Stay (A TBZJL Fanfic)

NINE

He was in bad shape the next morning. Well, it was more so around 2 AM when I made my way downstairs, and I hadn't expected him to be laying across the couch, asleep. He was meant to be in his room like everyone else.

I couldn't sleep that night. As I was laying in my bed upstairs, it had started raining, and thunder boomed throughout the house.

I hated thunder. For more reasons than you would think.

So my plan was to go downstairs and cook something. Of course, now I couldn't, because Tobi was sleeping on the couch in the living room. When I went over to him, I cursed when I saw his face.

He was sleeping peacefully, but he was pretty beat up. He had a cut on his lip, similar to the one I had about a week prior. Based on the bruises on his face, it was clear he lost that fight.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. I'd never apologize to him while he was awake. "It's...not normal for me to be like this. I'm sorry you felt the need to defend me."

I stood from my spot next to him and put my head in my hands, going over to the couch closest to the window and sitting down.

I stared out at the rain pouring in the backyard, and when there was a flash of lightning, I looked away and buried my head in my hands. Lightning meant thunder.

"You okay?" Tobi's voice was quiet and scratchy from having just woken up.

I rolled my eyes, but jumped when the loud thunder rolled in. It practically shook the house, and my heart picked up speed. "What is that, your catchphrase?"

He shifted and yawned before sitting up and looking over at me. "Is the tough Casey Smith scared of thunder?"

I glared at him, but knew there was no point in lying so I let the glare fade away. I looked down at my lap. "Just leave me alone."

He sighed, and I ignored him as he came over and sat on the other side of the couch I was on, facing me. Our feet were touching as we leaned on the armrests of either side. Of course, we both had socks on. "No music this time?"

I met his eyes. When it came to thunder, it was hard to distract myself from the memories. Even with music.

"My phone died," I lied.

"You can use mine if you'd like," He offered. When I didn't answer, he reached next to him and handed me his phone. I just looked down at it in my hands.

"Please stop," I breathed. He raised an eyebrow as lightning cracked again. He scooted over so that he was sitting next to me.

"Stop what?"

"Being nice to me," I muttered as tears filled my eyes. "I'm not a good person. I've done bad things, and I've become a monster and you being nice isn't helping—"

A much louder boom sounded around the house and I cut myself off, jumping and bumping into Tobi as I did. For some reason, I didn't protest as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me.

"You're not a monster," He shrugged. "I'm sure you have good reason to push people away. But I won't stop being nice. It's who I am, it's how I was raised, and nothing will change that."

"What about earlier?" I questioned. "You lashed out...doesn't that change things?"

He tensed and pulled away from me, clearing his throat. "No. No, it doesn't. I was also raised to protect people close to me, and since you're close to Ethan, I was obligated to. As a friend."

I bit my lip. That made sense. He didn't defend me because it was me, he defended me because I was important to Ethan.

I opened my mouth to say something to him, but it came out as a squeak. I didn't have any words. How could someone be so sure of how they were meant to act, and so sure of the decisions they've made?