Wilbur could smell the rain before the clouds even came over the sky. He recognized the feeling of warm moldy air filling his lungs before a bad storm. The same way the cold settles on his skin before the sun starts to set.

Now he understood what Techno meant all those nights where he'd return early telling Wilbur it was going to storm.

When they'd all three go on walks together, he and Techno would always sense when the daylight was scarce. They'd nod to each other and tell Tommy they needed to get home. To which Tommy would respond by being shocked and complaining he can't tell when the sun was going down.

Wilbur was the most comfortable in the woods. He spent the beginning of his life trapped in an apartment with a mom balancing two jobs and a divorce. He always wanted to crack the door so he could just fall out.

When she left him in front of the orphanage in the middle of the coldest January of his life, he never felt so free yet so suffocated.

Even though he was eight, he knew his mother always resented him. He could hear her complaining to her friends on the phone when it was past his bedtime, he saw the way she glared at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. She blamed him for his father leaving.

He didn't know she was planning to leave him.

Everytime Tommy goes out into town, and everytime Techno leaves for a trip he can't help but be taken right back to the moment he realized how cold it was on those front steps.

He was tired of being abandoned. He knows they'll fight tooth and nail to come home, but even 7 years later he still has nightmares of his mom leaving him.

He doesn't like to talk to anyone but his brothers, preferring to work on his own projects in the woods. Afraid of loving someone else just to be left once again.

Sometimes when he goes to retrieve Tommy from Tubbo's house and his older brothers tell him he should stay and hang out with them he almost says yes. He knows not having friends will hurt him one day.

Maybe he'll say yes next time. Till then, he has enough to worry about.

He wipes the sweat off his forehead and sets down his tools inside the shed. He's shrugging off his jacket when it starts to pour.

It was one of those storms that didn't start with a drizzle. It fell all at once. The wind picked up quickly and Wilbur could see the ceiling start to drip.

He sighs and puts a bucket under the crack in the roof. He knew the roof leaking already was a bad sign, but even worse was the fact Tommy wasn't back yet.

It was around 9, the sun hadn't completely set but the dark clouds made it feel like midnight.

Wilbur props his pillow up and sits against the wall. Partly watching the leak, mostly watching the door.

Of course the first time he let's Tommy out on his own again is the day it decides to storm. Not to mention that Techno might be caught in this.

He starts to understand why his mom couldn't raise him anymore. Worrying about his brothers constantly makes him realize how exhausted she must've been.

He was grateful he didn't worry anyone anymore. The last thing Wilbur ever wanted was to burden anyone else.

Sometimes he just wants to sit Tommy down and tell him that he needs to be careful with who he lets in his life. That he doesn't think his heart could take seeing Tommy get betrayed by someone he trusted.

He snaps out of his sadness when the leak in the roof caves in and water starts rushing in, flooding the shed.

"God damnit." he mutters before getting up and grabbing clothes out of their basket and anything important off the shelves.

Techno always told them to never grow attached to more than one item. It would only hinder them. Especially when running away.

Techno wanted to take his red fur coat. It was too big to feasibly bring with them so Wilbur grabbed some fabric scissors and carefully cut off a small square and handed it to him the night before they planned to leave.

Tommy was thankfully never much of a material kid, whether that was because he learned everything gets taken or if he just values people more, the brunette didn't know. He ended up just taking a broken disc turned into an ornament.

Those who don't know Tommy would find it a very strange choice, but Wilbur and Techno knew how much Tommy loved decorating for christmas. They were the ones who would pick him up just so he could have the tallest ornament.

Wilbur however grew attached to objects very quickly. So picking just one thing to pack when they left took him the longest. He didn't really have anything that he'd want to take. He was leaving everything behind for his family, because they mattered more than any keepsake.

He decided he wouldn't bring anything of his. Rather, while Techno was in another boring meeting he dug through the owner's file cabinet and took Tommy's birth certificate and tucked it away in the same, small leather folder where he keeps his songs.

The teen knows this doesn't mean he's officially adopted Tommy, but having his records made Wilbur feel more prepared to take responsibility for him.

He pauses on his way out the office and considers taking his and Technos as well, but he decides it's not worth the risk of being caught. They'd be adults soon enough.

Even though Tommy didn't like going to school, Wilbur wasn't about to let him quit before even finishing elementary. Once they could find an apartment, he could get Tommy enrolled in a different school where he could have a clean start. Preferably the one Tubbo was in.

He hoped they wouldn't look too closely into Tommy's records and if they did, Wilbur would find another school for the boy. For now all he can do is take Tommy's records and hope he's making the right decision.

Wilbur sees the wall with their shelves start to lean and he rushes to grab the leather folder. The disc and coat were thrown in too but not before Wilbur was sure Tommy's official records would be safe.

He concluded the shed was only going to get worse, and as of right now, the water was rushing around Wilbur's work boots. Only when he thought that the snow was the worst of his problems, now their house was crumbling.

Wilbur felt like he was out of options. He stumbles back when the wall leans dangerously and the roof tries to go with it.

He throws a coat over his bag and takes a deep breath before heading out in the rain to find Tommy.

He wastes no time standing around in the downpour, and keeps his head down as he heads down the familiar path towards town.

