If We Could Go Back (I'd change the world for you)

O12

Tommy woke up to the smell of pancakes, and he frowned for a second when his fingers hit a moth plush before his memories from the previous day hit him. He let out a surprised gasp and pulled Clementine close to his face, his hands trembling as he handled the moth with extreme care.

It... it wasn't a dream!

A hesitant smile made it's way across Tommy's face before he got control of himself. Just because yesterday was incredible, didn't mean that today would be, too. Maybe yesterday was just a prank. When Tommy walked into the kitchen, everything would go back to normal and Dad would ignore him and Wilbur and Techno would glare at him.

Tommy let out a small whimper at the thought of having to go back to the way things used to be. It was just mean! How could they get Tommy's hopes up like that, just to go back to the way they always were?

Tommy didn't want to cry so he grabbed Henry and Clementine and hugged them tightly to his chest. "It's okay guys," he whispered. "We can get through it. Why? Because we're the biggest men in the world! Even Clementine, but Clementine is the prettiest one."

With a short nod, Tommy gained whatever confidence he had and left the safety of his room to walk into the kitchen.

Dad was dishing eggs and pancakes onto plates by the counter, while Wilbur and Techno sat at the table, staring at each other with weird expressions. Tommy wasn't sure what was going on with his family lately, but it was weird. Why were Wilbur and Techno looking at each other like that?

"Good morning, Toms," Phil said, causing Tommy to jump and swivel his head to Phil in shock. Did... Did Dad really just greet him? "How did you sleep?"

Tommy was still in so much shock, it took a few seconds to realize that Phil had asked him a question. Tommy pulled Henry and Clementine close to him for comfort as he looked at the floor. "Good."

Because he was staring resolutely at the floor, he missed Phil's tightening expression at his hesitant response. Phil looked over at Wilbur for a brief second before he put the plates on the table and stepped over to Tommy.

"Is everything okay, bud?" he asked, gently placing his hand on Tommy's shoulder, saying nothing when Tommy flinched.

"Mhmm," Tommy nodded. "It's... um, all good."

"Okay..." Phil didn't sound like he believed him, but he didn't push further, and Tommy was grateful for it. He wasn't really sure what was going on, but Tommy didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing and make everyone hate him again.

"Are you hungry bubba?" Wilbur called, patting the seat next to him. Tommy's breath hitched when Wilbur called him bubba, his eyes lighting up with joy. "Come sit next to me, let's eat!"

Wilbur called him 'bubba' and was inviting him to sit next to him during breakfast, Phil was paying attention to him... What was happening? It was just like yesterday! Tommy didn't know why they were acting like this, but Tommy was going to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

Tommy walked over to the empty seat in between Wilbur and Techno and sat down, hesitantly looking at Techno to make sure he wasn't angry. Techno nodded and smiled-it was tiny, and could have just as easily been a twitch, but Tommy wanted to think his gruff brother actually smiled at him, so he didn't read too much into it.

"Hurry up and eat, kids," Phil said, placing their plates in front of them. "I gotta get you guys to school."

"You're making us go to school?" Wilbur demanded, and Tommy flinched at the anger in his voice, and he quickly hunched in on himself. If he was smaller, maybe Wilbur wouldn't turn his anger on Tommy.