Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 He wakes up. He doesn't want to but has to. He thinks about his play for today as he recites quietly his words in the shower. Suddenly he hears someone yell his name, a furious unstable female voice calling him downstairs- he immediately realizes what time it is and storms out of the warm water.

 But it felt so relaxing- no, he needs to move forward. He knows there's nor time, nor space left for failure.

 In the snap of a finger, the teen's already dressed up, something seemingly bothering him, as he crosses the small room back and forth.

 His room was never anything special, light yellow walls, in-between a bed, few shelves surrounded by a tiny wardrobe and a wooden desk, on top of which some old PC set-up.

 He searches for the speech he had mentally written for the exact moment he enters the living room. He already knew how to apologize to his foster parent in an everything but genuine way, yet good enough not to get him grounded.

 Grabbing his grass green rucksack, he slowly moves towards the stairs, down to the main hall, right where his guardian normally waits for him.

 He's expected to wake up at 5am - earlier than whatever the school schedule said. Not that he ever bothered to look at it, but he was sure it was earlier by at least half an hour. He was supposed to have made breakfast by the time he gets to the kitchen.

 There, his eyes meet almond ones. They scream arrogance, and are full of hatred - the normal morning stare.

 A woman in her mid-thirtees is sitting on a dark brown chair positioned near the the kitchen island. She  is wearing an old grey sweater. Underneath there is a pair of shorts so short, that they aren't noticeable unless you know they are there. Her hair's a dark blue colour. She dies it after adopting the boy, but he can't remember how it used to look like.

 The expression on her face, colder than Alyeska. The tall male infront of her with a weirdly unreadable emotion gulps. He can swear on his life that he knows what the woman is about to tell him.

 The female looks away, as her glaze moves across the room right on top of a clock. "You know what the time is?" The woman, Destiny, angrily says. He follows her eyes, afraid to admit that he knows already but enjoys seeing the hag angry.

  "I told you at least a MILLION of times, boy, if you fuck up again you're sleeping on the streets. Clearly that's your goal. I'm sick of giving you a second chance, since this would be around your 70th now!" 

 "You are so late, that I had to make breakfast instead. You know what? You're not getting any." Tommy never does anyway, but he's too tired to speak up.

 "And I, as a parent, am told not to freak out! Fuck sake you know how to get on my nerves" Destiny continues "Just get out of my face!" Wow. He doesn't even have to speak this time. That's disappointing.

 He was hoping for the regular morning argument which he always lost, resulting him being in big trouble. Still, he can't allow to break this every day routine.

 "Sure." He shoots, and while he can hear multiple curses his way, he smirks to himself, opens the door and closes it like he doesn't intend on coming back.

 He takes the bus from a few blocks away. As much as he hates it, he attends college and is forced to attend to it.

 Back in the good times, his middle school friends wrote where he wants to study instead of him.

 Why? They were sure he wasn't interested in any, which would have been a problem. His friends had different personalities. Way too different. Each one wanted something for him. Though they could all agree on one thing only - his acting skills were amazing!

 So, there wrote only one school, in fact the hardest academy to get let into. That was the famous "Talent Academy" itself. There, everyone choses a profile, and they decided his to be the acting course.

 Of course, he didn't know. He found out long after, when they were no longer friends. Fell apart after a very dumb fight, where they all parted. He had forgave them already. Actually very soon after the argument.

 He realized how much they mean to him, how much he needs them and how happy he was back then, when he received a letter saying he's accepted at the school. He didn't think he will, but he values the academy a lot.

 Mainly owing to the fact that this was the only thing still connecting him with the old friends, as this was perhaps the best thing they've done for him throughout their while relationship. He's grateful he had them.

 So he respects every corner of the college and follows every lesson they've learnt together, while their quotes forever stuck in his head. He knows they won't be back though.

 One year ago they set a place to reunite. Of course, the teen was late. He still doesn't know if he is happier this way. Sometimes he just wishes he was there with them, to the end. There was a car crash in which they all died.

 Well not all. From the other side of the street he sees a boy, a bit shorter than him with dark brown hair In a military cut. He immediately recognized him. That was his allie, his last alive friend - Eryn. They ran towards snd cried in each other's embrace.

 And no, Tommy does not think about that every night. Maybe.

 So yeah. The blonde teen, perfect sea blue eyes and fiery personality, isn't the type to share his problems at all. So, Eryn finds his own way and finds out about his friend's life at home. He tries not to push too much, but just enough to know how to help him.

 If it weren't for his dearest friends, he would have never been there. So he keeps going. The bus stops and he goes out.

 After solid ten minutes walking, he freezes in front of a big building looking like a castle. He is so lost in thoughts that he almost passes the academy.

 He enters the school, greeted by many. Surprisingly even for him himself, the other students in the academy took a liking to him quite fast.

 He stops to have a word with a few he would consider closer to him than the mass. Discussing random topics, he suddenly loses interest in the conversation and excuses himself politely.

 Walking through the familiar halls, he looks at colourful posters about the upcoming school plays, already knowing who designed them without checking.

 That would be the design department, in which he also sometimes attends. Slightly smirking inside, he realizes what is actually written. He freezes for a second, maybe even two.

 He was supposed to be training for the exact play on the posters.

 Rushing to the main acting room, a lot wave at him, sadly he doesn't have the time to even look at them now, as he is almost late. *Room 06* is written above the door he finds himself standing infront of. He doesn't hesitate and grabs the handle.

 Entering, he looks over at his watch. With that he finds out it's not in it's regular position, but he would deal with that later. Everyone's already in place, meaning he comes just in time.

 Phew. Dropping his iconic green bag and brown jacket on the nearest empty chair, he goes on stage receiving some comforting looks from his mates surrounding him, almost like they were thinking he would skip.

 Clearing his throat, he says the first line and they finally begin practice.

 When it all finishes and he puts on his jacket back, a boy with blonde hair in a small ponytail approaches. That's Purpled. He always denies it, but honestly, Purpled is such a sweetheart and has been one since they met.

 "Hey'a Tommay! Didn't think you'd show up!" The other shorter male says. "Well you were almost right, Purp." The way too tired already responds with a genuine happy smile. He knows him too well.

 Purpled knows he overslept and was planning on skipping while getting dressed. He leaves room 06 alone, owing to the other blonde deciding to stay behind and help clean up. Sucking up to the mentor.

 Damn, he thinks. Tommy could never.

 Just outside the classroom he joins a group of talking students. That's the gossip group. He never shares information there, but he wants to be updated on everything. "Have you heard? There's a new boy in town, he's joining the academy. Today's his first day" - escapes Connor's mouth making the blonde's eyes widen.

 "Whaa'?" He finally says. "Yeah he moved here from London, rumor has it he looks ridiculous!" Another boy mentions. Both the boys were brunettes, looked almost like siblings.

 For a regular it would be a nightmare telling which one is Connor and which Eret, the second male, but our lad here had spent half his college life with the group and knows how to tell who's who.

 "What's wrong?" a short girl questions. That's when he realizes he's been staring at the floor for way too long now. "Nothing" is the only word he can force out at the moment.

 He is just shocked. People usually love him, they adore him and want to be around him. Yet he is so afraid of new faces. But his name is Tom Simons.

 Tom Simons isn't scared of a new student. He can't be. "Whatever you say, Tommy" Eret adds sadly, knowing there is definitely something their friend refuses to share.

-------------- 

 "Max? C'mon bro, you need to let me in!" Tubbo says this time a lot angrier. The boy is rather short for his age. He has chestnut brown eyes and currently arched eyebrows caused from his look of concern. "Let me the fuck in, dumbass!"

 He half screams and starts banging on the door. From the other side of the bathroom door comes a little and short sob.

 Have I hurt him?.. Tubbo thinks to himself. That's the last thing he wants to do right now. Just from the thought of it, his eyes tear up. Back in London he was famous for being way too emotional.

 Thick walls of salty tears protect his eyes. As he squint his eyes from all the stress the tears fall, leaving big darker wet spots on his green button shirt.

 The boy bangs on the door furiously one last time, after which he breaks down on the floor, hugging himself. Tubbo doesn't know what to do. His brother has never done this before.

 Never. He is just trying to help. Doesn't Max want him here? "Hey man, I know you don't trust me, you never have. But I can't leave you, Kay?" No answer. "Please let me in, Max. Brother, please" Tubbo starts losing hope. Should he back away?

 Nah, no way. That's his baby brother in there and he will not leave the perimetre without Max by his side.

 "One s-sec" A younger voice says quietly. "Hm?" Tubbo can't hear anything from the hiccups. "Watcha say?" The sound of door unlocking breaks the short silence. Once. Twice.

 After the third click, the door is no longer locked. They are just one handle away. Tubbo steps back, eyes lighting up when seeing the handle being slowly pressed from the other side.

 "I said one sec" The other male replies right after opening the door, revealing himself. He has a gentle smile on, as he does not know what to do in such situations.

 "Oh, Max.." Tubbo says finally hugging the taller boy. Max has blonde hair, unlike his brother who's a brunette, ice blue eyes and light freckles spread across his face from his button upright nose.

 Dry tears litter his face.

 "Don't ever do that again, you bastard" Tubbo mumbles, unfortunately Max has better hearing and replies with a quieter whisper, to be extra sure his brother can't hear "Love you too big bro" as he hugs him tighter. Tubbo stumbles back, triping over his own feet and falling on the coach whilst bringing the other teen down with him. Both laugh through tears as Tubbo ruffles Max's hair.

 They are Tubbo and Max Smith. Tubbo refuses to go to any sort of school since he's 15.

 The reason? He simply has dyslexia and ADHD, aka he can't read and kids at his old school considered him a weirdo. Later om it turned out they had some superiority disorder, but Tubbo didn't really care.

 He doesn't really need to anymore, he is 19 and works in an art shop, sometimes does other small jobs but they aren't as significant.

 Max, on the other hand likes animating. That's been his passion ever since. He's still 17 and can go to school for free.

 So, Tubbo decides to move the art shop a few cities away, in another part of the UK.

 Why? So that his precious brother can go to the Talent Academy and educate. Something Tubbo here couldn't do himself.

 They move from London to Brighton. They now live in a normally sized apartment in a small lily red living building with some interesting neighbors.

 If Tubbo could go, believe it, he would. He always have had a talent for singing, and was actually on the of main profiles in the college.

 Sadly he couldn't ever afford going. But he wants Max to succeed and do what he loves.

 He can't stand watching his brother sad at home, working on some small projects which don't interest him anymore but make him some money.

 They are short on money, and that has been ever since their parents abandoned them, nit leaving any money behind.

 So he signs him for The Academy. Tubbo is more than sure Max will go and beat everyone with his knowledge. Apparently, Max doesn't share thoughts with Tubbo.

 "Why don't you wan'a go? You'll blow 'em off!" Tubbo reassures the blonde, as they sit on the couch. "W-what if Im not good enough? They're been there for so long... And I heard they don't like newbies in the middle of the year! Actually they don't like new people at all.." Max informs Tubbo of the rumours, which are ironically speaking pure truth.

 "Man, head up! You'll do great! Where d'that confidence from yesterday go? You'll make hundreds friends! Don't worry!" He always means what he speaks, especially now.

