The vast majority of Rosewood High seniors would choose to spend their last high school spring break by sleeping their stresses away—but not Spencer Hastings, the girl who thrived off of two hours of sleep and a gallon of coffee. She was a motorized engine, perpetually on the run, always coolly moving forward through the best and worst of times.
Although Spencer had already fulfilled her minimum community service hours (in eighth grade, no less), she still opted to go to every last charitable event to ensure her acceptance into an esteemed Ivy League school. Plus, aside from being an excellent resume-topper, Spencer truly did strive to be a good person, unlike the rest of the Hastings family, who preferred to have the façade of a charitable people but not have to do any dirty work, just sign an 'H' on a check to gain power in the community. Spencer wanted nothing to do with her insane parents and sister once she left Rosewood for good, so she thought it better to start separating any signs of resemblance to them as soon as possible.
It was Mr. Edger, the eccentric philosophy teacher, who presented the idea for a student-constructed garden. The principal loved the prospect of the school having another accolade and jumped at the chance for the free labor at the expense of making his prized building look even more welcoming.
The project was open to all, but recommended for slackers who had yet to do any service that year, and students hoping to major in horticulture. Spencer had desperately wanted to take the class as an elective to broaden her knowledge of plants and their Latin counterparts for her academic purposes, but between AP Psychology, Honors Architectural Design, AP Economics, AP Robotics and AP Statistics (a college math course), Spencer found herself with too full of a schedule to take a class for pleasure and intellect, as opposed to credits. Although, architecture was pushing the envelope, with only .5 credits when her other electives were worth a full point, but it was set to be her future career, after all.
This is why Spencer ended up in a red and white, plaid, button-up shirt and brown skinny jeans on her knees digging four-inch holes into the ground, filling the void in the soil there with geranium seeds. Having been only the second person to arrive that morning, the chipper parent volunteers had been all too eager to hand the grueling task of hands-on gardening to the girl while they wore sunhats and supervised the amount of seed packets each worker was to receive. Grinning and bearing the dirty work, Spencer had borrowed a digging fork and spade from Mrs. Montgomery (who had been swindled into giving up her Saturday by the superintendent) and had gotten straight to work.
Spencer didn't mind marking the intervals at which holes should be placed one bit; it was a mathematical problem for her—and she loved math, for its consistency—the same reason she loved the sturdiness of the building that she studied in Architecture. She did, however, have oppositions when it came to burrowing through the near-frozen terrain, still firm due to the very recent winter frosts. Additionally, Spencer was far from fond of the dirt that collected in her fingernails and the rocks/gravel/stones that dug into her knees through the denim fabric of her pants—and she especially detested the occasional bug that would creep up out of nowhere and catch her eye unknowingly, eliciting a mini panic attack. Despite all of this, Spencer saw the good in what she was doing and kept her eye on her watch, trying to contain her palpable joy as each minute passed by.
Twenty minutes into her endeavors, a disgruntled Hanna tiptoed over to Spencer, wearing a white-lace blouse, ruffled white leggings, and stark-white sandals over freshly painted, fuchsia toenails. Spencer rolled her eyes.
Hanna held up her manicured hands (also fuchsia) in defense. "Hey, before you start preaching the benefits of sticking weeds in the ground to me, note that I'm only here because my mother caught me, and I quote: 'canoodling with Caleb'."
"Why is that such a big deal? She knows you're together. In fact, she let you guys live together, and if I'm not wrong, let you shower that one time when—" The brunette was cut off by Hanna angrily snapping. She grinned, and carefully placed three flower seeds into the whole she'd just produced.
"You know, Han, I hate to break it to you and your wedding-inspired outfit, but I doubt the brown soil our school was built on is going to mix well with your attire," Spencer pointed out.
At this, Hanna smiled coyly, "She said to come, not that I had to work. I'll just sit here—or, rather, stand here and admire the fine job that you're doing with these…" she paused, struggling to read the seed packet that Spencer had put on top of her orange, rubber gardening gloves, "geraniums? What is that, a fungus?"
