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Eret was, in all honesty, a little bit nervous. Sure, they had known Wilbur for quite a while now, and had even met Tommy a few times, including the memorable time he got to hear Phil Craft yell at the school principal for twenty minutes, but actually having to meet Phil M. Craft’s family? Terrifying, awful, very much not fun time, no thank you. Obviously, he knew that the man would probably be just as nice as his reputation told he was, and that it’d be nice to finally meet an actual, grown up, proper adult avian, but he still was on the edge. Fuck Wilbur and his gang of terrifying hybrid siblings.
Eret was standing in the parking lot in front of the high school, leaning on his obnoxiously pink minivan and waiting for his little brother to show up so she could drop him off at home and make her way to the Craft house. Frankly, they weren’t too upset that Ranboo was apparently taking his sweet time getting out of the hellhole the local government had the audacity to call a school building. However, they still managed to hold back the disappointed sigh when the teen walked through the front door, towering over the rest of the crowd with all of his four arms flailing around excitedly. He was clearly in the middle of telling some sort of riveting story to his friend, Tubbo, a bee hybrid whom Eret was pretty sure Phil had adopted a while back.
“Over here,” he called over the parking lot and then ducked inside the van to start the engine before the kids made their way over to the car. Ranboo was smiling brightly, and Tubbo offered Eret a small wave and a smile.
“Wilbur said that you’d be taking me home today?” It sounded like a question even though it wasn’t phrased like one, and Eret could easily tell how nervous the kid was.
“Yeah, sure, hop on in! We’ll have to drop off Ranboo on the way there though, so I hope you don’t mind,” he reassured the kid before nodding towards the other side of the car. “Now get in, I promised to get there before three.”
The drive to the Craft house was quick, and the first half of it was filled with excited chatter as Ranboo and Tubbo went through their entire school days, filling both Eret and each other in on what had happened, before their conversation devolved into a debate about the ethics of video game animal wars - do not ask Eret how that happened, because she sure as hell couldn’t tell you.
Then they dropped Ranboo off at the Gay Castle, as their friend group had started to lovingly refer to Ranboo and Eret’s house, and suddenly the car was silent. Eret fiddled with the radio, skipped over a few channels, stopped on one that was playing Sweater Weather - a bit cliche, but can you really blame him? - and started quietly humming along. Tubbo nodded along although he clearly didn’t know the song well enough to actually hum or sing along with it. After a few more moments of near-silence they arrived at their destination and Eret pulled to the driveway.
“We’re here,” he said, unhelpfully, and turned the car off. Tubbo gave him his thanks and jumped out, making his way to the front door before Eret had gotten his seat belt off. Where the fuck did these children get their energy? A fucking nuclear plant?
Eret stood at the front door for a few seconds and just as he had gotten through his mental battle about whether or not it would be appropriate to knock on the door, it was pulled open by none other than Wilbur Soot-Craft. The teen was tall, taller than Eret if they weren’t wearing their platform boots (not because Wil was taller than him, why would he care about something so childish and unimportant, absolutely not, no way) and lanky in a way that made the inflatable tube men outside of gas stations hang their heads in shame. Right now, he was dressed in a burgundy sweater and jeans and Eret thanked the gods that she hadn’t let herself overthink the way she was dressed (a simple hoodie and jeans, because he was Not about to overdress for meeting his friend’s family, that’d be embarrassing).
“Hello, Eret, welcome! Welcome, big man, come on in,” Wilbur said with a blinding smile that Eret responded to immediately. It was practically impossible to not smile when Wilbur did, it was probably illegal or something. They ducked their head as they stepped in through the doorway, and Wilbur laughed behind them.
“Sorry, the doors here aren’t really made for us tall people, are they?” Eret just sent him a half-hearted glare that turned into a smile almost right away, and knocked her shoulder against his.
“You’d think that since you’re so freakishly tall they’d at least have some accommodations,” he said and adjusted his wings a little bit. He hoped and prayed that his nerves weren’t too visible in the way his wings usually tensed up when he was on the edge.
Suddenly, a loud screech tore through the hallway from a room that Eret assumed to be the living room. “GIVE THE REMOTE BACK, YOU LITTLE BITCH! I WILL BITE YOU, DON’T FUCKING TRY ME!” Eret shot an alarmed glance at Wilbur, who didn’t look particularly concerned by the yelling. Then, there was a loud yelp and a different voice from the last one said, “Ow, did you just bite me for the TV remote? Really? What are you, a child?” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because soon, the house was filled with a lot more yelling and cursing. Wilbur rolled his eyes and tugged on Eret’s sleeve.
