2 - should i wait here or make my way home? you said go.

-

"tighten your core, spot sharper!" puffy spoke firmly as tommy spun, his a la secondes were a joy to watch - his technique was exquisite, and he truly was one of the star students in puffy's dance studio - and their youngest was already making a name for himself. "then, break gently - fall, pretty, like that." the white haired woman instructed, watching as the young blond finished the turn sequence. "nice job, toms! the next competition's two months away, and yeah - you're getting better and better." she smiled.

"thanks," tommy smiled, accepting the bottled water offered to him. he twisted the cap open and sighed in relief as the water gushed down his throat, the cold washing away his fatigue and giving him a small refresh. 

"i'll see you in three days, alright?" the white haired woman hummed, and tommy nodded in response, entering the dancer's den to change out of the sweaty leotard and tights. it has been a year since he was adopted by phil, a year since he found himself a family (it was nice, he attends online classes so he can still compete in dance.), and everything was going great so far! wilbur and techno are starting their college shit (techno's studying to be an english college professor, whereas wilbur is studying to be a composer [film scoring, songwriting, things like that.]), phil is still the best dad in existence, and tommy still competes - bringing home first place awards after first place award. 

tommy walks down the hall, and smiles at tubbo and ranboo wave at him. "heya, big man! how was class?" the young blond greeted, walking up to his two friends. 

"it was alright, i despise ballet - but tap's alright." ranboo responded, walking with his two shorter friends. "i don't think i look that nice doing ballet, like, as nice as you guys."

"ballet is nice because it's the foundation of dance and stuff, you know eret and niki adore teaching you ballet because of how long your lines are," tubbo smiled, "and, you're technique and emotional executions are very nice! you can't compare yourself to tommy and i because we're all different dancers - we have different strengths and weaknesses." the brunette added sweetly.

"you're too fucking nice, tubs." tommy laughed lightly as they exited the dance studio (not before waving purpled goodbye), the young blond quickly shot a text to the family group chat - informing them that he'd be home late because he's hanging out with ranboo and tubbo, and he got positive responses in return (wilbur, weirdly, didn't respond - he's always the one to respond to tommy, but at the moment, the young blond didn't think much of it.). "can we just vibe in tubbo's garage?" the young blond stared at his friends, the aforementioned brunette nodding enthusiastically in response, and the split dyed hair coloured teen smiled softly after nodding.

the trio walked towards tubbo's house - it was mostly empty because of his parents always going out to business trips. "help yourself," the brunette offered as they walked to the fridge, tommy instantly grabbed a can of coke while ranboo took a tupperware filled with leftover spaghetti. "come on! you guys are honestly too slow." tubbo teased as he skipped happily towards the door right next to the laundry room, leading right to the garage where tubbo's instruments stayed.

entering the garage, they were greeted by boxes of old belongings, and finally - the instruments. an old keyboard was shoved in the corner of the room, on the center was a drumset, and hung on the walls were the bass (which, ranboo has adopted and named enderchest.) and the red and white electric guitar (again, tommy adopted the instrument and named it clementine.). they plugged up the instruments and just started fucking around with riffs and random songs until they grew tired.

"wait, can i use the keyboard for a while?" the young blond asked, and the brunette merely nodded, twirling the drumsticks around his fingers whereas ranboo absentmindedly played around with the bass. tommy sat in front of the keyboard, allowing his fingers to drift and stroke the keys naturally - he recognizes it to be the lullaby wil and tech hum underneath their breaths.

"that's a nice tune." ranboo spoke up, and tommy smiles, looking very happy about the lanky teen's comment about the tune that meant a lot about his brothers, and now, in turn - means a lot to him.

"it's a tune wil and tech often hum." the young blond lightly explained, his fingers continued tapping onto the keys - with his perfect pitch, it was easy for him to figure out what the notes were. "i'm planning on like, buying an omnichord - not sure yet."

"oh, nice!" the brunette responded, turning to look at his blond haired friend - doing his best to encourage the teen (because no matter how much tommy achieves, he still feels like he doesn't deserve the awards he gets, and he thinks he's not that good at the things he does and the things he's planning to do.), "i think you'd do great at it, man."

"of course i would, big man tommyinnit's the best!" tommy laughed loudly. they stayed there for a while, just staying and sharing memes with each other, and as time passes on - the young blond had to go back home, seeing as it was getting dark and he doesn't want his family to worry.

the walk home was pleasant, serene, and peaceful. and tommy happily hums the lullaby underneath his breath, a pep in his step evident with the way he carried himself. the young blond finally approached their house, and entered with a smile. "i'm home, bitches!" tommy yelled out, he distinctly heard someone slamming something on a desk, but ignored it. 