Spencer rolled her eyes. "So, it's clear that you can't read, but can you interpret pictures?" She gestured to the fully bloomed blue and red flowers on the front of the packet, directly under the word that Hanna had fought with.
"Whatever. So, have you seen—whoa. Speak of the devil!" Before she'd finished her question, no doubt about whether or not Aria would show, the blond was stopped in her tracks by a miserable looking Aria dressed as a farmer dressing as a scarecrow.
Spencer looked up when the conversation breached and, since she couldn't put a hand over her mouth to stifle it, laughed out loud. "That's a new look, Ar. It's…cute?" She burst into giggles again, reminded of how little sleep she'd actually gotten the night before when she'd stayed up half the night composing a letter for Toby. He was going on a business trip, a job (good), which was unfortunately all the way in Greensburg (bad). It was customary to the couple that whenever he would go away for work, Spencer would write him a little letter to get him through their days apart. They always spent a special night together before the departure, too—that would be the coming Monday.
Aria, still looking gloomy and indignant as ever, explained her apparel choices. "I had been wearing a below-the-knee sundress, with stockings & boots, but my dad had a fit and figured that I'd run away somehow and go spend the day with Ezra, and made me change into this. I mean, as if I could leave—my mother's working here, and it's not like she's about to give us her blessing either," she grumbled. The tiny girl wore jean overalls with sunflowers appliqued on the two pockets over her chest, and vibrant green vines twisting down the length of the pants section.
Hanna snickered. "Didn't that fit you in, like, seventh grade, when we went as feminized Wizard of Oz characters for Halloween? Spencer's brilliant idea, as I recall. Of course, not that you've grown much…" she trailed off, ultimately deciding to cease her rambling by the deadly looks the petit senior was shooting her.
"And as I recall, you painted your body silver and put a rose in your hair, declaring yourself the 'tin woman', so I wouldn't talk," Spencer retorted, causing Aria to titter and the blond to fall silent. Aria began to help Spencer while Hanna watched on, contentedly not having to do any 'filthy yard work', as she put it. The ensemble continued in their duties for another thirty-five minutes or so before Spencer stood up, brushed off her jeans, and announced that she was going to get herself and Aria some water, and if Hanna wanted any she'd just have to walk to the table and get it herself. Shockingly, she had no desire to do this, and Spencer went on her way.
She turned one of the corners surrounding Rosewood High school and was surprised by the number of volunteers who had shown up! There were a gaggle of people, like Spencer, who were planting linear plots of ground with flower seeds that would blossom to be beautiful additions to the exterior of the school, as well as people whose jobs were more intricate—she counted fifteen of the elementary-aged school children painting flower pots and twice as many kids taking turns at a pottery wheel (with help from a local artist) to construct these receptacles.
Then, something out of the ordinary by a lone table off to the right struck Spencer's eye. She walked up to her destination and startled the poor boy that was carving an elaborate rose into a wooden sign for the garden, when it was finished.
"I'd cover your eyes and whisper 'guess who', but I don't want this…implement to be turned on me," Spencer said in a raspy voice, snaking up behind Toby. He broke out into a tremendous smile.
"You know, when I was commissioned to do this last night, I didn't want to take the job—and this is why," he teased. 'Too many distractions."
Spencer brushed this flirtation off and countered with, "Why are wearing a shirt?" It wasn't the best response she could muster, but it was simple and surely would throw her boyfriend off guard.
His voice lowering a bit, both in octave and volume, Toby answered, "I didn't think you'd appreciate me ripping it off in front of all these giddy girls, not to mention the parents who already formed opinions on me back when Ali's case was opened. Plus, this is the companion shirt to the one you stole from me after we—you know," he blushed but said, "since I only have one left, I thought I'd better keep it on before anyone else tries to wear it best."
Shyly, she grinned; Spencer's eyes twinkling in the sunlight. She'd pulled her wavy hair up into a high ponytail for the purpose of keeping it somewhat dirt-free, and Toby couldn't help but notice how breathtaking she was with her face being prominently featured. Without saying another word, she leaned in (Toby had long since dropped his sharp tools) and pecked Toby on the lips.
