6 - my heart and the earth share the same rule; it starts with love and it ends with you, but don't go outside, it's dangerous tonight without me right here by your side.

-

[ wilbur and techno handed tommy the tape recorder, after knowing that the young blond writes his own songs. their younger brother was ecstatic. ]

tommy, tubbo, and ranboo stopped by the young blond's house to drop off his trophies and his medals, the medals were neatly framed and the blond patriarch has installed shelves for tommy's trophies (as he did for techno's fencing and writing trophies and medals, and wilbur's trophies and medals from singing competitions.). other than that, they had to come over to get the young blond's guitar, plus - phil would forcefully give them a bunch of food, either by asking the trio to come over at tommy's for a while, or by dropping the food off at tubbo's, and they'd rather go over at the young blond's than have the blond watson patriarch waste some gas. "while you guys go and pack some food, i'll be right back." tommy says, turning his back to jog up the stairs. "i'll go get clementine." (wake up.)

[ tommy often records his songs on the tape recorder, and leaves it for his brothers. ]

"sure, we'll wait here." ranboo replies as tubbo shoves the chips (they were labelled by phil, especially bought for the trio.) into their bag. the monochrome haired teen and the brunette dissolved into conversations about nothing, and phil, techno, and wilbur (wake up, don't you remember? there is a river near your backyard.) suddenly walk into the house.

"hello, mister phil!" tubbo waves cheerfully, "tommy's just getting something from his room, and then we'll go off." the brunette explains.

"how many times will i say that you can just call me phil?" the blond patriarch smiled, moving towards the teenagers and helping them with the packing.

"you know it's just tub's nickname for you at this point." ranboo laughed lightly, "alright, thanks for the snacks, phil, we'll get going when tommy gets clem."

"i'll drive you three to tubbo's," phil offers with a gentle smile and a kind lilt hanging off of the curves of his words.

"no, there's no need for that - we can walk." tubbo hurriedly says, but the blond patriarch merely shakes his head with a smile, twirling his car keys around his fingers and walking outside towards the vehicle.

"let's go?" the young blond inquired, looking at his friends expectantly. wilbur places a hand on top of tommy's right shoulder, and the young blond turns around to look at his brother.

"can we talk?" the curly haired boy asked, something desperate lingering within his dark eyes. "please? i've been trying my best to make it up to you all these times, i just want to fix things between us three." wilbur pleaded.

"please, wilbur, not now." tommy shrugs wilbur's hand away and pulls the guitar case closer to his body. "i, i have a performance tomorrow, i don't need you fucking with my head."

"you know what? toms, i think you need to hear us out on this one." techno budges in, looking at their little brother as the young blond moves backward, moves away from his older brother and towards his friends. "did we fuck up so bad that you don't even want to talk to us anymore?"

"for prime's sake, tommy!" wilbur carded his fingers through his hair in an irritated manner, "please just let us through, we don't know you anymore-"

"you don't know jack shit! you don't know how much i broke down when you fucking pushed me away!" the young blond exploded, with tubbo holding his arm and ranboo murmuring things into tommy's ear to try and calm him down. "wake up."

"we needed you!" the curly haired boy gritted out, frustrated. (you're digging a deeper hole underneath yourself.)

"wilbur-" the pinkette tried to stop his twin by placing a hand on to his shoulder but was shrugged away.

"well, i needed you, too! i was there but what the hell can i do with radio silence from the both of you?" the young blond yelled back, "i always put your emotions first, i always try to fix you guys, but you keep invalidating my feelings! you left me alone, and i needed you, i had nothing but dance and my friends, and dad? he was fucking pressured to keep it together when you guys ruined everything." tommy gritted his teeth.

techno stepped towards tommy, reaching his arm out, and wilbur rushed towards the young blond. "tommy, i-" the curly haired boy tried to speak, but tommy raised his right hand up with a sigh.

"not now, just, i'm tired - okay?" tommy sighs, "we can talk after my performance tomorrow, i promise you that. i have to go." the young blond's shoulders sag, as he walks towards the door, with tubbo and ranboo following closely behind. "wake up."

