Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Alright, everyone. I am so excited to announce that this year, we will be performing…drumroll please!” The drama teacher pointed to the class in the rafters and a few kids collectively drum rolled on their legs. 

Quackity had been waiting since school started to find out what musical the drama class would be performing. Theatre was definitely one of his favorite parts of school, there was no denying that. The feeling of getting to act like he wasn’t some lonely, weird kid was liberating. 

The drum roll faded out. “The Addams Family!” 

There were a few cheers and the indistinct chatter of the room began. Quackity felt himself drift away from the classroom as the teacher began talking. The teacher began rambling about having found the musical on youtube and put it on. He hadn’t realized that as he zoned out, he was staring at another kid. When the video was turned on, he snapped back to reality. His face grew hot realizing he had accidentally stared at someone. He quickly turned to the board, hoping the other hadn’t noticed. 

After the class, Quackity felt a hand grab his shoulder as he walked down the hall. He turned around to see a tall boy with ram horns staring down at him menacingly. The class president, Schlatt. It suddenly hit Quackity who he had been staring at. He felt his heart sink as the man huffed and grabbed his chin, forcing him to not be able to look away.

“Why the fuck were you staring at me in Drama? That’s rude, you know.” Schlatt lectured, harshly letting go of Quackity’s face.

All the alarms in Quackity’s head blared. He felt the need to run, but he would most definitely be a laughing stock if he did that. Running from Schlatt would end up in rumors and being made fun of more than he already was. That wasn’t something he wanted at all. But on the other hand, all those things already happened to him daily. And the alarms were getting louder. He took the chance and booked it down the hall.

“Hey, duck! Get back here!” Schlatt yelled.

Quackity heard the stomping of his hooves getting closer and he tried to run faster. Just make it to the next class. You can do it, come on.

“Oh, duckling, you sure can run.” Schlatt whispered, pulling Quackity into the men’s bathroom. 

“I need to get to class.” Quackity protested, trying to get back out.

Schlatt blocked him with his hand. “I’ll vouch for you.” 

There was no point in trying to run now. It wouldn’t work. Schlatt pulled Quackity into a stall and pinned him against the door. Quackity felt his face grow hot.

“Now. Why were you staring at me, ducky?” Schlatt interrogated once more.

"I was just zoned out, I swear." Quackity pleaded. He didn't want Schlatt to get angry with him. It was never a good idea to get on Schlatt's bad side, everyone knew that. 

"Oh, please, Quackity." The tone in Schlatt's voice made it sound as if Quackity's name were a cuss. "There must have been more of a reason to be staring at me ." 

“No, I promise. I was just zoned out, I didn’t realize I was staring at you!” Quackity cried. Being pushed against the door was irritating and uncomfortable.

Schlatt was about to speak when there was a kick on the stall door. His eyes shot up and he whirled Quackity behind him and opened it. There was a short kid, probably a freshman with blonde hair. Quackity hadn’t a clue who he was. Schlatt seemed to know him though. 

“You leave that guy alone, you dickhead!” The blonde boy yelled, pointing accusingly at Schlatt. 

Schlatt pushed the boy back. It was pretty easy considering the size difference. “You stay out of this Tommy. Just ‘cause you’re friends with Tubbo doesn’t mean I’m gonna treat you like I treat him.” 

Quackity couldn’t stand by and let Tommy be bullied by Schlatt. He hated how a lot of Seniors thought it was alright to bully Freshmen just cause they were new. So, he grabbed Schlatt by the arm and pulled him away. “Don’t hurt the kid!” 

Schlatt went wide-eyed and just stared at Quackity over his shoulder. That was a new thing. No one had ever stopped him before. Maybe he’d get a tap on the hand if someone found out after, but no one ever stopped him in the middle of it. It unnerved Quackity how he stared at him with a look of both terror and rage. 

“Schlatt…?” Tommy asked, worry tinting his voice.

“Let go of my arm, duckling.” Schlatt demanded, grazing a finger under Quackity’s chin. 

Quackity let go. His wings made a small up and down movement. Tommy grabbed Shlatt's shoulder and pushed him into a sink. 

"You little fucker!" Schlatt growled, holding the back of his head. 

Quackity panicked and grabbed Tommy’s hand, pulling him out of the bathroom into the hallway. He got as far as he could from the bathroom. They stopped by a group of lockers to catch their breaths and collect themselves. Quackity’s brain was still racing as if he was on some sort of drug. 

