Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tommy had been in the orphanage for ten years. He knew the place better than most of the other orphans. While most went in between foster homes and slowly got adopted out, Tommy was one of the few unlucky souls who rarely ever got fostered. 

He’d been fostered once by a family that slowly realized they weren’t in the best place to support a child. After that he’d been stuck in the orphanage. He didn’t have many friends in the orphanage after all, and mainly spent his days doing the normal routine.

He woke up, got dressed, went to school, came back and did chores. The only day that ever changed was Saturday’s. 

On Saturday, there were too many kids in the orphanage to stay. None of the kids went to school on Saturday so that left every one of them running around the small building. The younger ones would take the time to play, maybe go outside if Tommy was lucky. The older ones would stay inside the building, taking up space in the rooms and common area. 

Tommy woke up already aware of the missing kids in the beds next to him. Most of the boys in his room always got up early. Which left just a few of them still sleeping in. 

Tommy slipped out of the bed, letting his feet slip into his slippers. He just ignored the sounds of shouting coming from downstairs, and grabbed his clothes from his chest at the end of his bed. 

He closed his chest, and headed for the bathroom. He quickly locked the door to make sure no one would barge in on him as a joke. He changed into his t-shirt and shorts, shoving on his socks. He grabbed his sweater from one of the hooks on the wall. He folded his pajamas, laying them on the top of the toilet. 

He turned to the mirror above the tiny sink. He huffed, watching his own face move in the reflection. He grabbed the brush running it through his blonde hair once, before throwing it back down. 

He grabbed his folded clothes, heading back to his bed and laying them on the unmade bed. He placed his raccoon slippers back under his bed for tomorrow morning. He grabbed his tennis shoes and shoved them on, ignoring the waking of a few other boys in their room.

He just quietly walked out into the chaos of the common room. He shoved his way through the crowd of kids, some throwing toys around while others shouted and screamed at others. A few were playing games already. Tommy just filtered through the mess of kids, heading for the stairs. He ducked when he felt two kids running at him chasing another kid with mess on their hands. He cringed at the sight of the mess and just hopped down the stairs. 

He walked through the hallway, entering the dinning room where the rest of the kids were sitting eating. He quickly walked up to the counter grabbing a plate for breakfast. 

“Morning, Tommy.” Puffy greeted as she served Tommy’s plate of food. Puffy was the orphanage’s manager, along with almost half the kid’s social worker, including Tommy. 

“Morning.” He muttered, holding out his plate. 

Puffy hummed, filling up his plate, “You’ll be heading out soon, I’m assuming?” She asked. Puffy knew of his weekly routine. He used to sneak out of the orphanage of Saturday’s, but after a while Puffy caught him. She didn’t really mind though seeing as he never got himself into trouble. In fact, she’d agreed it was better for him to get out on Saturdays. The days were all the kids stayed in, and it got too crowded for Tommy’s liking. 

Tommy nodded, sadly.

Puffy smiled, “Okay, just make sure you eat something before you go.” She advised, “And make sure to be back before six.”

Tommy nodded, walking away from the worker. He managed to make it through the lines of tables without much trouble, giving himself a bit of space between himself and Puffy before throwing the food away. 

He tossed the food into the bin, shoving his hands back into his pockets. He headed back for the door, stealing an apple from a table of fruit nearby. 

He walked out of the orphanage without any problem, heading down the road for his normal route. 

He took the same path everyday, going to the same place first before starting his day.

He turned down a second road when the crosswalk appeared. He cut through the nearby neighborhood, going down three roads before jumping to the sidewalk. 

That was when he saw the house. The house he passed every week without fail. And each day he did the same thing. 

The house was pleasant, but small, almost cozy. There were probably two stories to it. It had a nice front porch, with a yellow front door. Other than that there wasn’t much different from any other home. 

It was when you wrapped around to the other side it got interesting. 

Tommy walked down the sidewalk, wrapping around the house. On the other side was a hedge fence, the greenery showed off the beautiful garden the family had growing. There were flowers, vegetables, fruits and any and all plants. A greenhouse perfectly placed in the corner. 

Every week when he passed there were flowers that fell over the fence of the house. And each time Tommy took it upon himself to take them. He carefully pulled the flowers over just a bit more to cut the stem with scissors he stole from the group home.

He never really cared about what type of flowers they were, he just took whatever he could get his hands on. 

If the people didn’t want him taking them they would’ve done something about it by now. Maybe moved the plants or gotten a better dance. Either way Tommy wasn’t stopping for these random wronguns. 

So as he took all the flowers gathering them up in his hands as he kept walking. He still had somewhere else to be after all. 

