Matt said as he turned around. "Where's Todd?"

"Tord, Matt. And...I don't know." Edd looked up at the clock. "It's 9:00. Tord's usually up before any of us at like 5 or maybe earlier."

"Are you suggesting the commie slept in?" Tom muttered with a raised brow.

"If he did, that's weird. It's not like him at all. Tord never sleeps in." Edd replied, and Tom and Matt could already see the growing concern on their friend's face.

"I hope he's okay." Matt frowned.

"I hope he is too. He's been acting weird every since yesterday. First shutting himself off from the rest of us and now sleeping in for like four hours?" he turned to Tom. "Tom, you gotta at least admit it was weird how Tord refused to watch Insane Pirate Zombies from Hell with us."

"Of course it's weird." Tom snorted, folding his arms. "The commie's a complete fanatic of that series."

"Exactly! That's what I'm saying." Edd said, exasperated. He looked back up at the clock that already read 9:07. "..I'm worried. Tord's never acted like this before." he murmured.

"He probably just overworked himself and passed out, Edd." Tom uttered. "There's always somewhat of a logical explanation to the commie's weirdness."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Edd mumbled as he set the plates in front of Matt and Tom, set out his own before sitting down at the right of Matt and across from Tom.

An awkward silence hung between the trio. Matt and Tom gradually ate whilst Edd merely gazed down at his plate, poking at his food with his fork and not eating any of it. This usually happened whenever Edd had so much on his mind he couldn't eat. In this case Edd couldn't stop worrying over Tord.

This went on for a few more minutes before Tom finally gave an annoyed sigh, grabbing both his and Matt's attention. "Edd, if you're so worried about the damn commie, why don't you go check on him?"

"I already did." Edd muttered. "I don't wanna seem nosy or intrusive or anything." he gave Tom a pleading look. "Can you do it for me, Tom? Please?"

Tom groaned. "Ugh. Why me?"

"It's not like you have to start a big conversation with him or anything. Just go check on him, see if he's okay and tell him that breakfast is ready. Please Tom, I'm starting to get really worried."

Tom growled, getting up. "Fine." he let out a sigh and walked away from them.

The blue clad man made his way to Tord's room. He reached out and jingled the doorknob, but of course the door was locked. Tom frowned. Since when did the Commie start locking his door? He usually always kept it either open or closed, but never locked including when he went to bed at night.

Either way, this was no problem for Tom. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a lock pick. He was grateful that he always kept one or two on hand despite figuring he'd never need it.

Tom jiggled the pick around in the lock for a bit until he abruptly heard a small click after a few moments, indicating that the door was now unlocked. He put the pick away and gradually pushed open the door.

The lights were off as expected. The room was a mess, but that was expected as well. Tord's room was always a mess. Tom could see through the darkness a lump under the blanket, and spiky brown hair horns sticking out from the top. Definitely Tord.

Tom approached Tord and pulled the blanket off slightly. Tord's expression was a slightly peaceful one, chest rising and falling steadily and slowly as heavy audible breaths escaped him, indicating that he was in fact still alsleep, and proving Tom's theory correct that the commie probably just overworked himself again. Tom frowned, noticing that Tord's hoodie was still on, which was kind of weird. Tord always, like the others, took his hoodie off and slung it over one of the chairs in his room before going to sleep.

The brunette shook off the confusion and returned to the task at hand. He thought about just letting him sleep, but quickly remembered that Edd had ordered him to tell Tord to come down for breakfast.

Tom reached out and shook Tord hard, feeling the Norwegian flinch and wake up.

"Out..." Tord mumbled and buried his face in his pillow, not caring who it was.

"Get up, commie. Stop being such a pussy and laying in bed all day." Came Tom's voice.

"Go screw yourself, Tom. Get out of my room..." Tord muttered, not in the mood.

Tom abruptly smirked. He reached out and yanked the whole blanket off of Tord, ignoring Tord's yelp and how he shot up, protesting and cussing him out. Tom then switched on the lights, causing Tord to let out a small hiss as he was blinded momentarily, arms flying to cover his eyes.

"Fuck you..." Tord mumbled once he recovered.

Tom resisted the urge to say something snarky in return. "You're starting to worry Edd. Get downstairs and come and eat breakfast." he uttered with narrowed eyes.

Tord snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'll be down in a minute. Just get out."