 "Can't you join with me, Tubbs? I promise I won't drop out!"

 Max's eyes lit up by the thought of having his brother next to him while walking through the corridors. He imagines people greeting them warmly.

 "Weeell, we both know I can't do that.. All I can do to help is come pick you up and leave you, if it'll make you feel more secure" Tubbo knows the blonde wants something else, but he just can't provide it at this time.

 "I guess I will stick with that, then" Nax says, trying to sound as happy as possible.

 For a stranger his words would be filled with excitement, but Tubbo recognizes this type of behaviour. It basically screams disappointment. "Sorry man, but this will have to do" He replies, understanding the other's sorrow.

 They fall in awkward silence for a second. Then two. Thru both know they won't be able to stand three full seconds of awkwardness, look in the clock on the wall, and saying in the same time "Time came". Looking at each other, both laugh once again in sync, pushing out of the conversation.

Chapter Text

 Now at the front of the school, both Smith brothers are left speechless. The mesmerizing view they are witnessing is unforgettable. Such an enormous building like this one, looking like a fairytale castle, isn't seen every day.

 "Good luck in there, Maxi." The older teases. "I thought we agreed with you not saying this! You know I hate it!" Max hates it. "And you know exactly how much I love it, Maxi." Ok, ok.

 Does his brother want to fight in front of the glorious academy and lose, because all of this is going just in that direction. "Stop it. I'm serious!"

 Tubbo lets out a small laugh. He really wants to get in a fight right now but he doesn't want to embarrass his younger brother on his first day by losing a small fight. Instead, he settles with ruffling his hair.

 "We are both thinking about this, aren't we? I suppose the fight will be rescheduled to later this evening when I'm back from work."

 Tubbo finally announces competitively and sure. "You're so ON" The lad replies, fire in his eyes.

 The school is still there, but in their heads is just them. The weird type of siblings' love they share is unreplaceable. They are lost in the moment without knowing it.

 Max is the first to exit the zone out. He looks up and down, shakes his head a bit and remembers the place they're located at.

 "Shit! I almost forgot about school!" The worried look on his face makes Tubbo smirk. "Go then." He says calmly, trying not to stress his brother more than he already is.

 The two share another moment, high five and bumping shoulders purposely as a way of saying goodbye. Max walks with a big portion of confidence, looking around and admiring.

 When Max gets inside, Tubbo turns around facing the academy's park, on his face a running tear. He will do anything for this sunny brother of his.

 Anything.

 "You don't know it but I'd die for you someday, Maxie." He whispers to himself smiling. 

  -----------

 Hannah Rosalin has a very strict schedule. A boring one, in fact. Some days are so similar, that if someone watched her they would think she's stuck in a loop.

 At first, it was hard to fit in it, but after a few months she built nice techniques, so now she copes.

 She wakes up an hour before sunrise, normally five - sunlight is somehow her natural alarm.  After that, she showers for exactly ten minutes and eats her special homemade cereal.

 It always takes twenty minutes to make mini pancakes, which she then consumes with almond milk and nothing else but it. Just as today.

 She is supposed to open her shop at nine, but every other day she goes half an hour earlier to prepare it. Clearly, today wasn't one of those normal days.

 The weather's amazing. Sun's shining on the beautiful Tuesday, no clouds in sight. The London streets are cramped with busy people going to work or school every morning.

 Kid's laughs can be heard with cars as background play. In other words, the perfect way to start your day filled with happiness and joy.

 In the whole city, there is only one place where the sun doesn't shine, where darkness and smoke rule. The mood there is always like it's raining, even when it's not.

 That's the "forbidden alleys" - how most would call them. A messy network of tiny gaps between buildings with walls of graffiti from bottom to top in the area of the centre.

 That appears to be exactly the way Hannah goes to work.

 A few years back she would take the longer route - on the main street since she was scared of robbers popping out or worse.

 But now that she adds to them, is there really someone to be afraid of? Well yeah, her boss, but Hannah doesn't count him in. After all, everyone is scared of him.

 It would be a complete lie to say she also was not.

 Hannah always dresses in brighter joyful shades than the others crossing these parts of the city and stands out in the darkness of the alleys, but that doesn't bother her at all. This time was not an exception.

 She's wearing an electric yellow baseball hat on top of her light brown braided hair with two stripes of hair falling on the sides of her pretty ice coloured eyes. She wears a white tank top with the classic yellow smiley faces. Other than that she has shark blue jeans, slightly ripped at the ends with baby pink sneakers.

 Walking through the last alleys before she's out, she's listening to a criminal online book with a silent last touch with rock instrumental from her favourite violet stereo headphones.

 Right at the last turn to her shop and way out she bumps into someone. Still as cool as a cucumber, Hannah looks up.

 "Sorry, ma'am! I'm just so lost right now!" Wait, they're apologizing? That's new for sure. Hannah just can't help herself and quickly eyes the stranger in front of her. Oh. Makes sense now.

 "Hannah, wait is this you? Am I seeing things?" Great.

 The speaking man was Quackity. "Weird place for reunions, don't you think." Inside, Hannah's organs turn upside down as she hears this. Outside she stays calm, that's what she's been taught all her life. He continues.

N"Definitely didn't expect to see an old friend here." Now that's just pure lieing. "It's funny how you refer to what we were back then as friendship, Alex."

 Hannah is a woman in her twenties and is sure she can get the difference between friendship and their situation. It's way too complicated to be described as friendship.

 By the look Quackity gives, his eyes roaming cautiously around them and small sweats forming where his beanie is, she figures he only uses his pseudonym now. His first name is Alexis.

 No one ever talked about the second one. Nor had she.

 "Don't get offended, Q. Stop with this inside screaming. How was I supposed to know you only like your silly childhood nickname?" Which I gave you- she almost slips.

 It's true but would bring some unwanted topics of the past forming in both their minds even if they don't speak about it.

 She knows she walks on thin ice. But with Quackity you walk on ice all the time.

 "Weren't you supposed to be able to read me like a book? Back then you knew everything about me." He teases winking.

 Quackity is a short guy with jet black hair, an absolute camouflage in the shadows. He has a dark blue beanie covering it and a freshly lit cigarette in one hand between his middle and index finger.

 His outfit is quite simple - eggshell shirt tugged carefully in grey trousers, rolled at the bottom and secured with a belt, made specifically for him.

 It's weird how he looks all scary at first but then softer than a sponge. Either that or Hannah is just used to looking at him for so many years now, that she can't see his intimidating side but the younger playful boy with a smile never leaving his face.

 Someone else definitely would tremble. She isn't just a somebody though.

 "That hasn't changed really. Nor have you much, as I can see. Changing wardrobes doesn't change the personality.  Bet you still have that toothy grin."

 After saying that they both laugh. It's fake laughs, yet they feel so real, so nice and light,  so childish and nostalgic. Hannah found it funny, so she might have accidentally laughed not on purpose but he didn't have to know.

 But she is almost sure that the male's chuckle was genuine and not forced. It's true. She could read him like a book. That's why she wonders if her skill's gotten worse or her thinking's correct.

 "It was nice talking to you, Roselin, but I need to go now. I have business to attend." Is he for real? Did he forget her surname, or is he mocking? It's always been Rosalin, with an a.

 Has it been that long since the last time they talked? Hannah chooses to think of it as mocking. It was easier and only made sense. Not that she feels offended by him messing up.

 She doesn't.

 "Will I ever be blessed to come across you again?" Is he actually asking? The worst part is he is now good at acting. Hannah just can't tell if he would care if he did. "If you are lucky enough." She says through an inside laugh.

 She can't laugh at something only real friends would, so she doesn't. But her eyes do and her old allie can obviously see that, so he smiles in response. "Until then, I suppose!" And disappears in the blink of an eye.

 "Smooth" Hannah whispers. "Very smooth move, Alex. I'm not dumb enough for this and you know it. What's your plan this time?" She continues whispering under her breath quietly.

 She knows the male can hear her. They were trained to.

 And even if they weren't, Quackity would always be able to tell what's going on in Hannah's head. And it would probably be disturbingly accurate.

 Quackity, now on the main road, really does hear that. He knows she wanted him to. He smirks and lets out a soft sign.

 Things were about to get tangled very soon, if they weren't already.

Chapter Text

 Back in Nottingham, their relationship wasn't too different.

 Ok, maybe it was.

 Tubbo was still eleven and Max nine. Max used to have natural honey blonde hair, while Tubbo had an almost black one. The boys' personalities were so absurdly opposite, just as their looks, that no one would believe they were siblings.

 They always did, in the end, when Tubbo started protecting the younger and showed possession over him.

 In the city, they were known as The Smith Boys. Of course, there were other lads with the same surname but everyone knew who the talking one had in mind when they mentioned the Smith Boys - two exploring brothers, which always looked after each other and would get in trouble all the time, whenever they could, wherever they could.

 The two were born in Nottingham and knew every single corner of it as they knew their own hand.

 Tubbo, back then with the name Tobias, and his brother lived in a cozy nice house with a big garden and lovely neighbours, but most importantly - they lived with both their parents.

 Miss Smith was always the subject of the entire neighbourhood as if she were some wanted criminal.

 Tubbo could swear he had seen a poster of her once on the side of one abandoned house he and Max had peeked into. Little did they know back then it would be their last.

 When they arrived back home they were scolded a lot by their father, but their mother was nowhere to be seen. Her luggage was gone, her whole wardrobe, every single file from her work and even every photo there was in the house including her.

 The house itself was shining, and it probably took hours to clean it so well. No stain on the carpets, no dry paint on the windows, not even fingerprints.

 Their mother wasn't mentioned ever again, and the neighbours who back then adored them so much were now scared.

 Everyone feared The Smith Boys. Then, it meant nothing good, and only brang terror. Why would someone be afraid, though?

 After all, they were just kids, two boys who still had no idea what life really held and that it was all just getting started.

 The first time they see the city they were newborns. The last was then, when the older one had just turned twelve and the other was still nine.

 Their house was soon sold, after the whole scene with their mother, and they moved to London. It was Tobias, Max and Mister Smith.

 Their father was nice. He was at least when he was sober. The brothers never dared to think about the times he was not.

 They moved into a rather big apartment in the heart of London. They were twelve and nine. It sure could have been better with their mother butvthey could definitely work something with it.

 And they did. For only six years, though.

 Tobias was a fresh nineteen and Max a solid sixteen. Both boys had big dreams. Max wanted to learn further about design and animation, while Tobias had an amazing voice and would love to work with it.

 But those were just dreams. Tubbo worked in an art shop, which made him just enough money to look after himself and his brother. Their father's unexisting job was not to talk about. Thankfully he didn't seek money from poor Tobias.

 Max on the other hand, also did whatever he could to help his brother. He designed some background of an unpopular daily article. Still, he had to live with it.

 After all, for those thirty minutes he spent, he was later rewarded ten pounds per day, which he was more than happy about.

 In the London years, the boys' connection became more blurry, and more blurry, and like that until there was little to nothing left.

 Those dull times came to an end, eventually. That's when their father, the bastard, had a massive heart attack from all the consumed alcohol and passed away.

 The two days in the hospital cost them a fortune, a sum of money they could not cover even if they combined both their earnings and savings.

 So the two came to a decision. A life-changing one. They gathered the important stuff, threw the other, sold the apartment and ran away.

