CLOCKWORK🕷️

"You're alive!" Toby yelped with happiness, pulling her into his arms until her head rested lazily against his chest, "and tired." She groaned, he felt her hair, her body, her warmth and he felt her love all in this place, he felt so at home again, he never wanted to lose her again.

"What's up with you?" She peered up at him, he watched the light from the morning hit her face and body as he held her and, for a moment, remained utterly silent and basking in her presence. He hugged her tightly again then remembered to talk, "Okay, so..." Toby explained it all; she died, Slender made him kill her and he kinda hated him now but it was all okay now, she was alive, she was safe and they were together again.

"I...I don't even care that you're a Zalgo worker." Her eyes went wide and she covered his mouth with her hand, "Shhh. Not so loud." Her whisper held layers of anxiety to which her lover cocked his brow. She reeled her hand from his mouth and stood up off the bed, "Nobody, not a soul can know about that." She said sternly, starting to pace. "How....did you know that?" She asked finally, stopping in her tracks. Toby looked down at his knees that he was sitting on and looked back up, letting his eyes meet hers. "Slender found out, before I- ... before it made me kill you." Toby struggled, "Because of Zalgo. He didn't tell me much but..." He watched Clockwork's face turn to guilt.

"Are you okay?" He muttered, reaching for her but she snapped her head away, "I can't stay here." Stress started to mount on her expression and her clockeye began to tick furiously.

"No, don't go! I can fix this!"

"How?!"

Toby took a breath, "Take out your clock eye." Clockwork raised a brow but complied, seeing his serious expression unfold onto his face. She began to take it out with full force, ripping it from her socket then letting her hair fall over the exposed hole as she sat back down on the bed with him. "What now?" She asked, turning the clock in her hands, she hadn't seen it like this in a very long time.

He took it from her hands and showed her. "When you turn the hands, you go back in time." As the words fell from his mouth, her nose scrunched in confusion and disbelief then she let out a giggle. "A...are you fucking with me?" She giggled. "No I'm serious. I...I did it before." He started to fiddle with the hands of the clock, frustrated by its lack of use. "Toby," her hands fell on his shoulders, "I'm sure you just had a bad dream." She muttered, "No, I-" she placed her forehead close to his and took the clock from his hands, "I love you, but that's not very funny." She sighed and pulled away, kissing his cheek.

"I wasn't joking..." He mumbled, watching her get up and place the clock back in her eye before leaving. He got up and stared out the window. "I know it's true...I know I..." He swallowed his pride, "It's better this way. She's alive, that's better than proving a point about killing her." He took another breath, "Just a bad dream or a bad joke." He told himself then made his way downstairs.

The usual chatter from everywhere and everyone was the same as it was before; Jeff and BEN argued over how much coffee was too much, Slender sat with the news paper, Sally and Lazari ran around the room with their dolls and, just like yesterday (which was still today), Clockwork sat and ate silently as he slumped down beside her. "You better now?" She asked, taking a piece of egg and putting it on her fork. "Yeah, for the most part." He leans forward and eats the food off her fork and she elbows him, "Get you're own plate!" She giggles, kicking his chair out from under him. He stood quick from the floor, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Man..." He sighed to himself, gathering eggs and bacon on his plate and listening in on the chaos around him with a smile. After grabbing his plate, he returned to the table, placed his food down and set up his chair. He grabbed some bacon and as he went to eat it, a bite was already taken off. "Payback." Clockwork giggled before turning back to her own plate that was almost finished before scoping her last bits onto his plate, "I'm off for a walk." She got up, kissed his cheek again and went off.

He felt a deep pit in his stomach and stood up fast, chasing her out the door to the leaf filled outside world. "I wasn't expecting you to follow me. You usually don't-" Her voice sounded worried, "Don't worry, uh...you know, before, this was how it happened." Toby sighed, "In my dream." Clockwork sighed at his words, rubbing her arm with the other, "Toby, that's not-" She started to speak but he mumbled, "...Real. I know." Toby locked eyes with her. "I want to protect you."

They stared at each other, autumn wind blowing and leaves falling all over and around. The air was tense and crisp as they waited for someone to say something or anything to happen. "Toby!" He heard a yell from a familiar voice; Slender. Shaking, Toby went for her hand and began to pull her as he ran, her legs struggled to keep up. "What the fuck?!" She shouted, "I'm not letting you die!" He yelled back as they ran.

They jumped over logs and ran through little creeks and puddles, smashing in their boots and shoes then splashing them with the water until they finally escaped. "Do you even have a plan?" Clockwork asked while panting with hands on her knees. "We'll make one." He assured her. He grabbed her hand and felt it's coldness as they started to walk,

"He'll be looking for us, no doubt."

"Then why did we run away?"

"I can't let you die just cause he thinks you're some sort of traitor."

Clockwork looked down and took a breath, "It was real? I was seriously going to die..?" She questioned slowly. Her grip tightened on his hand, "You already did." He told her as they walked through the city streets, "I don't know why I came back to this day or how your eye did that but...it's not doing it now."