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Dream wasn’t oblivious. He was only ten, but he listened, and kept his guard up all the time. Their dad could get scary when he was drunk, and when he came home from school with Tubbo he wasn’t surprised he was drunk again. He tensed up, and watched Tubbo run to the other room, yelling for their father.
He knew the situation by the various bottles that littered the floor in the front room and kitchen. Dream guessed their dad was in the living room or his bedroom. The elder brother quickly scampered after his brother, not wanting him to get into any trouble. Schlatt sat on the couch, watching something on the tv, another bottle in hand.
“Daddy! Daddy! We’re back from school!” Tubbo shouted, his tiny bumblebee backpack resting on his shoulders as he went up to his dad. Schlatt seemed to ignore it, mumbling a bit at Tubbo’s shouting. He seemed very out of it.
Dream knew that if Tubbo was going to be energetic and hyper, it was better if he took him elsewhere. So he went into the kitchen to get some apple slices. When Tubbo heard, he quickly ran to the kitchen in excitement. Dream placed the plate of apple slices on the table and Tubbo went and took a seat. He grabbed a slice with his tiny hand, giggling.
“Hey Tubbo, d’you wanna go to the park? We could play on the playground for a little bit!” Dream offered, knowing the park was safer than their house at this moment.
“Yeah! Yeah! Let’s go to the park!” The small child exclaimed, clapping his hands.
Dream told his brother he had to make a quick call and then they could go. The older brother went into another room and grabbed the home phone, dialing the number he memorized by heart at this point. Dream always called Quackity when he needed something or if their dad was drunk. It had become a less common occurrence at this point, but sometimes, it’d become hard for their dad to avoid the alcohol. They didn’t have the money for therapy so Quackity always came to care for them and make sure Schlatt didn’t do anything he would regret.
The thought made Dream shudder at some bad memories.
The phone rang multiple times until, “hello?” Quackity had picked up.
“Hey uncle Quackity, um, dad is drunk again and I was gonna take Tubbo to the park, can you come over soon?” Dream asked. He heard a long, drawn out sigh over the phone.
“Again? Yeah, yup I’ll be there soon kiddo, just keep your eye on Tubbo.”
“I will!”
“I know, Dream, you’re a great brother.”
The conversation ended quickly after that, and Dream ran to the kitchen where his brother was finishing up his snack. They got their shoes back on, and went out the door, making their way to the nearest park. Tubbo quickly made his way to the playground, getting mixed with the various other children that were there. Dream smiled and followed, playing games with his brother and the other kids.
They got tangled into a game of tag, where Dream was currently it. His friend Sapnap had shown up and he was the last one. Dream was the fastest kid in his class, and he always won the races and other games during recess. Sapnap ran into a bunch of trees, hiding under big branches and in bushes.
Dream could see him below, as he was up in the trees, smirking. He leaped off a branch and landed onto Sapnap, tackling him. His friend screams in terror, sounding like a girl. Dream turned over, getting off of him and began to wheeze and laugh. He rolled through the dirt, making fun of Sapnap’s girly scream.
Sapnap was very embarrassed, his face firing up, “you’re so mean! At least I don’t sound like a tea kettle when I laugh!”
Dream didn’t mind the insult too much, pulling himself up and giving a light punch to his friend’s shoulder. The two of them made their way out of the trees and the other kids groaned in response seeing that Dream had won again.
“Dream! Tubbo! Time to go!” A voice called out. When the two brothers looked, they could see Quackity by the parking lot. It had been a couple hours, but to them it felt like minutes. Dream said his goodbye to Sapnap while Tubbo ran in excitement to Quackity, leaping in his arms. The three of them got in Quackity’s car, a carseat already there for Tubbo since he had taken them places so many times.
“Did you guys have fun?” Quackity asked, looking at them through his mirror. Tubbo gasped and began to go on a long tangent about all the fun things they had done. He told them about Dream winning tag, and swinging on the swings, the friends he had made, (though Dream was sure he’d never see those kids again).
They pulled up to the house, and entered, Quackity explaining that their dad was asleep now. Their uncle began to make them some dinner, Tubbo begging to help. They gave him simple things to do here and there while Dream helped Quackity with some of the bigger things. The 5 year old seemed contented and the three of them made a simple dinner.
Dream was always worried about his dad, and his brother, which made Quackity feel bad. It was too big of a responsibility for a 10-year-old. He’d wish he was able to do something, but what he did now was the most he was able to do. He sighed while eating dinner, watching the two closely bonded brothers fondly. He was so proud of them.
Schlatt was a bit hard to deal with. He had to fight him to get into the shower so he’d sober up, but eventually caved and got himself into some better clothes. Sure they were just sweats, but they weren’t stained or ripped. After a little while, Schlatt broke down into tears, feeling bad about getting drunk again.
Quackity comforted his friend until he’d fallen asleep. He knew that he was trying. Things were just in a hard place right now, and there wasn’t much they could do about it. But dammit, Quackity would do anything for them. They were his family, and he was willing to sacrifice.
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Years later
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Tubbo sat on a small bench in a familiar park. His friend Tommy joined him. A photo was gripped in his hand.
“Hey Tubbo, what’s that?” Tommy asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing, just… before you and I were friends, before you guys y’know, adopted me, I had a brother that I loved very much. I-I don’t really know where he went, or where he ended up, but he meant a lot to me, and saved me a lot from our abusive father.” Tubbo explained, a melancholy tone in his voice. The image in his hand was ripped, not much could be seen of his brother’s face.
“Oh, d’you not remember what he looked like?”
“No… I can’t remember. I don’t even remember what his name was. Almost like it’s on the tip of my tongue but I just can’t remember. I just hope wherever he is, whatever family he’s in, whatever he’s doing, that he’s happy. And that… he remembers me.”
Tommy slings an arm over Tubbo’s shoulder, the two of them beginning to walk back home. “You don’t need to think about such sad things Tubbo, I’m sure he’s okay. Maybe you’ll see him again one day!”
Tubbo smiled, “I hope so.”