Fic: Through the looking glass (14/15), TH gen, rated PG13

[peki]

Posting the second-to-last chapter now and the last one tomorrow morning because I'm going away for a few days and want to wrap up before I do :) Enjoy! Thank you to everyone who's been reading and commenting, it means a lot to me. This was fun to write and will probably not be the last bit in this universe.




Title: Through the looking glass (14/15)
Genre: Twins gen
Rating: PG13
Summary: Tom falls asleep one night and wakes up in a place he never thought he'd see again. Five years ago, Tom falls asleep one night and wakes up in a place he couldn't wait to see. Will they get back where they belong?


“Tom! Tom! Wake up, oh, please wake up!”

Blearily, Tom tried to rouse himself enough to open his eyes. His body ached as if he’d fallen down from a great height, and he felt wet and uncomfortable. Bill’s voice rang in his ears, high and anxious.

Bill’s voice.

Tom’s eyes snapped open. He was lying on his back somewhere out in the road. Rain was drizzling down lightly, drenching the designer clothes he’d pulled from older Tom’s wardrobe. Above him hovered Bill’s stupid, beloved face, wet with rain and the fat tears he was crying.

Bemused, Tom reached out and poked Bill’s nose, just to see if he could. Bill didn’t vanish: he was actually there, going cross-eyed staring at Tom’s fingertip, and Tom felt relief flood him warmly. He was back. He was wet and lying in mud, but Bill was there and he was home.

“You have a zit on your chin,” he told Bill hoarsely and watched Bill’s face light up with relief like the sun coming out behind the clouds.

“You’re back!” Bill squealed. “You’re really back!” and then he was in Tom’s arms and they were both in the mud, but that was okay; Tom wouldn’t have had it any other way. He hugged his twin fiercely and felt Bill shudder with a sob that seemed to tear out of the depths of his soul. “I’m so glad!” Bill snuffled.

“Me too,” Tom said gruffly. “Me too.”

“Tom?” another voice came from somewhere to the left.

Tom glanced up to find Gustav and Georg crouching on the ground just a few meters away: his good old friends with their floppy pre-fame hair and their unfashionable clothes and pimply teenage faces. They were both grinning at the familiar display before them. Tom grinned back. “Hey, guys.”

“What happened?” Georg asked. “Just a minute ago, the older Tom was still here.”

“He was?” Tom felt relief wash over him. They’d been right; and, if nothing had gone wrong, older Tom should be back where he belonged now. Just like he was. “Well I’m back. I have no idea how, but. Here I am.”

“Good,” Gustav said shortly. “Bill, I know we’re not supposed to disturb your twin time, but he needs to breathe!”

Reluctantly, Bill sat back, pulling Tom up to a sitting position with him. Tom rubbed the back of his head and looked around. They were on the road behind their house; it was a normal, rainy summer day in Loitsche, but somehow it all looked different to him now. The air seemed fresher; the grass greener. Even the rain felt refreshing.

He was home.

“Come on,” Bill said softly, “let’s go tell mom the good news.”

Over a hill, along a sloping, narrow path overgrown with thorny bushes, and their house came into view at the end of the road. Tom’s heart beat quickly in his chest. He realized he’d been scared that things would be different when he returned, but the house was still the same: red, weatherworn bricks overgrown with ivy under a low roof, surrounded by high grass and overflowing flower beds. The branches of the cherry tree in the backyard were swaying in the wind that carried with it the scent of their mother’s flowers. Scotty the dog stood with his paws up against the fence, barking in welcome.

Tom’s steps quickened. Behind him, he heard Georg say, “We’ll see you on Tuesday for practice, okay?” and Bill’s quick, “Sure, guys, bye!”, and then they were running through the grass towards the small, squeaky front gate, up the pebbled path to the house, Scotty bouncing excitedly around their legs.

“Mom!” Tom burst through the front door. He ambled down the narrow, cramped hall towards the kitchen, bumping into furniture and almost tipping over the coat stand in his hurry. “Mom!” he called, suddenly desperate to see her. “Mom, I’m back!”

“Tom?” Simone came running from the kitchen, her face lit up with surprise, and they met halfway down the hall. Tom grabbed her and spun her around once, giddy with relief. His mom, his home, his life. He had them back.

“Honey,” she murmured, showering him with kisses. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re back. We were worried!”

“I know.” Tom didn’t even mind the display of affection; he was just happy, and happier yet when he felt a hand on his shoulder, Bill sharing in their quiet moment of joy.

“When, how, what,” their mother babbled, tears running down her cheeks unchecked.

Tom grinned. “I don’t know. I’m just here. And I’m not going away again.”

“You’d better not,” Bill said from behind him.

“Where were you?” Sniffling, Simone drew back to search Tom’s face.

“In the future. Almost five years ahead.”

“Just like we thought,” Bill added.