 Running from their unaffordable fines for their father's doings and bills, the two akso ran from the bad memories.

 From that time onward, they were not welcomed back to London, kicked from a community for the second time, and on the run from feds. 

 It's not like it's their first time needing to do all of that. Been there, done that. 

 They needed to find a place to stay. And out of all the options, Tobias chose Brighton. Not because it didn't have wanted posters of them, it did actually.

 He did that to help Max achieve his dreams. He loves him and risks both their lifes with it. But hey, they were already criminals, so why should it bother them?

 The only thing Tobias decided to do was change his name to something that didn't recall his past. This way he chose Tubbo.

 It was near, but also not the same one, in case someone had heard of Tobias Smith, a young adult running away from responsibility.

 And just like that, they come to a new start. Tubbo moves his shop to Brighton and signs up his smaller brother for school.

 Everything could be normal, or at least the most normal it could get since they are against the law.

 They were sure they will work something out. In fact, now, one year later they still are. Max is now going to school and Tubbo has a good job.

 What could go wrong this time? Even if a storm comes it won't ruin Tubbo's happiness at the moment. He's heading to work after he got Max to school. Life really is normal.

 Finally, Tubbo can breathe freely once again.

  ---------

 The building looks even better on the inside, Max realizes. All the students are in already since Max doesn't have first period today and comes later.

 He enters a main hall and thinks that's half the students, so he moves to escape their stares. As the blonde goes elsewhere he finds out the hard way that the place he just saw was one of the small ones.

 He enters the main area, where hundreds of pairs of eyes meet his.

 All the confidence melts and he struggles to keep his expression still. In his eyes, there is now fear. Everyone is looking at him.

 All students are gathered in groups, leaving Max like a lone wolf.

 A few whispers slip off the mouths of some of his new classmates. There's a light chuckle. Max is sure they are discussing him. None of them like new people joining.

 It's too late to go back home. He already entered and now everyone knows him. If he turns back he'll be known as a coward.

 Max faces the truth - he will be the outsider and new victim of bullies. If it's only this then he will be fine.

 As long as no one knows of his past, the boy will be able to live with it. Either way, it probably won't be long until someone else enrols and he has who to befriend, right?

Chapter Text

 After the whole reunion scene, Hannah finally gets on the main road she makes a left turn and after one-two minutes she is standing in front of a beautifully decorated two story shop, built in an apartment building on the first and second floor.

 On its left is a mini vet centre, while the right has always been abandoned.

 Once it used to be a coffee shop, one of the most famous out there. What ruined it was a big shooting that happened. It left the shop with no owner and barely any workers, which later quit.

 That's why she's very surprised as the inside of it is getting painted by a brunette lad in a rose gold shade.

 She knocks on the wide-opened door. "Excuse me? Do you have the right to be here, boy?" She wonders and steps inside.

 For the first time in ages, she asks a question whose answer she doesn't know. The boy turns and brown eyes meet blue.

 After seeing his face, Hannah is more than sure the boy she is talking to is below twenty.

 He looks young, dressed casually with a blue apron with paint all over it.

 The boy smiles brighter than the sun itself and answers. "Of course I do, Miss! I bought this place a week ago! It looks kind of ruined, really, but with a bit of work, I'll get that fixed. You must be one of my new neighbours?"

 He ends with a question. "I am the legal owner of the flower shop next door, so yes."

 She almost tells him that she's the one asking questions, but immediately remembers that she's not interrogating him. After all, she's on his grounds at the moment.

 "A florist, hm? Cool. I'm Tubbo, moved here. I had an art shop in the last city and I'm not intending to change that." She had forgotten how trusting people are. Before Hannah has enough time to organize her thoughts about the boy, he takes lead again.

 "So, who are you exactly? Come on, tell me your story!" Tubbo presses, knowing damn well we won't tell his story.

 Hannah really wants to go back, but she can't because he puts the brushes down and sits on the floor. She goes further into the blank place and quietly sits opposite him, leaving the space between them not more than four feet.

 "Well, my name is Hannah. I work in the shop right next to yours and live on the other side of the city."

 Her eyes widen. She isn't supposed to tell him where she lives. Too late, her thoughts speak. "So do I!" The boy happily adds. "We could go to work together sometimes! Wouldn't that be just awesome!!"

 That's way beyond Hannah's boundaries. "I don't think I can, unfortunately. I'm sorry, Tubbo."

 She says hoping it's in a sad disappointed tone so that he thinks she feels bad for not taking his offer.

 "That's fine! Either way, I need to drop my brother off before I come here." Yeah, he definitely is upset. That's not her problem though. "It was great meeting you, Tubbo. I need to go open my shop now.

 I'll get going." She hurriedly gets up, brushes her clothes from all the dust and leaves.

  ----------

 Smiles appear on the crowd's faces. They all smile or smirk, their eyes leaving him behind. Wait is all that for him? People are happy to see him? He wouldn't believe that even if the president came and told him.

 Everyone is focused on something else and that's seemingly behind him so he turns. There is another blonde staring at him, but at least now it's only him and not the entire school.

 Max can't help but wonder why the other looks so tense, even more than him himself.

 "Ay, mate! We were just thinking where you went. Was kinda weird when you stormed out after our talk in the halls, you good?" A boy with brown hair and classic sunglasses walks past him, their shoulders brushing and he stops next to the other.

 "Am good, yeah. Can't believe you got worried over some dumb shit like a man leaving for fresh air."

 The blonde has blue eyes and a hidden tired look on his face. Max questions himself if the others also notice and decide not to speak if it, or can he just read him easily.

 He looks everything but happy, yet he smiles. Both males look straight at him. Max forgot he is staring at them. So now, he has two options.

 One, to stay quiet and maybe get bullied. Or two, try to talk to them and test his luck.

 The second one it is, he thinks and speaks. "Hey. Um, I'm new here, name's Max. And you?" No one replies. He fucked up.

 "Call me Tommy." Oh. Ok, maybe he didn't fuck up. "So you're Tommy, and how about you..?" Max looks at the third boy, eyeing him dangerouly even through his shades "Eret."

  --------

 The phone rings and he picks up. "Boss I'm done." He starts. "I know you are, Quackity. What I don't know is if she had any clue." A male deep voice replies on the phone.

 "She doesn't, boss." The call ends.

 He just lied to his boss and that's not good. Of course she knows, Hannah wasn't born yesterday. Coincidences like these don't happen, they just don't. 

 They just aren't allowed to happen. If they were, he would have approached her the first time a few years back when he first landed his eyes on her silhouette.

Chapter Text

 Tommy is outside of the school building. He's hiding from the burning sunlight under a tree located in the school's backyard, the one with carved words on it.

 Unfortunately, whatever has been written is now unreadable but it still brings Tommy comfort, so he always goes there when he needs alone time.

 He has just heard of this new student and sprinted out, trying not to make it look too obvious.  Tommy really hates new people.

 Actually, he hates people in general. There are a few exceptions, of course. Those are his closest schoolmates and a few people he hasn't contacted in a long time ago.

 Eryn is definitely one of them.

 "So, you mean a London boy is coming to the academy? Why do you sound excited, you hate newbies." Eryn speaks through the phone.

 "I DO! And that's the problem. I don't want to go back in, he will probably be inside. " Tom says and looks behind his shoulder scared, in the direction of the school.

 "Your choice, Tom. I won't tell you what to do"

Eryn's a cool lad, a great friend. At the moment, he's Tommy's best friend. But there is one personality trait of his, that Tommy would stab if given the chance to.

 It's not actually giving advice, but giving others the freedom to choose on their own. Tommy's always thought and always will think that he acts this way so that he's not blamed in the end if it all goes downhill.

 If that is the case, then Tommy himself will be very impressed.

 If not, then he'd appreciate if his mate would back him up instead of offering his free psychologist services.

"Like, go if you want to. But you know that one day you will eventually have to meet him. You can't stay hidden forever." He adds. "True. Ok, I'll go."

 Tommy gives in. "First, how about I tell you a cool knee clapper? I bet you look like you've seen a ghost." Eryn jokes but the other takes it seriously.

 "I don't want to look like that! How will I impress the ladies then?!" Even without Eryn saying the joke itself, the mood is already lighter and they continue their conversation normally and chill until the end of the call.

Ok. Tommy can for sure go in there. That's his school, not this London guy's!

 And after all, he's the one with friends and multiple people behind him. It can't go bad.

 The worst thing that can happen is if they become some sort of, what, friends? Yeah, that will be the worst, worse than enemies, to be honest.

  --------

Tommy is walking in the halls of the school with Eret and this other guy Scott to the maths room.

 It may be a profiled school but they still need to learn normal subjects from time to time. Sadly it's not just them as a trio walking to the calculus class.

 They are four and it's a group. Just because people like Tommy doesn't give them the right to assume he likes them back. It's not his fault he's his ever-so-charming self.

"But is philosophy obligatory or not?" Max questions.

 "Well not really. It depends a lot on the profile you chose. You went for design, so I don't think that's in the pack. You just need to study other subjects as well and if you don't choose, they do it for you."

 Tommy answers. He is trying his best not to be pissed right now. Like, how in the world could that boy not know?

When he enrolled in the school they gave him a big folder of information he had to go through. Was Max truly that lazy that he didn't read it?

 "Oh, okay. By the way, Timmy, which profile did you sign up for? I'm honestly very curious. In my opinion, anything available on the program would suit you!"

 What. Tommy's eyes widen and his face gets red. Tommy suddenly stops walking, showing that he's ready to commit murder. Now that was fucking personal.

 "Did you just call me fucking Timmy?!" Max gets very confused. "Yes I did, why? Isn't that your name?"

 Max gulps scared, while Eret bites his lip in the background.

 Eret vividly remembers when that happened to him once and it didn't end well.

Let's just say things don't go swell for Max. Tommy lectures him on how to spell his easy name mockingly and HELL he is pissed. Excuse you, but this is my territory????

 Bitch. He ain't letting that slide. That prick was probably looking down on him, thinking he's better than Tommy because he comes from London. Well he can shove London straight up his ass or else Tommy will shove it down his throat.

Max debates with himself in his mind whether he got in too much trouble for the first day. Answer is, yes he did.

  ------

School ends and Max waits in the garden while sitting on a bench quietly, fidgeting with his fingers. A shadow appears on top of him, stopping the sun from warming him. "How was school?" It's just Tubbo. He takes out his hand to help the younger stand up, smiling. Max isn't in the mood for that and turns his head to the side.

Tubbo sits down beside him, wondering what could be wrong. "I messed everything up." Max whispers and Tubbo's expression changes from curious to worried in less than a second. "Did you murder someone?" The older calmly asks and the other denies. "Did anyone find out we're wanted?" He adds and Max again denies it.

"Well, I see no problem." Tubbo continues.

 "Whatever you did should be fixable. I mean, I know you're a little beast but I don't think you could've messed up that badly." He tries to assure his brother.

Max is ready to argue. His lips part as if he will speak, but close again after a couple of seconds.

 He figures he made no big mistake, for real. That Tom guy was just being unreasonably shitty towards him. He would have spoken up for himself, but in the situation he's in right now, he just hopes nobody that has heard the onesided conversation Tom held at the middle of the corridor will be spreading any rumours.