"I'm all sweaty," he warned.
"I think I can handle it."
They made out for some time before sheepishly being found by a parent volunteer who was strolling around looking for people like Spencer and Toby to separate, and it also happened to be Lucas's mother, of all people. At least she didn't report them—that would've made for an awkward explanation. Spencer regretfully admitted that she had to go, seductively adding, "Unless you want to let me sit here…I can just fan myself while I watch you work," but to no avail. She turned with a playful wave of her hand to grab two water bottles and report back to Hanna and Aria when disaster struck. An incredible creak could be heard across the school's football field and everyone's eyes immediately shifted upwards to find out from where the sound had been omitted.
A ladder had been hastily put up against the school's brick wall at the beginning of the day so that ivy could be strung from higher elevations. Clearly, the ladder wasn't stable and had begun to wobble, finally tilting backwards in seemingly slow motion as the poor girl who had been hanging the plants clutched onto the rungs for dear life. Like a bullet, Toby shot out of his workstation area and met the ladder just before it would hit the ground in an astounding collision. Using his developed construction-worker's muscles, he intercepted the vehicle on its path towards demise and held the ladder up just long enough for the trembling girl to climb down and collapse in defeat. At this, Toby gently lowered the device to the ground, his biceps bulging out of the thin white V-neck he donned.
Several bursts of applause came prior to the entire group of witnesses erupting in deafening cheers and rhythmic clapping.
"Sweet Mother of Pearl!"
"That boy just saved the girl's life!"
"Holy Hero!"
"Praise be. Bless his heart!"
A dazed Spencer heard some of the awestruck reactions from the massive crowd, all aimed at her boyfriend—who had just, before half of Rosewood's watch, saved a girl from undeniable paralyzing or rapid death.
"Toby." The name barely escaped her lips before she rushed over to him, leaning against the wall and panting as though he'd just stood in front of a train and prevented it from passing by him. She didn't know what to say—he'd always been her hero, but now a whole slew of thankful, indebted people had lined up to congratulate the mystery man who had spared a life just moments ago,
Suddenly she looked down and realized that she'd snagged his water bottle off of the sign he'd been carving into before kneeling down beside him, and thrust the drink in front of him. He gladly accepted this and polished off the entire contents in a mere matter of seconds. Someone shouted and within the span of a nanosecond, surely, his supply of water was replenished.
Toby was finally out of his trance, his adrenalin-fueled act now surfacing in his brain. "Did I—" he managed to expel before coughing. Spencer nodded, her heart breaking on the inside for two reasons: she hated to see him so physically torn up, so strained that he could barely speak; and she was still marveling at the fact that his heart was so big that he'd risked his life for this girl he didn't know.
Then, it hit her. He had risked his life. A thousand questions flooded into Spencer's mind. What if he'd been hurt badly—or killed? What if neither had come out alive? What if he'd cut himself when trying to relieve himself of the carving implements in his way? Spencer knew that when a certain emotion settled into someone, they had nothing but tunnel vision. They only saw their goal and had no intentions of letting any obstacles obstruct them from attaining this goal. She was so, so worried at the prospect that, in his honorable act, Toby might have incidentally allowed himself to get fatally injured for the sake of this girl, although Spencer harbored no resentment towards her. It was a freak incident that she never, ever wanted to encounter again in this lifetime—and her next, if there was one.
But for now, things were calming down. He was safe; he was a hero, the girl was shivering in her mother's arms, but stable; and an incredible load had been lifted from Spencer when she forced herself to remember that nothing had gone wrong, he hadn't let her go.
It had been two and a half hours since Toby's heroic act, and the Rosewood High staff had managed to thin most of the crowd, sending them home for the day. All that remained were Spencer and Toby, of course; Aria, Ella, Hanna, a throng of teachers, and a gossiping groups of juniors who had remained clueless about what had happened with the ladder, since they'd come late and don nothing but chat since their arrival.
