dream, who'd finally come out of his reverie, saw the situation in front of him unfold in silent shock. just as he was about to go over to wilbur, a trigger was pulled.

time itself slowed down as he ran, dropping everything in his hand.

but it was too late. a bullet rips through schlatt's gun and hits wilbur square on the chest.

⊰⊹

his eyes shot open, involuntary tears dripping down his sweaty cheeks. his breathing was heavy, eyes wide as tried to calm himself down.

it's just a dream clay. get yourself together.

a few minutes go by and his breath evens, and he grabs a hold of his spiralling mind. he wasn't back there. no, he was far away, safe and sound in london. it was just a stupid nightmare.

the nightmares had gotten less frequent over the years, something he took as a blessing and a curse. at first, he went to bed every night expecting them, so they hurt less and less. but he got cocky. it got to a point where he thought they had stopped altogether, so he slept with a smile on his face.

he should've known better.

he sighed, picking himself off the bed and stretching his limbs, basking in the morning sunlight that barely peeked through the blinds. he yawned loudly and slipped a shirt on before taking an exit and walking out of his room. just as always he followed his routine, and his first stop, the workshop.

"morning sir!" one of his employes greeted, sliding out from under a car.

"good morning miguel! you uh seen tommy? he wasn't at the house."

"oh he took jerry's car for a test drive." miguel answered, sliding back under the car.

"ah okay, text me when jerry calls okay?"

"sure boss."

dream nodded to himself and carried on with his day, going to his next stop in the morning, coffee.

"good morning clay!" karl greeted with a cheery smile. the blond smiled back, greeting him as well, just as sapnap walked up behind the brunet.

"you're up! hey!"

"hi." he responded simply, following their lead to their local cafe. it was their daily stop at this point. they all take their usual seats at one of the tables on the outside of the establishment and get their orders.

but the blond seemed a little out of it to the couple. he sat there quietly, staring into the busy street beside them, his eyes all dull and glossy.

"clay...?" the blond didn't move at all, as if he didn't even hear karl.

"what's wrong?" sapnap asked, sensing the sudden change in mood.

dream turned his head slowly and gave them a strained smile before answering. "nothing."

"nightmare?" karl asked, knowing all too well that 'nothing' meant something.

dream nodded, not wanting to elaborate any further.

"it's been eight years clay, they'll go away soon okay? i promise."

dream just shook his head again, sipping on his coffee instead of giving them a reassuring reply.

⊰⊹

the car skid on its wheels spinning in circles leaving tire marks all over the concrete floor. adrenaline flowed through his veins, his blond hair blowing back in the rush. he whooped in ecstasy, feeling alive and ready to take on the world.

"tommy....what the heck are you doing?"

the car came to an abrupt stop, causing both passengers to lurch forward slightly. tommy looked over to see a frowning ranboo, clearly unimpressed by his antics. the blond offered a sheepish smile, earning an eye roll from the taller.

"if something happens to the car before we deliver it to jerry, clay and dad will skin us alive." he huffed, glaring daggers at tommy, his tone warning.

"relax ranboo, i worked really hard to modify this car. i won't let a single scratch on it just enjoy the ride my man"

and without a another word, tommy steps on the gas, albeit a lot slower this time, much to ranboo's relief.

they drove through the familiar roads, a calm quiet taking over the car. it was quite rare, moments like this, where tommy wasn't talking.

just as they turned into the quieter of the suburbs, they noticed a young guy, about there age, standing at the intersection with his hand out, like he was asking for a lift.

tommy turned towards ranboo with an eyebrow quirked up, nudging his head towards the guy. the brunet simply shrugged in answer, and tommy started slowing the car.

"he's coming this way." ranboo noted, seeing the guy had finally noticed that they had stopped for him.

"i think he needs a lift." tommy said, stating the obvious.

"you sure we have time? i think he could find another ride."

"oh come on ranboo don't be a dick."

ranboo scoffed and crossed his arms. "fine whatever. don't come at me when clay gets mad at you."

"oh he can never be mad at me."

ranboo rolled his eyes and watched as the guy knocked on their window, causing tommy to roll it down slowly.

"hello?" tommy asked, eyeing the boy curiously.

"oh hi thank you so much for stopping seriously, you're like the first of 10 or something."

"oh no worries mate, you looked a bit...lost"

"yeah...oh i'm tubbo by the way."

"i'm tommy. can i help you maybe?"

"uh yeah actually, my car kinda gave out. it's ancient." he pointed to the other side of the curb, where tommy could barely make out a bright yellow car.

"oh right. "

"yeah i was in a bit of a rush. i've got to get to the mayors officer. my brother wanted me to get these in to get his restaurant registered."

"oh why didn't you just take the bus? it's like what a 30 minute ride from here?" tommy turned to ranboo, who nodded in confirmation.

"um yeah the problem is that the office closes in like 10 mins" he answered, looking down at his watch.

"oh fuck alright thats not a problem. hop in." tubbo's face broke out into a wide smile, his eyes filled with gratitude towards this stranger.

"thanks mate, i really appreciate it."

"na thank me later, you can hop in the back with ranboo. he's my friend."

