Friends, maybe.

Ew, dreams.

TW: Isolation, Nightmares

Nothing. 

An endless expanse, plain white fog stretching out forever. Devoid of any noises, any colors, any movement. Well, not quite any movement.

In the center of the area, if indeed there was a center to this infinite plain, Tommy sat up. He glanced around, trying to figure out where he was. Everywhere he looked, he was greeted with nothing. Groggily, he tried to stand up, but it felt as though his limbs were being held down: too heavy to lift. His confusion slowly began to turn to panic. 

"Hello?" he called. The noise, rather than echoing, seemed to be sucked up, swallowed by the silence. All at once, he became very certain of one thing; he was utterly, completely alone.  Dread filled his veins like ice. His attempts to stand up became a desperate struggle as his breath hitched in his throat. He was alone. Nobody else to help him. Nobody.

A hissing whisper filled the space, causing the boy to jump.

"They're not here. No friends to save you now," Tommy gulped, glancing around for the source of the voice. 

"Why would they be? What's so special about you anyways?" The voice crooned  almost sympathetically "They're never coming back. Just remember that, Tommy. You're all alone."

And the room was filled with sinister laughter.

*

Tommy jolted awake, gasping for air. His heart was pounding so loud that for a moment all he could hear was the thump, thump, thump of his heartbeat in his ears. Slowly, he came back to reality. He was home, in his bed, safe, and... alone. The familiar sounds of his parents making breakfast weren't drifting up from the kitchen. The panic he had just felt flashed back momentarily - until he spotted the alarm clock on his bedside table. 10:06 in the morning. They were at work. 

With a sigh of relief he swung his feet over the side of the bed. Say what you will about nightmares, the leftover adrenaline made it a lot easier to get out of bed. He shuffled around, getting ready for the day while he thought about his dream. Sadly, it was not the first time he had had it. In fact, this was beginning to become a recurring incident. The setting wasn't always the same, but there was always the voice. And it always said the same thing.

"What's so special about you anyways? You're all alone."

He exhaled sharply. He wasn't alone, was he? Wilbur and Techno and Phil hung out with him! Though it was true that they were calling him less and less nowadays, unless they had a stream planned already. But there was Tubbo! Admittedly, he was now hanging out with Ranboo more, but they still talked, didn't they?

He pulled a soft blue hoodie over his head and made his way to his stream set up. The monitor lit up as he turned it on, opening to discord to see... no new messages. That was fine though, it was ten in the morning. What streamer held such a regular sleep schedule so as to be awake at ten in the morning? If anything Tubbo probably just went to bed. He would just go get some breakfast and then come back, and maybe he'd have a couple more messages then.

The cold whisper came back, interrupting his thoughts.

"No wonder they don't want to hang out with you. That's how little effort you're going to put in? What if they're on the other end, hoping you're going to send them a message. But really, at this rate? It's more likely they're hoping you don't."

Tommy shivered. Maybe they were waiting for him to start the conversation. Quickly, he typed out a quick message in the SBI group chat, asking if they wanted to go on a call later, and maybe stream some. He waited a moment, but nobody was online, so he made his way downstairs to grab some breakfast. 

A few minutes later, armed with some warm buttered toast, he checked back in. Phil and Wilbur had responded, and he presumed Techno would be asleep since it was the middle of the night. Eagerly, he read the messages.

<Phil> hai mate, that sounds good. give us a shout when you want to hop on call 

<Wilbur> which vc?

<Wilbur> im streaming with the manifold boy later so cant stream but we can talk :)

<Phil> oh i forgot im also in that stream. still down to call tho

<Wilbur> he forgor, as they say

<Phil> shush, son

Tommy grinned, but his heart felt a pang as he read the last word. Phil had never called him son before, though he frequently called him child. Was that how he was seen? As an annoyance, something that needed dealt with to stay pacified? And of course they had something else planned. They streamed every day, why had he expected them to be free to hang out with him all day?

"Clingy..."

He grimaced. They were probably waiting for him to reply. He typed something quickly.

<Tommy> no worries, we can just chat for now.

<Tommy> vc 2?

He joined the call, taking a deep, steadying breath. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying to rid his head of the intrusive thoughts. The low chime notified him that someone had joined the call, so he blinked open his eyes.

"Big man Wilbur!"