Welcome to your life, there's no turning back.

Wynter Rhodes, as you do.

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“I do! I loveeee you.” he laughed, rolling the window down he stuck his other hand out the window while he drove. Listening to her carefully he sighed and turned on his blinker, making sure no one was coming. “I’m sorry.” he frowned. “You think she’ll be happy to see me or slap me?” he asked, “I think she might slap me.”

[wyn-rhodes]

“And I love you tooooooo.” Wynter ran her fingers through her hair as the wind blew it everywhere. “Hmm..I think she may hit you, and then hug you, and then yell. And then probably hug you again. Maybe she’ll offer you some free food!” Wyn joked, although somewhat hoping to get free fries.

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“ You know I mean well.” Toby smiled, knowing she hated it but it was fun and he had to embarrass her a little. Unlocking the car doors he admired his car a little before he got into it. Nodding he smiled that Rose was doing well. “Yeah.” he frowned, “What else did you say?” he asked, buckling his seatbelt. Toby started the car and turned down the music, he was glad that the rehab center had cleaned out his car so it was abnormally clean.

[wyn-rhodes]

“I know I know..you looove me!” She grinned, climbing in his car. Whenever she was in his car, she could only think about the time she was vomiting and tried her best not to get it all over his beloved car. “Um...well for a while I would just kind of change the subject, and then I started telling her the truth, that I had no idea. But it got hard to do, so I would say things like oh his sister heard from him the other night, or oh I think he’s staying with an old friend now, stuff like that..”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

Toby smiled, it sounded like Rose, “That sounds great, but I don’t think it’s enough. I’ll probably have to stand on a table again.” he smirked at her. Pushing the front door open he held it open for her. Nodding he sighed, “Oh.” pushing his hand into his pocket he grabbed his keys and unlocked the car, “How has she been?” he asked, looking over at her. 

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter laughed but gave him a look. “Quit standing on tables for me! It’s embarrassing!” She thanked him for holding open the door and made her way over to his car. “She’s good, she’s happy. Likes her job.” Wyn nodded, holding up her hand to block the sun. “Um, I eventually started making up answers, I hope you don’t mind. I just didn’t want to tell her that I didn’t know anymore, you know? I told her at one point that you were visiting a friend up in Northern California....”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“You’re a genius.” Toby laughed nodding his head at her, “That’s a very good idea.” When she glared at him he laughed again and put his hands up in mock surrender before he headed out the door. Walking back the way they came he smiled a little, “I’m sure she was, she adores you.” he nodded, “She does?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “What would she ask?” Toby asked, he missed that little old lady. Another wave of guilt passed through him, he would have to start going there again late at night so they could sit and talk. 

[wyn-rhodes]

“Yeah, she had someone hang it up right near the front so you see it when you walk in, it’s kind of funny actually.” Wynter followed him out of her room, towards the front door. “You know, the usual. Like where you are, if you’re okay, that kind of stuff.” Rose would always ask Wynter about him, and this time around she didn’t answer for a while because she was mad. 

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“That’s so random?” Toby chuckled, “but as long as it works.” he shrugged smiling a little at her. Watching her twirl around he smiled brightly at her, he wished he could have been there for the original day that she graduated not this day. He’d gladly have not gone to rehab in order to see her graduate, but he knew there was no going back now. “You look adorable in that, are you sure you don’t want to wear it to Rosies?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her as he watched her take down some photos. 

[wyn-rhodes]

“Yeah! That’s the point! Because it makes him think about that and not about whatever else is going on in his head. Genius right? I made it up myself.” She smiled, but at the mention of her wearing the cap and gown to Rosie’s, she glared at him jokingly. “Definitely not. However, there is a photo on the wall at Rosie’s of me and this other guy who works with me there who also graduated. Rose hung it up, she was really excited. You need to hug her, she always asks about you.”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“Have you talked to him about that?” he asked, Toby really didn’t have any answers for her. He wished he did but he didn’t know anything about how to deal with Josh, she should really talk to Kat about it. “Yeah, I can Wyn. You would be so amazing up there. I just know it.” he grinned at her. Just the thought of her doing that made him happy. He wished that he could help her get to that point in her life, but he couldn’t. Toby really just wanted to be by her side while she did what ever it is that she is going to do in her life. “Hey, let’s go get a milkshake.” he smiled, looking her over once again in her cap and gown. “You should bring the pictures as well.” 

