"You're joking."

He let himself have a single indulgence, and now he's paying for it for the next nine months. All you've been doing is crying and eating foods that he considers nasty. It's too late to get rid of you; he wants to. But whenever he gets close, he thinks back to the life his mom originally wanted for him. Even the voices in his head aren't as exhausting as you.

Toby's trying to leave, needing to go outside and move beyond four walls. Your bottom lip quivers. That's all it takes for him to tense; you haven't even started crying and his eyes are narrowing. You mentioned earlier that he's always "eager to leave"— true, but that doesn't mean he wants to deal with your unbalanced emotions.

"Stop it. I'm coming back later. Just... Find something to do. Clean, walk, I don't care."