A/N: I am sorry this has taken so long! Hope you enjoy it. More to follow xx

From the day he was born, Tobias Ragg had never been considered to be the brightest of children; Pirelli had taken it upon himself to remind Toby of this as often as he possibly could, but despite this, he knew enough to know when he was being lied to.

He had spent the past few hours with Mrs Lovett cradled in his arms, her vulnerable frame shaking with suppressed sobs. All the while, she had tried brushing him off, repeatedly telling him that there was nothing to be worried about.

Of course, he knew this was most definitely not the truth. Her continuous flow of tears had told him that.

As he lay curled up on the floor in front of the fire, with a bottle of gin resting beside him, Toby attempted to piece together the events of the day.

It had all started with the doctor.

Yes, the doctor had said something to Mrs Lovett; something that she had felt necessary to share with Mr Todd; something that had angered him greatly, far more so than normal.

He frowned. What could the doctor possibly have said to upset Mrs Lovett so much and infuriate Mr Todd?

Mrs Lovett had been unwell, he knew that. Was that it? Was Mrs Lovett's ill health responsible for the unexplained outburst? Surely it was not that serious?

Wide eyed and suddenly overcome with worry, Toby shifted his body into a seated position. A cold sweat had formed across his forehead as thoughts that sickened him filled his mind.

Was Mrs Lovett dying?

"Mum..." Toby whispered, tears threatened to leave his eyes.

What would happen if she did die? What would become of him? Mr Todd would, without a shadow of a doubt, force him to leave and he would once again be alone.

A door slammed. Toby jumped; his eyes locked on the sitting room door and his breath held. The dull thudding of footsteps came closer to the door.

Silently, Toby lay down and faced the fire. His eyes closed as the owner of the footsteps entered the room.

Toby listened as the heavy steps hesitated before they continued across the floor and out of the room.

Letting out the breath he held, Toby climbed to his feet as he scrambled towards the door the footsteps had exited through.

Moments later, he found himself standing outside Mrs Lovett's door, peering into the darkened room. There in front of him, standing by Mrs Lovett's bedside, was Mr Todd.

The boy frowned. What was he doing there?

As his eyes began to adjust, it became clear as to what Mr Todd intended to do. His chest tightened and his breathing quickened.

Mr Todd was going to kill Mrs Lovett.

His heart thundered as he stepped closer to the room. He had to stop Mr Todd.

Toby froze. What could he possibly do? Mr Todd would surely over power him and then kill both him and Mrs Lovett.

His mind raced as he helplessly watched the scene in front of him. Mr Todd stood over Mrs Lovett; his razor firmly gripped in his hand, watching her.

He was watching her.

Toby frowned. Relief spread over his features as he watched as Mr Todd placed the razor neatly back into the holder.

Without warning, Mr Todd turned. His eyes fixed sternly on Toby as he slowly stepped closer.

Toby straightened himself.

Mr Todd continued forward. His eyes travelled over Toby as a twisted smile appeared on his lips. Toby allowed his eyes to meet those of Mr Todd.

They glared at each other as Mr Todd stepped out of the room and came to a stop. Seconds passed before Mr Todd shook his head and stalked away.

Toby allowed his body to relax as he heard the door slam shut once again.

As he settled himself back down in front of the fire, Toby replayed the events of the last few minutes.

One thing in particular dominated his thoughts. The cold scheming glare that Mr Todd had thrown him had become etched in his mind.

As Toby stared mindlessly at the flames, he listened to the dull steps of Mr Todd as he paced above. Toby sighed.

Mr Todd was up to something, but what?