 "I guess I am overreacting.." Max admits a bit unsure. "Shall we go then?" Tubbo wonders and Max nods.

They both get up from the bench and start walking towards their apartment in silence, neither with enough will power to carry on with a decent conversation.

Chapter Text

Dave is two years old when God awards him with his first brother and gets the opportunity to name him.

  He is also ten years old when he's awarded his second one. His first brother he named Wilbur, as that's one of the little names he could pronounce correct at that age.

  The second one, looking more precious than the sun, he sadly cannot name - this is left for Wilbur and he chooses Tom.

  To be honest, Dave is frustrated with the decision and calls the boy how he wishes to - Theseus, but apparently Wilbur, as jealous as he is, decides to give the oldest a "new name" as well.

  The creativity of an eight years old is massive, but Wilbur on the other hand is very cheeky and puts Technoblade as Dave's new nickname, just to annoy him.

  Pathetic, Dave thinks at first, but then he grows with it, doing his best to get people calling him that over Dave - such a plain name, now that he looks back on it.

  He gets his name from his father - Philza Minecraft. One of the reasons he began hating that old name of his was exactly that - it was Phil who decided to name him that.

  Philza used to be the best parent to exist, according to all three boys.

  But when they grew older, he became more distant and strict. As time passed, he became an alcohol addicted son of a bitch, as Wilbur always said.

  In other words, Techno despites him from the time he became an alcoholic, making sure both his brothers - Wilbur and Theseus are safe and away from home so that they can't be affected by the toxicity of their somehow called father.

  Later Techno learns what a big mistake he'd done by not running away.

  Techno is fourteen and goes grocery shopping with his younger brothers. They go their usual routine - through the main street, ten-minute walk and straight into the market.

  "Wilbah, can we take twis?" Theseus would always ask, "We need to ask Techno first, you know that." The other responds. That's how it normally went.

  Tom wating things, Will not taking responsibility and Techno trying to keep the two ends, being left with no other option but to decline.

  But today is different. Very different. Way too different. The youngest talks for the first two minutes, and the rest of the time - doesn't. At the shop he stays still, he also doesn't want anything.

  Weird. Wilbur's watching him while Techno shops, but he feels the need to go and tell Techno. So he does. "Maybe he decided to finally grow up." Techno sighs and goes to pay.

  That doesn't make Wilbur stop worrying, though. On their way home, Tom is again silent. Techno and Wil hold bags in their hands and Tom just walks by and this time doesn't even try to run away from them.

  He's being weird, this is all too weird - the bigger Minecraft brothers think and look at each other.

  "Songbird, are you ok?" Wil looks very concerned about Tom's situation. There is no response. Tommy doesn't stop to look at him, doesn't flinch, doesn't reply. He just walks. All he does is walk.

  Until he doesn't. Less than five seconds later, he collapses on the ground, falling face down. He doesn't move, he doesn't wine. The worst thing is - he doesn't wake up, nor breathe.

  Wilbur and Technoblade both kneel immediately, dropping their bags, next to him, pushing him lightly.

  After a few tries, Wilbur holds the youngest bridal style, whispering words in his ear through tears, while the oldest shouts for help hopelessly.

  They're on the main street but it's empty.
Actually, they wish it was. Two men wearing black clothing come out of nowhere and make Wilbur pass out easily. 

  Techno on the other hand fights them well, the first one is down after a few kicks and a headlock. The second male is a tough one - at first, he almost chokes Techno, but he turns the other away around making himself on top.

  With no other left option, he grabs the opponent's dagger and stabs him straight in his thigh, which leaves him uncautious. Techno gets up slowly, realizing what he'd just done.

  Looking left from the two bodies he sees another two - his brothers laying lifelessly on the cold cement. Tears stream down his burning cheeks. He goes to them and hugs them both, trying to lift them up and take them somewhere.

  But with all his concentration on the targets and later on his injured brothers, Techno doesn't notice the needle stuck in his neck, nor what's being injected in his vein.

  Before he knows it, he's on the ground unable to move.

  The next thing Techno recalls is waking up there, along with Wilbur. They hug each other almost instantly. After exactly four seconds both break the hug and look around for the youngest - no sign of him.

  The only thing there's left to do is go to the police. They say there were no cameras, no witnesses and they can't find the boy.

  Obviously they were lying, but what could a fourteen year old and a twelve year old do?

  Sue the police with all the money they don't have? No way.

  They just walk back home in complete silence, surprised at the sight of empty drawers and broken windows. Great.

  Their Father is gone and someone broke in. On top of that their brother is most likely kidnapped. 

  Yay.

  Techno collapses on his bed while Wil sits down next to the door, head in his palms. None knew what to do, nor did they know what not to.

  A week later they put up a few posters of their missing brother and father. There is still hope, they think while looking at each other in front of a tree they put them on.

  As the years go by, Techno realizes there is absolutely no hope of him being found, and Wilbur, being the total kid he is, waits for a miracle every night.

  One night he opens a journal and writes down in small cursive letters "Lesson 1: Do not leave anybody you love alone".

  He then closes it soundless, sighing deeply and puts it between two other books, pushing it at the sides lightly, fitting perfectly on the shelf.

  He pretends not to hear the sobs coming from his brothers room every other night. And morning. And lunch. 

  What's a bit harder to ignore turns out to be his own cold and salty tears, bursting out of his eyes everytime he sees an angelic curly blonde kid running around. 

  But he picks himself up, for Wilbur's sake.

  ---------

Tommy walks home. Well, not exactly. He's currently walking towards Eryn's house but he's been there so much that it feels like home ever more than home itself.

  He is thinking about all the things he will do at his friend's and suddenly remembers something, causing him to stop walking. It was Eryn's mother's birthday and he had no present for her.

  Slowly he turns the other way and takes his phone out from his pocket as he signs.

  Tom isn't used to spending money, but this is a good occasion - after all that woman treats him as her own. It would be considered rude if he went there with empty hands now, wouldn't it?

  He searches for flower boutiques nearby and his eyes stop on one with a 4,9 rating. Wow.

  People in Brighton rarely give ratings, but when they did they were normally bad. A rating of 4,9 from two thousand people is very surprising. If they were fewer people it would be normal. But two thousand?

  It's decided then, he thinks and walks that direction, knowing he'll be ten minutes late to Eryn's but it's worth it. His mother deserves a present and he isn't going to miss buying her one.

  Turn left - the woman on his phone speaks and he does. One minute of walking in a straight line is over, as he hears her voice again. She says - turn left, once again and he does exactly that.

  In front of him is a beautifully decorated flower boutique with two glass doors, on which there's a sign informing you it's opened. He smiles happily.

  After all, he would've been entirely screwed if it was closed.

  He pushes lightly the doors leading to a bell ringing, alarming the staff inside. A woman looks up from her table, where she just finished a beautiful rose bouquet, tied with a baby blue ribbon.

  She grins at the sight of another client, which Tommy is very surprised by but doesn't let it show.

  "How are you doing today, boy?" The staff member asks gently while he steps inside and slowly closes the door as if he leaves it close on its own the glass would shatter. He looks her straight in the eyes, looking way tired and older than he is and informs her,

  "Very well actually, Miss.." He struggles to finish because he doesn't know her name. Without letting it get to him he looks down at her patch and continues "..Miss Hannah. Could you recommend me something suitable if I tell you the occasion?"

  Tom tilts his head right wondering and she laughs in response.

  "That's like my best skill! What shall I call you?" The lady, Hannah walks up the stairs and makes a sign with her hand for him to follow.

  She disappears on the other floor as he's left frozen. Did all flower boutiques proceed this way? He has no time to think more as she calls him again up and he hurries there, skipping a stair or two.

  "People call me Tommy The Big Man Innit. It's very long, I know so just use Tommy." He comes next to her and sees her smiling.

  Hannah introduces him to the big flower garden and begins, "If it's a wedding, roses would be perfect, I can make the most gentle bouquet you've seen in your life with white roses or any other flowers that fit your taste."

  She speaks so fast that Tommy can't even hear all of it. Before he knows it, she grabs his hand and shows him lots and lots of roses in white, shades of pink, shades of red and mostly ones in eggshell.

  He hasn't got more than three seconds to look at them before he is pulled to another side and she continues talking, almost like she stopped only to breathe.

  "It shouldn't be a wedding, tho. You're a young lad and probably have a girlfriend, right? Do you want to take her out?" She spins him around and in front of him, he sees peonies in various colours. Most of them are purple tho and he takes a liking to them.

  Sadly he cannot look at them for long. Hannah pulls Tommy once again and his eyes meet beautiful sunflowers in warm honey colours.

  "Wow.." He whispers and she opens her mouth to speak again. Before she gets the chance to Tommy turns around and meets her ice-blue eyes. She stops.

  Tommy smiles at her warmly, "It's a birthday actually, for my friend's mother." He mumbles and she smiles wider, "Why didn't you say so from the start!"

  She continues again and leads him to tulips. He doesn't look at them. Instead, his eyes stop at the dianthus.

  She talks again but he does not listen. It's probably been a minute in which he is zoned out. He leaves his trance after Hannah pushes him lightly and he fixes his pose. "So his is what you've been looking at.."

  She quietly goes and picks up five of them. He looks at her while she gets down and gets out of his sign.

  Tom runs down after her and when he gets there, she's already awaiting him with those flowers in a tidied bouquet. She hands it to him in seconds and his eyes sparkle.

  "Dianthus Caryophyllus," Hannah says happily then adds, "You like it?" She gives him a very hopeful look and he doesn't delay the answer.

  "It's perfect" He informs her and she jumps and punches the air while doing so. It's more than obvious to Tom that this is her dream job, as she does it with such passion.

  The flowers are wrapped in a beautiful purple wrapper with the texture of fabric. It's all tied with a white ribbon, ripped at the ends and slightly curled.

  He's just amazed by Hannah's talent and pays her, even leaving tip. He leaves the boutique as she waves happily at him.

  So that's why there so many reviews. Tommy just feels bad not leaving one. Such a nice lady. She even thought he had a girlfriend!

Chapter Text

"Come on. Breathe. Big Men wouldn't sweat it, so you won't either" Tommy murmurs under his breath and steps forward. He's just late. He shouldn't worry so much, they wouldn't be mad, right?

  He's in front of a beautiful house - Eryn's. It has an enormous garden surrounding it.

  Tommy's been there so many times in his life, almost like his second home. Now that he thinks of it, it's his only home. That address written down on his ID card just fooled policemen.

  If someone ever truly needed him, it would be easier to find him here. Eryn's parents are rich and Tommy can't relate-

  Not that he was poor, but most people lived first in two-floor houses, not three luxurious ones, you know?

  Enough thinking about his friend's wealth. He should knock already, they were expecting him what, 30 minutes ago? Shit.

  Realizing every second counts now when he's late, he knocks on the door fast and stares at his feet. The door opens immediately, but he doesn't dare to look up.

  "Thomas! It's lovely seeing you, darling." Clara's soft voice sounds like music in the teen's ears. She's so nice, he thinks, I don't deserve it. Silence fell. Clara gave him a very concerned look,

  "Dear are you feeling alright?.." He looks up and meets Clara's eyes - filled with mixed emotions.

