A/N: This one-shot portrays emotional manipulation, possessiveness and extreme jealousy. It's more mature than most of my one-shots. If you dislike reading this kind of thing I respect that and I'll see you on the next one-shot.
I love my boyfriend with everything I have. He's determined, passionate and always tries to keep me safe. But I can't deny there's a couple of things that really, really piss me off about him.
Firstly, Toby is jealous. He hates it when I hang out with other guys, he gets defensive when an ex comes up in conversation and he's got himself in trouble on more than one occasion trying to protect me from something I could've dealt with myself. I get it, I've been in serious danger so many times that I understand he feels compelled to look after me but at times I feel like he sees me as one of Mona's creepy china dolls, fragile enough to break at any time.
Once we were at my parent's country club with my family and Alex, my ex, was there. I knew he still worked there to make some money outside of school. It would've been fine, Toby would never have known had my sister not stupidly laughed and said "Oh Spence, isn't that Alex? I can see why you dated him, he looks pretty good in tennis shorts.", making my whole family, including Toby look over to where Alex was giving a private tennis lesson on the court we overlooked.
Toby turned to me and asked "You dated that guy?" he almost seemed to be daring me to lie to him. "For a bit, it was never serious." I answered him, truthfully. He stared daggers at Alex for the rest of the day, not that Alex seemed to realise until we were about to leave and he came over to talk to us.
"Mr and Mrs Hastings, Melissa, it's nice to see you." he said politely to my parents before turning to me "How's it going, Spence?" he asked innocently. As soon as he called me Spence, Toby's grip on my hand tightened and I felt his whole body tense. Shit. I needed to get out of this, like, now. "Hey Alex, this is my boyfriend Toby, Toby this is Alex" I said. Hopefully by introducing them Toby would realise I'm not trying to hide anything and he wouldn't be mad later.
"You two seem close." said Toby, clearly egging Alex on to say something that would push him over the edge.
Alex laughed lightly but seemed cautious. "We were a couple years back. Junior year right Spence? It's been a while." Okay, so far so good, nothing too incriminating there.
"Yeah it sure has." I said breezily.
"You should come more often, I miss barely surviving your insane serves." Oh crap. Alex, you really really shouldn't have said that, I thought as I felt Toby's grip tighten again.
"Tennis privates huh? I've seen how short your tennis skirt is Spencer, maybe you shouldn't be serving too hard, you never know who's looking." Toby said darkly. Low blow Cavanaugh, really low blow. I had to end this conversation, when Toby calls me Spencer and not Spence I know that I'm about to get into trouble.
I laughed lightly even though right now I want to hit him for being such a dick.
"Well, it was nice seeing you Alex." I said nicely, nudging Toby to do the same. He ignored me.
"Yeah, you too, catch up soon I guess." Alex said awkwardly, picking up his golf bag and walking towards the staff entrance.
Right, managed to get out of that relatively unscathed, I thought. At least I thought that until Toby grabbed me and whispered "We're going back to the loft and we're going to talk about why you never mentioned your little country club pet."
Fuck.
We said bye to my parents and got into Toby's truck. I've learned from experience that it's better to be quiet during these journeys, otherwise it riles Toby up even more and I really can't be bothered to deal with it.
Once we pulled into the parking lot of The Brew, Toby turned to me. "I'm getting coffee. Go upstairs. I'll see you in a minute."
"Whatever." I muttered. He was getting on my damn nerves.
"What did you just say to me Spencer?" asked Toby warningly.
"I said see you up there." I answered. I can't be fucked to fight in the parking lot.
"That's what I thought." said Toby smirking at me. I hate it when he's like this, I want to slap that smug look off his face.
I went upstairs and settled in, taking my shoes and jacket off and sitting on the couch. I pulled my phone out and saw that Alex texted me. "Hey, it was nice to see you earlier. Don't think your boyfriend liked me very much."
