They Rely On Hope. What Do I Rely On? - Tommyinnit Adoption AU

Chapter 90

TW: Mentions of death, murder and abuse

A/N: Quick context, this chapter takes place approximately the same time as the last chapter, easy enough to tell the difference

Phil POV:

Phil watched as the door closed behind Tommy and the social worker, and he could only hope with every fibre of his being that Tommy trusted him, that he was going to stay. If he didn't stay... Phil didn't know what he would do. Well he did, he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything, and that hurt. A lot. He knew that there was a high chance if Tommy left he'd end of in some nightmarish house, hurting and alone, with no one to protect him.

Phil didn't move a muscle, standing still and watching the door, desperately needing Tommy to step back through it. When the door opened again, and Tommy wasn't standing next to the social worker, Phil's heart dropped. No- No. No! He was leaving and it was Phil's fault. If he'd done more, been more, maybe Tommy wouldn't be leaving, but Phil knew he was and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

"Tommy is scared out of his mind, I don't know what you did to him, but he's not coming back. Ever. If you ever go looking for him, we will file a restraining order against you," The man snarled, before slamming the door and walking away.

Phil crumpled into the chair he'd been standing beside. No. This couldn't be happening. No. No. Not Tommy. Phil barely knew the boy, but he already desperately wanted to protect him, and he had failed and it was all his fault. If he'd explained it better, if he'd been able to do something, maybe Tommy would've stayed. Maybe Tommy would be safe.

Wilbur POV:

At some point Wilbur heard footsteps outside, and he knew that Phil was going to look after Tommy. That was good. He could explain. Once the footsteps, now two sets of them, headed down stairs, relief filled Wilbur. Tommy had followed Phil. Tommy hadn't locked himself away. That was good. That had to be good.

Techno was still screaming for Wilbur to leave, begging him to run, he had been for a while, but some time ago Wilbur had just curled up next to his brother, holding him, and making sure he knew he wasn't alone. He knew Techno was scared of what he might do to him, but Wilbur didn't care. He wanted to help Techno, and that meant not leaving him.

"Wilbur, please I don't want to hurt you," Techno sobbed, still fighting an inner battle to stay here, to stay alive, to keep Wilbur alive. Wilbur knew Techno's fear, felt it alongside his brother, knowing at any moment Techno could lose and end up killing Wilbur, but that didn't matter, because he hadn't lost yet, and Wilbur wanted to make sure that continued.

"I'm not leaving you Techno. Not now, not ever," Wilbur promised, his hand squeezing Techno's softly, "You're my brother."

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, Techno pleading with Wilbur to leave, and Wilbur promising he won't, promising that Techno would be ok. Finally, finally, Techno seemed to calm. The flinches away from voices Wilbur couldn't hear lessoned, and his pleas for Wilbur to leave decreased in intensity, until they finally stopped coming.

"You're back," Wilbur murmured when Techno's haggard breathing returned to a normal pace, "You're back."

"I'm back," Techno agreed, leaning slightly on Wilbur, seemingly exhausted. Wilbur wasn't surprised by that, a concussion on top of that internal fight would've been hard. A few moments past in silence, before Techno spoke again, this time his voice was hoarse and filled with pain, "That was bad Wilbur. It was louder than it's ever been. I was so sure I was going to hurt you, and every second that I didn't, they got louder. It was awful Wil."

"But you made it through," Wilbur said softly, and Techno nodded.

"I did."

"I'm proud of you Techno, I know how hard it is."

"Thank you for staying and for getting Tommy out-" Techno started, before tensing, "Tommy! He doesn't know- shit- I almost hurt him and he thought that was me!"

"It's ok, it's ok, Phil got him. They're downstairs, I heard them a while ago. Phil would've explained. It's ok. He's safe," Wilbur said, instantly calming Techno's swiftly growing panic.

"Oh," Techno murmured, and the amount of relief Wilbur could feel in that one word was almost overwhelming.

"Everyone's safe," Wilbur insisted, his voice now only a whisper, knowing the voices would have quietened enough for Techno to hear it. He knew he'd be saying those words plenty of times today, until Techno fully believed them himself.

"It gets worse every time they return, they get louder and louder every time and I don't think I'll be able to win for much longer. They're angry Wilbur, angry at being silenced. Angry at you for helping me fight them. It'll be you they hurt Wil, I know it, and I'm so fucking scared. I can't lose you. I won't be able to live with myself if I kill you."

"If, if, you do kill me, it won't be you. It'll be The Blade, not you. I wouldn't blame you. You are not him, but you won't kill me, because I'll make sure you win any fight. I'll keep you here with me for as long as I can."

"I can't lose you Wil, I can't."

"And you won't," Wilbur promised, and finally, finally Techno sighed, and nodded, trying his best to believe the words. Of course they both knew there was a chance it wasn't true, but they couldn't lose each other, so they had to believe it was safe. They had to believe that they'd survive. That they'd hold out. That they'd win. They would survive, because they had to. For each other, they had to survive, and so they would. They always always would. That was what they needed to do.

"Thank you Wil," Techno whispered, and something about it seemed so painfully broken, relief crashing with terror in a cruel way, but he still appreciated it, even though it terrified him, and Wilbur knew that.

"Always," Wilbur promised, "Always."

Words: 1000

A/N: Warning, I'm going away for the weekend, so there probably wont be any updates till wednesday/thursdayish, sowwy (I may have time to write more tomorrow, but probably not) :< I'll miss you guys, sorry to leave u on such a sad part-

Also, I have had the first part of the Wilbur POV in this chapter written out for so long, cuz I wrote it out, and then was like, "wait no I gotta do Tommy's POV first and all that to make it flow smoother," so for multiple chapters I've had to move this chapter back XD