Perfect Act of Defiance
Chapter One
Summary: Spencer knows that her mom doesn't want her to see Toby. She knows that her mom doesn't want her to have any interaction with Toby. But after being trapped in a "fun" house by 'A', after falling for one of 'A's tricks, Spencer has to do one act of defiance against her mom just to show that it's Spencer's choice, not her mom's, who she spends time with.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars. This story is based off of episode 1.21 "Monsters in the End" when Spencer goes to Toby at the festival and kisses him in front of her mom and sister.
Spencer couldn't believe that she had actually fallen for one of 'A's tricks. She should have known that it wasn't actually Toby that had sent her the message, and that it had been 'A', but at the excitement of seeing Toby, after her mom had told her not to, she wasn't thinking straight. She was thinking about Toby and how right it felt to be with him. Now, Spencer wasn't sure if it was because both she and Toby were on the top of the list as suspects for Ali's murder, or if they were meant to be together, but Spencer didn't care. She didn't care what the people of Rosewood thought of her. If people wanted to accuse her of hurting and killing her best friend, then so be it. As long as she was with Toby, Spencer didn't care about anything… anything except just being with Toby; no matter what they were doing.
When Spencer saw that it was Ian, and not Toby that had gotten her out of the fun house, she was horror-struck. Was he really worried about her safety, or was he just playing that part of the caring brother-in-law? Spencer was freaking out. Why had Toby done this to her? Why had he lied about being inside? Spencer only half realized that Ian had picked up her dropped phone after getting her out. It wasn't until her phone went off saying that she had a text that she realized that Ian had it in his hand. Quickly grabbing it from him, Spencer opened the text and was confused at what she saw. The text was from Toby… from his own phone. But hadn't his phone died? While Spencer reread the text from Toby (I'm here. Where can I find you? – Toby), she faintly heard Ian yelling at one of the festival workers. If he was putting on an act, he was sure doing a great job.
After that, Spencer walked out of the fun house ahead of her mom and Melissa. With a few tears of hurt and betrayal, Spencer looked around and her eyes landed on Toby. He looked confused. And when Spencer's mom walked out behind her, he looked hurt as well. He didn't call out to her; he didn't walk over to her. All Toby did was stand a short distance away and look saddened when Spencer turned and started to walk away from him with her mom and sister. About ready to leave as well, feeling like Spencer didn't want to be with him, and that she cared too much about her image, Toby looked back over at Spencer. She had stopped following her mom and was looking at him with a saddened expression on her face. It took everything in him not to smirk or smile at Spencer's mom and sister when Spencer practically ran to him and they hugged. The hug lasted about a minute, and when they pulled away, Toby thought that Spencer was going to say something; but, to Toby's surprise, and the surprise of Mrs. Hastings and Melissa, Spencer leaned in and gave Toby a heated kiss. And Toby kissed Spencer back.
"SPENCER!" Melissa exclaimed, breaking the two apart.
Spencer didn't move from Toby's side and she had her hand firmly intertwined with his as she turned to look at her mom and sister.
"What?" Spencer asked.
"What do you think you're doing?" Veronica asked.
"Mom, I don't care what everyone in this town thinks of me. I don't care what you think, I don't care what Melissa thinks, and I sure as hell don't care what Ian thinks. This is my life, and it's my choice of who I hang out with. I want to be with Toby. And if everyone in town wants to think that I hurt and killed my best friend, then let them. Nothing that I say, and nothing that I do, will change their minds. So if I want to hang out with Toby, I will." Spencer said as she turned and started to walk away with Toby by her side.
"If you take one more step away from me with him, you will never be allowed back into my house!" Veronica exclaimed.
"Fine by me; I'll just move out." Spencer said with a shrug.
"SPENCER!" Melissa yelled again.
"What Melissa? What the hell do you want now?" Spencer asked spinning around and glaring at her sister.
It shocked Spencer and Melissa as well, when Melissa walked over and gave Spencer a hug before turning to Toby.
"Hurt my sister, and you will be in a world of pain. Got it?" Melissa asked.
"I would never hurt Spencer. I'm not the one who lied about where I was and what I was doing the weekend and the summer before Alison was murdered. You were." Toby said just low enough for Melissa and Spencer to hear. "Let's go Spence." He added before he and Spencer walked away from a shocked Melissa.
"What the hell just happened?" Veronica asked her oldest daughter.
