Chapter Text
10 months. It’s only been 10 months since the worlds of Niki, Fundy, Ranboo, Sapnap and Quackity were turned on their heads. Since they had watched George, Dream and Karl die at the hands of “friends” who turned out to be ruthless killers. A lot had changed since then. 5up and Fundy finally got married, Sapnap and Quackity moved in together. But there was a hole in all their hearts with 3 of the key players in their lives gone. The fans still hadn’t recovered, when the news broke twitter shattered in half. Ranboo knew he should probably get out more, but everything was more frightening after living through an experience like he had. He felt he was letting his teen years slip away, but who could blame him? That’s why he was glad when he was invited to the UK to meet up with Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur, Philza, Jack Manifold and Niki. He felt better knowing Niki would be there, she understood what he went through. Ranboo picked up his bag from the baggage claim and checked his phone.
“I should probably let Sapnap know I got here safely.” he muttered to himself. Sapnap was always looking out for him, he was glad to have a friend who was always there when he needed it.
Ranboo: Just landed a couple minutes ago, thought I should let you know.
Sapnap responded almost immediately.
Sapnap: Have fun dude. And text me, Quackity or Fundy whenever.
Ranboo smiled at the text. He appreciated all three of them, he leaned on them a lot for support since the murders. They never let him down. Another text popped up, this one from Tubbo.
Tubbo: We’re waiting in the arrivals lot, see you there!
Ranboo didn’t bother responding. Just a few more minutes of navigating and he’d be there. As he made his way across the airport, he felt a sense of overwhelming happiness and excitement, something he hadn’t felt in so long. He had travelled by plane on his own, a stride he was proud of himself for making, and he was going to see his some of best friends again. As he swung open the doors to the arrival port, he immediately saw a short boy in an oversized hoodie and woman with pastel pink hair standing beside a polished black car.
“Niki and Tubbo!” he exclaimed enthusiastically, almost running towards them and wrapping them both up in a hug.
“Ranboo! It’s been so long; did you get even taller?” Niki laughed.
Ranboo shrugged. “Probably.”
Tubbo grinned and put a hand on his back. “Get your bags into the trunk, you get to ride shotgun!”
Ranboo loaded his bags in the back and climbed into the passenger seat. He was immediately greeted by Phil’s friendly face at the steering wheel.
“Ranboo! How have you been!” Phil asked over the chatter of the backseat, starting the car up and taking a sip from a big blue water bottle.
“Pretty good!” Ranboo lied. The truth was, he had constant panic attacks and flashbacks, and hearing any clip of Dream, George or Karl made the image of their bodies flash into his mind. Not to mention he had taken to sleeping with a knife under his pillow. Just the night before he left, he had a flashback nightmare and called Tubbo in the middle of the night. He had been doing that a lot lately. He wondered if Tubbo knew that it wasn’t because he was “bored and couldn’t sleep.” But that’s not quite what he thought Phil wanted to hear.
Ranboo had spent a lot of the past few months lying about how he was fine.
Tubbo squeezed himself in the middle of the backseat between Jack Manifold and Tommy, and Niki sat in the middle row with Wilbur.
“Hey big man, we’ve been looking forward to seeing you, it’s been a long time!” Tommy called out from the backseat. The two loved to give each other a hard time, but they were truly close friends.
The car started pulling out of the airport. Ranboo looked back to face his friends behind him. “Where are we headed? One of your houses?”
Wilbur responded. “None of our houses are exactly built for 7 extra people. We actually rented out a place for all of us to stay.”
Ranboo froze. This sounded all too familiar.
Wilbur caught on to Ranboo’s discomfort and was reassuring. “Don’t worry, I’ve done everything possible to make sure it’s safe. We’re in a very private location, and no one knows the address except for Phil and I. Not even immediate family.”
Phil bounced off of Wilbur’s response. “My wife wanted to see the house, I felt bad but I couldn’t show her. She understood why though, we can’t have history repeating itself. I guess she’ll see pictures when I get home.”
History repeating itself. That was Ranboo’s worst nightmare. That was the thought that kept him awake at night. He wondered if Niki ever thought about it, if it was just him that was affected so much by the past. Not even Sapnap, Quackity or Fundy knew the extent of his issues.
“Does that sound good? Ranboo?” Wilbur finished.
How long had Wilbur been talking? What had he not heard?
Ranboo stuttered. “Sorry, what?”
Niki responded. “Oh, we were just wondering if pizza sounded good for dinner tonight.”
Ranboo nodded, internally chastising himself. “Yeah... that sounds great. Sorry, I’m out of it I guess.”
“It’s alright.” Jack sympathetically replied. “Jet lag probably just has you out of sorts.”
Tubbo snorted. “Nah, he’s probably tired because he keeps calling me when it’s 3 or 4 am for him.”
“Ranboo has an awful sleep schedule, why am I not surprised.” Tommy sarcastically remarked.
