Tobias POV:
I walk the girls out of the center and to my car. I open the hood and put their bag inside. I walk around the car and open the back door for the girls and they scoot in. I close the door gently in an effort not to scare them. I walk back around the car and climb into the driver's seat.
"Make sure you girls buckle up." I tell them. Madison looks at me with a confused look so I tug at mine to show her what I mean. I would do it for them but I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable. Luckily Madison seems to get what I mean and pulls the belt over her then Emma. I start the car and we drive off back to my apartment. It's not a long drive only about 10 minutes but the silence makes it seem like an eternity.
"So girls," I say in an attempt to break the silence, "the apartment is pretty small so for the time being you girls are gonna share a room until I can find another house OK?"
"That's fine." Madison says softly. Emma just nods her head.
When we finally arrive at the apartment I pull into the driveway. I get out of the car and open the door for the girls. As they climb out I pull their bag out of the trunk. I notice how light the bad is it couldn't contain mush clothes. I would have to take them shopping for clothes. Even though I knew nothing about what to buy them, maybe I could ask Christina to take them she would know what to get them.
"Come on let's go inside." I say and we walk into the building and to the elevator.
When we get to my apartment I show them to the spare room and tell to make themselves feel at home and I would start making dinner.
While the pasta boiled I called Christina she answered immediately.
"Hey how are they" she asks they second she picks up.
"They are very shy and quiet but I expected that."
"You just need to give them time they'll come around"
"Yeah I know "
"Where are they right now?" She asks.
"Right now they are in their room, unpacking. Hey listen my place is too small for all of us I want to give them their own rooms so tomorrow I'm going to go look for bigger house and I was wondering if you could take them shopping for some things because they don't really have a lot of clothes."
"Of course Tobias I'll pick the girls up at around noon tomorrow.
"OK that's great thanks. Now listen anything they want get it for them and I'll pay for it all." I hang up the phone and finish making dinner.
Madison POV:
Our room is way bigger than one we had before even though to most people it would be small. There's a mirror closet that covers one entire wall a dresser on the other wall and against the back wall is a bed just big enough for me and Emma to fit in. Most of my life I didn't have a bed. Back at our house in the fringe we had a very small room a small bed and a box that acted as our dresser to keep our clothes in. I gave the bed to Emma and slept on the floor in a pile of thin blankets.
Emma and I unpack what little clothes we have and put them in the dresser, it's big enough for both of us to get 3 drawers which is more than enough for the both of us. I open the closet to put my skateboard in and see that there is a box stuffed in the corner other than that the closets empty. I let my curiosity get the better of me and pull the box out. Inside there is a small pile of black clothing. Pants, shirts and one dress.
I pull out a black shirt. It's obsessively meant for a girl judging by the way the neckline dips into a V shape. It's made to hug tight to the body but the fabric is also made for like working out or something. The shirt also shows signs of being worn with small tears and blood on the sleeve? Like a cut was dripping blood from like the neck.
I feel like I should be weirded out or afraid that the shirt has blood on but for some reason I'm not. I feel like this shirt means something. I take the shirt and put in my drawer and put the box back in the closet. I walk over to Emma who's sitting on the bed looking out the window.
"Hey." I say quietly.
"Hey" she says back "you see that building outside right there" she says pointing to a large open building a few blocks from the apartment building with kids of different ages were walking out of. "Yeah" I say in response.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I think it's a school." We had never been to school. In the fringe there was one small school led by the government, but I never went to it. My mom taught me to read and write and some basic math skills, she would have taught Emma but she was killed just after Emma turned 2. Instead I taught Emma everything I knew but that wasnt a lot. I had always wondered what a real school was like.
"Do you think Tobias is gonna send us there?"
"I don't know. He might." I say. Before Emma could respond Tobias knocks softly on the door. "Girls dinners ready."
"OK" I answer and we both get up and walk out of the room.
We sit at a small round table in the corner of the apartment. No one talks we just sit and eat our spaghetti in silence. I want to ask him about the box of clothes and the shirt with blood on it, but I can't bring myself to let the words escape my mouth.
"So girls" Tobias says breaking the silence "tomorrow I'm going to go out looking for a bigger house and you girls are going shopping with my friend Christina. OK so buy everything you girls want I'll pay for it all."
"Really?" Emma asks excitedly. "Anything we want?"
"Yeah of course."
"You don't have to do that, we don't really need anything we're fine with what we have. We don't want to..." I say but Tobias cuts me off
"No, I want to do this. You girls could use some new clothes and other things. It's no big deal. I've had a well paying job and nobody but myself..." at that Tobias trails off his eyes staring into space with a sad look on his face, like he should've had someone to take care of.
"I've had nobody but myself to take care for years now. I want to care for you girls and give everything you need and want. Please let me."
In ways I felt bad for Tobias. He had lived on his own for many years and from what he told me at the center his past went way deeper than just participating in the war, and something gave me the feeling like I was gonna find exactly how deep it went.
"OK" I say.
We finish the rest of our dinner in silence. After we are done I attempt to wash all the dishes but Tobias stops me
"No no I'll clean up you girls have had a long day why don't you just go wash up and then head to bed the bathrooms just down there use whatever you need."
I pull out Emma's light thin pajamas and take her the bathroom making sure to lock the door. I run Emma a bath and clean her up. I let her enjoy the huge bathtub for a while knowing this is the first time she's been able to enjoy one without the pressure of having to be quick before our dad gets home or the eyes of the other girls in the public washroom they had at the center judging the scars and bruises on her small body. When she's done dress her and take her back to the room and lie her down in bed with her doll.
"I'll be right back I'm just gonna go take a quick shower OK?"
She nods her head and turns on her side.
I quickly walk back to the bathroom and turn the water back on I undress quickly and jump in the shower not wanting to look at myself in the mirror over the sink. I feel the warm water pour on my back and wish I had more time to enjoy the feeling but I had to hurry and get back to Emma before she got scared. I washed my hair and scrubbed my body not looking down knowing I'll find ugly scars cuts and bruises up and down my body. When I'm done step out and get dressed quickly avoiding the mirror.
I walk out of the bathroom and stop in my tracks when I see Tobias sitting at the table mumbling things to himself.
"I never should have left her I should not have left her" he says
" I should have stayed and protected her" covering his face with his hands. Its at that moment that I realise he's crying.
After a few minutes he looks up and stares into space again like he's talking to someone "I couldn't protect you but I'm going to protect them. Nothing bad will ever happen to those girls."
I gasp. He's talking about me and Emma. He wants to protect me and Emma.
I walk quickly back to our room and crawl into bed next to Emma. She shifts in bed and turns towards me.
"Madison?"
"Yeah"
"Are we gonna be safe here?" If she had asked me this question an hour ago I would not have know how to answer because it would have been something that I was stilling asking myself and I some ways I still am but after what I just saw my answer has changed.
"Of course we are Emma. Tobias wants to protect us. He is going to protect us."
Hey look at that it didn't take me a year and a half to update haha yay me. I wanted to thank y'all for reading this story. It means so much to me and I work so hard on writing this so it would mean a lot to me if you left comments and let me know how you think I'm doing with writing the characters. I have so much planned for this story and I can't wait to write it all so much for taking the time to read! OK I'm starting to ramble so I'm gonna go.
xx FanFicwriter3096