He kept walking down the sidewalk, continuing his routine. 

____________________________________________

“They came again!” Wilbur shouted, as he stomped into the house from the backyard. His boots getting shoved off by the door. His hands were dirty from the soil and flowers he’d been working with. 

“Who?” Techno asked, from the armchair by the fireplace. A book placed in his lap as he promptly ignored Wilbur’s dramatics.

Wilbur huffed, rolling his eyes, “Who do you think, Techno?” Wilbur pulled his gloves off, tossing them into a bin near the back door. He walked around to the living room where his brother was. He plopped down onto the couch, crossing his arms. 

“The thief?” Phil asked from the kitchen, poking his head into the room. 

Wilbur nodded to his other brother. “They took the flowers again!” He huffed. 

“You’re getting too worked up about this,” Techno stated, continuing to read his book. 

“You’re only saying that because they haven’t touched your vegetables.” Wilbur grunted. Phil laughed lightly, Wilbur’s head snapping towards him, “Or your fruits.” Wilbur sighed, “They only ever take my flowers!”

“Maybe just move your flowers?” Techno offered, shrugging,

Wilbur scoffed, “Why don’t you just move your vegetables, Techno.” Wilbur mocked, “Those flowers are there for a reason. They have the perfect amount of sunlight there and get good access to the water. I’m not going to ruin the soil somewhere else where they’d do worse. That’d be torture.” 

Techno looked up from his book, scrutinizing his brother, “And getting them chopped every week is better?” 

Wilbur sighed, “I just don’t understand. Why would someone do this? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Have you ever just tried staking it out?” Phil asked, coming into the living room with three cups of coffee. He placed them each down, each one specifically made for one of the brothers. 

“What do you mean?” Wilbur asked, grabbing his cup quickly. 

“I mean, this always happens on Saturday. Next time, just wake up early and wait. See if you can find who's doing it and talk to them.” Phil suggested, sitting back onto the couch.

“Again with the sound advice, Phil.” Techno muttered, marking his place in his book. 

“That's why I’m the eldest.” Phil smiled.

______________________________

The next weekend Wilbur woke up early, racing to put on some gardening clothes. He clambered down the stairwell to the first floor, earning a shout from Techno to be quieter. 

He grabbed his shoes and gloves before heading out into their garden. He hopped off of their porch and headed over to the far fence of the garden. He peeked over the hedge looking each way for anybody who’d been nearby. 

A few flowers were growing over the hedge, pinks, blues, reds, purples all poking out of the greenery. 

Wilbur sighed glad to know he hadn’t missed whoever it was. He knelt down on the other side of the hedge, and started working on his flowerbeds. Set down his tools, before heading to their hose to fill up his watering can. 

He hummed to himself as he filled it up, trying to remember the right coords to a song he was working on. His guitar sat upstairs on his chair, unused. 

He turned the hose off, picking up the can to head back over to his section of the garden. He started watering the flowers, giving them the life they needed. He was watering the hedge when he heard extra humming. 

He looked over the hedge to see a kid walking down the sidewalk. 

Now for the past thirty minutes he hadn’t seen or heard anyone. This kid was the first one he’d seen today. The thought of the kid being his thief made him a little confused. Why was this random kid stealing his flowers?

He looked the boy over again, trying to search for anything that marked him odd. 

He was a sad looking kid, from the looks of it a permanent frown was stuck on his face. He had a blue sweater, torn and shredded from years of use. Under it was a t-shirt that looked just as horrible. His shoes looked too small for him, and his shorts showed skinned knees and scars along his legs. His fingers were covered in band-aids, and blonde hair barely covered a band-aid on his forehead. 

Wilbur watched the kid, silently, waiting to see if he’d take the flowers again. He could easily see over the hedge, and knew he could be seen, but the boy wasn’t paying much attention. 

The boy shoved a hand into his pockets, pulling out a pair of safety scissors they gave out in school. He stopped in front of the hedge, pulling one of the flowers down, preparing to cut it off. 

“Hey.” Wilbur stopped him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The boy yelped, dropping the scissors and jumping back almost into the street. 

Wilbur’s eyes widened as he saw the boy get closer to the road, “Woah! Hey, don’t get in the road! Be careful, please.”

The boy straightened himself, glaring up at Wilbur with two blue eyes. He quickly grabbed the scissors he dropped like he was expecting Wilbur to take them away. 

“Who the f*ck are you?” The boy asked, trying to make his voice more threatening than it was. 

Wilbur just smiled, knowing he’d caught his thief red handed, “I’m the guy you’ve been stealing from. I live here. These are my flowers.”

