The Artist | #3✓

Chapter 25

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked, watching as Toby ate from his plate. We were at a local restaurant, and he kept looking out the window we were sitting by as if waiting for someone to walk by. He turned to me, smiling a bit.

"You'll find out soon." He seemed relieved, but paranoid at the same time. I frowned at him a bit, but I didn't try to pry him for more information. We were leaving for our new apartment tomorrow. Everything was set, we just had to follow the moving truck in Toby's car tomorrow.

As I ate, I kept wondering why Toby had called me out to eat with him out of the blue. He'd said he wanted to talk to me about something, but we had both been sitting here for over thirty minutes without a word being said.

"Oh, here he is," Toby's voice made me look towards the main door of the restaurant. A ginger-haired man with a few grey hairs had stepped into the diner. He seemed to be confused, but he walked towards us when Toby raised a hand above his head to wave. It was when the man got closer and pulled a seat beside me that I recognized him from Toby's paintings.

Brendan? I thought, confused as to why Toby had asked him to come here, and I was still wondering why he'd asked me to come as well.

"Brendan..." Toby trailed, looking away from the man. He stared down at his plate, muttering a small apology before looking back up at him. "Sorry, it's just—"

"You're overwhelmed, I get it, just tell me to leave if it gets too much for you." The red-haired man's voice was deep and firm. I looked to my side to watch him. The look he had on his face seemed to be a cross between concern, pain, and anger. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but I was worried about Toby who was just visibly shaking on his seat.

Toby nodded at Brendan's words. The table went silent as the older man ordered something to eat. When what Brendan had asked for was brought to him, the table was still silent aside from the sound of cutlery hitting ceramic plates.

"So," Brendan's voice said, making me look up from my food to turn to him. "Where do we start Toby, just where?" the small laughter he let out sounded pained, and it made chills run through my body.

"I was terrible to you. Every single day I'm haunted by memories — by it, but I still hate you. You ruined my relationship with my fiancée. You used something that you partly brought upon yourself to blackmail me—"

"Stop—"

"Kid, I advise you to just sit down and watch," Brendan said to me when I tried to talk to him. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so I closed it and looked away. I turned my gaze to Toby who hadn't said anything yet. I couldn't tell if he was crying because he had his eyes covered with a palm, but I could tell that he was shaking.

He looked pained, and it hurt me to see him that way. Why would he want to call Brendan out to talk like this?

"I'm sorry," Toby eventually muttered. "I know sorry doesn't really do anything, but I'm sorry." Toby's words came out cracked and chopped - like he was trying not to cry. I turned away from him to face Brendan, who presently had a shocked look on his face.

Brendan sighed, running a hand through his red hair. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I can't really do anything as you said, but I really am."

The table went quiet again, and I just sat there as I watched the two of them attempt to eat their food as nothing had happened. I reached out a hand across the table to take a hold of Toby's free one. He looked up from his food with a shocked face, but he smiled a little when he saw it was me before he made to squeeze my hand a little.

We both looked away from each other at the sound of a small laugh. Brendan shook his head at us, looking away as he continued to eat the food on his plate.

We were soon done eating, so we paid and left the restaurant. We walked out with Brendan, and he turned to face both of us when we got to his black car.

"See you around Toby," he said, before turning away from us and getting into his car. We watched him drive out of the diner's parking lot, and Toby only came out from what I could only describe as a daze when I tightened the grip I had on his hand.

"Shouldn't we leave?" I asked with a small smile, attempting to calm him down a bit.

"Oh," Toby muttered, looking about the parking lot before he nodded. "Yes, let's leave," he said before turning and heading to his car with me following right behind him. We got in, and he put on the radio, allowing music to fill the car as he turned on the engine and drove out of the parking lot. We both didn't say anything for a while, and we just indulged ourselves in the music-filled void.

"Why did you call him out to eat with us?" I eventually asked Toby. I watched as his grip on the steering wheel tightened as he bit his bottom lip. His brown eyes looked tired, and his hair was sticking out in places.

"I just wanted us to say our apologies, and I wanted to see him before we bumped into each other inevitably in the future. I heard he was in town from someone, so I called him," he said, making me nod as I looked away from him.

"Why bring me?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.

"I don't know, you keep me calm. I'm sorry for dragging you into it—"

"It's okay Toby," I said, cutting him off. He turned to me briefly at a red light, muttering a small 'thank you' before looking away from me. As he drove off at the traffic light turning green, and I looked out of the window to watch the passing scenery.

"He said you ruined his relationship with his fiancée...?" I trailed in a part statement and a part question as I turned to watch Toby nod at that.

"That's true. He was engaged when all that happened..." he trailed as he made a turn. "I told you I was selfish and destructive. I don't really deserve you after all I've done—"

"Please don't say that," I said, cutting him off. "I love you."

Toby didn't reply to that, but I could see that he'd visibly calmed down.

When Toby drove into the parking lot of the apartment complex he was going to be moving out from tomorrow, I turned to him and watched as he turned off the engine before resting his back against the backrest of his seat.

"I don't feel like coming down," he laughed. "I feel exhausted, but we didn't really do anything—"

"You're emotionally drained," I said, making him turn to me with a frown of confusion before he chuckled in agreement.

"Maybe..." he trailed.

We stayed in the car together for a while before leaving it for the brick building. We walked up the stairs to his apartment on the fourth floor. When we walked into his living room after he opened the door, the sight of cardboard boxes and packed luggage made my heart swell a little. We were really going to be moving in together — tomorrow to say the least.

"You're staying here for the night, right?" Toby asked me. I turned to find him by the kitchen counter taking out plates from the cupboard.

"Yeah," I answered, watching as his tense shoulders relaxed. Although he hadn't said it, I knew he wanted me around with him. Especially now that the meeting with Brendan had kind of ruffled his feathers.

"Thank you," he muttered, turning to smile at me before looking down at Duke who was jumping about and demanding to be pet.

I smiled, watching as Toby knelt on the tiled floor to attend to his dog. Just seeing Toby happy made me happy. Toby kept mentioning how selfish he was, but I wondered if he realized that I was selfish in my own way. I wanted his happiness, and I wanted him to know he could rely on me — be selfish with me as well.

I was here for him.

I love him.