  "Yeah, umm, I'm sorry for being so late.." He gets uncomfortable once again and scratches his neck.

  Something flickers in his eyes as soon as Clara's mouth opens to try and say something.

  "Yo Clara, these are for you. Happy birthday, by the way," He hands her quickly the bouquet and she looks down at it, bringing it to her face as the beautiful aroma from the flowers spreads around her. A smile forms on her face.

  Phew, she likes it.

  She steps closer to him, now they're both outside and she hugs him warmly for a solid five seconds. Tommy melts into the touch. Clara has always made him feel so loved, no wonder Eryn is so clingy - he takes after his mother.

  "Dear you didn't need to- I'm amazed, honestly. These are gorgeous, you sure have taste for such things" She pulls away, little blush forming on her cheeks.

  "Thank you. I'm really glad they're to your liking" Tommy moves his eyes from her eyes to her outfit. "Am I.. disturbing something?"

  He peeks inside and notices the already big table extended, ordered and decorated. Oh. There's going to be a gathering for her birthday. No wonder she was wearing such fancy clothes.

  Clara has a gentle green dress, connected to her body, made of soft fabric.

  "Ah- Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, hun. I should've told you before so that you weren't surprised." Clara switched to an apologizing smile. "Everything's fine. Really." It is okay. It's not like Tommy is some sort of her family, as much as he wants to be.

  "You look stunning, should I add!" He grins brightly trying to show her it's fine that he wasn't told. She laughs and looks down at her dress proudly. "You never fail to make me feel pretty, don't you? Now come on in, let's not talk through the door"

  "Auntie Clara? You sure it will be fine if I stay?" She's already inside. That's a pure yes, then.

  He steps inside for the n-th time in his life. As always he admires everything inside. He hears Clara from the kitchen drop something and a glass-breaking sound is heard.

   He hurries there and signs in relief when seeing it was just a broken wine glass, and that Clara was untouched by it.

  Ever since Tommy met Clara for the first time, he's been especially careful with her. Maybe it's the way that bad things happen to those around him or maybe it's the way he feels indepted to her for treating him like a son. (It's definitely not because he sees her as a mother. Definitely.)

  "Here, let me help you." He offers and she gladly takes another hand. They clean the mess up, after which Clara takes his flowers and puts them in a vase next to the TV.

  How sweet - Tommy says to himself, proud with the choice he's made to bring something.

  Clara then tells him to go upstairs to Eryn. He does exactly that, not needing to be told twice. He hasn't seen Eryn in more than a week- which is not okay nor normal.

  Who knows, perhaps Eryn was all in his head and he isn't really here. Tommy guesses that it's true, because why else would he feel his friend's nagging constantly circling his mind unless he was haunted by his ghost??

  "Also, feel free to tag along when the guests come. Eryn will be down and I don't want you to feel isolated." Tommy looks down and sees Clara on the other side of the staircase. He doesn't want to be a burden.

  "I can just-" He turns to face her fully, and she interrupts, "I know how much you hate going there. I've always told you that you can come here anytime you want, feel at home. You're a part of the family, Tom, love. Just come down with Eryn."

  She smiles at him. Ah shit, he can't resist, and okay he doesn't really want to. "Okay" Tommy sighs, trying not to show off the warth in his chest, and continues his way to Eryn's room on the second floor.

  From his lips escapes a small "Thank you" which somehow Clara hears and replies with "Always, dear" from the other side of the house. Or maybe it's just his imagination.

  Tommy guesses it's probably the latter.

  ---------

  "So you won't come? It's going to be a family gathering, I need you here."

  "I'm not even connected to the bloodline. I would only trouble you if I came. And your sister isn't a fan of me right now."

  "You wouldn't. Either way, if you don't come, who will accompany me? Think about me for a second, not just her. Am I not worth your precious time, Mr Work-Is-The-Most-Important?"

  "I'll see what I can do, luv."

Chapter Text

"Yeah sure, see you tomorrow!" He giggles as he closes the door behind himself leaving the night shift employees. That was sure a pretty long shift, if Techno sees him he'll be dead-

  Aaand he's dead.

  "Wilbur. You have a watch on your wrist for a reason." Techno eyes his brother up and down, then stares right into his eyes with a piercing glare. It's already after sunset and the only source of light is the street lamp, which shadows his face according to his mood, aka scary.

  Has he set this up??

  Wilbur scratches the back of his head, thinking of an excuse, "I had some more crime to solve, you know how it is" Trying to end it with a joke, his voice cracks a bit and he grimaces.

  His older brother turns with his back facing the other, seemingly pissed off as usual. "And how exactly would I know "how it is", Wil? You always come after midnight and leave early when do you have time to tell me anything?" He says drily, not expecting an actual explanation. "Y'know what, I'm tired of you and before you start excusing yourself with work," Techno turns around exactly like from a movie and God does he looks intimidating, continues- "just know you're walking home."

  The wind blows at Techno's unbelievably long pink hair as he makes his way to the car and he drives off, literally leaving poor Wilbur in the dust. Oh? The lamp stopped working. How great, innit?

  Maybe it wouldn't have been such a problem if it doesn't happen twice a week, aka the only times Techno promises to pick him up, Wilbur thinks to himself. But is he to blame? It's quite impressive on its own that he waits for him extra five hours after work JUST to tell him to walk. Perhaps Wil would've reckoned it as cool if, well, he wasn't the one walking.

  He looks around, barely seeing where the sidewalk and street meet and realizes that he is simply way too tired to walk home - it's not like they live near.  Should he call a taxi? No, they don't have money to spend. Then what should he just sleep on the sidewalk?..


  -----------


  You see, for someone who always stays at home, it's better not to live in the square of the city or anywhere near it. It's better to not be in the city at all.

  The alarm he'd set for 10 pm rings and Techno's still on the road. It's kinda hard to see but he squeezes his eyes and drives further. The only minus of living in a small villa, barely in Brighton is going there, especially at night when seeing a car is rare and traffic, well, impossible.

  Techno makes a right turn and arrives at a black road, quite familiar already. Normally he would be concerned about the car, but he couldn't care less about the ancient vehicle. It might break, more like will break, Techno thinks to himself, not that he cared but if it did break they'd have to get a new car. He does not. Like. New. things.

  Half an hour after 11.

  He sees a dim light in the darkness. What? Who would be passing at such time here, he wonders, in his neighbourhood, the one including only him and his brother. Worry gets to him. As he drives ahead he notices the car opposite his isn't even moving. There's simply nothing a robber could need in their tiny house, it's probably not that. Calming down a bit, he hears a car honk and someone say a small "Excuse me?"

  Human interaction. Great.

  The opposite car stops, and he finally sees its features - a dark green Lamborghini, looking brand new. Well, it would've if the front tire wasn't poked- oh.
Yeah, this definitely makes more sense now.

  A middle-aged man leaves the vehicle, dressed casually, well of course as casual as someone driving a Lamborghini can dress - in a light grey suit with a hunter green tie, messed up a bit. He's blonde and has blue eyes, tiredness showing through his gentle smile. Behind him is a lady, prettier than any Greek goddess he's ever read about. And he's read about multiple.

  She's in a long dark blue dress, falling right above her knees. It definitely doesn't sound as fancy as it is - her black hair in a loose bun and her smile brighter than the sun. Techno has some difficulty trying to recognize the couple in the dark, perhaps they were some sort of celebrities. But even if they were he wouldn't know - that's Wilbur's thing, not his.

  Techno finally decides to leave his car, mentally prepared for whatever is about to hit him. Hopefully, nothing is about to do so, they're still in the middle of the road-

  "Hello, darling." The woman approaches slowly in her high heels and starts again "Me and my husband were wondering if you could help us a bit.." worry overtakes her kind face. To be honest, Techno gets a little startled when he sees the male again, wrapping his right arm around her waist and he says, "We've a bad tire, I'm assuming you've seen that already." And he chuckled lightly.

  The man with pink hair cringes a bit from the awkward circumstance. "Yeah, it's kinda impossible not to"

  "I'm Philza, by the way. Philza Minecraft. And this is here," He looks down a bit to level his head with the woman, "Is Kristin." They both look directly at him smiling. Techno could swear he was screaming inside from cringe.

  "Name's Technoblade. Umm, do you guys need something?.." He looks up and down their car and the man - Philza, wonders "Well we could use a ride, mate. We kinda got to be somewhere, could you perhaps call a local mechanic?" He breaks off with a question.

  Techno walks across the road a bit and replies "I'm the only local if you haven't noticed" and smirks. "But I could drive you to where you need to be if it's not too far away." Techno is most likely going to regret his decision for offering that, but for now, maybe he could drive them. Plus he could pick up his brother on the way. Yeah, he might as well do that.

  The duo looks at each other and asks "Does Brighton count as too far away?.."
He smirks to himself, "I thinking of heading there, actually". 

Chapter Text

 "Technooo are we going to the park today??" The tiny boy asks and drags his brothers' hands to get their attention. Seeing he's being ignored, Tommy pulls both their hands as they get up from their sitting positions of the coach and stumble. Techno whines tiredly, rubs his eyes surrounded with dark circles, and collapses back onto the soft blue fabric on the coach once again. The other boy next to him does the same, even curling up at the side of his bigger brother.

  Tom lets out a cry as he jumps on the floor several times, making Techno open his eyes in furry. The two older boys have been helping around the house the whole day and all they wanted was some rest. Tommy didn't work. Which as you may guess means he doesn't want rest. Even the opposite - he wants all the attention for himself, as no one has bothered to do anything that includes him on that day.

  Techno sighs and shifts on the couch, reaches his hand for the younger and pulls him onto his own body.

  Tommy blinks once. Then twice. He moves around a little on his brother's chest as he suddenly finds comfort. He yawns right after and wraps his arms around the white-haired boy's neck making him chuckle.

  All that Will could remember after that was the alarm. Then there was fire, out of the blues. Their father had come to the rescue, picking all three of them up and hurrying to leave the house.

  Then it all turns black for a while. Hours after there are firemen all around their house, trying their best to stop the red wild flames from spreading even further into town.

  And he then wakes up.

  Will sighs, as he realizes he's once again at the alleyway he had chosen an hour ago as an end destination. That dream he's been having, that nightmare of the brutal past has been repeating in his mind for the last months. The doctors said it was just trauma that he had to overcome. But he already did. The brunette barely even remembers their old house, as all of his other vivid rememberings have been in the house at the centre after the first one burned down.

  What caused the fire, he often wonders when he awakes - was it their accidental father's doing or somebody else's? Oh, how he wishes it wasn't the latter.

  Getting out of his thoughts, the police chief gets up slowly, brushing and patting the dust away from his uniform.

  He looks around himself. He's currently surrounded by thick brick walls, all covered in street art that he can barely see, as it's nighttime. Old cans and sticky gum on the cement catch Wilbur's attention as he makes a face from disgust - he's spent nights in places so bad, an alleyway like this one he's never even seen. Looking up, he sees nothing but dirty maroon bricks. There are usually at least some windows. Here there wasn't anything. Another thing he notices, is that he's located in exactly the middle - far from both ends of the alley.