"heya mate." phil smiled, "you're home just in time for dinner, well - it'll be ready soon, call your brothers down please-" the blond asked, as he was setting the table. tommy nodded and ran up the stairs, not before dropping his leotard and tights in the washing machine and letting his back pack flop on to his bedroom floor. 

tommy ran to techno's door and knocked, after hearing a small 'come in!' — the young blond cracked the door open and walked inside. the pinkette was sat in front of his desk, writing seriously into his notebook. "tech, dinner's ready." the young blond joyfully announced, and the pinkette sighed in faux annoyance. "also, you still play your violin from time to time, right?"

"yeah, why?" techno asked, looking up from his writing, turning his chair around and staring into his little brother.

"i just, play something original - and then i'll add onto it, like," the young blond began, but stopped, snapping his fingers repeatedly to help himself construct his sentences. "i know making songs and shit like that is already a personal thing, but i want to make something that has you and wil in it, you know?" tommy trailed off, and techno just sighed. the tall pinkette stood up from his chair and opened his closet, pulling the violin case out of the space and laying it on to the table. with careful fingers, techno unzipped the case and gently cradled the violin out of its confinements.

"just, something completely random?" the pinkette asked, and tommy nodded - humming the piano's tune to help techno out even for a little bit, making something more out of wil and tech's lullaby was supposed to be a surprise, and tommy didn't want to give much away. nevertheless, techno felt something pull at his heart after hearing tommy hum - because of his little brother's gentle voice (they rarely heard it, for the young blond was always energetic and yelling.) and the familiarity residing within the tune. the pinkette nodded, and placed the violin onto his shoulder (after using rosin on to the strings), and started playing. 

after a minute of techno playing, wilbur barges into the room, looking very angry. tommy flinches at the sound of techno's doorknob hitting. "techno, how fucking inconsiderate can you be?" the curly haired boy seethed, walking up to the pinkette - who, surprisingly, looked unfazed. "you know i'm studying for the exams and you're out here making unnecessary noise? you're such an asshole." wilbur rambled, a crazed look in his eyes, and his hair and very form was disheveled. 

"i didn't mean to," techno responded, cool and stoic but not sarcastic.

"guys, guys - let's not let things get blown out of proportion." tommy hurriedly jumped in as damage control. "thank you, tech, for providing me with something to work with. and, wil, it wasn't techno's fault - i asked him to play a part on the spot, thank you for your patience and i'm sorry." the young blond smiled, wilbur just glared at his brothers and turned around.

"let's just eat dinner." the curly haired boy grumbled before loudly stomping down the stairs.

"prime, he's such a bitch." techno mumbled, placing his violin within its case. 

"let's just be a tiny bit understanding, you know how upset he was when he flunked his exams." tommy replied, placing a gentle hand onto techno's forearm. 

"yeah, i know, but that doesn't excuse him acting like he has the longest stick shoved up his ass." the pinkette grumbled in response, looking at his little brother.

"it doesn't excuse it, but, it contextualizes it." the young blond hummed, "be nicer to him today, he needs it." tommy continued, and stood up. "now, come on, dad's waiting for us."

it baffles techno sometimes how kind tommy can be, how considerate he is, and how understanding he is. most of the time, he's brash and abrasive, but when the situation calls for it - he prevents wil and tech's arguments from getting bigger, and he calms phil down whenever he overworks himself. with how stressed they all are, if tommy were to disappear, their family would fall apart. and so, to make things easier for his little brother - techno nods, and together, they walk downstairs and into the dining room.

"there you are! let's eat." phil smiled and clasped his hands together as his two other sons entered the dining room. phil sat at the head of the table, with tommy to his right, wilbur to his left, and techno beside his twin. tension lingered in the air, and the watson patriarch immediately sensed it - phil looked at tommy in confusion, and the young blond just shook his head, inwardly telling his father not to make a big deal out of it. "alright, how's your day, boys?"

"i'm finishing up that english project, the short story thing?" techno answered after getting an encouraging smile from his little brother. "i'm just polishing details here and there, it's not that good." the pinkette trailed off.

"dad, don't listen to this boy's bullshit - i've read his stuff, and they're actually very good!" tommy perked up, praising his older brother. "tech, why not enter the competitions? you know, the one with the cash prize? you don't have to win, of course, but people deserve to read your works!" the young blond enthusiastically rambled.

"i mean, if you insist." the pinkette mumbled.

