Chapter Text
The two boys sat on the small bench outside the cottage with coke and popcorn, courtesy of Mr Notfound.
The sun was setting in front of them. Vibrant orange, purple and pink streaks covering the sky as the sun lowered into the ground.
As the darkness began to overtake the light, Tommy sighed, "I love sunsets."
Ranboo shrugged and made a noise of agreement, "I prefer sunrises though."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Sunsets just seem more sad, I guess. Sunrises are the start of the day, positive, hopeful." Tommy looked at the setting sun thoughtfully, contemplating his friend's words.
"Well, we're gonna have to watch a sunrise together then." He decided, smiling at Ranboo.
Ranboo smiled back, "Bet."
Shortly after, they headed to bed, Tommy in George's room, Ranboo in the guest bedroom.
It was nice to have a bed to himself but Tommy couldn't help the slight ache in his chest at the empty bed.
He was lonely, sue him.
After a couple minutes of tossing and turning, he decided to scuttle over into Ranboo's room, looking very much like a little kid as he cautiously opened the door and peeked his head through. He tiptoed over to the bed, careful to not make any noise as he approached Ranboo. Suddenly, one eye opened to look at him and Tommy froze.
Ranboo chuckled at his friend, "Hello, you ok?"
Tommy nodded and straightened himself out, "Yeah I'm fine bossman, what about you?"
"I'm good, y'know, trying to sleep."
Tommy nodded and laid down on the bed. He stared at Ranboo with puppy eyes and the other sighed before lifting up the cover to let him underneath.
"As long as you don't steal the covers again."
"I won't." Tommy promised.
"Good, if you do, I will not hesitate to throw you off of this bed." Ranboo threatened and Tommy nodded. He could feel sleep weighing on his eyes as he snuggled into the bed and sighed happily.
Ranboo snorted, "Clingy." He stated.
"Shut it." Tommy replied, trying to sound angry but couldn't when he was so content with the situation at hand.
Tommy fell asleep very quickly that night.
….
"Ranboo we need to go!" Tommy yelled, coughing at the smoke filling up the kitchen. Ranboo ran down the stairs, coughing as well, and stared in shock at the flames engulfing the kitchen. "Don't just stand there!" That snapped Ranboo out of it and he quickly got his coat and shoes and ran outside.
Tommy, on the other hand, ran into the living room and grabbed his backpack and began stuffing anything of value into it.
"What are you doing?" Ranboo yelled from outside.
Tommy coughed before replying, "Getting shit!"
"First we break into this man's house, then set it on fire, and now you're stealing his things?" Ranboo yelled again.
"Is this really the time to be lecturing me?" He yelled back. The fire alarm was still beeping, the noise hurt Tommy's ears so he threw a shoe at it. The thing fell, still screaming. It stopped after Tommy threw a mug at it. "Yeah fuck you bitch!" He yelled at the smashed in device.
"Tommy, what are you doing? Get out of there!" Ranboo exclaimed. Smoke was rapidly filling the home and Tommy's lungs and the fire was reaching into the hallway.
Tommy sprinted out of the house and broke down coughing and spluttering. Ranboo handed him a bottle of water and patted his back.
"Open the garage." He said and the taller boy did just that, revealing a slightly battered up Toyota. He got up and with a smirk, still coughing slightly, and held out a set of keys. Ranboo replied with his own smile and the two hopped in, Tommy in the driver's seat.
"Do you know how to drive?"
"Kind of?" Tommy replied in an unsure tone. Ranboo looked concerned but Tommy ignored it and put the keys in the ignition, then backed the car into the garage door. "Yup, that's definitely reverse," he said and Ranboo just sat holding onto his seat belt for dear life with a sickly look on his face, "Don't worry, I'm a big man, I can drive." Tommy reassured him, even though he had barely any clue of what to do.
After a couple minutes of examining the car, Tommy decided that he should hurry up, what with the burning house next to them and drove out onto the road, taking a bit of fence with him.
Driving on the road was easier, mostly straight and soon Ranboo had relaxed a bit as well.
"How do you know where to go?" He asked, good question, Tommy had no idea where to go.
"I uhm- Oh! Get the phone out of my bag, we can use Google maps." Ranboo did as he had said before pausing with the phone in hand.
"You had a phone this entire time?" Tommy laughed nervously and nodded, "So, we could have used Google maps this entire time? But instead you decided to 'just go south'?" He questioned incredulously.
"Yeah, kinda?" Tommy replied sheepishly.
Ranboo just sighed and pinched his nose, "Brighton yeah?"
….
