DROWN YOUR DEMONS | "i've loved you since we were children, i just didn't realise it until now."
Toby McAllister was just like any other troubled teen. With a sharp toungue and glare that could cut glass, few dared to see past the sarcastic remarks...
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Toby knew something was wrong the second she peeled her eyes open. It wasn't the same dreaded feeling from the night before, though the fallout sure to happen from the fight still played on her mind. This feeling was different, more familiar.
It wasn't until she heard music drifting from the front room that she realised what was wrong.
Her dad was awake. On a weekday. At 10am.
Still dressed in the clothes from the previous night, Toby stood up from her bed. JJ was still passed out on the left side of the twin bed, curled up with his knees to his chest. Toby frowned slightly at his position, he only slept like that when something was bothering him.
Toby had brought him back to her place after the incident at the boneyard. The rest of his friends were well and truly pissed at his actions, and Toby didn't want him to think she agreed with them. It was her idea for him to use the gun after all. So she had gave him a lazy smile, still tipsy from her numerous drinks, and offered him a place to stay.
Thankfully, he was a light sleeper. All Toby had to do to wake him was give his shoulder a gentle shake. His eyes fluttered open not a second later, and he sat up against the wall with a tired groan. He smiled at her when he saw her standing next to the bed, and Toby couldn't hold back her own one in response.
She had always said that smile was infectious.
"Mornin' T." He rasped, voice deep and husky from sleep.
"Hi." Toby grinned, before it slowly fell when she remembered why she woke him up in the first place. "My dad's awake."
Knowing exactly what that meant after a quick glance at the digital clock on the nightstand, JJ's smiled dimmed.
"Stay here, okay." Toby whispered.
She left JJ in her room, feeling the weight of her father's presence pulling her in. When she walked into the kitchen, she found him rooting through the cupboards, humming the tune to an old guns n' roses song playing from the radio. For a moment, she stood there, watching him bop his head to the beat, steadying herself before walking in to the dangerous waters.
"Dad?"
Fred spun around at her voice, grinning as if nothing had ever been wrong. Toby sighed when her suspicions were confirmed; he was sober.
"Toby!" Fred rushed towards her, pulling her into one of those suffocating hugs, his tight arms wrapped around her like rocks dragging her into the water. She didn't hug back, just braced herself, holding her breath and bunching up her shoulders in a futile attempt to avoid the touch. His smell of stale cigarettes and beer clung to her as if the stench alone could pull her head beneath the water.
