Title: Nice Guys Like You
Rating: K+
Diclaimer: I own a Death Star Pez dispenser. I don't own this.
A/N: For our next installment, I present to you some Toby/Kelly lightness. After last chapter's gloominess, I thought I might give everyone a bit of a break and maybe have someone laugh while reading one of my stories... Also, Dunderball = love.

Toby found the annex was eerily calm after Ryan left. He felt bad that he was kind of happy Kelly was quiet for once, but after the first few days, he was more unnerved by the silence than he ever would have guessed.

He knocked on the wall between them. "Kelly?" he asked, then, self-conscious of his usual library-soft tone, tried it again louder. "Kelly?"

"Go away, she moaned, voice sounding muffled.

He could leave it at that. He could say he tried. But he hadn't really tried, and he did kind of like Kelly, or at least he used to when she wore outfits Angela would have approved of and played Dunderball with him on slow afternoons, and she was probably still that person.

He walked around the wall and found her curled up on the floor, wearing sweatpants and an old T-shirt, her head under her desk and tissues strewn all over.

He sat down on the floor, back against Ryan's vacant desk. "Hey."

She looked at him, eyes red-rimmed and puffy. "Hey."

They stared at each other for a while.

Kelly spoke first. "How could he do this to me?" she whispered, curling into a ball, clutching her stomach like she was about to be sick.

Toby opened his mouth, some HR sentiment already on his tongue, when all the easy, expected answers fled his brain.

Ryan was a lot like his ex. She wanted it to end. Okay, that was fine. It hurt, but he could survive, but she didn't need to do it so swiftly or cruelly.

"He didn't love you," he found himself saying, voice not comforting or HR, but bitter with his own memories. "And he even didn't care about you enough to think about your feelings when he ended it."

She looked at him, recognizing a kindred soul and responding more to it than she ever would have to stock comfort phrases. "I really, really want to hate him, but I love him too much," she mumbled.

Toby nodded solemnly.

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, hugging her knees and eyeing him warily, like a stray cat. "I wish I could hate him. He was a jerk. He forgot my birthday, you know. Half the time he didn't pick up when I called. And it would only ring twice, 'cause he's hit Ignore when he saw it was me. Not that he needed a button to ignore me 'cause he did it when we went out and when I tried to talk to him and... and..." She broke off, a tear slipping down her face.

He pulled a tissue out of the box--it was nearly empty--and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said, dabbing at her eyes. "Hey, I found something when I was under my desk." She ducked back under and pulled out a little ball about five inches in diameter.

He immediately broke into a grin. "Would you look at that?"

She smiled a little, and the threat of tears was gone from her eyes. She scooted a little way from him and sat cross-legged, then tossed him the ball. He caught it and easily returned it.

"Ryan was such a wuss, too," Kelly said as they played catch. "Did you know he used to call me late at night 'cause he thought there was a burglar in his apartment?"

Toby did know. He knew much more about their relationship than he ever wanted to, because the divider between his desk and theirs was very thin. But he laughed like it was news to him.

"I hope he does get a burglar in his apartment in New York," she added, wrinkling her nose. "Serve him right. You know what else? He was totally afraid of big dogs. Like, one time we were walking to this restaurant and someone was walking their dog--it wasn't even that big, more like a medium dog--and he started getting all jumpy and tried to avoid it. It was totally pathetic."

It went like that for a while, playing with the Dunderball while Kelly badmouthed Ryan with every ounce of fire in her. Toby mostly nodded, and laughed dutifully at times. It was almost a relief to hear her chatter at her usual mile-a-minute pace again. He found himself getting more and more disgusted with Ryan as she continued.

She hit a lull eventually trying to dig up something out of her memory banks of suitable embarrassment. Toby spoke up.

"What he did was totally out of line. He's not worth all the energy you put into hating him."

Kelly caught the ball and didn't throw it back. "I know, right? No one here listens to me, even though they totally saw what a jerk he was. Even Pam, and she should know what I'm talking about, especially after all the crap she went through with Roy. But Pam's kind of a bitch sometimes, anyway."

He nodded before he could stop himself. Then he felt bad... But not too bad.

Kelly fiddled with the ball thoughtfully, then tossed it back to Toby. "Why'd we stop playing Dunderball, anyway?"

"...Things got in the way." Like, oh, Ryan.

"We should totally play more," she said decisively. "We should have a tournament, like Oscar and Kevin do."

"Sounds fun," he said. And it did. He tossed it back.

She threw it again, but her aim was off and it went wide. He reached for it---a little too far--and overbalanced and fell over.

Kelly started to laugh, starting soft and giggly but increasing steadily in volume and depth until she was doubled over, forehead almost touching the floor and howling with laughter.

Toby wasn't offended. He knew he must look pretty ridiculous, sprawled on the floor in full business attire. For once in his life, he didn't even feel self-conscious about it. He didn't even bother to get up, but just shifted onto his back and laughed like he didn't have a care in the world.

For, like, twenty seconds.

"What's going on back here?" came an all-too-familiar voice and Toby's heart sank back to its usual place.

Michael looked curiously into Kelly's cubicle, then did a double-take when he found his arch-enemy lying on the floor.

"Kelly, what is this creep doing in your personal space? Should I call security?"

"We're talking okay?" She grabbed the ball and threw it at Michael. It bounced off his chest and Toby caught it absently and handed it back to her.

"With... that? Why would you waste your time when you've got real friends in the office?"

"Like, hello? He's my HR rep, I'm talking to him, and it's confidential. So you can't listen in or I'll sue." She cocked her arm back, ready to throw again.

Michael retreated, assaulted by a barrage he hadn't expected in the least. The camera operator that had followed him over lingered, but Kelly narrowed her eyes threateningly and he vanished as well.

"That was amazing Kelly," Toby said, sitting up. "Wish I could do that."

"You totally could, Toby."

"...Yeah, but Michael never listens to me," he mumbled.

"That's 'cause--"

Her phone rang.

'Damn!' She picked it up. "Customer Service, this is Kelly... Uh-huh. Okay, can I put you on hold for a sec? Thanks so much!" She hit the hold button. "I gotta take this.'

They both climbed to their feet. Kelly hugged him. "Thanks for talking to me.'

"Anytime," he said with a shrug.

She smiled. "You're so nice. Why can't I date nice guys like you?"

He didn't know what to say, but she had already sat down in her chair and was picking up the phone. He exited quietly.

A little while later Kelly started dating Darryl.

At least they didn't bicker and make out next to his right ear.

The Dunderball Tournament of Champions progressed nicely, with Toby ahead by two wins.

A/N II: I'm taking a little break from this story, just to warn y'all. I've got something else a'brewing, and that's taking up my time lately. Also... don't expect this to be the last Toby/Kelly fanfiction you're going to see from me. As usual, thanks to my loyal reviewers and/or stalkers. You make it worth getting a backache from my computer chair.