“so…Tommy, was it?” Quackity asked, looking down at the blonde boy who was leaning against a locker, practically gasping for air. 

“Yeah, I’m Tommy. You? Who are you?” Tommy panted.

“Quackity.” 

Chapter Text

“Quackity! My man!” Tommy grabbed Quackity’s shoulder from behind and gave it a little shake. 

Quackity practically jumped out of his skin. He turned around to see Tommy behind him in the lunch line with a brown haired boy with little antlers and ears. He was twiddling his thumbs and not looking at Quackity or Tommy. It made Quackity wonder if it were one of Tommys friends or just someone who happened to be standing next to him. 

“This is Tubbo.” Tommy proclaimed, probably noticing Quackity’s staring. 

Tubbo looked up at Quackity and held out his hand slowly. Quackity shook it nearly immediately and Tubbo jumped, pulling away his hand. Quackity put his hand back at his side and gave Tommy a confused look. 

“You gotta be slow with him. He’s been through some shit.” Tommy explained as he patted Tubbo on the head. 

Quackity nodded and grabbed his plate from the lunch lady. He looked over and saw Tommy taking two plates from the lunch lady. One with the normal food and one with an uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He wondered if Tommy was paying for extra food and then he saw Tommy hand the plate to Tubbo. He didn’t know why Tubbo hadn’t gotten his own food, it was confusing. 

As Quackity went to sit down at his usual spot, Tubbo stopped him and started to pull him towards a different one. 

“Where are you taking me?” Quackity asked lightheartedly.

“Our table. You sit alone.” Tubbo declared, sitting Quackity down at one of the booths. 

“I guess I do, do that.”

Tommy laughed. “Hell yeah, you do! You sit there all depressed!”

Quackity laughed awkwardly as Tubbo shoved him into the seat and sat next to him. Tommy sat opposite of the two with a taller brown haired dude. Quackity recognized him from his Science class. The dude gave Quackity the side eye. 

“Wilbur, be nice.” Tubbo huffed. 

Wilbur rolled his eyes and turned to the rest of the group. He popped a piece of chicken in his mouth and looked awkwardly away from the table. Tommy chuckled nervously and started to eat his food. 

“Why is this guy here?” Wilbur asked after a few beats of silence.

“Tommy saved him from Schlatt, so we kidnapped him.” Tubbo said with a mouthful of PBJ. 

“Uh-huh. And we think that won’t attract Schlatt to us more?”

Tommy and Tubbo shared a look of concern, before looking down at their plates and eating.

Quackity felt unwelcome the moment he sat at the booth. This wasn’t helping. He felt like a burden to them in every way. They probably would get targeted more by Schlatt because of him sitting here. He should have declined and walked away. 

Quackity couldn’t eat. He just poked and prodded at his food. It would be rude of him to get up and leave. He just had to endure this. His wings moved up and down slowly. He had to go to auditions after school. He was gonna try out for Uncle Fester in the play. He wanted a big role, but knew he probably wouldn’t get a main, main one. So, he settled for Fester. The bell rang for the next class and he got out of there as quickly as he could. 

On the way down the hall, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He recognized it immediately. Schlatt. He grabbed the hand and pushed it off his shoulder, swiftly turning to face Schlatt.He scowled at him. He really didn’t wanna deal with this right now.

“What part are you trying out for in the play, duckling?” Schlatt asked, rubbing his now sore hand.

Quackity hesitated, but he could tell Schlatt wasn’t gonna leave him be until he answered. “Uncle Fester.” 

Schlatt tilted his head and had the most confused expression on his face. Quackity felt a weird sense of calmness when Schlatt had that look. He seemed so harmless, so cute .

“I thought for sure you would have tried out for a role with more lines. Like Lucas or Gomez. You seem the type that likes to chatter after all.” Schlatt teased, cupping Quackity’s chin in his hand.

Quackity felt his face grow warm, being forced to look up at Schlatt. It was like there was a fire in his gut. It was a new feeling. An odd one.

“I really have to get to class.” Quackity protested, attempting to break free of Schlatt’s hand. 

To his surprise, Schlatt let him go almost immediately. He took his chance and almost ran to the next class. He wasn’t about to risk getting into a fight with Schlatt again. He had to figure out what that warm, fuzzy feeling was. He’d heard it being referred to as love before, but it couldn’t be the same feeling. He doesn’t love Schlatt. In fact, it was quite the opposite.