For a split second the boy’s eyes widened, he shook his head trying to regain himself. “Well they’re over here, aren’t they? So they’re free reign.” 

“That’s not how that works, child.” Wilbur said, squinting his eyes at the kid, “Why have you even been taking them?”

“None of your business.” The boy spouted out. 

“Well, they’re my flowers.” Wilbur said, shrugging.

“Which you haven’t cared about me taking until now.” The boy argued back. 

“Actually, I have.” Wilbur said, and he could see the way the boy’s face fell into something guilty. “It was my brother who came up with the idea to wait here for you to come back and catch you.”

“Your brother?” The boy asked, eyebrow raised. 

Wilbur nodded, “I don’t live here alone, child. I live with my two brothers.”

“No parents?” The boy asked, a spark in his eyes that Wilbur was a bit unsure about. 

Wilbur shrugged, “Nope. Our parents kicked my brother out when he was eighteen, so my older brother and I followed him. We’ve been together ever since. Now, what’s your name, kid?”

“Not saying.” The boy shrugged, taking the scissors back out to cut the flowers again. Wilbur swatted it away, before Tommy could do anything. 

“Nope, stop it.” Wilbur scolded, “And I told you something about me, I atleast get a name. I can’t keep calling you a child.”

“I’m not a child.” The boy grumbled, shoving the scissors into his pocket, “I’m twelve.”

Wilbur hummed, swaying his head back and forth, “Still a child. What’s your name, child?”

The boy huffed, “It’s Tommy.”

“Nice to meet you Tommy. Name’s Wilbur, and stop stealing my flowers.” Wilbur asked, politely. If this wasn’t a kid younger than fifteen he probably wouldn’t gotten a bit more mad. But the more he looked at the kid, the more he thought the boy kind of needed the flowers. 

Tommy cringed, “I need them. It’s not stealing if it’s not on your property.” 

Wilbur rolled his eyes, “The stems and seeds are on my property.”

“But the flowers are over here.” Tommy argued, pointing to the sidewalk. “I need them.”

“Why do you need them, though?” Wilbur asked, looking him over. He didn’t seem like the type of kid to want to impress a girl, but maybe?

“Why do you want them?” Tommy stuck his tongue out. 

Wilbur chuckled, “Are you trying to impress someone?” He asked. 

Tommy froze for a second, seeming to think the accusation over. Wilbur took it as embarrassment, he laughed to himself. Tommy looked away, staring at the ground, before looking back up. 

A false bravado took over him as he spoke, “Yes, I am! I am going to meet with a wonderful lady and need the best flowers for her. She’s wonderful, I meet her every weekend at the same spot. We eat lunch together and I bring her flowers, because that’s the type of wonderful person I am!” Tommy shouted, rolling on his toes. 

Wilbur nodded, only taking half of it as true. “Really? Every weekend, quite a busy life you lead.”

Tommy nodded, “Yup. Every weekend.”

“What’s her name?” Wilbur asked, resting his elbow on the hedge. He let his chin fall into his hand. 

Tommy paused, “Uh…”

Wilbur huffed, he knew the kid was lying 

“Clem-Clementine.” Tommy nodded to himself, “Yes, yeah, Clementine.”

Wilbur nodded, “Oh, really? That’s a nice name. You’re going to see her now, I’m assuming?”

Tommy nodded, “And I need flowers so if you don’t mind,” He brought out his scissors again. Wilbur batted them away again. 

“Nope.” He scolded, “How about this? I give you flowers-not from here-and you take me to meet this Clementine?”

Tommy squeaked, “But-but I don’t even know you.” He looked around the sidewalk for other people.

“Think of it as repayment for stealing from me for the past months.” Wilbur said, “I won’t even say anything to anyone else about it.”

“It’ll be a little weird for my friend to see a random guy with me though.” Tommy tried to lie his way out of this again. 

Wilbur wasn’t backing out though, “You either do this or you’re not getting flowers.”

Tommy huffed, stomping his foot on the ground a little and groaning. He muttered a few things under his breath, before sighed. “Fine! But remember, I have a weapon if you try anything weird.” 

Tommy showed his scissors, trying to be threatening. Wilbur just smiled and nodded. 

“Give me three seconds.” He said, before walking back up to the porch, leaving his gardening tools. He walked through the house, grabbing some old flowers from a vase on his way and walked out the front door. He walked around the house to find the kid still waiting with crossed arms. 

Wilbur held the flowers out for the boy to take, “Here you go.” 

Tommy snatched the flowers away, holding them close to his chest. He sighed, and started walking back down the sidewalk. “Come on, old guy.”

Wilbur rolled his eyes and followed after the younger. 