I rolled my eyes, Toby probably really intimidated him and he didn't even have a reason to. I replied "Yeah, sorry about that. Toby is a little possessive..."
He replies back quickly. "Never had you down as the bad boy type. Tattoos and leather jacket? What did your parents say about that?"
"Can't say they were thrilled at first." I shot back."But as long as they don't find out about the motorcycle they'll be alright."
Just as I hit send the door opened and slammed shut. I don't bother turning around. If Toby wants to talk he'll talk but I refuse to submit to him like a little bitch.
I heard Toby walking towards me and he threw himself down on the couch next to me.
"I want to talk to you." he said.
"Talk then." I said, not looking up from my phone.
"Don't give me attitude Spencer." Toby said warningly.
"Why not?" I asked, I knew I was seriously stepping on eggshells here but I was sick of it. "You give everyone else attitude."
My phone pings. Fuck. It's probably from Alex.
"Who's that?" asked Toby
"Why do you need to know?" I snapped.
"Why are you being like this?" Toby said, his breath was getting heavier and I knew that I was really riling him up.
"Because I'm sick of it." I said angrily, standing up and dropping my phone on the couch. "You're so jealous all the time. You were rude to Alex today because me and him dated. Newsflash Toby, I barely even fucking knew you when I dated Alex."
"Did you fuck him?" asked Toby in a low voice, getting up too.
"What?" I laughed in disbelief.
"I said. Did. You. Fuck. Him. Spencer?" he repeated, emphasising every word.
"Oh my God, you're fucking ridiculous. You know what you're the only person I've ever "fucked" as you so nicely put it." I said. I was getting way beyond mad at this point.
"Then what was the tennis private thing about then hmm?" questioned Toby.
I rolled my eyes, something I know irritates Toby a lot.
"He used to help me train for matches when I still competed. Happy now?" I asked, snatching my phone from the couch and walking into the bedroom.
"Is it him texting you now?" Toby continued to question, following me into his room.
"So what if it is?" I asked. I knew I was teasing Toby at this point but he couldn't continue to get so jealous over nothing.
"So it is?" he said, ignoring my attitude.
"Yeah. It is." I snapped back.
"What did he say?" Toby asked warningly. "Is he trying to tell you to leave me? Trying to get into your pants?"
I'd had enough. "Jesus Christ third degree, read it for yourself if you care that much." I said, throwing my phone at him and storming into the bathroom to shower.
I always felt so much calmer in the shower. I knew after this Toby would probably half-ass an apology and we'd end up having sex. That's how most of our arguments seemed to run.
After I'd been there about 5 minutes, just letting the water flow over me I felt the curtain being pulled back and Toby stepped in behind me.
"Well, did you read them?" I asked bitterly.
"No." came Toby's voice from just behind me. I shivered despite the hot water.
"I trust you." he said.
"Bullshit" I fired back.
"Okay fine, I'm trying to trust you. But I didn't read the messages, I swear." he said, leaning into me and kissing my neck. My breath caught in my throat.
Fuck you body, you traitor. It's hard to be mad at someone when you're that turned on by them and boy, did Toby know that. His hand moved to the front of my body and started to touch my breasts, still kissing my neck.
"Don't you dare give me a hickey Tobias." I said sternly, knowing my parents would be more than a little annoyed if I came home with Toby's marks all over my neck.
I felt him start to suck. "I mean it Toby, I'm gonna be pissed if you leave a mark." I repeated, trying to move my head away from him. He moved the hand that wasn't groping my chest round to my jaw, holding me in place. He mumbled something against my neck.
"What?" I said, unable to hear him.
"I said I'm just marking what's mine baby girl." he purred into my ear.
"I don't belong to you.' I said strongly.
"Mmm... of course you don't" said Toby, moving the hand that was touching my chest down to between my legs. "Just saying, your body is telling me something different to your mouth, Hastings." he hissed into my ear.
