Chapter Text
“Come on guys, it’s the last period of the day, let’s just get it over with.”
“Yeah, but it’s pe. No one wants to do PE.”
“No, Tommy, you just don't want to do PE.”
“What, you do, boob boy?”
“Pfft no,” Ranboo laughed, as though the mere suggestion was absurd.
“Exactly.”
“Well we can’t exactly skip boys,” Tubbo reasoned, grabbing his sneakers from his locker before shutting it.
“Yeah says you Tubs, You can’t even do PE,” the blond grumbled, scuffing his shoes along the tiled floor as the trio walked.
Tubbo turned around to look at Tommy as he continued to walk. “You do realise I still have to do PE, right?”
Ranboo then looked at Tubbo, his brows furrowed in something akin to concern. “Wait, you still have to do it? What about your leg?”
“Don't have a note bossman,” The brunet explained as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, I have to stay fit and all.”
“Surely if you told the teacher they would understand and not make you participate?” Tommy said, not quite getting it.
But tubbo felt hopeful today.
His leg was being really bad, and the limping may assist in his case to the teacher.
“Yeah, I might give that a go today…”
As it turned out, PE today consisted of the ever torturous running before they would launch into preparations for Athletics day, which was coming up in a couple of months. Tommy and Ranboo were quick to usher Tubbo over to where the teacher was standing, knowing full well that Tubbo would not cope with the running of the day.
Tubbo sent a lighthearted glare at his friends before looking back to his teacher, who was looking at something on his clipboard. Tubbo cleared his throat before speaking up.
“Excuse me sir?”
The teacher’s eyes found Tubbo, and he could tell that this was not going to go very well. He was looking at the small boy with some mix of boredom and disdain, almost daring him to ask anything of this teacher.
“Yes, Tobias?”
Gulping, Tubbo decided to give it a go anyways. “I- uh, I was wondering if I would be able to sit out today? My leg really hurts and I got knocked over at lunch and hurt it more.”
The teacher furrowed his brows before looking down at the leg that Tubbo was avoiding putting too much weight on before looking back to the boy’s face.
“You look fine.”
“Y-yes, sir, but it really does hurt really badly-”
“Do you have a note?”
“Uh- no? It happened at- at school..?
“Then you have to participate.”
“But sir-”
“No. I’m not going to give you a free pass just because you don't want to do the running today. Go over and line up with everyone else.”
“Yes sir.”
Tubbo hobbled back over to where his friends stood, looking at him expectantly.
“And?”
“He said I have to participate.”
“What?! That’s bullshit!”
“Yeah that’s so dumb, Tubs!”
Tubbo simply shrugged before starting to walk over to where everyone else in their class stood. “Come on, let's line up.”
Tommy and Ranboo shared a certain look before following Tubbo.
To say that PE went well would be true.
If you were anyone other than Tubbo or his friends.
For Tubbo, it was incredibly hard to run, not only because of his leg, but it was a freezing cold day today, which made his joints feel tighter than normal and made his chest feel like it was filled with permafrost, which then made it harder for him to breathe. He also felt the judging eyes of the other students and the teacher as he ran, especially when he slowed to a stop for a second because he was in so much pain that he was struggling to see. For Tommy and Ranboo, they spent the majority of their time running alongside Tubbo, trying to convince him to take more breaks, or even just walk the laps rather than run them.
And once that running was done, the teacher decided to be cruel and told them that the Athletics events that they would be training for were Triple jump and Long jump. Oh joy.
By the end of the class, Tubbo was struggling not to break down in tears, and his friends were supporting him as he walked as much as he would allow them to. Tommy grabbed Tubbo’s bags and books for him as Ranboo hunched down to help Tubbo walk. It was a very funny sight to say the least, a 6’7 teenager hunched over to be able to help a 5’6 boy walk.
Tubbo was mainly grateful for the fact that his mum would be picking him up from the bus stop, minimising the amount of walking that Tubbo would have to do. Tommy and Ranboo were getting picked up by Phil today, and since Wilbur and Techno were still at school and would also need to be picked up, the car would be entirely full.
As Tubbo parted ways with tommy and Ranboo, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through social media as he waited for the bus to arrive. Once it did, he was relieved to find that there was a seat free and Tubbo gladly took the opportunity to sit down. As the bus drove, it began to rain and Tubbo once again was thankful for his mum picking him up and preventing him from walking a kilometer and a half in the rain, especially given the slight hills around that he would have had to climb. When the bus pulled up to his stop, Tubbo pocketed his phone, put his backpack on again and stood to get off of the bus. He thanked the driver and carefully stepped off onto the wet concrete, immediately regretting not bringing an umbrella.
He looked to where his mum was usually parked, but saw no such car. Tubbo waited for a few minutes in the rain - the bus was long gone by now - before he took his phone out again and texted his mum, asking where she was.
He was quick to receive a reply.
Hi hun, I can't pick you up today, remember? I’ve got that staff meeting tonight that I can't avoid and your father is in the city at work. We spoke about this this morning. You’ll have to walk. Sorry xx
Well shit.
Tubbo could’ve sworn there was no mention of them not being able to pick him up from school, in fact quite the contrary. But his mum had told him that they’d spoken about it, so he just assumed he heard wrong. (he didn't)
Sighing, Tubbo pulled out his headphones and set up his music before he put his phone back in his pocket, readjusted his backpack and began the walk.