Chapter Text
Wilbur had always told Tommy it wasn't safe for young boys to go outside after dark, not because they could get lost but because there were horrible creatures out there that could really hurt them if they couldn't properly protect themselves. But Tommy knew he was strong enough and more than prepared to go out at night.
This all stemmed from Phil mentioning they were running low on their beef supply, Tommy had offered to go and get some more since Techno was tired and Wilbur was busy and he didn't want to make Phil do everything himself, and it wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't almost sunset.
"I'll be fine! You all know I've been training with Techno anyways! Nothing and come sneak up on me!" Tommy boasted,
"I'm still uneasy about it, if anything does happen I'd rather you not come back bruised and bloodied," Phil spoke, techno hummed in agreement.
"Aw, come one. The farm is like... 300 blocks away at most, I'll be back in less than 30 minutes and I'll keep my comms open so I can message someone if something does happen, which it won't." Tommy pleaded.
"I still don't like it. We can wait until morning to get more, we'll be fine." Wilbur said firmly.
"But we don't have enough for everyone to have breakfast." Tommy countered.
"Then I can go without." Phil offered,
"No, we all deserve to eat and if anyone deserves to eat more out of all of us, it's you, Phil." Tommy stood, slung a sword across his shoulder, and started making his way towards the door.
"No, sit back down. You're not going-"
"You have to let me go out on my own eventually. I'm 16, Wilbur." Tommy huffed.
"You know what? Fine, go out. If you get hurt don't come crawling back to me because I'll just say I told you so." Wilbur shrugged, loudly scooting his chair back and stomping up to his room.
Tommy looked at the two other faces still left in the dining room, Techno was staring down at his plate and Phil was watching Tommy with an uneasy look,
"Well, off you are then. Be back in 30 or I'm sending a search party and you'll be grounded." Phil offered lightheartedly.
And with a small smile, Tommy was off to the farm.
He did have to admit, being outside in the dark, alone, for the first time was slightly off-putting, he found himself constantly checking over his shoulder and his eyes darted every which way and he jumped at every small sound he heard. He debated turning back but he didn't want to see the smug look on Wilbur's face when he saw that Tommy was too scared to stay out alone. He just had to man up and continue the short journey. He'd be fine, anyway.
He had made it to the farm, collected the meat he needed, and was starting his journey back when he heard a slight hissing sound come from behind him, he paused for a second trying to think of what the sound might be when all of the sudden his heart dropped.
Creeper.
He spun around, sword at the ready, but he was too late. He barely even had enough time to make eye contact with the wretched creature before it exploded nearly at point-blank range, throwing him back several feet and sending him tumbling until he finally landed on his back. The force of the explosion ended up knocking the wind out of his lungs. He laid for a moment, gasping and coughing, desperately trying to catch his breath, when it dawned on him that if there was one mob, there were probably more nearby. The thought of having to deal with another creeper, or even a zombie or skeleton, was enough of a motivator to get him into a sitting position. As he pushed himself up, he noticed a searing hot pain shot up his wrist, and holy shit did it hurt. Tommy let out a strangled noise, debating on pulling out his comm and having someone come help him, but he couldn't do that because that'd mean Wilbur was right and he wasn't ready to be this independent yet, and honestly, maybe he wasn't, but he didn't want his brothers knowing that. So he sucked it up, shoved his comm back into his pocket, picked up the sack of meat he had dropped, and made his way back to the house.
As he reached the front door, he prayed that no one was inside, or that maybe everyone was asleep already, so he'd at least have some time to throw the meat somewhere and get to the bathroom to figure out how he would deal with his wrist. He happened to glance down to reassess the damage only to be met with a now purple and green, swelling mess. The sight made him want to gag.
He slowly opened the door, sticking his head in to peek around, when he saw no one was around, he made his way into the kitchen, throwing the sack onto the table and placing his sword in its spot against the wall next to Wilbur's. He quietly slinked through the hallway and up the stairs to his shared bathroom with Wilbur and Techno. At the top of the stairs was a small landing that held a double-chest, mainly used for miscellaneous goods, while the rest of the upstairs was home to Wilbur, Techno, and Tommy, with the closest room to the stairs being Techno's, then Tommy's next to that, and Wilbur's across from Tommy's with a bathroom at the far end of the hall. He passed all of the doors as quietly as he could, with his wrist held protectively against his chest, and slipped into the bathroom.
As the door clicked shut, Tommy let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He crouched to get under the sink and look for supplies to treat his wrist and the other more minor injuries that he had. He pulled out an ace wrap, some smaller adhesive bandages, and one of those "shake it yourself" icepack things. All he really has to do is wrap his wrist properly and then everything would be fine, right? Well... even if it was that simple Tommy wasn't sure how to properly wrap a broken bone in the first place. Maybe he could sneak over to Fundy's infirmary, it was less than 100 blocks away from the house and he could probably bribe Fundy and convince him not to say anything to anyone.
