~+Memory: Back track+~

Matt watched Tom cover his mouth for a moment, muffling a quiet cough.

He didn't want to believe it at first, but the evidence laid in the palm of his friend's hand. A single yellow petal rests on Tom's palm held out towards him.

A quiet gasp escaping his lips.

"Now will you let me go?"

Tom looks sadden and nervous, something no one in this house had seen before. Oh how Matt wished this reality wasn't so.

"..."

"Matt, please." The man in the blue hoodie pleads like he's begging for his life.

"I..." Matt started, yet unsure. He wanted Tom to stay and not leave them. They're all friends and it would hurt the others to see him go. But for Tom's sake, "Alright Tom... Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you Matt."

~End Of Memory~

"Matt!"

The ginger snapped out of his thoughts when Edd called him. He looks at the brunet along with Tord next to him. "What?"

The three of them are seated in the living room to discuss of Tom's idea to move into an apartment. Matt sitting on the armchair while Edd and Tord share the couch. The Tv quietly playing Doctor Why in the background. Tom's out of the house buying some Smirnoff again.

Edd sighs as he leans back on his seat on the couch. "Matt, can you please tell us why Tom's leaving?" He was really hoping Matt would provide them with the answers they need to fill their worried mind.

Matt fiddles with his fingers and looks down to the carpet. "Edd I can't tell you." He doesn't want to betray his friend's trust. "I promised Tom I wouldn't tell you guys why."

The couple already confronted Matt about the topic many times before when all three of them were alone. Always when Tom was out of the house for the sake of not bringing the topic to him quite yet, but he always said the same thing. He promised not to tell.

"You're the only one who know's why the Jehovah's Witness leaving. You have to tell us, Edd can talk this out with Tom so he can talk him into staying." Tord, to Matt's view, had been a little more quiet than usual about the topic of Tom leaving. He suspected he would be the first to cheer Tom leaving, however, this is not the case.

It just seemed to have the opposite effect.

"I really can't..."

Red petal

"I promised Tom..."

Broken heart

Matt stood up from his seat quickly startling his friends. He can't just stay here and answer their questions. This is important to Tom and also to himself since he wants his friend to get better by moving on from whoever he has a one sided crush is on.

"No matter what, I can't speak a word about this with you two. I have no say into Tom leaving this household." He firmly walks to the stairs so he could go spend time in his room to think. Matt stops at the foot of the stairs.

"If you want to know, ask him yourself."

With those words, Matt left up the stairs. The sound of his bedroom door opening and closing telling them their conversation is over.

Edd laid his head against Tord's shoulder with a sad sigh. "I want to help Tom out, but I don't know what I'm suppose to do."

Click

The sound of the front door opening catches their pair's attention. They look to the door and see Tom step inside with a few plastic bags in hand.

"Tom!" Edd gets out of his seat so fast it startles Tord. He comes over to Tom wrapping him up in a strong hug.

"Edd? What's with the hug?" Tom questions confused by his best green wearing friend's strong hug.

Edd pulls back from the hug and puts his hands on Tom's shoulders. "Um, Tom we know about you wanting to move out..." He finally says to his best friend to let him know.

Tom's expression drops to a frown. "And I trusted Matt to keep my leave a secret." His tone voicing his disappointment to the person he trusts.

"No, no, no, Matt didn't tell us a thing about you moving out. Tord and I actually overheard your conversation with Matt the other day when we were going to your room so Tord could apologize." Edd says to defend Matt's trust to keep Tom's reason to leave a secret.

Tom narrows his optics at Edd with suspicion. "He didn't tell you why I'm leaving, right?"

"Not a word. We asked but he said we should ask you since it wasn't his place to say why." Edd confirms with reassurance that Matt didn't tell them anything for his reason of leaving.

Tom sighs in relief, glad Matt didn't crack to spill his secret. He didn't want Edd worrying over the fact he could cough up flower petals because of some stupid disease. "Look Edd, I'm just dealing with a lot of things right now. I'd like to get away from it all right now."

"But Tom..."

"You won't even have to deal with drunk me all the time now." Tom adds to cheer his best friend up, but it was only making Edd feel worse. "I already have my stuff packed and I decided to leave tomorrow morning."

"What?!" Tord and Edd said in surprise. No one acknowledging the fact that Tord might have said it a little louder between him and his boyfriend.

"So soon?!" Edd said with sadden worry. He was always worried about Tom and his habits. Being the mother bear of the group really put him on the edge about Tom since he has his problems which he keeps secret very well from everyone else.

Tom removes Edd's hands from his shoulders, "I'll be gone for awhile Edd, just until I can move on from somethings. I promise you won't even notice I'm gone."

With this he could finally settle himself down somewhere where he won't have to be a problem for his best friends. Then he won't even have to feel the burning pit in his gut or itch in the throat when he sees the one he loves being lovey dovey with his best friend.

Edd rubbed at his arm unsure. Tom gives him one last hug before he heads up to his room, the sound of his door closing softly. The fight was so one sided, Tom controlling the flow of the conversation easily.

He looks back at Tord with an unsure expression.

However, all he could see on his boyfriend's expression is something he's never witness before.

Something empty and unfulfilled.

~+later in the day+~

Matt sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night, going straight to Tom's room with light footsteps.

Light creaks were made here and there but not enough to wake Edd or Tord as he passed by their rooms.

When he get to Tom's door he gives the door a faint sounded knock. "Psst, Tom?" He whispers.

Footsteps on the other side of the door are heard and the door opens to reveal Tom who looks like he hasn't turned in for the night. He's actually still dressed in his casual clothes.

"Matt?"