Toby had been blessed, thanked, and revered for two and a half hours. He had been deemed amazing, incredible, phenomenal, and inspirational. One little boy had even asked for his autograph, claiming, 'When I grow up I want to be a superhero, too!' An expectant mother who had come from an ultrasound appointment (and found out the gender of her future child) said that she 'hoped her son turned out just like him', affectionately placing her hand on her bulging stomach before waddling over to her parked car.
He'd even gotten an apology from an embarrassed dad who admitted to telling his kids to avoid Toby a year ago, but he promised that this ban would be lifted. Toby ensured him that all was forgiven, and Spencer resisted the urge to cry. She really was turning into quite the sap, thanks to Toby's influence…and general demeanor!
After the initial shock of the dance with death had been buried, the victim of gravity and her mother walked up, shaking visibly, and praised Toby senseless. The girl's name turned out to be Anna, a sophomore student with a passion for horticulture, "on the ground, now!" she'd accentuated, eliciting laughs from all who overheard this. The mother, a kind woman who worked at the library in Philadelphia, was ready to put Toby up on a pedestal and adorn him with golden medals for saving her baby. Toby was slightly uncomfortable from the amount of attention he was receiving, but he took it all in great strides.
Eventually, Ella and Aria then excused themselves to collect stray gardening supplies and to water the new buds, dragging Hanna alongside them by a single lock of her blond hair.
"Wow."
It was the first word she'd spoken to Toby since the incident nearly three hours ago. She hadn't known what to say, and wasn't sure that she'd been given the chance to mention anything.
He nodded, his blue eyes resembling an ocean—vast, endless; having seen things too dark to relay. Still, they glimmered when Spencer's brown eyes met them. "Yeah," he agreed.
All of a sudden, it was too much for Spencer to bear. She and Toby had been emotionally tried for too long and she felt tears well up in her throat, a stinging sensation as a tear fell into the newly fertilized soil. She couldn't stop the question from escaping her lips:
"Why? Why did you save her? I love you for doing it, but didn't you see the perils that might come from such a move?" When Spencer was nervous, anxious, or frantic—her words got jumbled up so much that her sentences could become incomprehensible, she would babble like someone from an alternate century to get her point across the board.
"I've only been to Church a handful of times in my life, but I learned that it's better to die a martyr than to live on consumed by guilt. If I can do something to help, it's my duty to."
Spencer paused, letting the beauty of his words sink into her heart. "Would you—would you have caught me?" She whispered, in a tone barely audible. She didn't know what compelled her to ask.
Toby smiled warmly, cupping her face tenderly and placing kisses on each of her cheeks. "I wouldn't have let you fall." Spencer buried her face into his chest, trying hard not to hyperventilate from the pressure of the day.
"As long as you need me to, I will always be your rock—standing at the base of the ladder, holding on with all my might so you don't even have to deal with a quiver."
The only other things Spencer said to Toby that day, though she insisted on spending the night with him for both of their mentalities, was a chocked-out 'safe', through sniffles. Spencer knew, more now than ever before, that she was safe with Toby and that nothing could hurt her—no one but he could ever rock her world or sweep her off her feet. They were steady; stable—they were sheltered by each other's ever growing love; protected. In his arms, Spencer could always find a home, a place to find solace when the word conspired too heavily against her and Toby. They didn't need anyone to comfort them, they had each other, and that was all they'd ever need.
With you I'm safe…
With you I'm safe.
You make me feel like I'm the only girl in the whole wide world, I'll keep you safe…
I want to hold you like a handful of diamonds and pearls
That I guard with my life or die trying
I'll keep you safe.
A/N
Alright, maybe this wasn't the happiest of Spencer and Toby stories, but I certainly leaned towards romantic (especially at the end), and I hope you all liked the attempt! Please do review if you want more of blissful Spoby, as opposed to the Spencer/Toby that have become on the show.
Also, I do not own PLL or the song Safe, by Miranda Lambert.
Thanks for reading! :) All feedback is appreciated more than you know.