Kissing Constellations

Chapter 11- Escape Plan

Kissing Constellations

Chapter Eleven

Escape Plan

When Toby trailed into the room, he saw Will crouched in the corner sniffling quietly. The other three entered behind him and began picking up the scattered supplies as if this were a normal, everyday thing. Toby looked back at them strangely, appalled that they would worry about the mess before their "friend".

Toby walked over to Will and bent down to his level. William ripped his gaze off the floor to look up at the other teen in panic

"Are you hurt?" Toby asked.

Will turned himself around slowly, holding his arm out in front of himself. "A little, but I'll be okay."

A gash was painted red across Will's pale arm. It wasn't very deep, but it spanned across his entire forearm. Toby then looked up at his face to see a huge black and blue bruise crawling up his neck.

"Oh my God." Toby panicked. "That's a- That's a big mark."

Sam became worried as well, "What? What is it?"

"Come on." Toby pulled William to his feet, supporting his weight as he did. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Will stopped him, "Can't you just take me to my room? There's a bathroom in there."

"Okay..."

After managing to drag William up the staircase, down the hall, and into his bed. Toby rushed to get a wet cloth and peroxide out of the bathroom. He grabbed Sam's arm gently, holding the peroxide bottle above it.

"I'm not gonna lie..." Toby breathed unevenly. "This will probably hurt a bit."

"I know." Sam bit his lip before squeezing his eyes shut. "Just do it quickly."

As the alcohol poured over William's cut and soaked into the rag, a restrained grunt escaped his lips. White fizz began to bubble up from the cut, disinfecting it.

"You okay?" Toby asked nervously while patting the wound dry. Was he even cleaning this cut correctly? Toby had never done this before and simply mimicked how Greg had cared for him when Kiro beat him.

Will simply nodded, a sad look washing over his face.

"That's your bed by the way." Will pointed across the room. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that we'll be bunking together."

"It's alright." Toby quickly gathered the wet rag and peroxide into his arms and put them away. "I won't be sleeping here tonight anyway."

"What?"

Toby didn't respond. He felt as though he's done enough socializing for a lifetime. Instead, he plopped onto the bed that was provided, bouncing against the thick maroon comforter and sighing contently.

"I've gotta say though," Toby chuckled to himself, "This bed sure beats the pavement."

William smiled unsurely, his gaze whipping around the room. He was obviously looking for something to talk about. Although, Toby has always hated when people talked just to talk. Why can they never sit quietly? He'd think.

"You come off as a quiet person." William said softly. "Or is it just because you haven't settled in yet?"

"Both."

Despite the short and cold reply, Will tried to keep the conversation going, "So... Did you live here in New York?"

Toby only nodded, his gaze fixed on the clock ticking away in their room.

"Me too, but not nearby."

Toby rolled his eyes, this conversation was completely pointless and it wasn't going anywhere. He had more important things to think about right now. So how could he get Will to shut up?Toby did what he always did when he didn't want to talk to people: Make them not want to talk to him.

"So, I heard you were a prostitute?"

William remained silent for a while, probably stunned that Toby would blurt out something so personal. Nonetheless, he responded. "So they told you, huh?"

Toby frowned, his tactic had failed for a second time in one day. It's always worked before. What's with these people?

"Yeah..." Will continued nervously. "The others don't really like me because of that. They're probably upset because Madame Blin prefers virgins yet she still took me in. And maybe they had been saving themselves to get adopted by her? I don't really know..."

"That's stupid." Toby scoffed. "Why do they care about you or what you've done? What matters is that you're not like that anymore, and you've come a long way."

Toby didn't know why he responded so heatedly. Probably because he's been in that same situation before and had people say things like that to him. He felt personally attacked almost.

"Thank you," William smiled warmly, "It means a lot. I'm just glad someone doesn't mind what I used to do..."

"I understand. We do what we have to do to survive around here."

They sat silently for a while, never making eye contact during that time. Until Toby finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey... Will?"

"What?"

"I'm leaving tonight." Toby whispered.  "I could care less about those ass's, but you're a good person... I can tell." He paused for a moment, almost reconsidering what he was going to say. "I wanna get you out of here too."

"You can't!" William jumped up from the bed, grabbing the other by his shoulders. "Toby you cant leave me here, please! Besides it's impossible you'll-"

"Didn't you hear me?!" Toby snapped, pushing Will off. "I said I'll get you out too."

"What if we're caught? What if we don't make it?"

Toby looked down, "I have a plan..."

William rubbed his tired eyes just as a series of knocks came from the front door. Toby rushed to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked down at the front steps. There sat a large man in a dark suit.

Toby was stunned, "Greg..."