“C’mon, don’t pay them any attention. Lets go say hi to Phil and then go upstairs, yeah?” Eret nodded, and, with one last glance towards the living room, followed after him to the kitchen.
“Hey dad, Eret came over for a bit, is that okay?” When Eret got into the kitchen, Wilbur was talking to a shorter man with big, almost white wings, blonde hair tied to a bun at the back of his head and a big, green cardigan that was rolled up at the elbows. The man was cooking something that looked, in Eret’s humble opinion, fucking delicious, but as his son started talking, he immediately turned around to look at the two of them.
“Of course it’s okay, Wil. Hello, I’m Phil, the father of these little gremlin fucks. It’s nice to meet you.” Phil wiped his hands on a towel and extended his hand, which Eret shook as quickly as possible. The man looked nice, a small smile constantly on his face, and his eyes were kinder than any Eret had seen in a long time. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that Phil’s eyebrows rose slightly as he saw her wings.
“You’re an avian? That’s so cool, mate! I haven’t really seen any other winged hybrids around here apart from my boys, it’s nice to know that they’re not alone, you know?” Eret nodded numbly, and perhaps Wilbur had sensed his discomfort or the teen just had a really good timing because suddenly he reappeared by Eret’s side and tugged on his arm.
“C’mon Eret, lets go, we can’t hang around here all day,” he said and then waved bye to Phil before tugging Eret back into the hallway and up a flight of stairs.
Wilbur’s room was, unsurprisingly, very Wilbur-like. There were fairy lights and candles everywhere, there must’ve been at least four different guitars strewn around the room, and just about every surface was covered in pillows, blankets and notebooks. In the corner of the room, there was a keyboard with stickers covering just about every visible surface. On his bed was sitting a laptop that had suffered a similar fate, to the point where it was almost impossible to tell what color the laptop had originally been. under the window opposite to the door, there was an old, wooden table that was painted a mint green color and was covered in various papers, notebooks, stationary and books ranging from school books to poetry and a rather impressive collection of Shakespeare’s works. Next to the table, there was a crate full of vinyls and a well-used record player.
Wilbur turned around and waved his hand around the room, grinning at Eret. “Welcome to the hellhole! Sit down anywhere, I don’t really care. If you want to, we can play Minecraft or something, but I think we should probably start with our homework.” Eret nodded and sat down on the floor in the middle of a giant pile of pillows and dropped her backpack on the floor next to her.
The next few hours passed in relative silence, their quiet chatter not enough to fill the room. The rest of the house was fairly quiet too, apart from the occasional yell from Tommy. The room was warm and cozy, illuminated only by fairy lights, leds and the table lamp Wilbur had set on the floor between them.
Before they realised it, the sun was setting. Eret looked out of the window and let out a surprised yelp. “Wilbur, what time is it?”
Wilbur, who had finished his homework earlier and was now lounging on the floor next to Eret reading a book, picked up the phone next to him and turned it on. “Oh fuck, it’s almost 8 pm. Why did nobody come get us for dinner? C’mon, lets go downstairs.”
The answer to the mystery of no interruptions became apparent as soon as they walked into the living room to see a pig hybrid curled up in the corner of the couch, dead asleep. Wilbur laughed a bit and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over his brother. “Lets go to the kitchen,” he whispered to Eret, who just nodded and followed him out of the room.
Dinner was a quick affair, since apparently Phil had been called to the shelter because of an emergency, and Tommy had sent Wilbur a text saying that he and Tubbo were at Ranboo’s. Eret and Wilbur heated up Phil’s cooking from earlier and ate in relative silence before heading back upstairs.
Eret’s phone buzzed in their pocket and they checked it to find a text from Ranboo, asking if it’s okay for Tommy and Tubbo to spend the night at their place. After confirming with Wilbur who had just received a similar text from Tubbo, he agreed and told them to order pizza for dinner, since he’d be staying late at Wilbur’s.
“Eret?” Wilbur called from his bed, where he was sitting crosslegged and leaning his head on one hand while fidgeting with his phone with the other. When Eret looked up, he tilted his head and asked, “Since your house is currently full of teenagers, would you like to spend the night here? Dad won’t mind and we have plenty of room.”
