In The Name Of Love

If I told you this was only gonna hurt

Ranboo turned off his computer feeling tired but also a massive sense of accomplishment. He had hit nearly 100,000 views on his most recent Twitch stream. It was 11:45pm already. Normally after a long, late stream, he would watch a couple minutes of someone else's stream. Usually the one he raided, then he would fall asleep from exhaustion. Ranboo almost forgot to do that this time.

Although he had raided Slimecicle, he'd barely noticed how high his viewer count was until he ended the stream. His tiredness had nearly consumed him.

He could still continue his tradition of watching someone else's stream. He looked at the channels that were live, Slimecicle and- Tubbo...

Being the one he raided, Ranboo decided to start watching Slimecicle. It looked like he was doing a fun stream.

His eagerness deflated as soon as he clicked on Slimecicle's channel. Because the second he got to the live stream, it ended. "Goddamn," Ranboo muttered, shrinking in disappointment.

However...

There was another person that he knew was live,

Tubbo

Ranboo's cursor roamed across the screen, approaching Tubbo's channel like a forbidden door. A door that was locked for so long, cobwebs grew all over it, dust covered every edge, filling all the nooks and crannies. His cursor was the key, one that would find its way to unlock the forbidden door.

A small click escaped his gaming mouse.

Tubbo's energetic voice made its way into Ranboo's headphones. His British accent, his alight tone, his happy voice. Ranboo would always wonder how Tubbo managed to be such a positive ball of light nearly all the time. The more he listened to Tubbo's voice, the more he missed him. The messy nostalgia flickering in his brain. Ranboo's emotions screamed out in disarray.

A small teardrop ran down his cheek. Such simple movement, yet so much weight. Another teardrop rolled down his cheek. He hadn't watched a Tubbo stream in so long. He hadn't raided Tubbo in so long. He hadn't even talked to Tubbo in so long. It's been months since that happened. No, a year. No, over a year. Where in time did he exist now?

What even happened?

Ranboo remembered the memory clearly. He could still visualise and hear everything in his brain from all of his senses.

Tubbo tapped the side of his head, "hey Ran, get out of your Enderman state. Wanna get your swimming costume and swim with us?"

Laughing, Ranboo replied, "it's not called a swimming costume."

"Whatever you Americans call it idiot," Tubbo giggled, "are you doing that nail polish stream anytime soon? Can I paint them?"

The taller one chuckled, heading to the bathroom to get changed. It was as if Tubbo knew when he was ready because as soon as Ranboo finished putting on his swimsuit, the shorter one rapped at the door.

"Yes, I'm coming!"

The next few moments flashed out into blurriness as they excitedly ran towards the pool. "Ran, I'm gonna push you in!" Tubbo yelled ecstatically.

The shorter yelped as a force against his back shoved him into the pool. He could feel the bubbles streaming out of his mouth and rubbing against his face as he swam upwards toward the surface.

"Take that beeboy!"

"See, maybe you shouldn't have gotten married to this man on the Dream smp!" Tommy yelled.

Ranboo was too busy laughing at Tubbo until Tommy pushed the taller one in as well. Ranboo yelped as he felt the cool water splash against his skin, a faint scent of chlorine in the underwater surroundings.