how could they know

 Honestly, Dylan wasn't sure where to begin.  Was there actually a beginning? 

He thought it was cool that Tori didn't make a big deal about the sleeping arrangement. Especially, the first night. It was practically a pajama party. And the bed was big enough for a sleepover. They'd talked into the wee hours of the morning about nothing. Well, at least nothing significant. 

She didn't get to watch TV much growing up so the celebrity stuff was new to her. Now he wondered why he'd even cared why Demi thought she might be a lesbian. There was a time he put a lot of effort in keeping up with who was on the cover of PEOPLE, but it got too much and it wasn't like any of them were going to come to his rescue.

Yes, he was in the middle of something. At the moment he pretty much was a eunuch. Well, maybe. So he tried to explain the top part of the surgery. At the time, his mom seemed to be on board with it with the psychologist who advised it. And Hannah (at that time) sold off all her high-end bags, shoes and of course clothing to help pay for it. Then the treatments began and somewhere along the way, Hannah/Dylan's Mom couldn't bare to watch nor see what was transitioning. Yet the hormone treatment progressed, in spite of a pimply then scabbed face. Although as the weeks progressed, it was working.

"But..but the money ran out," He finally confessed to Tori that morning at breakfast who went on nibbling away at the waffle as if she had nothing to say. Dylan had not gotten the bottom end of the surgery.

She nodded and continued to eat. Her hair fell in her face. Dylan remembered how her hair always fell in her face. Even when she was asleep. She'd tossed and turned so much during the night. She'd even fussed about something. He'd remembered her saying NO. It frightened him now wondering just what she'd been through. He didn't think Tommy hurt her. Maybe something horrible happened when she was at the homeless shelter. Or even before. Maybe the Orchestra was full of demons.

Dylan felt he had to think of her situation. Not his. 

"I shouldn't have said anything," he said but it was as if something caught in his throat and he felt it was surely a losing battle.

Tori looked up at him then as if she could see right through him. She put down her fork and knife and her sticky fingers reached across the table to hold his hands.

"Don't say that." 

Her frown was small and she looked as if she might cry. "There are a lot worse off people. Some who can't manage to walk into a grocery store. And just look at you," Tori smiled. "You've done an amazing job." 

She let go and went to wash her hands while putting her plate in the sink. Dylan guessed she was right. He went to put his plate away, too. She turned to him and leaned against the sink. He looked down at her wondering what she was thinking. Her pale eyes seized him. She reached to his forehead with a kiss and then she hugged him.

"You're a work in progress." She told him. When her head laid against his chest, Dylan felt his heart in full throttle.