“Come, sit, you have to tell us everything,” his mother urged.

On the threshold to the kitchen, Tom hesitated. He’d seen so much, he knew so much, but did his mother need to find out now that she’d be moving out of this home she’d built for them? Was she supposed to know she was going to have another baby? The surprises had to reveal themselves in time. What was life but the unexpected twists and turns?

“Later, mom, okay?” he said. He reached behind him and found Bill’s wrist to hold on to tightly. “I need to… We--”

Simone smiled. “Yes, honey, of course. Whatever you want.” She stroked his cheek tenderly. “Dinner’s in an hour. I’ll make your favorite, okay?”

“Schnitzel and roast potatoes?” Tom smiled. They’d be vegetarians, but not yet, not today. “Thanks, mom.”

“Welcome back, honey,” she smiled. “And now go wash up, boys, I don’t want mud on my rugs.”

They went without protest; there was much to talk about.

They peeled off their muddy clothes in their tiny bathroom upstairs, bumping into each other and stepping on each other’s toes as they moved between the sink and the laundry basket. Tom’s dreads felt heavy with water, and when he looked in the mirror, he saw that his hair was matted with dirt. He made a face. Something was to be said for cornrows.

“I missed your grandpa noises,” Bill said suddenly, and Tom realized he’d been grumbling under his breath. He met Bill’s eyes in the mirror above the sink. Bill was smiling softly, as if he’d never seen anything more pleasing than Tom with mud in his hair. “You’re quieter at twenty. More…controlled.”

“So are you,” Tom said. He hadn’t really thought about what older Tom might be like, but it made sense. “Still high-strung as usual though.”

Bill smacked his shoulder. “Am I freakishly tall? You were.”

Tom smiled. He liked having it confirmed. “Yeah. You’re tall. You wear a lot of face paint. And you like these really big pieces of jewelry.”

“Well, duh,” Bill smiled.

“What am I like?” Tom asked.

Bill thought about it for a moment. “You’re…tall. Funny. Brave. Really good at comforting me. You’re, well, pretty much like you’re now, except a little less stupid. Your style is still shitty too.”

“My style is awesome,” Tom shrugged. “I’ve seen my closet. And you’re still stupid five years from now.”

“The other Tom liked future me, though,” Bill said. “Tom?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you like me…him, in the future?”

“‘Course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. Some people…they change when they get rich and famous.”

Tom was silent for a few long moments. Then, he said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Bill looked at him oddly, as if he couldn’t quite believe such wisdom coming from Tom’s mouth. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he said slowly. “I liked you. Him. Future Tom. And he certainly wanted to get back to the other Bill badly enough.”

Tom felt a rush of satisfaction at that. He hadn’t been able to give the older Bill quite what he needed, but his future self would; he needed Bill just like Bill needed him. They were still evenly matched. “I’m glad. You…he, future Bill, he was sad.” He licked at his lip, nervous. “I think they…we’re really close. There, then.”

“Yeah,” Bill nodded, smiling. “I like that.” He stood beside Tom at the sink, their shoulders pressing together. Bill was a few centimeters taller, but the difference was slight and they were still seeing eye to eye. He leaned in to Tom a little and Tom let him, pushing back at his twin with equal strength. It felt like they’d been apart for years; if Tom thought about it, they had been. He savored the closeness now. He never wanted it to end.

“Home sweet home,” he said dryly.

“The past few days were pretty weird, huh,” Bill chuckled. “I had fun though. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” Tom said. He thought of their wintery house, their parents, Gustav and Georg. The music. It was a good life they were looking forward to, its weird moments notwithstanding. “It’s going to be nice.”

“I know. He said it would be.” Bill jerked his head towards the shower. “You can go first, I’m not that muddy. And then we’ll talk?”

Tom gratefully accepted the offer. The bathroom here wasn’t as spacious as the one in the future and the water took a while to warm up to the right temperature, but with the state his hair was in, he didn’t even care. He’d get to have baths in marble hot tubs with busty blondes; he’d seen older Tom’s stash of private pictures. For now, this was good enough.

When he came out of the bathroom, Bill had changed his clothes and was sitting on the windowsill in Tom’s room, his legs pulled up against his chest. Tom squeezed in with him and they just sat for a while, their knees pressed together, basking in the other’s presence.

“So now we’re here again,” Bill murmured, smiling.

“Yeah.”

“What was it you didn’t want to tell mom?”

Tom snorted softly. Bill was way too perceptive. “Nothing much. I just think some surprises should stay, well, surprises.” Unable to resist Bill’s curious face, he leaned forward and whispered, “In the future, she was pregnant!”

“No!” Bill’s eyes went wide. “Really now?”

“Honest, I swear!”

“Well.” Bill actually looked stunned for once. “What did future Bill think of that?”

“He was as shocked as I was,” Tom said dryly. “But I think then he was excited.”

