At the sound of Toby's voice, T.J. strained to open his eyes wider so he could see his friend, but the wall of tears did nothing to help his vision. He tried to reach for some sort of composure, but the result was the unchewed bite of cake falling from his lips and rolling down his chest leaving a goopy trail of crumbs. He tried to take in a deep breath, but it tore through him in another sob. Miserable, T.J. lifted his arm to cover his face, hiding his tear-drenched eyes in the crook of his elbow. Saying that Belinda was not worth this sort of trouble wasn't true and did nothing to cheer him up. Because Belinda was worth it. She was everything! She often made T.J. feel like he was a bad elemental for her devotion to Earth. Having her so far away had hurt, yes, but there was always the promise that she would come back home someday. Even if he had no idea when that would be. This? This was pure torture. She was so close, but now he couldn't be with her anymore. Although he still didn't understand why, he was far too swept up in his misery to think much on her reasons.
"I c-can't move," he whined, rolling over so that his back was to Toby. He lay curled on the bed in the fetal position for a long minute while the tears leaked out from his eyes. "I just don't under-understand! I love her so much and this... God, it hurts." He sobbed again. As comical and pathetic as it might appear to someone else, T.J. was sincerely hurting over losing Belinda. To make matters worse, this was generally how he handled every break up, though not quite to this caliber. Normally, he found some semblance of himself and was able to pick up the pieces and move on with his life. This time, his entire world was shattered. And maybe that had a little something to do with the fact that he had actually been thinking of ways he could propose to Belinda once she returned to Scarlet Oak.