The final time Toby was sure -- absolutely, positively sure -- was the kiss. It was supposed to be just another morning walk with Tim; and Brian, of course, who hadn't been able to sleep the night prior and decided to join them. It wasn't like Toby minded. He actually quite enjoyed Brian's company. He kind of considered him a close friend, though was too intimidated -- or shy -- to outwardly ask Brian if that were the case. He didn't want to spoil things between them, so he kept his mouth firmly shut about the matter.
The morning was still dim as the sun had yet to slowly start rising above the horizon; shimmers of light only barely cresting over the distant woods and mountains. The air was chilled. Not too cold as to make one shiver, but enough so that the jackets -- and hoodie -- that they wore were rather glad they thought to bring them. Their voices were moderately audible as they clambered along the trail; Tim and Brian walking side by side with Toby following shortly behind with his hands deep in his pockets. Even he couldn't help the smile that crested under his mask, glad for once Tim actually seemed to do more than tolerate his company. Tim even seemed to try to include him in he and Brian's conversation, often joining his counterpart in looking back every so often to include him so.
It was soon that they came upon a clearing in the woods; the ground covered with grass with a portion of the area making the sun that was beginning to crest the horizon; shades of red, yellow and orange dancing in the sky and creating a beautiful array of colors. Toby found himself pausing to look at the view as they passed through, not even noticing the other two were gaining distance between him until they had noticed. Tim and Brian paused several feet ahead of the ticking young man, Toby also not noticing the strange look they gave him nor the shared look and hushed words before returning their attention to him.
"Hey, Toby!" Brian called with a half chuckle as he made his way back to Toby, Tim slowly following behind him. "You alright?"
Toby jumped at the voice, so lost in the beauty before him that he had almost forgotten that he was walking with them. Toby gave a curt nod as he went to meet them halfway.
"Y-yeah, sorry," Toby muttered, gaze locked on the ground. "I-I just got di-distracted."
"By what?" Tim asked in annoyance; the mask having been removed once they were far enough away and shifted to where it sat atop his head with the string still clinging to his head. Brian glared at the raven haired man as he moved to stand next to Toby, gazing where he had once been a few yards back.
"Huh," Brian said after a long moment as Tim slowly joined him, Toby raising his head to glance back at what had caught his fancy, "pretty sunrise." Tim hummed in what Toby could only assume was agreement.
"Th-that's what I th-thought," Toby nodded with a smile before turning his attention to his companions. "Th-think we can st-stay and wa-watch it come up?" Toby went on hesitantly after a moment. Brian and Tim seemed to share a look between each other before Brian looked back to Toby with a nod.
"Sure. Just find a place to sit, yeah?"
Toby found himself being almost surprised at what he heard; yet didn't decline and squealed happily before swiftly turning and darting back to where he had originally stood. If not for his eagerness to watch the rising sun, Toby might have noticed the shared, soft spoken look between the other two as they watched him go before following suit. Once at the spot, Toby plopped down as he slid his goggles on his forehead. Instead of simply sitting down, the young man instead obliged to lay back with his hands behind his head; getting comfortable just as Tim and Brian reached him and began to make themselves comfortable with Brian having removed his own face mask.
Toby half expected them to lay alongside one another as they joined Toby on the ground to gaze at the rising sun. To his surprise, however, Tim lay seemingly by himself on Toby's left side; Brian having taken up the empty space to his right. The goggled young man was glad he decided to wear his mask even though the other two weren't wearing any face coverings at the moment; otherwise they might have seen the mixture of confusion on his face and the blush forming on his cheeks. The two talked in somewhat quieted for a while as the sun rose until the better part of the burning ball was over the horizon with just part of it still stuck behind the rolling hills in the distance, Toby almost mute as he focused on the view.
It was kind of nice, watching the sunrise like this, with Brian and Tim beside him. It was calming, almost. As if it was supposed to be like this. Toby was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest, but he was sure the other two wouldn't notice. Though one couldn't be too sure, as Toby himself didn't seem to notice that the ticking sound that constantly plagued him had silenced in his newfound comfort and relaxation. It wasn't until they had been there for what seemed like sometime before Toby noticed that something was off. The other two had stopped talking some time ago, it seemed.
Curiously, Toby turned his head to Tim first to figure out if they were just as intent as staring at the view as he was or if they had somehow snuck off without him realizing -- only to jump when he realized Tim was staring at him with a hard expression on his face. Or rather, as Toby quickly realized, he was looking past him. Toby's head turned quickly towards his right, wondering if he noticed danger lurking nearby. Now Toby squeaked as he looked to Brian, who was now on his side so he could prop himself up on his elbow and was looking down at Toby with an expression Toby wasn't quite sure he'd seen before.
