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Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, Tommy fucked up.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Tommy wanted to take them back. He froze, eyes darting rapidly between Tubbo and Ranboo, who were standing in front of him.
“What the fuck, Tommy,” Tubo said, voice scarily calm. His eyes, which had shone with hurt after Tommy had spoken, were now carefully blank, no longer sparkling with mischief or dancing in happiness. No, they were cold, calculated, and all too similar to a certain president.
He knew it wasn’t fair to compare Tubbo—Tubbo, who was the sun in the sky, the laughter in the breeze, and one of the reasons Tommy still got up in the morning—not in the slightest, but when he looked like this, all Tommy could think about was the awful dictator that had ruined their lives.
Tommy hated it when Tubbo shut down like this. He knew it was a side effect of being forced to live and work with Schlatt for so long, but the way the goat-hybrid could so easily cut off his emotions and mask everything behind a diplomatic smile terrified him.
He was kind of proving Tommy’s point.
Sometimes Tommy forgot that his best friend and husband was the president of an entire country at one point. He neglected to remember that the other boy had dealt with Schlatt’s abuse on the daily, including a public execution, and had been forced to step up and take the mantle of the president before everything was blown to smithereens.
And rather than giving up after this first loss, Tubbo had rebuilt everything. He’d gone on to become a great president...only to lose it all again to Dream.
Tommy forgot that Tubbo, just like him, was a child when this all happened.
They all had their issues, but Tommy had no right to compare his fiance to Tubbo’s abuser. He knew he was wrong, he knew it for a fact, and yet he couldn’t open his mouth to apologize. Tommy knew if he took it back, if he just apologized and explained the issue, Tubbo would forgive him.
But his feet were rooted to the floor, his mouth was sewn shut, and Tommy felt like a deer in the headlights.
His eyes were darting between the two boys in front of him. Ranboo looked shocked, eyes wide and mouth slightly open as he let out a worried “vwoop.”
Tubbo narrowed his eyes at Tommy, an unsettling smile still on his face. “Say it again, I dare you.”
Tommy shook his head, eyes darting towards the end of the hall, where a staircase sat leading up to the other floors of the mansion. He flicked them back to Tubbo. Catching on the boy’s darkened eyes, Tommy felt his heart begin to climb into his throat.
“Tubbo, calm down, it was a stupid mistake, and Tommy didn’t mean it like that, right, Tommy?” Ranboo tried to placate the two, raising his hands in surrender and nervously glancing between them.
Tommy just swallowed, unable to look away from Tubbo’s piercing stare.
The goat-hybrid scoffed, gaze unwavering. “Don’t tell me to calm down, he said I was like Schlatt!”
“He did, and it wasn’t okay, but he’ll apologize, and then—”
Tommy didn’t wait for Ranboo to finish. Instead, Tommy turned around and bolted upstairs to their shared room.
He heard Ranboo calling after him, startled, but a sharp word from Tubbo brought the worried cries to an end. Tommy didn’t even care what they were saying, he just had to get out. Fuck, he had fucked up so badly.
Tommy practically sprinted down the hall, flinging open the door and rushing into the bedroom.
He grabbed one of his bags from the closet, throwing anything he could think of into the bag. A change of clothes, a bar of soap, the half-eaten granola bar that Tommy had left on the nightstand, even a week-old bottle of water that Ranboo had left sitting on their dresser. Tommy had survived on less before, he’d be fine now.
Yeah. This was fine. It’s not like he was giving up the two most important people in his life.
Tommy fiddled with the chain around his neck, a nervous habit he had picked up recently. His heart clenched suddenly, and he looked down at the chain held in his hand. Right.
Tommy lifted it over his head, eyeing the objects strung on the simple metal chain. On it was two rings, one black and purple, the other silver and green. It was obvious who they belonged to.