[wyn-rhodes]

“Yeah, I mean, if you have him count to 300 by 7′s or some random number, that works 99 percent of the time.” She shrugged, knowing he couldn’t really help on that front. Wynter jumped up, twirling in her gown again. “Look, you can see where we had to hem it because I was too short and it dragged on the ground.” She laughed, pointing to the bottom of the gown. At the mention of milkshakes, Wynter nodded and took off the cap and gown before throwing it on her bed. She ran over to her wall that had all the photos tacked up, and took down the pictures that she had from the months that he had been gone to fill him in. “Lets go!”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“Well as long as you’re happy that’s good.” he smiled, he over all just didn’t want her to be unhappy. Toby had thought about her, Kat, and his sisters every day while he was away and the thing he worried about most with Wynter was that Josh would end up hurting her in some way. Frowning he looked down at his hands, he started to twist the bracelets again as he tried to figure out what to say. Nodding his head he shuffled around to face her, ignoring the comment instead of telling her what he wanted to about the former subject. “That’s amazing, I’m so proud of you!” he exclaimed, “Maybe you could go on tour with him? That could be your plan for the future?” he smiled

[wyn-rhodes]

“Yeah, I’m happy. Sometimes though, I get really scared when he has like, a particularly bad episode, you know? Like, I don’t know what to do, what if I do something wrong?” Wynter said quietly. She was always scared she would say the wrong thing and make things worse. “Yeah! It was so cool!” Wynter grinned from ear to ear when he said he was proud of her. “Aw man, if that could be my future, that would be the coolest thing in the world! Could you imagine that?!” She bounced up and down excitedly, holding on to her cap on her head.

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“And he still treats you well and you’re happy with him?” he asked. Toby had never been a big fan of Josh, they had fought a lot and he always thought that Josh liked Kat before he moved onto Wynter and that whole situation really pissed him off but if Josh treated Wynter well he wasn’t going to try to split them up. Looking at her kinda surprised he nodded,”Yeah, I was just surprised you still had it that’s all.” Looking around the rest of the room he studied a few miscellaneous things before he focused back on Wynter. “That’s awesome! How was it? What did you sing?” he asked, smiling at her. 

[wyn-rhodes]

“Yeah, I think so. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, so I think he’s doing pretty well.” Wynter shrugged. She knew Toby wasn’t the biggest fan of Josh, but she didn’t know if that was because he was trying to protect her or from something different, but she didn’t ask. “Well, I mean, yeah I kept it. It was nice. Also I didn’t know if I was gonna hear from you again...” Wyn mumbled, making her way to sit on her bed next to him. “It was the coolest thing in the whole world! I sang one of his songs with him, but it was so loud and you couldn’t even seen everyone because the lights were so bright and oh my god it was so cool!”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“That’s good” Toby returned the smile and glanced around the room as he walked inside. Looking at all the things that hung on the walls he didn’t think very much had changed in the time he had last been there, maybe a few more pictures of her and Josh but not much more than that. His eyes stopped on the note he had wrote her that was on her mirror, a small frown pulled on his lips but he was quickly distracted by her asking him to grab something. “What?” he asked at first and then smiled,”Oh, yeah sure shorty.” he grinned, reaching up and grabbing the cap off of the top shelf. Handing it over to her he then went and sat on her bed, looking back at the note- he was surprised that she had kept it. “So, what else has happened with you?” he asked, focusing back on the girl.

[wyn-rhodes]

“Yeah, we’ve only fought maybe like, twice. So I say we’re doing pretty alright.” Wynter smiled, thanking him for the cap. “Were you looking at the note?” She asked, slipping the cap on her head, she had noticed he had looked over there a couple times. “Um..nothing really. I have no plans for my future which is terrifying. Oh! Guess what!” She jumped up excitedly, closing her closet door again. “Luke let me sing with him at one of his concerts! I got to sing in front of a real crowd! Like a big one!”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“So yes?” he smiled, glancing back at her before he got to her room. Stopping at her door he waited for her to go in first. 

[wyn-rhodes]

“So..it’s classified.” She smiled, opening her door and making her way to her closet. “But yeah, I am. He’s here somewhere, I haven’t seen him today yet.” Wyn shrugged, taking the long gown off the hook and trying to jump up to reach the cap on the top shelf. “Can you get that? I’m too short..”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

Toby laughed when she was super against the idea, “Well come on, lets see the cap and gown and the pictures.” he smiled at her, standing up. “So, are you still dating Josh?” he asked, glancing around the house as he started to walk toward her room. 