“So what’s this girl of yours like?” Wilbur asked, hoping to catch the boy in more of a lie. 

Tommy huffed, “Quiet.” He said without fail.

“Quite the opposite of you then.” Wilbur giggled to himself. Tommy glared at the brunette, causing Wilbur to shut up quickly. 

“Anything else?” Wilbur asked, slightly more serious now.

Tommy sighed, “She’s cold. I wish she could see me again. I think she’d be happy if she did, but I’m not sure.”

Wilbur felt himself freeze a little by his explanation. At first he had thought the boy had made up a lie, but the more he described who they were going to the more real it felt. Was she blind?

“Is that why you take her the flowers?” Wilbur asked, pointing to the flowers, “So she can feel something instead of seeing it?”

Tommy looked at the flowers in his hands and nodded, “Yeah. I guess. For a while I thought she was all I had.”

Wilbur frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I thought she was everything I had. She meant so much to me. Then one day she leaves. And I don’t see her. I miss her a lot.” Tommy whispered.

“But you’re going to see her now?” Wilbur said, slightly confused, “Did she move away?”

Tommy nodded, “Yeah, she left town so we only see each other on the weekends.” He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this lie going. Eventually they'd make it to their destination and this guy would see what he’d been talking about. But why did he even care? This was just some random guy. He meant nothing.

“She didn’t deserve what she got.” Tommy said, “I hated that I had to watch it. I watched as he did that to her. I couldn’t do anything about it. All I could do was sit, hide and watch. Wait until someone arrived to help.” 

Wilbur was suddenly feeling a pit growing in his stomach. Something told him he was entering something he never should have opened. He looked down to the short younger boy next to him. Worry and concern was filling him as they continued to walk down roads and cross streets. 

It wasn’t until Tommy abruptly stopped, that Wilbur realized the path they’d taken. He turned to see what Tommy was looking up at. 

In front of them was an iron fence surrounding an old graveyard. The fence arched up into the words ‘Cemetery’. Wilbur gasped to himself as he recognized it. 

Tommy had been leading them to a cemetery the entire time. 

Tommy sighed, Wilbur looked down with a new fear in his eyes as he saw the slowly rising tears on the boy's face. 

“Come on. You wanted to see.” Tommy muttered, walking into the graveyard. Tommy walked through the cemetery with a purpose he knew exactly where he was going, and had no trouble finding it. Wilbur spent the entire time, reliving their conversation picking up on all the red flags and wishing he’d done something sooner. 

He knew he shouldn’t involve himself in this kid’s mourning.

Tommy stopped in front of a grave and knelt down, placing the flowers in front of it. Wilbur stood a step behind him taking in the sight. 

The grave was well kept, flowers decorated all sides of it. Some hung in a loose wreath, while others just laid on the ground. The engraving was clear to see: Clementine Innit.

So he wasn’t lying about the name, Wilbur thought. He turned his head to see the grave had just a few less flowers than the one next to it. The grave was a little more run down and less cared for, but the engraving was easy enough to make out: Henry Innit.

“Who are these people?” Wilbur asked, carefully. 

Tommy whipped his face, sitting on his bottom in front of the graves, “They’re my parents.”

Wilbur paused, “You’re-parents.”

Tommy nodded, “My dad got drunk one night and killed my mom when I was three. Then he shot himself. I was left hiding in the cabinet my mom had put me in. The police came, got me and brought me to the group home. I’ve lived there ever since. I come here every week to see them.”

Wilbur almost gagged, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry for intruding on this. You should’ve said. Please, please take the flowers. You can take as many as you want. If there aren’t any, please, just come to the door. I have plenty!” Wilbur begged, hoping the boy would forgive. The boy, Wilbur thought, he was barely even twelve.

Tommy smiled, looking up at him, “It’s fine. I don’t really mind. I won’t take your flowers anymore. I really didn’t think anyone cared.”

Wilbur knelt down to get on the younger’s level but then realized he was kneeling on the boy’s parent’s graves and stood up. He breathed harshly trying to think of what to do next. “No, please, take them. I don’t care.”

Tommy frowned, brow furrowing, “But you did?”

“I know.” Wilbur said, pleading with the boy, “But this-this is-I’m so sorry. I really hope you can forgive me, but you don’t have to. I can leave. I’ll leave.” Wilbur said, about to walk away, but he felt someone grab his hand. 

He looked down to see Tommy had grabbed his wrist. Tommy looked up at him, Wilbur could tell the kid was trying to think of something to say. 

“I-can you stay?” Tommy asked.

“What?” Wilbur muttered. 

