*So the POV is going to jump around a lot in the beginning of this chapter, but to get the points and emotions across that I intended, it had to be done xP Enjoy, and make sure to pay attention to who's POV it's in.*

*Toby's POV*

So after school, Skylar and I went to his house, which would've been a great place to live, if it hadn't been so run down. It looked like it hadn't been taken care of for years, which was a shame, because it was so grand. After hearing about his dad, I was relieved when he told me to go ahead and wait outside a particular window, and he'd throw some of the stuff he knew his dad would have a hissy fit over. From his second story bedroom window, he tossed down minor things, like a duffel bag of God only knows what, a briefcase type CD carrier, and a trash-bag of his clothes. As I caught them, I set them aside so I could catch the next, and before I knew it, he came walking out with a backpack crammed full of stuff slung over his shoulder. I looked at his curiously, but not wanting to be too loud and get caught. He half smiled.
"He's passed out again." He said, sounding happy. Guess that's why it was so easy.
Thankfully the dangerous part was over, and now it was time for the scary one. How am I going to convince Chris to let Skylar stay, when he barely tolerates me? >.<
"Hey Chris?" I called through the house as I walked in. Skylar followed me, looking around curiously, like a dog in a new environment. No answer.
His car was here, parked in the driveway, so there's no way he'd been anywhere else. He didn't have any friends, thanks to his own douche-bagginess, I might add, so there wasn't any way he was just out with them. I set down Skylar's bag of clothes and the CD case, and walked to the kitchen. No Chris. I went back to the foyer, where Skylar stood looking out of place and like he was feeling awkward, still holding his duffel bag and backpack. I couldn't help but to chuckle.
"You can set that down." I said, then started up the stairs. "I'm sure he's here somewhere... Wanna help me look?"
Skylar smiled, seeming to like the idea of being able to do more than just stand around and started up the stairs behind me. I checked the bathroom, which was empty with it's door wide open, on the way to Chris' room, just a bit down the hall from my own room. His door was ajar, so I stopped and lightly knocked before calling his name, again getting no response. I gently pushed the door open and walked in, Skylar close on my heels. I stopped dead in my tracks just a few feet into the room.
It was dark, the only light being from the mostly covered window, but when you see a shadow like the one right in front of me, you didn't need anymore than the shadow itself to know what it was. It felt like the breath ripped right out of my chest. I couldn't breathe, and it hurt to look at, but I just couldn't peel my eyes from the grim scene. Like a car wreck.
Skylar flipped on the light, and instantly I wished he hadn't. The shadow itself was terrible, but now that I could see every detail, my stomach just couldn't handle it anymore. I turned to my side and threw up everything I could remember eating, plus some.
*Skylar's POV*

While Toby stood there, throwing up all over the floor, I couldn't take my eyes off the reason he was doing so. A man, who I could only assume was his brother, his body hanging lifelessly, the noose tight around his neck. His eyes were open and badly bloodshot, staring straight forward towards the door, and his tongue was out, and lolled to one side. His skin was pale white with noticeable shades of purple and blue. I finally managed to peel my eyes away when Toby quit puking and ran out of the room, sobbing. Not a second later, I heard a door slam, and his sobbing was muffled, but still there. Trying to keep from being captured in the trance again, I, too, hurried out of the room, pulling my phone out as I followed the sound of Toby's crying. I had 911 dialed before I'd gotten 3 steps from the room.

*Toby's POV*

I was laying on my bed, curled into the same ball I'd been in for God only knows how long. As much as I wiped at my eyes, open or closed, the image wouldn't leave my vision. His cold, dark eyes that seemed to threaten to swallow me whole. I felt my body clench as another fresh and powerful sob raked its way through my body, leaving a pain I'd never felt while crying before. If all crying was as painful and just deep-rootedly agonizing as this, I'd never have to cut. Ever. How could this happen? Since when did Chris hate his life? He was always an arrogant jerk, narcissistic and egotistical, most definitely not the type to do this. Why would he hang himself? However long I'd been sobbing, through all the sirens, and Skylar banging on my bedroom door, it'd taken its tool, because by now I was dry sobbing, no more tears to come out, and completely soundlessly. I was just trembling, lost in a pain even I'd never felt before.
I felt the bed dip next to me, and then arms wrapped around me, pulling me up into a very familiar embrace. I sniffled, and looked right into Dylan's hazel green eyes, then my vision blurred and I felt myself drift away in his arms, before I could think about anything else.

*Dylan's POV*

After laying there in the bed with Toby snuggled against me for a little more than an hour, there was a quiet tap on the door, and then that guy, Skylar, poked his head in, gesturing me to come out. I shot a glare at him, then he disappeared. I sighed and carefully removed myself from Toby's grip, frowning. He really didn't need to be left alone right now, even if he was asleep. If he woke up and anything happened, I'd kill Skylar.
"What?" I snapped as I walked into the kitchen, finding Skylar standing leaned up against the counter, looking really tired.
"I just... I wanted to apologize." Okay, that one threw me for a loop.
"What for?" I asked suspiciously.
"For what I did to him." He said, not meeting my eyes. He really did look sincere, though. "I took my anger out on him, and he didn't deserve it. And I know how much it must've hurt you... I know it's not the same, but if it'd help ease some of this tension between us..."
He stepped away from the counter and held his arms out, like he wasn't going to block or anything. For about 30 seconds, I really did consider it, but that wouldn't help Toby. Not now. I took a deep breath and sighed it back out through my nose.
"Hitting you isn't going to help either of us. Or Toby." I said, trying to keep calm as I felt the anger scratching its way back up to the surface. "So, I forgive you, if that's what you're looking for. This time."
I made sure to stress the last part, which surprisingly helped me cool down a bit. He seemed both surprised and relieved, which made me wonder if he'd have been able to handle it if I had hit him. A question that'd go unanswered, hopefully.
"How long did you say he was crying?" I asked, remembering how raspy Toby's voice had been when I'd heard him mumbling in his sleep. It was so sad, it felt like my heart tore in two.
"I called you right after I called 911, so maybe like 20 minutes before I called you?" Skylar said, leaning back on the counter. "From then until you got up there."
I felt my mouth drop open in shock. It'd been a 4 and a half hour flight alone, then another half an hour breaking through his locked door. He cried for 5 hours straight?
"It was bad," Skylar said, looking sad. "I'm just glad you finally got him calmed down. I'm not sure how much more he could've taken."
I felt a sad half smile spread across my face, completely involuntarily and out of sadness. "You'd be surprised. He's a really strong guy."

