Chapter Text
Tommy slurped his instant ramen, snuggling up on the worn couch as the grime covered television screen flickered every five seconds. Tommy dropped his head back, a grumble escaping his lips as he glanced over at Tubbo at the other side of the couch. The boy boredly gazed at Tommy’s television, pressing down on red and green buttons every time something didn’t immediately catch his eye.
The boy brushed his bangs behind his ears, dropping the remote onto the table in front of them, finally settling on a channel. He then locked eyes with Tommy, an amused smile painting his lips. The sound from the television fell on deaf ears, the two glaring at each other with such a meaningless competitive spark the small house was better off igniting.
Ranboo blew out that spark before anything could come of it though, slamming the front door shut with a groan. The two boys on the couch looked over at him, Tommy stirring in place, couch creaking under his weight. Ranboo yanked his scarf off and stripped his jacket, shifting as he saw Tommy and Tubbo watch him like puppy dogs.
“Still nothing.” Ranboo said, disappointment trailing his words. Tubbo brought his hands up to cover his face, a bored whine coming out of the boy. “It can’t be that bad, at least we have the television to keep us company.” Ranboo piped up.
“Yeah, and Tommy’s channels are shit! They’re all boring news stations or meaningless soap operas!” Tubbo huffed, taking a swig of soda.
“It’s not my fault I can’t afford cable.” Tommy mumbled, sinking deeper into the couch. He went to take another bite of instant ramen, but threw the box back behind the couch when it showed up empty.
“Tommy, don’t litter. We might get rats or something.” Ranboo scolded, Tubbo snorting and muttering something about being too late. Tommy honestly didn’t listen. He could tell, despite the bickering, that all three of them were on guard. Any minute now, the letter would come, the letter that would define their entire future and everything they worked for. All those years picking up nickels and coins from the cracks of pathways or begging on sidewalks on their parents behalf, all the suffering and pain that they had tried to balance with stolen textbooks and internet searches on Ranboo’s tiny home PC and their own slow phones. They had worked too goddamn hard.
Ranboo cleared his throat, inhaling sharply as he threw the ramen cup in the trash. “What if we didn’t get in? The acceptance rate is crazy low, especially for people like us.”
“Ranboo!” Tubbo yelled, grabbing a pillow and throwing it across the room, barely missing his head. “Don’t jinx it, man!”
“ Yeah , don’t jinx it Ranboo.” Tommy egged on smugly. “Or we’ll pillow you.”
All of a sudden, a rap on the door broke the three out of their state. Ranboo froze in place, the tall boy's eyes immediately darting to Tommy. “Expecting visitors?”
“Nah.” Tommy furrowed and knitted his brows together, pushing himself off the couch and heading towards the door begrudgingly. Ranboo followed behind, Tubbo still resting on the couch with no cares in the world. That little shit… He yanked the door open, ready to throw punches if needed. His fists softened though, seeing Shroud standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Oh, hey Shroud. What’s with the visit?”
“Oh, well.” Shroud wringed her fingers together, nervously sighing. “There were three letters I had to drop off here and stuff and they were for you and your friends but uhm. They looked fancy and you know this place and how people are and it’s the middle of the night and-” Shroud babbled on, but Tommy focused on one thing. Letter. Tubbo flew off the couch, sliding next to Ranboo and Tommy with starry eyes.
“Give them over, give give!” Tubbo demanded, holding his hands out and bouncing in place. His dark green jacket bounced with him, making him look more like a feral goblin than anything. Shroud shuffled through her satchel, murmuring under her breath until she pulled out three letters. A nice, white, clean envelope was used to package them with a red wax seal that screamed money. Tommy felt his heart leaping and pounding in his chest, watching as Tubbo grabbed onto the letters and bowed at Shroud quickly. “Thank you, Shroudy! You’re the best, ok- bye!” Tubbo slammed the door shut in her face, stumbling and running toward the couch with such energy he could probably outrun an olympic trackstar.
Ranboo was oddly silent. He would usually be the type to scold Tubbo about his manners, about how ‘rude’ it was to slam a door in someone's face, but he stood in a haze. Tommy understood, of course, because he would be a liar if he said his own nerves weren’t creeping and crawling along his skin like bugs. Tubbo screamed at them to sit with him or he’d rip the seal off himself. Ranboo and Tommy slid next to him, Tubbo handing out the letters with each of their names on it with glee.