"yeah, mate!" phil added onto tommy's encouragements, "you don't have to, if you don't want to, but i think this'll be good for you." the blond man smiled, he turns to wilbur and gives him a gentle gaze. "how about you, wil? how are you doing?"

"fine." the curly haired boy responded coldly.

"well, i won't pressure you to share, but i'm sure you have even a tiny bit of victories within your day," phil coaxed gently, "if you need someone to talk to, we're here for you - alright?"

"i said i'm fine." wilbur snapped, glaring harshly at his father and his brothers. "there's nothing remarkable about my day, so can we just move on?!" the curly haired boy bit, and phil looked taken aback. wilbur felt a tiny bit guilty, but he's swimming within an angry gaze and everything still looked very unclear to him.

"oh, alright." the blond man answered softly, his smile falters for a second, and tommy gets the cue to prepare talking about his day - to distract everyone and fill the atmosphere with his rambling. "how was your day, toms?"

"it was nice! nothing new, i was just learning a new sequence in dance, and i'm trying to compose something. we went to jam at tubbo's for a while-" tommy continues speaking, responding to phil and tech, and driving the spotlight away from wilbur (there are days when the curly haired boy just wants to exist and wallow in his depression without everyone making a big deal out of it). they finished eating and walk into their own rooms - trying to rest and fall asleep. 

wilbur's room reeked of nicotine, and it seeps from the crack of his door, it all takes them a few hours until they fall asleep. and when they woke up, tommy made breakfast with phil - joking every now and then, but they mostly basked within the comfortable atmosphere. it only took an hour or two until techno comes down, shortly followed by wilbur.

they ate breakfast in silence (wil and tech weren't morning people), while tension mostly lingered within the background. and when breakfast was done, phil excused himself and went to his work place (he worked mostly at home, but sometimes he was asked to work on site.). tommy stayed by wilbur in the living room after the young blond has convinced the curly haired boy to take a small break and hang out with him, and now the latter was holding his guitar as tommy hums the same tune he let techno listen to. 

as the curly haired boy was accompanying tommy's humming, techno was focused on his book (his comfort book, 'the art of war'.) while nibbling on a piece of toast. unknowingly, the pinkette accidently bumped on to the couch where tommy and wilbur sat in, and because of the impact, the curly haired boy moves forward, and a string on his guitar snaps.

"what the fuck is your problem, techno?" wilbur yelled out, standing up and setting the guitar aside. "are you fucking with me on purpose? first, you rub it in our faces how humble and how much of a smartass you are, and now you make me break the string of my guitar?!"

"jesus christ, wilbur! it was an accident." techno bit back, "i just bumped on the couch, why the hell are you acting like such a bitch?" the pinkette snaps. "and i don't rub shit on to your faces, you're just assuming shit."

"guys, can we try to calm down-" tommy tries to pipe in, but failed.

"shut the fuck up, tommy! you don't get to speak, you golden child." wilbur yelled at his little brother. "you're too overrated and you don't deserve half the shit you get-"

"you're crossing the line, wilbur. you don't get to act like an asshole just because you failed your exams." the pinkette stepped forward, wilbur just glared at him and took the book forcefully from his hand. "wilbur, give that back-"

the curly haired boy tore a page, and allowed it to fall onto the floor. "fuck you, fuck the both of you." wilbur cussed, before stomping away into his room. techno stared motionlessly at the book, and tommy quickly grabs the book and the page, smiling sadly at techno.

the young blond looked so tired, with silent tears streaming down his face - after all, his older brother just pointed out his biggest insecurities, things he's been working through for years, and now he feels like going back from his progress because of a simple comment. "don't worry, tech, i'll fix this for you - i have a roll of small, and clear tape somewhere." tommy smiled, rushing towards one of the drawers underneath the kitchen counter, where craft scissors and a bunch of other knick knacks lay. the young blond grabs the roll of clear tape and fixes the page up. "there we go, tech, good as new!" he tries to cheer, offering the book to techno.

techno mumbles a small 'thank you', still baffled with his twin's actions — the book meant a lot to him, sure, but to think his twin would try to ruin it? over what - an accident? "go and change into something presentable, tech. we're going out." tommy spoke firmly, and the pinkette wordlessly nods.

the young blond jogs up the stairs and knocks on wilbur's door, he cracks the door open and stands in the doorway. "i'm sorry, for the things i said - you deserve your awards, i wasn't thinking clearly." the curly haired boy mumbled, and the young blond merely nodded in response.

