I'll always be here for you (Even when you hate me)

*Cutely turns your crime bois into engineers*

A/N:
Sorry for not posting, I kinda forgot this fic existed, haha.

I'll work on it now, I swear!

On the bright side, I promised myself never to upload without having some sort of writing, so ima share what I've been up to !!

The metallic sound of cogs clanking penetrated Tommy's ears as he and his older brother walked through the factory. He really should be used to the sound by now, but he wasn't. It still bothered him for some reason. The factory smelled of rust and oil. Tommy winced again as Wilbur opened a hatch, and it released a high-pitched creaking sound.

"Wilbur, you're going to kill us if you're not careful," Tommy grumbles, eyeing his older brother carefully as Wilbur enters the boiler room. As soon as the brunette opened the huge bronze doors, steam billowed out, causing the pair to cough rapidly.

"Relax! I've got things under control," Wilbur exclaims, very clearly struggling to even breathe because of how hot the room was. It was quite obvious that Wilbur did not have things under control.

"Uh-huh," Tommy mumbles, giving Wilbur the most unimpressed look he can muster.

"Do you not trust me, Toms?" Wilbur asks, looking slightly offended.

"Yes, actually. You are trying to fix a leak in the boiler room, and you have no idea where it is," Tommy says wryly, narrowing his eyes at the other. Wilbur scoffs at this and decides to ignore Tommy's comment as he continues to struggle to find the leak. Tommy watches in amusement as the man finally finds the leak and starts inspecting it.

"Are you almost done?" Tommy whines, getting bored already.

"Yes, I'm almost done. Stop complaining, Tommy. It doesn't speed up the process," Wilbur says, looking exasperated.

"I'm still gonna do it." Tommy grins as Wilbur glares back at him.

"Gremlin child,"

"Old man,"

The pair falls back into silence as Wilbur pulls out a scrap of bronze metal and starts screwing it in place. Eventually, Wilbur finishes and turns to Tommy.

"I told you I wouldn't kill us!" Wilbur exclaims, looking satisfied with his work as he and Tommy start making their way back to the village.

"For once, you've actually done something right. I'm impressed," Tommy says, grinning at his older brother. Wilbur rolls his eyes and playfully shoves Tommy.

"Why must you have an answer for everything?"

"I'm just quirky like that."

"Never say that again. It sounds pretentious,"

"You'd think that would be the point - "

"Shush gremlin, I know better than you," Wilbur says, attempting to cover Tommy's mouth with his hand. Tommy successfully avoids this because he is cool like that.

"Says the man who eats sand,"

"Says the child who eats mud,"

"You couldn't figure out seven plus four yesterday." Tommy lets out an indignant noise as Wilbur shoves him again.

"I thought we agreed to never bring that up," Wilbur grumbles, cheeks going slightly red in embarrassment.

"Correction, you tried and failed to make me agree to that." Tommy smirks as Wilbur tries to ruffle his hair and fails.

—

"Why can't Wilbur's lazy ass collect the damn wood himself," Tommy grumbles to himself, kicking the ground as he walks down the dusty forest path, picking up pieces of wood every now and then. It's a tedious task, so Tommy decides to make it easier for himself by trying to identify all the bugs he sees.

Tommy was inspecting a weird bug that looked like some sort of cross between a grasshopper and a stick bug when he finally pays attention to the rustling of leaves.

"I know you're there. It's better to come out now," Tommy deadpans, trying to remain calm and ignore the sudden racing of his heartbeat.

"Took you long enough to realise I was following you," a person deadpans back, stepping out of the leaves.

Tommy recognises that voice–

Tommy whirls around immediately, eyes widening in shock. Sure enough, the person had platinum blonde hair and was wearing his signature purple sweater.

"Long time no see, eh?" Tommy laughs nervously, looking at the ground and avoiding Purpled's eyes.

"You left me alone." 

Purpled was purposely trying to provoke Tommy. It was so obvious, yet the golden blonde bristled up anyway, "I had no choice, and you know it."

"There's always a choice."

"You're right. The choice was escape or die,"

"I wouldn't have let you,"

Tommy pretends not to hear the slight crack in his former best friend's voice as he finally manages to find the courage to look into Purpled's eyes. The second he does, Tommy immediately regrets it. Rage and coldness burn through the same eyes that used to look at Tommy with such warmth and fondness.

"I-I know you wouldn't have, but you need to understand I was scared. I was a scared child who didn't know any better."

Tommy's voice starts to break slightly, too, as unshed tears blur the golden blonde's vision.

"So was I," Purpled says simply, turning away from Tommy.

The room goes silent as both the boys fight back tears, not wanting to look weak in front of each other.

"...I missed you, y'know. I don't know why, but I thought that maybe you'd come back for me," Purpled admits quietly.

"I'm sorry… I just couldn't—" Tommy's voice breaks off.

A/N
I have a few more wips I'll be willing to share every now and then :D

Hope to get the next chapter out soon !!