Toby's POV:
My life isn't great.
Scratch that, my life is crap.
It's horrible, it always has been and probably always will be.
Jenna is the younger sibling, so she always gets her own way. She's favourited too which makes me feel terrible.
Ever since my mom died, my dad has slept with more women than I could count. I stopped bothering to remember their names, there has been too many.
The worst part is that they've all been one night stands.
Well, except for Lola.
Ah, Lola. That's the woman he's with now. He claims he's in love with her, and hasn't felt this way since mom died.
I would love to call bullshit.
He's clearly only with her for money, but she can't even see that. She's always drunk, to make it worse she's an aggressive drunk, and always high.
Thanks to her my dad started drinking and doing drugs.
They act so sweet to Jenna. Jenna is always happy, and whatever she asks for, she gets.
When it comes to me, apparently I have to 'fend for myself', so I get shown no love or appreciation, yet I do everything around the house
~
Today sucked. I felt so tired and upset in school, to make it worse Spence wasn't even there because she went out of town for a few hours this morning.
She got home around dinner time, but decided to stay home from school.
I walk inside my house, lay my book bag by the stairs and walk to the living room. Sat down on the couch was dad, and of course, Lola.
I give dad a smile, and roll my eyes at the sight of her.
"Toby, you need to respect your future mother." He says, and my heart drops. "My what?" I exclaim, my blood boiling.
She grins, showing me the ring.
"Dad, what the hell?" I yell, unintentionally raising my voice. "Tobias Cavanaugh!" He shouts back, slamming his fist onto the end table.
The loud bang causes me to jump back a bit.
"Why can't you see how horrible she is? You're doing pot and you're drunk at 3 in the afternoon!" I exclaim, pointing to the scattered beer bottles.
"Don't you dare judge my life choices!" He yells, standing up. I roll my eyes, and scan the room for what I came in here for.
I notice my binder under Lola's feet, which are on the coffee table.
"Give me my binder." I say through gritted teeth, reaching my hand out. She ignores me, so I go closer, and yank it from underneath her, causing her feet to hit the coffee table hard.
That's when my dad had enough. He grabbed me by my shirt collar, and pushed me against the wall. "Don't you dare touch her, or go near her again." He yells in my face, pulling on my shirt collar tighter.
His grip lets loose on the collar, but immediately finds its way to my neck, slowly squeezing in. I gasp for air, attempting to remove his grip from around my neck.
I gasp, beginning to cry, when he finally lets go. There were very visible nail marks left around my neck from his grip.
I begin to cry, and pick up the binder I dropped onto the floor.
"Either she goes, or I go, dad." I yell, pointing to her. He crosses his arms, not even giving in.
"Fine." I scoff, leaving the living room and running upstairs.
I quickly pack a bag, go downstairs, take my book bag and leave the house.
I have no idea where I'm headed, but anywhere is better than here.
After driving around clueless for 30 minutes, I head to the one place I feel safe: Spencer's.
I pull up in her driveway, grab my bags and make my way to her back door. I knock gently, and she opens it.
SPENCER'S POV!!!!!
As I was washing the dishes and drying them, there was a gentle knock on the door.
That's weird, seeing my parents are out for another hour.
I open it, and when I see him carrying bags, his bloodshot eyes and marks around his neck, my heart sinks.
"Toby.." I breathe, pulling him into a hug.
"Can I stay here for a while? I know it's a lot but," he says, on the verge of tears. "Yes, of course. Please, come in." I tell him, taking his things.
I lay them on the couch, and bring him in for another hug.
This time, he keeps me in his arms longer. After a moment I was going to pull away, but I hear a soft sob, so I let his head rest on my shoulder.
I rub his back gently as he holds onto me tightly.
"Hey, lets sit down, okay?" I say, pulling back from the hug and holding his hand. I lead him to the couch, and sit down once he does.
"Are you alright, Toby?" I ask him, and he shakes his head slowly.
"You know, Lola." He says and I gasp. "She did this to you?" I ask, and he shakes his head. "N-no, my dad did." He points out, and I feel my heart shatter.
I place my hand on his knee, and allow him to tell me the entire story, from start to finish.
"So they're getting married apparently, and I got super defensive because I hate her, Spence. God I really do." He says, anger in voice. "Hey, it's okay." I tell him.
"And after a huge fight he pinned me against the wall, and tried to choke me." He says, pointing to his scratched up neck. "Then I told him either she leaves, or I do. I guess you know how that ended." He says, putting his head down.
I was about to speak when my mom and dad came in.
"Oh, hello Toby." She says with a fake smile.
I bite my lip, looking over to Toby who has his head down, and tears continue to fall down his cheeks.
"Mom, uh, can Toby stay here for a little while?" I ask her, motioning to his bags. She hesitates, and Toby wipes his eyes, still looking down.
"Please, mom." I say, my voice almost desperate. "Dad?" I ask, looking over and he sighs. "Veronica," he says, motioning to the crying Toby.
"Mom he's been through so much. Just," I say, lifting Toby's chin up to show them the marks all over his neck. They both gasp, and look at one another.
"I didn't know his home situation was this way. Of course, he's welcome to stay as long as he'd like to. I'll get the guest room ready." She smiles, and my dad follows her.
"You can stay here for a while Toby, okay? You won't have to worry about them anymore. You'll come home with me everyday, and you won't need to see them for a long, long time." I whisper, running my fingers through his soft hair.
"You're safe here, Tobes." I say, moving in closer so my leg is touching his. He looks up into my eyes, and I lean in slowly and kiss him.
"I promise, as long as you're here, no one will hurt you. Ever." I tell him, hugging him again.
••••
This randomly came to me, and I wanted to try to write something where Toby was the "victim" rather than Spencer!
I don't know what to say, except I hope I can be more active over the summer :)
Comment thoughts???