"toms," the pinkette spoke, which stopped the young blond in his tracks. tommy tilted his head to look at his older brothers. "i, for what it's worth, we love you." techno mumbles.

tommy stops for a second, and a beat passes, before he opens the door and exits the house. the trio walk towards phil's car and entering. the young blond's figure sagged as his back met the leather interior of the car seat, ranboo and tubbo sat beside tommy and fiddled with his fingers as reassurance (prime knows the young blond is very much touchy.). "heya mate, do i need to talk some sense into them?" phil offered.

"no need, we'll talk tomorrow." tommy responded dismissively. (do you remember the tape recorder?)

"you know they're doing this because they love you, although their ways of trying to reconnect with you is unhealthy." the blond patriarch hummed as he started to drive towards tubbo's house. "they're still guilty about your accident." 

"i never got an apology, all i'm getting are complaints about me not talking to them when they started it." the young blond huffed. "prime knows i'd accept their apology in a heartbeat if they'd offer it."

phil sighed, slowing the car down as they approached the brunette's house. "you'll give them a chance tomorrow, right?" the blond patriarch asked, getting a nod in response. "alright, stay safe guys, i'll show up to your charity concert tomorrow."

"thanks for the ride mr. phil!" tubbo beamed, smiling widely at the blond.

"and the food, most importantly, thanks for the food." ranboo added in, which prompted a laugh (which honestly sounded like a lung popping more than anything.) out of tommy. they bid their farewells and exited out of the car.

entering tubbo's house, and going into his garage, the trio started practicing.

after a while, tommy flopped onto the carpeted floor, groaning from exhaustion. "i feel like a walking scrapped toenail." the young blond muttered underneath his breath, he looked up at tubbo who was absentmindedly twirling his drumsticks around his fingers, whereas ranboo silently ate chips in the corner.

"you're gonna talk to them tomorrow?" the monochrome haired teen inquired, tommy lifted his head from the floor and sighed exasperatedly. 

"i have to, big man." tommy hummed, and sat up from his position on the floor. "despite everything, despite how shitty they've been for the past four years, they're still my brothers."

"if it makes you feel better, if shit hits the fan tomorrow, i can hack their phones and have rick astley's 'never gonna give you up' embedded everywhere - the lyrics, the song." tubbo butted in, making the young blond laugh loudly as ranboo choked on his chips.

"so that's why my phone was faulty!" ranboo exclaimed, looking at tubbo with an expression riddled with betrayal. 

"look, boss man, i needed to test if it worked-"

-

the trio almost never slept, and just talked to each other through the night in a blurry haze. tommy went to the bathroom first, and bathed himself quickly just to wake himself up. tubbo and ranboo followed suit. "dream told me he'd drive over with sap and george to help us dismantle the drums and transport it over to the venue." the brunette announced, drying his hair with a towel as he stared at his phone. 

"alright, we can take one trip since, sap's car is huge." tommy mumbled absentmindedly as he wiped clementine down. "it's been a while since we performed in l'manburg high." the young blond hummed wistfully.

the bench trio often performed in l'manburg high, niki's bakery, or anywhere they were asked to - they were known, but more as dancers rather than the bench trio, people haven't connected the dots (they often wore creepy rabbit masks, with the exception of tommy's rabbit mask with its jaw ripped in order to allow him to sing. that's also probably why puffy orchestrated an alice in wonderland piece.), and they were planning on revealing stuff tonight. "phil never missed a performance of ours, didn't he?" ranboo inquired, as he began dismantling the drum set.

"he never did," tommy clicked his tongue in response, placing clementine in her case. "and he's certainly not planning on missing this one."

loud knocks rang from the door, followed by a sudden bang of the door hitting the wall. "we're here, bitches!" sapnap yelled, a wide smile stretched upon his face. dream and george slowly followed behind.

"hello," george waved sheepishly, to which he got enthusiastic responses from the trio.

"why'd george get a nice, and warm welcome, whereas i get the cold shoulder?" the ravenette pouted.

"unlike george, you're very loud." dream jokingly responded, and got an offended gasp from sapnap. "anyways, let's do this." the green eyed man spoke, determination shining from his very form as they started helping ranboo, tubbo, and tommy with the drum set. 

"boo, simp." sapnap blew a raspberry and reluctantly flopped down beside the other boys to help with the drum set.

