It Was Enchanting To Meet You. || DNF

61. Return.

Tubbo was currently sat down on a small bolder next to Tommy, sipping on some stew and eating away at the small beans in his can, sighing in content once he had finished; it was one of the best, stomach filling meals he'd had in a while.

It was almost afternoon and while Tubbo was asleep, earlier, Sapnap and Tommy had looked over a map they had made by scratch only to find out that Tubbo hadn't wandered as far as he anticipated from Wilbur, and so they were planning to carry him back to the Head Hunter. Apparently Tommy had scout out the area multiple times and Tubbo had managed to recognize the place. The smaller brunette was nervous, to say the least; he was nervous about facing the knight again after storming off so suddenly.

Would Wilbur be mad at him? Would he forgive him? Would they continue to be friends? A thousand questions whirled around in Tubbo's head and he couldn't seem to contain them no matter how hard he tried. "Are you ready?" The voice of Sapnap suddenly snapped him out of his intrusive thoughts, slightly startling him, and just when he had finally thought that his nerves were slowly but surely calming down, they rose again, causing an uncomfortable feeling to spread across his chest and enter his veins. Almost as if Sapnap could sense his worry and uncertainty, his large hands were resting on Tubbo's shoulder, and with a reassuring smile, he said, "Don't worry. It's just Wilbur-- he loves you alot and I'm sure he'll be happy to have you back."

Even though concern circulated Tubbo's body, he couldn't help but smile at the tall ravenette, because despite everything he may think, it differentiated from the things he knew, and he knew that Wilbur would be worried sick about him. Besides, isn't that the reason why they were in the position that they were in? "You're right. Thanks, Sap," Tubbo whispered, not needing to speak any louder due to their close proximity. The ravenette just smiled and nodded at the boy, adjusting his bow on his shoulder before jerking his head in the direction of the cave's exit. "Tommy's waiting for you," he said, and with a shaky inhale, Tubbo pushed himself up from where he was sitting, his eyes locking on the said exit. With one last smile to the taller, Tubbo found his feet moving on their own, and which each step he took, an unsettling feeling crawled up his throat.

The boy's hands began to sweat and shake uncontrollably as he picked at his finger nails. His clothing stuck to him and his body reluctantly heated up because of all the emotions he felt at once. As Tubbo drew in a long breath to calm the spiking feeling he felt within himself, he was closing the distance between him and Tommy, who was patiently waiting for him, just like Sapnap had said. "You okay, mate?" The taller brunette immediately questioned, taking note of his friend's nervous-like state as sympathy and worry was evident in his voice. "Fine," Tubbo managed to quickly mutter out, flashing a smile towards the other. Though unconvinced, Tommy nodded, closing the conversation by saying, "Okay, then. Come along, now. It's a pretty short walk." And with that, they began their brief journey in near silence; the sound of the breeze flowing throughout the air was heard above them.

While walking, Tubbo could feel his heart pounding rapidly against his ribcage and he was almost surprised that Tommy couldn't hear it. Sweat beaded at his hairline, trickling down the side of his face slowly and tauntingly, almost as if it were reminding him of what were to come. Soon, black splotches began to cloud the smaller's vision, making it almost impossible to see clearly. The corner of his eyes were tinted with a threatening shade of greyish-black and as the colour kept closing in on his sight, the more he felt himself beginning to slowly slip away. "Tubbo?" A sharp voice startled him, and when that happaned, the shorter felt all unconsciousness set him free. Tubbo snapped his neck to face the taller who wore a confused and worried expression on his face. "Are you alright?" The taller questioned, and with the shake of the head, Tubbo was responding with, "I'm okay. Let's just keep going."

If Tommy wasn't convinced before, then he sure as hell wasn't convinced now, but he decided not to push the shorter, letting the conversation subside in the atmosphere. A tense silence engulfed them and it seemed as though Tubbo couldn't breath; his lungs were raw with little to no oxygen and his organs felt like they were oddly fusing and merging with one another. And to make matters worse, if Tubbo squinted his eyes enough, he could barely make out the faint figures of people in the distance which caused his heart rate to pick up at an inhumane speed. Tommy seemed like he could sense the other's stress, and with comforting, soothing words, he quietly muttered, "Don't worry. It's gonna be just okay. I'll be right with you." just as they neared the three hunters.

Wilbur was the first to notice the approaching boys, and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion when he saw Tommy coming their way, but when his eyes flickered down to the shorter boy who accompanied him, a wave of relief washed over him like a tidal one. "Oh, my gosh-- Tubbo--" the Head Hunter breathed out, and as he stumbled over his own two feet in near disbelief, he found himself standing infront of the shorter of the two; his arms circling round his shoulders. One of Wilbur's hands cupped the boy's hair in a protective manner while the other stayed on his back, keeping him in the warm embrace. Tubbo was taken aback to say the least; tears of joy and calmness welling up in his eyes. Before the smaller male could even hug back, Wilbur was pulling away from him, his pupils dilated and frantically shaking as he questioned, in a shaky voice, "Where have you been?! It had been two days and you hadn't came back. I was so worried about you."

The voice cracks which were evident in the brit's voice caused a pang of hurt and guilt to strike Tubbo's heart, and without responding, he pulled Wilbur back towards him, burying his head in his dirty shirt as he muttered out quiet apologizes, his tears having overflowed by now. "Shh, it's okay, Tubbo. You're okay," the Head Hunter immediately comforted, patting the boy's back gently and reassuringly. While all of this was happening, Tommy had managed to slip past the duo and make his way towards Ranboo and Niki who were watching the boys with fond smiles on their faces, knowing that no matter what, a friendship that Wilbur and Tubbo had would be untouchable.

"I'm so sorry for leaving, Wilbur," Tubbo repeated for what seemed to be the millionth time, the voices of Tommy, Ranboo and Niki quietly chatting amongst themselves fading out in his hearing. "No," Wilbur stated, looking to the floor shamefully. "I'm sorry, Tubbo. I understand why you left, and I apologize for upsetting you." Again, Tubbo was shocked by the taller, but a small smile soon melted on his chapped lips as he took one of Wilbur's hands into his, retorting with, "It's okay, Wil. I understand that..they're some things that you can't tell me, and that's okay." However, even though Wilbur should've been comforted with the other's spoken words, he wasn't. Instead, he just felt even more disgraceful and despicable than before. "I promise I'll tell you all about it, Tubbo. I'll tell you everything that there is to say," Wilbur concluded, not giving Tubbo any time to respond, more-or-less protest. "but in the mean time," his eyes locked onto Tommy, who was crazily giggling at something Ranboo had said. "I have someone I need to do some catching up with."

~

Sorry this took so long to come out. Been dreading this chapter because idk why, but I'm excited to start writing the others🙏🏽🙏🏽

#45 in beeduo, thank you<3

Also thank you for 1.21k reads, means alot. Mwah mwah!!