Tommy was tired and wet, and every second he felt a new wave of pain from his right front paw. He was tempted to just lay down on the ground and give up.
But the house and the warm, yellow light from the windows made him keep going, despite his hop...
"We're going to go downstairs and have breakfast," he said as soon as he noticed I was awake. "Mom thinks you haven't come, but don't worry, we'll smuggle some food up for you."
"Thanks," I muttered back, too tired to use a nice voice, but then Tubbo and Ranboo's footsteps had already disappeared down the stairs.
I yawned. It had gotten late yesterday, but I had finally gotten to sleep. We hadn't had time to make any plans on how to deal with'the Minecraft situation', but we had agreed to come up with something together today.
And now it was just a matter of waiting for Ranboo and Tubbo to have breakfast. Hopefully they wouldn't take as long as Wilbur used to when he was going to eat.
I had just changed when I thought I heard shouts from downstairs. I frowned, but didn't care too much. Tubbo screamed and hooted all the time, it was probably nothing unusual.
But then I heard Ranboo scream:
"Tommy, it's a trap! Get out!"
His words made me stop. A trap? The calm Ranboo who screamed? I turned pale.
This was not good.
And then, I heard the attic door open, and a few moments later none other than Mr. Philza Minecraft stood in front of me, halfway up the stairs.
I turned and ran, but I had nowhere to go, so I ended up pressed against the slanted ceiling.
Phil frowned, almost a puzzled frown, and went up another step. Not more.
"Tommy?" he asked. "Is... is that your name?"
His voice had not a trace of anger or wrath in it. It sounded rather concerned, as if I were a sick child.
And that was the last straw. Everything that had happened in the last few months, all the shock, all the fear, all the anxiety, all the joy, all the darkness, all the despair, everything hit me in the stomach, making it hard to breathe. I sank to the floor.
At first it came just a little. A few drops from each eye. But then, as the emotions poured in, it became more and more. Drip, drip, drip. The salty tears flowed like rivers along the cheeks.
Stop, I tried to tell myself. You are silly. He just asked about your name. But the realization only made me bawl even more.
Here I sat, crying my soul out in front of someone I had deceived so much.
And slowly, barely noticeable, that warm embrace came. The strong but gentle hands that wiped away the tears and stroked my hair soothingly. Contrary to everything I had taught myself, I didn't try to pull away when he pulled me into a fatherly embrace.
Finally I sat there, crying in Philza's arms, and it felt nice.
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owo what is this? da_internet_cat writes a short chapter? is that even possible?
apparently.
and also i almost started crying while writing this. c!tommy is so precious
