The Year We Had (MCYT AU)

19: Family Dinner

When Wilbur reappeared, he was smiling and walking beside a girl with salmon-coloured hair and bright blue eyes. She was laughing at something that nobody at the table had managed to catch. Wilbur was looking at her as though her laugh was his favourite sound in the world.

Phil had serious doubts about them being just friends. But he refused to embarrass his son, at least the first time he met her. Wilbur directed her over to the table, clearing his throat as the two took their seats. "Sally, this is Phil, my dad, Technoblade, my brother, and Tubbo, the less annoying of the gremlins. Guys, this is Sally."

"Hello!" Tubbo chimed, giving her a wide smile. Techno gave her a wave and a much smaller smile, and Phil smiled another one of his warm smiles.

"So nice to meet you Sally. I've heard a lot about you. Now, I'm paying for everything tonight, and I want you to get anything you'd like. My treat."

"Really, he does mean it." Wilbur confirmed, and Sally smiled at the three other people around the table.

"Thank you, that's so kind! I've heard so much about you all, Wil speaks very highly of you."

"That's a first." Techno said thoughtfully. Wilbur shot him a glare. Techno cleared his throat. "Kidding, kidding. But no, for real, he doesn't shut up about you. It's lovely to finally get to meet you."

Sally grinned at him. "And you too, Techno. I love your hair, by the way!"

Techno gave Phil a look of confirmation, that read something along the lines of 'i actually dont hate this individual', and Phil took that as an absolute win.

At that moment, Tommy returned to the table, credit card in one hand and receipt in the other. He made eye contact with Wilbur, his smile returning and his eyebrows wiggling. Wilbur made a silent promise to actually drown the little shit if he made this awkward.

But, much to everyone's surprise, Tommy sat calmly back down in his seat. "Got the drinks sorted." He handed his Dad's card back to him, and then smiled across at the newcomer. "You must be Sally. I'm Tommy, Wilbur's brother. Nice to meet you."

Wilbur stared at him. What. Tommy was behaving like a normal person. Okay, what did he do? He's guilty. He must be. Why else would he be normal and functional?

Sally gave him a grin in response. "Nice to meet you too." She turned to Wilbur, her head tilting slightly. "I thought you only had two brothers?"

Wilbur snapped out of his daze and looked back to her, nodding slightly. "Oh, yeah I do. Just Techno and Tommy. Tubbo's Tommy's best friend, so he's kind of the unofficial fourth brother."

"I'm the added bonus nobody asked for." Tubbo said happily.

"But we're very glad that you're here." Phil added on.

Everyone took a look at the menus, and the drinks arrived shortly after. Tommy tried his lemon lime bitters and immediately screwed up his face in disgust. Rolling his eyes, Techno swapped drinks with him, claiming it was to stop him from complaining all night. Phil felt pride spark in his chest. God, he was so proud of his boys.

The group placed their orders, and the kind waiter took their menus, and everyone fell into easy conversation. Tubbo was asking Wilbur about where in town the arcade was, as he had yet to go there, and Tommy was happily giving the wrong directions.

Sally had asked Techno about how he did his hair, and he was glad to tell her all about the dye he used and the ways in which he kept the colour in.

"I thought your school was strict about unnatural hair colours?"

"Oh, they are. We just told them it was my natural hair colour, and they couldn't really do much about it." He waved it off.

Phil nodded his confirmation. "Yeah, they called me about it but I just told them Techno was telling the truth. What are they gonna do about it?" He let out a laugh. "It's a hair colour, for fucks sake. It's not going to impact his learning."