brothers:):

chapter 13

notes: this book is now on ao3! same username and story name:)

Tubbo opened his eyes and rolled over. His clock read 12:00. He reached for his phone without thinking. Tubbo quickly came to his senses and remembered that his phone wasn't with him. It was Tuesday, 4 days since he had gotten it taken away. 

'thank god' he thought to himself. 

Tubbo got up and did his usual routine. He got dressed, cleaned his room, watered his plants and read. 

Reading was a new addition to his routine, as of this week. He had been reading the Harry Potter series over again and was on the third book. It surprised him how much he could read when he had nothing else to do.

"Toby? You better be up or mom's gonna kill you!" Lani called from downstairs.

"Don't worry, I'll live to see another day!" He yelled back.

He looked back down and tried to find where he was. His eyes scanned the pages looking for familiarity. Once he found his place, he dove straight back into the story.

Tubbo started The Goblet of Fire. He had lost track of time and didn't realize how late it was until his mom came into his room.

"Hey, what are you reading?" She asked. She hadn't tried hard to his the surprise in her voice.

"Harry Potter." He replied quickly, wanting to get back to his book.

"Okay well you can come back to it after dinner. Come down" She said as she walked out of the room.

"Dinner?" Tubbo's attention was fully on his mom now. "What time is it?"

"5:30. Now come down, we're having pasta!" She walked down the stairs.

Tubbo was shocked. He had read the day away. Sure, he wasn't complaining, but it was surprising. The more he thought about it, the hungrier he got. Tubbo ran down the stairs and sat down for dinner.

Whike he was scarfing down his food, Tubbo saw Lani lean over and whisper something to his other sister, Teagan.

"He's doing it again." She said, just loud enough for him to hear. 

He looked up and gave her a look that said 'quiet. im not doing anything.'

Lani raised her arms in a way that said 'okay sorry man'

He got back to his food. Once he was finished, he wiped his face with a napkin and sat back in his chair.

"What have you been up to today, Toby?" His dad asked him. He was still in his work clothes so Tubbo assumed he had just gotten home.

"Reading." His mom answered for him. "He was up there all day reading."

His dad looked over at him, questioningly. "Reading? Not on your PC?"

"Yeah, I was reading. I have nothing better to do so.." His words carried into silence.

"What were you reading?" His dad asked.

Tubbo knew that his dad didn't believe him. He rarely ever did.

"Harry Potter. I started the 4th one today." He answered carefully. He didn't want to annoy his dad. Tubbo wasn't in the mood to argue.

"Oh, nice." His dad replied, and got back to eating.

Tubbo felt relieved. He had nothing to hide, but whenever he was talking to his Parents, he got nervous.

After dinner, Tubbo and Lani were on dish duty.

"What are you hiding?"

Tubbo started to say something but Lani cut him off.

"And don't say nothing. You wear your heart on your sleeve. Your emotions are so easy to read."

Tubbo fell silent. Lani was too good at reading people. He once mentioned that she should go on and word for the BAU when she gets older. She had made a remark about how she would never live in America.

"Hello? Earth to Toby?" She waved her hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here. I'm fine, really. I just miss talking to Tommy." He said. He wasn't technically lying. He did miss Tommy. But thats not the main reason he was upset. He was worried about what Dream had said to him just a few days back. But Lani didn't need to know about that.

"Oh. Well you can talk to him tommorow! You get your phone privilege back." She said.

This helped raise his spirits. He had forgotten that he gets his phone back tomorrow.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He smiled at Lani.

They quietly worked together to finish the dishes.

Tubbo went up to his room once the dishes were done and showered. He hopped onto his bed and grabbed his book. 

The exchange with Lani had made him feel better. He could talk to Tommy tomorrow. And he could find out when Dream meant during their last conversation.

Time passed quickly as Tubbo was reading. He soon got tired and fell asleep with his book in his chest.

the next morning

Tubbo woke up with a start. He had that nightmare agin. Tubbo ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm down. He looked over at his clock. It was time to start getting ready for school. He noticed something unusual on his desk. 

"My phone!" He yelled out loud.

Tubbo quickly typed out a message for Tommy. 

'got my phone back bitch' He pressed send.

Tubbo got up and got ready for school. He combed his hair, got dressed, gathered his books and put them in his bag. He cheerfully went downstairs and got some breakfast.

His dad looked at him quizzically. "You seem to be happy today."

"Yeah, I can talk to my friends again." He added a bit of harshness into his voice.

His dad smiled and looked back down at his laptop.

Tubbo finished his breakfast quickly and ran out to his moms car. She came out a few minutes later.

"Well someone is happy to go to school." She said.

"Nope. Just happy I can talk to my friends. And to stream again." He told her.

"Okay, well lets get you to school."