"Brain? Something wrong?" came Tim's voice, speaking for Toby as he stared up at the other in confusion.
Brian only looked up for Tim for a split second before glancing back down to Toby, expression unchanging. Toby was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest now, much less the fact that the two likely heard it by now. Toby was worried as the silence drew on, only broken by the sounds of Tim shifting around behind him. Was Brian going to hurt him? Tell him to leave?
"Toby, could you take off your mask for me, please?"
He question came as an odd surprise to Toby; and Tim, if the sharp inhale from beside Toby was anything to go by.
" Brian , if you scare him off, I swear --"
That surprised Toby, yet Tim wasn't allowed to finish as Brian gave him a glare that quickly silenced him before looking back at Toby. Brian's expression had softened now, and he leaned forward slightly as he spoke again, if only briefly.
"Please?"
Toby felt a lump in his throat begin to grow. Yet he couldn't find it in him to stop himself as he slowly, cautiously pulled at his face mask until it sat around his neck loosely; exposing his crooked nose and disfigured lips. At first, Brain neither did or said anything. Instead his eyes seemed to comb over the features of his face as if trying suck the view in. Toby was real close to breaking, to shout and asking what the hell Brian and Tim thought they were doing, what they were saying --
But now it was his turn to be cut off before he could even speak. Brian moved down in one swift movement before Toby could so much as squeak anything out, he felt soft lips press firmly against his as Brian's eyes fluttered closed. Toby was sure his heart was to the moon already; eyes wide momentarily in surprise before he couldn't help but melt into the touch of lips pressing and moving against his own as his eyes fluttered shut. One hand hesitantly began to move it's way to Brian, only for the other to help him by grabbing his half lifted hand and placing it on a cheek.
It felt like an eternity before the two finally parted; Toby panting heavily and a crimson blush now completely taking over his face as his head fell to the ground. His hand was still held against Brian's cheek gently, a soft smile on the other's features as he stared down at him.
"Hey!"
Tim's voice snapped Toby out of his trance quickly. He squeaked, turning his head while almost instinctively scooching closer to Brain. Tim had a rather annoyed -- not angry, but annoyed -- look on his face as he sat and stared at his boyfriend heatidly. Toby at first thought he had made some grave mistake of even wanting to kiss back like he had; but to his surprise, that wasn't what had caused his annoyance.
"That's not fair!" Tim went on. "I said I wanted to kiss 'em first!"
"You did!" Brian snorted.
"What? Fucking when ?!"
"When we bandaged him up the other day. Remember?"
"I - What - You mean the forehead kiss?!" Tim seemed rather miffed now, brow shooting up. "That was a fucking forehead kiss! That doesn't count , Brian!"
"You just called it a kiss," Brain said in a sing-songy voice, "which means it totally does count!"
Tim's eye twitched at Brian's reply, with Brian sporting a wide grin at his counterpart. Was it just Toby, or was the sky itself spinning. One of his gloved hands shot to his forehead as if it would placate the feeling, attracting the attention of the squabbling lovers.
"Toby?" came Brian's voice as he felt a hand rest atop his other hand. "Are you alright?"
"I think you broke him," Tim snorted. "Knew I shoulda kissed him first."
"I-I just," Toby stuttered after a hard gulp, "I-I don't f-fe-feel too w-well."
Brian and Tim seemed to share a look before moving to their feet -- and then surprising Toby as he felt the strong arms of Tim slip under him and lift him upwards into his arms bridal style. Toby squeaked, instinctively clutching onto his jacket and leaning into the other's frame so he was certain he wouldn't plummet to the ground. Tim chuckled, something Toby could feel reverberate in the other's chest. Brian followed shortly behind, picking up Tim's mask along the way. Toby found his body begin to relax then, head hesitantly resting against Tim's shoulder and the heavy scent of cologne invading his nose.
He honestly hadn't realized he was drifting to sleep until he was halfway dozed off, and even so, he couldn't say he cared less. He was in bliss, and if falling asleep meant that he could stay like this longer, than that was alright with him.
***
Toby awoke sometime during the day. He felt confused, unsure how he got to where he was to begin with. What confused him the most, however, were not one but two pairs of arms that were wrapped tightly around his frame. Eyes shot open as he looked at his surroundings.
