Till Forever Falls Apart

Chapter One: The Boy in the Green Shirt

“Dad! May I go exploring in the woods?” Tommy called loudly from the backdoor.
    “Sure, just be sure that you are home before dinner and you have your phone on you.” He called back.
    “I have my phone! I'll be back!” 
    Then, just like that, Tommy raced out the back door in a rush of pure excitement.    
    After Tommy and his family had to move from their last home because of his mother's passing, it had been rather dreary around the house.
    His mother had brought about a light in the house that just couldn’t be replaced, and everywhere that they had looked in the old house; there she was. She was in the kitchen, humming a tune while she cooked- her brown hair swaying along with her as she danced about the kitchen. She was in the study, painting the birds outside of the window, and even letting Tommy paint alongside of her on his own little canvas. She was in Tommy’s room, tucking the boy to sleep and assuring him that she would be there in the morning. She was everywhere, anything and everything being a constant reminder of how much they missed her. Phil decided to move because he couldn’t bear the constant cruel reminders that the house gave him of his wife; he wanted to forget and pretend that everything was okay. 
    Tommy’s legs kept pulling him through the woods; the only sound was his breathing and the soft crunch of the leaves beneath his feet. He ran under logs and jumped over them, the smell of pine and other scents filling his nostrils.
    At last, Tommy found his way to a large clearing that had a beautiful pond in the center of it. The wind whistled by, causing the leaves and the grass to sway. It was simply breathtaking, many different kinds of flowers spotted throughout the clearing- causing an array of colors ranging from reds, blues, yellows and violets. Tommy refused to admit it, but he did love flowers; he held a sort of appreciation for them, but most people looked down on him for it.
    Tommy took a deep breath in and let it release. It was so peaceful out here; no new city, no new school, no stuffy houses, no mourning families, no dead mothers, no problems.
    “Hello?” A small voice speaks up from behind him. Tommy quickly turned towards it, only to be met face to face with another boy peering up at him with deep brown eyes, the boy’s equally dark brown hair partially in the way of his eyes.
    “I saw this place first, therefore it is mine. Go away,” Tommy demanded. The boy's face scrunched up at this.
    “Excuse me, dick, but I will have you know that I found this place first, so it is mine.” He rebuked, as he crossed his arms.
    “Woah, Woah, Woah, no need to use that sort of language with me, bitch. What's your name anyway little bitch boy.”
    “My name is Tubbo, not ‘little bitch boy.’ and I will have you know that I am a full 16 years old. What about you? What’s your name?” 
    “My name is Tommy; if you must know,” 
    They stared at each other for a few more moments before promptly bursting into laughter.
    “What brings you here on this fine morning then, Tubbo,” Tommy asked as he took a seat on the rocks by the lake; Tubbo hesitated before joining him.
    “Just the usual,” Tubbo replied, staring off into the murky lake water. “I don't believe I have seen you come out here before.” 
    “Yeah, I just moved here with my Dad. I have only been in town for about a week.” Tommy answered. “I've got to say, bitch boy has a better ring to it than ‘Tubbo’” 
    “Shut up!”
    Tommy finally observed the boy before him. He was short and donned a messy green button-up shirt as well as khaki cargo shorts. Blue and purple bruises dotted a few places on his upper thighs, only slightly peeking out from under his shorts, as well as a few other bruises here and there on the rest of his body.
    “Where did you get those? You have a lot of bruises,” Tommy asked him, carefully reaching out to poke one of the bruises. Tubbo hissed and violently pulled back from Tommy, giving him the dirtiest look.
    “Damn, my bad.” Tommy said, giving the boy a bewildered look. Tubbo relaxed after a moment before answering.
    “Oh, those? I'm clumsy, boss man.” He replied nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders. “Sorry for responding like that.”
    “I see, I could never be clumsy because I am just simply too poggers, and thats allright, I probably shouldn’t have tried to poke it” Tommy said, in attempts to clear the awkward air, with a lopsided smile ever-present on his face.
    “Uh-huh, then why do you have a bandaid on your face? Where did you get that from?” Tubbo asked pointedly.
    “Uh, I got that in a vicious fight against a bear. I won, of course.” He replied.
    “And the two on your legs?” 
    “Listen, it's not important. What is important is that I am not clumsy and I never have been.” Tommy rushed.
    “Sure.” Tubbo ceased.
    They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the wind blow the grass, and every once in a while they would get the pleasure of witnessing a turtle breach the surface of the water or maybe even a fish here and there. 