The ginger looks behind Tom to see his room already cleaned of everything he owned. Only the bed frame,  mattress, and furniture were left to show someone used to occupy this room. Just behind Tom is his window pulled open, letting in the night breeze to blow at the curtains in a gently rhythm. A blue satchel and black luggage case near the window.

"You're leaving now?"

Tom looks at him guilty as charge, "I thought it would be for the best to make my leave less harder on you and Edd... I'm sorry..." More importantly he didn't have to deal with looking at Tord's face, he just had to rip the bandaid off like this.

Matt sighs and hugs his blue wearing friend tightly. "Don't be sorry Tom, I know you need this. You have your reasons and I respect them. Just take care of yourself, please." The narcissist felt the other man hug him back. "If you ever need us we're just a call away."

"Mmm..."

The two men let go of each other and Matt holds out a hand sized black bag. "It's a good thing I caught you just in time. I didn't want you to leave without this."

Tom accepts the bag and opens it up. He slides the object outside onto his hand. A small mirror the size of his hand with a blue rubber cover around it, keeping it drop crack proof. "One of your mirrors?" He says giving Matt a quizzical look.

"Not my mirror Tom, it's a piece of the mirror that connects with our girl counterparts. Remember?"

Tom nods, the six of them got along fairly well, especially himself and his female counterpart Tamara. They usually have conversations on the daily when they have time to support each other with their life problems.

"I broke a shard of the mirror off and had it made into this little to go one for you."

"Wow Matt... Thank you. I don't know what else to say." Now Tom felt bad for leaving early without saying goodbye to Matt first. The only person who will probably understand his complicated situation and who has treated him like a good brother since they started getting along.

"So who is it?"

Tom looks at Matt confused.

"The one who stole your heart?" Matt adds in a quiet voice.

Tomi shows him a small, sad smile. "Someone who just doesn't love or like me the way I do. His heart may be red, but he doesn't love my blue one."

It took a few moments to understand his friend's words. None the less, Matt understood the colors he used as codes.

Blue is Tom clearly enough... Red, being none other than Tord.

Who would have thought...

His eyes soften as he pats Tom on the head and Tom let's him as his smile is painful. Matt pats his shoulder. "Goodnight Tom."

It's wasn't a goodbye knowing they'll see other someday as a whole group.

Tom smiles back at him softly. "Goodnight Matt." He watches his tall ginger haired friend leave down the hall to go up the stairs to his room his room in the attic.

He pockets the mirror in his hoodie after putting it back in the black baggie. His hand grabs the knob the door, closing the door to his room one last time.

With a deep breath the door shuts, Tom's room is no more but an empty space.

~

The morning seemed normal to Tord and Edd, but to Matt he already knew the empty feeling as he glances at Tom's door. The occupant long gone as he escaped in the middle of the night with no way to contact him whatsoever.

The three of them sat in the kitchen eating breakfast.

Two unaware

One aware

"Tom's probably sleeping in again. I should go wake him up before his breakfast gets cold." Edd said as he gets up from his seat.

Matt quickly eats the rest of his breakfast so he could avoid the drama of what comes when the couple finds out Tom's already gone. "I'm leaving early! I need a new mirror for my room!" He tells them in his usual happy attitude.

"Alright! Text me if you're gonna have lunch with us later." Edd says as he starts exits the kitchen.

Matt puts his dishes away and quickly slips on his black sneakers. Opening the door not a second later as Edd made it half way up the stairs.

He leaves the house and walks down the block until he hear a loud shout from where he just came from. Letting out a sigh of relief as he escapes being questioned about Tom's early leave.

'I hope you move on soon Tom. So your illness can fade away and you can come back home.' Matt thinks as he continues to the store. He wouldn't buy mirrors like he usually does, but some flowers this time.

Matt was supportive to Tom and his disease of the hanahaki because he once had it himself... He had the surgery done to him, the flowers almost kill him because he couldn't move on. After the surgery, the price was paid by removing the feelings he had for that special person in his heart.

Since then, Matt would study flower meanings whenever he could and it was helpful. The one Tom coughed up was a yellow tulip petal.

Hopeless Love

Back at the house Edd is literally in shock. Tom's room had been stripped clean of everything he owns. The mattress, bed frame, and furniture being the only thing left.

He could tell Tom had left last night due to the open window.

'He didn't even say goodbye...' Edd thought as he enters the bare room one step at a time.

Footsteps are heard running up the stairs by none other than Tord. He stands in the doorway, eyes wide like his when he saw the state of Tom's room.

The brunet went over to Tom's desk to find a small written note.

Dear Edd,

Thanks for letting me stay with you guys all this time. However, like I told you before, I should leave. I have some problems I'm trying to deal with and fix.

I can't do either of those things if I stay here.

Don't take it personally Edd, the problem I've dealing with has been something going on for a long time now.

I left early so I wouldn't make the both of us feel really bad. I would have been probably guilt tripping to stay if I said goodbye to you this morning. So sorry...

Matt caught me last night before I left actually. Said my goodbyes to him and everything. Also don't try to question him about where I am. He doesn't know my exact living station either.

Anyways Edd, it's been great and all these past few years. I can't say goodbye knowing we'll meet again someday. For now I wish you the best with you and Matt. Hopefully we'll meet again in the future when I'm better.

-Tom

P.S- I hope you enjoy every moment of your love life. You deserve to be happy.

Tears slid down his cheeks. "Tom, I want to help you..." He quietly says to himself.

Tord stood in the doorway quiet.

The room empty besides himself, Edd, and the empty bare bed and furniture.

He doesn't know why, but the empty room pulled at something in his chest.

XxxX

Cute Fanart for you guys!

Thank you!