"I'm not sure mom. But let's find Ian and go home." Melissa said. She was a little surprised that Toby knew about what happened the summer before Ali had been killed. She guessed that Spencer had told him. But even with all of that, she was surprised that Toby had stood up to her. It showed that Toby cared for, if not loved, Spencer.
"Melissa? Are you coming?" Veronica asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a second." Melissa said as she looked over her shoulder in the direction that Spencer and Toby had headed.
As Melissa started to follow her mom, she stopped short when she heard someone speaking into a megaphone. Looking over at her mom and her husband, who had just walked out of the fun house, Melissa started to walk back into the festival and right up to the stage where Toby and Spencer were currently standing.
"Excuse me; can I have everyone's attention please?" Toby said looking around at everyone.
Melissa smirked. She knew her sister wouldn't let some boy embarrass her like this; especially not publically at the Founder's Day Festival. Folding her arms across her chest, Melissa stood next to her mom and husband just waiting for Spencer to walk away from Toby and get some common sense into her head. But what happened next caused Melissa's, Ian's and Veronica's mouths drop open.
"Thank you. Now, I know all of you think that either myself, or Spencer Hastings is guilty of killing Alison DiLaurentis, and you can all continue to think that, but I am here to tell you all that Spencer and I don't care what you think of us. All of you can just shove off." Toby said before turning to Spencer and pulling her into a kiss.
"This is not happening." Veronica muttered before walking up onto the stage and pulling Spencer away from Toby before standing in between them.
"If you ever touch my daughter again, swear to God that you will be put back in jail." Veronica threatened.
"I thought you told Spencer that if she walked away from you, you wouldn't let her back into your house?" Toby asked, completely unmoved by Mrs. Hastings threat.
"I will not let you tear my family apart. You have caused enough trouble in Spencer's life." Veronica said, looking around to see just how many Rosewood residents were watching.
"Shouldn't that be for Spencer to decide?" Toby asked. "And did it ever occur to you and your family that I am the only other person in this entire town that understands what being a suspect feels like? You, your husband, your oldest daughter and your son-in-law, you all say that for Spencer to prove that she's innocent that she shouldn't hang out with me. Or be around me. But here's a little news flash for you Mrs. Hastings; Spencer is happy when she's with me. She is scared to death to go home knowing that the man who most likely did kill Alison is living in your backyard. If you actually cared about your daughter's well-being, you wouldn't try and keep her from the one person who makes her feel safe and the only person who knows what it feels like to be going through what she is going through." Toby said as he pushed past Spencer's mom and took Spencer into his arms.
"Spencer? Is all of that true?" Veronica asked her daughter.
"I've told you that a million times. And you never believe me. Why would you believe me now? I'm shocked, and a little hurt that it took someone who really cares about me to make you ask if all of that is true." Spencer said as tears filled her eyes.
"What is wrong with you?" Melissa asked as she stepped up and defended her husband, just like she always did.
"There is nothing wrong with me Melissa. I'm the only one in our "family" that can see past Ian's lies and façade. I'm the only one in our "family" that doesn't have something wrong with them!" Spencer exclaimed as she let Toby hold her.
"Okay, that's it, everyone clear out. The festival is over for tonight; we will resume the night's activities tomorrow night." The chief of police said as everyone started to disperse.
"Ian could never hurt Alison!" Melissa yelled. What part of that was Spencer not getting?
"Did he ever tell you that he wanted to help me run away!" Spencer inquired and Melissa spun around and looked at Ian who had been quite the entire time.
"Why? Why the hell would you want to help her run away?" Melissa asked.
"I wanted to help her clear her head. Get away for a day or two to think things out clearly; without the distraction of friends, the family or him." Ian said nodding his head at Toby.
"Like hell that's what you were trying to do. You want me out of the way so that you can stop having to worry about me blaming you for Ali's murder. You just don't want to, and won't, admit it to anyone." Spencer said as she held onto Toby out of fear that she would fall if either of them let go.
"Will you just stop? It's obvious that he's been feeding you lies." Ian said.
"Did you ever tell Melissa that you spent a good majority of that summer at Alison's house, partying it up and getting drunk and high with Jason DiLaurentis?" Spencer said
"How did you know about that?" Ian asked quickly.
"Jason told me." Spencer said with a glare. She knew from his quick response that he hadn't even mentioned it to Melissa and wasn't planning to either.
"What the hell Ian? What else haven't you told me?" Melissa asked in disbelief.
"Melissa, why do you believe her?" Ian asked taking a step toward his wife. Everyone could tell he was avoiding the question.
