Title: Changing Hearts And Minds
Author: Freeing Alys
Rating: T
Pairing: Spashley[Spencer/Ashley
Summary: Spencer is at college and things are going good, then Ashley shows up out of nowhere half a year after their fallout and Spencer's whole world is turned around.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own South Of Nowhere or any of the charectors of story plots. Those all belong to CTV, The-N and anyone else affiliated. I'm JUST a fan, trying to improve my writing skills. No copywrite infridgement intended.
Author's Note: So this is my first SoN fic as well as a Spashley fic. I don't know when this takes place, mid second season I think, not much after that, so disreguard anything after that. I think you can just get it as you read it. So tell me how I'm doing with the story, writing and everything. Thanks guys.


Chapter One

Spencer Carlin tapped her pen against her open book and let out a sigh. She had been trying to study for her English midterm for an hour now, but it was hard. Spencer couldn't understand half of the words that were in the book-even though she should. With all the cramming for midterms Spencer had been doing she was starting to get a fogged brain.

Eyeing her coffee sitting on the corner of her desk Spencer quickly picked it up and took a quick drink. It was enough to make her stable again, just long enough to be able to read yet another sentence she didn't understand. "Great." Spencer groaned out wishing she could just read the chapters, study the content and be ready for midterms.

Spencer placed her face in her open hands and shook her head. This was being way to hard and Spencer didn't know why. It could be the fact that her brain kept roaming, she couldn't stop thinking about everything. Which was making it hard to read anything. Spencer glanced back at the page and tried to read the sentence again, but the same outcome came out of it.

"Hey Spence!" Spencer turned around to see her roommate stalk into their dorm and sit on her bed, a big grin on her face. Spencer sighed and smiled at Aubrey, she was a cool roommate, but sometimes she was just way to happy. She was always smiling and speaking with an upbeat, perky voice. She was just plain happy for no good reason. Spencer had never known someone so happy. It was really a change from the group she hung around when she was in high school.

"Hey Aubrey, what's going on?" Spencer as Aubrey slipped out of her jacket and tossed it on the side of the floor. She was messy too Spencer noted, she tossed her things around constantly, not ever taking care of them. Having a roommate definitely was one of the harder points of college life.

"Well…I do have another date with Brain tonight. Gosh, I really like him!" She exclaimed and Spencer nodded her head. Plus that whole boy factor, Aubrey loved boys. She dated constantly, she was always bouncing around from guy to guy or holding onto one for really tightly for weeks at a time.

"Oh, nice." Spencer mumbled as she turned back to her books.

Spencer heard Aubrey stand off of her bed and walk over to her closet. "Hitting the books again?" Aubrey asked and Spencer nodded her head. Aubrey really wasn't one to study, she was more the party girl.

"Yeah Aubrey. Midterms are coming up." Spencer reminded her roommate and she turned to face Aubrey again.

Aubrey was standing in her closet picking up shirt after shirt and holding it up to herself as she examined it in her mirror. "I know Spence. But I mean, I'll do fine. I go to classes." Aubrey was a Performing Arts major, which kind of explained her calmness about the whole midterm thing. While Spencer was an English major-her goal being to teach English, it had been her favorite course at King High-she was a bit more wound up about the midterms.

"Going out?" Spencer asked picking her pen back up and tapping it against her hand.

Aubrey turned towards Spencer smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, Brain calls." She let out in a sing song voice.

Spencer nodded her head and watched Aubrey pick up a couple more shirts, hold them against her and examine herself in the mirror. Being happy with one of the shirts Aubrey tossed it on her bed and started flipping through her skirts. "Where are you going?" Spencer asked curiously as she watched Aubrey pick out a skirt and toss it on her bed.

"I don't really know, but I don't care." She added a giggle following the words.

Spencer cracked a smile and nodded her head. "Oh." She mumbled and turned as Aubrey started to get dressed in her date outfit.

"You know what's weird Spence?" Aubrey asked as Spencer heard her wrestle with clothes.

"What?" Spencer asked staring at her text book the words finally starting to make sense again.

"I haven't seen you date one dude this whole year, well except that one fling, but... What's up with that? Or are you hiding one away?" Aubrey asked and Spencer felt her heart race. She had known Aubrey for half a year now, but she still hadn't let loose about the whole dating girls and guys thing. Spencer really didn't know how to tell her, plus dating wasn't much of an option for Spencer. She didn't have the time, she actually concentrated on school.

"Well you know Aubrey…" Spencer stated, hoping that Aubrey would just drop it. But Spencer knew she should've known better then that.

Aubrey let out a laugh and Spencer heard her picking up her bag. "That's a lot of crap Spence." Aubrey said slipping on her ballet flat shoes.

Spencer smiled at Aubrey and shrugged her shoulders. "Okay then." Spencer answered and Aubrey shook her head, making her brown hair flow over her shoulders.

"You'll tell me your story one day Spence." Aubrey stated and she walked towards the door. "See you later." She waved her hand over her shoulder and walked out of the dorm room.

Spencer let out a small laugh and turned her head back towards her books. She really had to get these chapters read now, or she wasn't going to do well on the midterm in a week.

