Will Them Into Existence

Two Pennies

"Was that fucking Tony Stark?" Dean asked, pulling out of the school parking lot with his eyebrows raised. He glanced at Wilbur from the side of his eye, who held the two boxes in their hands, blinking fast and looking forward.

"I- yeah. It was." They responded, finally looking down at their hands. They paused for a few seconds, holding their breath, before bursting into full body laughs. The brunette man in the driver's seat looked over worriedly, but the teenager waved him off.

"He- he got us phones. Tommy and I. With his number loaded on them." They held the boxes up and shook the black one, smile planted firmly on their face. "They're even our token colors, Dean! I mean- how the hell is this happening?"

"I take it that means you got the scholarship?" Dean said, throwing his turn signal on and pulling up to a stop sign.

Wilbur shook their head, giddily tapping their feet against the car floorboard. "Not a scholarship. An internship."

The brunette man looked towards the teen in surprise, eyes lighting up. "Kid, that's awesome! I bet you're stoked, huh?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I am." They shrunk back down in their seat, tapping the box gently against his leg. "But..."

"But what? No buts! This is amazing, Wilbur, and you fucking idolize that man." Dean scoffed, lightly lifting a hand and hitting it against their shoulder after receiving a nod. "Always have."

"I know, I know, it's just- with all the stuff going on lately, do you really think it's a good idea? To be working with- to be working so far away from you? And Sam?" Wilbur said, knocking their knuckles together.

"I understand what you're saying. But I also understand that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. For Tommy." Dean pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car, moving around in his seat so that he faced the green haired teenager on the passenger's side. "And it's something you could do together. Give you some more time with your brother, yeah? Gods know you both need it right now."

Wilbur huffed, laying their head back against the car door. "I hear you. But still, I...I don't know. I'll have to talk to Toms. I don't even know if he'd be up for it anymore. Considering the way things have been going for him these past couple of weeks, I would understand if he, like, wanted nothing to do with anything anymore."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows, and leaned closer to the teen. "Wilbur, you know none of anything that's happened is your fault, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Tommy doesn't think it's your fault either. I can promise you that, kid."

Wilbur rolled their eyes, unbuckling and getting out of the car, closing the door to the impala gently behind them. They made their way to the stairs, the brunette man following gruffly. "Wilbur, I'm serious. Nobody thinks it's your fault, because it isn't, but especially not him."

"I know he doesn't think that, dumbass, I'm just saying I wouldn't blame him if he did." The green haired teen said, sticking their key in the door and wiggling it open. "He's been through a lot recently. He's bound to have some feelings about it."

Dean stuck out his arm after the pair made it through the door and shut it behind them, stopping Wilbur in his tracks. "Yes, he'll have feelings. But that doesn't mean they're bad ones, and that doesn't mean they're against you."

The green haired teen took a deep breath, pushing past the brunette man and hanging their coat up on the rack. They turned to him again, face set. "You've got to understand, Dean. My brother isn't a fighter. He can't live this life. Not the one that we lived- that we live. If he knew half the shit I've really been through I think he'd never sleep again." Wilbur laughed hollowly, leaning back against the counter. "My brother wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Wilb-" Dean started, being cut off by a loud sigh from the opening of the kitchen.

"If I had a penny for every time my brother was talking about how something would impact me without asking me, I'd have two pennies." Thomas said, walking into the room with Wilbur's own NASCAR sweater on (a gift for his 13th birthday from Tommy, far too small for the green haired teen now that they'd had multiple growth spurts, but almost the right size for the shorter blonde- Wilbur had been tall even at that age). "Which, granted, isn't a lot- thank god- but it's still strange that its happened twice."

The blonde leaned against the counter across from his twin, head in his hands. "Even stranger granted that that's the very same brother who basically just swore off secrets."

Wilbur sighed, hitting their head against the kitchen counter. "Shit."

Tommy laughed, moving around and making three glasses of water, handing one to Dean and sitting one beside his twin's head before sipping his own. "Yeah, shit. So what are we talking about? Something like I wouldn't hurt a fly if I heard you right?"

The green haired twin lifted their head, gripping their glass of water and downing almost half of it in one go. "Yeah. Uh- Tony Stark came by school today. Said we got the scholarships if we want them."

The blonde almost spit out his water as Dean came around the counter to pour his own down the sink, instead cracking open a beer from the fridge. "What? Wilbur, that's awesome!"

"That's what I said." The brunette man commented under his breath, leaning against the back counter.

"But, you're changing the-"

"More of, uh, internships, actually." Wilbur dug their hands into their hoodie pockets, pulling out the two boxes and sliding the pink one towards Tommy, keeping the black one for themself. "He also got us these. His numbers on them."

The blonde picked the box up carefully, examining it with still wide eyes. He did that for a beat, and then narrowed his eyes, setting it back down on the counter and looking up at his brother. "Okay, that's really cool. Like, madly cool. But, we still need to talk about whatever you're thinking. That- that what? I can't handle the real side of things? Because trust me, Wil, I can handle plenty."

Wilbur nodded, reaching out their hand which Tommy latched onto gratefully. "I know you can handle...things, Toms. I'm sorry. That's not what I meant." They cleared their throat, tapping the counter with the tips of his fingers. "I just- the things that happen- the things you start to see. Once you deal with the first thing, there's already a thousand more just waiting for you to notice. And sometimes, they don't even wait. They're just there. And there's no preparing, and there's no warning. It just happens. You got your first taste of that." They motioned to his side, which very obviously still ached if the way he was sitting was any indication. "I want it to be your last. But I know that it won't be. Now that you've crossed the threshold, there's no going back."

Tommy squeezed his hand, small smile appearing on his face. "You underestimate me, Wilbur. I think, with Dean and Sam helping teach me and you helping protect me, I'll be just fine. Maybe you'll even let me protect you from time to time, but I'm smart enough to know that's wishful thinking." He picked up the pink box on the counter with one hand, shaking it lightly as his smile grew. "Besides, with Stark Technology? We'll be basically unstoppable!"

Behind him, Dean groaned, throwing his head back against the cabinet. "Oh, gods, you're gonna turn into mad scientists. I fucking hate smart people."

Tommy laughed manically, and Wilbur leaned down to take off one shoe, throwing it at the man with only half of of their strength.

———————-

double post for my favorite person ever <3 enjoy big w