“I’ve-I’ve never had anyone to share this stuff with.” Tommy whispered, “No one at the orphanage really likes me or talks to me. I’m one of the oldest ones there and no one really cares. You’re the first person who’s talked to me like this in a while. I just-I want to have that a little longer. So can you stay?” Tommy asked, closing his eyes so he didn’t have to see Wilbur’s reaction or answer. 

Wilbur frowned, looking over the boy. Suddenly his appearance made a lot more sense: the band-aids, the worn sweater, the too-small shoes. 

Wilbur didn’t say anything, he just sat down on the ground next to the kid. Tommy opened his eyes to Wilbur sitting next to him and smiled letting out a sigh of relief. 

“What were they like?” Wilbur asked, carefully hoping not to step on any boundaries.

Tommy just grinned before launching into a rant about his family, or at least what he remembered. He talked about his third birthday, barely remembering it. He spoke of his mothers voice, and songs she’d sing. He talked about his fathers love for movies. And while he didn’t remember much, he remembered enough to talk about it. 

“I miss them a lot.” Tommy finished. “I was three when they died. I should probably hate my dad for killing my mom, but I still miss him.”

“It’s okay to miss people.” Wilbur said, “Even if they weren’t the nicest. You’re always going to remember the moments they were nice. Sometimes those are better to focus on.”

“What’s it like having a family?” Tommy asked, “You’re brothers, I mean.”

Wilbur sighed, “I guess I’m lucky to have them. There’s three of us, me and my twin and then our older brother. My twin, Techno, he’d the one that got kicked out when we were younger. He’d gotten into a fight with another kid, because they were bullying some younger kids. We followed Techno after that. Phil, the oldest, spent a lot of time trying to get us back on our feet. He’d saved up some money and got an apartment. After we finished school he got jobs to help out. Then we bought the house we live in now.”

“Where do you work?” Tommy asked, picking at the blades of grass. 

“A cafe near downtown.” Wilbur asked, “Phil has the big job working at a game developing company. Techno teaches English at the elementary school.”

“Why do you guys have so much stuff in your garden?” Tommy asked, pulling a few of the flowers that were wilting away from the grave. 

“Techno started it with his vegetables. He loved potatoes and carrots that were grown straight from the garden. So he started it as a way to help his anger. Then Phil got involved upon Techno’s request. He started planting the apple trees and the fruits. I only started a few months before you showed up. Phil and Techno both were complaining about that hedge getting overgrown.” Wilbur answered, “Okay, my turn to ask a question.”

Tommy smiled, chuckling to himself, “Okay.”

“How long have you been at the orphanage?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy rolled his eyes, “You could’ve figured that out by just doing some math, big man. Nine years, almost ten.”

Wilbur huffed, “Wanted to hear it from the source. Do they let you roam around town freely everyday?”

Tommy shrugged, “Not really. I still go to school on the weekdays, but on the weekends I’m given full reign. I’ve been there probably longer than most of the others, and I can’t exactly stay there.”

Wilbur raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“It’s too much.” Tommy muttered, like he didn’t want to admit it. “There’s a lot of kids who live there and it gets a little much for me to handle. So my social worker lets me sneak out to quieter places.”

“That’s,” Wilbur paused, “nice.”

A clock tolled somewhere closer to town, and Tommy looked up. “Oh, that’s lunch time.”

Wilbur hummed, “Do you bring your lunch?”

Tommy shook his head, “No, I just kind of wait until a little after and see if people have leftovers they don’t want.”

Wilbur cringed, “Ew.”

Tommy shrugged, “I don’t exactly have money, and going back to the orphanage is too much.”

Wilbur hummed, “Well, we’re not doing that today, come on.” Wilbur stood up, holding a hand out to the boy. Tommy stared at his hands confused for a second.

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked. 

“There’s a cafe I know we can go to.” Wilbur said, as Tommy slowly took his hand and stood up. “Think of it as a gift.”

Tommy followed after Wilbur who started to walk off. Wilbur led Tommy into town, ignoring the dinging in his back pocket of his brothers asking where he was. He pointed to different shops he’d been in, telling the younger a few stories as he did. 

Tommy smiled each time he listened to a story. As they got closer and closer into town, the more people started to show up, the more Tommy started getting nervous. 

His fingers tapping anxiously on his shorts, he couldn’t help but be aware of every single person around him. They were so close to touching him. If they moved just a tad over he’d touch them. He whined under his breath, trying to calm down. 

“Hey, you doing alright?” Wilbur asked, cautiously. 

Tommy nodded, not having enough strength to speak. Wilbur looked over his fiddling fingers and frantic eyes, noticing what was happening. “Okay, come on, I know a shortcut we can take.”

