This began a simple rant I had an itching to write on tumblr and legitimately took on a life of it's own. What was suppose to take up a paragraph is now 1000 words and the first part of this fanfic. Enjoy the feels. I know I did. :'(

Here's a little story about a boy by the name of Tobias Cavanaugh. Born the only child of Marion and Daniel Cavanaugh, Tobias had a normal childhood. Loner by nature he didn't make as many friends as most in school, he'd spend much of his time building makeshift crafts in his garage. But that's how he liked it. He like to build things, to collect his little model cars, to read. He kept his grades up, he loved his family, and he was happy.

It wasn't until he was about 14 that things started to change. His mothers behavior shifted. It began with little mishaps, she'd forget to pick Toby up from school or she'd put bologna in his peanut butter sandwiches, mistakes every mother has made. But it progressed. She'd call in sick days in a row to work. Headaches she claimed. But soon she stopped calling in all together and spent much of her time in the closed quarters of her bedroom.

When Toby's father came home he'd slip in through the door where he's either yell at his wife's selfish behavior or exit with a pained expression. Toby'd beg her to go see a doctor the rare times a day she'd step out of her cave. But she'd simply put on a fake smile, pat his cheeks softly, and reassure him that she was fine before retreating back behind the closed door for hours.

Toby's heart rang a false sense of hope when she began coming out of her bedroom more often. But what he was seeing was not the mother who use to take him to the park or read him bedtime stories. She'd roam the house in a daze, unsure or the time or day or maybe even year. She hardly ever got dressed anymore. She'd simply shuffle around in a robe and slippers, day and night.

All of this deeply concerned Toby. He'd pleaded with his father to take her somewhere, anywhere, so she could be her old self again. But every time her brought it up, his father waved him off, telling to go do his homework. His face might have been expressionless but the pain in his fathers eyes was palpable.

Weeks later nothing changed, Toby and his father had to learn to fend for themselves. Toby took over on my of the things his mom use to do. He'd wash the dishes after dinner, he'd vacuum and dust; he'd help his father make dinner. Maybe if he did that all, she'd come out of her recluse behavior and praise him. Maybe she had just been upset or felt like Toby was taking advantage of her. But as weeks went on and she never made a peep about any of it, Toby's reasoning changed. Maybe, if it simply got done, he could pretend she was the one doing it.

One night, she did come out for dinner. Toby was immensely pleased he'd gotten her to come out for a long enough time for them to have a family dinner. But things quickly turned sour. Nothing ever stays good for long, as they say.

It could have been nothing really. But it didn't feel that way.

She asked Toby to pass the mashed potatoes. She called him Tommy. And she didn't correct her mistake.

Toby heard his father on the phone in a hushed tone later that night.

And while his father took his mother all over the tristate area from doctor to doctor. Toby was getting picked on by a girl he once thought of as a friend. Maybe even more.

She'd call him a perv every time he passed, she'd whisper and giggle with her posey of friends every time she looked in his direction. He ha no idea why. No idea what he'd done or said that would warrant that type of behavior.

But he suddenly went from being the boy most didn't know existed to the boy everyone avoided.

She had that kind of power.

He never minded going to school before. Take a few notes, read a few books, eat lunch and slip out without getting noticed. But those days were over. He's end up just trying to survive the day with all it's glances and whispers to spend the remainder of it sitting in his living room with his mother who was now so hopped up on medication she just stare through endless hours of The Game Show Network.

It was only a short while later that he had to watch his father pack up some of his mothers things, load them into the car and head off in the direction of Radley Sanitarium.

His father came home around dinner time. He said nothing. Toby asked nothing. And they ate their TV dinners in silence.

It took him a few days before he'd finally racked up the courage to go and see her. He remembered following his father through the rusted, intricate metal gates and hearing screaming seep through the grout of the brick building.

He remember'd having to go through security to see his own mother. He remember's seeing her draped in a white gown surrounded by people with bleached scrubs and clipboards. He remembers feeling sick at the white wash and wanting nothing more than to run in the opposite direction.

But then he heard it. The simple tone of piano keys. They played a soft melody that was soothing in Toby's ears. He'd heard it more times than he could possibly count. I use to be the only thing able to lull him to sleep on restless, sleepless nights.

He'd go back to visit his mother everyday after school from that point on. He came so often so that he was on a first name basis with some of the staff. And when his mother was being unresponsive or had to shipped of to some appointment, he'd spend the remainder of the visit playing board games with one of his mothers nurse's, Eddie.

This went on for months. Toby would put himself on the local fare after dismissal from school and ride it all the way to the front gates of Radley Sanitarium. He had plans to do just that, maybe play a game of scrabble with his mother or listen to her play the piano. But as he daydreamed in his school mandated metal desk, a wrinkled, stout kind faced women walked into his algebra class. She whispered something in his teacher's ear. Her eyes widened to the size of bowling balls. The women called Toby's name. His classmates all turned towards him. He was surprised they even knew his name. The women asked him to accompany her into the hallway. He gathered his things as quickly as he could with the fifty eyes he felt trained on him. His heart beat as he thought of anything he could have done that would get him into trouble.

The women closed the classroom door gently behind her. Toby asked what was going on. She looked at him. Her eyes were sad. "Your father would like to talk to you."

He doesn't remember much of the funeral. He remembers someone coming up to him and telling him his mother was a coward. He remember's his fathers firm hands on his shoulders and wrapping a paper towel over his bleeding knuckles.

I didn't know you could get emotional over your own writing but I did. Why does Toby Cavanaugh have to have such a crappy life. Why Marlene King? Whyyyy?

I guess it's better than the alternative of killing him off first season like they were suppose to.

Wow. The highlight of Toby Cavanaugh's life. Well, ya could be dead...

Part 2 coming soon. :)