Two hours and forty four minutes. That's how long it takes to drive from Rosewood, Pennsylvania to Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Now that may not seem like long, but for Toby Cavanaugh and Spencer Hastings, two hours and forty four minutes seems like an eternity. Sure, they've dealt with distance before, but it never gets any easier.
Toby had been so happy for Spencer when she got accepted into Georgetown, but both of them had worried if the distance would put a strain on their relationship. They've been through challenges far worse than distance, but not being able to see each other consistently was something neither of them were entirely ready for. Nevertheless, they loved each other and wanted to make this work.
Today marks the first time that Toby will be driving to visit Spencer at school. She's been at Georgetown for two weeks now, but Toby wanted to give her some time to adjust before he came to visit. Even though it's only been two weeks, both of them are more than ready to be reunited. They've definitely missed each other in more ways than one.
Spencer sat on a small, wooden bench about a block from campus, waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. She couldn't believe it had been two weeks already. Two weeks since she's become a college freshman, and two weeks since she's seen Toby. She was wearing a chambray shirtdress with white, strappy sandals. Spencer knew that she didn't have to go all out to impress Toby, he thought she was beautiful no matter what she wore, but it still felt nice to dress up sometimes.
Her fingernails tapped the side of the bench excitedly as she waited for him to arrive. When she saw the tan, Chevy truck pull around the corner, she stood up immediately, running over to where he had parked. The great thing about their reunions was that they never really needed words. The glimmer in their eyes said it all. Almost immediately after Toby opened the truck door, Spencer ran into his arms like no time had passed.
After sharing a passionate kiss, Spencer greeted him. "I missed you so much," she said, while his blue eyes met her brown ones.
"Believe me, I missed you more," Toby said sweetly before going in for another kiss.
"Um, we are not going to be one of those couples who argues over who missed who more," Spencer interjected. "This isn't a Nicholas Sparks film."
"Hey, you're the one who made me watch Dear Joe or whatever over the summer," Toby began to chuckle.
"Toby, its Dear John, and don't pretend like you didn't enjoy it. I saw you crying at the end. That was a beautiful movie and you're just too afraid to admit it," by this time, both of them were laughing.
"Joe, John, same thing. And those were tears of joy that the movie was finally over, so I could spend some alone time with my absolutely stunning girlfriend," Toby's hands moved down to Spencer's hips. It seemed crazy that after years of dating, he could still make her feel butterflies.
"Nice save, Cavanaugh," Spencer giggled. "Now c'mon, you have to meet my roommate!"
Spencer held Toby's hand as she led him into her dorm room. Her room was on the third floor of Darnall Hall, and while it wasn't the worst living space, it wasn't the best either. Spencer unlocked the door with a large, silver key, which looked like it had been as old as the college itself. The room was fairly small, with white brick walls, and a large window. There was just enough space for two beds and some storage. It was definitely an adjustment to live in a dorm, but Spencer had liked it so far. It was nice just to get away from Rosewood.
Sitting on the bed to the left, was a girl with shoulder-length blond, wavy hair. "Is this the boyfriend?" the girl asked excitedly as she stood up.
"Hi Emma," Spencer rolled her eyes playfully. Emma had been a good roommate so far, but she is involved in so many sports that Spencer only ever really sees her before class in the morning.
"This is Toby," Spencer looked up at her boyfriend, still holding his hand, and he smiled back at her. Spencer always got a happy feeling whenever she introduced Toby. She still couldn't believe she was this lucky.
"Nice to meet you," Toby smiled.
"By the amount of pictures Spencer has of you posted on the wall, I was starting to think you were some celebrity," Emma pointed to the wall above Spencer's bed, which housed several pictures of Toby. Toby smiled at Spencer and she blushed.
"Well I'll leave you two alone to break in your bed," Emma blurted as she strolled out of the room.
"Emma!" Spencer's face turned bright red as Toby tried to hold back a laugh.
"Have fun," Emma teased as she walked out of the room.
"Ignore her," Spencer rolled her eyes and laughed.
"But what if I wanted to break in the bed?" Toby asked while inching closer to her. He began to kiss her neck and Spencer moaned.
"Suddenly my dorm bed sounds very appealing," Spencer smiled. She could already tell this was going to be a great weekend.
It was Toby's last night in DC, and Spencer suggested that they drive somewhere. One can only stare at those dull, brick dorm walls for so long. They took a drive with no real idea of where they were going. Normally, Spencer would have hated this. Going somewhere without a set destination used to seem pointless to her, but now –A was gone and everything was starting to fall into place.
They ended up stopping at some park far from campus. Toby laid out a picnic blanket when they got out of the truck. "God, this is so beautiful," Spencer pointed out as she observed the scenery. "Imagine this place in winter, it would look like something out of a snow globe," she added. She sat down next to Toby and caught him smiling.
"What?" she asked.
"It's nothing," Toby shook his head.
"No, tell me, I want to know!" Spencer shoved his arm playfully.
"It's just that when you mentioned snow globes…" he paused for a second before continuing. "Remember when you were my French tutor and you would come over to my house? Well there was this one time that I came home and you were looking at Jenna's snow globes."
"And I almost dropped one, but you caught it. Your hands held mine for the first time," Spencer added nostalgically.
"I just found out that my charges were dropped, and I remember looking into your eyes and I smiled. You offered to drive me to the station, and for the first time…" Toby trailed off. Spencer saw that he was getting emotional and grabbed his hand.
"For the first time, I felt like someone cared. Like someone actually wanted to be around me. You saved me." A tear rolled down his cheek.
"Tobes," Spencer wiped the tear and stroked his face. "You saved me." Her deep, brown eyes looked up at him with love and admiration. "I'd be completely lost without you," she continued.
"I love you Spence," Toby kissed her lightly and put an arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. It was silent for a moment before Spencer spoke up.
"Look how far we've come," she said, stilled nuzzled up against him.
"I wouldn't change it for the world," Toby affirmed.