“Shut up...” Ranboo trailed off, tensing up. He wasn’t mad at Tubbo for bringing it up, it’s not his fault for not knowing that Ranboo calls him whenever he wakes up in a puddle of sweat from his reoccurring nightmares.
Phil tried to change the subject. “We’re about 40 minutes away! How was the plane trip?”
For the next 40 minutes, the group conversed, Tommy and Tubbo argued like siblings in the backseat, much to the dismay of Jack, who was stuck back there with them. Wilbur even played a demo of his upcoming song. Before the group knew it, they were unloading the trunk and carrying everything into the house.
The rental was cozy, a nice stone exterior and a dark roof, and a spacious and homely interior, with lots of poufy couches, simple wooden furniture and pretty accent rugs. Its location was hidden, being surrounded by trees and on a private road, but it wasn’t too far from civilization.
Phil opened the front door. “Just called the pizza place, while you guys settle in Wilbur and I will go grab dinner.”
Ranboo looked outside. The sun was already setting, that was trippy. He had boarded a plane early this morning, and it was probably a little past lunch time at home, but here it was nearly evening.
Phil and Wilbur grab their phones and start heading out the door. Wilbur turns his head and gestures to Niki before he leaves. “Niki, you’re in charge while we’re gone.”
Tommy playfully rolls his eyes. “Wil, you act like we’re five.”
“Actually, you kind of act like you’re five.” Jack Manifold mutters, scratching the back of his neck.
Tommy turned to Jack, his expression blank. “The fuck did you just say to me-”
Tubbo proceeds to shove himself in between the two. “Case and point.”
Wilbur chuckles. “Looks like Tommy’s the main one you have to worry about. Love you guys, have fun!” He smiles as he slams the door behind him.
Tubbo lifts up his suitcase. “I call the biggest bedroom!”
“Oh no you don’t!” Tommy yells, chasing after Tubbo as he starts running up the stairs. Jack trails behind, laughing at them.
Ranboo goes up to Niki once they’re gone, glad to have a moment of peace and quiet.
“Hi Niki.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and flops back onto the couch. She sits beside him.
“Looks like there won’t be a dull moment on this trip.” Niki giggles, gesturing upstairs.
Ranboo laughs and nods in agreement. “Niki... I had a question for you.” he trails off. Niki tilts her head with confusion as he continues. “Do you ever... do you ever still think about it? Y'know, last summer.”
Niki looks down. “All the time. It stills eats me up inside....what I did. I killed 3 people as well, am I just as bad?”
Ranboo shook his head. “No. No, you’re not. You killed 3 admitted murderers, and saved 4 lives.” his voice pitched up, becoming softer and gentler.
Niki nodded, sniffling. “I guess.”
Ranboo took a deep breath. “Sometimes I feel like I’m crazy, 10 months later and I’m still paranoid about everything.”
Niki smiled slightly. “You are not crazy. You’re a kid, a kid who’s gone through more than anyone your age should. Talk to me anytime, I totally understand what you’re dealing with.”
Ranboo stayed silent for a moment, and then quickly pulled her in for a hug, which startled Niki. She took a moment, but hugged him back.
Niki could never understand how much he needed to hear that.
Ranboo’s phone went off, and he pulled away from the hug and picked it up.
“It’s a text from Fundy, he’s asking how my plane trip went.” He explained, starting to type a response.
“Let’s call him!” Niki suggested.
Ranboo shrugged and hit the “call” button. Fundy picked up, and Ranboo put the phone on speaker.
“Fundy!” Niki and Ranboo greeted enthusiastically.
“Hey guys! How are you doing!” Fundy questioned; you could hear the smile in his voice.
Ranboo responded. “We just got to the house. I’m tired from the plane ride, but it went pretty smoothly, so that was nice.”
Tubbo came running down the steps, Tommy and Jack following. “Ranboo! Come upstairs, you gotta see this!”
“We’re on the phone with Fundy, come over here!” Niki called back.
The 3 other guys crowded around the phone. “Fundy!” They all exclaimed.
“Wow, the whole gang is here!” Fundy laughed. “You guys staying somewhere nice?”
“It’s awesome!” Tommy yelled. “There’s a dart board and air hockey table upstairs, between that and the Xbox we’re set!”
“Nice!” Fundy exclaimed. “Say, where’s Wilbur and Phil?”
“They’re getting dinner.” Ranboo answered.
“And they left poor Niki with all you kids?” Fundy joked.
The group got a good laugh out of that one. Jack crossed his arms, pretending to be offended. “Hey!”
“Make sure to tell 5up we said hi!” Tubbo commented.
Fundy chuckled. “Don’t worry, I will. We really miss you guys. 5up should actually be home any minute now, so I gotta let you guys go!”
“Bye Fundy! We love you!” The group chorused as Ranboo hung up the phone.
Tubbo started tugging at Ranboo’s arm as soon as the call ended. “Come on, I want go beat you at air hockey!”