•••••
The second, thing that pisses me off about Toby is that he's insanely insecure. I can't even talk about the academic decathalon team anymore because he hates it when I talk about Andrew. He thinks that every guy I'm talking to I'm sleeping with on the side, not that I have the time because every second of free time I have I spend with Toby and he doesn't trust other guys around me.
I've tried asking him why and he said "You're too beautiful for your own good baby, any boy who didn't want you would be either blind, stupid or gay."
I've spent a hell of a lot of time thinking about why he's like that. Toby's life hasn't been easy. Everything he has ever loved has been taken away from him or betrayed his trust. When he was 12 his mom was put into a psychiatric hospital. A year later she killed herself. His dad remarried and stopped spending time with Toby to spend time with his new wife and step-daughter Jenna. When he was 16 Jenna forced herself on him and blackmailed him into regularly sleeping with her. My old best friend Alison emotionally manipulated him and forced him to take the blame for something he didn't do. Toby hasn't felt secure in his own life since he was 10 so I can almost understand why he's so determined to stop anything that could take me from him. It's just annoying when he jumps down my throat when I haven't even done anything just because he thinks he's not enough to keep me around.
Like when Johnny moved into the barn. Innocent enough (at first at least) but of course Toby acted like a jealous jerk from the first time they met. Toby and I were in my kitchen talking, well I was ranting, he was listening, about colleges. I'd got acceptance letters from 3 schools I didn't want to go to and was frustrated with myself and all the crazy shit happening now that Ali was back. There was a knock on the kitchen door and I opened it to Johnny.
"Hey Johnny! Hi." I said, smiling at him.
"I'm a little early." he said, smiling back.
"That's fine, keys?" I asked myself, trying to jog my memory. I walked over to the side and got them, making eye contact with Toby who was giving me a questioning look.
"Er- and uh- here's the deposit. First and last." Johnny said, giving me an envelope. "Hold on, that's not all of it, it's mostly fives and ones." he continued, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of change.
"Uh-kay. I'll make sure my mom gets this." I said, putting the money on the counter." I looked over to Toby again who had picked up his jacket and police duffel. "Toby, this is Johnny, this is Toby. Johnny is gonna be living in the barn." I introduced them.
I knew not telling Toby about this earlier would probably bite me on the ass later and I knew he wasn't going to be happy about a random dude living with me but honestly I didn't care that much, I spent most of my life at Tony's loft anyway.
"Well, welcome to the neighbourhood." Toby said, giving a make smile and turning to me in a way which showed Johnny the writing on his police bag which read:
T. Cavanaugh
Rosewood Police Department
Nice Toby, well played. He probably thought Johnny would be less likely to make a move on me if he knew my boyfriend was a cop.
"I should probably be going to work." Toby said to me quietly. "Yeah." I replied in the same tone.
He kissed my forehead and left. I rolled my eyes. Toby never really kisses my forehead, that was obviously just to show Johnny what the deal was with us. Typical Toby.
From then on he constantly asked me questions about Johnny, what we did together, what we talked about, where we went. Honestly, it was nice to have a guy friend for once especially since at the time Toby and I were fighting even more than usual.
The situation only worsened when he saw me and Johnny together at Hollis. We'd just been chatting about my college prospects and living abroad over coffee when suddenly Toby came round the corner, spotted me and started to walk towards our table. Great, just fucking great.
"Hey." I said awkwardly, shifting in my seat before getting up.
"Hey." Toby replied "How's it going?" he asked.
"Umm... Good!" I said, so falsely upbeat that my voice cracked. "You... remember Johnny." I said, scratching my arm nervously. This was a risky and weird situation. Toby and I had been fighting so much recently that it almost felt like we were broken up. Except I knew Toby would still be just as jealous, if not more because now I wasn't reassuring him that he was the only one I was seeing.
"Yeah, hey." Toby said, just about politely.
"Sooo... What are you doing here at Hollis?" I asked.
