Fluff, again. : ) I hope everyone has a fabulous new year! Sdsdfkjnskfapaoaf PLL SO SOON! #INeedMySpoby.
Spencer Hastings paced around and around her spotless kitchen island, an almost empty coffee cup in her hands. It was an early, bright Saturday morning in Rosewood, and as usual, her parents had opted to stay the night at a hotel in Philly after a stressful court case. Vastly impatient, Spencer checked her watch for approximately the 34th time in the last half hour: the small hands displayed 6:28am.
Her heart sped up, rocketing as if it was in a marathon. 6:30. He had promised to be at her door by 6:30am.
Toby Cavanaugh had been in Yardley for two entire weeks. He'd been offered a position with a mega-house renovation project for an extremely rich family, and knew he'd receive excellent pay. However of course, his immediate reaction was to dial the contractor's number and politely decline - because he absolutely could not bear to be away from Spencer for that long.
Spencer sighed to herself, remembering their conversation…
"Spencer," Toby had said quietly, intertwining his fingers with hers, "Two weeks? It's just not worth it, sweetheart. There will be other jobs, don't worry about it baby. I can't leave you," he whispered, the loving look in his eyes making Spencer momentarily dizzy.
After collecting herself, Spencer raised her hand to his cheek. "Toby," she had said, forcing a smile, "Toby this offer is incredible…You can't just turn it down. You have to go, Tob," the words stung on the way out, "It's okay. I'll be fine…I love you. You love me. Because of that, two weeks mean nothing."
After another few rounds of retaliation and convincing, Toby had finally, grudgingly agreed, pressing his lips against Spencer's.
Spencer's mind drifted slowly back to the present. Those two weeks had been hard. With school and A and Melissa and everything else…she missed him. And honestly, she really hated sleeping in places other than his arms.
After what was really two minutes, but what felt like seven and a half eternities, she saw the doorknob twist. Her breath catching in her throat, Spencer slammed her coffee mug on the counter top and sprinted across the living room.
By the time she had reached the now open door, his arms were open, ready and waiting. Spencer threw herself at Toby, wrapping her arms firmly around his waist, pressing her face to his chest. She inhaled the irresistible scent of him - leather, sawdust, mint, home. Toby had circled one arm tightly around her, and he used the other to adjust Spencer's head so that he could see her beaming face.
Joy erupted from Spencer's soul when her chocolate eyes met the glistening baby blues. His face was flawless, his perfect lips curved into the smile that stopped her heart. In their world, hellos and goodbyes were unneeded. "I love you," Toby exclaimed, the words tumbling out of his mouth like an orchestra.
Spencer's eyes almost pricked with tears. "I missed you so much," she said, her hands moving up to rest on his chest. "Every single day, I-"
But Toby cut her off just then, and suddenly, her lips were busy doing something else.
Toby's kiss was tender but urgent, and it set fire to Spencer's entire system. Her veins surged with sizzled bliss as she leaned into him, needing to be closer. One hand gripped Toby's leather jacket, while the other caressed the back of his neck. Somehow, without breaking the kiss, Toby repositioned his hands around Spencer's hips and effortlessly lifted her into his arms. He walked slowly to the couch, and carefully sat down. After another few moments of pure and irrational passion, Toby slowly broke the kiss, both of them breathing heavily.
Snuggled on his lap, Spencer brushed the hair from her face, overcome with happiness. Toby just smiled, amazed at how heartbreakingly beautiful she was in her cotton tank and pyjama bottoms. "Hi, baby," he said, picking up one of her hands with both of his, smiling.
Spencer shifted so that she had her head against his shoulder, but could still see his face. With her free arm, she slowly raised her hand to touch his chin softly with her index finger. "Mmmm, I missed that," she said dreamily.
Toby chuckled. "Missed what?" he asked quizzically.
Spencer blushed. "The dimple in your chin," she explained bashfully.
Toby laughed, planting a peck on Spencer's chin. "Yours is cuter," he teased.
Spencer rolled her eyes. "Hardly."
Toby smiled, placing his hands on either side of her face. His mouth puckered slightly as he used his thumbs to lightly trace the faint purple rings underneath Spencer's eyes. "You liar," he said sadly, "You told me on the phone that you've been sleeping fine."
Spencer felt a small twang of guilt as she remembered the fourteen lonely, restless nights of tossing and nightmares. "I'm okay," she said, "While you were gone, I had an affair. His name is coffee."
Toby tsked his disapproval, kissing her forehead. "I missed that forehead," he said.
"I missed those eyes," Spencer retaliated.
"Smile."
"Arms."
"Giggle."
"Abs."
"Heart."
Spencer paused, "But you took that with you."
Toby frowned again, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. "Aww, Spence. See? It was too long. Never again."
Spencer held his hand to her face. "Toby, shhh. It's okay. You needed that money, Tob. And really, I was fine. In fact, I found perfect ways to distract myself from dying without you."
Toby eyed her skeptically. "Oh really? Care to share these genius tactics? What did you do? Use the word goofball to beat old ladies in online scrabble?" he teased, tickling her.
Spencer smacked his chest playfully. "Umm, maybe once or twice. But no… mostly… well… its kind of embarrassing," Spencer admitted.
Toby smiled. "Oh, please. Now you've got to tell me, Miss Hastings. Spill your guts to the man you love."
Spencer sighed. "Okay, fine. I spent hours and hours in my beautiful rocking chair, thinking about my beautiful boyfriend. And how one day, we're going to have a beautiful wedding and a beautiful house that he made just for us. And I imagined how I would have a garden. And then I daydreamed for a while about how I pray to God that our beautiful children have beautiful eyes that are baby blue, just like his."
Toby pressed his lips gently to Spencer's ear, and then whispered into it softly, "You know, that's funny. Because I seem to recall spending hours each day renovating a beautiful house, thinking about how one day I would build my own, but different than that one, because my beautiful girlfriend deserves a house that's one of a kind. And I pictured shielding her from the rice Caleb will whip at her after I make sure this entire town knows how much I love her. And I imagined how hard it would be to kiss her goodbye each morning and have to spend a whole seven or eight hours away from her. And then, I even thought about those beautiful children, a girl or two and a boy or two who have adorable little chins and noses just like hers."
Spencer's heart was seconds away from exploding. She could not fathom what on Earth she had done to deserve this amazing person, or why he had chosen to love her and her alone. All she could think about was how lucky she was, and how she never wanted to leave where she was at this instant: safe and warm and loved in the arms of Toby Cavanaugh, the miracle that saves her life on a daily basis, whether he's there or not.
Spencer kissed him slowly, and then whispered urgently against his perfect lips, "So it's true, then? Am I really allowed to keep you forever?"
"Spencer Jill Hastings," the love of Spencer's life announced clearly, "As if forever could ever be long enough."