We All Fall Down

Chapter 5

Tommy and Themis went shopping for some long lasting food that Tommy would eat, and Themis brought them to a suitor. Even though Tommy disagreed with going there since Themis would recognize his outfit, Themis insisted and promised he wouldn't watch Tommy and Tommy could hide the suit from him, he'd just pay for it. Tommy ended up agreeing, simply because Themis wouldn't leave the suitor until Tommy got something. His outfit ended up being a white shirt with a red vest and black jeans. It looked really good on him, even though he'd initially disagreed to get it. They walked out of there and parted ways, Tommy saying he had something he had to do. Themis understood and left back for the house, but Tommy would make it there first. Tommy ran across rooftops to get to the house. In and out, grab his vigilante suit and leave. Tommy did make it without being seen and got away. He sat on a rooftop on a street nobody really walked along and thought about his options. He could either go to the interview and hope that it wasn't a trap, or he could continue living on the streets with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back. The right option seemed pretty obvious to Tommy, so he decided to settle for the day and go to his old apartment early morning to see what Ranboo wanted before going to the interview. He didn't want to go the same day he was told or the last day, it'd be too suspicious. He'd go tomorrow and hope for the best.

The next day, Tommy went to the rooftop beside their apartment and looked in through the windows, trying to look for movement. It was still early morning so neither of them would be at work. They would be getting ready for work though. Tommy just needed to know what Ranboo wanted and then he could leave again. Tommy watched as Tubbo walked into the living room, grabbing his coat and bookcase before walking out the door. It was a bit early for Tubbo to leave. Ranboo walked into the living room next and sat on the couch, pulling out his phone and scrolling through something. Tommy took it as his chance and threw a pebble at the window. It caught Ranboo's attention, and when he saw Tommy he sprung up from the couch and opened the window before moving away from the window. Tommy jumped into the apartment through the window and was immediately trapped in a hug.

"Oh my god I'm so glad you're ok." Tommy awkwardly hugged Ranboo back and took a deep breath, melting into the hug despite his best wishes. He really did miss Ranboo. He didn't know why he put off talking to them for so long.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine now." Ranboo pulled Tommy away slightly and started looking him over. Tommy did not miss Ranboo's mother hen instincts.

"You look so... casual. Where's your suit? How'd you get those clothes, they're huge on you. What did you mean you're fine 'now'?" Tommy chuckled and took off his mask, putting it in the bag and setting the bag down.

"My suit is in that bag, I got these clothes from some abandoned house, and I'm fine now because I wasn't fine about five hours ago but I found a healer." Ranboo nodded along with Tommy's words and continued looking Tommy over. Tommy lied on a bit of it, leaving out a big factor of anything to do with Tommy recently.

"I'm so sorry that we pushed you Tommy. We should've known you wouldn't be open to talking about it. It wasn't your fault." Well Tommy did overreact a bit but he wasn't going to admit fault. Tommy just pulled Ranboo back in for another hug, knowing his friend would need it by the trembling in his legs.

"I never really blamed you Ran. It's ok, we can talk about it now." Ranboo nodded and they sat on the couch, talking for hours about what Tommy was up to while on the streets. He had a lot of information about criminals, including the pattern difference between nocturnal criminals and normal criminals. Funnily enough, nocturnal criminals who did crime during the day was doing it against other nocturnal criminals. It was like some sort of crime prank war. Tommy found humor in watching them do it every day.

"Wait so, you saw us talking about you?" Tommy nodded and Ranboo looked annoyed. They'd gotten through everything up until last night. It was tiring to talk for so long with no sleep for the past couple of nights, but Tommy would manage.

"Yeah. Themis was there too as you guys were leaving." Ranboo looked concerned and Tommy thought back on what'd happened. He'd lost his balance, Themis caught him, Themis brought him to a healer- no, Captain Puffy. Captain Puffy found the injury, some girl with pink hair gave him water, then Tommy was being carried down the alleyway. He must've fallen asleep or something. He didn't remember leaving Captain Puffy's.

"Themis brought me to Captain Puffy. Apparently she's a healer. I'd cut my leg on a roof edge about a week before and it wasn't healing, so." Ranboo looked shocked and made a distressed warbling noise. Tommy didn't know why Ranboo was so upset about it. Tommy was fine now, no harm no foul.

"Can I see your leg?" Tommy nodded slowly and pulled up his pant leg. He was pleased there wasn't even a scar, and he'd hoped that it'd calm Ranboo. Ranboo took a few deep breaths and examined Tommy's leg. There wasn't much to see, but Tommy left Ranboo uninterrupted and waited for Ranboo to sigh out of relief before pulling his pant leg back down.

"Tommy, you should've come to us. We could've helped you." Tommy sighed and nodded. Ranboo was good at patching them up, but he didn't want to deal with Tubbo. He had decided to deal with it, and he didn't regret his decision.

"Don't you have work today?" Ranboo shook his head. Tommy thought he knew their schedules really well, what'd happened?

"My regular's pet died two nights ago so now I'm looking for a new client. It seems as though I'm losing my credibility, I haven't found anyone so far." Tommy nodded and leaned back on the couch. Ranboo normally had a line of people who need an emergency pet sitter or baby sitter. Probably didn't mean he was losing his credibility.

"I think it'll be fine. You've worked for so many people by now that it's impossible for nobody to need you." Ranboo smiled and checked his phone, probably hoping for an email or text about a job.

"Thanks Tommy, I guess I needed that." Tommy smiled and looked around the apartment. It looked organized to a stressful level, no wonder Ranboo was so anxious to leave it.

"Oh, speaking of, I'm going for a job interview tomorrow." Ranboo looked at Tommy shocked and jumped up, clearly excited.

"Seriously man? That's huge! What's the job? More importantly, where is the job?" Tommy just chuckled as Ranboo continued rambling questions at him, not waiting for answers. He loved when Ranboo got excited, it was very funny.

They ended up talking for hours, Ranboo asking questions and Tommy answering them and asking questions back. They were having fun chatting, each having missed the other's company.

"Tommy?" Tommy looked at the front door and saw Tubbo staring at him in shock. Tommy stood up slowly, getting ready to run in case he was unwelcome. Ranboo grabbed his hand and stood beside him. The small gesture made Tommy feel at ease, knowing Ranboo was on his side through it. Tubbo looked between them and dropped his suitcase, running over to them and enveloping Tommy in a tight hug. Tommy huffed out a laugh and hugged Tubbo back, excited to have his best friend in his arms again. Tubbo pulled away from Tommy and let out a breathy laugh. He looked at Tommy in excitement and shock for about three seconds before punching Tommy in the stomach, making him double over in pain.

"You're so stupid, innit. You know this? You're a bloody moron!" Tommy chuckled and shook his head, arms wrapped around his midsection in an attempt to ease the pain. "Don't laugh at me! I thought I'd never see you again, asshole." Tommy rose and pulled Tubbo in for another hug, really so he wouldn't get punched again, but he was damn convincing that it was because he missed Tubbo.

"Missed you too, Tubs. Sorry that I left, you really just should've been less of a dickhead." Tubbo sighed in defeat and leaned into Tommy. They had a lot to talk about, but this time Tubbo wasn't angry and Tommy was willing to talk, so they'd be fine.

"I'll make spaghetti for dinner."

"No"

"No"