Tommy logged back on the next day and was reminded of the lack of guests at his party when he gazed across the hills and looked at the empty beach. However, what hurt the most was when he turned his head and saw a large statue, with familiar dark blond hair, a green shirt, and blue pants, with a compass clutched in his hands. It was Tubbo. Tommy approached it, unsure of how to feel, and read the sign placed down at the foot of the statue.

"Didn't build this out of pity, just thought you'd like a Tubbo," Tommy read aloud.

Tommy's jaw tightened. Tubbo hadn't shown up to his party. Tubbo was the one who'd exiled him and placed him into his situation. And the compass: Dream had told Tommy that Tubbo didn't have the compass anymore. It was a lie. They'd clearly built it out of pity, just to spite him. He knew that if Tubbo'd wanted to be there, he could've gotten there. Tubbo hadn't shown up once. So why was Tommy still there, hanging onto his friendship with Tubbo? It didn't matter, did it? There was no point in wishing for his best friend back when Tubbo clearly hadn't felt the same way. He didn't need Tubbo.

Tommy took out his pickaxe and got to work on the statue. Within only a few minutes, the entire thing was gone, the only signs that it had ever existed the items floating on the ground. After another few minutes, they despawned as well. It was almost like Tubbo had never existed at all. Tommy put his head in his hands and resisted the urge to cry.

When the urge passed, anger swelled inside of him. Everyone had ever come out of pity. No one came just to say hello or to keep him company. The only person who had done that... was Dream.

Tommy would've visited Tubbo if he'd been exiled. Even if Tommy had been the president and he'd been the one that had to exile Tubbo, he would've visited Tubbo every day. Everyone would've visited Tubbo. If the roles had been reversed, then everyone would've visited Tubbo. But no one visited Tommy. And the roles wouldn't be reversed.

Tommy took a walk and arrived at the edge of the sea. It occurred to him that while everyone else would scream into their pillows, there was no need for him to do so. He was all alone. There was no one to overhear, no one to complain, and Tommy, strangely, wanted someone to complain, because that would've been an acknowledgement that he was real, that he was being heard, but even as he stood at the edge of the sea, he couldn't muster up the feeling to scream. Instead, he stood and stared. And then he returned back to the campsite without saying a word.

In the nether, Tommy bumped into Ranboo, who had been fishing the ghast.

"Hey," Tommy said carefully, unsure of how to act.

"Your eyes," Ranboo observed, looking strangely at Tommy. "They're not blue anymore."

Tommy blinked, not knowing what to say. He looked down at himself and was suddenly struck by the fact that his clothes were in tatters, and there were almost holes, patches of paper-thin fabric at his elbows and knees.

Tommy looked away for a brief moment, then said aloud, thoughtfully, "you know, Dream isn't on right now."

Ranboo considered Tommy. "He isn't." He replied.

"Someday... not today, I'm going to fight back. But for the time's being, he's my only friend." Tommy said. Ranboo looked awkward.

"Except you," Tommy added. Ranboo smiled awkwardly, but it quickly faded away.

"I'm going to build a little room." Tommy said suddenly. "But I can't fight back now. I owe him everything. Dream comes here, and he leaves, but he always comes back, and he brings me things and news and sometimes makes me a little happier. He gives me armor sometimes, and he even let me use his trident."

Ranboo looked confused as Tommy began digging down to create a little room. "Isn't Dream the reason you're in this situation in the first place?"

Tommy sighed. "Him and Tubbo both. Yeah, but I have to live with it. There's nothing else I can do."

Tommy looked down and placed a torch. His tongue slipped loose and asked the question he'd sworn to himself not to ask but wondered endlessly anyway.

"Has Tubbo said anything about me?"

"Yeah, he has," Ranboo replied. "He really wants to get you back, you know."

Tommy frowned. "He hasn't come and visited me, though."

"Really?" Ranboo asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Tommy said with a slump of his shoulders.

Ranboo pressed his lips together, unsure of how to respond. "Well, I'm sure he'll come visit you soon. I'll make sure of it. If he doesn't come in a week, I'll force him to come."

Tommy stopped in his tracks. "No, don't force him to come if he doesn't want to, which he clearly doesn't want to. It's been an entire week and he hasn't come."

Tommy continued work on that little room, lining the entire room with cobblestone, which was his favorite block.

"How has your day been?" Tommy asked awkwardly.

"Cool, I guess." Ranboo answered with a shrug. "I built a little bee sanctuary, whatever you call it." Tommy looked at Ranboo and was painfully reminded of Tubbo's love for bees.

"Really?" Tommy said, trying not to think about Tubbo and instead slipping up into another trap. "Can I see it?"

"Of course." Ranboo answered, before realizing the problem. "When you're allowed back, I mean. I'm sure it'll be soon." He said, but they all sounded like empty words. Tommy frowned and turned away. He searched for something else to talk about.

"Apparently Tubbo got a compass." Tommy said for a change of conversation, beginning to line the walls with cobblestone.

"Oh, yeah." Ranboo looked away, staring determinedly at the ground. "It was really terrible timing with a charged creeper..."

"So he let it go." Tommy concluded, holding back a bitter smile.

"No, he didn't," Ranboo tried to backtrack. "He didn't purposefully let it go, he would never do that."

Tommy pressed his lips together and smiled almost condescendingly, echoing Dream's patronizing smile. "Well, I didn't think he would do any of this, either, pal," he said, "but look where we are."

Ranboo looked for words to say, then finally said with a sigh, almost as if he'd not meant for Tommy to hear, "yeah, that is true."

There was an uncomfortable silence. For once, Tommy hated being proven right.

"Seriously, though, Tubbo hadn't let it go on purpose. In fact, he was pretty adamant about not letting it leave his hand." Ranboo tried to cover it up, to ease the sting, but Tommy was already stuck too deep in his thoughts. "He always wanted to keep it in his off-hand, so he would always know... you know."

Tommy took a deep breath, pausing in his building, gazing skyward for a moment, before shaking his head and resuming his work.

"What do you think of my chest room, though?" He asked. "But... promise you won't say anything, though. Do you promise?"

"Of course," Ranboo looked rather sad, and Tommy didn't have the energy in himself to spite the pity on Ranboo's face.

"Don't tell anyone this, alright?"

"I won't." Ranboo reassured Tommy, looking at him curiously.

"Follow me." Tommy beckoned, and Ranboo obeyed, trailing after Tommy as Tommy led him out of Logstedshire and across the plains. Tommy looked around surreptitiously, then his shoulders slumped a little when he realized he didn't really have anyone nearby to hide from, and led the way to a certain house in the village.

"Look here." Tommy pointed. "There are villagers. And we can get ender pearls and golden apples and other stuff from them."

"Yeah," Ranboo said, looking at Tommy, a little confused as to what the point was.

"You see, my friend Dream, he's been doing this thing lately—which makes sense, since I'm not in his land anymore—he takes my stuff sometimes, so I need to make sure I have some extra stuff just in case." Tommy explained. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from Ranboo, who had a frown and furrowed brow as he listened, feeling suddenly guilty for saying so, but not understanding why.

"Please don't tell anyone." Tommy pleaded, feeling too vulnerable all of a sudden. "You're the only person I've told, so I'll know if things go missing." He couldn't find the heart in him to threaten one of his only friends, though. Ranboo nodded. Tommy felt a flicker of a smile come on his face, which flickered away like the flame of a candle blown away by the wind, the barest ember coming to life for one glorious second but dying in the next.