Ranboo’s rings for the other two were ornate. They were obsidian-black in color, and, if Tommy had to guess, were actually made out of obsidian, somehow. (Sam never ceased to amaze Tommy with his incredible crafting skills.) A dark purple stone sat atop a mount, and the colors in it always seemed to be shifting.
When Tommy went to pick up the rings, just earlier that week, Sam had stated that Ranboo worked with him for hours, infusing a few of his own Enderman particles into each of their stones. A little part of himself for Tubbo and Tommy to keep on them at all times.
It was a little showy for Tommy’s taste, but Ranboo had explained that it was a custom to create elaborate gifts for those they referred to as “⏃⏚⍜⎐⟒ ⏃⌰⌰ ⟒⌰⌇⟒, ⏚⟒⌰⍜⎐⟒⎅.” He had decided on rings, as was the human custom.
Tommy had just stared blankly up at the older boy, one eyebrow raised expectantly. Ranboo had sighed, a light purple blush dusting his face, and mumbled under his breath that it roughly translated to “soulmate.”
Tommy’s face had promptly flushed bright red, and he quickly wrapped the Ender-hybrid in a hug and buried his head in Ranboo’s chest. Tommy had refused to move for an hour, too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of love Ranboo felt for him—for them.
...that probably wasn’t the case anymore, after the earlier fiasco.
Tubbo’s ring, on the other hand, was considerably less complex, yet still reflected him in every way. It consisted of a circlet of silver leaves, all intertwining to wrap around an oval emerald. While it was fairly simple compared to Ranboo’s, it was just so Tubbo that Tommy had almost cried.
Of course, he didn’t actually cry, being a big man at all. Anyone who said otherwise, particularly Ranboo or Tubbo, was a liar.
When Tubbo had given it to him, the goat-hybrid had just shrugged and said it was the next best thing to wood. Tommy had rolled his eyes and thrown in a few awful wood-related jokes, much to Tubbo’s delight and Ranboo’s begrudging tolerance.
Tommy’s own ring was fairly simple. While he had originally wanted just a cobblestone ring, as that was his signature block, Ranboo had vehemently denied that.
Instead, they compromised with a golden band, gentle carves emulating that of a cobblestone block. Tommy had decided on three small rubies inset into the gold, one for each of the boys. He was rather proud of the symbolism if he did say so himself.
It was easy, it was aesthetic, and it was Tommy’s to give to each of the other boys. His husbands wore them with pride, Tubbo sliding it over one of his horns—Ranboo’s ring was on the other one—and Ranboo happily exchanging the old rings that adorned his long fingers for Tommy’s and Tubbo’s.
He should leave them here. After all, he had just fucked everything up, and Tubbo and Ranboo probably wanted their rings back. They could get a lot of money out of them.
But Tommy couldn’t bear to part with them just yet. Maybe...maybe once he’d accepted that this was all over and that Tommy had gone and fucked up yet another one of his relationships with people on this server. Maybe then he could give them back.
Despite his nonchalance about it, Tommy’d worked for a long time on a design for his ring that both Tubbo and Ranboo would like. He knew the other boys had done the same...and if Tommy would take one thing with him to remind himself of the others, it would be the two rings he wore around his neck at all times.
He knew it was selfish, to try and hold on to his husbands when they clearly didn’t want him around anymore. Tommy had always been selfish though, Dream, Techno, and Phil had made that much clear to him.
Mind made up, Tommy slipped the chain back over his head and tucked it underneath his shirt.
He hoisted his bag up a little higher on his shoulder and took a deep breath. This was it. He was leaving.
Tommy paused before crossing the doorway, listening out into the hall to try and tell whether or not Ranboo or Tubbo were outside.
After a moment of silence, Tommy peeked his head out. The hallway was silent and empty.
Tommy pushed away the slight feeling of disappointment. He knew he had fucked up, Tommy had just hoped—
Well, never mind that now. He had to get going before he was caught. Before the other two demanded their rings back and officially kicked Tommy out; he’d rather leave on his own terms, thank you very much.
