Description: The way he saw her true feelings, even through all the defences she put up to hide them, reminded her of an x-ray, only less intimidating.
Toby knew immediately something was wrong. It hit him as soon as he saw her that day. Every time she laughed, it sounded forced and when she smiled, it never reached her eyes. It was as though she was trying her hardest to hide her sadness but it still showed.
Everyone else seemed oblivious to the fact that she was obviously hurting, even when she practically begged to be allowed to stay the night.
Am I the only one who knows you're in pain?
Jessica sat in her room in an almost catatonic state. Around people, she had to pretend she was fine. She pretended so much that she was almost starting to believe that everything was fine.
She began to think about how life had been before it had all begun. How different a person she had been compared to the person she was now frightened her. She had changed so much.
I can't show that I'm hurting – I have to be strong.
Lost in her thoughts, the girl almost didn't hear the knock at the door. After a few seconds, she got up and opened the door to see Toby standing there. "I'm not hungry." Jessica said, thinking he was only there to tell her that dinner was ready.
"That's not why I'm here." He informed her as they walked back into her room and closed the door. She sat down on the bed and he asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Jessica's reaction was exactly as he had expected it to be. A little too quickly and in a defensive albeit falsely cheery tone, she replied, "Nothing's wrong! I'm fine!" She then proceeded to smile at him but he wasn't convinced.
"Stop pretending, Jess." Toby pleaded. "I know you're in pain – I can see it, even if no one else can."
"How? How can you see it?" Jessica demanded. "I don't want anyone to see it!" She let out a sob as the defences she had worked so hard to make to protect her feelings started to crumble.
"I know you don't, Jess, but you don't have to pretend around me." At this, the girl's defences shattered and she broke down completely.
She was only vaguely aware of him hugging her and, to her own surprise, she let him. Somehow she surprised herself even further when she hugged him back, desiring comfort.
Toby suspected that all she had needed was a shoulder to cry on. He wanted to be that for her and so much more - he wanted to protect her from all the pain in the world.
He looked down and saw her sobbing onto him. He didn't mind too much, however, as she needed to release her pain instead of keeping it hidden away and pretending it didn't exist.
After about five minutes of sobbing, Jessica suddenly stopped abruptly and managed to speak coherently as she sat up. Toby looked at her attentively, his hand still rubbing her back soothingly.
"I-It's my parents..." Jessica began sadly. "They've been fighting all the time and saying such awful things to each other! The worst of it is that they're so busy arguing, they don't notice how it makes me feel! I don't want to lose my parents! But I'm scared that's what's going to happen!"
Toby held her closer. He couldn't imagine how she must have been feeling for the past couple of weeks - after all he couldn't remember his parents fighting at all. "I said you don't have to pretend that you're fine around me, Jess. Even if you don't want to admit it to anyone else, I'll be here for you whenever you need me."
Jessica smiled before snuggling closer toward him and saying, "You know, right now, you remind me of an x-ray."
Toby laughed slightly. "Why?" He asked, curiously.
"You cut through all my defences and saw how I was really feeling. That's exactly what an x-ray does - shows the bones through all the skin and muscles. So you're like an x-ray, only much less intimidating..." Jessica sighed, leaning her head against Toby's shoulder and falling asleep, exhausted from crying.
Toby smiled affectionately at her before gently kissing her forehead. "I love you." He confessed. "I always know how you're really feeling and when you're lying." He tells himself as he, too, drifted off to sleep that she couldn't hear him.
However, right as he was falling asleep, she mumbled, "Love you too, Toby." At first, he thought he had imagined it until she added, "Always have..."
About half an hour later, Nick came up to see why neither of them had turned up for dinner. The scene that awaited him made him smile. Toby and Jessica were snuggled up together fast asleep with identical contented smiles on their faces.
He decided not to disturb them and gently closed the door so he wouldn't unintentionally ruin the moment they were having. Outside, he said to himself, "That's something you wouldn't need an x-ray to find!"