A Little Piece of Him

"Hey, are you alright?" Ashley stepped out of the back door onto the porch where she had followed the blonde.

Spencer wiped at her tears and turned to face her girlfriend.

"I'm fine."

Ashley raised her eyebrows; unable to believe Spencer was trying to lie to her.

"No, you're not fine!" Ashley gestured towards Spencer with her hands. "You're crying, and you just ran out of the house; away from me. That is not fine, Spence. Please, tell me what I did and I will fix this." Ashley begs nearly in tears herself.

"It's not you, Ash. I love you so much; I don't ever want to lose you." Spencer crosses the porch to her and wraps her arms around her and buries her face into the crook of Ashley's neck, almost hard enough to bruise. "You're the only thing that is keeping me sane while I go crazy."

Ashley squeezes her tighter. "Then, tell me what's making you go crazy and I will take care of it. I'll do anything for you, Spence."

"You can't take care of it, Ashley. I'm so sorry that you're going to hate me when I tell you this." She breaks down in tears.

"Sshhh, I could never hate you, Spence. Never." Ashley strokes the crying blonde's back trying to soothe her.

"I'm pregnant, Ash." Spencer whispers and then her body wracks with new sobs.

"What?" Ashley asks incredulous, stepping back and away from Spencer; afraid she might do something stupid. "You…pregnant? That means…you…who is he? Who the fuck is he?!" She shouts; outraged that some guy knocked up her girlfriend that she planned to marry one day. She couldn't believe that this was happening only two months after her best friend was killed in a car accident.

"Ashley, please calm down." Spencer pleads through tears.

"Spencer, tell me his name before I lose it." Ashley replies through clenched jaws. Spencer tries to grab her hands and she pulls them away.

"Spencer, don't. Just tell me his name and then give me some space. Please." Ashley's eyes well up with tears as she squeezes the last word from her lips.

Spencer backs away and stares at the ground before looking back up at the angry brunette.

"Aiden." Spencer begins crying again, and then gets ahold of her tears again. "A couple nights before the accident, he came over while you were at the studio and I had just opened a bottle of wine. He was only going to drink one glass with me, but one turned into half the bottle." Spencer loses it and tears start streaming down her face again. "I'm so sorry, Ash. I was drunk, but there is no excus-" Ashley cuts her off and Spencer can't read the expression on her girlfriend's face.

"Spencer, get inside the house. It's chilly out here tonight. I'll be back in a couple hours." She said flatly and walked down the steps off the porch, got into her truck and drove off.

Spencer didn't go inside until she couldn't see Ashley's trucks taillights going down the road through the trees anymore. She couldn't help but think that Ashley wasn't going to come back.

Ashley drove around for a while until she ended up at the cemetery.

She got out and walked to the far side of the graveyard where her best friend since childhood was laid to rest.

She read his headstone a couple times and sat down in front of it with her back leaning against it.

She looked over her shoulder and laughed.

"You dog, you just couldn't go without leaving a piece of you behind." She shook her head smiling then just sat there listening to the sound of the night for a while.

"I should be angry at you. I should be angry at Spencer. I should stomp on your grave or something and I shouldn't go back home to Spencer….but I'm not angry." A lone tear rolls down her face and she doesn't care to wipe it away. "I am not going to stomp on your grave and I am going home to Spencer tonight, because I love her and I loved you." She grins, "Now that I think about it, I can't wait to see a little Aiden running around our house…a little piece of my best friend." Ashley leans her head back against the cold grey stone and closes her eyes.

Ashley wakes up because she was shivering so badly and looks at her watch and realizes that it's past midnight. She told Spencer she would be back in a couple hours and it has been way more than a couple hours. She runs to her truck through the cold, dark cemetery, and races back home to Spencer; not bothering to turn her heater up in her truck.

She shakily turns the front door knob and walks into the den to find Spencer curled up on the loveseat. Ashley carefully slides behind Spencer and wraps her arms around her; placing her hands on the stomach that's going to grow heavy with a little baby.

Spencer wakes and turns her head to look at Ashley; her eyes all red and puffy from crying so much. "I didn't think you were going to come back to me." She says hoarsely and places a hand over Ashley's that are caressing her belly.

"Ash, you're freezing. Let me get you a blanket." Spencer moves to get up, but Ashley holds her down and chuckles. "I'm okay, Spencer, don't worry."

"I'm sorry for leaving, Spence, I just had to go talk to him. I realized that I want to raise this kid like my own, because I want kids with you and now we'll have a little piece of him here with us…I love you, Spencer, and I'm never lying to you when I tell you that I will do anything for you. And for this baby." Ashley kisses the nape of her neck and then rests her cheek on it.

Spencer wiggles around and turns around so she is lying facing Ashley, then wraps her arms around her to warm her up and Ashley wraps her arms around Spencer accepting the warmth.

"I'm utterly in love with you, Ash. I want to marry you someday." She says and buries her head in Ashley's chest and Ashley smiles.

"Will you marry me someday, Spence?"

"I'll marry you right now." Ashley feels Spencer smile against her chest and it makes Ashley's smile turn into a grin.