  He blinks once, then twice, trying to focus on what exactly is neighbouring his position. It's incredibly hard to see as if there's no light on the street in front of him. For at least a minute, Wil considers sitting back down and going through the night there. He reaches for his back pocket for his phone and checks the time. The light flashes in his face catching him completely off guard. Still, he manages to see it - 11:23 pm.

  Not satisfied with what he's just seen, he walks slowly toward the end of the unimaginably long alley. Making it out, Wilbur doesn't recognize the place he sees one bit - on his right's a flower shop, in front of him a street with beautiful pavement. Where he usually goes there is cement, this is definitely someplace he hasn't been before.

  He sighs, knowing he's on five percent, meaning he can't really use his phone navigator. He discovers there's one thing to do.

  An awful minute later, Wilbur is on the other side of the alleyway. He looks left, then right. Does he recognize something? Nope, nor does he see something to recognize. His best guess is that the electricity went out. He knows that he's got to find his way back. Tonight or tomorrow in the morning - it wouldn't make a change about him not knowing his whereabouts.

  His tired mind thinks of one thing only. He walks back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth through the entire alley. From all that he got kind of dizzy, but there wasn't much to do. He went back to the pavement street and looked at the flower shop, checking every corner of it.

  Breathing in, breathing out, Wilbur sits down next to its door, hopelessly. He knows he'll fall asleep. Maybe it's for the better, he thinks, and closes his eyes as he was already too worn out from the stressful day he's dealt with at work. 

Chapter Text

  "Next" A male voice says firmly as it echoes in the large room as a toddler with red ribbons on her hair and a wine-red dress walks forward. Terror in her eyes, she speaks up, "Hello?..".

  She fidgets around with her fingers, hands behind her back. The intimidating suited dude bends down in front of her and smiles so warmly, it looks forced. He looks her up and down and questions "What's your name?", in a weirdly sweet voice.

  A little less tense, the girl speaks: "Hannah". She opens her mouth once again, as if to say something, but quickly decides otherwise and seals her small lips with glue. The man she's facing cups her small puffy cheek with one hand and bops her nose with the other. Hannah starts giggling, but soon after she realizes she perhaps should not and stops.

  The male asks Hannah how old she is, looking a tad bit concerned. The kid debates whether it should answer and remains silent. The man looks up, away from her, and asks with a breathy voice "How old is she?". To that answer no one replies, but as he questions again a shaky female voice says "5, sir".

  Standing up, the man continues "And WHY is she here?" with a note of anger in his voice. "Did I not clarify that I'll shelter only special kids? Did I not clarify that this is only for parents unable to handle the kid? Did. I. Not. Clarify?" And he walks a few steps further down the corridor. At that same moment, as if they could read his mind, the bodyguards from all around the room surround the woman and bring her only a few feet from the man. They all return to their positions, without two, who stay closely at her sides.

  "Woman. Do not waste my precious time." He demands trying to sound as calm as possible. "Why would you, in all your senses, being here - bring to ME your perfectly fine-looking daughter?" As he says that he closes the space between them to a few inches.

  "What is it that you came here for?" The male whispers just enough so she can hear. "The money?.."

    ---------------

  One snore. Another snore. Wilbur is sound asleep in front of the flower shop, sat down with his knees bent and arms hugging them. His head tiredly sits on the wall. Poor police officer - hasn't been getting any sleep - no matter how much he hid it from his older brother, the truth is truth.

  He sleeps peacefully, the street light way too far away to bother him. A car would pass him from time to time, but that's a rear occasion - it is quite late in the evening after all. Only God knows how late it really is. No light comes from the apartment buildings around him - Will is all alone in the night, with only the cold breeze keeping him company, but sometimes that's all a tired man needs.

  A figure suddenly pops up from the forbidden alley network, shadowing even more the brunette's body. "Ummm... Is that him?" It asks. That figure happens to be Philza. He bends down in front of him, keeping a distance of a few inches between them.

  Is he breathing? Phil thinks to himself, waiting for the boy to show any sign of being alive. Not long after comes a snore, surprising the man in a green suit. The snore is so violent as if Will was perhaps trying to blow out candles from cake with a new technique, yet to Philza it was so calming and relieving to know he's not been staring at the corpse of a police officer, but the body of a tired man.

  Phil grins cheerfully. Back in the car he made a bet with Techno and Kristen on who would find the boy first. Knowing that he's won the bet, he pulls his phone out of his pocket calling the officer's brother.

  ------------

  "Boss, I'll do as you say, don't make me choose what to-" Quackity speaks through the phone when he's cut off. "No. For all these years I've told you what to do. And look where we are. Actually, where even are we?" - the person on the phone says and continues - "Where are we? Nowhere. Everything I've tried fails. If my plans don't work, then maybe yours will." A laugh follows.

  "Sir, I don't think you understand I can't lead the mission don't make me do so-"

  "IF I TELL TO LEAD YOU LEAD." - the phone almost bursts from the soundwave of the yell. "Got that?" The other line finishes and ends the call.

  Quackity sighs. How would he be able to do it if the big boss can't? No, like seriously. How? The only possible way would be for a miracle to happen that would maybe get him a bonus or even a raise.

  But he doesn't want a raise. He wants freedom. And he knows he'll get it once the boss gets what he needs.

  Banging his head lightly on the alley's dirty cobbled wall, something gets to Quackity's mind that makes him shift from his position and his eyes widen.

  "What if boss never finds his kids? What if Roselin really doesn't know where they are either? What if I can't help him? He couldn't find those boys. How would I be able to do so.."

  He goes silent for a bit.

  "The things I'd do for you, boss.." Quackity starts walking towards the exit of the alley - "Sir Philza Minecraft.."

Chapter Text

  "Dang it.." Techno swears under his breath jogging through the lonely streets of Brighton with the elegantly dressed woman by his side. Kristen holds her blue dress at her sides so that it doesn't dust the road and jogs a few feet behind the pink-haired guy.

  Techno stops to catch his breath, bending down a bit with hands on his knees. Kristen takes this as an opportunity to catch up to him. Finally beside him, assures him "Dear boy, I'm sure we'll find your brother. We've just got to keep looking!".

  She puts her left hand on his shoulder to try and give him some comfort but he jumps - "Hey! That's your husband standing next to my brother!" He points his index finger to the other side of the road in the far distance, where they can see two figures, sitting on the sidewalk, backs to the wall. Even after that yell, neither figure turns around and gives them any attention.

  Kristen crosses the street with Techno by her side, looking out for a car, just in case. They walk for around half a minute and they stop. They see Philza sitting next to the police officer, knees bend and head loose the same way, putting his phone back in his pocket, smoking a cigarette with his right hand.

  The youngest doesn't dare to speak first, as the man sighs out deeply, dark grey smoke coming out his mouth. He opens his closed eyes and smirks before looking at the two. "I did find him. Hah, I knew I would!" He grins happily from his victory as he passes Technoblade the cig. He takes it and leans on the wall, looking at Kristin to see her smiling peacefully.

  "You could have this as a job, old man." - The guy says as he inhales the toxic air. He breathes out, resting his head on the cold wall, turning it to Phil. "What do you work actually? Phil?", he questions softly. The man's grin fades and worry overtakes his face - "I'm a business man. Nothing more, nothing less.". He looks at the pavement down below.

  "Oh well, guess it's time to do my part of the job", Techno realizes and passes the half-smoked cigarette back to its owner. He crouches next to the sleeping body, putting Will's arm around his shoulder and grabbing his waist. "C'mon dude, wake u9 and make this easier for the both of us-", he struggles to keep him in a straight line.

  "Let me help!" Phil offers, getting up and getting his warm smile back on his face.

  Kristen shifts in her position and wonders "Does any of you boys know where the car is?"

  Philza and Technoblade look at each other and the younger says - "Oh yes, it's more than clear who's the one that drives"

  ---------------

  It's almost midnight and The Smith boys have both fallen into sleep. The two are laying on the small couch, with the younger sprang on top of Tubbo, squeezing him under. Moonlight finds its way through the apartment's big window and projects itself on Max's calm, snoring face.

  Tubbo shifts below his brother, waking him up from the sudden movement, but when Max opens his eyes, he's directly met with light rays. He yelps in surprise and starts rubbing his eyes. The harmony is broken as Tubbo, with all the power and energy he has, pushes the other off of himself and pats his clothes, which he had not changed since getting home.

  After getting that done, Tubbo moves his gaze from his shirt to his brother, laying lifelessly on the cold floor. He bends down and turns Max around to face him, only to be met with the most heartless death stare he ever thought his brother could pull. The brunette collapses next to the madman that Max has turned into and gives in to maniac laughter.

  "You think this is funny, don't you?" Max asks sternly, trying hard not to grin. Tubbo does not intend on apologizing.

  "Oh, I'll show you what's funny!" Max uses the other's torso as a stair to help him reach a big cushion and bangs it directly into Tubbo's head. Seeing the furrowed brows of Tubbo, he knows he's won. Only then he allows himself to giggle. "You sick bastard-" Tubbo smirks and climbs on the younger, only to put the cushion in his hand between them and lay down.

  "What the h-hell??" Max stutters as he can't no longer breathe from how foggy his mind went from laughing. Tubbo purrs and flips him off at the same time.

  Max realizes that his flawless victory will result in the worst backpains one could ever experience.



  -------------



  As late as it was, Eryn's family always loved having nighttime reuniting dinners with family members they see about once a year. A few minutes after the new day has begun, guests start arriving. Of course, they could always show up earlier, but that would simply be found weird by the hostess, so they all follow said tradition.

  Meanwhile, Tom watches his friend dress up in fancy jeans and goes on about the new kid at school. Eryn struggles to zip up his pants, but the blonde feels no need to offer his help, as he has been comfortably sitting on the TV shelf for the last five minutes. He takes a break from rambling to take a sip from his coke when Eryn finally gets a hold of his jeans and signs tiredly. Tom shares his coke with him, to perhaps try and prevent him from sweating even more from the effort.

  Eryn gulps half the can, puts it down next to Tom, and flops on the baby blue sheets of his king-sized bed. Silence falls between them, but neither of the boys finds it awkward and refrains from breaking it.

  In times like this Tom is thankful, suddenly reminded of what Eryn had long ago said - Comforting silence is something only a good bond can offer.

Chapter Text

  Hannah looks at the clock and sees that her work time is almost over. She lets out a relieved sign and goes to water the last plant before closing the store for the day. Swiping away her sweat, she turns the label that had said "opened" so that it does not trick any fooled man into thinking that any shop would be available at such an hour.

  The girl finds her way behind the counter, where she packs all of her things, leaving a single hair clip on the smooth wooden counter. She grabs her braids, twists them around one another with one hand, and, holding them tight, she clips them to her head as she is already tired of hair swaying around and producing even more heat.

  Checking if everything is in order as she's always done, she moves a bit of plants left and right, making sure tomorrow morning's sun rays won't disturb them in case she arrives late. Hannah picks up her bag and takes a last look at the flower boutique before leaving it, shutting the door behind herself and locking all seven locks that she has placed. For safety measurements, of course. Not that she expects someone with awkwardly bad intentions to visit the place. She definitely does not.