"Er- my dad just asked me to pick up some class schedules for Jenna."
Bullshit. Toby wouldn't do anything for Jenna and I know for a fact she doesn't take any classes at Hollis anymore, she lives in New York for God's sake.
He's tracking my phone, I thought to myself. I knew Toby could see my phone's location, it made sense for all the girl's boy/girlfriends to be able to with the amount of dangerous situations we end up in but it isn't supposed to be used for petty shit like this.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, almost disappointedly.
"Ah-Johnny had an old friend who's an Oxford connection and he just- it doesn't matter... But how've you been?"
Really Spencer? I thought to myself. "How've you been?" He's your boyfriend for fuck's sake not some neighbour you ran into on the street. "Tanner still working you 24/7?" I asked.
Toby nodded slowly. "Pretty much." he replied.
There was an awkward silence before I started to say "Well, if you're free tonight-"
"I'm not." Toby cut me off. "But, I'll call you later." he said stoically.
"Sure... okay." I said quietly.
Johnny sat staring at the table, obviously not wanting to get involved. Toby turned to him "Er-it was nice to see you again." he said. Liar.
"Same here." Johnny replied cheerily. Toby turned to leave.
"Chi ama, crede." Johnny said, slightly under his breath but still loud enough for Toby to hear him.
I'm relieved for a microsecond, knowing Toby doesn't understand Italian or Johnny would be fucked. But Toby backed up anyway, staring him out.
"What was that?" Toby asked passively aggressively.
"It's an expression, in Italian." Johnny said innocently. "And completely pretentious." he finished. At this stage I don't know whether he's trying to diffuse the situation or strike the match. If Toby knew what that phrase meant, the place would be burning by now.
Toby stared at Johnny, then at me, then walked away.
"Really dude?" I ask Johnny. "'Chi ama, crede?' You're damned lucky he doesn't know Italian." I said, sitting back down. "You do?" Johnny asked surprised.
"Just enough to know that you said 'he who loves, trusts.'" I answered.
"Doesn't he though?" Johnny pushed.
"Not if his name's Toby Cavanaugh he doesn't" I said.
If that interaction wasn't bad enough, it managed to escalate even more that evening when Johnny and I stole his art work back from a small gallery and who should pass by the gas station we were stopped at but my loving boyfriend.
I watched as a squad car pulled up and I got out of Johnny's van. Toby got out the squad car.
"Toby?" I said questioningly, wondering what the hell he was doing here. "What are you doing?" I asked. He ignored me completely.
He turned on his flashlight and shone it onto Johnny. "Is this your van?" he asked.
"Yup, it's my painting in the seat." Johnny answered him. I could tell from his tone he was testing Toby. "Johnny." I said warningly. He ignored me too. "I got the rest in the back." he continued.
"He was just taking back what was his." I said calmly, trying not to let this become something it wasn't.
Toby walked around the van, shining his light into it. Johnny and I followed.
"Would you step back please?" he asked Johnny aggressively, still ignoring me.
"What are you doin- he didn't do anything wrong." I argued. "If you wanna question somebody, you should be questioning the creep who runs the gallery." I was getting more and more pissed. All my pent up feelings about the fights Toby and I kept having were coming out.
Again, Toby ignored me. He shone his flashlight into the back of the van and turned to Johnny. "Open this up for me." he ordered.
"Toby-no." I started, watching as Johnny went to open the van up. "Leave it alone." I said, walking towards him angrily, I was sick of him ignoring me. "What are you even doing here?" I asked. He better not have tracked my phone again, he was getting ridiculously over-protective right now and I hated it. This time he didn't ignore me. "I'm doing my job, responding to a call." he fired back. "Question is, what are you doing here?" he asked, his anger clearly building up too.
"She didn't have anything to do with this." Johnny jumped in. Oh no, big mistake. That was a sure-fire way to piss Toby off even more. "You can let her go." he said.
