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“Freaking..” Wilbur mumbled, quickly adjusting his fingers on the guitar’s strings.
“Sound nice this time, please?” He whispered, strumming softly and smiling when the noise was one that didn’t make him want to run for the hills.
He was sitting on the floor in his room, trying desperately to make the song “Swing Life Away” sound nice enough for him to play for Phil as a Father’s Day gift. He was getting there, slowly but surely. It just seemed that he wouldn’t accomplish his goal before Phil came back from grocery shopping.
His phone dimmed and turned off while Wilbur was trying to get his fingers to cooperate, and he sighed in response, feeling a sudden bout of laziness and deciding he was done for the time being.
He set his guitar to the side and stretched as he walked to the door to the hall, smiling a bit to himself as he imagined Phil’s delighted expression when Wilbur finally got to show him the song he had been trying so hard to sound good.
He crept quietly past Techno’s closed door, knowing the boy probably had headphones on, but wanting to be quiet just in case.
As he wandered to the kitchen for a glass of water, his eye caught on one of the many framed photos hanging on the walls. It wasn’t anything particularly interesting, but it made Wilbur’s heart twist painfully this time for some odd reason.
It was one from close to three years ago, two years before Wilbur arrived at the Watson home. It was a selfie of both Phil and Techno, both of them laughing at the camera while a concert was being performed in the background.
It was a simple photo, and Wilbur drew a shaky breath as his eyes moved from that to the next. This one being one of Techno and Phil together at the beach. The next had Wilbur’s smiling face in it, sitting a few feet from Techno, trying to throw popcorn into Techno’s mouth.
Wilbur gave a wet laugh, feeling very out of place. Sure, there were pictures with him on the wall, but there were so many happy photos of just Techno and Phil. Wilbur couldn’t help but feel like he had intruded on their perfect life. He knew Phil had signed up to let him into the home, but did the man ever think it was a mistake to let the boy stay?
Wilbur was spiraling. He could tell he was, he could feel the way his thoughts seemed to fly by faster and faster as he lost control of them, but there was nothing he could do. He just stood there, staring up at the smiling faces of his family. The way they smiled just as bright without him there.
Was Wilbur a burden? Was he worth the trouble? Was Phil letting him stay for so long just because he didn’t know how best to kick Wilbur out? Was he actually as loved as Techno and Phil told him he was?
Wilbur made a choked sobbing noise, was he hated?
Water forgotten, Wilbur quickly moved to Techno’s room, needing to hear the answer to his questions.
He knocked softly and let himself in, standing in the doorway and staring at where Techno was sitting, his back turned to the door.
“Techno? Do you hate me?” He asked, voice wavering.
Techno spun his chair around, a small smile on his face, but Wilbur watched the smile fade once he realized the seriousness of the situation.
“Of course not, Wil, why would I?” He said, voice softer than usual.
Wilbur shrugged, “I dunno, Tech, I’m just hateable I guess. I’d deserve it if you did hate me.”
Techno looked pained as he moved from his desk chair to sit on his bed, patting the blankets beside him.
“Come sit, Wilbur. I don’t hate you at all. What makes you hateable?”
Wilbur dragged his feet as he moved to Techno, desperately wanting to throw himself into his brother’s arms, but feeling like he didn’t deserve the love he wanted.
As he settled next to Techno, he shrugged again. “I don’t know! I just am! You and Phil were happy and then I showed up and ruined everything. Don’t you hate me for messing everything up?”
“What? No! Wilbur, you didn’t mess anything up at all! Dad spoke to me before you came. He made sure I was alright with someone coming to stay with us, and I was excited. Heck, I was beyond excited. Being close to my dad was nice, but I had always wanted a brother. And now we’re 15 and can cause chaos together.” Techno gave a cheeky grin, “I don’t think Dad would be down to cause chaos with me.”
Wilbur giggled quietly, sniffling and wiping his eyes. “Could you imagine Phil egging Dream’s house?”
“He’s never allowed to know that we did that.”
“Oh never ever. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
They smiled at each other for a minute before Techno cleared his throat.
“Hey Wilbur? You’re not hated. I don’t know if you believe me, but you aren’t. I’ll remind you whenever you need to hear it, but you are loved. I don’t know- I’m not good with words, but I promise that you’re never hated.”
Wilbur nodded his head slowly, keeping his eyes on his lap. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
Wilbur smiled slightly, eyes welling with tears that he quickly tried to wipe away.
“Why are you crying?” Techno asked, voice slightly panicked, “did I say something wrong?”
“No,” Wilbur sniffled, “I was just really really worried that you hated me.”
“Well there’s no need to be worried, Wil, because I don’t.” Techno reassured, waiting for a second before softly asking “can I hug you?”
Wilbur nodded quickly, launching himself into Techno’s open arms, the momentum pushing both boys backwards in Techno’s bed.
“Dad and I love you, Wil, I’ll tell you every day until you believe it. I’m so very happy that you’re my brother.”
“I love you too, Tech.” Wilbur whispered, allowing himself to relax in Techno’s embrace, closing his eyes and listening to his brother’s heartbeat.
Techno closed his eyes as well, feeling the steady rise and fall of Wilbur’s chest.
When Phil returned home, expecting his boys to be up to trouble, he was pleasantly surprised to find them both asleep in bed. Sure, the nap would probably mess up their sleep schedules even more than before, but as Phil took a few pictures, a grin on his face, he couldn’t care less.
He couldn’t wait to hang another picture on the wall.
~~~