tw: drinking, death, assault, angst
schlatt took a long drink from his flask, furrowing his brow in response to the hard liquor- then tucking it back into his jacket.
"schlatt!" y/n called from the closet, poking her head out.
"hm?" he looked over, a flutter of nervousness pooling- he didn't want her to see him drink- not like this.
"is this okay...?" she adjusted her earrings and pat her dress down. casual, but formally. she gave a nervous smile. schlatt sighed,
"perfect" he grinned, pushing his hair back and adjusting his feet. y/n blinked, stepping over and pushing herself up to kiss him- he froze, fuck. she stopped, pausing for a moment- then leveling back down.
"you're drunk...?" she frowned. how could she tell? schlatt opened his mouth to say something- but nothing really came out. "i can smell it...and i can tell when you've drunk something...even a little...you act weird..." she mumbled. of course she can tell. fuck. schlatt looked down.
"it's just to take the edge off...today's gonna be hard..." he mumbled.
"its a festival... nothing bad is going to happen..." she reassured him. he looked away, "right?" she whispered. schlatt kept quiet, he obviously knew something she didn't... "schlatt...? nothing bad is going to happen...right?" she placed her hand on the side of his face, attempting to get him to look at her- in her eyes.
"i- i cant tell you..." he looked down at her, heavy tears forming in his eyes. "but...listen-" he cupped her face with his hands, a serious look falling over his solemn eyes. "when- when me and tubbo start our speech- i need you to leave. just walk away-back home..." he whimpered, a tear falling down his cheek.
"wh-what? why?" y/n mumbled.
"please-" he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a protective hug. "please just do it...no matter what happens, dont come back- just wait for me here..." he said, muffled by his head burrowed in her hair. he pulled away, placing his hands back into her face- a heartbroken fade over his eyes "i never wanted you to be near this...any of this..." he mumbled, examining her face. tears were forming in y/n's eyes now- full of worry, confusion?
"promise me you'll be okay...?" she whispered, tears falling. schlatt nodded,
"don't cry-" he whispered, using his thumb to wipe away the tears wetting her cheeks, "i promise- i promise you...will you promise me?" he gently brushed her hair back. y/n nodded,
"i promise"
----
it felt like a blur, numbing and worrying, up to the moment when adrenaline shot up to her brain and squeezed the veins of her heart. schlatt stood broadly up on that podium, that charming smile plastered on his face. and then tubbo got up, a sweet kid. y/n always liked him, he was kind and caring. then schlatt gave her that glance, taking off his charming and dominant mask, and letting her see his emotion. she knew, what that meant, leave. her heart sunk, and she forced her feet off the cobwebs of schlatts safety, and stepping away. she swallowed her tongue, biting her lip and turning away- knowing if she turned to look back she'd never leave. walking down some path, into some alley, she sighed. she could still faintly hear schlatts voice, laughing? things felt so quiet for a moment. then- boom. a loud bang rang across manburg, causing y/n to jump. she froze, a cold pang of death rising up from her body, into her heart, and eyes. she felt hot tears fall, then another gunshot, more tears, then another, more. screams, fireworks? that was a gun...but now there's fireworks? she pushed her hair back, eyeliner staining her cheeks. screams. what if it was schlatt? she shivered, hugging her arms and stepping onward. go home. she could hear schlatts words clearly now. promise me? she didn't want this, she didn't sign up for this. she couldn't stop the sickening sobs escaping her lips now, choking her and tearing at her skin. all while she dragged herself home, unable to go against schlatts commands even if he were dead.
"tommy shh-" y/n froze, averting her gaze to the voice approaching from another alleyway. she recognized him right away, wilbur, then tommy. she stayed quiet, in hopes maybe they wouldn't notice her- despite her being right smack in the middle of the path. wilbur glanced over, eyes darted and hazy. tommy was crying? she felt lost.
"wilbur-" tommy started, attempting to ease something. but wilbur just huffed, starting forward.
"you" wilbur growled, charging forward at y/n. she gasped- his hand wrapped tightly around her neck, squeezing so hard she felt the blood screaming beneath her skin. her feet lifted off the ground,
"wilbur stop it!" tommy cried, tugging at his shoulders, but his grip only tightened and y/n's vision only blurred, she couldn't tell if more tears were falling or if she was starting to faint, but it hurt. she could feel her hands rising up to her throat, scratching and pawing at wilbur. "wilbur! tubbo wouldn't want this!" tommy sobbed, wilbur loosened his grip, looking down at tommy then letting go.
"fuck" wilbur mumbled. y/n fell down, scratching her knees and elbows against the gravel path. she gasped, gently holding her throat. wilbur was still huffing, erratic and aggressive. y/n couldn't tell what wilbur and tommy said next, her ears started to ring and her head felt light and dizzy. next thing she knew, she was alone, laying on the gravel, sobbing and gasping.
----
y/n found herself getting home safely after that, the day fading into a cool night, stars starting to glow on her tear-stained-bruised skin. all she need right now was him, all she wanted was him. she found herself sat against the wall in the entrance room, waiting. after an hour, or maybe a few, she felt doubtful. she could feel her body trying to fall asleep, to get some rest, but she couldn't let it. she couldn't move now, her neck was in unbelievable pain and cuts littered across her limbs. she felt her body giving in, to that slumber. a shaky sigh painfully left her lips, squeezing her neck again and pushing more tears down her cheeks. then- the door rattled, creaking open, and schlatt stepped through, his shoes hitting y/n's limp legs. a wave of relief fell over her, he was okay. and y/n realized that she didn't care how badly she felt, as long as he was okay.
"y/n!?" schlatt gasped, quickly kneeling down to her and cupping her face. "what happened!? what the fuck!?" he shouted, she could see the look of worry on his face. he looked down at her neck, reaching out and gently touching the now badly bruised skin. she winced. "how-!? who did this!?" he shouted, quickly pushing her hair back to see her tear stained face. she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out, only a raspy echo of what once was. schlatt saw the worried glance dance back up to her eyes, "it'll come back...! don't worry...i'll take care of you!" he reassured, placing a hand behind her and under her legs and then picking her up effortlessly. he held her close, and for a moment y/n felt peace, she'd be okay if she just died there, and stayed in his arms forever. he had brought her up to their bedroom, gently laying her on the bed and softly addressing her wounds. he let her drift off to sleep next to him, her steady breathing allowing him to rest. schlatt cried himself to sleep that night, holding y/n's hand up to his cheek and silently pouring out his emotions. it all hurt so much, the festival, what happened to y/n. he felt so bad.