This is going back to Wilbur's last part. It's the same day that was mentioned just before the bit with Jschlatt and Tommy (:

Wilbur had brought Deo and Bitzel to their homes and was left with Tubbo. They walked in an uneasy silence down a cobblestone path with only the sound of their shoes stepping on the ground with the occasional crunch of a leaf interrupting their thoughts. Wilbur glanced at Tubbo, who had been watching him, concerned. He made eye contact with Wilbur, quickly turning his head and clearing his throat. Wilbur looked down at his feet as they continued a steady pace down the path.

"You think I'm delusional?" Tubbo threw an uncertain glance at Wilbur without answering. The older exhaled through his mouth.

"I think it's okay to hope that he's alive but-" Tubbo started, but Wilbur interrupted, "I don't hope that he's alive, I know he's alive!" Wil exclaimed. Tubbo looked at his friend's eyes burn with the desire and determination to find Tommy as he continued to list the reasons that Tommy must live. When he had finished, Tubbo let a minute pass before he said anything. They were getting closer to the Sleepy Boys' residence.

Wilbur looked at him hopefully. Tubbo's emerald eyes that usually sparkled were dull as he spoke, "You need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, Wil." They both stopped as they reached the gate to the house, "Tommy might not be coming back. You need to- we all need to accept that." The brunette's voice cracked at the end of the sentence as he looked down, then back to his friend.

Techno and Phil were outside now to greet Wilbur. Their eyes searched for a glimpse of golden blonde hair but were filled with disappointment when they found none. They turned their attention back to Wilbur and Tubbo.

Wilbur stood there, making intense eye contact with Tubbo, his smile fading. Tubbo stared back. Tears welled up in Wilbur's eye and his mouth twisted upwards. He grabbed Tubbo's shoulders and shook him violently.

"Don't EVER say that to me again!"

He screamed.

Phil and Techno looked at each other briefly before rushing to Tubbo's rescue. They ripped a stiff Tubbo with a firm face staring defiantly at Wil with tears running down his face away from Wilbur.

He straightened himself up, nodded to Techno and Phil, and stalked back down the pathway to his home.

The two looked over at Wilbur, who stood looking at the blackening sky, his hands in fists of rage and tears still streaming down his face. His knees grew weak, and he began to shake. He dropped to the ground. Phil and Techno quickly went over and helped Wilbur back up, each taking one arm and putting it around their shoulder. The weak one turned his head and cried into Phil's shoulder while they dragged him back into the house and into his room.

-

Phil stared at Wilbur's hand that was held in his own and stroked his thumb. He had stayed by Wilbur's side as he tried to fall asleep. Every time that Phil had thought that Wil had finally fallen asleep, he ended up waking up again, needing an embrace, and needing to mourn. Phil let Wilbur hug and cry on him. Sometimes he even cried with him.

He hadn't minded.

The younger had eventually held onto the older's hand tightly and stuck his head under the pillow. Phil heard Wil's breathing return to normal. He sighed in relief. Using his free hand, he lifted his white and green striped hat off his head of blonde hair and set it down on the nightstand beside him next to Wil's map of the forest.

The sound of creaking floorboards made his head turn, his eyes meeting Techno's. It was dark, but they could still see from the radiating glow of the candlelight. Techno looked at Wilbur and back to Phil. His eyes were filled with sorrow as he kneeled down next to the bed. He set his arm bed carefully so as not to disturb Wilbur and settled his head on his arm. He looked at Phil intently.

"It's all my fault," Techno whispered, the last words turning into quiet sobs.

"No, it's not," replied Philza softly as his caring eyes searched Techno's. He reached out for Techno's hand, and he took it. The pink-haired boy closed his eyes tightly and tried to sleep. Phil looked away and leaned back in his chair, still holding both Wilbur and Techno's hands.

~~~~~

The morning had come faster than expected- like most things had been in Tommy's life for the past couple of weeks. He woke to the smell of something, but he didn't know what. He rubbed his eyes and stretched. He saw a small blanket was wrapped around him. He wasn't sure how it got there, but he guessed Schlatt had thrown it over him after he had woken up. Tommy didn't even realize he was in a different spot than he was before he had fallen asleep.

He walked over to where the smell was coming from, brushing a shrub out of the way to reveal a small campfire. The grass had been pulled out around it, turning it all to dirt. There was a pile of small branches, twigs, and leaves that were on fire. A couple of strong sticks held up a thin and flat rock. On the stone lay a fish that had been gutted and cleaned cooking on a hot rock. Jschlatt looked up at the sound of the bush rustling, and, on seeing it was Tommy, flashed a friendly smile.

Tommy smiled back and went over to observe the fire. He was impressed.

"Did you learn to do this in business school?" Tommy asked.

The businessman laughed, "No. I just read it in a book," he looked Tommy in the eyes, "Do you know what a book is?" He asked sarcastically.

Tommy let out an annoyed, "Hey!" before he weakly punched Schlatt on the arm, earning him a fake glare.

The fish tasted as good as it smelled.

"Careful, there are tiny bones that you could swallow," the older man warned. Tommy nodded his head and continued to eat his part.

~~~~~

Wilbur woke up thinking he was blind before he realized that there was a pillow on his face. He hit it off his face with one of his hands and then looked over to see a sleeping Philza holding his other hand like he had been before he'd fallen asleep. Wilbur winced as he remembered the events of the previous day and quickly switched his thoughts back to the present.

He looked at Phil again and saw his other hand was holding one of Techno's hands. Techno snored faintly with his cape wrapped around him like his own personal blanket.

Wil's brown eyes shifted to the nightstand where Phil's hat sat on top of the map. The map seemed to call out to him in Tommy's voice, I'm still waiting, Wil. He heard the smile in the boy's voice as it spoke to him. He reached out to grasp onto the paper.

He let go of Philza's hand and opened the folded map. He looked at the spot that he had explored with Deo, Bitzel, and Tubbo the day before.

Techno woke to the sound of paper unfolding. He squeezed Phil's hand, causing him to sleepily open his eyes. He perked up when seeing Wilbur awake. He then looked to Wilbur's eyes that stared at just one spot on the map.

"I heard laughter from up the stream. If we could just go check-" Wil choked up. Phil put his hands on Wil's shoulders, "We've gotta let go." He said it slowly like he was sure of himself.

He wasn't, though.

Wilbur tightened his grip on the map as Phil started to pull it away. He exhaled shakily and let go.

"Good job, Wil," Techno commended him. Wilbur nodded his head and bit his lip. Techno and Phil both sat on the bed and hugged Wilbur, not knowing how close they would've come to finding Tommy...

~~~~~

Just wanted to let you know in advance that I don't write any shipping stories since it makes me uncomfortable, so if that's the thing you're looking for, you may want to look at some other authors who do that stuff (:

Thank you for reading! I hope you come back for the next part. You can save the story to a public list or to your own private library if you want the story to be extra easy to find. Do whatever floats your boat.