After a while, I guess I did kind of warm up to Skylar, like Toby told me I would. He was an okay guy, after you got past the whole you beat up my boyfriend thing ._.
"So what's gonna happen now?" Skylar asked as we sat down at the kitchen table. I looked at him puzzled by what he was asking. "Are you just gonna go back? There's no way I can help him like you did. It's like you made his sadness disappear."
I smiled after it being described like that, then frowned and felt my brow crease. He was right. If I just left, there was a chance that Toby could get sad again, and there's no way I could afford another plane ticket without completely slashing my savings. But if I left, there was always that off chance that Toby could relapse into his old habits and... I slammed my fist against the table, making Skylar jump, staring at me warily. This decision really made itself.
Again I took a deep breath. Just as I was about to tell him my decision, I heard the stairs creak and he smiled weakly at them. I swung around to see Toby standing there, looking red faced and really embarrassed. His eyes were swollen and red rimmed, and it made a fading black eye really noticeable. I glanced over at Skylar, who looked at me guiltily. I stood up, shrugging it off as much as I could, and went over to Toby, who ran right into my arms.
"Thanks for coming," He said, his voice dry and sounded terrible and painful.
I smiled, trying to be comforting, and led him to my chair, sitting him down. I started looking around, trying to find a cup to get Toby some water, but in a second, he was back up and went right to the cabinet full of glasses. He grabbed one, and went to the tap, but halfway there he stopped, dropping the glass, sending shattered glass all over the floor. He buried his face in his hands and started crying again, his voice breaking as he sobbed.
I quickly went to him, the glass crunching under my shoes, then pulled him into my arms again. He cried against me for another 10 minutes before I could get him to stop with my whispering encouraging things in his ear. The whole time Skylar tried not to look at us, which I was thankful for, because I could already tell Toby was really embarrassed. I sat him down, this time not leaving his side as Skylar got another glass, filled it with water then set it down in front of Toby, who quickly downed it. Skylar then went right to work cleaning the glass as I wiped the streaked remnants of eyeliner from his face.
"I'm sorry, guys." Toby said after Skylar sat back down. We glanced at each other, sharing a look of concern. "I just... This was just so-" His voice broke and I rubbed his back comfortingly.
"It's okay, Toby. We're here for you, no matter what." Skylar said, making Toby smile a little, which of course made me smile. "I really owe you, so I'm gonna stick around til you get sick of me."
Toby actually laughed a little, then glanced back at me and frowned. I tilted my head a little, confused.
"I'm sorry you had to fly all the way out here for this." He said, looking guilty. "I'll repay you for the ticket, and I'll buy you one to get you back."
I smiled and shook my head, making it Toby's turn to look bewildered. I saw Skylar look confused, too.
"I'm not going back, Toby. I'm gonna stay here, with you." I swear, the look on Toby's face as his eyes lit up made my heart feel like it was singing :3
"You can do that? Just up and leave Cali?" Toby seemed concerned, and I could tell where he was going with this.
"Everything's fine. I've been talking to my boss, and he says he can hook me up with a job over here. And I'm not in school, so it's not like I have to drop out. Everything's set for me to stay."
Toby then tackled me in a hug, and I was surprised to find he was crying. This time, though, they were very obvious tears of joy, since he was smiling and crying, not sobbing his eyes out. Skylar was smiling,too, but still looked like there was something on his mind. I frowned, and gave him a look that Toby couldn't see, then he shook his head a little, then mouthed "later".
I didn't bother to try and question him about it, because it seemed like it probably wasn't good, and I would give anything to make this moment last forever. <3

Later that day, Toby went to get a shower, complaining about feeling dirty after crying so much, so I finally did have a chance to catch Skylar and ask him about it.
"So are you gonna move in here, or...? " He asked, seeming nervous or worried.
"Yeah, that was the plan... I mean, we can block off that room, and I make enough that I can make the payments... Why?" I asked, getting slightly annoyed with how shady he was being. Just get to the fucking point! >.<
"Well, like... Toby was going to let me move in here... Are you gonna be okay with that?" He asked, then it suddenly made sense. Of course he'd be afraid that I'd kick him out. He beat my boyfriend up, and it really didn't make sense for me to paying for an extra mouth to feed and everything, like he was my kid or something -_- But...
"Well, this is Toby's house. And he did invite you to live here, so I don't think there's anything I could do anyway." I said, then felt a splurge of anger rush through me, though I managed to keep it in check... For the most part. "But if you so much as lay a finger on him again, I'll rip your fucking throat out."
He nodded, seemingly in complete understanding. I was glad, though, because I'd hate to beat the shit out of a kid whose dad hits him, but if he deserved it... I shook my head a little, shaking away the malicious thoughts and feelings as I heard the water shut off in the bathroom upstairs. I didn't want Toby to have to worry about anything else for a long time, now that I'm finally going to be here for him for the first time in what felt like forever.