Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, and they are just the characters represented on tv and not the real people behind them. I am not making any profit from these. All ideas represented are mine, as are any spelling or grammar mistakes. This takes place sometime after Ethan shaves Spud's hair off.
The knock on his door was soft and tentative, making him doubt he'd heard anything at all until it came again. Pausing the movie Spud dropped the remote and grudgingly climbed to his feet, it had been a long day full of errands and petty annoyances made worse by catching a glimpse of Ethan Carter out on a lunch date with a stunningly beautiful woman. So when he finally made it home all he'd wanted to do was to relax in front of his tv and ignore everything for the rest of the evening. Scowling he threw open the door and blinked, pinching his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Toby?" The young boy looked up and Spud sucked in a shocked breath at the boy's bloody lip and vivid black eye. "Bloody hell Toby, what happened? Are you alright?" Ushering the lad in he sat him down on the couch and quickly grabbed the first aid kit from under the kitchen sink. Wetting a clean towel he hurried back to Toby's side and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, "hold still for me lad," before gently dabbing the blood away.
Holding Toby's face up to the light he inspected the injury critically, worry easing at finding the cut was shallow, there would be no need for the ugly business of stitches. Taking a moment to thoroughly wash his hands he delicately applied a light layer of polysporin to protect the wound. That done he collected an icepack from the freezer and gently pressed it against Toby's face, "hold this against your eye please."
Toby had yet to look at him or make a sound, despite the pain he had to have caused him and the lack of response was worrying. Clearing his throat Spud tried again, "are you hurt anywhere else?" Thankfully Toby shook his head at that and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Although it was warm in his apartment he grabbed a quilt out of the closet and settled it over Toby, not surprised when the kid immediately curled into it. "How about some hot chocolate then?" He forced a smile when Toby looked at him with eyes too old for a ten-year-old boy.
"Sure," Toby's voice was low and halting but Spud was happy just to finally hear him speak. Busying himself preparing the hot chocolate he gave Toby the illusion of privacy to relax in, by the time he brought the mugs over it was clear the lad was feeling better, even smiling as he accepted his hot chocolate.
Sipping slowly Spud was content to wait for Toby to speak, instinctively aware forcing him would only backfire. With the black eye and cut lip it was pretty clear he'd been in a fight and he had a sneaking suspicion why Toby had come to him and not his parents. Which speaking of, Spud checked the time, at half past five he had no doubt they were starting to panic by now. "Does your mom know you're here Toby?" He held back a sigh when Toby shook his head, shoulders hunching guiltily. "Do you want me to call her and let her know you're safe? Maybe you can stay for supper, you must be hungry?"
Finally Toby looked over at him, a grateful smile chasing away some of the sadness on his face, "I, I'd like that, thanks Spud."
"You're always welcome here lad," patting Toby's shoulder Spud moved to his bedroom to place the call, he had no doubt it was going to be a tense conversation and it wouldn't due for Toby to get the wrong impression.