Not all days are as depressing as this one, not at least for Tommy, but today was different.

Today, it was a different day, Tommy sat outside of his school, it may have been a Saturday, but Tommy's college happened to be the quietest and peaceful place to think in.

The darkness of the sky took over the light blue with speed, Tommy dropped his phone to his side and he leaned against the marble stairs, only to sigh to the stars.

He took a breath in to smell the polluted air. The dried tears that ran down his cheeks glistened from the moonlight.

Not all days are like this, but today, he just had to let it all flow through his

mind.

A phone buzzed in his pocket, he turned it on to find a voice message from the one and only Jschlatt:

"Yo weren't you supposed to be live two hours ago?"

The message wasn't one Tommy wanted to read, at least it wasn't from anyone close to him like Wilbur, or Quackity... Or especially Tubbo.

"Tommy u idiot i saw u read my message and leave it on read. ANSWER."

He pressed the off button on the phone, causing it to blackout and then placed it back into his pocket where it belonged right now.

Yet the annoying didn't stop, multiple

more vibrations came through from

his pocket, this time shorter.

After many attempts to ignore it and not look at his pocket, Big T finally gained the courage to open his phone. To his surprise, there weren't any voice messages, but instead, text

messages.

Jshlatt:

Fine

I'll tell you like this

yu know u forgot to stream todag?

are youhaving technical issues?

or is ur pc broken?

or ur internet?

taking to long to start streamjbf?

i swear to god tommy if your not streaminf todag because your sad, i am going to lecture u

Fine. T Man thought. If Jschlatt wants to talk, they can have a talk.

His tears dried up, of course, their marks of existence were still visible, but at least he was no longer crying. It's a first.

He casually tapped the call button, then attempted the calmest and collected voice he's ever attempted, let alone practised.

But then again, what's the point of acting so damn cheerful and "pogchamp" all the time? He's just a kid, people should know better about Tommy.

The worst part is that he doesn't want to use the "minor card" because most of the time, it's used as a joke to make fun of his own age.

But what do these people not get by "I'm busy"? Just because Tommy's a Minecraft YouTuber, doesn't mean he's special. He's not, and he knows that...

And he wants to tell them, believe me, he does! But his friends would never give him that chance to speak up in defence.

For some reason, Tommy's seen as the kid that's too busy to do homework for school. If they just listened for once, they would realise that the man has never used the "busy excuse" while playing Minecraft, he's got a life! Tommy's got a family too!

Then again, his DreamSMP friends are also the reasons as to why Tommy can't finish his work. They're constantly doing things that Tommy is expected to react to. How is Tommy supposed to tell Dream that he's got homework? Dream would just bully him and tell others!

And then there are his parents, as much as he loves them, sometimes Tommy thinks that he's not doing enough for his family. Of course, he's making money, lots of money, but sometimes when he looks up to his mother, the smile on her face isn't as exciting as it used to be many years ago. The real question is why? Is she not proud of him? Is he doing something wrong? Or is he not enough?

"Not enough"

Here we go again, "not enough". The same two words that Thomas Jefferson likes to process in his head.

He's never enough for his family, he'll never be able to keep them happy. No matter how much he tries.

Maybe that's why he's failing his grades? Because he's all over the place trying to be there for everybody even though he knows he can't.

Maybe he can't do everything...

He can't make the world happy.

Maybe the only way to fix that is by letting go of some of those people and only focusing on those important?

That would mean he would have to quit streaming, quit the hobby that means the most to him.

The one thing he enjoys the most, the one thing that makes him money. Gone.

All for his family and friends.

The idea felt realistic but painful.

Tears pooled under his eyes, leaking down his cheeks and waiting to drop under his chin like every drop of rain to ever exist. His breaths shortened and picked up the pace, making his face redden and puff up.

The call got answered.

Schlatt's face couldn't be seen, Tommy had a hand over his eyes and he pressed his hair back to try to stop his forehead from pounding over the heat that began building up.

