let me down slowly - wilbur soot

chapter 23- target

(A/N BEFORE WE BEGIN: I'M FULLY AWARE THAT THE UK DOESN'T HAVE TARGET- BUT I REALLY WANT A TARGET SCENE AND THERE'S REALLY NO EQUIVALENT OF TARGET [AS FAR AS I'M AWARE] IN THE UK SO NOW THERE IS ONE HAHAHA NOW ENJOY THE CHAPTER)

once the four of us finish our food, tommy announces that our next destination is target. the three of us stare at him questioningly. 

"i swear there's a reason!" he defends. "i don't want to say exactly what, but it's for where we're going tomorrow. and it's going to be super fun, actually. so we have to prepare." tommy pulls out his notes app on his phone, a shopping list written on it.

wow. he's prepared.

i drive to the target that's only a few miles away. i pull into a parking spot and the four of us get out of the car. tommy sprints ahead, grabbing a cart and excitedly reading things off his list.

"so we need snacks, and a bunch of matching clothes," he says quickly.

"matching clothes? are we going to look like a white family at disneyland?" tubbo asks. aubrey snorts.

"well... uh... not COMPLETELY matching. okay." tommy clears his throat. "i feel like if i say this it's going to completely give away where we're going."

"we'll try not to read into it too much," i offer.

"well... okay. what are your hogwarts houses? mine's gryffindor."

"i'm a slytherin," aubrey says. "though i don't see why that's relevant."

"i'm a slytherin too!" i say, turning towards her. aubrey's face lights up and we fist bump.

"i'm a hufflepuff," tubbo admits meekly.

"that's cute," aubrey laughs.

"shut up!"

tommy nods as he writes all of our houses in his notes app. i go along with his plan to check for shirts with our houses on them, even though i have no clue what he's doing.

he finds a harry potter section in the store and pulls out four black shirts, two having the slytherin crest on them, one with gryffindor, and one with hufflepuff. he also insists we all buy black high top converse and those big, fleece, trendy zip-up jackets.

"we're gonna look emo," aubrey says as she examines the black jacket.

"as if this doesn't match your aesthetic perfectly," tommy shoots back.

we buy a bunch of snacks, including crisps, candy, and gum. after purchasing everything, tommy checks his phone and beams.

"i'll admit, i don't really have anything planned until dinner," tommy says. "i think exploring would be fun though!" aubrey nods.

"i've never been around this area. i'd like to look around," she says. tommy and tubbo race back to the car, leaving aubrey and i to carry the heavy bags. i offer to carry all of them, but aubrey insists on helping.

"they never run out of energy, do they?" aubrey remarks. "it's fascinating. i'll never get over it."

"honestly," i agree. "must be nice to be a teenager still."

we get to the car and find tommy and tubbo in the backseat looking at places to go. tubbo suggests the lanes, which is a really pretty neighborhood with shopping areas and cool places to walk around. none of us have ever been, so we agree that's where we'll go.

it's a half an hour drive, so tommy sets up his phone to record us doing carpool karaoke.

"i want to choose the music," tommy says, grabbing aubrey's phone plugged into aux.

"hell no," i say quickly. "you're gonna start playing stupid music again."

"no i won't!"

"yes you will." i try to grab the phone away, but his grubby hands hold onto it tightly.

"stop it! it's my vlog! you're ruining everything!" i turn to aubrey to see her trying her best to hold in laughter.

"a little help?" i ask her. "it's your phone."

"i think you got this covered." she winks at me and i groan, leaving me to deal with the spawn of satan alone.

"one song," i tell him, letting go of the phone. "and it better be appropriate."

"sheesh, fine, DAD," tommy says, putting emphasis on the "dad." he scrolls through music for a while before turning on your new boyfriend.

"change it," i say.

"no!" tommy yells back. "i chose a good song!"

"it's not appropriate."

"you fucking wrote it!"

"which is how i know it's not appropriate."

"how is it inappropriate?"

"i... um... say arsehole in it..?" tommy scoffs as he lets the music continue to play.

"nice try, ARSEHOLE. we're playing it. and i better hear you sing."

"life isn't quite what i thought i'd be, when i was a kid on voip," tubbo offers from the backseat, singing along with the song.

"i thought when i'd get older, i'd marry her, i told her," aubrey joins in. my heart freezes as i realize who's singing.

"you know this song?" i ask, turning my head towards her.

"eyes on the road!" she says, pointing out in front of her. "and yes. of course i know this song. you wrote it." my cheeks flush a subtle pink.

"i never told you about this song, though."

"tommy did." i flash tommy a dirty look in the rear view mirror and he offers an awkward smile.

we get through the entire song, my nerves easing up with every lyric aubrey sang. it really flattered me that not only does she like my band's music, but likes my music.

tommy quickly snatches the phone after my song ends before i can catch him. i groan as he turns on another song, praying that it's not i'm in love with an e-girl. because that could end badly.

but to my surprise, he plays life by the sea. tubbo's song.

"NO!" tubbo screams from the backseat. "OFF! TURN IT OFF!"

"is this you, tubbo?" aubrey asks as the song starts.

"UM... NO?"

"it's catchy!" tommy says. "and aubrey's never heard it before. come on!"

"NO!"

"uh oh! on the trending tab!" i sing along with the lyrics. "hope this won't be ending bad!"

"checking analytics is like working in a forensic lab!" tommy joins. tubbo whines from the backseat and pouts until the song is over.

throughout the car ride, we listen to a variety of artists, such as twenty one pilots, khai dreams, glass animals, the neighbourhood, and more. once we finally arrive at the lanes, the four of us eagerly exit the car to move on to our next adventure.

(A/N THANK YOU GUYS FOR 52K READS!!!! i'm so happy with how this story is progressing and it's all thanks to you guys :D i'm very grateful for all of you <33 i hope you enjoyed this story! it's gonna be sort of filler until what's going to happen the next day and OMG I'M SO EXCITED TO WRITE THOSE CHAPTERS YOU HAVE NO IDEA okay anyway i hope you enjoyed this chapter! if you did, it would mean a lot if you voted, commented, shared, and added this story to your reading lists! :) MAKE TODAY A GOOD DAY!!! and i love you!)