𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥 (Ticci Toby x Male Reader)

𝐴 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑡

After a few hours, we arrived at a small, struggling auto-body garage. It only seemed like a few cars we're there daily, and most of the equipment was old. It was a perfect place to fix the car.

The old, gruff, bearded man working there shot us suspicious looks as we pulled in. He was in a pair of stained overalls and had a cigarette between his lips. I rolled down my window and looked at the guy there.

"Do you think you could fix this?" I asked, gesturing to the windshield.

The old man huffed, sending smoke billowing from his nose.

"Yeah, but it's going to cost you." The man replied in an unwelcoming tone.

I nodded.

"How does five grand sound?" I asked, leaning my elbow against the car door. "Half upfront and the rest when it's done."

The old man's eyebrows shot up at the number, and he coughed, patting his chest. He gave me another suspicious glance.

"What is this, hush money?" The man questioned, glancing over the windshield and car. He was obviously interested in the offer.

"I just need it to be done quick." I smiled, hanging my arm out the side of the car and tapping on the metal. "I can give it to you, cash," I said, leaning to the glovebox and opening the compartment.

A few stacks of hundreds fell as it opened, and I silently cursed, shoving the unnecessary bills back inside. I took one of the stacks that were banded together, counting out two and a half thousand.

"Pull into the first garage," the man said plainly as he gawked at the amount. I pulled into the empty spot before turning off the car. I tucked the rest of the five grand and my wallet into my pocket and put my gun into my waist for safekeeping.

Toby and I got out of the car as the old man inspected the glass. He turned to us.

"I can have it done in about two hours." He said, cramming the butt of his cigarette into a nearby ashtray.

"Sounds good to me." I smiled, handing over the first half of money before going back over to Toby.

"You can wait in the lobby, if you want." The old man said, rolling up the bills and tucking them into a pocket.

I took Toby's hand and brought him toward the old door. The entire garage smelled heavy of gas, oil, and metal, and there was the muffled sound of jazz music from a crappy radio in the corner.

"Two hours sounds like forever." Toby mumbled, squeezing my hand as we went through the door.

The interior of the place was shabby and smelt like smoke, but it looked decent. There were a few vending machines, restrooms, a seating area, and a radio. It played music that sounded like it was from the 1920s, making the whole place feel like a portal to a century ago.

"It can't be too bad." I said, walking over to the seats and sitting down. Toby sat next to me and let go of my hand. He fiddled with his own hands that had fingerless gloves on them.

Toby looked over to me, pushing his goggles to rest up on his head.

"So, are we... together?" He asked quietly, as if he was trying not to get his hopes up.

I looked over at him, feeling a faint pink creep onto my cheeks.

"I don't see why not." I shrugged, fighting the smile that found its way to my lips.

Toby smiled as well, folding his hands into his lap, but the smile was short lived as he asked another question.

"What are we going to do about..." He trailed off before pushing up his glove and gesturing to the symbol there. It was like the name of the beings shouldn't be spoken of.

I sighed, putting my arms on the back of the lounge chair.

"I don't know; I was thinking we'd go up north toward Chicago or another big city. I also wanted to visit Lake Michigan and some other places along the way. As long as it's not somewhere with a bunch of forests, we'll be good." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder and pulling him toward me.

Toby nodded, resting his head against me.

"I just feel a bit weird about breaking the proxy pledge." Toby said softly. "I've seen how fast people go 'missing' and get replaced..."

I nodded, gently rubbing his shoulder.

"We will be fine. I survived years avoiding the job, so it will be a piece of cake for the both of us." I said, smiling as I pressed a kiss to Toby's forehead.

He chuckled softly, playing with the hem of his shirt.

"I-I guess..." He said as his freckled cheeks blushed red.

I was looking down at Toby's flustered expression when the old man from earlier walked in.

"I've taken out the windshield, but you might want to clean up some of the glass. I've got a heavy-duty vacuum out here if you want to do that while I replace the glass." He said gruffly, reaching behind one of the counters and writing something down on a piece of paper.

I let go of my hold on Toby and nodded.

"I'll go do that," I said before glancing back at Toby. "You can stay here or come with me; I don't mind either."

Toby looked up at me before standing.

"I'm actually going to use the restroom real quick." He said quietly, smiling and heading that way.

I nodded and stored my hands in my pockets, walking out the door with the old man to the garage. The man pointed to the vacuum, and I dragged it over to the car. The giddy smile wouldn't go away from my face as I cleaned up the broken bits of glass.

We were now boyfriends.