"Don't you dare come anywhere near me. I want all of your stuff out of the barn by the morning. We're done!" Melissa exclaimed.
"Melissa…" Ian started to say.
"No. Get all of your stuff out of the barn by the morning. I'll be sleeping in my old room." Melissa said standing her ground.
Not being able to take any more of this, Veronica rounded on Toby and Spencer.
"See what you two have done? You've ruined this family!" Veronica exclaimed.
"Mom, don't be pissed at Spencer. She was trying to protect me in a twisted way." Melissa said trying to calm her mom down.
"Melissa, they just ruined your marriage." Veronica said to her daughter.
"No, they didn't mom. All of this would have been found out eventually. I'm glad it all happened before the baby was born." Melissa said as she rested a hand on her small baby bump.
"Melissa, what are you going to do about the baby? You can't raise it without its father." Veronica said, trying to get things back into her control. She had already lost her youngest daughter to a potential killer; she wasn't going to lose her oldest daughter too.
"There are plenty of women who raise a baby on their own." Melissa said before walking away.
With no other choice, Veronica turned back to Spencer and Toby who were still holding onto each other and whispering something to each other.
"I hope you two are happy. You just ruined not one, but two families. Be prepared to have to pack everything up that's in your room when you get home Spencer, because after tonight, you are never to set foot inside my house." Veronica said before following after her oldest daughter.
"Do you want me to help you pack everything?" Toby asked.
"Yes please. I don't think I'll be able to handle packing everything on my own." Spencer said.
"Where are you going to stay?" Toby asked.
"I don't know. Maybe I can talk to Melissa, see if once Ian's out of the barn, I can stay there. After all, I was decorating it so that I could move in there; but then she and Wren were going to move in there, but their engagement ended, and then she and Ian eloped and moved in." Spencer said with a shrug.
"Well, if you ever need a place to stay, you could always stay with me." Toby said softly as he wrapped his arms a little bit more tightly around Spencer's waist and kissed the top of her head.
"Do you really think that would be a good idea?" Spencer asked.
"I helped my dad rebuild the garage. Once we clean it out, I'm moving in there and getting a lock for it so that way Jenna can't come bother me. You are welcome to stay there with me." Toby said.
"Toby, we have a lot of stuff between the two of us, there is no way that all of it would fit into a one-car garage." Spencer said as she pulled back and looked up at him.
"Fine, we could always live in the barn. If that's what you would prefer." Toby said with a bemused smirk.
"I'm trying to figure out if that's what I would prefer." Spencer admitted.
"How about we go over to your house, pack all of your clothes and stuff into boxes and keep them in your car. And then we can go stay at the motel." Toby suggested.
"That works for me." Spencer said with a small smile as her lips crashed against Toby's.
Once Spencer and Toby reached her house, they didn't say a single word to Spencer's parents. And when her dad raised an eyebrow at Spencer, indicating Toby, Spencer just turned her gaze to her mom and glared. Spencer and her dad had always been able to communicate with words. They were close enough to be able to read each other's facial expressions like a book. Seeing the glare that Spencer shot her mother, Toby gently placed a hand on the small of Spencer's back and the two walked up to Spencer's room to find a pile of boxes sitting on Spencer's bed. It didn't take them very long to pack everything that needed to be packed, so Spencer and Toby were out of the house in 20 minutes, if not half an hour's time.
As they drove to the motel that they had stayed at a few weeks back, Spencer let the tears fall from her eyes. How could her mom just kick her out of the house? How could, after numerous times of telling her family that Ian had something to do with Ali's murder, did Melissa finally believe her that night? Why was it that only person besides her friends that actually cared for her, and was there for her, was the guy sitting next to her in the driver's seat? Why was Toby, the person that Spencer had spent so much time blaming for Ali's murder, the one person that she felt the safest with and that she wanted to be around? Why was it that terrible fates had to be dumped upon them to bring her and Toby together? Spencer had so many questions running through her head that she hadn't even noticed that Toby was pulling into the parking lot of the motel.
End Chapter One
(A/N: I know that I still have to finish 'Weekend In Paradise' and 'Running Away', but I am at a standstill with chapter 3 of 'Weekend In Paradise' and with chapter 9 of 'Running Away' it's going to be a lot longer than the other chapters, so it's still going to be done. But after seeing last night's episode of PLL where Spencer practically runs to Toby after Ian gets her out of the fun house and she and Toby kiss, I couldn't get this story out of my head. So I hope you like it. I hope to have chapter 2 of this story up as soon as I can. – Emma)