Tommy crept down the hall toward the stairs, creeping around corners and avoiding squeaky floorboards.
After what felt like an eternity of sneaking around and wincing every time the floor creaked under his feet, Tommy made it to the entry hall without any trouble. He slipped on a coat and a pair of boots, swung his backpack over his shoulders, and steeled himself to set out.
He ran through a checklist in his head, making sure he had grabbed everything he could think of that would help him, and ended up pausing.
After a second, Tommy also grabbed a hat, knowing that if he caught a cold, Tubbo would be on his ass about setting a good example for Michael and taking better care of himself. And Ranboo, of course, wouldn’t stop hovering over Tommy, even if it was “just a cold, Ranboob, I’m fine!” Neither boy would let him go outside without a hat, gloves, and a scarf for a week afterward, and he’d pretend to complain about it, but secretly be glad that Tubbo and Ranboo cared about him enough to worry and nag, and he’d—
Ah. Right. He was leaving for a reason.
Tommy swallowed around the lump in his throat.
As he opened the door, Tommy stopped again. Was he really going to give everything up? This little life he’d worked so hard to create? Tubbo and Ranboo did care about him, he knew that, but was he too much this time?
Tommy knew he was a lot, but maybe the boys would be more forgiving than Dream or Wilbur or anyone who decided Tommy had wronged them. They were his best friends, after all.
“Tommy?” Ranboo’s voice came from down the hall. “Can we talk?”
Fuck. They were going to kick him out. Tubbo and Ranboo would take back their marriage offer and kick him out, and Tommy didn’t think he could take any more heartbreak. He had to leave, and he had to leave now.
Tommy slipped out the door, closing it silently behind him and quickly making his way across the wide expanse of lawn in from of the mansion.
The snow crunched under his feet as he hurried across the yard, and Tommy was grateful that it was still snowing; his footprints would soon be covered up, at this rate, and he’d be able to make a clean escape.
Tommy’s footsteps faltered as he realized he didn’t know where to go. The first people he always turned to were his husbands. Tommy’s old house was probably the first place Tubbo and Ranboo would check...but it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go.
Logically, Tommy knew several people on the server would help him out. Puffy, for one, would have been happy to let him stay a few days until he sorted everything out. But she lived in Snowchester and was a little too close to the mansion for Tommy’s comfort.
Sam would also take him in, no questions asked. He and the creeper-hybrid had begun to rekindle their relationship. Though Tommy was still a little hesitant around the man he viewed as a father figure, they’d been talking regularly now. Things were looking up for the pair after months of broken trust, and Tommy knew that Sam would welcome him into his home.
Sam would always be waiting with a hug and a cup of tea if Tommy just asked.
The problem was that Tommy didn’t know how to ask. He knew the offer was there. He knew going to Sam was probably his best bet right now...but he also knew Sam would convince him to go back to Tubbo and Ranboo. That his words would make more and more sense, and Tomy would forget that he couldn’t go back. And Tubbo and Ranboo hated him right now, so he couldn’t have that.
He blew out a long breath. Niki was rarely around, and when she was, it seemed like both she and Jack had something against Tommy. He couldn’t be certain, but at one point Tommy thought that the pair was trying to kill him. He’d rather avoid dying again, given that he wasn’t sure he’d come back this time.
And as much as Tommy disliked the idea, he could always make his way to Techno’s cabin in the tundra. He didn’t like the cold, but Tommy had gotten used to it, living in Snowchester and all. He also had a coat now, which was more than he had in exile when it was pouring and he was huddled in his tent, praying to whatever god would listen that he would make it through the night.
Of course, no one answered, god, human, or otherwise. Tommy was left to die with only Dream at his side, mercilessly and endlessly taunting him, goading him into giving up.
