Come And Get Me

Chapter Thirteen

Ranboo and Tubbo walked back into their still empty house, both shaken from the encounter on the rooftop. Tubbo was more so angry than anything else, but Ranboo seem anxious, confused, and hurt. The pair stepped quietly through the door, and Ranboo looked down at his husband for a moment before speaking. 

"What did he mean when he said that?"

"Said what, love? He said a lot of things up there." 

"He said "He deserves better," before he left... what did he mean?" 

Ranboo anxiously looked at the ground, fiddling with the edges of his clothes a bit.

"Oh, Boo- no, no, he wasn't talking about you, he was getting on me about telling him to bring Michael back, its okay love-" 

"Oh- is that what that whispering was about up there? About Michael?" 

"Mhm, I told him to bring him back, that's all. He was just being snarky." 

Ranboo took a moment to process, still staring at the floor, then looked up a bit to meet eyes with Tubbo. He looked at him for just a moment, taking in everything he had heard both Vil and Tubbo say on that rooftop, remembering watching his husband taking out a detonator as a threat, and grabbing Vil by the collar. 

"... He called you a hypocrite. And he- he wasn't wrong, Tubs. And maybe I'm just overthinking things but when he said the thing about him being a danger... it almost felt like he was covering his pain with that sarcasm and snarkiness. I don't want to sound like I don't trust you, honeybee, but... is there more going on here than you told me? It just feels like I'm missing pieces of the story, and it felt like- it felt like you both carried the same sort of energy up there, almost." 

Tubbo's breath caught in his throat as he stared up at Ranboo in disbelief. His eyes widened, locked with Ranboo's, as he tried to hold back tears. 

No. No no no. I'm going to lose everything. He's already taken Michael from me, and now I'm going to lose Ranboo too. He's going to think I'm a bad person, he's gonna leave, but I can't keep up the lie past this point anymore. 

"...I may have left out some pieces. I didn't want you to think I was a bad person, I don't- I don't want to lose you... I'll explain everything, let me just- let me go get your book for you." 

Tubbo took a deep breath and walked away to get Ranboo's memory book, head down. When he returned, he handed the book to him, and they both sat down together. Tubbo explained that Vil had snapped from grief when his brother died, and isolated himself in Pogtopia, that nobody went to check on him or try to help except for Ghostbur, who was turned away. He explained that he hadn't felt nearly as bad about exiling his friend as he had made it sound and that he had done it in part out of anger and spite, not just to protect his people. He told him about their fight after Vil had returned from exile, about how Vil left feeling jealous and replaced. He told him about how he had fought to keep Vil and Ranboo apart from each other, out of fear that Vil would turn Ranboo against him. And after he had explained everything, he looked back up at his husband, with tears in his eyes. 

"I've been lying to you about so much. I'm a bad person, Boo. I manipulated you, I hurt Tommy... I understand if you want me to leave." 

Ranboo looked down at Tubbo for a moment before pulling him into a hug. 

"No, honeybee, I don't want you to leave. I'm not... happy that any of this happened, but I still love you, and I don't want this to be the end. I don't think you're a bad person, I think you did some bad things. We can work on this, it's okay. I love you." 

A sniffle came from buried in Ranboo's chest.

"I love you too... thank you... I'm sorry..."