sing me to sleep [wilbur soot]

21. BACK IN MY ARMS

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chapter twenty-one:
third-person POV
The Watson's House
Brighton, England
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Wilbur showed up at exactly 3pm, sharp. Gemma felt unreasonably nervous to stand before him, but the more she looked at him, the worse she felt. His clothes were wrinkled and messy (probably from sleeping in them) and he looked like a mess, his hair was greasy and tangled, his eyes dark underneath. His skin almost seemed pale, like every living color had been pulled out of him. Gemma knew she didn't look much better.

She wanted to put the color back in his skin.

Phil talked to him first, in low, hushed voices, while Kristen led Gemma to the living room to sit down amongst the fluffy blankets. With a pause, she whispered to Gemma,

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Gemma whispered back and the woman nodded, passing back into the foyer. As she came back, she brought Wilbur and Phil into the living room and sat them down. Suddenly, an awkward pause of silence grew before Wilbur sighed.

"Uhm. How do we even start this?" Wilbur asked, leaning back, "because it's just one big clusterfuck."

"Do you want me to explain what I think happened first..?" Gemma asked softly, watching for Wilbur's reaction. He nodded and she sighed heavily. They had never been so tentative around each other, she felt like she was walking on eggshells. This was awful.

Well, here went nothing.

"I got back from therapy and Doctor Hawthorne had told me to call Fiore and talk about what had happened during TwithCon... so I did, I uhm, I called her— well technically she called me, and I picked up. She apologized for everything, told me she was going to therapy and hadn't been diagnosed yet, but that she was in Brighton to get tested for something, I guess."

Wilbur made an odd face, but didn't interrupt, so Gemma continued.

"She then abruptly ended the call, which is usual for her, she gets distracted super easy. I took a nap because I was socially exhausted, I woke up, went to the bathroom and then laid in bed for a bit longer, maybe five minutes, before she texted me and said she was sorry and that she was right and she.... she sent me a picture." Gemma held her phone up to show the picture to Wilbur. He simply nodded and it made Gemma feel sick and pissed. He didn't deny it was him, he didn't clap back with anything, he just agreed? Had he cheated? Was this real? She forced the emotions down with a swallow as she set her phone down.

"Then she came here." Kristen said softly, rubbing the juncture between Gemma's shoulders to calm her down. The tensions were thick enough to cut.

"Okay, do you want me to explain my side now?" Wilbur asked and Gemma nodded.

"I left the house after you went to call for therapy and record. I stopped for petrol in my car and then I went to that store you like to get the salad, the one that's like not a lot of calories or whatever but still fills you up? Getting a bit off topic but while I was there I ran into Fiore, she came up to me and started apologizing in the middle of this store and god it was so awkward. She said she'd been going to therapy and they'd already diagnosed her with somethings and that's why she'd acted out. I didn't want to just turn her down in the store so I said it was fine and then she bought the salads for me to like 'make it up to me' or whatever," Wilbur pauses, "She told was in Brighton visiting her girlfriend and asked me to help her find her hotel, I didn't think anything of it. I helped her back to her hotel and she invited me for drinks but I told her I was already late to meet up with you for dinner and she told me you'd be fine if I just stopped by to meet her girlfriend. I did... I uhm, okay. Gemma, listen to me, this sounds bad but just let me explain. I went in just to meet her girlfriend and while we were talking, I noticed Fiore was talking on the phone a little bit away from us in Italian. I had no idea what she was saying. I ended up just ignoring her until her friend just grabbed me and kissed me, I... I had no idea what was going on. I panicked, and played it off like a joke. I left and called you to see if you were still up to eat dinner with me, but when you didn't pick up I started to piece things together."

"She fucking planned this." Gemma grumbled, putting her head in her hands.
Wilbur didn't pause, he moved over to Gemma and pulled her into his arms.

"And she's gone. She's never going to do anything like this again." Wilbur murmured softly. Silently, Kristen nodded her head towards the kitchen and Phil took it as a motion to leave. The two got up and left, leaving the younger couple to talk.

"I'm so sorry I should've talked to you." Gemma whispered, letting Wilbur curl her into himself.

"No, it's okay. You've been hurt like this before, haven't you?" He whispers and Gemma nods, "I'm not surprised, I'm not hurt, I'm just glad it was a misunderstanding. You know I'd never do that, I promised you months ago I'd never ever do that, that I'd never let anyone treat you like that. I wasn't lying."

Gemma giggled, tears springing in her eyes, and Wilbur didn't hesitate to wipe them away. They sat in silence, Wilbur holding the small, 5'5" woman in his lap as she nuzzled her head under his chin.

"I love you." She whispered and he smiled, "I love you too."

"I'm telling my mom what Fiore did. She can handle the whole 'yelling at her' part of this. I just don't ever want to talk to her again."

"And you don't have to. Just make sure you also tell Clay so he doesn't beat my ass." Wilbur snickered and Gemma burst into laughter, gripping Wilbur's hoodie to keep herself from falling off his lap.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll call him tomorrow. Same with my mom." She leaned against him and sighed, "I'm glad this was just a misunderstanding."

"Me too, baby, me too." Wilbur ran a hand through Gemma's hair, sensing her exhaustion as she slumped against him. She'd been crying all day, a nap wouldn't hurt, right? He started to him La Jolla, kissing the side of her head occasionally, until her breathing completely shallowed out and her grip loosened on his clothing.

"So I don't need to call Georhe back here to fight you?" Phil leaned on the door and Wilbur laughed.

"Tubbo could beat me up better than George." Wilbur shrugged, looking down at his girlfriend as she slept,

"He wouldn't hold back." Phil smiled, "oh, Wil, she left her medicine at your house so when she gets home make sure she calls her doctors office to see what they need her to do with that."

"Yeah, I will... hey, thanks Phil. Seriously. Gemma needed someone in that moment and I'm glad it was you and Kris." Wilbur shifted so he was partially laying down.

"Of course, Wil. Hey, you two are welcome to stay for dinner if you want, but let her get some rest." He pushed himself away from the wall with a lopsided grin, "and I told you so."

"Fuck off man." Wilbur chuckled as he combed his hand through Gemma's hair while she writhed in her sleep and Philza took that as his excuse to leave them alone again.

Thank god everything turned out fine in the end.