diedheroes:
“ … what did you just say? ” and just like that, he goes from pissed off to downright angry. for all of his recent attempts at reform, all of his copping to his own shitty behavior and trying to do better, there’s a reason why someone with a mean streak as wide as tommy’s had latched onto him back in middle school. it’s this. right here. the way he slides into the red zone like he did in that alley —— only this time, this is about more than just an ex - girlfriend.
steve doesn’t wait for him to say another goddamn word before letting that right hook fly. it’s been a long time coming, long before that afternoon outside the fair mart. he should’ve done this years ago.
And the reason he latched on is the same reason he stuck around all those years that followed. It’s the reason he’s lingering here now with his pupils blown wide, ready for a fight.
Tommy smiles at him with that sick shit-eating grin he always wears when something is going exactly as he plans it, and braces for the impact. It doesn’t do a lot of good. Harrington packed a meaner punch than he thought––and he didn’t like that, or the taste of his own blood in his mouth.
He moves to dodge the next blow and shoves him back by the throat, pushing himself away from the lockers he’d been crowded back against.
“ Back off, Harrington. You wanna get your ass kicked that bad, man? Huh? You really think you can win this fight? ”