"AYY TOMMY!" Jschlatt yelled the sound of a microwave door was either just opened or just closed, then began some humming from behind him as he moved on to another room which echoed less.

His wide smile and sparkling eyes doomed to an instant frown and concerned eyes when he noticed the pained look of Big T's face.

He jumped onto his old brown leather couch and sat quietly on the phone, listening to the sixteen-year-old breath unevenly and cry for at least a few more minutes.

Respectivley, he waited in quiet, the era that loomed around the fact that Schlatt was patiently watching Tommy sob got him to somehow even his breathes. He didn't need to know why.

After two minutes or longer, The kid stopped, he began mumbling words that were barely audible to the phone's trashy microphone, however, Schlatt was able to pick a few words:

"I wish people..."

"... Treats m... Like I'm ..."

"I don't feel respected and I..."

After many more statements, the kid finally calmed down. Jschlatt gave it his best efforts to show a face that had no reaction.

"That's not true." He responded bluntly with a five seconds pause. "Everyone respects you for who you are Tommy."

The kid let out another mournful sob. "Don't lie to me!" He shouted, his voice echoed across the exterior marble walls of his college.

"Oh, I'm the liar!?" Schlatt pointed to himself sarcastically shocked. "Tell that to one of the best Twitch Streamers of DreamSMP who also revives the server literally the day after it starts dying! Because he's the one lying about himself! He thinks he's nothing to us when he's better than us all!" He yelled.

It was only then did Jschlatt realise what terrible mistake he made. "That was a compliment... Just to clarify..." His eyes averted to the side. "... What makes you think you're not worth existing for us?"

Even though the compliment did make him relax slightly, the question only got him heating up again.

"It's okay. You can talk to me."

Tommy instantly spat out in between sobs:

"It's just- Toby- Tubbo...! He doesn't believe me! He thinks that I'm disrespecting him for fun but I only do that when I'm streaming and even though I talk kindly to him off-camera, he doesn't talk to me nicely anymore!

And I get his pain in the same time because all the others like Wilbur or Dream are constantly doing bits that I don't consent to and I always feel uncomfortable but how can I tell them that?

But I let Tubbo know that I'm doing it for fun, they don't!

I hate how they don't listen to me! But what if they're right!?" He cried.

Schlatt frowned. "Right about what?"

"Right about everything! Tubbo doesn't listen to me because he thinks I'm a bad person! The DreamSMP members treat me badly because they think I'm completely bad! Maybe they're right!

My parents are always telling me the same thing! That I'm not doing enough! That I don't succeed in life!

And my school friends! I can't even make time to help them with school projects because Will and Dream are constantly depending on me to be online! But I've only tried letting them know I have had homework twice! And because of that, they mocked me!"

There was a sigh from the phone. During the teenager's monologue, Schlatt managed to grab a bag of Toritos and munch on many chips. He loudly ate one more before lazily shrugging. "Have you ever tried arguing against them?"

"What? But they're all right about me!"

The American was taken aback by this statement. and dropped his chip. "Look, kid, I'm no therapist, and I'm not the kinda person that knows what to say when to say. But if it helps, would you like me to be honest about your life? Y'know, your real life? The one that you think sucks?"

Tommy said nothing, but the eerie silence felt like an answer as it is, either way, Schlatt wouldn't continue until he could confirm an answer from Tommy.

That slight confirmation was given by Tommy through a slight nod which was almost hidden by his messy hair that covered most of his face, including the eyes.

"Well, you already know how everyone feels about you so, are you sure you're ready for the truth about this life?"

The saddened kid nodded slowly once more. "It'll only add on to the list of things that they all think I am."

The goat man nodded, a smile almost formed. "Good." He took in a breath before saying:

"I don't know who likes you and who don't. No, believe me, I'm not a therapist, I'm also not your stereotypical girl that gossips enough to predict people...

But let me tell you something. Let me tell you something about "people" -" He threw up his hands to give the quotation mark signs before dramatically finishing his sentence. "-They suck."