[wyn-rhodes]

Jumping up, Wynter led the way to her room, practically skipping. “Umm..maybe that’s classified information!” She joked, making her way down the hall.

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

“You don’t have to give me reasons that it would have been bad if I had gone, Wyn. I would have loved to be there all day sitting around in the hot and humid weather to see you graduate. It wouldn’t have mattered what else was going on I wish I could have seen you do it.” he said, a small smile formed on his lips when she said she had pictures and her cap and gown. “I have an idea!” Toby said sitting up, “Let’s recreate it!” he smiled over at her, genuinely happy with his idea. “You could wear exactly what you did then and look exactly the same, and then like, I can get someone to announce your name and you can walk across the table or something! Oh! No, we could do it at Rosies! You could go stand on the table with me while you ‘graduate’ and the whole place will cheer and then I’ll buy you a milkshake!” 

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter smiled, genuinely happy that he wished he could have been there. At the expression of his idea, Wynter shook her head no faster than she had ever done anything. “No! No no no absolutely not! You can’t keep embarassing me at work!” She laughed, imagining herself standing on top of the table in her cap and gown a month after she had actually graduated. “No, I say no. I’ll show you the cap and gown and pictures, but no graduation at Rosie’s. Even for a milkshake.” 

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

Toby shook his head at her telling him that it was ‘fine’ because he knew it wasn’t. He would have still been mad if it was him in her place, but he was also kind of glad that she was sorta forgiving him for that. When she said that he had missed her graduation he felt his heart drop into his stomach, he felt sick instantly. Opening his mouth to speak he couldn’t find the words and so he closed his mouth again, looking her over he searched for some kind of way to make it up to her. “Oh Wyn…” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.” he frowned, looking down at his hands for a moment. He hadn’t felt this bad over missing an event in his life, maybe it was the fact that he was clean now so he felt worse for things he should feel bad about but he figured it was just because Wynter meant the world to him and he had promised her something big and he broke that promise. “I wasn’t thinking. If I would have thought about anything other than myself I swear I would have come back just to see you graduate. I-…I’m so sorry I missed it. I’m so happy for you though, you graduated! High school is over! That’s so exciting!” he smiled at her though it was weak because he felt horrible. “Do you have pictures? Video? The cap and gown?” he asked

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter felt better knowing he didn’t just blow off her graduation, although she was kind of bummed he had forgotten. “Toby, it’s okay. I promise. It was hot and humid outside and only my family made it out to see anyways. Also Rhodes is towards the back end of the alphabet so it took a while, it was a lot of sitting arounf. It’s okay. You’re clean and sober and that’s just as important and big as me graduating.” She nodded, trying to convince him it was really okay, she wouldn’t be mad about it forever. “Yeah, it’s a relief that it’s over. But, I’m not going to college, so I have no idea what I’m doing with my life right now. I have pictures. My cap and gown is in my closet also.” 

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

Toby smiled at her when she said she was proud of him, he hadn’t heard that in a long time from anyone, let alone someone so close to him. Not even the nurse who had helped him through the whole thing had told him she was proud of him. He wasn’t sure what to say at first he just shrugged his shoulders and leaned his back into the cushion, trying to relax his body as he talked to her. “I mean…it’s only 4 months and I was in a place where it was impossible for me to access anything, but I think it’s a good start. It’s just really rough.” he said (think of this :/, it’s basically his face rn). Toby shook his head, he couldn’t remember how much he had told her about either of them but he knew she couldn’t know enough to know that he wasn’t anything like them. “I was going to be though. I could feel it.” he sighed. “But Wyn, I’m so sorry I just left you like that, I should have said goodbye.”