"stop calling dream a simp, when you're one yourself." george hummed, taking some of the drum's pieces to load it in the car. the brit looks over his shoulder, an easy grin stretched over his lips as he teased the ravenette, "don't think we forgot about that ballerina you've been crushing on." he continues walking towards the car, with tubbo also carrying some of the drum's parts, whereas ranboo is packing food for them to snack on while they're waiting for their time to perform.

tommy perked up, looking at the ravenette with a questioning gaze. "karl? the principal dancer in that ballet studio two towns over?" the young blond squawked, and then grinned after seeing sapnap's flustered reaction. 

"you know karl?" the ravenette asked dumbly, and dream looks at him like he has grown a third head.

"of course tommy does, he literally bags first place trophies and medals home." dream starts, "the studio karl works in is hooked to the royal ballet, and, tommy's name has started to gain traction when he turned fourteen, it's only natural that he'd be known."

"he talked to me, he was nice." tommy mumbled absentmindedly, "he told me i'd be a great addition to the royal ballet, once i'd turn eighteen i can audition and things like that, maybe i can be a soloist, or, at the very least - a part of the corps de ballet."

"dude, go for it!" sapnap smiled brightly, "this town is too small to contain your light, i suggest branching out, and, i think you'd be a soloist, you can even overthrow karl as the principal dancer." the ravenette continued. 

tommy thought back to his brothers, they left him just to branch out, and they practically neglected him for years, it would be fair if the young blond did the same. however, a small part of tommy wanted closure, he wanted to talk to his brothers without them invalidating the years they didn't talk to him, and regardless of the outcome - he'd go away to pursue his career. "i probably will." the young blond mumbled.

they all stood up, and walked up to the car, driving quickly towards l'manburg high (tommy yelled happily as sapnap drove quickly and recklessly, george clung onto dream as the latter protested, ranboo mumbled prayers underneath his breath while holding onto his heart, while tubbo cheered sapnap on.). they were greeted by puffy and niki at the school's back doors, they sneaked in in order to avoid the band's enthusiasts from smothering them. 

jack and purpled were at the main entrance, managing the tickets and their payment. dream, george, and sapnap helped tommy, tubbo, and ranboo with the stage setup, they were being covered by the thick, red curtains hanging over the stage. the drum set was set back in the middle, and a few feet from it was a keyboard. a microphone is set on the forefront of the stage and the electric guitar as well as the bass were connected to amplifiers.

niki and puffy helped the trio with putting light makeup on them, ones that'll accentuate their features underneath the stage's lights.

"let's go?" tommy asked the other two, adrenaline rushed through his veins upon hearing the people beyond the stage. some people travelled all the way from different cities just to see them, and the profit will go to a local children's hospital - tommy and the others often visited to do volunteer work, and the young blond's heart was warm for those children.

"let's go, boss man." tubbo responded with a wide, and an enthusiastic grin.

"hell yeah, let's wreck the stage." ranboo piggybacked.

tommy stood at the backstage as the curtain opens, ranboo and tubbo skipped over to the stage. the crowd roars at the sight of the two, and the monochrome haired teen took a deep breath before he spoke. "hello! thanks for coming, we are the bench trio-"

in the audience, wilbur's eyes widened at the mention of the band name, whereas techno looked much more subdued. "did you know about this?" the curly haired boy inquired.

"somehow, maybe, i don't know - i had a hunch after hearing tommy's song and the bench trio." the pinkette hummed. "wake up."

"you didn't know about tommy's band?" phil tilted his head in confusion, "i suppose you'd figure it out after niki tried to invite you to their concert." the blond patriarch hummed.

the brunette raised his palm to stop ranboo from continuing. "'boo, you said that we are a trio - but there's only two of us here on stage!" tubbo responded comically, the monochrome haired teen squinted his eyes in confusion, pointing his index finger towards the brunette and himself to count.

"you're right, bee!" ranboo hummed, the brunette sat in front of the keyboard. "do you think a song might coax our friend out of hiding?" the brunette nodded happily.

tubbo started playing a small tune on the keyboard, and with a wide smile, he looked at the audience. "have you seen our brother, theseus? dang, he's gone and wandered off again." the brunette began, looking exasperated. "we've been looking high and low, where'd oh where our brother go?" 

