Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

Tommy and Toby

"How is this happening?" Wilbur buried his face in his hands. 

Tommy and Toby turned on the TV, already arguing over what show they were going to watch. Wilbur sighed in defeat, going upstairs to change into something more casual. 

By the time he returned, Tommy and Toby were quietly sitting on the couch, fully invested in their show's episode, each boy with a container of cotton candy in their lap. Wilbur grabbed the last cookie and sat on the opposite side of the couch, extending his legs.

Before he knew it, all three of them were fully invested in the show, binging the entire season. 

"Oh, shit." Wilbur spoke hurriedly, pulling out his phone. It was already five after seven. 

"We are NOT watching Grey's Anatomy Toby!" Tommy yelled, climbing over Toby to steal the remote. 

Wilbur ignored them, rushing to the bathroom, the only place with an ounce of privacy to call Niki.

"Did you forget my apartment number again?" Niki teased, answering after the first ring. 

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Toby yelled from the living room. 

"Was that Tubbo?" Niki asked instantly, her voice sounding quiet compared to the fit of laughter that came to life in his living room. 

"Yeah, they uh, kind of showed up a day early. I meant to text you earlier but I've just been so caught up in making sure they don't burn down my building that I forgot. Don't hate me." Wilbur sighed, thankful the noise in the living room had quieted down. 

"I could never hate you Wil. I wish you told me earlier so Rori didn't have to leave, but I understand your concern for your buildings integrity." Niki laughed, convincingly hiding her disappointment. 

"Love you Niki." Wil said with a smile, relief filling his senses. 

"You too. See you some other time." Niki smiled, hanging up shortly after. 

Wilbur emerged from the bathroom, faced with a flustered Tommy, and Toby making a pained face on the couch, holding a pillow. Wilbur stopped in his track, looking around for whatever damage they must've caused.

"What did you break?" Wilbur said sternly, still scanning the room. 

"We didn't break anything. Your neighbor might've broken Tommy though." Toby spoke from the couch, hugging the pillow tighter. 

"My neighbor?" Wilbur questioned, still not used to having someone inhabit the room next door. 

"How could such mean things come from such a small person?" Tommy spoke up, still facing the door. 

"What are you talking-" 

"Wilbur you sound lovely when you play guitar! She must be tone deaf!" Tommy interrupted, running to hug Wilbur. 

"Enough! Explain, now!" Wilbur barked, shrugging off Tommy. His chest was starting to feel a bit tight. His anxiety about bailing on Niki had finally subsided, only to be replaced with new worries about how his neighbor, who he hadn't even met, was already upset with him. 

"Well she said that you're bad at guitar, you're too loud, and she's filing a noise complaint." Toby stated, counting the issues on his fingers. "Oh, and she thinks Tommy is her new neighbor, not you." He finished. 

"How on earth could all this happen in the five minutes I was talking to Niki?" Wilbur groaned, hitting his forehead with his hand. 

"Just go apologize before she actually makes an official complaint and you'll be fine. Me on the other hand? I don't know if my heart will ever recover. How dare she say such mean things about my brother." Tommy said dramatically, falling over on the couch, half landing on Toby. 

"I plan to. And you two, keep it down." Wilbur said, already walking towards the door. He walked quickly over to his neighbor's door, 606B written in faded copper letters across the middle of the door.

Wilbur knocked lightly, not wanting to validate his title of 'noisy neighbor'. He waited for a minute, not hearing any movement inside. He knocked again, a hair louder this time. Still no answer. 

He sighed, turning to walk back to his apartment. She must've left, not wanting to deal with the loud teenagers next door. Wilbur stopped in his tracks as he heard a faint high pitched whirling noise from inside. A hair dryer, maybe? 

Wilbur felt hurt knowing she was inside, choosing to ignore his peace offering. Unless that sound was a hair dryer and she was shut away in the bathroom? Either way, Wilbur couldn't help but feel a tinge annoyed that he couldn't apologize, meaning he would have to sit with this feeling in his chest until he could straighten things out with her. 

Wilbur walked back into his apartment without saying a word. Tommy and Toby looked up from the couch, eyebrows raised, eager to hear how it had gone. 

"She didn't answer. Can't say I blame her." Wilbur sulked, climbing onto the couch. 

"Her loss, you're a great neighbor man." Toby tried to lift his spirits with a smile, leaning forward to nudge his arm.

"Forget her, let's move onto season two." Tommy said with a shrug, leaning back on the couch. 

Wilbur nodded his head slightly, pulling a pillow to his chest. Despite staring at the screen for hours on end, he couldn't recall a single thing that happened in the show. He was too caught up with the situation from earlier, unable to move on as quickly as his friends. Was she actually mad? Were Tommy and Toby exaggerating? What would happen if she did file a noise complaint? 

Wilbur looked up to see the familiar 'Are you still watching?' screen on the TV. He turned to see Tommy and Toby both fast asleep next to him, Tommy snoring lightly. Wilbur smiled for the first time in hours, standing up and laying a blanket over them. He walked up to his bedroom quietly, not wanting to wake them. 

He laid in his bed, watching the ceiling fan spin lazily overhead. He closed his eyes, soon falling asleep. 

Wilbur dreamt of his neighbor. His subconscious had pictured her with fiery copper hair, piercing green eyes, and a face full of freckles. He dreamt that he was the one who answered the door, seeing her fury first hand. The dream somehow spiraled into him getting kicked out of his apartment, being forced to move in with Niki. 

"Can you make me beans on toast?" Toby said quite loudly in Wilbur's ear, poking his face, ripping him from his dream. 

"Tubbo.." Wilbur groaned into his pillow, shoving his face into it. 

"Tom said I'm not allowed to use your stove or I'll catch something on fire." Toby shrugged, still standing next to Wilbur. 

"Yeah, well I guess Tom is probably right." Wilbur said while rubbing his eyes, slowly sitting on the edge of his bed. 

"Jerk." Toby scoffed, heading out of the room. "I like lots of beans by the way." He said over his shoulder before heading down the stairs. 

Wilbur laughed under his breath. It was always like this when they visited. He walked over to the railing that looked over the living room just in time to see Toby dive onto his couch, toppling over Tommy. 

"Fuck off dickhead!" Tommy said aggressively, trying to push Toby away. Toby acted like a limp noodle, his arms still flayed over Tommy. Wilbur laughed at the interaction below, making his way down the stairs and into his kitchen. 

He cracked open the can of beans, adding them to a pot on the stove that Toby must've prepared before Tommy stopped him. 

The three ate breakfast in silence, their bodies thankful for something other than the sugar-filled empty calories from cookies and cotton candy. 

Wilbur cleared the plates, setting them into his half full sink of dishes. His attention was pulled from his mundane task as a quiet melody of humming quickly came in and out of earshot as someone walked by his front door. 

The hum was the tune of one of his unreleased songs he had teased on Tommy's stream the other night.

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(1,339 words)