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter watched as he talked to her, and she could feel he didn’t really like talking about it, or the fact that he had to do it, but she was happy he did. She was happy he did it, and it seemed to be working for him, and that he was back. “I mean..it’s fine. There’s nothing you can do about it now. I was kind of mad for a long time, but I got over it. If not saying goodbye was for the best, then it’s fine.” She shrugged, picking at her nails out of nervous habit. “You missed me graduate though...” Wynter mumbled. That was one of the things she was most mad at him for. He had promised from the beginning he would make it to her graduation. But now that she knew why he hadn’t been there, she decided it was alright. She could always show him the pictures. “Cal and I graduated, Cami cried.”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

Toby didn’t have enough time to react to her hitting him before she was wrapped around him again, he instead just took a deep breath and pulled her close once again. “I’m so sorry. I missed you too- I really did.” he nodded, even though it was supposed to be a good thing that he had gotten clean he suddenly felt awful for leaving like that and ashamed to have to tell her why he left. When she let him go he took her hand in his and lead her around the corner and to the couch where he then plopped down into the cushions and turned to face her. Twisting the bracelets around his wrist he licked his lips before he started to speak again, “I had to go Wynter. I was hurting everyone around me constantly. I was becoming…like uh, my dads” Toby said his eyes dropping as he spoke,” I didn’t want to be like they were and I didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore so I left and I admitted myself into rehab in Oregon. And, I know I fucked up leaving the way I did but I knew that if I said goodbye to everyone it’d be harder for me to leave and harder for me to stay away. I would want to come back but if I knew you were mad at me it was easier to stay there.” he shrugged,”I’m so sorry I left like that. I just knew I had to fix myself. I had to be better.” Looking up again at Wynter he had tears in his eyes but he quickly blinked them away, “I don’t know if I’m any better now than I was, but I’m almost 4 months clean, I haven’t done any drugs or had a drop of alcohol. So that’s supposed to be good but I don’t know.” he trailed off, looking around the room taking it all in. “It doesn’t really feel like it.” 

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter followed when he led her to the couch and sat down across from him, crossing her legs under her. When she listened to him speak, she felt like an awful person for being mad at him. “So..you’re actually clean? Toby! Thats...thats so good!” Wyn took his wrists and flipped them over to find that all the cuts had healed, and didn’t look like there were any recent ones. She looked back up at him, smiling. “4 months is so good Toby, that’s great. I’m really proud, honest.” Wynter thought back to the note he had left her a couple weeks before he left, where he said he was going to get better. It was hanging up above her desk, and now she was so proud he had followed through. “I don’t think you’re anything like your dads.”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll Wynter & Toby

[jfc-toby]

While Wynter stared at him he felt like he may as well have been an alien standing in front of her. Rubbing the back of his neck as he always did when he was nervous he tried to stop fidgeting but it was worse after he had been clean, he couldn’t stop and just be calm for a while, he had to be doing something or tapping or rubbing, he had to do something or he feared he would go do something worse again. When she jumped onto him Toby laughed a little and stumbled back a few steps, holding onto her tight he pressed a few soft kisses onto her shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t cry.” he said, unable to keep the smile from his lips. “I missed you so much Wyn. I’m so so so sorry I just left like that…again.” he whispered, rubbing her back.

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter squeezed her eyes shut as she clung tighter. She had no idea why he left. One morning she just woke up and went to go see if he wanted to hang out, and all his stuff was gone. His drawers were open and empty and only a few stray items were left on the floor. She remembered standing in the empty room for a couple moments before slamming his door shut and making herself go back to sleep. She untangled herself and put her feet on the floor. “Why? Why did you do that!?” Wynter shoved him in the chest a little harder than she meant to, and then immediately felt awful and quickly hugged him tight again. “I missed you so much Tobs..”

[jfc-toby]

REUNION ll OPEN

[jfc-toby]

Walking slowly into the house he could hear the faint sound of music being played upstairs but that was about it- the house would have seemed empty if not for that. Toby put his bag down on the bottom step of the wide stair case before he continued to walk into the living area. His heart was beating faster than it had in a while in anticipation and fear of who he would see first. When he saw Wynter peak her small self around the corner he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes trailed from her feet to her face and he smiled a little, he had missed her a ton but he also knew that this had to be a hard situation. He had just left without explanation and now he was just back out of the blue; even he would have been pissed if someone had done that to him. “Hey Wyn.” he breathed, stepping closer to her not sure if he wanted to risk her punching him if he went in for a hug- even if that was all he wanted to do in that moment. “I’m so sorry.”  

[wyn-rhodes]

Wynter looked at Toby for just a second longer. He looked..clean almost, like he hadn’t done any drugs in a while. His eyes weren’t so dull and he stood up straighter, or maybe she was just imagining it. As mad as she was, she couldn’t not hug him. Wynter ran over and jumped up on him without warning, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. “Holy shit..Toby.” she cried into his shoulder. She knew he was going to tell her to stop crying, but she couldn’t help it.