Tamed [BOOK ONE]

Chapter 15

"Hey have you seen Toby?" I asked Chloe as she skipped down the hallway and slid to a stop at my feet. She shook her long hair and continued skipping, what was that about? I walked along several hallways and even upstairs and I never went upstairs. I searched the cafeteria, the library, and even knocked on a few classroom doors. Toby was nowhere to be found. I instantly began panicking and thinking of the worse case scenario, but then remembered it was Toby. The Toby you could kick in the face and stomach and still get your ass beat by him.

Lunch was incredibly boring and dull. I was forced to either starve or eat the disgusting school lunch food and of course I chose to starve. Without Toby here, I couldn't go off campus to eat and that sucked. It sucked that I no longer had anyone to annoy me in the funniest and sometimes cutest way. It sucked to not have Toby here.

I dragged myself through the day and climbed onto a hot bus to go home. I endured the bus ride, but I was a woman on a mission. I went old fashioned and pulled out an address book and searched for Toby's name. It took me awhile, but I finally found his number and address and called his house number.

The phone rang a few times before someone answered it and sighed into the phone.

"Hello?" I wanted to believe it was Toby, but it didn't sound like Toby. He sounded like he was sick or tired.

"Toby?" I called back timidly and I heard some shifting in the background before I got a response.

"Nat?"

"Hey, are you okay? You don't sound good."

"I'm fine, I just got into a little fight."

"A fight Toby! With who?"

"My mom's new boyfriend, okay. He was putting his hands on her."

"Toby you should call the police. You want me to call for the police?"

"If I wanted your help, I would have asked for it," he snapped. His tone took me back a bit, but I didn't say anything, "are we done here? I'm not actually suppose to be talking on the phone."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well I'm okay, anything else?"

"Nothing, jackass." I hung up my phone and decided to make myself some dinner to get my mind off Toby and his attitude. I tried to focus on the salad I was making, but Toby's words and voice entered my mine every time I picked up a fork. He was defending his mother who he told me had given up on life. The gesture was sweet, but she innocently needed to woman up. Losing someone you love is hard, I get that, but forgetting to raise your child and have him fight for money is not okay. I didn't want to add more stress to Toby by being mad at him, but his attitude was uncalled for. I groaned in frustration, threw the half-eaten salad away, and stormed off to bed.

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"Who are those flowers for?" Chloe asked curiously as her and Nina settled down for lunch. I straightened one of the bight blue petals and smiled.

"Toby, he's not feeling well and I think he might like them."

"What happened between you two?" Chloe asked, stabbing a carrot and eating it. I shrugged my shoulders.

"We're kinda dating, but kinda not. It's complicated."

I continued smiling at how excited I was for Toby to see the plant. It was weird, I never got worked up over people's approvals but Toby's approval really did things to me. I carried the bright blue and green flower around all day and when it was dismissal time, I walked all the way to Toby's house.

Toby's house was similar to mine except it only had one story. As I arrived, I saw two cars in driveway. The one Toby said was his dad's and another car that I assumed to his mom's. I held the flower tightly as I knocked on the door.

I waited for a while and finally a thin woman appeared at the door. Toby must have gotten all his looks from his father, because the woman standing in front of me wasn't very attractive. Her blonde hair was thinning, her green eyes looked dull, and her body was frail. She looked as if she had been smoking from the bags under her eyes and the spots on her skin. She smiled lightly at me and she almost seemed to break into two.

"Is Toby here?" I asked and she sniffled before nodding and opening the door so I could come in. I nodded and mumbled a thank you before walking where she was pointing down the hall. I saw hundreds of pictures of what I assumed to be Toby's father as I passed through the house. I saw little Toby with a muscular, brown-haired, hazel eyed man and some pictures with him fully grown. Toby's mother looked a lot younger and lot prettier in the pictures. My heart was aching and I held back some tears. Toby didn't want sympathy.

I knocked on a door labeled Toby's room and waited.

"Who is it?" Toby questioned with the same attitude he had on the phone.

"It's Nat." I responded and I heard some shuffling before the door unlocked and Toby opened it. The way he looked almost made me want to cry.

His hair was messy, his eyes swollen and red, his arm in cast. I fought back my tears and put a smile on my face.

"I brought you some flowers."

Toby looked at me before crushing his body against mine in a hug. I hugged him back and whispered small things like 'it'll be okay' and 'things get better'. I wasn't exactly sure why I was saying those things, but I felt like Toby needed to hear that. He placed his hand on my lower back and ushered me into his room. He closed the door back and locked it before laying on his bed.

"Nice room." I commented even though it was a messy blue hot mess. The walls were blue and the floor was carpet with stains throughout. There was a computer in the corner and a closet next to it. Toby's bed was blue and white striped and I mentally patted myself on the back for choosing blue flowers. I stood awkwardly in front of the door until Toby rolled his eyes and motioned for me to walk over.

I sat between his chest and his broken arm which was weird and slightly uncomfortable. I didn't say anything though I just remained quiet and leaned on his chest as her breathing seemed to be going at the same pace.

"So you've seen the shrine to my dad." Toby more told me than asked and I nodded awkwardly. I looked up at Toby's eyes before looking at the plant I saw on the nightstand.

"Do you like the flowers?" I questioned in a desperate attempt to change the awkward subject.

"Yeah, they're nice." I looked at Toby again and he kissed my lips gently. "My father didn't die in the war."

"Toby we don't have to talk about this, I know how painful it is for you."

"I'd rather I tell you before someone tells you some lie. Yeah, he committed suicide. Anybody will tell you, everybody will you tell, but nobody can tell you why. I watched him walk out of this house one way and come back another. When he came back from war he was no longer my father. He was a stranger in his own brain. Every time there was a loud noise, a bang, machinery, he'd be ready to kill you. Because you were the enemy in his mind. What does a man do when he can't have peace in his own brain Nat? That shrine to my father out there wouldn't be there if he got a heroes burial, I would be fine with my father's death if he was buried in a memorial. But he wasn't Nat. He didn't die in war and he didn't die of naturals causes so he's buried in some run-down church graveyard."

I didn't know what else to do so I pulled Toby in for another hug. I was at a lost for words, for thoughts. How? Why? I've heard of PTSD, but never has it affected someone so close to me. I held Toby and I felt water hit my shirt. I held on to him tighter. Toby grabbed my waist and pulled himself off me so he was laying on his back again.

I cuddled into his chest and placed small kisses on his cheek.

"You can be bae now." I whispered and I saw Toby smirk to himself.

Author's Note:

So, I'm not even going to lie, I got a little teared up. So this is basically Toby's background story and later on in the book I'm going to do a background story on Nat. Vote, Comment, and follow. Thank you so much.