two weeks

Stress

"Uh Wil, you had a meeting 15 minutes ago."

Wilbur jolted up from his desk in panic, "FUCK. NIKI YOU SHOULD HAVE REMINDED ME." The meek receptionist Niki peered over to him from her desk. "I.. did?" she tilted her head in disappointment and sympathy. Just as Wilbur opened his mouth to answer, a loud crash was heard down the hall. "Hey kid! What are you-" the security called from the distance. Wilbur groaned as he heard a familiar cackle. 3 o'clock already? He thought to himself. "Hey Tommy!" he called to the chaotic teen. "Get over here." Tommy frowned and trudged over to his 'grumpy writer' big brother. "Hi Wil." he spat, sulking. "Don't sulk Tommy, I told you to ring the bell when you come in from school." Tommy muttered something about showing Wilbur a bell and walked off. He waved idly to Niki as he sat in the waiting room of Wilbur's office, took out some homework, and waited for Wilbur's shift to end.

Niki frowned at Wilbur trying to help Tommy with his homework. Sure, it was adorable, but Wilbur was too overwhelmed. "Hey Wilbur," she called quietly. "Come over here for a second." Wilbur patted Tommy on the head gently and walked over to Niki. "What can I do for ya Nikster?" Wilbur joked and smiled, but Niki could see the cracks in his facade, the pressure was too much for him. "I. Uh, look Wilbur, don't take this the wrong way, but-" Wilbur tilted his head in confusion.

"I think this is too much for you." Niki flinched, expecting more excuses and lies. But Wilbur's lip just trembled. "I.. I have to be strong for Tommy. He needs an important figure in his life. But I just-" Wilbur's voice broke. "I don't know if I can do it, Niki." Niki smiled sadly. "Wilbur, Phil would be so proud." Wilbur flinched at the mention of his father. "You're trying so hard, but everyone needs help sometimes. I know someone who can help look after Tommy, someone great. You need to finish your book or you're fired. We both heard Clay say it." Wilbur thought for a moment, "Someone.. to look after Tommy?"

"Hi, I'm Techno, nice to meet you Tommy." Tommy stared at the pink-haired man in disgust. Wilbur strained a smile, "Tommy. Say hi to Techno." Tommy kept staring, "No." Wilbur smiled at Techno and grabbed Tommy's arm, "Sorry Mr. Blade. Just give us a moment." Techno raised his hand in dismissal. "Completely fine."

"Tommy. We talked about th-" Wilbur began. "NO!" Tommy shouted back with tears in his eyes. "I won't let you replace Phil." Wilbur looked at Tommy in surprise. "That's not what th-" Tommy refused to listen "NO. NO. NO. Tell him to leave." Wilbur teared up. "Tommy, please. Don't make this harder than it has to be. You have no idea how hard it is for me to do this. Please Tommy. I can't-" Wilbur was interrupted by a small cough. He jumped in surprise to see Techno in the doorway, "Bad time?" he asked quietly. Tommy looked down, feeling quite bad about the fact he had been screaming to get this man out of his home 30 seconds prior. "Uh, no it's fine." Tommy replied timidly.

"Nice to meet you, I guess." he mumbled. Techno smiled warmly. "It's my pleasure."

Techno had been looking after Tommy for about a week now, and Tommy was having the time of his life. He expected Techno to be this boring old man. Who the fuck puts "English major" on their resumé? Wankers, that's who. This overgrown man child matched his energy perfectly.

Wilbur was doing great. He had actually slept for the first time in years. His boss was happy with his books, he was happy, Tommy was happy. But, he felt as if this Techno guy was going to replace him. This possibility made his heart hurt.

It was a Saturday! Wilbur's day off and Tommy was ecstatic. Non-working Wilbur was fun! "Hey Tommy, guess what?" Tommy was bouncing with anticipation. "What? What? Tell me, prick!" Wilbur laughed at Tommy's impatience. "I'm taking the week off!" Wilbur beamed as Tommy practically launched off the ground. How did this kid never run out of steam? "What do you want to do today, big man?" Wilbur asked. Tommy puffed up with pride at his nickname, he WAS a big man. "Chill day? I feel like we haven't talked in a while." Wilbur's heart swelled at these words, how could this chaotic gremlin be so sweet?

"Sounds good, kid."

It did not go well.

Wilbur and Tommy curled up on the couch, and browsed Netflix for a while. Wilbur eventually gave up on finding a movie and turned to Tommy for a chat. "So how's life going Toms?" Tommy smiled, although it faltered for a moment, long enough for Wilbur to know something was wrong. "It's going great! It's just, that is, the-" Tommy paused and looked away. Wilbur placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, hey what's wrong?" Tommy tried to speak but let out a heartbreaking sob. He said something unintelligible through his cries. Wilbur frowned at Tommy's sudden breakdown. "Hey king, it's okay. Just breathe. What's wrong? You can talk to me." Tommy tried to breathe through heaving sobs. "I m-" He screamed in frustration at his inability to speak. Wilbur tried to soothe him. "It's okay, it's okay. You don't need to talk." Tommy calmed himself down and buried himself in blankets. Wilbur sighed and let the exhausted teen sleep. Whatever was wrong would have to wait.

Tommy woke up late into the evening, and let out a confused whimper due to him not being in his bed. "Shh, it's okay Tommy. You're on the couch. You're at home, it's safe here." Wilbur soothed. Tommy looked up to see Wilbur's eyes red rimmed from crying, "Wh' you cry'n?" he said quietly, still half asleep. Wilbur shushed him again, "Don't worry about me. Go back to sleep."

No one ever worried about Wilbur.

Wilbur waited for Tommy to fall asleep and slowly removed himself from Tommy's tight embrace. He walked over to his room, shut the door and sunk onto the floor and cried. He would call Niki.

"Hi Wil! How was your day with Tommy?"

"I'm a failure." Wilbur choked out through sobs.

"What? What happened? Are you okay? Should I come over? No. Fuck it. I'm on my way, bye."

"Niki-" Wilbur cried through the phone, but she already hung up. Wilbur felt the urge to just scream. He couldn't. Tommy was sleeping. Wilbur needed Phil more than ever. He was weak. Tommy deserved better. Wilbur would be fired and they would be back on the streets. As he cried silently to himself, he heard a loud knock on the door. "Wilbur? Let me in!" He dragged himself off the ground and opened the door to a concerned Niki. "Oh, Wilbur. You're a mess." She pulled him into a tight hug as he cried. He brought her into the kitchen of his dingy apartment and put on the kettle to make her a cup of tea. "No. Wilbur, I'll make the tea. You sit down and tell me what happened." Niki ushered him towards the chairs and he sat down.

"I fucked up Niki." Niki frowned. "I sat down with Tommy, and I asked him how life was going. And he just fucking broke down Niki! I don't know what's wrong. I can't even help my own brother. He fell asleep, and.. and-" Wilbur choked out a sob once again. "The publishers called me." Niki didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence, "Oh Wil, I'm so sorry."

"I can't even write a good book, Niki! Writing was all I had!" He shouted in frustration. Niki thought for a moment, "There's other publishers, Wil. They might like your book. I know they will." Wilbur shook his head, "Clay. He gave me two weeks. Two fucking weeks! I'm fucking done Niki! I can't even pay rent."

Tommy stood behind the door, and listened to Wilbur cry. His stomach bubbled with anger at the publishers, and panic at the prospect of homelessness again. He had to do something about it. He had to.