"That's not your call to make." Toby answered back. "You need to come down to the station with me." he said, walking over to Johnny. "Can you please turn around, put your hands behind your back." he continued, pulling out handcuffs.
I started to panic, a man was getting arrested because of my boyfriend's jealousy and ridiculous need to smother me. "Toby, stop it." I said, raising my voice at him.
"Spencer, it's okay, I got this." Johnny reassured me as Toby put the handcuffs on him.
"No, it's not okay, he's only doing this because he's mad at me." I fight back.
"No, I am doing this because a business was burglarised and there are stolen goods in the vehicle." Toby answered me back.
"Wait! You cannot arrest him! What are you doing?" I continued to argue as Toby walked Johnny over to the squad car. "Have you even heard a word I've been saying?" I asked, not forgetting about him ignoring me for most of this interaction. "Will you please just stop being a cop for a minute?" I asked bitterly as Toby helped Johnny into the car. He continued to ignore me.
"TOBY." I yelled as he shut the door of the squad car.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me a little way from the car. "Just walk away Spencer." he said warningly. "No. I won't" I answered desperately. "Will you please just talk to me?" I pleaded, my eyes filling with tears.
"I can't do this here." Toby said. "Okay, well when do you wanna talk about this?" I ask.
"You're still on Tanner's radar." he cautioned. I couldn't care less about Tanner right now. I cared about the fact my boyfriend just arrested the guy living in my barn. "She wants to take advantage of my relationship to you." he continued.
"This isn't about Tanner." I fight
"It is." Toby answered shortly. "Don't give her ammunition. Just walk away." he told me. "Walk. Away." he repeated, stronger this time.
I held his gaze for a moment, both of us daring the other to break first. I did, turning away with tears still in my eyes, looking at Johnny in the back seat and walking towards the gas station. I heard the car start behind me and I watched as Toby drove away, leaving me there alone. So much for protection, I thought to myself. God, I really wanted to punch him in that moment.
It took a long time for me and Toby to be okay after that, even by our definition of okay. Johnny was kicked out by my mom who had to post his bail. Toby could've stopped all of that from happening if he had made one call. But in Johnny's words "Officer Toby wasn't in a calling mood." I was so angry with him for it, but not as angry as he was when I told him Johnny kissed me. Granted, he rightly felt insecure that time because I realised his fear of me going to another boy, but he did nothing but make the situation worse and I really regretted kissing Johnny.
A ton of reassurance, apologies and sex had to make up for that one but eventually we were okay again. I know it isn't healthy and I know that he can seem toxic at times but even with the fighting, insecurity, possessiveness and jealousy, I love Toby Cavanaugh. Including all his damage.
----------
The third thing that annoys me about Toby is that he's way too over-protective. Like I said, sometimes I get it. Other times I makes me so mad that I can't even talk to him.
This one time, when we were balls-deep in trying to find out the truth about Alison and Mona, we had a pretty bad fight. It was the same day Johnny had moved in so Toby was already in a bad mood and was looking for a fight before there was one. The evening had been good, we were playing scrabble, imaging what it would be like if Toby came to college with me, spending some time together after another fight we had the day before when I got up to shut the window in my room.
My phone buzzed, and Toby being Toby, he picked it up and read the message.
It was from Caleb. "Found something, call me." Toby read out. Fuck. Now I was in trouble.
"What did you and Caleb find?" Toby asked lowly.
I stayed silent.
"Spencer, what did you and Caleb find?" he asked more forcefully, raising his voice.
"I can't tell you." I said quietly, arms crossed across my chest.
Toby threw my phone down, making the scrabble tiles scatter.
"This isn't about telling, this is about not doing things that will get you both- ALL of us in a lot of trouble." he lectured me. He wasn't done yet. "So whatever you did today, that's it." Toby demanded. "I want it to fucking stop." he finished and I knew he wasn't asking.