"alright, go change into something nice. we're going out, like old times - i'm going to buy you new guitar strings and some spare," tommy hummed, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "i'll fix your guitar up, don't worry." the young blond forced a strained smile, and wilbur just nodded, going to his bathroom to change. tommy just sighed, and started walking down the stairs, smiling at techno - who was now dressed in a white polo shirt, and brown pants. "you look so formal, blade."

"i wanted to look like i at least thought about what i looked like," techno responded, leaning up against the wall. "when in reality, i just grabbed the first things i saw." the pinkette flicked his braid from his shoulder and onto his back. 

tommy laughed genuinely at techno's quip - the former was in a fragile state and laughed at most things. however, they were interrupted by wilbur walking down the stairs - he was wearing a trench coat with a yellow shirt underneath, a maroon beanie techno sewed up for him when they were ten was nestled on top of his curls, and his round, golden, wire framed glasses were perched on top of his nose bridge. "i thought it would only be the two of us, tommy." the curly haired boy hummed condescendingly. 

"i didn't say anything, now-" tommy walked towards the door, smiling at his two older brothers, "let's go." the young blond spoke firmly, opening the door and waiting for the two other boys to follow, and follow they did.

they walked silently, with tommy asking his older brothers some questions here and there, he got short responses - and, honestly, the atmosphere was awkward. it didn't take long until they got to the music store - tommy smiled at the cashier and initiated easy conversations, to which the employee happily replied to. the young blond bought wilbur new guitar strings along with new guitar picks. "tech, we can go to the bookstore and we can get something?" tommy offered as they exited the establishment and walked out on to the pavement. from left to right, they walked alongside each other - with wilbur, techno, and tommy on the dangerous side near the road, holding onto the paper bag containing the things they just bought.

"i'm goin' to pay for it myself," the pinkette responded, looking ahead. "you're my little brother, i wouldn't want you to pay for my stuff."

"sure, big man - but prime knows i'll sneak something in." the young blond joked.

wilbur's head turned towards techno, a glare fixated onto his expression. "what, so you're saying i'm a bad person for letting tommy pay for the guitar stuff? i offered a while ago!" the curly haired boy snapped at his twin.

"i didn't say anythin', you're merely assuming stuff." techno answered, looking back at the curly haired boy. 

"shut the fuck up, techno - i know you're put together and shit like that but you don't get to just indirectly jab shit at me!" wilbur yelled, pushing techno, and in turn - the pinkette bumps into tommy, who drops the paper bag and its contents.

the young blond rushes towards the road to go and get the things he bought for his older brother. instinctively, from his dance experience, his feet was light on the ground and he gracefully picked up the items. his older brother would be happy, tommy and phil would organize a 'get along' trip and the twins will begrudgingly fix their broken bond, they'd help wilbur through his issues and everything will be alright. 

"ever since we started high school you've been doing nothing but brag about your achievements." the curly haired boy answered rudely, not noticing tommy disappearing from their side. "like, we get it, you're so fucking smart, you know everything - yadda yadda yadda."

"i do not brag about shit, you're just insecure about shit." the pinkette faced his twin fully, showing the curly haired boy that he has his full attention. techno was starting to get even more annoyed, lightly forgetting tommy's words about them needing to be even nicer to wilbur. "just because you fucked your tests up doesn't mean you're lesser than us, we don't base shit off of acheivements like you."

"why will someone not be insecure, if their siblings are overacheiving golden children?" wilbur yelled, walking towards techno, but unlike last time - the pinkette didn't move from his place, he just faced his face head on without flinching.  

"just because you're feeling down doesn't mean you get to drag us down with you, we're here for you and we can help you but you have to accept the help." techno snapped at his curly haired twin, they looked disheveled - the pinkette's braid has wisps poking out of it, and he looked stress, whereas wilbur looked crazed and just, generally filled with rage. their attention were lightly brought out of each other when the paperbag landed by their feet.

tommy lightly tossed the guitar picks and the guitar strings on to the pavement, and the young blond smiled - knowing that wilbur's things were safe, the only thing left to do was fix and replace the broken guitar strings. the young blond was out of breath, and stayed in the ground for a while, before standing up.

his older brothers stopped arguing and looked at the road. "tommy!" wilbur yelled out, running over to the young blond, but it was too late-

there was a loud, car horn, and the next thing tommy knew - he was laying on the ground with crimson blood staining his golden hair. his older brothers were crying for him, and he could vaguely see techno calling someone on the phone, and wilbur crying for his name while he held the paper bag close to his chest.

tommy was tired, and for once - he allows himself to close his eyes easily and drift off.