The last two words caused Tommy to quietly chuckle, he waited for Schlatt to finish his chip and continue.

"Hm. Yeah." Schlatt mumbled over his food. "They suck! They suck a lot!" He paused. "But you know what? That's just the way it is! What can you do?" He shrugged.

"Tommy, people will always try to find a way to pick on others when things don't go their way, that's humanity.

Everyone on this server just wants to be on top, they like to prove each other wrong so that they can be better than others, whether by words or by physical means...

They're people, they just wanna prove something, but at the same time, they forget what they're tryna prove.

And that's why they go for you... You're young and a big streamer with lots of support.

But who cares if they try to get to you? Tommy, you're still fuuuing funny to over one hundred and forty thousand people, and they like you because you're you!

You're the man closest to their age, you make the content they like and your opinions are relatable to them! Did I mention you're funny?"

A smile almost crept through the kid's sorrowful frown. It only got worse when he asked the man "What about my friends? They don't think that way."

That only made the man nodded, his eyes blinked as if saying "Challenge accepted" to Tommy:

"Tommy, they're like any other human ever. They're looking for reasons too.

Reasons that help them understand the truth behind life. It's what helps us grow and move on to that bigger picture in our dream.

What most of them forget is that no one will ever understand the meaning of life, and we never will.

It's why we're constantly trying to figure it out, 'cause we're always tryna figure it out, every day.

Heck, I bet I can tell you how almost every member on the DreamSMP server looks at their lives! Name a member!"

"What?"Tommy shrugged. "Who?"

"I don't know." Jschlatt rolled his eyes. "Ask me about BadBoyHalo. You wanna know how Bad takes on the bad parts of life?"

Even though the kid noticed the unnecessary joke, he nodded to the big man. "I mean, I don't really get how you would know this but sure."

"Well, it's simple really." A big smile sat on the goat man's face, he sat back at his seat and casually yet loudly ate another chip. "I watched a highlight on YouTube about him giving advice about bad times, he said it was like a mountainous terrain:

when you're at the top of a hill, you're happy, nothing can stop you, you're invulnerable, inevitable- Okay, okay. I'm getting ahead of myself.

And then you get to the bottom of the hill, whether you fall immediately or slowly, you go downhill. And you get sad, depressed.

And whether it is a steep way back up or a relaxing way up, you do get happier, because there's no other choice, you do hit the lowest part of that downhill. What can you do?."

"Jachlatt?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you really watch a BadBoyHalo highlight?"

There was a pause from Schlatt. "No, I actually asked him."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"No." The kid gently yet disappointedly shook his head. "I mean: what do you think of life?"

"Oh." He relaxed his muscles. "Simple." There was a pixilated shrug on the phone. "I just stopped worrying."

Tommy tilted his head in confusion, leaving speechless for Schlatt to further explain.

"I mean, there's no point living a life so full of guilt and other sad stuff. But when I do get sad, I let it happen.

I like learning from sad stuff and then continue on with life like it that sad moment never happened." Jschlatt shrugged. "I guess it's called accept what happened and move on."

Somehow, Tommy believed it. The idea of everything he has ever worried about being impossible to fix was, sure, a painful thought. But when he actually just took a breath in, and looked at it from a different perspective...

It was just him thinking that all of his family and friends don't respect him, and so what if it's true?

So what? Toby would never go too far to hurt Tommy, and Tommy's gonna make sure of it by letting the big man speak more often and getting the respect he deserved.

And who cares if his family has higher expectations from Tommy? The only reason Tom wants to graduate from college is so that he learns how to edit and continue on the great career that has earned him the title of "Millionaire kid".

His school friends, however, they're allowed to think whatever they want to think. Whatever they see in Tommy is not his problem, it's theirs.

"Is that a smile I see on your face?" Schlatt pointed at the screen and smiled widely back.

Tommy replied with a nod. "Thank you, Jschlatt."

