Time Period - Between 2x03 My Name is Trouble and 2x04 Blind Dates

Ian has not yet been discovered - his whereabouts and whether he is alive or not is still unknown.

Spoby Status at this time: Still in a relationship J

Hope you enjoy!

Spencer Hastings rolled from her back to her side yet again as thunder shook her bed frame. "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, Three Mississippi," she chanted in her mind before the lightning struck, illuminating her room with ominous shadows that vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

It was a rainy Friday night in Rosewood, Pennsylvania and Spencer could not fall asleep, no matter how hard she tried. And although the storm was loud and seemingly never-ending, it certainly was not the cause of her insomnia.

Spencer bit her lip hard as the thunder crashed again and the unwanted memories of that night scraped their way across her mind… "If you love my sister you won't do this!" she shrieked as his hands gripped her coat roughly. "I'm doing it, BECAUSE. I love her," he growled as he shoved her even closer to the shaft of the bell tower, which looked like a bottomless black tomb begging her to fall into it.

A single, terror-filled sob echoed off the walls of Spencer's spotless dark room as she snapped out of her reverie, and she immediately felt ashamed and stupid for letting herself cry. But the weight of the fear that coursed through her when she thought of what had almost happened that night,-coupled with the fact that Ian Thomas' dead body was nowhere-was too much for even a Hastings to bear. She wrapped her arms around her bent knees and tried desperately to forget every detail about Alison's murder that she wished she didn't know.

The rain was pounding hard on the roof, showing no sign of slowing down. Spencer usually liked the rain - the smell and the freshness could calm her, in a way - but not tonight. Tonight she was frustrated and scared and completely alone in her Victorian house. Her older sister Melissa, who despised her and refused to even look at her these days was staying in Philly for the weekend, and her parents had gone to New York on business. Spencer glanced at the clock and sighed - 1:37am.

She lay there listening to the sounds of her sleepless night for another 15 minutes before she decided she couldn't take it any more. With a distinct feeling of defeat and cowardice, Spencer pulled one arm out from under her down comforter and grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand.

She pressed 3 and held it for a few seconds before she heard the speed dial kick in. It rang 5 or 6 times before she answered.

"Hello?" Emily yawned.

Spencer immediately felt even more guilty. "Hey Em, its me," she whispered.

"Spencer?" Emily asked sleepily, clearly still disoriented from having been awakened, "What's wrong? Did you get a text from A?"

"Well… not exactly… I can't sleep, Em." Spencer admitted, feeling dreadfully stupid.

"Why not?" she asked in her motherly voice, "Because of the storm?"

Spencer sighed. "Sort of… it's just… to be honest, Em, this whole Ian thing has freaked me out. I mean he tried to KILL me and now he's GONE and I KNOW we saw him dead but what if? What if he's still out there, plotting ways to finish me off? When A is involved, nothing makes SENSE," she huffed, "But is that stupid, Em? Am I a coward? Because-"

"SPENCER!" Emily interrupted, "Can you please breath for two seconds?"

Spencer took a deep breath.

"Thank you," she said, "Spencer. Of course you aren't stupid. You're alone during a thunderstorm while a killer is possibly on the loose. After what happened that night, you have every right to be scared shitless," Emily said firmly.

Although this helped in assuring Spencer that she wasn't crazy, it did nothing to help the small knot of fear that was still coiled in her chest. "Could you come over here, Em?" she asked feebly.

Emily sighed. "You're kidding, right? It's the middle of the night, its raining, and we're not even supposed to talk to each other. Sure, my mom will even drive me there herself," she said sarcastically, but then, sensing Spencer's dismay by her response of silence added softly, "You could try Aria, or Hanna."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "I'm actually acting as BOTH of their alibis right now," she said, annoyance clear in her tone. "Aria's with Mr. Fitz, and Hanna and Caleb are … camping again."

"Hmm," Emily mused thoughtfully. "Am I sensing a theme here? So Aria's with her boyfriend, Hanna is with her boyfriend … last time I checked, you had one of those things."

Spencer couldn't control the smile that spread across her face. She was momentarily wonderstruck while her thoughts drifted to her rock, her sanctuary, her safe place to land. He was beautiful in every way possible, with his piercing blue eyes, full lips and dimpled chin. He was honest, and kind, protective, and loving. The way he made her feel was impossible to describe and even more impossible to duplicate. Yes, Toby Cavanaugh was her everything.

"Spencer? Hello?"

Emily's voice brought Spencer back to the present. "Em, it's the middle of the night! It wouldn't be fair to wake him up just because his girlfriend can't sleep," she reasoned.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh, but its perfectly fine to do that exact thing to me," she said sarcastically.

"I, well, its different," Spencer said defensively. "I don't want him to think I'm a baby."

"Spencer," Emily said, making her tone firmer, "First of all, you ARE NOT a baby. Second of all, I am going to ask you a very personal question. You don't have to answer it but I'm going to ask you anyway."

"Umm, okay," Spencer said with a hint of nervousness.

"Did he tell you that he loves you?" Emily whispered.

Warmth spread through Spencer's chest, momentarily stifling the fear. She smiled to herself as she recalled every detail of yesterday's romantic moment - the truck, Toby's flawless face, the way his eyes bore into her soul when he said it, the way her heart stopped beating when he held her as they'd kissed, afterward…

"Yes," Spencer said to Emily, "Yesterday, when I brought him the truck."

"Did you say it back?"

Spencer smiled again. "Of course."

"Then it's settled. If he loves you, then its his duty to take care of you. Call him." Emily ordered.

"But Emily…what if…"

"Fine. Text him."

"but what if he-"

"Goodnight Spence." click.

It was silent again, except of course for the rain and the thunder. All traces of the security that Emily's voice had provided faded, and the knot of terror in Spencer's chest returned and twisted uncomfortably.

"My mom knows I'm here, she KNOWS I'm in the church!" "It'll be the perfect place for your suicide," he growled as he threw both arms around her, making it impossible to get away…

Whether Emily was right or not about it being Toby's duty to take care of her, Spencer didn't know. But what she did know was that the idea of hearing him whisper soothing reassurances in her ear was too hard to resist. She looked down at her cell phone, opened the menu and selected Compose New Text .

She addressed it to him, and wrote only two words: U up?

A wave of embarrassment washed over her as she pressed send. Outside the wind was picking up, and she could see the tree outside through her window shaking wildly.

Another cycle of thunder and lightning lit up the sky, and Spencer was about to give up on the text message. But just as she leaned towards the table to set her phone down, it beeped and the screen glowed. She yanked it up to her face and hurriedly opened her one new text. Her heart thumped unevenly as she read the words that appeared on the screen:

I'll always be up for the girl I love. - T

TO BE CONTINUED :)