Life is Funny Like That

Twuntee-nyne. Insatiable (arc)

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The stars twinkled brightly as Toby and Kimmy leaned against the tall vent that protruded out of the roof of the grocery store. Their voices were soft as they simply gazed up at the sky, letting the moment be as it was; simply quiet and beautiful.

Kimmy saw the rest of her life laying before her, Toby beside her through it all. Would he be with her for everything? Would he stay, unlike her mother? She turned her gaze from the sky to look at Toby's face, caressed in starlight.

"Like what you see?" He smirked as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Where do you live?" Kimmy asked, wondering at all the times Toby would stay late with her on the roof, never mentioning a curfew or parents or even a home to go back to. She had, at least, a half a parent, and a bed to sleep in every night, but what did he have?

Toby was quiet for a moment. Still not looking at her, he pursed his lips and then gave one of his easy-going smiles, a sign that he wanted everything to look like it was fine. It was a very convincing smile, in short.

"I live with my gang. We have a very nice set-up on the outskirts of town."

"What about your parents?"

Toby grimaced.

"Parents... right, you got them?" He looked at Kimmy.

"Just a dad."

"Mine are still together, I suppose..." Toby looked a little uncomfortable. "I couldn't say for sure, though, I left when they started pressuring me to go to college."

"Did they take care of you?" Kimmy couldn't help but ask, her empathetic streak surfacing without her permission. She related to the mixed feelings about parents.

"Psh," He leaned back against the metal, focusing on the stars again. "Not like they were around when it mattered. I remember just getting an envelope of money for my birthday every year, no card, no words. Sometimes they would order a cake for me, but no one ever sang me happy birthday or nothing... And then, one day they tried to shove all that college crap down my throat as if they had any say with my life at that point."

Kimmy's face was fixed in a sad frown as she looked at him with every ounce of herself relating to his words.

"What did you do?"

He scoffed, that fake smile still present.

"What any self-respecting kid would; I bounced. And then I somehow ended up here." Toby looked over at Kimmy's face. She couldn't hide the sad and empathetic look in her eyes.

"Seriously, the guys take care of me, just fine. I get sang happy birthday every year, now that I'm with them and I mean... we don't really get cake but they stick candles in the beer bottles and, aw Kimmy, don't cry about it." He pulled her into a side hug, chuckling at the tears she couldn't seem to wipe away.

Kimmy rarely cried. She didn't do it because Toby's situation was so pathetic, but his words reflected her, they reverberated inside her and this boy who held her so gently, he understood her. She found someone who understood her. It was a dream come true.