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Tommy was excited for Halloween this year. He had never gotten a proper Halloween at any other house, and the group home he often found himself in never practiced the holiday, but Phil was different.
Tommy was prepared for Phil to do nothing, seeing as his boys were all grown up, and Tommy was fifteen, but Phil surprised him yet again, dragging a large bin labeled ‘Halloween’ up from the basement.
Tommy tried not to act too excited. Surely, decorating was not extended to him? He wasn’t part of the family. So he had scampered up to his room, trying to not feel too disappointed, but Wilbur had come knocking not ten minutes later, ecstatically inviting him to join.
It was just like he imagined, hanging lights with Wilbur and setting out fake gravestones and skeletons with Techno.
The next day, Phil had taken them to the pumpkin patch, and that night Tommy got to carve a pumpkin for the first time. Did it look particularly good? No, but it was Tommy’s and that made it the best pumpkin in the world.
Phil had clearly taken note of Tommy’s enthusiasm, and so he offered to get Tommy a Halloween costume. Tommy had glowed red in embarrassment, but agreed when Phil promised he and the twins would be dressing up as well.
Spirit Halloween had been a fun experience, Wilbur didn’t get anything but face paint, Techno got a long red cape and a crown, Phil got some cool black wings, and Tommy got a full Spiderman costume.
Though he tried to keep up his false bravado, Tommy was practically vibrating with excitement, holding his first costume ever to his chest like it was the most precious thing in the world. It wasn’t, of course, that title belonged to his stuffed cow Henry, but it was a close second.
Just for Tommy, Phil had bought a bunch of full sized candy bars. Tommy didn’t want to go trick or treating, he wanted to stay home and watch scary movies, only pausing occasionally to hand out candy.
That, unfortunately, is not what happened.
“Tommy,” Wilbur started, stalking up to Tommy from behind with Techno right beside him. Tommy stopped in his unnecessary and incredibly ornate organizing of the candy bowl to turn to them. He wanted it to be perfect for the trick or treaters tonight.
“Yes, Wil?” He asked, only sounding slightly exasperated. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Is that the third time you’ve re-organized the candy bowl?” Wilbur asked, eyeing him with a smirk. “You know most people just throw the candy in there, right?”
“Well, you see, Wilbur,” Tommy gently picked up the bowl, careful not to drop anything. “These ones have nuts, these ones don’t. These ones have caramel-”
“We get it,” Techno drawled, interrupting Tommy. Tommy scowled at him. “We wanted to ask you something.” Tommy tilted his head questioningly.
“Well, it’s more of a dare.” Wilbur corrected. “There’s this path in the woods behind our house, right, and we thought it would be fun to see which one of us can make it down the hill the fastest on a bike.”
“How would we measure who got there faster?” Tommy asked. Wilbur froze, looking to Techno for help. They hadn’t thought about that.
“Well, we’ll figure out a proper scoring system at the end.” Techno deflected. “You can use my bike, since you don’t have one.”
Tommy wanted to say no, he really did, the woods behind the house did have a trail, but it was not straight and it was covered in large rocks and hazards. The denial was on his lips when Wilbur cut him off.
“Unless you’re too scared, which is just fine too.” He said it patronizingly, like he was speaking to a young child, and Tommy bristled.
“I’m not scared,” Tommy denied, puffing out his chest. “Let’s do this thing.” Techno and Wilbur shared a look, trying to hide their smirks. They didn’t know what they wanted out of this, other than to embarrass their ‘new brother.’
That was another thing, they didn’t like the idea of him being their brother. Phil said he would be staying for a little while, yet here he was, nearing two months later.
Techno wheeled his bike out of the garage and into the backyard where Wilbur and Tommy were waiting for him. Tommy looked eager, and didn’t seem to notice that Wilbur’s bike was nowhere in sight.
Techno silently offered the bike out to Tommy, who took it with no hesitation.
“Alright, I’ll count you in,” Wilbur said, as Tommy got on the bike and slowly wheeled it over to the start of the path. The path went down a rather steep hill for nearly twelve feet before winding around some trees and down another hill before stopping at a wooden bridge over a small river.. “The end of the track will be the bridge. Ok, three, two, one, go!”
Tommy didn’t wait a moment after go, picking his feet off the ground and situating them on the pedals and pushing off.
He shot down the hill, wobbling only slightly, before attempting to weave through a few trees. While trying to avoid hitting a tree, he missed a large rock, and before he could swerve around it, the front tire hit the rock and got stuck, flinging the back tire up and over.
Tommy was flung off in the process and was sent right over the start of the second hill, and out of view of the twins.