    Tubbo picked at the grass, absentmindedly, letting the breeze blow away the blades that had been picked from their place in the ground.
    “Mm, what’s your favorite color?” Tommy asked as he watched the clouds go by.
    “I think I’ve got to say blue.” Tubbo answered
    “Mine is red.” Tommy smiled. “Oh! Tubbo, look! Its a cat.”
    A small brown cat meowed as it slowly made its way over to the two boys; Tubbo’s eyes sparkled as it rubbed up against the boys knee.
    “Its so cute!” He exclaimed.
    “Lets name it Puss.” Tommy grinned.
    “Tommy, you can not name the cat ‘Puss’ thats just offensive.” Tubbo scolded as the cat made itself comfortable in his lap.
    “Aw but Tubbo, it fits.” Tommy whined childishly, crossing his arms as he stared down at the cat, jealous that the cat already preferred Tubbo to himself.
    “No, let’s name it Bee.” Tubbo offered.
    “You’re going to name the cat after an insect?” Tommy said judgingly.
    “It’s better than Puss.” Tubbo stated, as he started to pet the cat, which began to purr after a couple of seconds.
    “I suppose we can call it Bee.” Tommy gave, earning a satisfied smile from Tubbo.
    They spent the next couple of hours skipping stones across the lake, trying to see whose stone went the farthest, getting into an argument here and there over whose went farther.
    However, all good times must come to an end, and it was time for Tommy to go home.
    “Hey, bitch boy, I presume I will be seeing you here again?” Tommy asked.
    “Yes! This can be our little meeting spot, like a kingdom.” Tubbo replied, his eyes giving off a sort of mischievous sparkle. “It needs a name.” 
    Tommy pondered this for a moment, “What about Pogtopia” He offered. Tubbo scrunched up his nose.
    “That's a stupid name; you play too many video games.” He criticized, carefully standing up from his place next to the lake, walking ever so carefully along the rocks, fearful of the possibility of falling in.
    “Well, I don't hear any better suggestions from you, bitch boy.” Tommy shot.
    “My name is Tubbo, and I suppose that you're right.” He cedes, “But we need a way of contact so we know when to meet up next. Do you have a phone?” 
    “Of course, I have a phone- I'm 16, not three,” Tommy said as he feigned offense to this.
    “Do you have a Discord?” 
    “Yeah, I can give you my phone number and Discord,” The boys exchanged Discord users and phone numbers.
    “Aw, why did you put me in your phone as bitch boy?” Tubbo whined.
    “Because it sounds better than ‘Toobow’” Tommy defended.
    They were both cut off by the sound of Tubbo’s phone ringing to the tune of “Bumblebee.” His eyes widened at the caller ID, and he visibly started to shake.
    “I'm sorry, I really have to go. My dad is calling me and I've already been out too late,” He rambled before promptly dashing in the opposite direction from Tommy’s home.
    “What a strange boy,” Tommy mumbled, before turning on his heel and heading back home.
    The walk home was more peaceful than the trek to the clearing; Tommy was just proud that he had made his first friend in a new city and he couldn’t wait to tell his family about it when he arrived back home. Although, Tommy did wonder who had called Tubbo and caused a reaction such as that, maybe he had forgotten an event and had to get home quickly.
    Tommy allowed his mind to wander on his walk home. He hated the fact that Phil had made them move. Tommy had fought Phil for weeks after he had made the decision to move the family across the country. He just didn't see the point in moving and sure as hell didn’t want to leave the place that held all his memories with his mom, but at least this place isn’t bad either. From the looks of it so far, the people are nice and there would be plenty Tommy could busy himself with, plenty of distractions.
    As soon as Tommy opened the door to his home, the scent of freshly cooked stew flooded his senses and it smelled amazing. 
    “Hello, Dad!” Tommy shouted into the house.
    “How was exploring?” Phil asked as he walked out of the kitchen to the back door, drying his hands with a towel as he did so. The man’s golden hair was tied up in a half ponytail and a dark green apron tied around his waist.
    “It was awesome! I found a cool clearing with a pond and made a friend named Tubbo! I even got his number and Discord!” Tommy exclaimed.
    “Oh? Did you? I can't wait to hear about it over dinner, and I'm sure that your brothers would be excited to hear about it as well.” Phil smiled “Now why don't you go and take a seat at the table with your brothers, and I will bring you your food in a moment.”
