Don't look in the comments because you gremlins can't listen to directions and the story has been spoiled :( not cool

TW for the series: Swearing, graphic depictions of injury (none of the second TW in this one but in later parts)

Phil and Techno hadn't said anything to him for a week, and Wilbur was at his breaking point.

He had no idea what he had done wrong; the only communication he'd had with either of them was when, on Tuesday (it was now Saturday), he had walked into his room to see Phil standing beside his desk, his hands gently running over the scattered papers of notes and lyrics for his music. "Oh, Wil," His dad had said softly, and Wilbur couldn't tell if the tone was sad or disappointed.

He hadn't stuck around to find out, storming out of the house and towards the park – specifically, the third bench from the path near the lake. There, he took his guitar from its resting place across his back and started strumming gently. He didn't feel like singing, so he just put chords together so that a sad, broken melody drifted through the air around him. It was one of his favorite things; being able to set an entire mood and evoke such emotion from just his fingertips moving across the worn, bronze strings, and the thought lifted his spirits a little.

This was happening more and more; he found himself sitting on the third bench from the pathway, back facing the lake, guitar in hand. All just to escape the suffocating atmosphere of his house where no one would speak to him long enough to tell him what he'd done wrong.

On one such day, he gained an audience. A lanky boy, who looked about ten, sat on the other end of the bench, hands under his thighs and rocking back and forth softly. Wilbur found he liked his company, as long as the kid didn't open his mouth.

Then the kid opened his mouth.

"I like your playing," He said, and Wilbur nearly cried at the fact that someone was talking to him. Someone had spoken words towards him, for the intention of reaching his ears, and so he could respond. "Thank you," He replied thickly.

"Can you play more, please?"

Wordlessly, he continued playing, but his fingertips moved a bit faster, and the melody turned into a familiar one, a song he'd played many times. It was much easier on the heart than the slow, depressing thing he'd been playing before, and he smiled softly at the tune of it.

"I like this one!" The boy said cheerfully, and rocked a bit faster.

Eventually, the brunet gathered the courage to sing.

"Bye, bye, Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry..."

"Ew, American?" The kid scrunched up his nose, interrupting Wilbur's playing. The older scoffed, halting the song.

"Hey, this song is amazing," Wilbur defended.

"Maybe, but it's about Americans. It would be better if it was about me, or maybe the Queen."

"Who the fuck even are you?" Wilbur sputtered, not expecting this complete personality change from someone who was respectfully and quietly listening to his music to an annoying, loud child.

"I'm Tommy, Biggest Man Ever," The boy introduced himself, and Wilbur scoffed once again. Figures.

"You're just like every other child. Incredibly annoying."

"I am not a child!" Tommy shouted, eyes bright.

"That's what you got offended by? Not me calling you annoying?"

The kid looked like he wanted to respond, but a woman walked by with her dog and Tommy shrunk into his seat as if trying to disappear into the wood.

Luckily, it didn't look like she'd overheard their argument, and Tommy exhaled a bit in relief when she walked out of view and earshot.

"You suck," The boy stated. "You're annoying," Wilbur shot back, and Tommy got up and left.

But the next day, he was back on that bench with Wilbur, listening to him playing and trying to start arguments with him.

As the days passed, they learned to read each other. They had spent enough time with each other to have brushed sore spots and were steadily navigating avoiding the bruises. Tommy knew to avoid talking about Wilbur's family, and Wilbur knew not to ask why Tommy hung out with him all afternoon in the park instead of having fun with friends.

On one of the brighter days of the season, Tommy and Wilbur were arguing about whether the ocean is a soup or not, Wilbur arguing that it was and spouting Merriam-Webster definitions and Tommy was arguing that the ocean was not a soup because "what the fuck does that even mean, have some common sense."

They were barely able to get their words out between their cackles, and it was the lightest either of them had felt in a long time, for their own private reasons.

Wilbur's cheeks hurt from laughing so hard, and he was holding his abdomen as he leaned forward, but it all came to an abrupt stop when he heard Tommy become quiet and still beside him. He looked up, wiping his eyes to see why his younger friend had stopped laughing, and his smile died at the look on Tommy's face.

He was looking at something down the path, something that Wilbur couldn't see, and he looked haunted. Slowly, his head swiveled as if following something as it moved down the path, passing in front of them.

Tommy's eyes widened, and he looked haunted. Wilbur was worried.

"Toms, what is it?" He asked quietly, concerned for the kid. "I..."

"What?"

"I just... saw something. It was..."

"It was what?"

A pause.

"Nothing. It was nothing."

"Well obviously it wasn't nothing," Wilbur stressed, knowing full-well Tommy was lying.

"Whatever is wrong, you can tell me. I promise I won't react badly if that's what you're scared of."

Tommy shook his head as if trying to erase an image from his mind. "Do you promise you'll believe me?"

"I promise," Wilbur said, and he really hoped he would be able to keep that promise.

"Okay. I'm going to tell you because you're like... a brother to me." Wilbur let out a small noise and would have smiled at the cuteness if not for the worry still rooted in Tommy's eyes/

"Alright, I'm going to tell you now." Tommy took a deep breath.

"I see dead people."

---

This is a three-part series. I've already completed it, and I'm going to publish the next installments of it tomorrow and the day after. Those of you who have already seen the movie this is based on, don't spoil it! Hope you enjoy!