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13

Tw - yelling, panic attacks,

Tubbo's mind was almost silent, just filled with a noise that could only be described as radio static. He couldn't think, barely aware of his own existence. He felt new. He was somewhere dark, somewhere small. He heard muffled voices and managed to recognize it as ender. His brain instantly connected that to Ranboo, and he wanted to get out.

Only, wherever he was didn't have a door. He was tired, he would just wait for a while longer before leaving.

~~~~

Two more uneventful weeks passed. Tubbo was still in the shulker box, and Ranboo refused to leave his side. Now it was around eleven at night and the house was quiet. Philza, Wilbur, and Techno were asleep (Phil and Will in their rooms and Techno with Steve.) Tommy had snuck into Tubbo's room to find the box and a sleeping Ranboo. He contemplated for a moment, before going over and sitting on the left side, on the opposite side to Ranboo of Tubbo's box.

Tubbo seemed to like and trust Ranboo, even though he hadn't been around for long, so he'd trust him-for the time being. He didn't like him exactly, but he seemed fine overall, with him being a grass-grabbing mob and stuff.

He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when he heard a small crack that caused him to jump. He whipped his dagger out from the sheath at his belt and turned to see where the sound had come from. His first reaction was to protect. Protect himself, and protect those he called family-plus the newcomer, he supposed. After a while of looking around, he saw no one else was in the room, but yet he heard another crack. This was when he noticed that the sound was next to him, where Tubbo was.

He glanced over to see the box beginning to crack open. His eyes widened and he ran out of the room to Wilbur's. What was happening to Tubbo? His mind was filled with fear, this hour becoming a waking nightmare. He couldn't resurface for a breath of air in the raging waters that were his thoughts. Overlapping screams that got lost in the din. Only one thought remained coherent within the storm. Wilbur, he'll help.

He kicked the door open, not even realizing it wasn't locked. "Wilbur!" He shouted. Will scrambled up and got tangled in his blankets, falling off the bed with an audible thump. Tommy winced and went over to help him. "What the fuck Tommy, what happened?!" He huffed out. "Did you get hurt? A nightmare? Did someone break in?" He shot question after question, not giving the younger one a chance to reply.

"Tubbo's box is breaking, I don't know what's wrong!" Tommy sounded distressed, afraid. Wilbur wasn't used to that anymore.

"Okay, let's go see what's up, but I need you to breathe with me first. You can't do anything to help if you're panicking yourself." Wilbur sat up and pushed away his blankets and fallen pillows. Reminding Tommy of the need to help would convince him to stop for a moment, Wilbur had learned. He put his hands on Tommy's shoulders. "Come on, breathe." He took a deep breath in and watched as Tommy struggled to do the same.

He kept his voice level, and tried to appear as calm as possible, as reliable and strong as possible. He let out a breath, and Tommy followed best he could, letting out a puff of air. "You're okay, come on, in again." He sucked in another breath and was relieved to see Tommy's breathing seemed to be getting better.

"And out.." Wilbur hummed as he let out his breath. Tommy followed his example. Wilbur couldn't shake the memory of post-nightmare Tommy coming to him in this state when he was younger. He never went to Phil.

"In..."

"Out..."

"In..."

"Out..." Wilbur looked his little brother over before speaking again. "Feel better?" The boy nodded, but said nothing. Wilbur didn't expect him to say anything, he would go non-verbal after bad attacks in the past too. "Okay, come on. Let's go to Tubbo now, yeah?" He rubbed Tommy's shoulder before standing. He offered a hand to Tommy and pulled him to his feet as he took it.

They walked out of the room, trying to be quiet yet quick. When they entered the room, they were surprised to see Ranboo hovering over the box in a state of panic. He would pace around the room, then hurry back to the box, reach towards it before pulling his hand back. He obviously couldn't make up his mind on what to do.

Wilbur moved forward with Tommy. He had to figure out how to calm Ranboo down, at least a bit. He grimaced before tapping the enderman. He jumped then looked down at him as Wilbur pointed to himself and took a breath. Then he pointed to Ranboo and took another deep breath.

The teen looked confused for a moment before it clicked and he began breathing to try and calm himself. Wilbur smiled reassuringly before kneeling down in front of Tubbo's box. It was, indeed, cracking. He didn't know why but he didn't think there was anything they could do but wait. He was terrified, this was one of the two boys he'd grown up with, one of the boys whom had made him smile when things grew hard. But, he needed to stay calm. There was still one other he could help, one other he could make sure was okay. "Tommy, I don't think we can do anything."

The teen hid his fear with anger instead of desperation, and shouted. "What do you mean we can't fucking do anything? We haven't even tried!"

Wilbur remained calm. In other circumstances he'd mess around with his brother but this was serious and he needed to calm him down. "Tommy-"

"No! Something has to be wrong, you can't fucking give up on him you twat!" Wilbur's eyes grew tired and old as he stood. "Maybe he's getting out. If we mess with the box we might hurt him. We should wait. It'll be okay, I know you're worried and angry, and I understand, but you need to have a clear head. For Tubbo." He hugged Tommy as he spoke, and didn't even get the bit of resistance he was expecting. The teen practically collapsed against him. He felt a pang in his heart. He hated this so much, he could feel Tommy's exhaustion. Physical and emotional.

"It'll be okay, alright? I'm here. I'll always be here. I'll always stay right with you, I promise."

"Fuck off..." He felt Tommy's hands shaking as he hugged him back, clutching onto Wilbur's sweater with all that he was worth. Tommy was trying to act like himself, trying to seem tough. He'd never let the act down for free. There were no tears now, but later, when he was alone, Wilbur knew he would scream, cry, let everything out.

He held him just the smallest bit tighter as those thoughts seeped into his mind.

I really like sibling dynamics-gives me a will to live, you can hurt so many people with using siblings in a story. :) (I shouldn't be using that face in this story now, should I.)