I shrugged, sick of him talking down to me like I was a naughty little kid. "Whatever you say, officer." I said bitingly. I knew it was a low blow, Toby had taken the job to protect me and it hadn't been easy for him. But recently he had been too suffocating and wouldn't let me and the girls take matters into our own hands when the police were obviously being used as pawns in an A game.
Toby glared at me then got off my bed, snatched his jacket from the chair and stormed off.
I yelled after him "YEAH, storm off again, it's the only thing you know how to fucking do and you have the nerve to treat me like a kid."
I knew he probably couldn't hear me but I didn't really care. I threw myself on my bed and hit my pillow in frustration. Over and over again.
----------------------
Sometimes though, it isn't all bad. Like the time, around 6-7 months after Toby and I started dating, when the girls, their boyfriends / girlfriend and I were hanging at my house, Emily with Maya, Aria with Noel and Hanna with Caleb and we got onto the topic of Melissa.
"I know you guys were never that close Spence but damn, if I had a sister who kissed 2 of my boyfriends I wouldn't be thrilled either." Hanna said, the girls giggling along.
Toby, whose hand was resting on my thigh under a blanket, squeezed me hard. Oh shit, here we go.
He pulled his phone out and a second later mine buzzed.
I ignored it for a second, smiling at Hanna and responding "innocent mistake"
Toby squeezed my thigh harder, I knew this meant strike 1.
The girls all laughed and Aria started a new conversation about how Fitz gave her a B- when she obviously deserved an A.
I picked up my phone and unlocked it. Yup. One message from Toby.
T: You did what now?
S: Don't cause a scene.
T: I'm trying to avoid causing a scene which is why I'm texting you. Is Hanna telling the truth?
T: Tell me the truth Spencer. You know how I feel about lying. You and those friends do too much of that already.
I rolled my eyes, something I definitely do way too often in this relationship.
S: Yes. She's telling the truth.
T: Cool, so not only does my girlfriend slut it up for her tennis coach but she does it for her sister's boyfriends too.
S: Don't you fucking dare call me a slut.
T: Why? You said yourself it was the truth. Which of them did you screw?
S: Fucking hell, we're still having this conversation??? I literally bled the first time we had sex Toby, you know I was a virgin. I didn't sleep with either of them.
T: What were their names?
S: Why do you want to know? It doesn't change anything.
T: Tell me now or I'll have this conversation with you out loud, in front of all your friends.
That pissed me off.
S: You're really fucking twisted you know that?
T: Yes. What were their names?
S: Ian and Wren.
T: Not the fucking doctor? Jesus christ Spencer.
S: We'll talk about it later.
The rest of the girls and their partners were now trying to decide what movie to watch. I didn't really care, I knew that Toby would probably either drag me away to talk (or as was normal wth us, argue) or do something under the blanket that would make sure I wasn't focussed on the movie anyway.
They ended up picking The Breakfast Club and everyone settled down on the couches in the big living room my family rarely used.
"Spence and I will go order pizza." Toby announced to the room, standing up and pulling me with him.
Pretty much everyone in the room was too interested in watching the opening credits to really care but it didn't stop Noel saying "Is that what they call it now? Remember to use protection, Cavanaugh." Perv.
"Shut up Kahn." Toby snapped. I held his hand and squeezed tightly. My way of telling him to calm down.
"Calm down bro, I was just kidding. Can't blame you though, she's pretty." he said, smirking, earning him a playful slap from Aria.
"I said shut up Kahn. Don't talk about her like that." Toby warned, his voice low and serious.
"Come on Toby" I said almost pleadingly, finally managing to pull him out the room.
Once we got into the kitchen Toby walked over to the marble counter and rested his arms on it. I waited. It's better to let him talk first then I can decide if I want to talk rationally or if I want to yell at him.
"So. Tell me then." he said shortly.
"Tell you what, Toby?" I asked tiredly. I was tired of this. Tired of always fucking fighting with someone I love.