So Tommy could handle cold, that wasn’t the problem. What he couldn’t handle, currently, was either of Technoblade’s or Philza’s overbearing natures. They were still both so set in their ideals that they couldn’t see past their own flaws, and they’d try to force their opinions into Tommy’s head until he was questioning everything. Tommy was already questioning enough on his own; he didn’t need two more people trying to convince him Tubbo was “the government” and “evil” when he himself was trying to sort out whether or not Tubbo hated him.
Quackity might help him out if he was in a good mood. The older man had always had some level of fondness for Tommy, as they were partners in crime together! Surely, that hadn’t changed. But Las Nevadas was so far away, and he was also so close to where Wilbur had set up his new burger van.
There was always Wilbur—
No. No, he was not going to deal with Wilbur right now. He doubted the man knew that Tommy was staying with Tubbo and Ranboo, let alone that the three had plans to get married—were married? Tommy didn’t know anymore.
Plus, Wilbur would just find one project or another to rope him into, and while it would keep Tommy occupied, simple requests would turn more and more demanding…and soon, Tommy would be running a nation by his big brother’s side as a vice president, become a soldier for a lost cause, and be forced to relive traumatic experiences that he and Puffy had been working through.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Wilbur said he was trying to change. Tommy wasn’t sure he believed his older brother, not by a long shot, but he was willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Wilbur had always done the same for him.
That didn’t mean he was going to be collateral damage when things inevitably went wrong, as they tended to in his brother’s wake. Not again.
Wilbur was a no-go.
Tommy sighed and began trudging up the Prime Path, dragging his feet on the wood as he made his way toward his house. There didn’t seem to be much of another choice now. At least he could restock there and then—
Yeah, that sounded good. Tommy would stop at his base, get some food and a few tools, and then travel far away from anyone else on the server and live out the rest of his days as a hobo.
...it sounded a little too much like exile for Tommy’s comfort, but he pushed the thought aside. He wouldn’t cause any more trouble for people if he was out of the way.
He just had to get away from here, anywhere but here.
Tommy passed the Big Innit Hotel, barely sparing it a glance. Jack Manifold had all but taken over, and Tommy didn’t have the energy to fight him for it. At this point, he didn’t really care what happened to it, so long as Sam Nook wasn’t harmed.
Sam Nook was always an option, Tommy mused, but then he realized that Sam Nook was not only a robot but also was created by Sam himself. If the android had anywhere to stay, it would be with Sam, and Tommy had already decided against the man.
Plus, no one had seen Sam Nook around in a while, if rumors were to be believed. Tommy didn’t trust any rumors, let alone ones started on this server, and decided to disregard the idea that something had happened to Sam Nook in favor of ignorance.
Tommy hopped over the fence, turning onto the main path and making his way towards the hill he called his home. Nothing had really changed from the outside, and people had finally taken down the awful statues they had built all around his house.
Ranboo’s flowers were still growing in the yard, and Tommy couldn’t help the smile that sprang to his face as he thought of his husband. Unlike the fancy statues and monuments everyone else had built Tommy when he had died, Ranboo just planted flowers in front of his house, iconic colors of red and white.
Tommy’s heart sunk. There would be no more flowers for him; Ranboo would never hand him an allium again, and he wouldn’t get to insult the Ender-hybrid over it. It was over.
It was all over, and it was all Tommy’s fault.
Tommy swiped angrily at his face, brushing aside—well, he was a big man, and he didn’t cry. So it was rain, that’s all.
He stepped into the dirt shack, wrinkling his nose at the smell. Tommy hadn’t been back here in months, and it showed. Some of his food had begun to rot, and there was a thin layer of dust on most of his belongings.
He stepped forward, pulling open a chest only to sneeze at the cloud of dust that came off of it. Tommy quickly gathered anything salvageable—which really, wasn’t much at all—and tucked it away in his bag.
Tommy made his way further into the base, where he had slept comfortably, once upon a time. He couldn’t remember when that time was, but he had to have been happy here at one point, right?
