Chapter Text
It was late summer when Wilbur first started to act differently. Phil could remember the day it started with perfect clarity. His son had come stumbling out of his room, looking around him in confusion. His eyes were filled with something that almost looked like fear.
“Wil?” he remembered asking, “Is everything alright?”
“What?” When his son spoke, he sounded like a completely different person. His voice was higher pitched, and tinged with a German accent. His eyes widened, as though he was just as taken aback by his own voice as Phil was. A hand flew up towards his throat, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What the…”
“Hey, are you ok?” Phil took a step forward, reaching out a hand towards his adoptive son, silently offering his help.
He may not have expected for his son to accept the olive branch—Wilbur never did like admitting that he needed help—but he wasn’t expecting him to step backwards, his eyes filled with caution and fear.
Before he could say another word, Wilbur had already scampered off into his room, slamming the door behind him. A muffled yell of annoyance sounded from the room next door, followed by a soft “Sorry!”
Phil’s frown only deepened in concern. Not once in the two and a half months since Tommy had been adopted had Wilbur apologized. Normally, he would simply bite back with an insult of his own, resulting in an argument that could sometimes last for hours.
The entire house fell silent in surprise. Even Techno, who had previously been shuffling around his room getting ready, fell quiet. The world was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen next.
As it turned out, not much. Tommy merely yelled something along the lines of, “Yeah, you better be fuckin’ sorry!” And that had been the end of that. Techno continued getting ready for his day, and the world let out a sigh of relief.
Still, Phil couldn’t shake his concerns that easily. Slowly, he made his way to Wilbur’s bedroom door, softly tapping his knuckles against the wood.
“Wilbur? Are you feeling ok?” He asked.
“Mhm!”
“Do you want me to call the school? Let them know you aren’t feeling well?”
A beat of silence, then, “Yes please.”
He stepped away from the door, already pulling his phone out. “Alright, I’ll let your brothers know to leave you alone”
Tommy, who had been walking past at that moment, let out a noise of protest. “He’s not my fuckin’ brother…”
It took all of Phil’s effort to not roll his eyes. It was something that Tommy said rather often, but that didn’t negate the fact that it was slightly frustrating to hear.
Instead, he merely turned towards the retreating figure and said, “Let Wilbur rest today, he isn’t feeling well.”
“Wasn’t exactly planning on talking to him anyways,” Tommy’s words were accompanied with a dismissive wave of his hand, not even bothering to look up as he rummaged through the pantry.
“Same goes for you Techno, let him rest.”
“Yeah, I got it,” Technos monotone voice sounded from behind him, making him jump slightly in surprise. “I’m headin’ out, text me if he ends up in the hospital”
“Will do, don’t do anything dumb.” Phil punctuated his words with a wry smile as he waited for the traditional response to their little farewell.
“I’ll try my best.”