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“Toms?”
As soon as Tommy heard his name being called, he scrambled in his chair, returning to the present time. What the fuck?
As much as he’d like to answer back at whoever is saying his name, no sound comes out of his mouth and his hands tremble with pure anxiety, the liquidy unpleasant sensation drowns him as if he were inside a fish tank without any ability to breathe. What the fuck.
“Tommy?”, and of course the voice is Wilbur. How could he forget! He’d been there to save the day once more, dragging him out of the corner. Only this time the damage felt more real than usual.
But fuck it! If he wanted to reply to Wilbur he would, and his throat threatening to tie the knot even more tight wouldn’t stop him, “Wil?”
“Oh my god you scared me,” he says with concern dripping through his words. Maybe he also feels the liquid around him, and maybe it’s Tommy’s own damn fault that he feels like that.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to, m’okay though,” Tommy insists through a lie that Wilbur can sense a thousand kilometres away, something breaks inside both of their hearts: the younger feels as if he’s betraying someone he knows he trusts and has that trust in return, while the older wonders why is his brother lying to him, doesn’t he know that Big Brother Wilbur is always there for him?
“Are you sure?”, the man once more asks, the last bits of hope draining out. Godamnit why is it so hard.
Tommy sighs very overwhelmed, “yes,” is what he answers shortly before quickly scrambling around to find any possible escape excuses from the very unusual, awkward call but doesn’t have the time to think about it too much, “I uh- gotta go help my mum, you know with stuff in the house…”
Wilbur mirrors Tommy’s breath, instead feels rather defeated, the overwhelmingly tiny part of him that was actually being rational no longer sparking with its usual light, “I know there is something bothering you, and hey I get if you don’t wanna talk about whatever’s bothering you, but I also know you don’t have any chores to do right now because it’s midnight.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I only want you to know I’m always here for you yeah?”, he encourages softly, Tommy shivers at the light words, they feel so tender and real.
“Can we- I want to switch to my phone to get in bed,” the boy explains tiredly, a silent request for Wilbur to do the same.
“Yeah let’s do that.”
Not much time goes by before Tommy covers his body with the soft sheets, phone in hand to call Wilbur.
A few clicks into the screen before it beeps once, twice-
“Tommy,” Wilbur greets with that same softness he’d used before, that easiness the man has to make Tommy feel safe with a simple mention of his name.
“I- don’t want to talk about it now.”
“Okay.”
Silence hums through the line, Wilbur unsure of what to do next, Tommy thinking of something to mention, “can you take me to Italy one day?” Tommy asks sure of his question, one that meant so much yet was left unexplained.
“Of course sunshine,” Wilbur chooses to answer instead of questioning even further the meaning to his words, he remembers the soft breeze of Italy, a beautiful melody that plays through his ears even though right now it’s the time of the night when it’s the most quiet in his home, that wish of his buried deep in the sand to learn how to play classical guitar and the warm sun that accompanied him everyday. He suddenly feels very nostalgic of the place, remembering that it was probably one of the most beautiful he’d ever seen.
“Can you tell me about it? What was it like?”
“Well it’s- fucking beautiful. The people there are lovely and very welcoming to new faces. It’s very warm there but the ocean makes the sun more enjoyable. It’s so gorgeous there and don’t even get me started on the food.”
“Where will we go first?”
“I know this one place- I can’t remember its name but oh my fucking god Tommy it was amazing. It’s a hidden beach a very nice local showed me when I almost had to go back to London,” a shiver manages to sneak onto his back, something he knows he has yet to let go completely, as he continued speaking quietly, “there’s this big waterfall near the shore that hides a small cave. I'd take you there right after we settled our stuff.”
“Bu’ how- is it dangerous there?”
“Of course not. It is hidden but it’s safe for us, it’ll be okay. We can lie on the sand if you don’t wanna get wet. I’ll protect you,” Wilbur pretty much paused his ramble to listen a snarky response to his overprotective comment, and Tommy would’ve made one of he hadn’t been so invested in listening more of what Wilbur had to say, if he wasn’t so infatuated by the idea of the man taking him to one of the most beautiful places on earth, to spend time with him . He would’ve said something if a pleasant feeling hadn’t settled even further on his chest.
“It’s like paradise,” Tommy whispers, scared of breaking the moment they’ve just created, feeling fondness and love for his brother take all over his body and flood his heart till it feels like exploding.
Wilbur laughs softly at his words, feeling a slightly different fondness yet the root is the exact same, “it is- it will be when we go darling, I’ll make sure of that,” he finishes off, feeling all of a sudden all of the energy from him getting taken away, merely remaining a intermittent spark of joy.
“Thank you,” he murmurs back with genuinity marking his words softly, letting out a yawn, “I wanna sleep but can we stay?”
“Yes,” and it’s enough to make Tommy feel better, at least enough to let himself sleep, Wilbur doesn’t find out anymore nor hear anything else before he dozes off into his dreams.
And if they pretty much disappeared from earth’s atmosphere for a few days, no one had to really understand why.