"he's been known to spend some time with a sailor friend of mine, i called him up and what'd he say?" ranboo continued, stopping to look at tubbo as the latter momentarily stopped playing the piano.

"i ain't seen that boy today!" the brunette exclaimed, before starting to play again. "so, if you see our brother, theseus."

"tell that boy to hurry home again," ranboo joined in walking around the stage aimlessly, looking for tommy as he held the mic gently within his hands. "where'd oh where our brother, theseus, go?"

they continued singing enthusiastically, getting the crowd engaged with their performance. their presences on stage was electric, and the crowd was latching onto every word, on to this bit that their lead singer ran away. "where oh where'd our brother theseus go?" they finished in unison, ending the song. tommy took the cue and ran out of the back stage.

wilbur and techno were surrounded by the band's admirer, their names have become a little famous over time, and there, the twins saw that despite their actions - the young blond's light wasn't dimmed down, he didn't falter, but he continued tripping over their strained relationship. "ayup bitches!" tommy yelled into the mic, and the crowd yelled in response. "thank you so much for coming here today, and, uh, let's start!" the young blond spoke, albeit a bit awkward, he was charming. 

tubbo starts with the drums, and ranboo accompanies tommy's electric guitar. the young blond moves close to the mic, his eyebrows were furrowed as he took a sharp breath, tommy looked at his older brothers with a pained expression, before starting. "i hate you for what you did, and i miss you like a little kid. i faked it every time, but that's alright - i can hardly feel anything, i hardly feel anything at all." he sang tenderly, with tommy's guitar close to his body, and his microphone in front of him - he soared. (don't you remember the tape recorder and its songs?)

the young blond sang as if no one was in the room with him, he poured every bit of loneliness and yearning from his heart and onto the unsuspecting page in front of him. instead of being cut by the shards of his shattered heart, tommy turned it into a masterpiece to show everyone. he looked at his older brothers with nothing but sadness, yet he gazed at the other audience members with joy and warmth.

tommy sang and performed for hours, it looked as if he was weightless and free, as if loneliness wasn't a familiar feeling residing deep within his bones. the twins were still baffled with the discovery that the young blond was the lead singer of a locally known band, he was a performer through and through. when the band was finished with their performance, they thanked the benefactors, the audience, and those who donated from other parts of the country. phil pulled his older sons aside before meeting back up with tommy. "you better pull your act together, before tommy disappears completely." phil said sternly.

"you're making it seem as if he's going to die." wilbur scoffed, carding his fingers through his hair frustratingly. "i'm, i'm sorry for being snappy, i just, this all feels so..."

"this all feels so hopeless, dad." the pinkette hummed quietly, he fidgeted with the hems of his shirt, and looked up at phil. "what do you mean tommy will disappear?"

"he's already gone."

"he has lots of opportunities waiting for him," phil began, "he has been talking to me about this record label contacting them, they wanted to take the band in. and, along with that, tommy is being yanked into the royal ballet." the blond patriarch hummed, smiling proudly. "prime knows he might cut you both off." he trailed off.

"what are we going to do?" the curly haired boy asked desperately, looking at his father with a confused gaze, breathing sharply as he inquired. "we just, we don't know what to do."

"start with an apology, listen to him, listen to why he pulled away after you pulled away." the blond patriarch offered, he adjusted the bucket hat resting against his head and smiled at his sons. "i know this can be fixed, i can't interfere much, but i believe that you boys will know what to do."

"we know what to do," techno murmured gently, he looked up, and turned his head towards wilbur with a dazed expression. "start with waking up."

footsteps rang out in the hall, the trio looked behind them to see tommy - he looked exhausted, and he has aged a thousand years, the young blond has clementine inside her case and slung around his shoulders. "are you bitches ready to go home?" tommy asked with a strained grin pulling against his lips.

"yeah, mate!" phil responded with a kind smile, "what took you long?"

"oh, puffy wanted us to take pictures and stuff like that." tommy hummed dismissively, "karl, that principal dancer from that one studio, talked to me and asked me if i'd like to audition to be a part of the corps de ballet, and maybe i can move my way up to be a soloist, or a principal dancer like karl." the young blond explained happily as they started walking out of the venue and into phil's car. "oh, and the benefactors and the top donators to the children's hospital we're working for wanted to talk to us, and so we did."

