You Can't Quite Meet My Eyes:


It wasn't that she was quite over it yet. Almost, nearly...No. Not even close. She wanted to feel the pills in her hand, roll them around in her fingers, savor the knowledge that they could make her awake. Spencer Hastings was sick of surviving. She wants to live, not just survive. And maybe those pills would've done the trick. But then her mother put the pieces together. Threatened to sent her to rehab. She just wanted one chance. She knows she could've done it. Okay, she's not really being honest. Though, it's really not that big of a deal. Her family and friends are blowing everything out of proportion. How could something small (like a tiny pill) lead to such a big problem? It couldn't be the pills. It wasn't her. It was the rest of the world. Spencer used to deal with stress so easily. Pressure, essays, school, A, Toby, evading death... She handled that well. But now, after years, she was finally breaking and cracking around the edges. It wouldn't be long until she falls apart completely. She's attached by glue and ripped threat, and one mention, one word, could leave her broken down. Unless she's already broken. Like a cracked china doll.

A complication in their eyes.

She runs a hand through her long, brown hair in frustration, which was twining up at the edges. She has to remind herself to get some more conditioner. And pills.

Then there's Dean. He's annoying, irritating, way too nice for his own good, but he always manages to get under her skin. He sees right through her facades. And for the love of God, those blasted pee cups! Did he have some weird fetish with urine? She shakes her head, parking her silver car into the driveway. The only reason she was out of the house was because she climbed out the window. Extreme? Very. But it was suffocating in her own home, the way her mother and father's concerned looks seemed to follow her everywhere.

Dean doesn't treat her like some fragile little girl, although she supposes she is.

Her heart is in tatters, holding together by gorilla glue (strong stuff!) and waxy tape.

He doesn't fix her, not in the slightest, but he's nice enough to lay down each piece as if to show her how she could fix herself.

She climbs from the car, tying her hair in a quick pony-tail before walking into the drug store. Her pills were empty. She was just refilling. It wasn't like she's going to take some (he does have the power over her pee) right away. It's just for emergencies. Just in case scenarios. At least, these are the excuses that keep playing around in her mind. It startles Spencer how long it has been since Toby has been on her mind. He used to be on it, all the time. But their relationship was too complicated for a complicated girl, and she doesn't know how to get back to the way they used to be. Maybe they never would. And maybe that was okay. But maybe it wasn't.

"Everything will fall into place when it's ready," she mutters to herself, nervously opening the door. "Calm down." She hopes no one notices how twitchy she is, or how there's lines practically permanently etched below, and no matter how much foundation she applies, it just won't seem to go away.

Spencer's gotten skinnier too. She knows she's always been petite and tiny-boned, but this was pushing it. She certainly looks like a drug addict, if you look sideways a little.

She sucks in a breath, walking up to the front counter.

"Hi," she says brightly, planting a forced smile on her face. She sets the empty pill bottle on the counter next to her. "My name is Veronica Hastings. I'm here to re-fill my daughter's prescription." She's tried this before, but never in person. She doubts she'll get caught, and even if she does, she doesn't think it matters much anymore.

The woman arches her brow, giving her a once over with icy blue eyes.

"You look a little young for a mother," she exclaims.

"I get that a lot," she smiles harder. Maybe this just makes her look crazy...Maybe...

"Okay," the woman skims over the list on the counter. "Veronica Hastings? For Spencer Hastings?"

"Yes."

"Sign here," Spencer beams, taking out a pen and furiously scribbling her mother's signature. She's always known how to forge her parent's names. When she was younger, it seemed silly to her to have to sign her school agenda, and extra stress, so she just did it herself once she got the hang of her mother's cursive. A lot of swirls, but still enough to look professional. "Thank you. I'll be right back."

Spencer taps her fingernail on the counter impatiently as the woman waddles away -okay, perhaps that was a tad mean- walks. Walks away.

"Fancy meeting you here, stranger," the man in line says next to her. "When you weren't in your bedroom, I knew there were only a few places you could've gone."

Her breath hitches. Caught. And so close, too! If only she had been a few seconds ahead.

"Dean, I'm not going to take them. I'm just re-filling them. Just in case."

"Just in case," he repeats, and she notices how he's gotten more scruff around the edges of his chin. Dean's always been easy on the eyes, too. Deep innocent ones, looking like they had only seen a fraction of a world, when in reality, they had been through a lot. She likes how he views the world. Seeing only the good, not the bad. There was a time when that hadn't been true, and Spencer is glad to know this Dean. The one that's pure at heart. "Okay."

"Okay?" She splutters incredulously.

"You can take them if you want them. I won't tell your parents."

Is this some kind of twisted trap?

He continues, "But I don't think these pills will even leave the store. In fact, I think you'll walk out the store before you even have a chance to get them."

"Dean..." she sighs. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. Just for in case."

"Oh, I know," he states with a smile. "I'm just saying that I think you won't take them."

"Reverse psychology," she snaps, not at all impressed. "And what if it just makes me want to take the pills even more? What if I view it as a challenge?"

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he pauses. "But what if you don't?" He's fiddling with the small stuffed animals on the wrack now, then looking at the get-well cards. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Hypothetically, if I don't take the pills, I'll probably go home and go back to my bedroom. Then in the morning, you'll make me pee in a stupid cup and say something either stupid or puzzle-ish."

"Puzzle-ish. You always continue to impress me with your large vocabulary."

"I'll show you a large vocab-!"

She stops short, watching as the woman sets the pills down. Her hand twitches towards them, and she can't quite reach the lady's eyes. "Mrs. Hastings? Your refill is ready. Are you okay?"

She stumbles backwards, her eyes still locked on the pill bottle. She wants them, more than she's ever wanted something before. She takes a deep breath, collects her self, and says, "No thank you."

Dean smiles and turns to say something to her,

-But she's already out the door.

She just can't quite meet Dean's eyes.

Spencer's heart would always be broken. Maybe permanently, maybe not. And she knew the only person who could fix her...Is her.

But at least she had Dean to help lay out the pieces for her.


A/N: Short and sweet. Got right to the point. I was in the mood to write something like this, and I decided a Pretty Little Liars Fanfic was long overdue, not to mention the fact that there are no Spencer/Dean stories. Reviews gratefully taken and appreciated, as well as follows, favorites, and just simply reads. Might continue to a few more Spean one-shots, but don't expect more. Yet. xD