May 3, 2013
She didn't come to the garage with high hopes. She didn't plan to make a lasting impression. Or to stay for more than a few odd jobs. Definitely not for two years. And she never would have believed that she would be working for the government. Or that these people, who she was determined to keep at a distance (but still managed to worm their way in), would be government material either. She didn't come to the garage with high hopes but somehow, someway, they became the sole source of all her hope.
"Who's that?" Toby turns from his new, makeshift desk to see a small woman sliding through the garage door.
"Happy Quinn, mechanical prodigy," Walter states with barely a glance at the door.
"She's new?" Sylvester asks.
"Walter." She says, moving to her workstation in the back of the garage before beginning to assemble her tools.
And Walter knows that this time, unlike all the others, she is here to stay. She won't keep running- running so fast that she is nearly untraceable from one day to the next- she is finally ready to have a home.
May 17, 2013
Happy Quinn likes to think that she is fairly easy to work with. After all, she only has three rules. Personal space, personal mind, personal time. Simple enough. Walter respects her boundaries- has been respecting them since she met him at a fabrication competition and offered to repair his car. Sly is shy and young so he often leaves the others to their "adult" duties. With time, she grows fond of his sweet nature. Toby however is a different story. He knows where every button is and how to push it.
"Hostility is a common symptom of children who grew up in the foster care system." Personal mind.
Standing behind her, he touches her spaghetti-strap clad shoulder. "Can I see that?" Personal space.
"I'll drive with you." Personal time.
Three rules. Three strikes. Three reasons to hate the Doc that won't leave her alone.
November 13, 2013
Breaking down walls isn't easy but somehow Dr. Tobias M. Curtis is capable of breaking hers. The walls she built for years, the ones she deemed impenetrable, are broken by someone she set out to hate. When they laughed, when they bet, when they built off of each other without trying. It was effortless.
"I can show you how to make a paper airplane." Happy smirks.
"Of course you can." Toby throws up his arms as another plane fails to land at the designated target.
"Meet me on the roof in ten."
It becomes their spot; it's their place to escape from the world when things become too rough. A place she shares with him even though it is for her personal time- one he graciously accepts.
June 20, 2015
He's confident or so he says and she believes him. He hasn't given up in over a year. But there is still a part of her that is scared. Scared of letting him in. Scared of losing her best friend. Scared of finding herself broken beyond repair when everything goes down the drain. Only she doesn't say that or anything really. She agrees to meet him for dinner and lets the excitement take over. Dress, check. Perfume, check. Stilettos, check.
Then he doesn't show.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Fifteen.
She orders a drink.
An hour.
Two.
She checks her watch a final time and leaves.
"When something good is right in front of you, or next to you, you self-sabotage because you wouldn't know what to do with something good if you had it."
She feels the sympathy but she's messed up too- she did her part but he didn't do his. Love is messy, that's for sure, but Happy isn't sure she can take much more.
August 1, 2015
"Do you want to babysit with me?" Happy asks, turning to Toby, a protective arm slung over Ralph's back. They had a rough day, well 'rough' was a bit of an understatement seeing as Walter is currently bound to a hospital bed.
"Sure." His reply is simple but she knows he appreciates the gesture. After all, she can read him almost as well as he can read her.
The night is a mixture of tension and laughter- a weird combination but when have they ever been ones to go by the book? He doesn't want to screw up whatever fragile foundation they're building and between the tripping over words and the self-deprecating humor, he sees her smile.
"What crawled up your ass, doc?" She smirks after Ralph is passed out on Walter's bed. And he knows that she's trying too. Trying to forgive him for hurting her when he promised never to let her down.
December 5, 2015
He doesn't recreate the scene. He doesn't want to ask her out on the rooftop because he's afraid it will dredge up all the memories he's trying to erase. Instead, he surprises her. Takeout and beer. Her workstation. Her chance to decide whether this is a date or a friendly encounter.
"Chinese and Coors?" She rolls her eyes. "Great combination."
"Well m'lady, were you expecting a five course affair?" He swipes one of her egg rolls, laughing as she tries to swat his hand away.
"I don't know. Maybe a little fanfare for a first date." He looks up then, noticing her downcast eyes, before beaming from ear to ear. Because, as much as he had hoped, he never knew if he could win back her trust.
"Date?"
"Oh shut it." Yet she is smiling too, a small whisper of a grin, and later, when he reaches for her hand, she lets him hold on for the rest of the night, never letting go.
March 16, 2016
They can both be volatile, that's without question. "No! Because if I'm pregnant-"
"Then what, Happy?" Toby has spent the last hour speaking calmly with his stubborn girlfriend who refuses to buy a pregnancy test and is slowly but surely losing his cool.
"Then we're done." The words drop in volume as Happy crosses her arms over her chest.
"That doesn't make any sense," Toby finally surrenders to his need to yell. "If you are pregnant, you'll need help."
"Who says I need your help?"
"I would be the kid's father. You of all people should know why."
"Get out." She screams as she pushes him from her small studio apartment.
"Happy-"
"Out. Now."
July 26, 2016
"In there, please," Happy points Sly in the direction of the second empty bedroom.
"Can you believe we have an apartment together?" Toby says, walking up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Never thought it'd be us." She turns to give him a brief hug.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I am quite the catch."
"I can think of a few other choice words." Tapping her playfully on the shoulder, he leans down to press a kiss to her forehead.
"At least we didn't have to rush things." He looks down to her flat stomach and she nods in agreement. "Just you and me."
"Always."
November 6, 2017 and Future
A promise of forever, for as long as they both shall live, in sickness and in health. Of course, much to Happy's chagrin, Toby begged for them to present their own vows. Although adamant at first, his persistence (and let's be honest, persuasion in the bedroom) won out.
"Oh, my heart," Happy smirks, patting her chest for dramatic effect as Toby finishes his vows.
"Not good." With a sharp look from his soon-to-be-bride, Toby whines. "What? You stole my line."
"Numbnuts."
"But you love me anyway."
"Yeah, I guess I do." And then they're kissing, before they're given permission and Paige and Megan are catcalling much to Walter's dismay. Ralph is standing on his chair and clapping for his aunt and uncle, Sly wiping tears from his eyes and Cabe just giving a tight-lipped grin, ready to burst from love and happiness.
Pulling back, Toby chuckles, "So, are you Mrs. Numbnuts?"
They spend most Saturday mornings lost in each other, green sheets tangled at their feet. The kisses are slow and tender, filled with a passion neither can put into words. They enjoy their coffee and french toast in bed before getting up to go their separate ways. Him to his books and her to her small work room. But every so often he stands behind her or she makes a second plate of lunch and they smile, knowing how much the other cares. Those little moments are always the highlight of their day.
The green grass soft under their feet, the smell of flowers wafting through the air. So secluded, so peaceful, so simple. Mingling breath is the only sound as Happy's hair tosses in the light breeze.
"How long has it been?" Paige asks quietly, almost afraid to break Happy from her trance.
Looking to the solid grey stone before her, she answers, "Sixty-two days."
And as the grass scratches her scarred heels and the smell of flowers makes her stomach turn, she lets a single tear fall. But as quick as it comes, it is gone, washed away with the suffocating mask of isolation. He's gone…and in a way, so is she.