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It wasn't a shock when Tommy didn't win. He had expected as much. When the arrow entered his stomach his irritation spiked. Sure it hurt but that was nothing to the embarrassment.
"Fuckin' hell," he muttered, grasping at the wound in his abdomen that was currently making him bleed out. He wouldn't have minded as much if it weren't for his audience. It would be one thing if George and Sapnap were the only ones watching but his brother, Wilbur, and his best friend, Tubbo, were there as well.
"Tommy!" Tubbo screamed, slapping a hand over his mouth and rushing down the steep hill. Tommy fell to his knees and clutched at the arrow, pulling it out impatiently with a grunt.
"Oh my god," Tubbo yelled, sliding to a stop a few feet away and dropping to his knees as well to be on the, somewhat, same level as his best friend.
"Does- Does it hurt?" he stammered, applying pressure to the wound. Tommy hissed and laid backwards, coughing a bit. They decided to ignore the blood that flowed out of his mouth with every heave.
"No, it feels great actually." he replied coldly, "Yeah it fuckin' hurts!" "I'm sorry- oh god," Tubbo's eyes were watering now, "Okay, you'll be okay.. You'll respawn and it-it'll be fine!" "Tubbo," Tommy said sadly, "this is my last life."
Tubbo choked and his face froze in horror as a tear fell down his it, "No," he whispered, pulling the taller towards himself, "stop. Tell me you're lying." Tommy stayed quiet as his best friend cried. "Please be lying."
"I'm sorry, Tubs."
He coughed again and Tubbo laid his head gently in his lap. "Tommy, please. I'm not ready to be alone." He choked, tears dripping down and onto Tommy's cheeks. "Please," Tommy said, brushing away a tear from Tubbo's eye which was quickly replaced with another, "don't cry."
"I love you, Tommy," Tubbo whispered, closing his eyes as his lip quivered. "I love you, Tubbo." "You're my best friend." Tommy let out a shaky sigh. He didn't want to die.
"Tubs," he said softly, starring into the sky which was fading into dark blue, "can you sing?"
"What?" "Sing," he repeated, "please." "Right now?" "Right now."
Tubbo took a shaky breath and rocked them back and forth gently, sighing sadly and trying to memorize every feature of his best friend, knowing deep down that this would be one of his last moments with the boy.
Tubbo hummed a melody quietly under his breath, crying a tad more and trying to compose himself to fulfill the request. The sky was now midnight blue and a few stars were visible. "Look at the stars," Tubbo sang gently, voice shaky, "look how they shine for you."
Tommy smiled and they shared a sad laugh.
"And everything that you do."
"Yeah, they were all yellow," he muttered, looking up at the sky and taking a deep breath before returning to looking at the dying boy in his lap, "I came along," he started, smiling sadly, "I wrote a song for you." "Did you really?" Tubbo smiled and nodded his head, carrying into the next verse. He did indeed write this song with the thought of Tommy.
But he never thought he'd be singing it to him on his deathbed.
"And all the things you do, and it was called Yellow. So then, I took my turn. Oh, what a thing to have done." He closed his eyes and a few more tears fell. He faintly heard Tommy shushing him. He was supposed to be the one comforting him right now, not the other way around.
"And it was all Yellow."
"Your skin," he sang, "Oh, yeah, you're skin and bones." "We don't body shame, Tubbo." Tubbo laughed and shook his head, knowing it was all for jokes. "Turn into something beautiful." Tommy smiled and mumbled a 'thank you.'
"You know," Tubbo said as more of a statement than a song lyric, "you know I love you so," he whispered, "You know I love you so."
They shared a moment of silence and basked in each other presence for the last time.
"I swam across, I jumped across for you," Tubbo was swaying them again, voice cracking and shaking more often now.
"Cause you were all yellow. I drew a line," his voice died out for a second and he cleared his throat, "I drew a line for you. Oh, what a thing to do." If Tommy had the energy, he would've made fun of Tubbo's voice crack on the high note.
"And it was all yellow."
"And your skin," Tubbo repeated, voice stronger than before, "yeah, you're skin and bones. Turn into something beautiful." Tommy smiled up at him and hummed along to the melody, it was easy to follow.
And they didn't know this, but somewhere on top of the hill, Wilbur was watching with sad eyes.
"And you know," Tubbo sang quietly again, "for you I'd bleed myself dry." "For you, I'd bleed myself dry," Tommy repeated and Tubbo laughed out a sob.
"It's true," he sang into the sky, "look at how they shine for you," Tommy looked past him and into the sky. They really were shining bright tonight, almost as if they were waiting for him.
"Look how they shine for you. Look at how they shine for," his voice gave out again. "Look how they shine for you." He tried again. "Look how they shine for you. Look how they shine.."
Tommy's eyes glossed over as Tubbo sang quietly and he smiled into the night air, sighing his last breath with contentment.
--
Tubbo visited his grave often, nearly once a day if not twice.
Tommy was buried next to the bench, per Tubbo's request. He hadn't talked to Dream since the incident, it was too painful and he didn't trust himself to not lash out.
He would tell him about his new adventures and secrets, and about the pretty girls who would pass through.
"Sorry I visited so late, Tom." He apologized and got back into his usual rambles and updates. There also days where he wouldn't talk, just sit and cry.
"And then Skeppy and Bad were arguing and Sapnap threw a snowball at them," Tubbo spoke quickly, pacing in front of the stone, "and get this!" He laughed, "It hit Skeppy in the face!"
It was sad, really. If you were a passerby. And saw a young teen talking to his best friend's gravestone as if it was going to talk back.
"Oh," Tubbo said abruptly, sitting down and laying his back against the stone, "I never finished your song."
He hummed up the melody again and repeated the song until he got the part where death had interrupted them.
"Look at the stars," he sang with a smile, looking at the night sky, "look how they shine for you," and he swore he heard Tommy's voice in the wind pass by, finishing the song with a quiet murmur of, "and all the things that you do."