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The first night Tommy lived in the Watson household, Wilbur had sung him to sleep, playing his guitar and calming Tommy’s anxieties enough that the boy could finally rest. After that first night, Wilbur decided he would play for Tommy every night, unsure if Tommy would have the confidence to ask Wilbur to play himself.
So each night, roughly 15 minutes after Tommy was sent to bed, Wilbur would knock at the door with his guitar case in hand and music book tucked under his arm. He would sit against the furthest wall from Tommy’s bed, and would play until the boy was asleep.
This happened every night and eventually Tommy would quietly request songs, and wouldn’t panic when Wilbur got too close. In fact, on the fifth night, Tommy even smiled slightly as Wilbur entered the room.
The whole thing went swimmingly for a week, and then one night Wilbur had a terrible evening. His head pounded and he had suffered through an exhausting day. But as Phil told Tommy goodnight and sent him up to bed, Wilbur slapped on a smile and waved to the boy.
“Goodnight, Tommy! I’ll be up in just a few minutes, alright?”
Tommy gave a soft smile and nodded in response before he walked up the stairs to his room.
“Wilbur, mate, it means a lot to all of us that you’re willing to do this for Tommy, but if you need a night off then you should just let him know. I’m sure he’d understand.” Phil said quietly, waiting for the sound of Tommy’s door shutting to ring out before he spoke.
Wilbur shook his head, “no, no. I’ll be fine. Besides, this has been really helping him and I don’t want to ruin our progress.”
Phil eyed him, “If you’re sure.”
“I am.” Wilbur responded, standing and stretching. “I’m alright, Dad. Don’t worry about me.” He smiled and walked up the stairs to his room, intending to grab his guitar before heading to Tommy.
Instead, Wilbur decided it wouldn’t hurt to sit down at his bed for a few minutes. He could close his eyes for a quick second and it would be fine, after all, he had to go play for Tommy.
He was asleep before he could stop himself.
Tommy was sitting anxiously in his bed, watching the clock on his dresser. The numbers kept getting higher and yet Wilbur wasn’t coming in. Was he upset? Tommy couldn’t help the thoughts that ran around in his head.
Did he do something wrong?
Did Wilbur hate him?
Was he in trouble for something?
Did Wilbur finally figure out that Tommy wasn’t worth the time spent playing to him?
Was this his fault?
What did he do? How could he fix it without knowing what he did?
Tommy tucked himself in under his covers and decided to close his eyes. If Wilbur wasn’t coming, then that clearly meant he was supposed to go to sleep on his own. He could do that! Tommy had gone to bed without music every night for thirteen years, he would be fine.
And so, with his hands over his ears to try and block out the worries in his head and nonexistent noises in the room, Tommy fell into a fitful sleep.
He woke abruptly, sitting up and breathing heavily as the dream he had been having refused to recede from his mind. He sat for a minute before laying down and rolling over to see that it was four in the morning. Too early for anyone else to be awake. The nightmare he had, however, had left him reeling. He was far too anxious to fall back asleep.
But as he settled back under his blankets, ignoring how his shirt was sticky with sweat from the thrashing he had undoubtedly done during his nightmare, Tommy realized that he really didn’t want to be alone.
So now he was left with a dilemma.
He could go to Wilbur, who was clearly upset with him and didn’t want Tommy around. Hence why he hadn’t come to sing him to sleep.
He could go to Phil who had to get up bright and early to go to work despite it being a Saturday.
Or Tommy could go to Techno, who might be awake, but would be busy with whatever it is he does in his room at night.
If Tommy were being honest, he would admit the fact that Wilbur scares him the least. Of course, he would never say that thought out loud due to the fact that it was rude and would make Techno and Phil upset at him, but it was the truth. Which made things harder, since Wilbur was the upset one here.
Tommy laid in bed for ten minutes, mind racing as he went through his choices, before he pulled himself out of bed and quickly shed his sweat soaked clothes. Knowing that if he showed up in someone's room dressed like that, he would get in trouble for not being clean. So he changed into a fresh set of pajamas, these ones a gift from Phil when he first arrived, and Tommy exited his room.
He took a deep breath before knocking softly at Wilbur’s door.
He received no reply, which was fair because Wilbur was sleeping. Tommy took it as a silent “come in” and quickly opened the door and shut it behind him.
The room was dark, and there was Wilbur, laying on top of the covers and still in his everyday clothing.
Tommy gave himself no time to puzzle over Wilbur’s strange sense of sleepwear fashion, and instead made his way over to the bed. He poked Wilbur’s arm and whispered his name.
Wilbur scrunched his eyebrows in his sleep and murmured something unintelligible. So Tommy poked again.
This time Wilbur’s eyes cracked open, taking a second to focus before recognizing Tommy. Wilbur shot up in bed and gasped, causing Tommy to flinch back and curl away, trembling slightly as he stood close to the door.
“Tommy! Oh my gosh, Toms. I’m so, so sorry.” Wilbur was quick to say, startling the younger boy.
“Why- why are you sorry?” He questioned softly.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep! I meant to come into your room, I’m so sorry.”
A wave of relief rushed over Tommy and he visibly sagged.
“Oh.” He said, “I’m glad you weren’t angry at me.”
“Angry at you?” Wilbur asked, puzzled. Then he understood what Tommy was meaning and quickly shook his head.
“No, Tommy, I wouldn’t just ignore you like that. I understand how much music helps you sleep, and I wouldn’t take that away for no reason. I promise. I feel awful for falling asleep and leaving you.”
Wilbur ran a hand through his hair, clearly feeling guilty and waiting to see how Tommy would react.
To both their surprise, Tommy just walked forward and let himself crash into Wilbur, causing the older boy to wrap his arms around Tommy out of surprise.
“Oh!” He exclaimed, before repeating “oh” softly, and gently rubbing Tommy’s back.
“I had a bad dream, Wilbur.” Tommy whispered.
“Do you want to sleep with me tonight?” Wilbur asked just as quietly.
Tommy nodded into Wilbur’s shoulder, and was quickly ushered under Wilbur’s covers.
“Give me just a moment to change out of my jeans,” Wilbur said with a chuckle, grabbing a pair of pajamas and heading into the bathroom.
When he came back, Tommy was gazing at the glow stars on Wilbur’s ceiling with a fascination and joy that made Wilbur hold back a soft “aww”
Instead, he crawled into bed and allowed Tommy to wiggle into his arms. Together the boys slept peacefully.
The next day, Wilbur bought an absurd amount of glow stars, and an entire glowing solar system. While Tommy was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework, Wilbur snuck upstairs and stuck the stars and planets onto the ceiling, wanting Tommy to be comfortable in his own room, and wanting Tommy to have something to fill the dark in case he woke up to another nightmare in the future.
The stars filled the ceiling and Wilbur will never forget the way Tommy’s face lit up when he was brought into the room and Wilbur turned off the lights.
Wilbur will never forget the way Tommy shyly approached him, and awkwardly stood there until Wilbur made the first move and opened his arms for a hug. Tommy flung himself into the older’s arms and Wilbur felt his heart burst.
“Thank you, Wilbur. I love them” Tommy murmured, moving his head on Wilbur’s shoulder so that he could still see the stars even while hugging.
“I’m glad you do, Tommy.” Wilbur responded. “I love you.”
He was met with a stunned silence before Tommy burrowed his face into Wilbur’s shoulder, and Wilbur just smiled and ran his hands through Tommy's blond hair.
That night, Tommy fell asleep to the sound of Wilbur’s soft strumming and accompanying voice, and the light of his stars.
Wilbur will never forget the way his little brother smiled.