When Things Go Wrong

Chapter 2: Relapse

Ranboo's morning started out just like any other. Until he woke up at 7 to find a large mass sitting on the foot of his bed. Ranboo's eyes adjusted to the light and realized the mass was Tubbo, with an energetic smile on his face. Ranboo flinched at the boy, and instinctively pulled the covers over his head as he reached blindly for his mask and glasses on the bedside table. He felt around for his mask, but only managed to knock over his phone. He peeked over at Tubbo in confusion, who was grinning mischievously. In the small boy's hand was his iconic mask and glasses, like they were taunting him. Ranboo groaned. "It's too early for this,''

"Nope. You are not wearing these in front of me,''

Ranboo went red and he tightnted the grasp on his covers. Tubbo crawled over to Ranboo who was slumped over in an old t-shirt and sweatpants. "Tubbo, I'm sorry,''

The tall boy buried his face in his hands, but Tubbo shook his shoulder gently. "Ranboo, I'm going to be honest, I don't care what you look like.'' His eyes were gentle, and his accent brought comfort to Ranboo. All of his thoughts were screaming at him to not listen to Tubbo and tell him he's wrong, but the tall boy didn't listen. He smiled happily, nodded, and got up from his bed, motioning to Tubbo to follow him downstairs.

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The crunchy sounds of cereal and metal spoons clanking against bowls echoed in the dim kitchen. The two boys sat at the kitchen island on stools, being as quiet as possible. They planned for an early start, and didn't want to wake up Ranboo's parents. Of course, knowing this made them even louder. It all started when Ranboo dropped the two spoons on the counter. Then Tubbo jumped in fright and Ranboo giggled. For revenge, the small boy reached into the cereal box and flung a cheerio at him. It bounced off Ranboo's back and fell to the floor. They both laughed and put their fingers to their lips simultaneously. This only made them laugh more. It only got worse as Tubbo failed to calm down while pouring milk into his cereal, and splashed some onto the counter. Rambo erupted in laughter and got up to get a dish towel.

"You know, I had the weirdest dream last night,'' Tubbo said, still chuckling a bit. "I was on the couch, and you had taken your mask off, willingly.''

Ranboo froze, his spoon of cereal halfway to his mouth. Ignore him, and he'll forget about it, the voices in his head were yelling. The tall boy hummed in response. It seemed to work, because Tubbo shrugged and went back to his cereal.

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After perhaps too much time avoiding getting ready, forgetting key items like phones and wallet, the two were finally ready to leave. Ranboo wore simple black jeans, with a grey and black checkered flannel layered over a dark blue shirt. He was feeling oddly confident that day, so he only hesitated for a moment before leaving his mask and glasses on the kitchen counter before stepping outside and following Tubbo. His light gray crewneck contrasted the emerald green backpack that was slung over his shoulder. Ranboo only lived about fifteen minutes away from the busy part of LA they were planning on going to, so against Ranboo's better judgement, he let Tubbo drive. The tall boy realized his mistake when Tubbo immediately opened the door of the passenger seat. When he noticed the steering wheel on the other side, he chuckled bashfully. "My bad- Ranboo don't look at me like that!" Ranboo shook his head.
Tubbo gripped the steering wheel, focusing his eyes on the road. Luckily, the car was fairly small, making it easy to maneuver. Still, they had barely been driving for five minutes, and Ranboo was still shocked that they hadn't crashed. Tubbo seemed to be getting more comfortable, much to Ranboo's amusement. But the small boy's jaw dropped as he started driving straight into traffic. "Ranboo- I can't do this!" His eyes went wide as he slowed to a stop at the traffic. "Quickly! Get in the driver's seat!" Ranboo laughed until he realized Tubbo's leg bouncing and the seriousness on his face.