"sure," tubbo opened the car door, smiling at ranboo shyly before taking a seat on the other end.

the blond takes this as his cue and rerouted, taking a left instead of their usual right. most of the ride was speedy, the three of them whizzing past the many houses and street lamps. but soon they were in the city, and the roads were filled to the brim with cars. it was rush hour after all.

"shit there's a lot of traffic." ranboo pointed out.

"oh don't you worry about that." tommy grinned to himself, silently thanking his uncle for teaching him all these little tricks.

he reversed slightly, until he was in line with a park to his left.

this is so illegal.

he shifted his gear and lurched forward, the car jumping slightly as it went over the pavement and into the grassy hillside.

"tommy what the fuck stop!" ranboo yelled to no avail. tubbo gulped nervously, clutching tightly into his seat belt.

"oh don't worry." he pushed on, swivelling every so often to avoid hitting the few pedestrians in the park. it was utter chaos, but he was so close, he just had to get through this final stretch and they'd be right at the gate.

"watch out!" tubbo screamed this time, but it was too late. the blond hadn't stopped in time. luckily, it wasn't too bad. they just crashed through a large glass display filled to the brim with balloons, completely shattering it and driving on as if nothing had happened.

they finally made it just in the nick of time, coming to a stop right in front of the gates. tubbo was quick to get out, rushing to the gates to peer in. he sighed in relief when he saw the office was still open.

"oh my god its still open. thank you so much man you really saved the day. sorry bout your car through." he thanked, pointing apologetically to the various scratches and dents the front of the car now sported.

"oh don't worry, i own a repair shop, we can fix it easy." tommy brushed it off casually.

"oh wow that's really cool. thanks again, but i should get going. bye!"

"bye tubbo!"

"bye!" ranboo said from the back, waving. once the brunet was out of their sight, he turned towards tommy, giving him a mused smile.

"what was that about 'not a single scratch'?" he teased.

"well-" he was cut off by the annoying buzzing of his phone. he panicked when he saw his brother's name pop up on his screen.

'it's clay', tommy mouthed to ranboo, who shrugged, mouthing back 'go on'. the blond sighed and answered the phone, very much fearing his life.

"hello?"

"oh hey clay!" ranboo snickered at tommy's suddenly high pitched voice earning a smack on the back of his head.

"jerry had called. he's asking about his car?"

"oh yea right um..."

"all good there?"

"yes the car's...its fine."

⊰⊹

dream was not happy. he glared down at his younger brother, who stood before him with his head down in shame.

tommy looked up briefly, making eye contact with his uncle to help him out of this mess.

"clay... don't get mad at him we can fix it really easy, seriously, its not that bad." karl said, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder.

"yeah listen to uncle karl." tommy inputted, regretting it immediately.

dream's glare only intensified further.

"how exactly did this happen?"

"um well..."

"what did you ram into a tree or something?"

"a balloon display actually." ranboo answered, his smile filled with mischief.

"what?" sapnap asked, now interested in this conversation.

"ranboo explain." he said sternly, looking at his son expectantly.

"oh we were on our way to jerry's and this guy was stood on the side of the road and he needed a lift so we offered it to him."

"okay but then why does the car look like this?"

ranboo snorted, suppressing a laugh before continuing. "well the guy was in a hurry for something and like there was traffic so tommy kinda took a detour." karl smiled, remembering his days of wild detours.

"a detour through a balloon display?" dream asked, very much amused.

"yes...?"

"atleast you helped someone you idiot." dream said, earning a a laugh from everyone but tommy himself.

"hey fuck off" he retaliated, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"oi, who said you could swear at me you little shit."

tommy gasped,looking thoroughly offended. "you literally just swore at me you hypocrite!"

"oh its on get back here before i whoop your ass." dream fake threatened, raising his hand in a joking way.

but tommy didn't take his chances. he screamed, grabbing ranboo by the forearm and ran away for dear life, earning hysterical laughs from the three adults.

⊰⊹

"excuse me?" a quiet voice broke the silence of the workshop. the blond perked up, abandoning the car he was working on momentarily.

"tommy?"

"oh tubbo my man, i see you found my shop." the blond answered when he recognised the brunet from earlier.

"yeah...wow i didn't realise you owned this place." he said, staring around the massive workshop in awe.

"yeah well only the best for me." tommy joked.

tubbo giggled, looking back at tommy, who was wiping some grease off his hands. "well i have my car towed outside can someone take a look at it maybe?"

"i'll check it out, i'm a professional after all."

"sure."

the blond followed tubbo outside, where his broken down yellow car stood out against the night sky. he went over to the front and opened the hood, taking his time to inspect it properly.

"hmm yeah what i thought, the oil dispenser burst."

"that sounds serious"

"yeah it kinda is. i reckon you just leave it here with us for a few days and we can sort it out."

"oh really? thats great, how much do i owe you?" tubbo started pulling his wallet out, but tommy stopped him.

"oh don't worry about it mate, its on the house."

"seriously?"

"yeah, we're friends now yeah."

"yeah..." tubbo grinned, very happy to have made a new friend in this unfamiliar town.

"cool, um pick up a card on the way out. just text your address to the phone number on it and ill get your car to you when its done."

"thank you so much tommy. i really appreciate it man."

tommy smiled. "it's all good. night tubbo!"

"night!"