  The streets of Brighton are already dark, and still, her bright hat looks as if it was under raw sunlight, almost glowing. Perhaps it's just the energy that the girl radiates. Or maybe the hat does glow. Nonetheless, that seems to not be enough for her to be seen, because as she crosses the wide cobbled street none of all four passing cars notice her and wait for her to walk peacefully. Deciding that she enjoys her life, Hannah steps furiously back to the sidewalk,  waits for the drivers to drive their vehicles further down the road, and passes demonstratively.

  About twenty minutes later, Hannah finds herself in front of a club. It's build-in an office building, similar to the way her boutique shop is. The wall is painted black and just above the door is written "Welcome to Brighton's Fastest Energy Drainer" with purple LED lights. Such a creative idea, Hannah thinks, goes to waste for such a shitty hole.

  The first thing that hits her as she opens the rusty metal door is the loud pumping music from all the speakers in the place. The second is the disgusting smell of all kinds of alcohol mixed together. The third is a wrinkled dark grey apron which she somehow manages to catch with just a slightly surprised flinch.

  Flashing lights proceed to blind her and she shuts her eyes to try to adapt to the sudden change. The colours around her cast a long shadow on the pavement outside, almost as if they wanted to represent what hell of a long evening was coming up.

  Hannah looks around with a tired and weirded-out expression. As every night, the club is full of people. As every night, they are dancing. Each time she sees this view she wonders the sanity left in them and each time she leaves she assures herself once more that there is none.

  The place is crowded not only by people but also by smoke. Not that it's weird to find smokers in a club. It only adds to the list of things the girl dislikes about it.

  Teenage girls wearing short dresses and four-inch heels sway their hips side to side to the sound of Dove Cameron, while middle-aged men sat near the corners and eyed them up and down. Disgusting.

  "You're late," One of the other employees says with a grin before adding "again".

  The door closes by itself with a thud and Hannah enters the club. "And here it stinks." She tries not to breathe but fails miserably - "again". The man grabs her bag and sets it down on one chair.

  "That's the charm of the whole thing!" He smiles warmly. Neither enjoyed their work there, yet had no choice but to stay. She puts on the apron, removes her hat, grabs a glass, and begins fulfilling the first order she sees left on the counter.

  "In this world money is all, my dear Rosalin." - her mentor had once said - "You either make it work for you, or you work it."

  -----------

  Fill this glass, fill that glass, open this bottle, open that bottle, clean this table, clean that one. The routine killed the young woman and her will for anything. The music passed through her earbuds like nothing. The lights though, ooh the lights. They annoyed her as much as pineapple on pizza. And that really annoyed her.

  Girls spill drinks on each other. They undress. Men stare at them. They get hard. The girls wink at them. The men grin. The girls go to the bathroom. The men follow them. All of that was beyond Hannah's understanding - 'How could people enjoy this?'. As time went on and the night progressed, it all began making sense - they were psychopaths. As much as she wanted to, there was nothing she could do other than clean up the messes after hookups and throw away ripped underwear she'd find in the most random places.

  Hannah is all used up by the time she gets to finally sit down. Another set of four employees enters the club, signaling that her cue is over. She removes the apron, shapes it into a canon ball, and launches it at the worker already next to her with a pained smirk.

  Hannah grabs the rest of her things from the cupboard she'd put them in. She sighs deeply and grabs an opened bottle of whiskey with her right hand.

  On her way to the door, a few drunk ladies trip into her. She escapes them while they attempt apologizing, opens the door with her free hand and allows it to close soundly behind her.

  ----------------

  It's half past midnight when Techno is on the road. Philza is sat in the front, leaving Kristin and sound asleep Wilbur is in the back of the car. Abba is playing lowly as the three adults exchange stories and share laughs.

  "So, mate," - Philza looks at the driver to his right and continues - "What got you coming home at the hour we found each other? It was rather late for you to be returning from work, innit?"

  The pinkette grins at the question and points with his free hand to the seat behind him, where his brother is snoring loudly, unbothered by the loud noises circling the entire vehicle, and says "I was waiting on that bastard to finish work so I could drive him back." He makes a left turn and focuses on the road again. "He clocked off late so I decided to head home alone and let him sleep wherever he finds."

  "Seems like he was a tad too tired to follow on with the searching part" - says through a laugh Kristin who looks at said boy. "He does look quite tired," continues the woman, eyes stuck at sound asleep Wilbur, "but so do you.."

  A few seconds of awkward silence follow and are cut by a loud and painful groan from the driver. Nodding his head he agrees through the statement. "It's not as easy as it sounds to look after a policeman." - Techno turns and gives the lady a reassuring smile through his reddish eyes "But it does have a fun part to it, ma'am, I assure you."

  Kristin, now worrying about the young man, glares at the back of her husband's seat, as if she wants to tear it up and force something, anything, out of his mouth. A comforting joke, perhaps, or at least some sort of sympathy. Just in time before she steps in, Philza decides to do so.

  "You see my boy, the only thing that can save a man after a long day is a joy-filled dinner. In fact, that's where me and Kristin are heading" He readjusts his position in his seat. "We've a family dinner to attend to."

  The surprised pinkette checks his watch again, then looks at the couple. "Rather late for such a gathering, is it not?"

  "It's a tradition for us to enjoy a cup of wine in the later hours. Although it does result poorly on our sleep!" Says Kristin and giggles, followed on by a cheerful smile on the face of Phil. "Talking about sleep.." - He turns around and watches as the officer snuggles into his brother's car.

  Moving his eyes astray from the brunette, they land on none other than his wife, whose expression seems to have quickly changed from the last few seconds. Kristin looks at him with signaling eyes and nods her head to both brothers. When it took Philza too long to figure out what's on her mind, Kristin took the initiative and cleared her throat: "Would you care to join us, Technoblade? Accompanied by your brother, of course."

  She smiles at the car mirror and meets the boy's confused gaze, and she then adds "If you're not too tired to do so". His gaze softens and Kristin realizes it's a win. The suited man next to Techno looks more confused than he did, although he does his best to hide it. He then proceeds to mentally punch himself for not getting his partner's signal, when he's known her for the long time he has.

  "I'm afraid I've not dressed appropriately, innit?" Says in a monotone voice the older brother, yet continues "But such offer I can not refuse."

  Phil and Kristin share a short and pleased look. The moment after that the song changes, Techno whistles to the tune and the conversation resumes.

  --------------------

  "C'mon kid leave this shit you're doing and just go! We've not much time!" Phil screams while trying to snatch a car from Tommy's hold.

  "Daddy that my best 'oy" cries the youngest, unable to leave his prized possession behind. Techno comes to the rescue - he pushes away the madded dad, grabs the toy and his brother, looks into Will's eyes and flies to the door of the burning house.

  Wilbur, currently unable to move, loses his ability to breathe either. He finds himself stuck in one spot, his vision is blurred and his mind isn't straight. The vivid colours now covering the walls and furniture around him seemed to blind him and the ringing sound of the fire alarm burns his ears.

  His confused and tired eyes manage to focus on the white-haired boy running back into the room with one hand wrapped around the trembling blond and another hand reaching out for the brunette.

  He gasps for air and suddenly arises. His teary eyes snap wide open and he clenches his uniform. For a few seconds he can't make out anything but colours. He forces his eyes back shut as they refuse to obey.

  Grabbing the car seat, he finally opens his eyes and sees pink strands of hair on the driver's spot. Not caring who the rest of the people in the car are he rests back down and remains silent again, as he desperately tries to not fall asleep once more.

  -------------

  Through the windows of Destiny's house shine the brightest lights to have ever existed. Loud music is playing and it can be heard from five blocks away. Almost as if the ground is shaking, Destiny is sitting on top of the kitchen table as she is unable to make out the faces she is seeing in front of herself. The place is about to burst from all the people that fill it, most of whom the hostess has never really met.

  The door keeps opening as a new set of drunks enter. Seeing the mess the whole house is becoming, Destiny decides to drink the worry away and downs the first bottle of whiskey that she finds in the kitchen.

  Everything in her vision gets foggy. She can't hear the music, nor the people talking right next to her. The song suddenly stops in the middle, getting the woman out of her trance. She blinks two times and with wobbly steps makes her way to a cupboard, which she aggressively opens and looks at all the shelves. Her eyes land on two wine bottles resting at the side of it. She struggles to open the first one but refuses to put the second one down, scared, perhaps, that someone else would take it.

  Her whole head was a mess - her hair is put in a careless bun that looks as if someone had dragged her across the whole room. Her lipstick is smudged at the corner of her lips and her mascara is the only thing on her that looks decent. Her clothes are also now ruined - as she gulps a glass of wine at least half of it spills on her blouse and quickly stains it.

  Completely ignoring the state she currently is she pushes through the dancing people and finds a spot on the sofa. She leans back in the extended arm of a man and unconsciously snuggles into it. A smile is on her face as she finally rests.

  Destiny smells a familiar scent and quickly scrunches her nose.

  "So that's what you do know darling" Rumbles a raspy voice and she feels fingers combing her tangled hair. Destiny Immediately recognizes the voice and is left speechless. The person she'd least expect to reunite with was standing right by her side and this time she was, in fact, the one to find comfort in him first.

  Looking up the woman meets the drunk and hazy gaze of Schlatt, the man she'd easily fallen for yet had such a hard time forgetting.

Chapter Text

  Tommy hasn't been this bored in quite a while but decides to shut up about it. Eryn is snoring on the bed, the blonde hears. He gets up from the surprisingly durable TV shelf and sits on the carpeted floor instead. He's still bored.

  He rolls around a few times until he tires himself out. Finally, he rests his head on the bedframe and plays with his fingers, eyes slowly closing.

  He suddenly flinches and his eyes shoot back open as he realizes that it's after midnight. Destiny hasn't called him yet and that is rather worrying for the boy.

  He struggles to get his phone out of his pocket without getting out of his very comfortable stance. The lit screen has him squinting his eyes as he finally checks the notifications.

  No missed calls. 

  Weird. Tommy usually had at least one call from her whenever he was out until late in the evening. And today what, she just doesn't care? It's unlikely for her to still be on about the morning. If his guardian was one to hold onto things then the teen would have been as good as dead by now. 

  With his habit of staying late so that he doesn't see her face comes quite a lot of cons - for example, Destiny has begun punishing him by taking his phone. That's why he's planning on saving for one of his own.

  Legally she can't take anything away unless she gave it to him or he bought it with her money. Legally she can't lock him up at home and she can't leave him to starve. Legally she can't make him give all his earnings to her. Legally. And Destiny thinks that law has nothing on her.

  Tommy never really got his head around that. How could she be so certain that even if he did go to the police they would do nothing about it? She is too lame to have connections with any political figures. She is also too broke to try to bribe them.

  The huge house is her only treasure, and if Tommy is lucky enough, he might just inherit it. And Prime knows how much he just wants to be out of it. He would put it on the market and sell it for the highest price possible, saying that it's protected by some Devine Spirits. Oh, he can't wait.

   The only thing that could get in the way would be if she somehow managed to get a husband. She has a boyfriend whom she sends on errands to buy her a fresh batch of drugs every week, but even the woman knows that she doesn't plan to marry him.

  Technically he's registered as Tommy's foster dad, but he hasn't even spoken with the man in months.

  The only thing he could possibly inherit from the bastard would be the debts to his account which Destiny would gladly pass down.

