(A/N: no request today aha- i wrote this way too late- but anyway yes have soft crimeboys :3
inspired by https://archiveofourown.org/works/32316403 <- this fic is very cool go check it out)
In one world, they turn one way, and end up at a ravine, which leads to a chain of events that break everything and everyone apart, even if it brings together some.
This is not that world.
In this world, Wilbur and Tommy take a different turn, and end up in a clearing. It's peaceful, flowers growing in the plain, flat land. It's unmarred and untouched by everything that has happened. It's serene.
It's the perfect place to start anew.
They build a house. It's not a good house; made with far more cobblestone than actually necessary, and nothing compared to some of the more beautiful builds that can be found in the place they've run away from, but it's theirs, and it's home. They hang their uniforms on the wall, place the flag in their home, to remember the very first home they've had.
They sleep in the same room, in the same bed. It's far easier to push away the dark thoughts and the nightmares when there is someone else beside them, when it's the person who has been at their side through everything. Tommy holds Wilbur through a nightmare, hugging him so tightly it's almost like they're glued together. Wilbur brews an old blend of tea when neither of them can sleep, and plays simple songs to lull Tommy to sleep.
Tommy gathers animals like rocks, or stamps. A cow wanders near their house, and he calls it Henry. A blue sheep appears at their doorstep, and after Tommy begs him to keep it, Wilbur names it Friend. A spider, unusually tame, and not attacking, sneaks into their house, and Tommy gives it the name of Shroud. A little bird flies in through the windowsill and eats Wilbur's cereal when he leaves for the bathroom, and Tommy adopts it and calls it Clementine. Two more cows follow after Henry one day, and Tommy calls them Harold and Harvey.
They pick up news from the drifting winds, the little messages they're sent, and the times that their friends visit them. Wilbur and Tommy look after Niki and Fundy after a particularly terrible week of living under Schlatt. A week later, and the problem is resolved after they call in their estranged uncle, and Niki and Fundy leave with promises to return.
Techno stops by occasionally. He spars with Tommy, while Wilbur watches from their house. He brings them extra news, and give them the first Manburg flag. Wilbur burns it in the open air, and though he has left that part of him behind, finds delight in the way the sparks look. He fully slips the weight of the world off his shoulders when Phil comes by with Techno, and they clear things up.
It isn't pretty. It isn't all niceties and kindness from the start. But one day, Tommy finds Wilbur hugging Phil, head buried in the other's shoulder, and with shoulders shaking. And, well, it's a start.
Tubbo texts Tommy daily. He visits as often as his job allows, and when the problem is resolved, he visits even more. One day, he brings a friend along, one that stands taller that Wilbur, and more nervous than anyone else on the server, and introduces him as Ranboo.
Within a day, Tommy jokes around with him. Within a week, he, Tubbo and Ranboo are the closest of friends. Within a month, when Phil and Techno come over for a visit, Ranboo is slowly but surely adopted into the fold, and the family. Within six months, Ranboo and Tubbo bring home a tiny zombie piglin child, whose name is Michael, and they introduce him as their son, and their family of six becomes a family of seven.
In another world, they turn another way, and end up in a ravine. In another world, Wilbur spirals and crumbles under the weight of everyone and everything around him, before deciding that it would be the best option for everyone if he removes himself from the equation, if he removes the virus from the system. In another world, Tommy is sent to the waves, tugged from one disaster to another cruelty, living everywhere and nowhere at all, left alone and drifting in the sea of life. In another life, things don't turn out as well as they do.
But that is not this world. In this world, Tommy continues to love even the most unlovable things, and then some more, offering his smiles freely and laughs brightly, like someone his age should. In this world, Wilbur smiles more often, and dresses in light colours, even taking up songwriting again. In this world, people make amends, and the world is not so cruel as to push them apart, push them down. In this world, things turn out pretty alright.
Maybe one day, they'll return to their old home properly. Meet their friends properly, explore how their old home has changed in their absence, perhaps even leave their own mark. Maybe one day, they'll return.
But for now, Wilbur and Tommy live in a house they've built, surrounded by flowers and plants tended to lovingly, finding companionship in the animals they have, and everything is soft.