Eret tilted their head to the side, thinking for a moment, before nodding. “Alright, if you’re sure that it won’t be a bother.”
Wilbur waved his hand dismissively before getting up from the bed. “C’mon, I want to show you a song I’m working on right now. I need some input, there’s a bit I can’t work out, it sounds weird even though I’ve tried changing it around.”
The rest of the night was spent in front of Wilbur’s keyboard, with Wilbur playing his songs on the keyboard and his guitar and Eret giving his input where he could. Eventually, the two of them changed into more comfortable clothes for the night and laid down on Wilbur’s bed, talking quietly in the silence of the house.
Eret was staring at the fairy lights on the ceiling and listening to the soft breathing of Wilbur right next to him. The clock on the wall seemed to tick louder than usual, and Eret frowned as the sound felt like it was drilling into her brain. Suddenly, Wilbur tapped on her shoulder, drawing her attention.
“Hey, Eret, I need to tell you something.” They were laying right next to each other and Wilbur’s breath’s were warm on her face, and his eyes were looking at anywhere else than Eret. “I. I think.. no, I know that- fuck.” His brow furrowed and he frowned a bit, clearly frustrated with himself. Eret covered Wilbur’s hand that was picking at the bed covers with his own hand, trying to calm the other down.
“It’s okay, Wil, you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you, I never would.”
“Promise?” Wilbur’s voice, that usually lead groups and demanded the attention of any room he was in, sounded small and vulnerable. Eret smiled in a way they hoped was reassuring and squeezed his hand.
“Promise.”
Wilbur cleared his throat, still not looking at Eret, and took a deep breath. He turned on his back to stare at the ceiling and whispered, “I think… Eret, I think I’m non-binary.”
The room was quiet for a few moments as Eret processed the words, the only sound in the room the teenagers’ soft breathing. Eret looked back at Wilbur, whose eyes were still firmly trained at the ceiling. “Wilbur, look at me,” he whispered.
For a few seconds, Wilbur didn’t move. Then, he blinked his eyes furiously a few times and tilted his head to the side, looking somewhere next to Eret’s head. Eret sighed softly. “Look at me. Will.”
And then, finally, Wilbur’s eyes met his. “I’m so glad that you chose to trust me,” Eret whispered, bringing his hand up to cup Wilbur’s face in an attempt to comfort the other.
“How could I not? You were the first person I could even think of telling,” Wilbur whispered back, a flash of defiance filling his eyes before they were clouded again by fear. Eret frowned at that.
“Hey, you’re okay, you’re okay, I’m so proud of you and you’re so valid, I’m so happy for you right now,” he whispered quickly, trying to ease the fear still in the other teen’s mind. Wilbur’s expression softened a bit, and he seemed to relax at Eret’s words.
“Speaking of which, have you been thinking about pronouns and names and stuff like that? If not, that’s okay too, I just don’t want to misgender you or anything. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Wilbur exhaled quietly and leaned his head against Eret’s hand, still just holding his face. “I don’t know,” he admitted finally, his voice quiet and almost sad. Eret’s chest hurt at the uncertainty in his voice.
“That’s okay too,” he said softly. “We can figure that out, it’s okay, you’re just as valid. Don’t worry about that, you’ll figure it out eventually.”
Wilbur nodded against his hand, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a small smile. Eret smiled too, and leaned their head forward to press their foreheads together. “Do you want to talk more about this, or do you want to go to sleep? We can do either one, but it is pretty late,” he said quietly. As if on que, Wilbur yawned widely and laughed a bit.
“Yeah, okay, lets go to sleep. And Eret?” Eret looked back at Wilbur, raising his eyebrow in question. Wilbur smiled, a real, genuine smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes and showed his pointed teeth. “Thank you. For… everything.”
Eret smiled back at him and rubbed his thumb across Wilbur’s cheekbone. “Any time, Wilbur, just say the word. But now, go to sleep, okay?”
Wilbur nodded and, curling up into a tiny ball under the covers. Eret flipped onto his back and squeezed his eyes shut, closing out the fairy lights and the soft glow of the coming morning from the window. Somewhere out in the yard, a bird started singing, and as the sun slowly rose above the horizon, Eret fell asleep.