"What happened with Wren and Ian." he asked.
I sighed. "Ian kissed me while he was helping me practice hockey in the backyard."
"How many times?" Toby asked
"What?" I answered, confused.
"How many times did you kiss him?" he asked again.
Insecure Toby is one of my least favourites. He's rude, jealous and often spiteful, saying things in the moment just to hurt me.
"Once."
"Can anyone back you on that?" Toby responded. Man, all I wanted was to tell him to shut the fuck up. But I know Toby, that wouldn't get us anywhere.
"Aside from Ian you mean? Yeah, one person. But she's dead." I said forcefully.
"Ali?"
"Yeah. She saw it happen, told me if I was into it I was a skank and then said if I ever did it again she would tell Melissa." I said. This was weird, the only other people I'd told this to were the girls.
"Wait. If Ali saw that means you were-"
"15. Yeah." I cut him off.
"And he was-" Toby paused, trying to think of the answer.
"22." I finished for him.
"That's fucked up." Toby said. I knew he was getting angry now, and for once it wasn't at me.
"Sure is." I said back, gently running my fingers over his.
"And Wren?"
"Day before Ali's body was found." I said.
"You were emotionally vulnerable." Toby said, pulling his hand from mine and balling up his fists.
"Emotionally vulnerable and young." I answered.
"So then you were?" Toby questioned
"16. Wren was 23." I finished.
"You didn't, did you Spence?"
"Do what?" I asked, daring him to say it so I could blow off all the steam that he caused me to pent up all day.
"You know what I mean, Spencer." Toby said.
"They both tried, I said no. Wren respected it. Ian was more forceful. Just before you and me got together he tried when we were alone in the house. I was lucky I had my back to the counter, I pulled a knife and managed to lock my door before he could actually do anything." I told him. In the 6 months we had been together I had never told Toby this. "Which is why it really fucking pisses me off when you call me a slut." I say. I looked at Toby, he was staring at the counter, probably trying to calm himself down before he did something he regretted.
"He did what... to you?" asked Toby. I could see he was seething with anger. Okay not the reaction I expected but as long as he wasn't mad at me.
"Toby." I said, reaching over the counter and running my fingers through his hair in an effort to calm him. "It's okay, it's in the past." I finish.
"No." he said forcefully. He reached over and grabbed my waist, pulling me into his chest and stroking one hand through my hair
"I will make him pay." he said. I opened my mouth to say something but Toby spoke before I could. "You're fucking mine. And nobody, nobody lays a goddamn finger on you." he whispered to me. This was a side to Toby I'd seen before but never this emotional. I could tell he was close to tears.
Next thing I knew he had pulled away from me, grabbed his motorcycle key and jacket and left the house.
I walked back into the living room.
Emily looked up, "where's Toby?" she asked.
"He'll be back." I said to the group. "Maybe..." I muttered to myself.
2 hours later Toby was back. We'd finished The Breakfast Club, eaten the pizza that I remembered to order after Toby left and everyone was preparing to leave.
As we said our goodbyes, Toby's motorcycle roared up my drive and he jumped off. He politely said bye to all the girls but didn't take his helmet or riding gloves off until we were inside and alone.
When he did I saw he had bruises forming on his face and cuts on his knuckles.
"What the hell happened to you?" I asked indignantly, getting a cold washcloth and pressing it to his handsome face.
"You think this is bad? You should see Ian." he said, grinning at me.
"You didn't." I said, shocked.
"Yeah. I did." he answered me.
"How did you even find him?" I asked in disbelief.
"I have my ways." he smirked.
"All you need to know is that if he ever, ever tries to come near you again he won't live to see the next day." Toby said, moving my hand away from his battered face and pulling me into a hug.
"I know I suck at showing it, but I really do love you Spence."
"I know you do baby, I love you too." I respond, hugging him back tightly.
You know what? Maybe I can live with his possessiveness.