    Tommy nodded excitedly- wiping off his shoes before carefully taking them off and leaving them by the door. He made his way to the dining room and took his respective seat between Techno and Wilbur. Phil had insisted on putting him in-between the two after they kept taking food off of the other's plate, which resulted in many fights.
    “Hello, you two!” Tommy exclaimed, dragging out the ‘o’ in his ‘hello.
    “What do you want, child,” Wilbur said, rolling his eyes at Tommy.
    “I will have you know that I made a friend,” Tommy stated.
    “Wow, so you actually found someone who will put up with you?” Techno hummed, flipping the page in the book that he was reading.
    “Shut up, Technoblade! At least I'm not always like ‘Oh, Theseus’ or ‘Oh, Greek mythology’ all the time,” Tommy shouted.
    “Alright boys, I think that's enough.” Phil hummed as he entered the room, two steaming bowls in hand. One of which he placed in front of Tommy.
    “But Wilbur started it,” Tommy whined, picking at his food with his spoon.
    “It doesn't matter,” Phil said sternly. “And Wilbur, your brother was very excited to tell us about his new friend.” 
    Wilbur rolled his eyes and they all said grace before beginning their dinner, Tommy immediately shoving spoonfuls of the stew into his mouth.
    “So, about this new friend?” Phil prompted in between bites.
    “Oh yeah! He is awesome! His name is Tubbo, and he is going to be attending the same school as I am. He is a bit strange, but that's alright because he is poggers.” Tommy started.
    “Oh, great. So there will be two of you then.” Techno teased, only to receive a pointed look from Tommy.
    “I will have you know that I am not strange. I am just simply the best person you know and no one has yet to match my awesomeness,” Tommy stated proudly as he shoved another spoonful of the warm stew into his mouth.
    “You are not awesome, you are an annoying child,” Wilbur added, barely above a mumble.
    “Wilby, that can not be your only come-back, you really ought to start finding new ones,” Tommy sighed.
    “Oh, shut up, Tommy.” Wilbur fumed.
    “Have you been working on any new songs, Wilbur?” Phil asked. This piqued Tommy’s interest. As much as Tommy fought with his brother, joking or otherwise- he truly loved listening to Wilbur play and even had recorded some of his songs on cassette tapes. He kept them stored under his bed in an attempt to keep Wilbur from knowing, because that would be a one-way ticket to a lot of teasing from both of his older brothers. He was glad that Wilbur still worked on songs, despite recent events. Mom was always his loudest supporter.
    “I actually started writing a song, I'm just trying to tweak the words a bit, but I like where it's going so far.” Wilbur mused.
    “Uh-huh, care to tell Dad what the song is about?” Techno snarked, earning a dirty look from Wilbur. Phil turned his attention back to Wilbur, waiting for a response. Wilbur shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
    “Uh, it's about a girl,” Wilbur muttered, “I haven't finished piecing all the lyrics together.”
    “Most of your songs are about girls, Wilbur,” Phil stated dejectedly.
    “Fair point.” Wilbur sighed “I'll be working on it some more after dinner.” 
    Tommy made a mental note of this; he would be sure to be in his room after dinner so that he could listen in. He truly did love to hear Wilbur sing. Maybe he could bring Tubbo over and convince Wilbur to play for them! Maybe Techno would even join in with his violin. 
    Some of Tommy’s best memories were when they would all be together; Wilbur would play his guitar, Techno on his violin, and they would just laugh and have fun. It had been a while since that had happened, with everything that had happened, but Tommy was determined to be able to have moments like that again, they all just needed some time.
    Dinner ended not long after, and Tommy immediately got up after being dismissed and started his way to his room.
    “Tom, you are on dishes tonight. Make sure you get those done before you do anything else” Phil stated.
    “Aw, but Dad,” Tommy whined, tossing his bowl in the sink.
    “No complaining.” Phil reprimanded.
    Tommy rolled his eyes but got to work on the dishes. He wanted to quickly go upstairs so that he might be able to listen in on Will playing his new song. That just meant that he would have to make quick work of the dishes.
    “Done!” Tommy exclaimed as he shut the dishwasher and pressed the start button. He quickly dried his hands and made his way to his room upstairs.
    To Tommy’s pleasure, Wilbur was still strumming away.
    “Yes!” Tommy cheered as he dug out his cassettes and tape deck. Just in case Wilbur decided to play something new. As he was setting up the tape deck and cassettes, Tommy’s phone pinged. 
    Oh, yeah! Tubbo! Tommy thought to himself and dived for the phone that was across the floor.