Spencer's gaze fell onto the page and she started reading the words, as they started to come easier to here. Every couple of seconds Spencer would turn to her pad of paper and jot down some notes that she would need to know for later on, the studying that came after reading.

Just as Spencer was falling back into her pace of reading and jotting down notes her cell phone rang, causing her to jump slightly. Spencer reached across her desk, where her cell was and picked it up. Glancing at the caller id she saw that it was her mom. Sighing Spencer picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear. "Hey Mom." Spencer said and she heard her mom laugh on the other end.

"Wow, Spencer, it's great to hear your voice. How are you?" She asked the question so vauge, meaning Spencer was up to giving a completely vauge answer.

"Good. Studying." Spencer replied and she set her pen down on her desk. Depending on her mom's mood this could take awhile. The call was either a quick check-up or an hour long conversation on why Spencer hasn't brought home any boyfriends yet.

"Good, midterm is coming up right?" Spencer's mom asked and Spencer nodded her head to no one.

"Yeah." She answered. Spencer let out a mental sigh and wished she could just get back to studying. She really didn't feel like talking to her mom. The way things were left with them right before Spencer left for Harvard wasn't good. The fallout with Ashley that Mrs. Carlin being the one who sparked it wasn't helping her case any. Spencer felt her heart flutter just at the thought of Ashley, she had really loved that girl and now she was gone.

"Spencer?" Spencer jolted back to real world and realized her mom had said something.

"What? Sorry Mom." Spencer replied and Mrs. Carlin let out another sigh.

"I asked whatever happened to Robbie." She stated again and Spencer felt her nerves start to rattle. Robbie the guy Spencer had started dating the first week of classes just to appease her mom, and maybe to get over Ashley. Part of Spencer just wanted to go to life before Ashley, the life where she dated guys and made her mom proud, and that was when Robbie came into the picture. Spencer dated him for a month before she broke it off because of the stupid thoughts of Ashley. Those thoughts just kept getting in Spencer's way.

"I broke up with him Mom. A couple months ago, remember?" Spencer asked and she heard her mom laugh.

"Yeah I know that sweetie. I just thought maybe…" She trailed off and Spencer knew what her mom wanted, but it wasn't going to.

"I know what you thought Mom and it's not what's happening." Spencer spat out getting more angry by the moment. She just really wished her mom would accept her and move on.

"Spencer I'm just…" Mrs. Carlin started before Spencer heard rustling in the background. "Okay honey." Mrs. Carlin stated and Spencer heard the phone being passed around, hopefully to her dad.

"Hey Spencer." Mr. Carlin stated and Spencer let a smile cross her face.

"Hey Daddy. How's it going?" She asked and she heard her mom in the background, but her dad's talking covered the noise.

"Good. We're doing good here. How are you doing?" Mr. Carlin asked and Spencer nodded her head.

"I'm okay. Midterms you know." Spencer stated and she tapped her fingers on her desk.

"Yeah I know. You are at my Alma Matter remember?" Mr. Carlin asked and Spencer nodded. Yeah, she knew that one all right.

"I know Dad." She answered and she heard her dad laugh.

"Okay honey I'll let you get back ok…wait Glenn wants to talk to you." Spencer heard Mr. Carlin pass the phone to Glenn. Glenn, the one who was supposed to be attending California State University, but obviously was not currently.

"Hey sis." Glenn said into the phone and she heard him adjust the phone on his ear.

"Glenn, what are you doing home?" Spencer asked and she heard Glenn a carefree laugh.

"I came home for a few days. I mean, I'm studied up for midterms. Anyway, guess who I saw?" Glenn asked and Spencer shrugged her shoulders as she tapped her fingers against the wood that made her desk.

"I don't know, who?" Spencer asked and she heard Glenn let out a happy sigh.

"Ashley! I hope you don't mind, but I don't her where you are and everything. She made it seem like she might stop by. I think she said soemthign about a road trip or something…" Glenn said and Spencer felt her head go light at the mention of Ashley.

Spencer stopped tapping her fingers and stood out of her chair and started to pace around her side of the dorm. "What?" Spencer asked, the only word that came to her mind. She could hardly believe it, she hadn't seen Ashley for almost half a year and now there was a chance she'd just show up?

"What, you're not happy?" Glenn asked like he didn't understand it at all, it was like he never had an ex. Well he never had an ex under the conditions of Ashley anyway.

"I don't know Glenn, this is just a bit much right? I mean I haven't seen Ashley since our fallout. I don't know what to do…or say…" Spencer stuttered out and she heard Glenn let out a sigh on the other end.

"Just embrace it Spencer. I mean, she wants to see you again right?" He asked and Spencer crossed her hand along her stomach. That was kind of true, Spencer would be happy to see Ashley again. They left under bad conditions and Spencer did want to change that. It would just be weird.

"Yeah I guess." Spencer replied and she heard Glenn mumble something on the other end to someone else.

"I have to go Spencer, Mom you know. Talk to you later?"

"Yeah Glenn. Bye." Spencer agreed and she hung up her phone.

Tossing the phone onto her desk Spencer let out a sigh. She really wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, be she would find out sooner or later.