They had been driving in silence, excluding Ranboo's exclamations at any animals they passed and Tommy's swears whenever he drove off the road or got honked at. Then, Ranboo turned on the radio and flipped through the stations, settling on one that was playing Riptide.
Both began nodding their heads to the music and Tommy started singing:
"Lady, running down to the Riptide,
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be y- FUCK OFF DICKHEAD!" (directed at an oncoming car that was honking at him, because he was driving on the wrong side of the road)
Ranboo laughed at that and started humming the song as well. He hummed while Tommy belted the lyrics and in the last chorus decided to join in with the singing.
"I LOVE YOU WHEN YOU'RE SINGING THAT SONG AND I GOT A LUMP IN MY THROAT CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA SING THE WORDS WRONG."
"Yeah I got a lump in my throat cause you're gonna sing the words wrong." Ranboo blushed in embarrassment when he realised that Tommy had stopped singing.
Tommy just smiled at him, "You have a nice voice."
"Thanks, so do you." They smiled at each other and nodded until the next song began playing, "Carpool karaoke." He stated.
"Carpool karaoke yeahhhh!"
….
Somehow, Tommy hadn't crashed the car yet; but it was running out of fuel.
"Do you think we could risk going to a petrol station?" Ranboo contemplated before shaking his head in response. Sighing, Tommy began to drive off of the road, "Time to walk again I guess."
The car was shaking as it drove into a field and Tommy decided to press his foot down as hard as he could, causing the car to crash face-on with a bush. Turning, he saw Ranboo looking absolutely terrified, clutching onto the sides of the chair. Tommy burst out laughing at his friend and received a glare from the distraught boy.
"Come on then, we don't have all day." He teased and got out of the car, Ranboo shortly following suit. Then, he handed his friend a bag and they checked the maps before walking again. "The phone battery is low, we're gonna have to go without for now."
As they were walking, the taller boy began letting out small chuckles; Tommy raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"It's just- so, we just committed like- so many crimes." He answered between laughter, "We're screwed."
"Hey bossman, we ain't screwed if they don't know it was us!" Tommy reassured him (he was feeling quite nervous himself, but wasn't about to act like it). Ranboo didn't seem too convinced, "Look, how about… I took a bunch of money from his house. In the next town, we can dye our hair and get new clothes or something, y'know, disguise." He waved his hands dramatically and Ranboo gave him a small smile.
"Good plan."
….
Luckily, the next town was only a few minutes walk away, the sun was slowly setting and they decided to find a shop as quickly as possible. There was a boots where they bought brown and black hair dye and a charity shop where they got a few new clothes; Tommy also got some glasses frames and Ranboo got a face mask that he put on immediately after purchase.
Then, they found a hotel to stay the night, and using Wilbur's I'd, secured a room.
"So we wanna dye our hair tonight right? I can do mine first and then help you if you want?" Tommy asked, he had learnt how to dye hair when helping Techno with his. They decided that that was the best course of action and began the dying process.
It felt odd, foreign to change what had been the same since birth but it was also refreshing, as if he was slowly cutting ties with all of his past.
The refreshed feeling did not last long as while he was finishing trimming his hair, realisation struck him like a bus.
He looked like Wilbur.
Tears threatened to prick his eyes as he stared at the mirror, his reflection a stark reminder of what he had left and why.
Ranboo noticed his friend's panic and asked whether he was ok.
"I don't- I don't wanna be like him, I can't be like him." Tommy blurted out, shaking his head. A firm but reassuring hand was placed on his shoulder.
"You can't be like who?"
"No Ranboo, I won't be like him, I can't be like Will."
"Wilbur? Your brother?" Tommy nodded and gasped for air, silent tears falling down his cheeks. "Right okay, why do you think you could be like him?"
"I look like him. I can't be like him, Ranboo." Tommy grabbed Ranboo's hand and stared into his eyes. Tommy's eyes were full of panic.
"Okay Tommy, I know. Hey, look, just because you look like your brother doesn't mean you have to be like him. You aren't like him, ok?" Ranboo reassured.
Ranboo had to understand, he couldn't be like Will. Snarky and mean and bitter. He didn't want to be that.
"Tommy? You are your own person, okay? Wilbur does not control you and you do not have to be like him, no matter how similar you look."
Ranboo. Fucking Ranboo. Always there, always kind, always knows what to say to make Tommy feel better. The bastard.
Tommy threw his arms around his friend and pulled him into a tight hug, wiping his tears on the other's shirt. After the initial surprise wore off, Ranboo hugged him back, ignoring his slightly cut off oxygen supply.
"Thank you." He whispered.
He wouldn't be like Wilbur. He would be like him. Whatever 'him' is anyways.