a/n: hey everyone! Ana here, who you may know as starlightandmoonbeams. i'm writing on this account with my fab friend, Tracey, aka phoenix9648, as a collab-authoring. this is the first real collab story either of us have ever done, but we're planning on making it a long one. this is the first of a Spoby oneshot collection we have in the works, which will include Spoby scenes from the show, as well as a few original "deleted" scenes that we never got to see, because come on-there's no such thing as too much Spoby! :)

this is the prologue, written by the amazing Tracey, and i hope you guys enjoy, because it sets up the theme for the rest of the chapters. we'd love to hear your guys' thoughts, and if you have any requests, don't hesitate to leave us a pm or review. HOWEVER-it must follow the direct storyline of the show. anything else, we may consider writing in a seperate oneshot/multichap, and we will absolutely credit you for an idea/prompt.

reviews are love! as we are new to the whole collab-writing thing, we would greatly appreciate any and all feedback! thank you all so much, from both Tracey and myself, for all your thoughtful comments on our individual account stories. hopefully, this piece will garner as much support. we love you all and hope you enjoy reading!

xox, -Ana (and Tracey, too! ;))

-Every Perfect Moment-

{spoby through the stages}

chapter one: moment

It's crazy how fast things can change in a single moment.

A word cuts.

A tear falls.

A heart breaks.

An epiphany hits.

Sometimes all it takes is a single moment to change the course of your life in a way you never imagined possible.

Maybe it's a pause in your step, before you walk away from someone forever, when they say those three words that anchor you to them forever and pull you right back in.

Maybe it's a moment of hope; hope that you can push the past behind you once and for all and take that first step into a new life, to a new you.

Maybe it's a moment of courage; where you beat down the insecurities and fear of rejection and you swallow a breath before boldly greeting a person you never thought would give you a second look.

Maybe it's a moment of vulnerability; where you suddenly find yourself admitting your fears and worries and broken heart to someone when you never thought you'd have the strength to relive those feelings to.

Moments change us. They shape our fate. Sometimes things take a turn for the worse, but sometimes they bring light to your world.

Something caused Spencer to pause that day. Even now, she wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was entirely coincidential, but she didn't believe in coincidences. Perhaps it was what people called fate. Either way, a tugging in her gut made her rush across the street to check on the boy with the blue eyes.

Although the ocean hues of his irises were beautiful, she was more invested in the despairing pain hidden in their depths.

She had been going for her regular daily jog around Rosewood when she spotted him walking casually down the sidewalk on the opposite side. Suspicion and perhaps a little fear made her crouch behind the parked car in front of her rather than continue on her way. Her eyes didn't leave his slouched figure, his hands in his pockets, the usual slight frown on his face.

Watching him she realized in all the years she had gone through school with Toby, although he was a grade ahead so they never had classes together, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him smile. Had she ever seen it? Probably not. After all, there were plenty of people that she unconsciously passed by from day to day. Everybody did. But ever since Toby had been linked to the night Alison disappeared she had paid him a lot more attention.

A maroon car drove by on Toby's side of the road and a guy poked his head out of the passenger window.

"Why don't you save us the cost of a trial and drop dead!" he shouted before disappearing down the street.

Toby's face grew stonier for a moment until he caught a glimpse of two little boys licking happily at their ice cream, coming in his direction on the sidewalk.

Spencer saw the hints of a smile grace his features-she smiled at the innocence of the children too-before they morphed into something else entirely. She noticed the boys had suddenly cleared off, the older brother of the two grabbing his younger sibling's hand and tearing off across the street to avoid the mysterious stranger that they had only ever seen on the news. A villian. An evildoer.

Or was he?

Spencer looked back at Toby to see his pace had quickened tremendously and something in his face made her heart clench. A wall had broken down, a limit had been hit, in that single moment of time. His arms flew behind him carelessly as he took a sudden left and slipped between the iron gates. He disappeared into a dead end alley, collapsing against the wall and sliding down, hugging his torso as if to hold himself together.

Without even thinking about it, Spencer was across the street, peering around the protruding brick wall to catch another glimpse of the boy.

This boy was different than the one she had seen at school that day. The boy at school had been strong, silent, not letting any emotions pass over his face. He took the blood red label of 'Killer' painted on his locker without so much as an extra blink. His jaw only tightened slightly when one student stepped in front of him and claimed him simply as 'murderer'. He had continued on his way with his head held high.

Spencer had assumed when she saw him earlier, so pulled together, that it was simply the act of not caring that kept him so in control. But now, seeing the lone tear falling down his cheek and the pain consuming his entire body, she knew she couldn't have been more wrong.

It was in that moment, that single moment, that her perspective on Toby did a complete one-eighty. She had gone from calling him the devil to realizing that no man who looked that broken could ever have done the things she too had accused him of. Toby was innocent. He just had refused to give in and make a big show about it. He knew who he was, knew he hadn't done anything wrong. But seeing him this way now, with the town turned against him and being blamed and feared and ridiculed for things out of his control, was almost more heartbreaking than the tragedy he was accused of causing. She could see his strength dissolving and maybe even his belief in himself.

Something about seeing him this vulnerable made Spencer feel like she could see every emotion he was feeling. Seeing him fall apart, she felt like he was losing his belief in himself, the belief that he could get through this. And maybe, just maybe, he was starting to feel like he must have done something to deserve this, because why else would he be put through so much pain. He was alone, with no one to believe in him.

Spencer took a step forwards, wanting to call out to him, rush in there and comfort him, tell him she believed in his innocence. The sudden rush of emotions frightened her and she found herself backing up before taking off in a sprint away from him and his tears.

She ran all of the way home, her ear-buds out of her ears, unable to fathom listening to music after witnessing such a moving moment in her life. She arrived home and headed upstairs to shower, letting the water wash away the guilty feelings of abandoning such a broken boy and all the hateful words she had said before.

Spencer fell asleep later that night, her mind completely consumed with the boy in the alley. Even though she had spent a large majority of the night gossiping with her girls over studying Trig, gagging over the thought of a Melissa/Ian hybrid and freaking out over the newest video A had sent them that led to her confirmation that Ian was involved in Alison's disappearance, she still couldn't avert her thoughts from Toby.

And it was then, in that one single, unassuming moment, that her world had really begun to be turned upside down.