"Hey, no problem, Kid. You're a young and lucky teenager and one day, when you get older, you're gonna look back at these days and realise how good you really have it going." Schlatt shrugged before proudly pointing at himself. "And I'm going to make sure of that because when you do get older, I'm going to ask you about you're own perspective of life!"

This made Tommy chuckle."I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Knowing deep inside that he's already been wondering the truth behind life

this entire time, even years before this conversation.

"And remember-" The finger that Schlatt had pointing at himself turned around and pointed at Schlatt's phone camera. "Like only whatcha make when you're tryna make it out. 'Kay?"

The British kid nodded back, letting every word sink in. "I will." He hovered his finger over the big red 'end call' button. "Goodbye. Schlatt."

"Talk to you soon, Tommyinnit."

Then there was the 'end phone beeps'.

Big T sighed in an almost chuckle sort of way, the frown on his face twi minutes ago washed off and got replaced woth a short smile.

He stood up wjile shoving the small phone inside his pocket

Then made his way down the stairs as he began deciding on which scenic route was he going to walk home using.

***

"Mum!?" Tommy knocked on the door yet opened it on his own.

A long blonde haired woman stared back with light blue eyes, she gave a fair smile to her son and dropped everything she was doing.

"Tom! Where have you been!" Her arms wrapped around his chest and back.

"Mum, I told you. I wanted to stay longer at school." He explained.

She let loose of her son and smiled once more, it almost seemed forced. "Well, make sure that you have fun when you upstairs."

Tommy knew exactly what his mother meant by that. He smiled back with a nod and walked off.

But the woman was still staring at him, not that proud sort of stare, she was staring in shock. Why? Well perhaps it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the boy was walking the opposite direction from his bedroom?

She pointed to him. "Tom? Son, What Are you doing?"

He picked up a shovel from the brick wall and smirked. "Well, these weeds aren't going to pick themselves, are they?" He jested. Why don't you continue un-loading the dishwasher and I'll clean the garden for you?"

For once, there was a grateful smile on her face. It was almost shocking.

He shoved the shovel under some unwanted plants and dug them out. "If you want, we can switch after that so then I can do laundry?"

Instead, she walked up to her son and grabbed a second shovel which happened to conveniently be sitting under her feet. The sound of metal scraping against the bricks on the floor never sounded more soothing ever in a lifetime.

"I got a better idea." Her shovel stopped with the annoying sound and she leant against it. "Why don't we do the garden together?"

Tommyinnit smiled back with excitement.

***

Jachlatt sat on his favourite seat, the one that gets him money. He scrolled through Twitter using his computer and smiled at the multiple fanart and theories that existed on the Social Media Platform.

His thoughts wouldn't stop reminding him of the conversation he had with the kid.

Yes, he knows that good choices of words wouldn't help an online friend get through the darkest of days.

Yes, he knows that Tommy probably didn't actually care about what he had to say.

Yet Tommy wasn't the first one to listen anyways.

And that's not why Jschlatt cares.

What really gets to him is the fact that a kid so young has influence over more than thousands of people from

multiple ages, and he's so many years younger than real celebrities!

This boy has a future, a big one. He's special.

And he's still growing up. That's what makes him so valued to the Twitch community.

Every other Minecraft Content Creator knows it, -including Wilbur - he'll grow up being something important, and even though nohody can predict thw future, it's obvious that Tommyinnit's future needs help with its shaping.

This isn't the first time someone talked to him when he was in a dark place. Jschlatt was lucky that he called right on time!

But just like James, Tommy needs to learn without taking an easy route.

When he was Tommy's age, Schlatt had someone else walk up to him and tell him the same story.

He remembers it very clearly:

"Everyone tries to understand life. It's humanity.

We all want to be above, and we use knowledge..

We try to find reasons behind everything in order to prove eachother wrong.

No one knows the truth about life, not even me. But that's why we are all powerful in different ways."

And so, humanity continues!