63 Harry's POV
Tom was stuck in his head for the rest of the day by the time we got home, so stuck in thought he barely noticed anything. He managed to eat, and put Buzz to bed, but he was very clearly stuck in thought, processing what Natasha had told him today. Not that I blamed him, hearing that had to be a shock, a massive one at that too.
"She didn't hurt you though, she never laid a finger on you." Tom whispered to a sleeping Buzz, as we watched over the monitors. We weren't being nosy, we were just keeping an eye on him, like Natasha had told us to. Keep an eye on him, make sure he eats and sleeps, try our best to support him, and answer any questions we could. Anything we couldn't answer, phone her and let him talk to her. Anything looking more serious, we had to take him back her straight away, to make sure everything was okay.
"And she was never cruel to you, or ignored you. It was only me. Isn't that the opposite of... it couldn't have been. It couldn't, but she was always so... but I would have noticed, I would have noticed." Tom was whispering, Buzz oblivious. The kid could sleep through anything, or at least people talking to him, thankfully.
"I don't know, I don't know." Tom sighed, leaning his head against the bars of the cot, "Some of it is weird, but it was us, it was how we always worked. Was it wrong? Was she wrong? She was never wrong about me."
"But she separated me from you, right from the start. I was only allowed to hold you in public, the rest of the time I was pushed away. I barely got the chance to look at you some days." A tear slid down Tom's face, he wiped away, "She always said it was for the best. She always said it was for the best."
He deliberated to himself for a long time, before getting up, heading to his own room, where we couldn't see, apparently to think some more. Or possibly research, like he had done last week.
"Is this a good thing?" Dougie asked, fiddling with a piece of his hair.
"I, I think so. I mean, he's started to accept it, or at least considering it thoroughly. That's a good sign." That had to be a good sign. A bad sign would be straight up denial and refusal to even considering it for a second. This was actually Tom thinking about it, reviewing the relationship, figuring out if it could be true. That was good, it had to be good.
"But we can't help him get to the truth, can we?" Danny sighed, like he wanted to make sure Tom knew exactly what was going on, and get him to move on. I had to admit, I wanted the same thing, I wanted to get Tom back now. I wanted him to accept what had happened, and to work towards getting himself back. But it was going to take time, it was always going to take time, Natasha had said that before. It was always going to take time because it was a complex situation.
"No, we can't. Remember what Natasha said, Tom's been in an abusive relationship for years. Possibly the entire time he was with her, which was twelve years, he's got to come to terms with this in his own time. We can support him in his conclusions, and help him regain himself but we can't force him into thinking something, just to speed things up." doing that made it feel like we were just like his wife, which sent an awful shudder down my spine. Never would we be like his wife, never.
"When do you think he'll come to the truth?" Danny shuddered too, like he'd had the same thought as me.
"I don't know, tomorrow? Next week? Whenever he's had enough time to think things through." I didn't have a clue when he'd come to the right conclusion, I wasn't a therapist, and I didn't know what it was like in Tom's brain. I didn't know how far into his head his wife had gotten, didn't know how much she had twisted to make her look like a saint and him like dirt under her shoe. Tom needed to sort through it all himself. He had to see for himself that things hadn't been alright, and that she had been far too cruel to him, and that he needed help. It could take him a while to get that conclusion, I didn't know.
All I knew is that we would all be there to help him, when he got to that conclusion, no matter how long it took. We would be there, and help him through, until he was back to the man we once knew. That kind, funny man, the man who we were proud to call our best friend. Who smiled, laughed, and knew how to have a good time without constantly worrying about clearing up or making one false move. The father that Buzz deserved. We would do whatever it took to get him back, no exceptions.