postmortal
It didn’t quite click into him, not until he registered the pain in Tubbo’s eyes, the way Ranboo set one foot in front of the other and hunched over his friend protectively. Then he saw the blood, matting a head of golden hair, clumping the strands together, and he knew, he knew, he knew and he hurt and he-
Wilbur broke, he sobbed, he screamed, “Tommy,” and there was blood on his hands, “wake up, wake up-!“
Tubbo hugged the body ever tighter.
-
Or: Tommy was dead, but Wilbur was alive, and living didn’t seem to be all that worth it at all when his little brother was gone.
Loss brings people together, however — Tubbo and Ranboo were adamant that they needed to keep him alive, if only for a chance at healing and redemption. So Wilbur tried his best; he learnt to live, for Tommy, and one day maybe he’d even learn to live for himself.
Meanwhile, he might or might not be haunted by Tommy’s ghost.