Wilbur motioned for Tommy to follow him into an alleyway between two buildings. Tommy didn’t have the energy to argue and just wanted to get away from all the people. He raced after Wilbur, catching up with the taller and latching onto his sweater. 

He didn’t even realize he’d gripped the yellow sweater, until Wilbur turned around surprised. Tommy looked down at his hands, seeing them he squeaked, jumping back. 

Wilbur sent a tiny smile down, as if to tell him it was okay, “Come on, we’re almost there.” 

Wilbur led Tommy to the back of a building, opening up the door and motioning for him to go in first. Tommy walked into a storage room in the back of a restaurant or something. 

Wilbur closed the door with a sharp thud, causing Tommy to squeak and jump. “Sorry.” Wilbur apologized, he went to a second door, “Come on, this should led us to the cafe.” 

Tommy followed, and they entered the cafe’s kitchen. It was bustling with activity of two chefs and one waiter. Wilbur edged around the business of the kitchen, Tommy instinctively clutching on to his sweater again. 

This time he didn’t let go. 

“Wilbur?” The waiter turned around, they were a nice looking young lady with pinkish hair pulled into a bun. “Will, you don’t work today, what are you doing?”

“I know. I’m here for lunch.” Wilbur said, smiling at his boss. 

“Will, I told you, if you’re here to eat, use the front door.” Niki muttered, sighing. 

“Yeah, Will!” Jack, the chef, mocked. 

Wilbur rolled his eyes, “The only reason I didn’t use the front door, it because this little guy here didn’t like the noise.” Wilbur nodded to Tommy who was hiding behind him. 

Both the chef and the waiter looked behind him to see the younger boy. “Oh,” Niki  mumbled to herself.

“Who is that?” Jack asked, pointing a spatula at the kid. 

Wilbur rolled his eyes, “He’s my flower thief.”

“Not a thief.” Tommy muttered under his breath, tugging on Wilbur’s sweater. 

“Seriously?” Jack asked, “That’s the thief. Man, you got bested by a child.”

“Shut up, Jack!” Wilbur scowled, getting laughter from Jack. 

“Does he want to stay back here if it’s too loud out there?” Niki asked, kindly. 

Wilbur looked down to Tommy for him to answer. Tommy looked around the kitchen, he’d only get in the way of the workers. He shook his head.

“Nah, we’ll be good. And don’t worry about doing any of the work, Niki. I’ve got it handled.” Wilbur shouted, back as he led Tommy out into the sitting area of the cafe. 

Wilbur quickly grabbed two menu’s from a podium thing and led Tommy to a corner seat away from most of the cafe. He handed Tommy one of the menu’s and quickly scanned over his own. 

“So you work here?” Tommy asked, looking at the menu in his hands. 

Wilbur nodded, “Yup, get whatever you want by the way.”

Tommy pushed the menu away, looking around the cafe. There weren’t so many people in the cafe as there were outside. Everything inside the cafe was pretty quiet and calming. 

“Do you know what you want?” Wilbur asked. 

Tommy just pointed to something on the menu, Wilbur frowned a little but nodded. He stood up and walked back into the kitchen to tell Jack and Niki. He came back out rather quickly with the plates of food in hand. 

He sent down the plate of his own food where he’d been sitting then set the rest down in front of Tommy. He sat down back in the booth, while Tommy looked over the food in front of him. 

“This isn’t what I ordered.” He muttered. 

“I know.” Wilbur said, “Because you ordered a water and a biscuit. That is a full lunch which should be normal to you.” Wilbur pointed at the sandwich and fries with his fork. It was kids meal they had for when families came in. 

Tommy sighed, carefully starting to eat.

It wasn’t long until Wilbur started up conversation again. He pointed to one of the costumers and whispered random stories about him. Tommy was pretty sure he was making up half of them. Still, though it was hard to not laugh. 

Then he’d point to another one and do the same thing. Each time Tommy was bursting with laughter, trying to contain himself. 

“What about that one?” Tommy asked, pointing to another costumer. 

Wilbur hummed to himself, “They have a secret job with the mafia. There here to gather information about that guy over there. That guy keeps messing with there plans.”

“How so?” Tommy asked, eating the sandwich. 

Wilbur smiled, “He keeps sh*tting in there computers.” Tommy snorted, trying to hide his laughter. “And before long he’s going to make a mess of their entire operation. It’ll all go in the toilet.”

“You’re the worst.” Tommy squeaked, Wilbur just shrugged. 