He stared down at the swelling wrist, trying to think of a way to treat it when the door suddenly burst open causing Tommy to nearly jump out of his skin and back a few feet.
Oh, it was just Wilbur.
Wait... it was Wilbur.
Wilbur's attention had been completely down at his comm, probably texting back and forth with Niki or something, he glanced up slightly, only to do a double-take and notice someone else was in the bathroom before him.
"Shit, sorry Tommy. I didn't know you were home yet-" He stopped suddenly as his gaze drifted to Tommy's wrist.
"What the fuck is that?" Wilbur nearly yelled.
"It's-it's nothing!" Tommy stuttered, putting his wrist out of view and behind his back.
Wilbur roughly pulled Tommy's elbow, pulling his arm back into view, Tommy flinched harshly as his wrist bumped his side,
"Wilbur, please be-"
"Were you hiding this!?" Wilbur asked.
"That's-Well-No, not exactly-"
"You can't do that to yourself, Tommy! What if I hadn't come in and didn't notice? Do you know how bad this could've gotten?" Wilbur chastised. Tommy shrank in on himself for a second before remembering that Wilbur does this too. There have been many times were Wilbur has hidden something or at least the extent of it only for it to come back to bite him in the ass. Wilbur doesn't have to approve that Tommy tried to hide this, but he should at least understand.
"You don't have any right to tell me that. You know damn well you do it too." Tommy said with newfound confidence.
"That's different. You-" Will faltered slightly.
"Is it really that different, Wilbur? Is it?" Wilbur quieted at Tommy's response, trying to think of something to come back with, but he couldn't so the older just stood there, mouth slightly agape and fuming, "It's not different at all and you know it." Tommy spat, tears threatening to spill. Wilbur felt any and all anger he had disperse immediately when he saw Tommy's façade start to crack. He knew it would be better to de-escalate the situation now rather than later, after a panic attack.
"Okay, you're right, that is something I need to work on, and I understand why you did it, but I really wish you would've felt like you could come to me, or even Techno or Phil." Wilbur said as he wiped some of Tommy's stray tears with the pad of his thumb, "Do you think you can sit?" Tommy nodded at Wilbur's words and the two slowly made there was to the cold, tiled floor.
"Want to tell me what happened?" Wilbur asked softly, holding Tommy's good hand in his own. the last of Tommy's façade crumbled and the boy dissolved into sobs the wracked his thin frame
"I wasn't paying enough attention. It was behind me, the creeper. I didn't turn around in time. God Will, I was so scared." Tommy spoke through hiccups.
Wilbur pulled the younger into a hug, one which Tommy gratefully accepted and leaned into.
"You are one of the bravest people I know, did you know that Tommy?" Wilbur spoke, with his chin placed on top of Tommy's head, "I am so proud to call you my brother." Wilbur then pulled away, but not before pressing a kiss into Tommy's tangled golden locks.
"How about we head over to Fundy's and get this sorted out, yeah? I'll stay with you the whole time." Wilbur suggested, Tommy nodded, and Wilbur helped him up and lead him out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Phil was sorting through the meat that Tommy had brought home. Upon hearing the footsteps he smiled and turned, ready to thank the boy, but his smile dropped at the sight of Tommy. Tommy's discolored and swollen wristed was placed protectively against his chest, his eyes were still red and puffy from what was probably crying, and tear tracks were still drying on his cheeks.
Phil opened his mouth to speak but was met with a firm shake of the head from Wilbur and a look that said 'we'll talk about it later.' Phil respected that and gave a quick nod towards the pair before turning back to his work.
As Tommy and Wilbur walked to the infirmary, Tommy kept his face pressed into Wilbur almost as if he was afraid to look up, logically he knew mobs wouldn't spawn on the lit trail but he was still nervous and shaken from the encounter that he decided it'd just be better for Wilbur to lead the way. Wilbur knocked on the door of Fundy's house, the door was opened a couple of seconds later.
"Wilbur, why're you here so late- Oh, Tommy... what happened?" Fundy asked as he ushered the two boys inside.
"Creeper," Wilbur answered for Tommy, Fundy replied with one concise nod and immediately started getting to work,
"I'll be right back, I just need to grab some supplies," Fundy stated.
"Tommy," Wilbur started, "I really need you to promise me something."
"Depends on what it is," Tommy said lightheartedly, but he already knew what Wilbur was going to ask.
"Please don't do that again. Please don't hide things from us, even if you just come to Fundy. You don't have to be alone."
"Only if you promise the same." Tommy countered,
"You know what, deal." Wilbur smiled, shaking Tommy's good hand.
Fundy came back in soon after, Wilbur let him work already decided that when he was done, he and Tommy would head home and he'd put Tommy to bed, then tell Techno and Phil what happened and the three of them could have a talk with Tommy in the morning, but until then all that mattered was that Tommy was safe.