"that's," wilbur started, tommy looked back at him with an unreadable expression, and the curly haired boy smiled. "that's wonderful, toms, i have no doubts that you'd be promoted to be the next principal dancer."

"yeah, they have nothing on you." techno monotonously added as they entered the car. "we can always bribe the people in there to let you in." the pinkette cracked his knuckles as he looked at his siblings.

"i don't think we'd need to do that-" wilbur tried to reason, but was silenced by his twin. tommy looked at phil with a confused gaze, and the older just shrugged with a smile.

phil supposed tommy needed the normalcy, as the twins bickered light - heartedly, pulling the young blond into it from time to time and coaxing small smiles out of their little brother, the blond patriarch knew they'd fix this. maybe not now, but they'd talk things through. they got home, with phil ordering pizza for celebration (and maybe because wil and techno gently coerced the man into buying pizza), and tommy going up to bathe.

the young blond entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him with a sigh (his pockets were heavy with rocks, and his clothes were drenched.). after this, he'd have to talk to his brothers - tommy looks forward to it, don't get him wrong, but something about this makes him anxious. it has been a long time since they all talked seriously, while being on good terms. underneath the shower, he took a deep breath as the water droplets slid down his skin - grounding him, and preventing him from daydreaming. 

when he was finished, tommy walked out of the bathroom, dressed in newly washed clothes. his hair was damp and stuck to the back of his neck. everything was cold, and he walked down the stairs to see phil humming gently to himself. "hello there, mate! i'm just going with sam, puffy, and niki - we're going out." he told the youngest, "plus, i suppose your brothers need a moment to talk to you."

"i'm fucking terrified, not going to lie." tommy smiled, crossing his arms and making his form seem smaller than it really is. 

"aw, toms, come here." phil beckoned, and the young blond followed - breathing deeply as he was engulfed within his father's hug. "i'm sure everything will be alright, they're going to make it up to you, toms, i promise."

tommy stayed within his father's hold for a little longer, and after a minute or so - he pulled away. "you have to get going, your old man friends are waiting for you." the young blond grinned.

"i'm going to tell puffy you said that." phil joked with his youngest son, a fond look etched onto his face. "alright, be good, toms."

"i will." the young blond smiled gently at his father, waving goodbye as the blond patriarch walked off. tommy sighed and walked up to the table, opening the pizza's box and grabbing a slice. the young blond then walked through the backdoor to see his brothers sitting on the ground. 

techno was reading silently, turning the book's pages with gentle fingers and an acquired patience. wilbur was sat beside the pinkette, with a cigarette pinched between his index and his middle finger. they looked tired. "you know that those can kill you, right?" tommy frowned, leaning on the chair right beside the entryway.

"we're all dying, it just depends how fast or how long you will last." the curly haired boy hummed in response.

"can you please stop that for a while? the smoke reminds me of the collision." the young blond asked politely, and his older brother was quick to comply, shoving the cigarette's tip on the ground below him and effectively killing the smoke.

"i'm sorry," wilbur mumbled, making the young blond perk up and look at his brothers. at this point, techno has stopped reading, closing the book and setting it down beside himself.

"for what?" tommy inquired, finally sitting next to his brothers. 

"i don't know, for everything, i guess?" the curly haired boy started, staring off into the distance. "i'm sorry for pushing you away, and not talking to you, i didn't want to dump all of my problems and my years worth of trauma onto you."

"thing is, wilbur, i would've wanted to listen to you and to support you, venting is different from trauma dumping." tommy gently replied, "big man, you know i'm here for you."

"i'm sorry, too." techno meekly added, "i didn't reach out, too, it feels awkward to reach out when you were in an accident indirectly caused by wil and i. and then, i was caught up in my academics, the next thing i knew - you were all grown up."

"i'm still me," the young blond reassured, "for what it's worth, i forgive you."

"it's worth everything, toms." the pinkette smiles.

"we're going to make it up to you, though." wilbur says, leaning on his little brother. 

"you better, let's start with a movie night," tommy grins, much too feral and bright, "and then, you have to wake up, wilbur."

"wait, what-"

"wake up."