  The blonde is so drunk on thoughts he can't even recall the man's name. And maybe it's for the better. Perhaps it's his hunger that kills him inside and helps him forget, but at this exact moment, he doesn't seem to mind.

  He lays down on the floor as the idea of dinner with Eryn's family sounds way worse than it used to. But he'll have to endure it, just for today. He dreads to find something that can get his memory wiped, and the thought of forgetting the arrogant face of the blue-haired witch holding custody of him leaves him giggling to himself the way a maniac does after a successful killing.

  And he does want to kill. He just doesn't know what exactly yet. So for now, he'll just look to kill his thoughts. Drown them, stab them, and have them choke themselves.


------


  The car ride is definitely not quiet. There's music from the radio and Techno made the mistake of asking how Philza met Kristin. The pinkette had absolutely no idea what a mistake he'd made by asking such a question.

  Apparently, Phil has a habit of never shutting up about his wife. Of course the driver quite enjoyes listening, as the older man's voice feels as calming as waves crashing at a beach.

  The poet in Techno is trying to memorize all the ways that Philza expresses himself, but the clock reminds him that it's way too late to be doing any of that and he is just left tired.

  Kristin's phone rings and she doesn't need to look to know who it is. Getting it out of her purse, which seems like one minute as long as ten to the almost asleep mind of Techno, she hums to her husband, "Turn the radio down for a bit. It's check time." she ends with a smile.

  Her husband chuckles at the way she puts her words as he pushes a button and holds onto it until the music turns into a faint echo - calming yet maddeningly silent, making Techno think that he's imagining there to be any sound at all.

  "I'm hoping you haven't forgotten," Clara's voice cracks the long-haired man out of his trance and has him focusing back on the road, "but we're expecting you."

  Techno can't help but feel bad at the way the couple's every move hits his nerves in that one specific way because they are both so terribly sweet and welcoming towards him.

  He just feels something off when he closes his eyes. Something almost disturbing, yet gone the moment he opens them again.

  For now he decides to push that thought to the back of his mind and continues eavesdropping on the call between sisters.

  Kristin relaxes back into the leather padding of the car chair and answers, "I'm on my way," and the following words she nearly sings, "and I'm bringing two more guests. I hope there'll be enough wine."

  Techno doesn't drink wine and nor does his brother, but he decides to let that rookie mistake of the woman go. The thought of some alcoholic drink does sound appealing and he almost considers whether he should change his opinion.

  "Okay!" The other woman giggles soundly before hanging up. That reminds Techno that he will be attending some random family event. A family event past midnight. In an unknown house. Flooded with people.

  Techno hopes he doesn't get the ick from the rest of the family as well, becuase he is NOT the type to keep his mouth shut. Nor is Wilbur. Oh. Wilbur, the silly little officer he is, will probably think something shady is going on.

  But could his brother blame him? He himself feels weird about all of this and they haven't even arrived at the house.

  "My sister is probably kicking her feet from the news!"

  Just as he hesitates to tell Phil that he will be driving himself and Wilbur back home, the richly dressed woman says "Keep in mind that she does have a dog, a curious one he is."

  And how could Techno say no to that?


   --------


  Everything is spinning. There are voices but they are so distant and so violent and so demanding and so rough. Why is he awake so late in the evening? Why can't he move? All he wants is to go back to bed and cover himself with blankets.

  He manages to focus on red and blue blinding lights. Why are they coming from everywhere? Why is there a suffocating amount of people in the house? And wait, one of them is approaching him.

  He hears something. It sounds demanding and scary. Does he really have to answer? He didn't even hear what the question was. He knows he's zoned out, but he doesn't want to zone in still.

  Someone is grabbing him by his shoulder. Oh? It's another man. What do they want from him? He feels his body being shaken. He just wants to be left alone.

  He almost yelps in surprise as a strong blinding light flashes him straight in the eyes. Okay, maybe he can't ignore these people more. Plus he kind of wanted to know what they were doing in his home.

  Finally looking at the man's face, he sees a mildly concerned expression. Why was he staring at him like that? His lips were moving and he was probably asking another question, but why should he care?

  He's too tired for any of this.

  Suddenly he feels afraid. Not of the people around him, that have invaded his home and have surrounded him, but from the fact that he was calm about it. Why didn't he care?

  Surely it would all be over soon if he was to cooperate. But wait. Where was his brother? Was he also surrounded by people? Oh, he must be scared to death. He finally snaps and tries freeing himself from the grip of the man behind him.

  Looking at the one in front of him and then the one holding him, he realizes that they are wearing matching uniforms. Dark blue uniforms. With golden badges on their shirts. And with handcuffs. And with communication devices. And with guns secured at their belts. And he looks for at least one thing to prove his current theory wrong. Oh no. Those were police officers.

  Okay, now he feels his body tensing up. What do they want from him? Where is his younger brother and where is his father? And what about his mother? Oh yeah, he hasn't seen her for a long time.

  His thoughts are interrupted by the same question he was asking himself - where was his mother? He doesn't know. And even if he did he probably wouldn't have said anything.

  Pricks. He jumps in an attempt to catch the officers off guard and be released, but his action doesn't go unnoticed. And he screams. He screams but he doesn't know why he screams. Why can't he stop screaming, he isn't afraid.

  If someone should be afraid it's the officers - he could bite them if he really wanted to.

  In the span of a few seconds, he feels that the cuffs that used to hang on the policeman's hips are now on his wrists. What is happening? Oh. Oh.

  He had actually bitten the officer. His mistake. That really wasn't intentional. When did he manage to do that? Why can't he feel his body? And honestly, this is starting to become a little strange - he can't really hear, he can barely see, he can't talk, and he can't control his actions.

  What, was he playing a video game?

  He can hear hurried words, which he can almost identify as swears. It sounds a lot like his voice, and it's probably directed at the two men who are currently carrying him outside, closer and closer to the red and blue lights.

  If he had to be honest with himself, even if he could control his actions, he would definitely swear at them as well. Oh yeah, he would also land a rich and fat spit into the smug face of the second man.

  Guess what? He does. He can't help but be proud of himself.

  He looks around and sees a kid. What's a kid other than him doing in his home? Oh, that's his brother. Nice. He was just wondering where he'd been. And he's running?

  Damn, that's one fast kid. He would laugh (to himself since he's still unable to do shit) if he wasn't too distracted seeing a woman in a uniform chase after his brother.

  He's screaming. And it's very loud. Suddenly it stops. His mouth feels full and his breathing is heavy. Wait, why is there a gag in his mouth?

  And remind him again, why is he still unable to do anything? He would absolutely punch those officers - he's not some crazy dog that would bite somebody. I mean, alright, he did bite someone, and so what? Anyone would do that in his position. Surely.

  His whole vision is distorted and he can barely make out the figure of his brother running towards him. Towards him, who is currently in the police car and the door is just about to close.

  It's so quiet in the car but the seats are so uncomfortable. Wait, the seats don't matter right now - his brother is crying, being chased, and exactly 10 meters away from him.

  Why is the car starting when the door isn't properly closed? His brother is so close. So close.

  He himself isn't scared, but his brother is and that triggers something, both in his mind and in his possessed body. Are these dumb handcuff-and-other-gadgets-adusers trying to separate them? Oh hell no. 

  He doesn't even realize when he lets himself fall right out of the car and onto the road. Everything hurts. Everything, but mainly his jaw from clenching the gag. Everything hurts but he suddenly comes to the conclusion that it doesn't hurt him.

  It just hurts.

  Maybe this has finally come to an end? Is it finally time to fall asleep again? After all, it's well past his bedtime hour. His eyelids are heavy. Way too heavy.

  He tries opening his eyes but they feel sewn shut. Okay then, if he isn't meant to see then he will just stop trying. At least he'll fall asleep faster.

  And what is that weight on top of him? It's a bit too heavy for a blanket. Maybe it's one of those new anxiety fabrics meant to calm you down. He isn't really stressed at the moment, but if he was, this would definitely help.

  Somehow he makes out the voice of his brother. He fails to hear the crying, the screaming, the begging for him to wake up.

  Or maybe he just doesn't feel like listening right now. Whatever it is, it could definitely wait until the morning. He just hugs his brother and snuggles in his small neck. Yeah, this is better than a blanket.

  He doesn't mind the pooling blood around them. Surely everything would be okay. If there was a reason for him to worry, he would have been worried. Why is his brother so hysterical and panicky?

  Everything is okay. All they need is a good sleep now. Everything is okay, and not even the loud beeping of the police cars and the loud screeching of his brother could prove him wrong.

  "Tubbo! Tubbo, I was so worried about you," says Max and doesn't let go of him.
Oh. Everything is okay, they're safe. He's not lying on the hard cement but on the wooden floor, and he isn't surrounded by blood but by sweat. A few police cars are driving on the highway next to their apartment building.

  It was only a dream. He was so calm during the whole nightmare that you could barely even call it a nightmare. Max was still clinging onto him as his breathing was slowly evening out.

  "You scared the crap out of me you sleep-deprived weirdo!" Tubbo pats his back in a reassuring motion to show him it's okay to let him breathe freely again.

  "I'm sorry I'm sorry!" The older brother shot his arms up in defense after the younger got up from him.

  "You do realize that this isn't the first time this has happened, right? I know you're a grown-up and all, but you really have to get that checked." Max patted down his clothes and signed the way an old man would when he realized that he would need to take a double shift again.

  "It may not disturb you, but it sure messes up my precious sleep."

  Tubbo shoots him an apologetic look. It's not his fault that he keeps on having these dreams but he's sure that they will cease. And if they don't, he will just have to go on without that much sleep.

  "I'll do my best Maxie. You just go to bed and stop worrying so much."

  After a short hair ruffle the college student really does go to bed, following instructions for the first time in a while. 

  Feeling that he can infact feel his brother again results in a widely spread smile.

  And Tubbo is alone with his thoughts again. How great is that?

  Not only does he want to forget everything from the past, but he's also a victim of his consciousness reminding him on a very scheduled dream basis of exactly what has happened. How is that fair?

  Okay, then he just won't sleep tonight. He heats up some water in their barely working microwave in a clay mug that has been here since the brothers began living in the apartment.

  The instant coffee hits his blood vessels and he almost cringes at it. The disgusting yet comforting taste of misery takes hold of him, and he decides to open his phone and go around the city on Google Maps.

  A walk would be lovely, but his brother suffered enough in the night dealing with him, so he settles with the next best thing and hopes that maybe one day he will find something to help him forget.

  Help him stop regretting all the decisions he's ever made. Help him stop reliving the same traumatic moments and help him stop worrying. Especially that one.

  Because the truth is he fears. He fears every day that the police will figure out that it's always been them. Not only are they wanted for abandoning their credits, their also signed as missing right now. And he doesn't even want to think what awaits them the day they're caught.

  The police haven't made everything public, and that's what he fears most. He doesn't exactly know what's written under their names and he couldn't possibly go to the station and ask.

  And even if they were to frame them for something more on top of everything, Tubbo wouldn't even be able to deny it because the law isn't on their side, and they simply just want them gone.

  He doesn't want to fully admit it, but he knows it's also because with how fucked up his mind is, they could easily stright up manipulate him into thinking he did something.

  He isn't scared for himself - he could die for all he cared. But his brother? He ain't letting anyone touch him.