The rain is already soaked through his thin coat, he's numb to the cold with adrenaline now but he knew he was gonna seriously regret this later.

The forest is dark, the occasional flashes of lightning being the only reassurance that Wilbur is staying on the path.

He hated the cold, he hated how cold he's gonna be wherever he and Tommy end up after this ridiculous beginning to his night.

Hopefully, Tommy went to Tubbo's house and that's why he didn't come home earlier.

Though, it would be very hard for Wilbur to explain to a family who thinks they have parents and a home why he'd come to collect Tommy without an umbrella and a bag.

The bookstore was closer, and Philza would be a lot more understanding. Wil decides that's a better place to ask about his brother first and takes a sharp right once he reaches the first buildings in the town.

He's rushing through the abandoned stone streets, trying to avoid the rain however possible. He really hopes Tommy was with someone and not out cold in some alleyway again.

Tommy was a trouble magnet, his extraverted and inquisitive personality always had him running his mouth all over town. Chaos attracted chaos, Wilbur supposed.

He sees the weathered bookstore sign and raps against the wooden part firmly.

"Phil? It's Wilbur, Tommy's brother." He calls from outside, hoping he wasn't already asleep.

He bounces nervously and waits for a reply, hoping he was louder than the rain. He wasn't sure how soundproof the apartments on this side of town were.

He huffs in frustration after a few minutes and begins to knock again, as aggressively as he could. The tired boy would apologize for his rudeness later, for now he had a pretty damn good reason to be impolite.

He knows there isn't much he wouldn't do to keep his brothers safe. They only had each other, if he didn't look out for Techno and Tommy, no one would.

If they ever went truly missing, no one would recognize them anyways. No one would care besides the trio.

He's shivering half from how cold it is, and half at the thought of never seeing his family again when he sees Phil turning his keys and unlocking the shop door.

"Wil? What's wrong? Come in I'll go wake Tommy." He steps aside quickly to let Wilbur in and locks the door back behind them.

Hearing the last part of Phil's words, Wilbur immediately relaxes. The adrenaline is wearing off now that he's safe and he starts to realize just how pathetic he must look right now.

"No. Don't- don't wake Tommy, please." He stutters out, which stops Phil on the back steps.

"Alright, we have to be quiet then. The guest room is just off the living room." He disappears upstairs, hopefully to find Wilbur some dry clothes.

The shivering boy takes a deep breath before walking up the stairs as well. Hoping for somewhere to just sit and figure out what all just happened.

He doesn't see Phil anywhere so he goes into the kitchen and makes sure the contents of his bag weren't destroyed. Pulling everything out, the extra clothes and the keepsakes, and lays them down on the small wooden table.

Everything was dry. Thankfully, he hangs his bag up to let it dry and grabs himself a change of clothes.

Phil tosses him a towel and points him towards the bathroom to get dried off.

After he's changed and attempted to sort out his hair, he leaves his wet clothes in the tub since they wouldn't get any drier on the clothesline right now. He hopes Phil wouldn't mind.

He heads back out, the towell still draped across his shoulders like a blanket. He steps into the kitchen to see Phil ladling soup into a white bowl.

"Sit, I reheated dinner. You need to warm up." He pours him a glass of water as well and sets it infront of him before sitting on the other side of the table.

"Thank you, sorry about all of this. He didn't tell me he'd be staying with anyone and you-"

"There's no need to be sorry Wil, I told you this doesn't bother me." He laughs slightly, trying to help Wilbur feel more at ease no doubt.

He takes another spoonful before answering. "It's still rude of us. To keep bothering you like this." He insists weakly, tired of this night already.

"Tommy was helping me, he came to thank me. Wasn't expecting that from a child, but talking to you makes me see where he must get it from.

Wilbur smiles at the compliment, and looks down at his bowl. "He really is a polite kid, even when he's pretending to be obnoxious. I'm glad you noticed that about him, not many do."

"Why don't you want me to wake him? He's worried about you."

"The shed was collapsing, I don't want him asking about why I brought a bag of our items till morning."

"Are you okay? Where's Techno?" Wilbur sets down the spoon, his appetite is gone.

"He's in the mountains, he helps the farmers out there. It-It was just me." He rests his cheek on his hand. "And it's still just me trying to figure out how to handle this."

"I'll help you Wil, you know I'll watch Tommy, and the guest room is always open." He stands up to collect the dishes out from a barely tired Wilbur. Who barely noticed the bowl was gone.

"It's really bad Phil, even if we did try to sleep in it, the blankets and pillows are definitely irreparable. It was always a temporary house. We knew it would give out eventually, just thought we'd already have our own place by then."

"Stay here then Wil. You can work for me, Tommy can learn to read and Techno can come in whenever he's back. We'll fill him in on what happened together. You don't have to be alone."

"Just till we have enough money, we won't intrude for longer than we have to."

"You're no bother, I need the help around the store anyways. Besides, it's too quiet in here." He closes the door to the ice box and turns to him. "For now, the only other decision you need to make is whether you're sleeping in the room with Tommy or the couch."

"Thank you, Phil."

With that, they go to their separate ways for the night. He opens the guest room door as quietly as he could, to see Tommy completely oblivious to anything that had happened tonight.

The storm had calmed down considerably, only the wind remained when Wilbur finally slept.