The rest of the conversation went like that, Wilbur would make jokes and Tommy would laugh. Then Tommy would ask questions and Wilbur wound answer. Then Wilbur would ask questions and Tommy would answer. And finally Tommy was making jokes and telling stories non-stop. 

“Do you think I could take a horse in a fight?” Tommy asked, as they walked out of the cafe. 

“What?” Wilbur laughed.

“Could I take a horse in a fight?” Tommy asked again. 

“Why would you want to?” Wilbur asked. 

Tommy shrugged, “Let’s say he looked at me the wrong way. I’d clart him.”

Wilbur rolled his eyes, “Sure you would.”

And after that they didn’t go back to the cemetery, Wilbur showed Tommy around the downtown area. They went in little shops and messed around for the afternoon. When a place got to much Wilbur would get them out a fast as possible, Tommy barely had to do anything and Wilbur knew when things were getting out of hand. 

They were walking back down the road, heading back the way they’d came, when someone bumped into them. Wilbur had made Tommy stop for ice cream before heading back to the orphanage for dinner. Tommy said it would ruin his dinner, but Wilbur disagreed saying it would be better. 

Tommy gotten his cone down just a bit, a bunch of ice cream getting stuck on his nose which Wilbur found hilarious. They walked down the side of the street, the sidewalk looking friendly, when someone went by fast on a scooter. 

The person didn’t even stop to apologize, just kept going having knocked Tommy down. 

Tommy fell onto the sidewalk, hitting his already skinned knees on the ground. 

“Hey! Watch where you’re going dumb*ss!” Wilbur yelled after them, before kneeling on the ground with Tommy. “You okay?”

Tommy was still on the ground, his mind racing at the fact he was touched. Sure he didn’t mind being touched, he jut didn’t like being touched without knowing. His knees hurt worse now, though. 

“Breath, kid.” Wilbur advised, ice cream forgotten. “Come on, in and out.”

Tommy tried to follow his words, Wilbur repeating them over and over again. 

“Keep going.” Wilbur said, “You’re doing good.” He praised. 

Tommy nodded, shutting his eyes closed. Wilbur took the chance to look at his knee which were bleeding now. He sighed, “Hey, why don’t we go back to my house and get your knees cleaned up? Then you can head straight back to the orphanage. You don’t even have to come inside.”

Tommy was too out of it to disagree and just nodded. Wilbur let out a breath of relief, helping the kid up. The ice cream was forgotten on the ground, left to melt in the warm fall air. 

Wilbur helped Tommy down the road and across the street back into the neighborhood where he lived. They came across his house pretty quickly. Wilbur helped the younger up to the porch, letting him sit down on the steps. 

“I’ll be right back.” Wilbur said, before rushing inside. 

He closed the door gently behind him, knowing his brothers would hear him arrive and wonder where he’d been all day. He ignored as shout from Techno with his insane hearing skills and just rushed up the stairs to the bathroom. He closed the door grabbing as much medical supplies as he needed to take care of skinned knees. It probably wasn’t as much as he’d grabbed but he would rather be safe than sorry. 

He headed out of the bathroom and just before he reached the stairs he was grabbed by his brother. 

“Where were you?” Techno asked, looking his brother over, “And why are you taking the medical supplies?”

Wilbur squirmed out of his twin’s grip, “None of your business.” He muttered, heading back for the stairs. 

Techno looked Wilbur over again, before shouting, “Phil! Wilbur’s hurt!” 

“I am not hurt!” Wilbur shouted back. 

“What?” Phil yelled from the kitchen, only hearing Techno. Phil ran out of the kitchen, a towel in his hands, “What do you mean?” Phil walked closer to Wilbur, already inspecting him, and seeing the supplies in his hands. 

“I am not hurt.” Wilbur grumbled, moving away from Phil and closer to the front door.

“Then why are you carrying that stuff?” Techno asked, pointing to the things in his hands. 

Wilbur turned away from both his brother, “None of your business.”

“Will, where have you been today? We tried calling you and texting you? You never answer.” Phil asked, a bit worried. 

“I’ve been busy.” Wilbur said, matter of factly. 

“Oh yeah, doing what?” Techno asked, hands on his hips. 

Wilbur opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it. He sighed, “I’ll explain later, just give me a few.” he said, and he was out the door. 

He shut the door behind him swiftly, hoping neither of them would follow him. Tommy turned around to see him close the door, those wide blue eyes watching him. 

Wilbur sent the supplies down, organizing them quickly. Tommy watched him do everything. 

Wilbur grabbed the rag he’d brought out, he’d already wet it. He wiped the blood off the boy’s knee’s apologizing when Tommy winced at the pressure. Then he grabbed the medicine and placed it on the cotton pads first. He placed the cotton pad on the injury, wrapping it in medical tape to stay. 

