𝙸𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝙸𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚁𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐?

|𝟙𝟙| ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕗 𝕒 ℂ𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕖

Trigger warnings: May I offer some apology fluff™️ so y'all don't hate me? 

Ring! 

Tubbo stood from his desk, the chair scraping at the floor cruelly and making a loud squeak. He winced. The class had been long, one of those subjects that sounded interesting when they first brought it up, but now it's weeks later, and you still haven't finished the unit, at this point it was just aggravating to hear the teacher drone on about it. Every. Single. Class. 

Students filed out in uneven clumps, the group of polite cheerleaders leaving first and waving bye to him as they walked out, one of his friends who hung out with them silently passing him a cookie. It was a chocolate chip. He happily took a bite out of it, thanking her with a bright smile. What was better than a free cookie to cheer you up? 

Seeing your best friend, of course! 

Tommy stood across the hall, fist bumping another guy who Tubbo didn't remember seeing before. They wore a grey t-shirt and jeans, plus a scarf, and left as Tubbo came over; not noticing him. Tommy grinned at him, sticking a thumb over at the blonde who had started talking to someone else a couple of feet away. "My tutor. Got a B on a history test. My mum's pleased." 

"Ayy! Good job, man!" Tubbo tapped him on the shoulder, sharing the smile. Tommy winced, flinching back when he was touched, making a small hiss of pain. Tubbo's smile disappeared. The blonde tried to cover it up, play it off like nothing happened, but they both knew Tubbo had seen the way that when he leaned against the wall, he kept his weight discreetly off his side. How his hair was styled lower than usual, like it was covering something. The way he was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He wasn't okay, no matter if he claimed to be. This was the third time that month he had been secretive about getting hurt, even the time he was away from school for almost two weeks he had given a half-excuse, and before it was blamed on sports and too-cluttered places, but now he just ignored it and subtly brought up a different topic. 

Now, normally Tubbo wouldn't push. He believed if someone wanted you to know something, they would try to tell you, or at least hint. Tommy was different though. He was stubborn. He would hide it until it wasn't concerning, then pretend it never happened. So, Tubbo couldn't leave it because he wouldn't talk. Actually, because he wouldn't talk, he had more reason to ask him about it. He knew his friend well enough to realize Tommy wasn't going to come out with it, and that to help, he'd have to pry a little bit. 

"Tommy, what happened to your shoulder?" He was met with a too-quick answer. 

"Nothing." Tubbo's eyebrows raised so high they got lost beneath his beanie. Tommy kept his eyes trained to a discolouration on the floor, a patch of beige-brown on the marbled grey. 

"Right. And your knee last week?" Tommy didn't reply. "The sprained ankle? The bandaged elbow? That one time you passed out in Science?" 

"It's nothing." 

"Mhm. Want half my cookie?" He had already broken off a large piece, knowing the answer. Tommy nodded. "Do you also want to play video games at my house after school?" 

"Hell yeah." Tommy ate the sweet in two bites and responded with his mouth full, crumbs spewing a bit. Tubbo sighed; but he was smiling again too. 

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

The boys were chilling in Tubbo's room, having played around on minecraft for a good two hours before sprawling across his couch and looking at twitter memes. They weren't saying anything, savouring the comfortable silence that was occasionally broken by sharp laughter they would then share after showing off whatever they thought funny. This time, Tubbo found something not-so funny. "A hero's gone missing." Tommy looked up quickly, head popping up like a gopher. 

"Who?" Tubbo clicked on the link that brought him to a news article, scanning the page for any information. The picture taking up half the space was a tall, tanned guy wearing a green hoodie and a smiley mask. He gaped at his phone. 

"Dream? Wait, really?" Tommy's eyes blinked wide, looking as stunned as Tubbo felt. The top hero? Gone? That wasn't something you'd expect to see, ever. Especially not Dream. It was an odd thing to even consider, that anyone could best him enough to capture him. If that's what happened. 

"Maybe he just decided to get away from the media for a couple of days," Tommy voiced, still slightly concerned but trying to hide it. "Gets a bit tiring, I'd imagine." 

"I don't think so... says here another hero went to his house in the middle of the night for personal business that wasn't released— Skeppy, maybe something happened to him?— and found the house peacefully empty, no sign of a fight. He hasn't been seen (phone's broken on his doorstep, apparently) and his family couldn't reach him. Scary." Tommy frowned, keeping silent. That was a surprise as well. "No comment?" 

"Eh. Probably fine. Hey, look at this stupid cat." He turned his phone to showcase a picture of a cat, half-sneeze, with meme style text reading something he couldn't understand. "It says 'I'm allergic to bullshit— and you got me looking like I got covid'!" He wheezed, and Tubbo laughed more at the sound of what seemed like his soul leaving his body more than the actual meme. 

And with that, he forgot about the hero's disappearance, until George brought it up the next night.