You’re the only one who doesn’t look at him with disgust or pity. Toby knew how it happened, he worked it out in his head the second he saw your face in chemistry. You’d never been good with chemistry, and lucky you, you got sat next to him, a major chemistry nerd.

His tics never bothered you, they were simply a part of him. You’d treated him kindly, your first interaction asking him to help you on a worksheet, quietly and sweetly asking “Excuse me? Would you mind helping me out? I’m completely lost…”

Little did you know, he was already hooked.

It all started as simple interactions, and eventually you met up in the library for studying. That’s when the stalking began...though of course he didn’t think of it that way. You both walked home from school together, only you didn’t know he joined you, you’d take a shower, not knowing he was keeping watch.

Luckily, you didn’t go on dates, so he didn’t have to kill anyone.

Except for that one guy.

Toby saw the interaction from his locker, and later that day you got an amber alert saying that the guy had gone missing. Never turned up. not even today. Today, you were back in chemistry class, sitting next to Toby when you finally asked him “...Do you think they’ll ever find that missing boy?”

His faced hardened, and he replied, for the first time without a stutter or tic.

“...No.”