Toby Cavanaugh sat in his room, waiting, as he drummed his fingers on the hardwood top of his desk. Something had to be wrong. He hadn't heard from her yet and it was getting later by the minute. The girls were supposed to be meeting Ian around nine, if everything had gone smoothly, he would have heard from her by now. He knew he should have gone.
Not being able to sit still, he started pacing the floor and thinking about their afternoon together. It was so peaceful. She had homework to do, but asked him to join her anyway. She said she liked having him there. He questioned if it was because it made a statement to her parents. No, because I like having you here, she had scoffed back. She looked at him like it was the most absurd thing in the world for her to want him around for any other reason.
Their last exchange had stayed with him all evening. Her words were more powerful than anything anyone had ever told him. It was the first time in his life that he ever really felt important to another person. It made him ache to hear her voice again.
"I'll keep Jenna busy like you asked me to, but I wish I was going with you tonight…"
She grabbed his hand and looked up at him with those beautiful, brown eyes. "Hey, you're helping me by finding out if she's a part of this or not."
He knew this was true, but he couldn't help thinking that he should be there with her. They could do something else about Jenna.
"Look, I've never… had a safe place to land, but now I feel like I do; so, I want you to stay safe."
He had promised to be safe, but he should have made her promise the same thing. Not knowing what to do, trying to avoid thinking that something terrible had happened to her; Toby plugged in his music player and pressed shuffle. A melody began to fill his room and he just listened. The words were comforting and he got lost in them.
Suddenly, a noise came from his phone. Finally, he thought. Walking over and picking it up off his desk, he smiled, expecting to see her name. A message saying that everything had worked out and their nightmare was finally over. Instead the smile dropped from his face. All along it was exactly what he had been afraid of.
Spencer never showed. She won't answer her phone and we don't know where she is. Have you heard from her? - Emily
He felt so foolish to not have trusted his instincts. Now he had to find her. How was he going to figure out where she was? The last time that he had seen or spoken with her was earlier in the day.
While she was sleeping on his lap, her phone had gone off. She got up and found a message from Melissa; Ian hadn't shown up at the church and her sister needed a ride home. If she never made it to meet the girls and she had made it to the church, maybe something happened to her there.
That's where he would have to start. The last thing he said to her was that if she needed anything, he would be there for her. She told him she loved knowing that. Toby wasn't about to back down from that statement. He was prepared to brave anything for her. Spencer Hastings usually acted like she didn't need saving, but she let her guard down for him. He intended to make sure she never regretted that.
Jenna called after him as he went rushing out the front door. They were supposed to watch a movie together. It was part of his plan to keep her busy, but he had to go. He had no time to make up excuses for her and left without as much as a goodbye.