Now, when Tommy thought about happiness, he pictured his family—Ranboo, Tubbo, and Michael, all sitting in the mansion, curled up under a blanket. Maybe Ranboo had made cocoa, and the fire was roaring in front of them after a long day of playing in the snow. Micheal’s cheeks would be flushed pink as he snorted and squealed, telling the boys all about what happened that day, as if they weren’t right there with Michael, playing too.
Or he’d think about the picnic they’d gone on once. It had been to a flower field, and Tubbo had far too much fun watching and chasing bees with Michael, while Ranboo rested his head on Tommy’s lap and Tommy braided flowers into the Ender-hybrid’s hair. Tubbo had come running back, a wailing Michael tucked in his arms, explaining that the little zombie-piglin got stung, but that “Mimi’s magic kisses would make it all better.”
That was happiness, not this dark, dusty base Tommy once called home.
Of course, none of this would ever happen again.
Tommy curled up on the bed there, pulling the thin blankets around him.
It was a stupid argument.
Prime, he can’t believe that out of all the stupid shit he had done, the thing that finally caused his relationship to crash and burn was an offhanded, angry comment about Schlatt, of all people, and how Tubbo was acting like him.
It was a low blow, Tommy knew. He should never have said it in the first place. But it felt like Tubbo was dictating his life, and Tommy had gotten annoyed with the constant plans.
He knew that the other boy was just trying to keep him active and motivated, since lately he had been stuck in a depressive episode, but Prime, was he exhausted of running this errand or that for Tubbo.
Rather than communicate it, like a healthy person would, Tommy bottled it all up and did as asked, until today, when everything spilled out and he fucked up the one good thing he had in his life.
He’d gone and called Tubbo Schlatt —a literal dictator and master of manipulation, and unsurprisingly, he was alone again.
Prime, he couldn’t do anything right, could he?
Tommy wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, buried under the covers and shaking when he heard a commotion outside. It was faint, given that he was at the back of his house, but he could hear two voices, loudly calling out for him all the same.
“Tommy?” Tubbo’s voice sounded panicked as he knocked, or, rather, banged on the door.
Fuck.
Ranboo’s voice was just as worried. “Tommy, are you in there?”
Double fuck.
Tommy just huddled under his blankets, gathering them more tightly around him. He couldn’t tell if the concern was real or whether he was imagining it. Probably the latter, considering that both boys hated him.
“Tommy, if you’re there, we’re coming in,” Tubbo called, voice still loud and frantic, making Tommy groan.
“Go away!” he called out shakily, his own voice wavering and threatening to break. “Please, just—” He cut off with a sob, stifling it as he turned his face back into his pillow.
Things were quiet for a moment as Tommy tried to stop crying, and he was almost sure the pair had left the house until he heard quick footsteps heading his way. His bedroom door burst open, and Tommy lifted his head blearily to catch sight of a blur of brown and green before being tackled.
If he wasn’t lying down already, Tommy was sure he’d have been knocked backward by the force of Tubbo’s weight. The goat-hybrid draped himself over Tommy, clinging to him like the younger boy was going to disappear.
“Wha—Tubbo?”
“Don’t do that again,” Tubbo sniffled, sitting up a little and giving Tommy a little room to breathe. Tommy suddenly felt himself missing the warmth and sat up to shuffle a little closer to Tubbo.
He knew it was selfish of him to take advantage of Tubbo like this since they were breaking off the marriage and all, but Tommy had never been good at denying himself what he wanted.
The discs were the prime example of that, Tommy thought wryly. He was almost willing to sacrifice his country, then his best friend, for two measly music discs. Tommy really was pathetic and selfish.
If this was the last chance he had to hug his hus—his best friends, his soulmates, he was going to take all the time he could, until Tubbo and Ranboo got sick of him. Call him selfish, but he wanted one more good memory before everything came crashing down yet again.
Luckily, Tubbo didn’t seem to mind just yet and easily pulled Tommy closer to him.
