Thread and Needle

One

Wilbur was back. Tommy took a breath and tried to process it. Wilbur had died.
There was no doubt about that, Tommy had seen his dead body fall into his father's arms. The ancient man had wept for his son whom he had killed.
Wilbur had died.

But nothing made sense here.
Tommy had died to.
And there he was, huddled in a corner of his friend's basement, in shock, but very much alive.

Wilbur couldn't be back.

In any other situation, you would be thrilled by the return of your older brother, the person you had looked up to all your life.
But Wilbur wasn't the same.

Tommy was snapped out of thought by the creaking of the ladder that led up to the rest of the house.
Ranboo lept nimbly to the floor, a bowl of soup in his hands.

He set the bowl on the floor in front of Tommy and sat.

"I'm not hungry." Tommy muttered, drawing his knees to his chin.

Ranboo looked at him, concern etching his face.
Tommy stared back, challengingly until Ranboo's two-toned eyes glanced away.

"You haven't eaten in nearly twenty-four hours, you can't just starve yourself down here."
Ranboo reasoned.

"You aren't my fucking babysitter, you're my host, I said I'm not hungry," Tommy snapped back, then regretfully,
"Sorry Ranboo. You and Tubbo have been very good hosts, thank you for letting me sit in the corner of your basement for a while, but I should get going."

He stood before Ranboo could object and climbed the ladder. He walked to the door but was stopped by a voice.

"Tommy where the fuck do you think you're going?"
Tommy spun around. Sitting at the dinning table, calmly feeding a squirming toddler in a high chair, was Tubbo.

Tubbo was shorter than Tommy and dwarfed by Ranboo, but he was stronger than both of them.
He had multi-colored eyes like his husband did, although his blue eye came from an explosion that left a valley of scar tissue over half of his face.

"He thinks it's a good idea to just leave." Ranboo explained from the ladder.

Tubbo sighed exasperatedly.

"Here, Ranboo, feed Michael, Tommy, c'mere we need to talk."

Tommy alowed himself to be led back into the basement and out a door that brought them directly to the snow-covered potato farm. There, Tubbo leaned against a wall and crossed his arms like an expectant parent.

"Why do you want to leave?"

Tommy kicked at the dirt, annoyed.
"Well I can't just bloody stay here, I have to... I dunno, make sure Wilbur doesn't go blowing up any more fuckin nations, maybe go to my dad's and, y'know, tell him his first dead son also came back?"

"Ranboo is going to Phil's tomorrow, you can go with him then, and as for Wilbur, I don't think being near him is good for your mental health." Tubbo said calmly.

Tommy scoffed.
"Mental health. Nobody on this godamn server has time for mental health."

Tubbo cocked his head, giving him the same concerned look Ranboo had.

"What? Why does everybody look at me like that?" Tommy asked.

"I think you should go see my aunt, Tommy."

"Pardon? What kind of invitation is that?"

"She's a therapist. Heard of TheraPuffy?"
Tubbo explained.

"Oooh. Um... no?"

Tubbo pulled a map out of his pocket and unfolded it. Then he showed it to Tommy and pointed to a spot near the prime path, suprisingly close to Tommy's house.

"Her office is here, I can go with you to make an appointment."

Tommy shrugged.
"Why do I need therapy?"

Tubbo raised an eyebrow.
He had been Tommy's best friend since they were young, and sometimes they knew each other better than they knew themselves.

"Tommy, you refuse to eat, you don't want to do anything, every time Wilbur is mentioned you start ticking- look there you go"

Tommy looked down at his hands as Tubbo had indicated, and sure enough, they were twitching and snapping without his control.
Tommy balled them into fists and took a breath.

"Look, I- ...I'm fine, really."
Tommy protested.

Tubbo shook his head.
"Please at least go to one appointment, and stay here in Snowchester."

Tommy didn't want to admit it, but he did feel terrible. It was true, he didn't want to do anything, including eat, or just move around. His anxiety tics has become more and more frequent, and although he acted cool about it, he dreaded seeing Wilbur again.

"Yeah, ok."
Tommy agreed.

Tubbo smiled.
"Thanks, bossman. Now lets get back inside where it's warm."

———-
Author's note:
If you are confused about Tubbo's Aunt, it's Captain Puffy. How does that work? Basically, in this, Schlatt is Tubbo's father, although he was given up to Phil when he was five cuz Schlatt was too poor, and Puffy is Schlatt's sister. Boom. Aunt Puffy.