We All Fall Down

Chapter 14

Ranboo walked back to the apartment warily, over aware of the thousand dollars in his pocket. One of his best jobs yet, and he wasn't willing to give up the cash to some pick pocket. He was holding tightly onto the money in his pocket, keeping as much of an eye on everyone around him as he could, though the places where the fabric bunched up more made it difficult to see. Ranboo was excited to see his friends again. He was so excited to tell them how much he made. One week away from his friends, and he got a thousand dollars. They would have cool gear in no time.

The apartment was empty. And trashed. It hadn't been cleaned in who knew how long and there were dishes and trash everywhere. It looked like a mess. The living room had a bunch of trash and crumbs all around the couch and on the coffee table. The kitchen was empty, except for some water bottles and soda bottles in the fridge that smelled disgusting, and dirty dishes were stacked in the sink and along the counter. The bedroom had clothes everywhere, Tubbo's clothes, and the bed was unmade. The bathroom was the only organized part of the apartment. Ranboo had to wonder if he was the only one who knew how to clean.

Ranboo decided that this was definitely the result of depression, which if Tommy was dealing with then so was Tubbo. So, Ranboo set the money on Tubbo's desk, which was more of a mess than usual as well; Ranboo normally just avoided it when cleaning, and got to work cleaning the apartment. First the living room, vacuuming and throwing away the trash. Then the kitchen, first throwing out the disgusting bottles and then sweeping the floor. One of the other two would have to do dishes as he couldn't touch water for very long and there was a lot to do. Then Ranboo cleaned the bathroom sink and toilet, just because they looked like they needed it. Then Ranboo put Tubbo's clothes in his dirty laundry basket, Tommy's looked unnaturally empty, and started Tubbo's laundry in the community laundry room. Ranboo made the bed and did a final inspection of the apartment, deciding it also needed to be dusted.

By the end of his cleaning spree, four hours had passed and Ranboo decided the apartment was better looking than ever. It was almost 6 pm when Ranboo noticed the time, and he worried that neither Tubbo or Tommy was home yet. Tubbo was supposed to be home at 3, and Tommy got out at 5. Ranboo tried calling both of them. Tommy's phone went to voicemail immediately, and Tubbo's rang through but he didn't answer.

Tubbo showed up at 10:43. Ranboo was about ready to just go look for them, but he stayed at the apartment for an extra 30 minutes to map out where they could possibly be. Then Tubbo burst through the door, smelling like shit and barely standing up. Ranboo ran over and helped him stand up better, walking Tubbo over to the couch.

"Where were you? What happened?" Tubbo fell on the couch and forced his shoes off. He rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"You cleaned. I thought you were coming back tomorrow." Ranboo huffed out a sigh and sat next to Tubbo, helping Tubbo get his coat off. "I'm fine, I don't need your help." Tubbo threw his coat on the floor and laid down on the couch, yawning.

"What happened Tubbo? You smell horrible." Tubbo groaned and covered his face with his hand.

"You sound horrible. Go get me water from the fridge." Ranboo bit his lip and held his breath, nervous.

"I threw it out." Tubbo sat up and looked at Ranboo. His movements were slowed and he seemed to have a hard time keeping himself up. "It smelled bad so I threw it out. What?" Tubbo groaned and threw himself back at the couch. Ranboo flinched slightly, feeling a bit bad about having thrown away the water.

"It's supposed to smell bad, Ran. What about the soda?" Ranboo tilted his head slightly. Water was not supposed to smell bad. What did Tubbo do to it?

"Threw that out too." Tubbo sighed and mumbled.