Ranboo sat down on the bed, much gentler than Tubbo had, and hesitantly reached a hand out to rest it on Tommy’s other shoulder. The cold metal of his ring was a burning reminder that everything was ruined.
Oh. Right.
Tommy’s shoulders slumped. He knew why they were here, after all. He sighed, lifting the chain around his neck and holding it out.
Ranboo just blinked at him, confused.
Tommy sighed. They really were going to make him spell it out. “You want these back, right?”
“What?!” The Ender-hybrid sounded shocked. “No, Tommy, those are your rings!”
“Yeah, and I fucked up again, so you’re here to tell me you need the rings back. I know they were expensive. You can sell them and probably get some good money.” Tommy huffed. “It’s what I would do, so…”
Ranboo looked horrified at the thought. “Tommy, we’re not selling your rings.”
Tommy’s arm remained outstretched as his brain shuttered to a stop, trying to process. What? That…that didn’t make any sense. His arm slowly lowered as he took in the words. “You’re...not?”
Tubbo, whose head was still buried in Tommy’s shoulder, snorted and pulled back to look the younger boy in the eye. “Of course we aren’t.
“Oh.” The rings clinked together as they dropped onto the covers of Tommy’s bed. They sat in silence for a moment, Tubbo and Ranboo on either side of Tommy, exchanging glances.
He knew what those looks meant. He’d seen them so many times before, with Dream, with Wilbur, even between Phil and Techno when he was a kid. They meant that he’d royally fucked up—which Tommy already knew—and that there were going to be consequences.
“I—I thought—” Tommy swallowed, hesitant. “I figured you guys would want to end everything after…” Tommy’s eyes flickered away, glancing down at his hands resting in his lap.
Tubbo gently grabbed one of them, and Ranboo took the other, rubbing slow circles on the skin there.
“Tommy, hun,” Tubbo said gently, tilting his chin up so he would look the other boy in the eye. “Just because we argued doesn’t mean we love you any less.”
“You—you don’t?” Tommy hated that his voice sounded so weak. “But...but you didn’t come after me.”
Ranboo shook his head, hutching over to lean into the two other boys. “We just wanted to give you a few minutes to cool off before we came back and talked to you.”
“Oh.” That was reasonable. Tommy cursed himself for jumping to conclusions, again.
He and Puffy had been working on that, and yet here he was, months later, still assuming that Tubbo and Ranboo would throw him out at a moment’s notice.
Whether Tommy chose to accept it or not, he had recognized that he always had a place with his husbands...even if the little voice in the back of his head was telling him otherwise. It was up to him whether or not he decided to believe the voice or not.
Tubbo and Ranboo had done so much for him, and he continued to ruin it, time and time again. Despite all this, the two boys had never given up on him. Why would they do so now if they’re already here, comforting him?
The tears in Tommy’s eyes fell with a sudden sob, and the boy was wrapped in a hug by both of his husbands, each shushing him gently and holding onto him like their lives depended on it.
And maybe they did. Tommy’s life had certainly come to revolve almost completely around his husbands. Tommy hated being dependent on others, but with Tubbo and Ranboo, it was different. They were his best friends, his husbands. They’d seen him at his worst, crying and shaking after waking up from a nightmare screaming.
Tubbo would dry his tears, tell him how much Tommy was loved, and get him a glass of water. Ranboo would let Tommy lay against his chest, warbles rumbling in his chest as he stroked Tommy’s hair gently. They’d both curl around him after these nightmares, promising that they’d be right there if he woke up again.
Tommy had seen them at their worst too. Ranboo often woke up from his Enderwalk state with no clue as to what happened, odd scratches or bruises littering his arms and legs. Both Tommy and Tubbo had guided him back to bed gently on those nights, whispering assurances to the tallest boy.
And Tubbo sometimes closed himself off after a particularly loud noise, curling up in a corner and covering his ears, muttering something or other about fireworks. Ranboo would make tea or cocoa and bring it over to where Tommy had coaxed Tubbo onto the couch. They’d sit and watch a film, something amusing and relaxing, and most certainly not loud.
