Cigarettes in the Snow

The beginning of the end

"Boo! Boo!"

"..."

"Boo!"

"..What is it, Micheal.." Ranboo mumbled, half asleep.

"Bo is gone, where did he go?" Micheal frowned, tugging on Ranboo's hair.

Ranboo quickly opened his eyes, only to see no one beside him. "Where could he have gone? Is he okay? Is he hurt? Did he get stuck somewhere? What if he was kidnapped!" Ranboo's mind quickly started spiraling to the worst possible places.

"Will he be back for breakfast?" Micheal asked, interrupting Ranboo's thoughts.

"Yes! I'm sure he's not..too far.." Ranboo said trying to reassure Micheal. He got out of bed and went down the ladder as quickly as possible. Tubbo wasn't downstairs or in the basement, Ranboo started getting more worried as he went to check outside. Though this wasn't the first time he woke up without Tubbo, he would always find him down in the basement asleep at his desk. He creaked open the door, to his relief, seeing Tubbo leaning on the porch.

"Tubbo!"

Tubbo jumped and immediately turned around, "R-Ranboo!" he said hiding the cigarette behind him.

"Where...Where were you last night? You had me worried sick." Ranboo said, concerned.

"Uhh, umm.." Tubbo quite literally didn't know how to respond. "I just.. took a little walk is all."

Ranboo moved closer, trying to get a better look at what Tubbo was hiding, before he even saw it he knew what Tubbo was doing. "Tubbo, why do you smell like smoke?"

"..." Tubbo fell silent. He really was stupid, he really thought he could hide something thing this big from his husband. He really thought it would just go unnoticed. Tubbo tilted his head down, staring at the hardwood floors.

—

The room fell silent as Tubbo sat at the table and Ranboo prepared breakfast for them. Ranboo was still unsure how to feel about the situation, while Tubbo just looked away, in shame perhaps?

"Bo you're back!" Micheal smiled as he ran his way to the table.

"Hi, Micheal," Tubbo said with a smile, seeing Micheal made him feel a bit better.

"Where'd you go?"

Tubbo was hesitant to respond, at this moment he knew. Micheal will never find out about this. He can't let him. He can't become reckless with it like Schlatt did. Schlatt smoked and drank anywhere and everywhere, there wasn't a moment in Tubbo's life he thinks he ever saw Schlatt sober. Tubbo had already been compared to Schlatt before, for being a tyrant of a president. But he would never allow himself to be anything like him regarding his family. He will never let Micheal feel the way he did around Schlatt. God, if he ever became that way he wouldn't know what to do with himself. Maybe it's fate, maybe it's inevitable, maybe he was always meant to play the role. Maybe he can never truly change from what he is, a tyrant and a traitor. Maybe that's all he'll ever be.