“Thank you.” Tommy muttered, as Wilbur worked. 

“Don’t mention it.” Wilbur said, as he repeated the same process with the other knee, “Dumb guy should’ve been looking where he was going.”

“I meant for everything.” Tommy said, flatly. 

Wilbur looked up from where he was wrapping the boy’s leg. 

“Today’s probably been the best day of my life in a while. So, just thanks for that. It means a lot, man.” Tommy whispered, like he didn’t want to admit it. 

Wilbur paused, “You’re-you’re welcome, Toms. And I meant what I said, earlier. You can take all the flowers you want from the hedge. If there aren’t any to take when you need them, come to the door. I’ll get you some.”

“Thanks.” Tommy mumbled.

Wilbur sighed, “You going to be okay, walking to the orphanage? I could walk with you?”

Tommy shook his head, “No,” He laughed, “If you walk me back, Puffy will get all excited thinking someone wants to foster me. Can’t have her thinking that, eh?” He laughed out, smiling. 

But Wilbur just frowned, a thought passing through his mind. And now that the though was there, it didn’t want to leave. “Okay, hey, next time you come by, I’ll try to talk to you again, yeah?”

Tommy nodded, before racing off before six o’clock hit. 

Wilbur watched him go, jut until he was full out of eyesight. Only then did he head back inside. 

He closed the door behind him to two very confused and slightly miffed brothers. 

“Who was that?” Phil asked, confused. 

Wilbur sighed, “Flower thief.” 

“You’ve been hanging out with your own thief all day?” Techno asked, actually surprised, “I thought you wanted to catch the guy not make friends with him.”

“So did I!” Wilbur shouted, “Till I found out he’s just a twelve year old orphan who visits his parents grave every week end!”

Both his brothers shut their mouths. 

Wilbur sighed, “I’m going to my room, I’ll talk to guys in a bit. I’ve got some stuff to think about.” 

__________________________________

It became a new routine for Tommy. Every Saturday he’d meet up with Wilbur, they’d head to the cemetery to place the flowers and then Wilbur would take Tommy around the town. 

Some days Wilbur would take him to different sides of town, they’d explore about the city. 

But each time, Tommy found himself wanted to go back to the orphanage less and less. He’d rather stay with Wilbur, and his comfy sweater and soft touches. And for some reason it felt like Wilbur felt the same way. Wilbur would ask him to eat dinner with them, or take him to a new place later in the day.

Eventually, Wilbur brought out Techno and Phil to meet him to. They both were just as nice as Wilbur, and had just as many stories. One day, they stayed closer to the neighborhood and had a picnic outside the brother’s house. 

After months of this routine, something broke it. 

Tommy was grabbing his boots on the way out the door of the orphanage when he heard Puffy’s shout. “Tommy! Hold on before you leave!”

Tommy turned around confused, he walked closer to Puffy who was smiling down at him. 

“What’s going on?” Tommy asked. 

Puffy smiled, nodding to the next room over, “There are some people here who want to talk to you.”

Tommy paused, “What? As in-like-?”

Puffy nodded, “They’re right through there. All the paperworks already been filled out.” 

“Seriously?” Tommy asked. Curious, and little cautious Tommy walked over to the entrance of the room. It was a meeting area that was off limits to the kids unless they had someone meeting them. Some one who was willing to foster them. 

Tommy opened the door, Puffy right behind him a smile on her face. He slowly edged the door open and saw that there were three people on the other side. All of which he’d seen before, he recognized them, he knew them. 

“Wilbur?” Tommy asked, watching the brunette man break into a grin. 

“Hey.” Wilbur greeted. Techno waved and Phil smiled as he walked in. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Tommy asked, looking behind him to see if he had the wrong room maybe. Where were the people who wanted the speak with him? When he looked behind himself all he saw was Puffy closing the door. 

“Tommy, these three brothers have just been accepted into the program. They asked specifically for you.” Puffy said, setting the paperwork down on the table. 

“Wait-what? You guys…” Tommy stuttered.

“Well, you’ve already kind of mended yourself into our lives.” Wilbur joked, “Might as well make it legal.”

“You want to foster me?” Tommy mumbled. 

Wilbur nodded, “You okay with that?”

Tommy looked up to Puffy who nodded, “The paperworks all been done Tommy. All we need is your signature.” 

Tommy grinned, holding out his hand for the pen. Puffy lend it over to him, and Tommy quickly signed his name. He shoved the papers back to Puffy and ran over to Wilbur, giving the man a hug.

“Welcome to the family, kid.”