'i don't have anywhere else to go.' - a sleepy boys inc story

epilogue

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"He did what?"

---

"I just- I think I need to get outta here."

"Oh! I know a place we could go, Will and I used to go there all the time, do you want me to take you there?"

---

"No, I've definitely had a dream about this place, what the fuck?"

Even in the pale light of the moon, Tommy can still make out the outline of the willow trees lining the overgrown plain of green they're standing on. "What, um. What happened in the dream?" The feel of the wind is on his face; the landscape is an unkempt meadow and long grass brushes his calves softly, left bare by his beige shorts.

"Well, ok. I've had two dreams here, at least that I remember. One was- it was me and Toby, and we were young - like maybe 10 or 12? I dunno. Anyway we just kind of... hugged. I dunno. We were in a field- this field, and we just hugged. And it was nice. But the other one. It was here, again, but..." Tommy takes a shaky, shuddering breath. "Toby was... he wasn't himself. We were older - like our age now, and um. We hugged, and when we pulled away, we. He. He had a weapon. This fucking massive sword, I don't even know how he held it up. He... he killed me. Stabbed me."

"That's hardcore. Are... have you told anyone else about this? Have you talked to Tubbo about this?"

"Yeah, I called him right after. He apologised, which is..." He mumbles indiscernibly. "Anyway. Yes. I did talk to him."

---

"So Tommy told me about what you did today."

Phil nods, and starts, "Yeah, I feel really bad about it-"

"No. You're thirty-three. He's seventeen. Seventeen. You don't get to feel bad... about it." Techno pauses. "You're allowed to miss Kri-" Phil's eyes dart from the floor to meet his. "Her. You're allowed to miss her, but you gotta understand. He's a kid. You said it yourself. He is a child."

Phil swallows, looking at the floor again. He knows his son is right, he's made a mistake.

"Now, I've talked to him, and he says he's not really ready to see you, and- no, don't say anything yet. He's not ready, and you need to let him not be ready. And you need to let him slowly become ready. Okay? He's in his room right now, havin' a nap, I think."

He is getting on Phil's nerves, treating him like a child. "Maybe you should actually talk to me like I'm your dad. Do you forget that? I'm your father. I deserve some respect."

Techno narrows his eyes. "You earn respect, Phil. I'm not goin' to treat you with respect when you act like a..."

"Maybe the reason your parents didn't want you is because you didn't-" He's cut off by Techno, who shouts, "Maybe the fact that you pull BS like this is THE REASON KRISTIN LEFT YOU!"

There's shocked silence.

Phil's eyes are wide. "We both know I didn't deserve that."

Techno is stumbling over his words, stammering, "I- I'm sorry. I get... heated, I-"

"Yeah." His father is staring at the ground, shaken. "Like I don't know that."

"Phil-"

"Can you leave my room, please?"

"No, I-"

"Can you get out. Please."

Techno takes a shuddering breath. "I didn't mean it. It was in the heat of the moment, I'm so sorry, please, Phil. I didn't mean it."

"I said, GET OUT."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry."

---

Cutlery clinks against ceramic, starkly loud against the silence of the room. Tommy and Wilbur are staring at each other, communicating silently.

Talk to them.

Me? Why me? Fuck you. He's your dad, you do it.

No. He's yours too, now, what? Just talk to them.

"Um... hey... hey Will, you'll never guess what happened today."

"What happened, Tommy?"

Phil looks between the boys in disbelief. For a couple of Twitch streamers, they are awful at acting - and even worse at lying.

"Well, I was talking to someone, and they said a thing that I thought was really mean."

"Oh, man. What did you do then?"

"I was really quite hurt, but then they said sorry. And I could tell they meant it - so I forgave them. I think that's the best thing to do, don't you Phil?"

Phil rolls his eyes. "Hey Techno, wanna tell them what you said to me?" Techno stays silent, face red. "No? Okay. Sure. He said that it's my fault Kristin left. My fault. Now tell me, Tommy, do you think forgiving him is the best thing to do?"

"I-"

"You should." Wilbur sits up. "You should, because he is your son, and...also...because we live together and Toms and I can't deal with another two days of you guys not talking to each other. Please-"

Techno looks his father in the eyes. "I really am sorry, dad. I just get...reckless. I know what'll hurt. I know...you. I knew what would hurt you, so I said it. I didn't mean it. I'm so, so sorry."

"Mmmf. Yeah. Okay. I guess. I forgive you." Phil shifts in his seat and Wilbur nods his head. "Good. Thank you. Now can we go back to normal, guys. Please?"

"Yeah. It's been like a...fuckin'... I dunno. Its been fucking stressful, ok?" Tommy stands and walks to the kitchen. "So please don't fight again, thank you! Thank you very much. Very much appreciated!" He calls from the other room, raising his voice over the water rushing from the tap.

Techno grimaces slightly and says, "I'm going to have to agree with Tommy here, it's not the funnest thing that's happened in this house."

"Yeah, and neither is Monopoly," Phil grumbles and laughter erupts around the table.

Wilbur points at his dad accusingly. "Yeah, well, that's 'cause we caught you cheating! You were having the time of your life being the banker and stealing, but the second you got a bit too cocky, we caught you and you stopped having fun!" With his hands up in a defensive gesture, he says, "Not our fault, not our fault!"

"Not our fault you decided to cheat, man." Tommy says through laughter, sitting back down at the table.

1485 words

apollo here !!
after more than a year, we are finished !! thank you so much for being here, i've had so much fun writing this fic :] (sorry about the angst btw it was necessary lol)
anyways yes thank you thank you thank you so much for reading - i was honestly QUITE convinced that no one was going to see it lol
with that i will sign off :] ty for everything !!