It was the four of them against the world. Him, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Michael.
Michael.
“Wait, where’s Michael?” Tommy said, head snapping up suddenly as panic filled his voice. “You didn’t just leave him, did you?”
Tubbo laughed. “Of course not, bossman. He’s with Foolish right now. Michael and Jr. are having…an unexpected playdate.”
Tommy felt the tips of his ears heat up as he shrank back down. “Right.” Because Ranboo and Tubbo were good parents like that, and they never forgot simple things or their literal child just to chase after Tommy.
“That doesn’t make you any less important,” Ranboo pointed out, squeezing him a little tighter.
Tommy felt his ears heat up in embarrassment, both in shame and affection at the knowledge that Ranboo knew him well enough to guess what he was thinking. Could Tommy do the same for Tubbo and Ranboo? If asked, would he be able to guess their thoughts? Tommy wasn’t so sure he could, and this just became another reason why he wasn’t worthy of them, of why he didn’t belong here, didn’t deserve—
“Stop thinking,” Tubbo said, flicking Tommy’s forehead gently. “It’s bad for you.”
Tommy blinked, shaking his head gently as if to clear the spiraling thoughts.
Ranboo snorted. “Like you think at all either.”
“Hey!” Tubbo protested, whacking Ranboo’s arm. “I thought you were on my side!”
Ranboo grinned, holding his hands up in surrender. “You know me, never choosing sides, always choosing people.”
“Okay chocolate eclair,” Tommy snickered. “You defy Tubbo and see how it goes when he decides to set an army of bees loose in your base.”
Ranboo mock-shudders, though Tommy can see the actual wariness in his eyes at the threat. “Tubbo, my bee, my husband, my beloved, you wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” He turned to Tommy, looking at him pleadingly. “Back me up?”
Tommy snickered. “Sorry, Ranboo, I don’t want to have to deal with our chaotic husband’s rampage.”
Tubbo cackled. “Oh, ‘Boo,” he said sweetly, and Tommy knew that both he and Ranboo were fucked. “I would gladly sen my army of bees after you,” Tommy smirked, sticking his tongue out at Ranboo until Tubbo threw a scathing look at the youngest boy as well. “And don’t think you’re getting out of this either, Tommy, dearest.”
Tommy laughed as he shook his head, and though the sound was wet and choked, it made Tubbo’s face light up. Tommy would give anything to keep that smile there.
The trio was quiet for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts, until Tommy spoke up, nervously biting his lower lip.
“So...so you’re not mad?” Tommy asked meekly, fidgeting with the blanket in his tight grip.
Tubbo gave him a wry smile. “Oh, I’m furious. We’re going to be having a long talk about this later. For now, though, you need to know that even though we argue, you don’t have to run away like that.”
Ranboo nodded along, squeezing Tommy’s shoulder. “We also know you didn’t mean what you said, Toms. It was a mistake, and that’s okay. We’ll address it, fix the problem, and we’ll move on. Does that sound okay?”
Tommy nodded slowly. “I—yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.”
Tubbo smiled, face a little gentler now that Tommy had calmed down. He pulled the younger boy into his arms, letting Tommy tuck his head under Tubbo’s chin. “We love you, Tommy. Neither Ranboo nor I are going to give up on you so easily.”
“I’m—I’m sorry,” Tommy stuttered out, squeezing his eyes shut and letting the tears that had begun to pool there again fall. “I’m so sorry Tubbo, I didn’t mean any of it, and I promise I’ll…be better. I’ll try harder, and we’ll make this work.”
Ranboo’s forehead wrinkled. “We love you just as you are, Tommy, you don’t need to change—” Tubbo cut him off with a hand to the Ender-hybrid’s arm.
“I accept your apology, Tommy,” Tubbo murmured, kissing the top of Tommy’s head. “We’ve got you now. We’ve got you, and you’re not going anywhere.”