“It is exciting. Just…mom? That’s…”

“Sort of gross. Right? Right?”

“Right,” Bill said, and Tom savored the satisfaction of his twin agreeing with him. Future Bill had been way too grown up in some ways.

Bill shrugged it off after a few moments, though. “And what else was going on?”

“It was Christmas,” Tom told him. “We had this weird tofu duck. We’ll be vegetarians then, imagine. And we have dogs. Scotty and three others. And cars and games and awards and a studio in the basement! And--”

“Gold records?” Bill asked breathlessly.

“All over the walls!” Tom grinned.

Bill gasped. “Honest?”

Tom nodded smugly. “Honest. Everywhere.”

Bill’s look was cloudy and faraway, and Tom knew he was conjuring up all their riches before his mind’s eye. He probably wasn’t so far off either; Bill had a very vivid imagination. “Sounds amazing,” he whispered.

“It was amazing,” Tom said. He smiled lopsidedly at his twin. “But you weren’t there, so it was kinda pointless.”

“Why’s that?” Bill asked.

Tom shrugged. Not only future Bill could make him feel awkward. “It’s only half the fun if I don’t get to share it with you.”

Bill smiled. “Well, you will have to share with me. Right?”

“Right.” Tom chewed on his lower lip, thoughtful. “Poor future Tom. I bet future Bill will launch a cuddle attack now that he’s back.”

Bill laughed. “I don’t think he’ll mind so much, he was quite cuddly while he was here.”

“Ehh.” Tom made a face. “Why do you do this to me? You know I love you, why do you have to treat me like a teddy bear?”

Bill’s face lit up with joy. Groaning, Tom hid his face against his knees, anticipating a moment of mushiness that would’ve done future Bill proud. He’d kind of brought it upon himself, but the words had just tumbled out on a long breath, easy as that, as if they’d been waiting at the tip of his tongue. Maybe something was to be said for cuddling; at least it made all the silly words obsolete.

“Well,” he heard Bill’s voice whisper in his ear, and realized that Bill had slipped off the windowsill to put his arms around him. “You kept the teddy we shared when we were babies, so I have to cuddle you. No choice. It’s only tangentially related to how much I love you, too.”

Tom sighed softly as Bill began to tug at his tangled, wet dreads, snaked his fingers through Tom’s hair to rub his head. This, he was used to. It felt nice.

“I like the dreads better than the cornrows,” Bill decided. “They feel more like you.”

Tom turned his head to glance at his twin. “Did he tell you what happened to the dreads?”

Bill began to grin. “Yeah. Funny story. Didn’t you hear it?”

“No. Future Bill’s still a fucking tease.” That made Tom remember something. He rifled through his pockets, suddenly terrified he’d lost the key, but it was still there; he’d brought it with him. “He gave me this, but he didn’t tell me what it’s for.”

Bill studied the key, his brow furrowed, then, suddenly, his face lit up with understanding. “Oh. Oh! If this is what I think it is, you’ll like it.”

Tom stared at him. “How would you know?”

“Sometimes when I lie in bed and I can’t sleep, I like to picture what I’ll do when I'm famous and rich,” Bill smiled. “This might be one of those things.”

“So what is it?” Tom asked impatiently.

Bill just grinned. “Not telling.”

“Argh.” Tom would’ve pulled away then, but Bill’s hands in his hair, patting him gently, felt too good to resist. He rested his chin on his knees with a tired sigh and closed his eyes, his grumbling slowly fading to a low purr.

“Oh, you,” he heard Bill say. He sounded fond. “I hope future Tom made it back okay. I really did like him a lot. He’s kind. And funny. And even somewhat cool. Insofar as you can ever hope to be cool.”

Tom nudged him hard. “Future Bill wears high heels.”

“I’m sure they’re couture,” Bill said; he was probably right too, which made the whole thing even more ridiculous in Tom’s book. He grinned.

“He’s fun.” He thought fondly of their shopping trip, the fake snow fight, Bill’s neurotic prattling while Tom drove the Audi up to the studio. The night Bill had comforted Tom while he was sick and Tom had held Bill as he cried. They’d crammed the ups and downs of these four and a half years that lay between them into the three nights and days they’d spent together. Tom carried it with him now, that slice of their future life. It was what he would be working towards from now on.

But not today.

Today, he was sitting in the room of his childhood, wrapped up in the arms of his twin. Outside, the rain fell densely like a curtain, keeping their little house hidden from the world. Tom felt cozy and warm. He turned his head into the caress of Bill’s hands combing through his dreads, feeling pleasantly lulled.

“Nice?” Bill asked, low.

“Hmm,” Tom murmured. “You’re the best.”

Bill laughed quietly. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Tom glanced at him; their eyes met, and held. “No better place than here.”

Bill nodded. “For now,” he said earnestly.

“For now,” Tom said.

Their life was only about to begin.