Page 112 of Tobias

I get breakfast going as he showers and changes. He’s asked me at least ten times what we’re doing, but I won’t tell him. I want it to be a surprise. Today is going to be a good day.

We give Biscuit some exercise by running around with her and playing catch in the backyard, since I’m not sure we can go for a walk later, thanks to the weather. I wouldn’t mind walking in the rain, but Biscuit is a princess who doesn’t like getting her paws wet. Though, that only seems true on the cement and not so much in the mud. Weird little girl.

Once everything is set, I grab my backpack, and we head to the car. I put the address for the cemetery into my GPS, and we’re on our way.

“You’re freaking me out, you know,” Tobias says.

“There’s no reason to be freaked out.” I grab his hand, resting it on my lap and linking out fingers. “Promise.”

“It’s scary how much I trust your promises.”

I chuckle, coming to stop at a red light. The clouds are already grey, and I’m glad we left early because it looks like it may rain sooner rather than later. It takes us twenty minutes to get to the cemetery, and Tobias guides me down the narrow roads to where his father is buried. We don’t spot a single person as we go. Once we’re in the area, I park the car.

“Do you come here often?” I ask.

I probably should have asked him before. I can’t imagine this being easy for him, and maybe he hasn’t come here at all.

“I did at first, but…” He glances out the window. “It’s just hard.”

I bring his hand to my lips to kiss. “Come on.”

We get out of the car, and with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, shoulders hunched up to his ears, he leads me to the grave. It’s small, just a plate on the ground with grass growing over the edges. I crouch down to clean it up, tugging out the overgrown grass. When I stand back up, I take off my backpack and pull out the photo I had developed and framed.

“It isn’t much. Just a random thought I had, but…” With no other words to say, I hand Tobias the framed photo and stare at the ground as he looks at it.

“This is…” He lets out a shaky breath. “Theo, I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It is, Theo. It really is.”

He kneels down, and I put my hand on his shoulder as he presses his hand to the name plate for a moment, then puts down the photo of my Mustang. Maybe this will be weird if Tobias and I don’t last, but at least his father can be close to it in one way. It’s a silly thing, but I can’t stop thinking about the way Tobias looked at my car that first day. The look in his eye when he said it was his father’s favorite car… It’s stuck with me. It has to mean something.

The way Tobias reacted when seeing that car told me so many things. Mostly how much his father meant to him and how much that car meant to his dad. I wish he were still around because I swear I’d give it to him. It doesn’t mean anything to me. Just an expensive hobby I had because I could. Something to show my father that my hobbies were important too, but in the end, they really weren’t.

When Tobias stands, he wraps his arms around me, burying his face in my neck.

“Thank you,” he whispers brokenly.

I hold him tight as the rain picks up, turning to a steady drizzle. The mood is heavy as we head back to the house, but I don’t think it’s bad. Just… emotional, I guess.

“How are you at baking?” I ask when we pull into my driveway.

“Uh, not great. Why?” He gives me a concerned smile.

“Neither am I, but I would love some home-baked chocolate chip cookies.”

Tobias chuckles. “If you have the ingredients and a recipe, I think we can figure it out. We’re two capable men, right?”

I bark out a laugh. “I’ll say yes because I really want cookies.”

“Your sugar cookies were okay,” he says.

“They tasted like playdough.”

“Mm, maybe a little.”

We both laugh, and the clouds open up as we wait for the garage door to open. The rain is so heavy, we hear it beating down on my roof like golf balls.

---