---

it starts and ends with wilbur waking up.

wilbur sat up, combing his fingers through his hair, his breathing was sharp and ragged as he frantically looked around. he was in his room, back in his childhood home. it was dark out, and the sun has barely risen. confusion riddled his expression as he stood up from the bed. exiting the room and walking out into the hallway, wilbur found the atmosphere unsettling as cold and thick air wafted through his surroundings. he walked to tommy's room, and knocked gently. "toms?" he gently called out. the door was locked.

the curly haired boy rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands to try and get rid of the sleep plaguing his mind. phosphenes bloomed in his vision, and he hears his little brother humming gently, accompanied by the feather light strumming of a ukulele - one he got from tubbo as a gift. "i'm not angry anymore, well sometimes i am. i don't think badly of you, well sometimes i do." tommy sings gently through the door, trying to calm his hyperventilating brother down. "depends on the day, the extent of all my worthless rage. no, i'm not angry anymore."

wilbur folded his legs and hugged his knees close to his chest, everything was alright, yet why does it still hurt so much? (he cradled the young blond's body close to his chest, and the water also stained the curly haired boy's clothes.)

"i'm not bitter anymore, i'm syrupy sweet - rot your teeth down to their core if i'm really happy." tommy continued humming, and wilbur could just hear the young blond's smile through the door. "depends on the day, if i wake up in a giddy haze, well i'm not angry - i'm not all that angry, i'm not that angry anymore."

the door beside wilbur's room opens, and out comes the pinkette, barely pulling the curly haired boy out of his trance as techno's sock clad footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. "wil? why are you awake? it's late." the pinkette asked, wilbur noted the white roots showing through techno's scalp. 

"i wanted to talk to tommy." the curly haired boy answered softly, he stood up from the floor and turned towards the door to knock.

"wil-"

"i'm not angry- welcome, theseus, theseus-" the tape recorder, and not tommy, glitches. the once melodious song bouncing through the walls are now crumpled into a garbled mess. wilbur looks at techno with a confused gaze.

"wilbur, look at me." techno gently jostled the curly haired boy, holding him by his shoulders and looking deep into his eyes. "you are real, you are here. it's been years."

"wait, i want to talk to tommy-" wilbur pulls himself away and desperately turns the doorknob handle, and surprisingly, the door opens.

the trophies were placed on the shelves drilled on the wall, collecting dust. the bed was made neatly, and tommy's possessions were left untouched. the tape recorder was broken, set haphazardly on the bedside table. the curly haired boy fell on his knees, sobs tumbling from his lips accompanied by the heaving of his chest.

techno sat beside him, pulling his twin into a hug, like he always did when they were younger. wilbur cried on the pinkette's shoulder for what seemed like an eternity, and the latter couldn't help the tears escaping his eyes. "can you tell me what happened?" the curly haired boy finally asks, after years of denying the truth. 

"your depression was at its peak, and you were snapping at us." techno gently spoke, tracing circles at the back of wilbur's hand to try and give him something to focus on. "i accidentally broke your guitar strings, and you retaliated by tearing a page out of my book."

"it was the book phil gave you, he had a sticky note in there telling you how good you did on your academics." the curly haired boy hummed, "he got me a thick journal as well, somewhere i can write lyrics and poems in." wilbur continued.

"tommy, of course, did damage control. we were arguing, and the guitar strings fell on the road." the pinkette paused, taking a deep breath. "he got hit, and he suffered so many injuries - he couldn't go back into dancing, and we drove ourselves away from him." techno paused again, he chokes up - because this has always been hard for him to talk about. "our negligence, and the inability to dance again, he couldn't do it anymore, wil."

wilbur stayed silent, he stared at the floor. "dad tried his best, and we argued in his funeral." the curly haired boy muttered, "tommy went to the river, and sunk, with rocks shoved in his pockets. tommy died at the mere age of fourteen." wilbur whimpered, and hugged himself tighter. "prime, why was i so mad?"

"it's not all your fault, wil." the pinkette gently reassures his twin, "i didn't reach out, and i'm so sorry."

wilbur didn't respond verbally, but merely moves closer to his twin.

in the distance, tommy smiles, fixing the tape recorder (prime, he needs his older brothers to have something to listen to whenever they missed him.) and fading away. it starts and ends with wilbur, waking up.