All they could hear was the sound of screaming and bushes and branches being broken before the splash of water, and finally silence.
Neither of the twins said anything, frozen, staring at the bike that had come to rest beside the rock.
“Dad…” Wilbur called weakly, well aware their dad would not hear him. “Dad!” He screamed this time, turning and darting into the house. Techno still didn’t move. Tommy wasn’t climbing back up, Tommy wasn’t screaming.
Wilbur was back a moment later with Phil right behind him. Wilbur latched onto Techno’s limp arm, tears running down his face. Phil ran right past both of them, phone to his ear.
“Show the ambulance where to come, boys,” He said. They didn’t move for a moment. “ Now! ” He barked, running down the hill as quickly as he could while being careful not to fall.
Wilbur unfroze again, dragging Techno to the front yard and sitting him down on the porch to wait. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later, andWilbur quickly led them to the backyard and down the hill.
Phil had dragged Tommy out of the water by the time they got there. His left leg was bent at a sickening angle, his hair was wet and Wilbur could just see the growing red patch on the back. Beside that, he was covered in all sorts of cuts and bruises.
Wilbur was horrified, watching the paramedics have to carry Tommy up in their arms after splinting his leg because the hill was too steep for a stretcher.
Phil didn’t speak to either of his sons when climbing into the ambulance with Tommy, but Wilbur knows he’s meant to drive Techno and himself after the ambulance, so he does. Techno is still silent.
“Did we kill him?” Techno asked, voice so low Wilbur nearly missed it. “Is he dead, Wil?”
“No,” Wilbur choked back, throat feeling tight. “He was- he was breathing when I went down there. It looked bad but not- but not fatal.” Really, Wilbur had nothing to base that off. He had never seen a fatal wound in person, but he didn’t think Tommy would die.
Arriving at the hospital, Techno was much less frozen, and Wilbur didn’t have to pull him out of the car.
Phil was sitting in a chair in the waiting room when they entered, foot tapping restlessly on the floor, nail between his teeth. He didn’t look up when Wilbur sat next to him, and Techno across from them.
“...Is he going to be ok?” Wilbur asked after a few suffocating moments of silence. Phil sighed deeply, trying not to start yelling.
“He’s going to live ,” Phil said. “His left leg is broken, as I’m sure you could tell, and we won’t know the extent of his brain damage until he wakes up.” No one spoke for another few moments. “What happened? What were you thinking? ”
“We just wanted…” The problem was, Wilbur didn’t know what they had wanted. It was a stupid dare, and there was no point to it at all. “I don’t know.” Techno nodded.
“We’re really sorry-” He tried, but Phil cut him off with a raised hand.
“You do realize that they could take him away for this?” Phil asked, looking between the pair. And the thing was, that statement didn’t hurt Wilbur or Technoblade the way it was supposed to because they just didn’t care about that. “I know you weren’t too pleased with having a new kid in the house, but I want both of you to sit and think about when you were in his position, because you both were at one point.”
And that did make both of them think. At one point they were Tommy, and neither of them had thought of it that way. This realization didn’t matter much, though, because a nurse was calling them to Tommy’s room a moment later.
“He should wake up soon, and he’ll most likely be sensitive to light and sound for a little while, so don’t mess with the lights and talk quietly.” The nurse said, smiling as she stepped back out of the room.
In the dim lighting, they could just barely see how pale Tommy was. His leg was in a cast on top of the sheets, and a bandage went around his head. Wilbur thought he looked small, and it made him feel guilty.
Tommy didn’t wake up for an agonizing half hour, in which the twins and Phil sat in complete silence.
“...” Tommy whined quietly, eyes squinting open. “Phil?” Phil was out of his seat and in front of Tommy’s eye line within a moment.
“How do you feel?” He asked, voice quiet and hand gently squeezing Tommy’s.
“H-head h’rts a bit,” Tommy replied. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the hospital, mate,” Phil said. “You fell off Techno’s bike.” Tommy tilted his head questioningly. “Do you remember that?”
“I… I think so. When can we go home?” Phil faltered, seeming to remember something the twins didn’t.
“They said probably.. tomorrow.” He said hesitantly.
“But- Phil- the trick or treaters.”
Oh .
Technoblade shared a lok with Wilbur. Tommy had been so excited, and they ruined it. For no fucking reason.
“I know, Toms, I’m so sorry.” Tommy was crying, and Phil was desperately trying to get him to calm down. “There’s always next year.”
“But I won’t be here next year ,” Tommy cried, wiping his tears with his free hand. Phil didn’t know what to say, because after this there was no guarantee Tommy would be staying.
