"Every good memory is one that has only been diluted with time"

Tommy ran through the park laughing, his big brother Wilby fast on his little brother's trail. When Tommy reached the edge of his park is when he saw it.

The deep red coat that went to mid-calf blew behind his brother in the wind, his gold-rimmed glasses shielded the blood eyes from the wind. He kept glancing from his book to the blond man stood beside him.

Blue eyes squinting as they watched the boys, continually sweeping golden hair out of the way with nimble fingers. His green button-down seemingly loosened more by the wind from the black dress pants he wore.

Tommy only paused for a moment before running, he squealed as the blond man picked him up, and spun him in the air.

"Daddy! Tech! Wilby and I ran 'round the whole park!" Tommy squealed, giggling more as the blood rushed through his ears.

"That sounds awesome Toms," Phil began motioning Techno and Wilbur towards the car with his head, "but it's time to go bud, the sun is going down." Tommy slumped forward slightly nodding towards his dad.

Techno sat leaning on the passenger side door of the car, Wilbur next to him. The twins were quietly talking, and as they got closer Phil let out a whistle for their attention. The boys looked up to smile at greeting to their father, who gave a soft smile back. Tommy let go of his dad's hand to get into the car. He sat behind the passenger seat and stared at the leather chair in front of him.

Exhaustion crept into Tommy within seconds after he had buckled his seat belt. He slowly leaned forward as the car started, before he could complain his eyes were closed.

Techno had yet again opened his book to read further into the Greek myth, as Wilbur put on headphones to hum along to the music. Phil stared eyes focused on the road. No one noticed the silence on that trip home.

Tommy was shaken into consciousness once they had reached the house. Wilbur had shaken his shoulder slightly too hard awakening him. Getting out of the car he made his way upstairs to his room; shallow wheezes hid from the others by distance.

Tommy just wanted to go back to bed. He wanted to curl into his small blanket pile cuddling the cow plush he had had since he was merely a baby adopted by Phil. Phil had always told him that when he began fostering the baby Henry, the cow, had been his first gift he had received from the family. Techno and Wilbur had both gotten their own plushes when they were adopted.

Techno and Wilbur were twins, they had been raised by their single mother until she sadly passed, their father having been a dead soldier in a war. Phil fostered them and took them in.

Tommy had always been jealous of that, Wilbur and Tommy wanted till the end. Tommy was a newborn left in a safe haven box a town over at the local hospital. Was he ever wanted? He knew his dad loved Wilbur and Techno more, it was obvious.

His coughing fit began, He had been getting more and more recently curling into himself on his side. He grabbed a tissue from his nightstand spitting out the pooling pinkish phlegm that had yet again risen.

All Tommy could think was, why did his chest hurt?

Did playing do this?

Maybe Tommy should stop playing he bet he could find fun things to do without running around. Maybe he could play games like Wilbur and Tech sometimes do! They'd never include him, but if he got better, he bet he could beat them!

Turning on the old computer in his room he looked for fun games, he quickly found two that mainly caught his attention 'Minecraft' and a game called 'Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion'. They seemed fun, he got to commit crimes too!!

Tommy smiled his short breaths and painful chest pain forgotten as the games downloaded. He softly hummed to the music as he began to play his games. He forgot the time passing till an hour later his dad called him down for dinner.

Tommy carefully kept the gaming hobby to himself over the next few days.

It had been a month since Tommy had gotten his first two games, he had gotten a few more since their excitement filling him more each time.

However, at the same time, the chest pain slowly worsened, and he began to cough and wheeze more. He had gone almost completely silent around his family and at school. At school he was praised for his new silence, but at home it seemingly only got him more worried looks. Aggravated by the situation he focused on the game of Minecraft in front of him.

He needed to focus right now, on two hearts in his hard-core world he was being chased by a spider in the desert. He let out a low aggravated groan as he was yet again hit by a loose arrow. Before he properly noticed, his hunger slowed him down. Before he could eat his chest swelled in the biggest burst of pain yet.

Two things happened at that moment. Tommy's character finally lost his battle to the spider, but Tommy also lost his battle with the pain. A heavy thump was heard downstairs as Tommy fell off his chair to the floor the edge of the rug barely protecting his whole head from shattering on the wooded floor.

Tommy should have been found within seconds, but Techno had asked Phil to help him with sword fighting outback, and Wilbur had left for a friend's house just over two hours ago. No one was there listening or waiting for the boy.

Tommy was found an hour later, still passed out when Phil came to see why he hadn't responded to the call for dinner.

Phil hadn't known what to expect when he walked into his youngest son's room, but the boy laying collapsed by his desk was not it. He let out a harsh breath as he screamed for Techno to call 9-1-1.

Phil ran to the eight-year-old, checking quickly for a pulse and breathing. He could barely feel a pulse but the small shallow breaths could be almost heard by something congesting his throat. He barely remembered as he relayed details to Technoblade. Phil's mind went blurry as paramedics picked up the little boy, was he always that small? He barely could hear as Techno called Wilbur to tell him, as he climbed into the ambulance, as Techno grabbed the keys to the car. He didn't say a word as he was led to the waiting room when the twins came in.

His son sat beyond doors and he watched as families were told as their loved ones died or miraculously survived. How would he react? Would Tommy be okay? He just quietly sat starring at those doors.

At home in Tommy's room a computer still buzzed as the you died screen finally dimmed.