Weeks passed by. Tommy was still bitter about Phil, Techno, and Wilbur. Jschlatt stayed with the boy even though it was safe for him to go back out into the open. They had both gotten used to sitting by the large tree by the calm stream every night, staring up at the stars and drifting off to sleep next to a crackling campfire.

Schlatt had made a fishing pole a while back and dug up some worms to use as bait. There was a pond with another larger stream running into it hidden behind the brambles of the berry bushes that they had found together one day while they searched for more berries. They cleared a path down to it and rolled a log next to the water where they would sit and talk or just sit in the quiet with only the croaks of frogs with the fishing pole dipping into the water. There somehow always seemed to be fish or, on occasion, frogs to eat from the pond. Tommy wasn't too fond of frog legs, but it was food, so he ate it.

It amazed the boy to see how much the businessman knew about gutting and cleaning fish and frogs. It was probably thought of as a stupid or unneeded thing to know since things those days were often packaged and prepared in advance. 

All the man's skills and hidden talents astonished Tommy, and he made sure to let him know. Schlatt loved that his young friend noticed his abilities and soaked in all the compliments, not even bothering to thank him. Tommy marveled at that, too. Hearing the words 'thanks' and 'thank you' after a compliment made him feel like he should say something else back, but he never knew what to say. Jschlatt would simply nod his head smugly since he already knew how great he was.

-

Another morning came, and Schlatt woke up yawning and stretching to the sounds of birds chirping. The sun peeked over the treetops that lay in front of him. Tommy was still sound asleep with his face facing the businessman. The nights were getting colder, and the animals weren't as plentiful. They had attempted to sun dry the majority of their berries that they collected, but they were all wasted. They were running low on food.

A warning that the next paragraph mentions falling from a lengthy height and a slight struggle underwater.

Tommy's arm had been getting better each day. It had come to a point where he was able to take the cast off and just let it hang off to the side stiffly. He had told Schlatt the horrid story of how it had happened: the unbearable embarrassment of being accused of something he did not do, the judging eyes of his former friends, piercing him like arrows, the agony he felt from their disappointment, and the inner urge for him to step off and leave them behind. He explained the rush he felt as he fell from a pretty tall cliff and the shock of the freezing water that slowed his fall. He told him about how his arm hit a rock under the water before he had slowed down enough. He explained his struggle to breathe as he swallowed the murky water and the relief of reaching the surface. He told the story to him without his voice wavering, but he was undoubtedly still not comfortable talking about it.

Schlatt didn't ask any more questions.

Tommy stirred next to him, and he looked over at him. The boy rubbed his eyes and blinked several times.

"Good-morning," Schlatt said, patting the kid's head.

Tommy replied mid-yawn, "Good-morning, my friend!"

Schlatt rolled his eyes as he got up, "I was thinking that I could head to town and get some extra blankets since it's getting colder." He turned around to look at Tommy and found the boy's eyes distrustful. "I'm not going to leave you if that's what you're worried about, kid." He kneeled down and put his hand on his shoulder, "You could always come with me, and I could take you back home-"

Tommy quickly interrupted with a loud, "No!" The boy looked away, "No... I just meant-" he sighed, "I trust you."

The businessman smiled and stood up, "I'll be back in no time at all."

The man looked to the tree where he had first found Tommy and then to the bushes he had trampled through by that tree. He looked at the way the stream flowed and clicked his tongue. He started walking away, and Tommy felt his stomach turn.

Please come back.

~~~~~

It was around seven in the morning when Phil, Techno, and Wilbur had all started to head down to town. Phil had gently suggested that they go take down the missing posters of Tommy, and they agreed. They walked through the streets of their town that was never too busy and began going into the shops asking for the poster of Tommy in the window. The shopkeepers would sometimes ask why or if they knew the boy. When they answered their questions to satisfaction, they were handed the poster.

Techno stared at the small stack of posters with the picture of a smiling Tommy looking at him with daring eyes and felt himself die a little on the inside as the voice kept screaming a whisper to him, It's your fault. It's your fault, Techno. He folded the papers in half and headed to the next store.

-

Wilbur stood in a camping supplies shop, browsing the store while waiting for the line to deplete. He had already gone to several shops that he spotted Tommy's face peeking through the window and taking the posters. Wilbur stood in the aisle, not realizing that he was blocking a shopper's way that just happened to be Jschlatt.

"Excuse me, sir." Wilbur looked up to the suit-wearing man in surprise and apologized.

"My bad, sorry." He stepped out of the way. The businessman's eyes got caught on the posters in his hands. Schlatt could feel the fear fill his eyes. Wilbur noticed and opened his mouth to say something but Techno and Phil had found him. The three matched the description Tommy had given him. Schlatt had almost asked their names, but they had dragged the other away before either said anything else to each other. Shaking his head, he walked over to the counter to check-out two large woolen blankets.