Tom sent a glare his way. "You better not be planning anything. Because if you hurt them again, I'll make you suffer so bad you'll wish you never came back." he growled before throwing the blanket on the ground and exiting his room.

Tord rolled his eyes slightly as he rolled his sleeves up, gazing at his once cuts that were now scars. "..Don't worry," he mumbled. "Soon nobody will have to think or worry about me hurting anyone anymore." he let out a heavy sigh and got out of bed, leaving his room and shutting the door behind him.

Edd was still poking at his food when Tom came downstairs. Edd smiled hopefully at him. "Is he okay?"

Tom shrugged. "He was acting a little weird, but I'm pretty sure he's fine."

Edd's smile fell. "Weird? Like how?"

"Well..-" Tom abruptly cut himself off when he heard slow footsteps behind him and turned to see Tord approaching them, his hood pulled up and hands stuffed in his pockets, gazing at the ground.

Edd, Matt and even Tom shared uneasy glances.

"T-Tord!" Edd said cheerfully, putting on a smile as he walked toward and stopped in front of Tord. "Hey! I made lots of waffles and everything! Come on and sit down. They're not gonna finish themselves."

Tord sighe heavily, refusing to meet any of their eyes. "T-That's alright, Edd. I'm not hungry." he lied, ignoring his quietly growling stomach.

Edd's grin fell and he shared another uneasy glance with the other two before looking back at Tord. "A-Are you sure, Tord? I made your favorites.."

"That's okay. Sorry, 'M just not hungry right now. Maybe later." He said again, voice chillingly colorless. Before waiting for another response, he went over and sat on the couch before turning on the TV and staring at the screen.

Edd leaned toward his two friends in a whisper. "Okay, I'm really worried now." he stated with an anxious grin.

Tom couldn't help but send a concerned frown Tord's way. Shit, even he was worried about the commie now.

"Why is he acting so weird?" Matt sighed.

"I really wish I knew." Edd riposted as they went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and swallowed thickly with a frown once he realized that all the cola was gone and they were low on food.

Edd shut the fridge and turned to his friends. "Look, I gotta head to the store and buy a few things. Tom, you're coming with me." Edd then looked at Matt. "Matt, look after Tord while we're gone, okay? Don't let him do anything stupid."

"Okay." Matt said with an uneasy frown. "Don't take too long."

Edd nodded. He understood that Matt felt uncomfortable around Tord in his state. He did too. "Don't worry. We'll be back before you know it. Come on, Tom."

Edd and Tom left the house through the front door, shutting it behind them.

Matt swallowed thickly and looked toward Tord. He sighed before walking over and sitting beside the Norwegian. "Hi Tord," he greeted. "Mind if I watch TV with you?"

Tord shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure." he mumbled, handing Matt the remote as he didn't care what channel. He nearly smiled as Matt's face lit up, looking childishly happy.

A few minutes later, Matt had finally found a channel he enjoyed and was laughing at was on the screen. Tord merely gazed down at his shoes, lost in his thoughts. He abruptly grabbed Matt's shoulder, grabbing his attention. "I'm gonna be right back." he stated, standing up.

"Oh..uh...okay." Matt riposted. "Are you okay, Todd?"

"Tord. And yeah, 'm fine. Don't worry. I'll be back in a few."

"..Alright."

Tord walked away from the ginger and down the hall towards his room. He opened his door and walked inside, foolishly forgetting to shut and lock it behind him. The Norwegian sat on his bed and pulled out his knife that now had dried blood on it. Tord swallowed and pulled up his sleeves, gazing at the old scars before finding new areas and placing the knife against those, beginning to cut.

Worthless. Pathetic. Useless. Just die already. Nobody wants a traitor like you in their lives.

Tord's dark thoughts became louder and louder as he continued to slash and cut. They became so loud, he didn't hear the voice calling out his name. He didn't hear that same voice inching closer and closer to his room until it was too late.

"Hey Tord, have you seen my mir-"

Tord jumped and froze. He gradually turned to see Matt in his doorway, expression aghast. He saw Matt gaze at his old scars, to his new scars, to the fresh blood dripping off his knife, to him. "Ror..." Matt finished quietly as horror and terror filled him.

"T-Tord?" Matt choked out, sounding and looking terrified at the scene before him.

Shit.