~Manipulation~

21 // British Arrivals

Tommy wasn't sure how many hours had passed, but he assumed it was around two or maybe three because it now looked to be around midday. The blonde was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the front door. He took a second to look up, before looking back down at his hands.

After a few moments, it happened again - this knocking was really persistent. Tommy then realised that it was probably the others. He jumped up and ran towards the front door; only to be pulled back by his hood.

"I'll get it." Wilbur glared at him, before putting on a... charming smile? He opened the door and immediately wrapped his arms around Phil. "Welcomeeeeeeee! Oh this is going to me so much fun!" The brunette interrupted the hug to give a huge wave to Tubbo.

"Hey mate! I'll just go get our bags from the car." Wilbur nodded and ushered Tubbo inside.

Meanwhile, Tommy had begrudgingly taken a seat on the sofa and mindlessly fiddled with his fingers. Tubbo tilted is head to the side after he saw who he would consider his best friend. Why hadn't Tommy ran up and tackled him to the ground yet? He was just... motionless? Tubbo shrugged it off and ran towards the blond.

"TOMMY!!!!" Tommy flinched at the sudden noise, but quickly returned the energy once he figured out who it was.

"BEE BOYYYYYYYYY!!" Tommy leapt up from the sofa and jumped onto Tubbo's back; resulting in both of them left wriggling about on the ground. Their giggles filled the air and brought a smile to Phil's face - who had just returned from collecting the luggage.

"Tommy! Good to see you mate!" Phil walked towards the two boys, stopping slightly when he saw Tommy's face, "Tommy, are you wearing... makeup?" The blonde jumped up and began yelling a long line of swears at Phil - it ended with something like 'fuck you boomer' or something similar. "It's not an insult - I think it's cool. It's just that... you've kinda blended it horribly. Your face is all blotchy and the colour doesn't match your skin."

Tommy's grumbling turned into background noise as Wilbur offered to take the two on a tour. The three of them made their way up the stairs; leaving Tommy on his own.

The bubbly persona immediately fell as Tommy slumped back onto the sofa. He let out a sigh of relief and berried his head into his knees. At some point, his phone buzzed but Tommy was too preoccupied with sadness to realise.

After about half an hour, the others returned from their tour and had put their bags away in their rooms. Tubbo came bounding over to Tommy and flopped onto the sofa next to him. Tommy subtly flinched but quickly put on hid bubbly persona.

"Eyyyyyyy Tubbo! Wanna do something!?"

"Alright, what do you want to do then?"

"We could... play a board game? I don't really know Wilbur and I ha-" Tommy immediately stopped; a bolt of electricity ran through his body. The child turned around and scowled at where Wilbur was leaning against the wall.

"That sounds cool! I'll go and find one!" With that, Tubbo had left - leaving Tommy and Wilbur silently staring each other down. At some point, Phil had entered the room (Tubbo demanded he joined in on the board game and shoved him towards them) so they were being fairly discreet about it. Well... Wilbur was.

Five minutes later, Tubbo returned with a box in hand. "Let's play!"