~~~~~

Tommy had been waiting for Schlatt. He hadn't moved from his spot by the tree since his friend had left. It seemed a lot scarier being alone than he remembered. The sky was starting to slip into darkness, and Tommy began shaking uncontrollably. He's not coming back, he's not coming back, his brain chanted.

He pulled his legs close to his chest and covered himself in the blanket, "He's not coming back. He's not coming back." His soft sobs echoed under the blanket and to the trees around him.

There was a loud rustling of leaves before he heard Schlatt groan, "My legs are killing me, man. It took so long to get back." He sighed as he came and plopped down beside Tommy. He knocked on the blanket that covered the boy's head, waited for a second, and then pulled the blanket back to reveal Tommy, the boy frantically wiping the tears off his face as they kept falling.

"Hey," Schlatt said gently, grabbing a blanket and unfolding it. Several packages of dried food fell out onto the ground. He delicately adjusted the blanket around Tommy and pulled him into a hug, "I came back."

-

Once again, morning came. Schlatt and Tommy shared a large package of dried ice cream along with beef jerky for breakfast until Schlatt started to talk, "Y'know..." he began, "I think I saw your friends at the camp store. They were holding pictures of you." Tommy's heart ached as he looked into the businessman's eyes, "They looked pretty miserable." Tommy didn't answer and just looked away to focused his attention on one spot on the ground.

The boy thought about everything, and they sat in silence together, Schlatt waiting for his answer sanguinely.

His friend sighed, "I think you should go back home, Tommy. We can't hide out here forever as much as we'd like to," he turned his gaze back to Tommy, "But I want this to be your decision."

He looked into Schlatt's eyes, determination set in his eyes, "I think- no," he corrected himself, "I want to go see Phil and Techno and Wilbur."

Jschlatt nodded with a smile hiding behind his serious expression, "We'll leave in a couple days and head down the way the stream flows. And then..." he paused, feeling melancholic as he realized that his adventures with the kid would soon be over.

Tommy raised his eyebrows, "Then what?"

Schlatt rolled his eyes; he'd been doing that a lot lately, "Golly, kids these days are so gosh darn impatient. I'll tell you when we get there where we go from there. Cheeses fricking crust..." (We're PG here, kids)

Tommy frowned, "I'll have you know that I'm not a kid, I'm a man, you cretin, and I-" the man just cut him off, saying, "Sure, sure. You're quite the man."

~~~~~

It had been a few days since meeting the strange man in a wrinkled suit. Wilbur couldn't help but think there was more to it than on the surface. Going back to their encounter, he remembered the man's eyes panic, like he had recognized Tommy from the poster. He had wanted to ask if he had really recognized him, but Techno and Phil had ushered him away, wanting very much to continue their work taking down the posters.

He had walked away, but the hunch that the businessman knew something about Tommy tugged at his brain. He hadn't liked that he had just popped into the town one day and then left without a trace. Wil didn't like the way the man dressed, the way he talked, the way he walked, the way he smirked, or anything at all about him. He is not a good man, the boy's mind deceived him, it's his fault that you haven't found Tommy.

-

Wilbur sat at a small, square table in the dining room that was set for three people for a late lunch with Phil and Techno. It was the first dinner that they would have all together since Tommy's accident. Techno pulled out a chair to the left of Wilbur and sat down in it. Phil came over with a whopping, still boiling pot of soup and set it down on a trivet that settled on the table.

Phil sat down in his chair to the right of Wil and scooted closer to the table. They all acknowledged to themselves the empty spot that Tommy would've sat at had he been there.

Phil cleared his throat, knocking himself and the others out of their heads. He looked to Wilbur, "Can I see your bowl?" Wilbur nodded, handing it to him. Phil filled it with the soup and passed it back to Wil. He did the same to his and Techno's bowl. They sat there quietly in the strained atmosphere, slurping their food, and all thinking the same thing.

Tommy would've broken the silence by now.

There was a knock at the door, and they all looked at each other. Phil carefully got up to go to the door, and Wilbur and Techno followed. Phil's hand turned the knob and swung the door open. It opened to reveal a tall man in a suit with his hand on the shoulder of a boy...

Tommy.

~~~~~

Thank you for reading this chapter; I really appreciate it! It would mean a lot to me if you could vote or leave a comment telling me what you liked or didn't like about the story and/or your suggestions for the next one. I'm newer to the Sleepy Boys community (as of early September 2019), but I'm really enjoying it so far. I've seen a lot of things with Philza and Redza (???) that I don't really understand, so if you suggest that I probably won't be able to write about it, I apologize. Thank you again for reading! <3