Tobias scrunched his lips up into the corner of his mouth as she replied. She didn't look alright. His mind began to wander. Did he have any granola bars or something in his bag? Maybe he could give her one... Her next remark caught him off guard.
"Wait, really?" he responded incredulously.
For a moment, he paused in thought, seeming as though he were not going to provide an answer. However, he soon looked to her more directly than he had before, shrugging slightly.
"I guess... I mean. I had to-" he paused, recollecting himself, "If... I couldn't go back. E-even if I wanted to... we didn't have any more money to spare. This was my only shot to actually..." he paused, shaking his head and taking in a breath- why was he even telling her this?- well, she did ask, "to actually make something for myself, you know? And... if I didn't have enough, I... I'd never be able to make it far enough to where I could actually do it on my own..."
It was only then that he noticed the elevator had settled back into place. He didn't know when it got there, and now he just looked at it, Should he let her go first? Would he go first himself? Could they even both fit inside the elevator at once?