Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 71st cycle. Now cycle 72!

"Our Town"
Quinn/Spencer (OC)
Trinity series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

She had discovered it wasn't so much planning the party itself that was stressful, it was the party itself.

They'd been living there all this time, and Quinn doubted either of them had really come to realize how many people they had gotten to know, and how many of them they would feel warranted an invitation. That they had all said yes was one more surprise. Sure, it was polite to accept an invitation when there was no other reason not to go other than their not wanting to. And this town, as a whole, had shown itself the picture of politeness since they'd arrived. It still left them sort of touched. It also forced them to re-evaluate the place they had taken as part of that town.

Sophia offered to help set everything up before the guests arrived, and Quinn had let her; she was excited enough, why spoil it? Besides, it gave her more time to get ready… and decompress.

"Aren't parties supposed to be fun?" Spencer had teased, finding her cursing at her ever lengthening red hair. She'd only just redone the color over the weekend, so it was particularly bright, but that only got her so far if she couldn't pull it up the way she meant to.

"Do not start with me," she turned to him, both hands busy holding her hair up. "Or you won't get cake," she teased back.

"No, please, anything but that," he smirked.

"You know what's funny? I haven't been a cheerleader in years, but I still can't put my hair up into a ponytail without being right back there." She let go again, deciding for a simple braid pulled over her shoulder.

"You'll look beautiful no matter what," he promised.

"Right," she smiled, looking him up and down. "I don't know about the shirt," she squinted.

"Right," he repeated, moving to change it. He had been doing this all week, letting her make choices so to alleviate whatever stress she might have over the party.

She had fastened off the end of her braid, and looking at her reflection she could see his bare back, the burn scars. She had scars of her own, from years of her old work, before and with Trinity, but Spencer's scars hurt her more than her own. They reminded her of how they'd come to be here.

"I think we need to have people over more often."

"Okay?" he replied, pulling his new shirt on and turning as though to ask if this one was good.

"We have all these people coming over, most of whom have never actually seen the inside of our apartment… or the outside. It's not like we have anything to hide, nothing that they could find. We see some of them every day, work with some of them, go to their homes… I think if we hadn't had this party, pretty soon they would have had the cops on us, thinking we had a dead body here, or drugs, or… something nefarious like that."

"Nefarious," he repeated with a slow amused nod.

"You think this is funny, don't you?" she gave him a solid frown.

"No, look, you're right. We're not supposed to have anything to hide, but we have kind of acted as though we do. I guess it's hard not to be at least a little on alert all the time. But I do find it hard to imagine Gavin as a deep cover assassin," he gave her a look and she chuckled. Gavin was the pizza delivery boy, who also made regular visits to the pharmacy/bookstore.

He was right, as was she. They did go with extra precautions. But then they were the ones who had moved into town, not the people they had met here. If ever there were newcomers, then 'Allie and Tommy' would give a cursory check, making sure everyone was who they said they were, maybe. Except they were still the newest residents, and there was little chance of anyone problematic coming around. Their escape and identity change was, in all honesty, a precaution. They were protecting their friends, their family, more than themselves.

"So then we should try and make this more common, just not all at once or they'll notice," Quinn nodded, moving up to adjust his shirt.

"Movie nights. Dinner parties. Game nights. Your birthday, dearest Allie," he listed off, smiling at the last.

"All of that, yes," she smiled back, kissing him. "I kill at charades," she announced proudly.

"I can see that," he nodded.

"So long as you don't see a retired thief for hire, then we're all good," she spoke in a hush at his ear. "Hey," she nudged at his hands, "Not now," she tried not to laugh at his 'sad' face.

This may not have been his real birthday, not Spencer's, but it had to be Tommy's, and she wanted this to be a good memory for him to have. Seeing him like this, cheerful, playful, she knew she was on the right track.

She had to hand it to Sophia, she did know how to pick the right places for everything one would need for a party. Everything looked perfect, and once they added guests, and presents, and music, voices, laughter… It was exactly what she would have hoped, for him and her both.

Quinn had spent most of the night, when she wasn't helping to direct people to the bathroom, refilling platters, bringing more glasses and bottles, just watching Spencer. He had been trying to be strong for her, all this time, she knew. He didn't want to appear weakened by this sudden need to reinvent themselves.

He had never been as open as he'd been in the last month or two. He had started making this his home, too, more than the bare essentials. Now, he might actually regret leaving town and going back to New York. She was noticing this in herself, too. She never thought she would, but she did. She was finding answering to "Allie" that much easier.

The party had gone on, if they clocked its end at their last guests' departure, at two thirty in the morning. Those last straddlers, including Sophia and Gavin, had helped to clean up the mess left around the apartment, so that, when they left, the only signs of the party were leftovers and unwrapped presents. It also left the way clear for Spencer to excuse himself to the bedroom and return, finding Quinn, barefoot, braid half undone, picking at one of the leftover platters. He cleared his throat.

"So, on a scale of one to ten," she turned, just in time to see him bend to one knee. She dropped the half-bite. "What…" He had a ring.

"I don't know if I should be addressing Quinn, or Allie, but I'll take you both if you'll have Tommy and I," he smirked. "What do you say then, dearest? Will you marry me?"

"Now?" she bit her lip, feeling her eyes well up.

"Whenever you like," he promised. "But you do need to give me an answer so…"

"Yes," she quickly answered, and he stood, moving to pull her into his arms and kiss her.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he beamed, slipping the ring on her finger, and she breathed.

"It really was a good night."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!