Tommy saw now why it was best to get the letters sent to his house. Ranboo’s mom would probably try to lick the wax and Tubbo’s dad wouldn’t even let him get near the letter and demand there was some mistake. At least his parents' absence and constant fridge letters led to something good.
“Ok.” Ranboo dug his fingernails into the envelope. “We all open the letters on the count of three, ok?”
“Get it the fuck over with then!” Tommy demanded, his own hold tightening into the envelope. Tubbo seemed to be shaking from his pent up energy, they had to get this over with before they all exploded from stress and anticipation.
“Three… Two… One-”
A loud rip rang through the house, Tubbo immediately destroying the envelope and unfolding the paper inside with haste. Ranboo followed, though being more delicate and placing the envelope on the table instead of letting it flutter onto the floor. That left Tommy, who carefully unpacked it and unfolded his note.
Dear Thomas S Innit,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Esempii.
Students shall be required to report to the front desk upon arrival at...
The rest seemed like a blur of words, Tommy’s hands trembling as he chuckled and wheezed. Holy shit. Holy shit . All of a sudden, Tubbo stood up and roared excitedly, tears spilling out of Ranboo’s eyes yet no sobs escaping his throat. Judging by the room, Tommy knew .
He knew they had all been accepted to transfer into Esempii. They had made it.
“To a new us, boys.” Tommy smiled.
Tommy rubbed his eyes, the three boys having fallen asleep watching some shitty show on the television and filling their faces with a bunch of ramen. Their letters laid discarded on the table, dark leaking in through the windows. Tommy felt sluggish, wriggling out of Tubbo and Ranboo’s grip as their chests rose and fell in their sleep.
The blonde yawned, creeping over to the kitchen. He could barely see anything, the only glow being the channel displayed on the screen and the digital time on the ramen smelling microwave. It was one in the morning, Tommy sighing before turning around and backing into the kitchen counter.
His father stood with his large arms crossed, towering over the boy. He was watching Tommy with an unreadable gaze. Tommy sluggishly pushed past him, another yawn escaping from parted lips. He had to show his father the letter, he knew the man would be ecstatic. Esempii was basically securing his future, securing the fact that he could get out of this rotten dump of a neighborhood with bullet proof glass and shattered car windows.
“Dad, I-”
“Come back here, Thomas S Innit, now .” His father barked out. Tommy gulped, his full name repeating in his head, his father never called him by his full name unless he was in deep shit. His mind quickly ran through what he did today. Tommy spent all day with Tubbo and Ranboo waiting for their acceptance letter, he couldn’t think of anything he did wrong.
Tommy lumbered over to his father, shrinking under the man’s glare. “Wassup, boss man?” Tommy choked out.
The couch creaked. Tommy ignored it.
“Explain to me why I come back from a long, tiring day at work and see you nuzzling up to your boyfriends .” He spat out, tone ice cold as he looked at Tommy not as an equal like he usually did but as dirt. “I knew there was something off about you and them, but I put it in the back of my head for you! Don’t you realize the sacrifices I’ve made for this family and then you go and run off with your gay friends behind my back-”
“What?” Tommy sputtered, taking a step back. “No, you’ve got it wrong. We’re not gay, it’s just we got really good news and were celebrating! Wait, what’s wrong with being gay?”
Tommy was gay. He never saw anything wrong with it. The fact that his dad was even hinting something was… The couch creaked again.
“Tommy, tell me the truth. Do you like boys?” His father asked. Tommy stared at his father, the man was scared for his answer. He could tell. The man didn’t want it to be true. Tommy took a shaky breath in before nodding. His father went silent, the tension in the air thick before he turned his head. “I want you out of my house by the end of the month. You’re seventeen, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
“Dad, I love you. Please-”
“I love you too, Tommy…” His father clenched his fists. “But I can’t take this anymore. I don’t want you getting us or yourself hurt over who you love, especially in a dump like this. Please tell me you have somewhere to go.”
“I got into Esempii, dad.”
Tommy was wrapped into a warm embrace. The man muttered a few praises to the lord under his breath. At that moment, it was only them and the two boys on the couch who Tommy knew were awake.
Esempii would be a new start, a fresh one. Where Tubbo didn’t need to worry about his dad, Ranboo didn’t need to worry about his mom and he didn’t need to worry about anything. What could go wrong?