“It’s ok, Tommy,” He said instead, leaning down to give Tommy a hug. Tommy latched onto him, crying into the front of his shirt. “I promise, everything is going to work out.”
They brought Tommy home the next morning, warning him to rest and keep the lights dim. No major brain damage, but he did have a concussion.
The worst part, though, was how quiet he was now. Tommy sat in the bay window, left leg propped up on a few pillows. All he had done since getting home was sit and watch the neighbors take down their decorations, and Wilbur was kicking himself.
Tommy was a shell of what he had been and logically, he knew he was overreacting. Halloween is for kids anyway. There’s no reason to be this upset. But he was, and there was nothing he could do to make himself not feel like this.
“We need to fix this,” Wilbur said, barging into his shared room. Techno didn’t look up from his book, merely humming in questioning. “We need to make Tommy feel better.”
“How do you propose we do that? Two days after Halloween?” Techno asked, putting the book down and looking up at his pacing brother.
“We can bring Halloween here.” Wilbur said, dead serious, and Techno laughed. “What?”
“You sound like one of those crappy Disney movies.” He said, still laughing. “But go on.”
“We can have all of our friends come by and he can give them candy.” Wilbur explained, excitedly.
“Do you think that will work?”
“Will it hurt to try?”
“I guess not.” Techno sighed. “I’ll call my friends, you call yours.” Wilbur was buzzing with excitement. He hoped this would work.
“Tommy, go put your costume on,” Wilbur said, dressed up as a ghost version of himself. “Techno and I have a surprise for you.”
“I’m not in the mood, Wilbur.” Tommy replied, tightening his arms around himself. Wilbur and Techno had filled Phil in on their plan, and he stood watching from the doorway to the kitchen.
“Come on, Toms, it’ll be fun!” Wilbur tried again, going so far as to try pulling on Tommy’s arm.
“I said no, Wilbur,” Tommy snapped, pulling his arm away. “Remember what happened last time I listened to you?” Wilbur tried to ignore the way the comment struck his heart like a knife.
“Please, Tommy? I promise you’ll like it.” Tommy glared at him, eyes searching for some sort of trick. Despite not finding one, he still couldn’t bring himself to move. “Please.”
“I don’t want to put my costume on, Wilbur,” He said. “I can barely put on regular clothes.”
“Fine, you don’t need to.” Wilbur conceded. “But Techno and I feel really really bad about ruining your Halloween. We wanted to make it up to you.”
Before Tommy could respond, the doorbell rang and faintly, Tommy could hear someone yell ‘Trick or treat!’ He looked up at Wilbur, confused. Wilbur smiled and Phil walked over, candy bowl in hand.
“Don’t keep them waiting.” He chirped. Tommy grabbed his crutches from where they were leaning on the wall, took a moment to stabilize himself, and gently grabbed the bowl from Phil’s hands, careful to balance it in such a way he could still move the crutches somewhat.
Opening the door was difficult, but thankfully Phil had moved a side table for him to place the bowl on beforehand.
Tommy recognized some of the people standing at the door to be Wilbur’s friends, dressed in their costumes.
“Uh, here, take one each,” He said, holding the bowl out and bracing against one crutch. “Actually, you can take two.” They did as they were told, and gave their thanks before Wilbur invited them inside.
Niki, Eret, Tubbo, and Ranboo all settled around the living room while Wilbur put on The Nightmare Before Christmas , and Tommy joined them a moment later. Techno came down too at some point, and Phil brought in a bowl of popcorn.
The doorbell rang again, and Tommy excitedly got up to answer it. These people he recognized as Techno’s friends from fencing class, Dream, George, and Sapnap. He once again gave them each two candy bars before leading them to the living room.
About twenty minutes later there was one final knock on the door, and Tommy gave two bars of candy each to Karl and Quackity as well.
Though he was still mad, he distributed the final candy bars to Techno, Phil, and Wilbur, before keeping the last three for himself.
“Thank you,” He whispered, leaning close to Wilbur when the credits had started rolling.
“Of course, Tommy,” Wilbur replied, knocking his forehead with Tommy’s, careful to not upset his concussion. “I’m so sorry that you had to miss the real Halloween.”
“I forgive you.” Tommy replied, fully leaning onto Wilbur’s shoulder. “Best Halloween ever.” All of their guests could stay for one more movie, and Tommy chose The Adams Family. Wilbur and Techno teased him for not picking something scarier, but Tommy could tell they were joking.
Maybe Tommy sticking around wouldn’t be so bad after all.