He was in their room, that he was for certain. What he was also for certain was that Brian and Tim lay on either side of him with Tim's chin resting atop his messy hair with his arms around Toby's shoulders; Brain's head resting on his chest quite comfortably with his arms tangled around Toby's hips. They were both fast asleep, although that didn't stop the panic that arose within Toby as his heart beat heavily and his mind racing rapidly. Thoughts of earlier that morning came creeping to him then; and while part of him wanted to enjoy the moment while it lasted, another part of him quickly took control of the situation -- his body attempting to launch itself out of the entanglement with a cry that quickly woke his counterparts.
Toby barely made it out of bed before shouting arose from the two. While Tim's hold on him was released upon him lurching out of bed, Brian's arms had still held firm and prevented Toby from escaping. From the sounds of it, it appeared they didn't realize why he had launched out of bed in the first place, instead believing he was having another one of his attacks. Their voices mixed in tandem as they spoke to him, attempting to calm him.
"Toby! Toby, you're alright! You're safe!" Brian was saying as he pulled him back onto the bed between him and Tim.
"Damn, calm down! You'll get everyone else in here, too!" Tim was saying. "You're fine! You're alright!"
Having accepted his fate of not exiting the bed, Toby had found himself being forcefully seated between the two on the edge of the bed once his anxiety and cries had quelled. Yet tears still slowly drained from his eyes slowly, shoulders and breath shaky as he attempted himself even further. He realized as he calmed that Brian held soothing hands on his shoulder and back; Tim sitting almost awkwardly beside him with a tense hand on his other shoulder.
"You alright?" Brian asked slowly once they were sure he had calmed.
Staring firmly at his lap, Toby slowly shook his head. He didn't get to see the look the two shared before he spoke again.
"Another dream?"
Again, Toby shook his head as he released a sniffle.
"Voices?"
Tony shook his head a little too violently than needed. His head finally raised then, looking between the two with a confused expression. They both seemed concerned -- truly, actually concerned -- as they stared, as if waiting for him to actually speak rather than shake his head around at them. Was it alright that he felt like he was going to jump out of his skin?
"So?" Tim asked as he cocked his head towards Toby. "You gonna tell us, or.....?"
"Why?"
The one worded question seemed to surprise the other two momentarily and cause them to share a look. Were they psychic or something? That was almost beginning to get unnerving.
"Why what?" Brian asked slowly, and Toby almost felt anger wash over him then. His brow furrowed instead.
"Wh- why ? Why ev-everything!" Toby's voice was only muted if for the fact he felt his throat become hoarse as he spoke, eyes trained on him sternly. "Wh-why be so n-nice? Why th-the kiss? Why he-help me? Wh-why th-the kiss ? I-I...."
Toby trailed off as he began to hiccup, Brain's hand moving soothingly on his back now as he clenched his fists. Though Toby could still feel those eyes burning on him even as he stared at his clenched hands.
"Cause we wanna be with you?" Brian stated more than asked with a chuckle after a moment.
Toby's eyes widened instantly, heart torn between stopping and beating straight out of his chest as he first looked to Brian for confirmation; earning a soft smile in response. His eyes went to Tim, who gave a nod with a small smile on his oh so handsome face. It seemed to take a moment for Toby to process what Brian had said to him before he could find it in him to speak again.
"S-so you t-two w-want --?"
"You?" Tim cut in with a snort, hand gently moving to be placed on Toby's thigh. "Well, yeah . I mean, why else would we want to kiss you?" Another hand, now from Brian, slipped onto his back soothingly.
Toby could feel his bare cheeks begin to heat as he looked between the two again, of whom held amused smirks.
Suddenly Toby let out a cry -- it didn't sound sad or angry, but almost relieved -- as he half launched himself onto Brian, arms curling around the other's neck as he found himself in the other's lap; head diving for Brian's throat so his own face could weasel it's way into it. He could hear Brian chuckle, chest rumbling as arms curled around him and holding him close. The bed shifted beside them as Tim moved to sit close beside them, moving Toby's legs so that they sat across his own lap and resting a gentle hand upon them to rub them soothingly. Once Toby's cries had finally become nothing more than hiccuped breathing when the brunette finally, slowly, peered from his 'hiding spot', face still wet with tears as he almost carefully looked between the two.
"S-so yo-you really mean it?"
"No, we just wanted to see you cry for the millionth time," snorted Brian, earning an elbow to the side and annoyed look from Tim.
"Yeah, we do," Tim said softly.
That was strange, really, seeing Tim so soft towards him. It was nice. Yeah, he could get used to this.