As Long as My Heart Beats
Chapter One: Valentine's Day Morning
Summary: It's been a month since Toby left his truck in Spencer's backyard and took off. It's now Valentine's Day and Spencer's heart feels lighter than is has been in a couple months. What is so special about today? She doesn't have anyone to share it with.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.
6:30 am
That's the time that Spencer read off of the face of her alarm clock as it blared at her to wake up. With a groan, Spencer's hand flew out to turn off the alarm, but since she was still half asleep, she missed completely and the palm of her hand hit the sharp corner of her nightstand. Cursing under her breath as the pain seared through her hand, and a small trickle of blood appeared, Spencer cradled her hand to her stomach and threw the covers away from her body, turning the alarm off and then heading towards the bathroom.
Upon reaching her bathroom, Spencer turned the cold water on and placed her hand under it to wash away the blood. Looking up at her reflection in the mirror, Spencer was surprised to see that her eyes weren't puffy from crying herself to sleep, and that she didn't have bags under her eyes. 'What is so special about today?' Spencer thought to herself as she turned the water off, dried off her hand, placed a small square of cotton on the cut, and then wrapped a small amount of gauze around it to keep it in place.
Walking back into her room, Spencer grabbed her watch off of her desk and looked at the date. There, in bold black letters was the date: February 14. 'It can't be Valentine's Day already, it just can't be.' Spencer's mind raced. How could it be Valentine's Day and she not feel like crap? Shouldn't she feel miserable since she didn't have anyone special to celebrate the day of love with? Willing her mind not to stray to thoughts of Toby, Spencer went about her morning getting ready for the day.
By 7:30, Spencer had gotten dressed, made sure all of her books and stuff were in her bag, and she was downstairs getting something to eat for breakfast. Ignoring the sound of someone coming down the stairs, Spencer just focused on her toast. It wasn't until whoever had walked down and cleared their throat that Spencer looked over her shoulder. With a roll of her eyes, Spencer held back a small laugh when she saw her sister standing at the bottom of the steps, decked out in all pink, white and red. If there was anyone besides Spencer who should be upset about the day, it should have been Melissa.
"Yes Melissa?" Spencer asked, trying to hide her amusement at the irony of her and her sister's predicament.
"What do you think of my outfit?" Melissa asked slowly.
"It's uh, very festive…" Spencer said and couldn't help put let out a burst of laughter when Melissa's face scrunched up.
"Mom is making me where this thing. If it was up to me, I would be wearing sweat pants and a maternity top." Melissa said as she made her way towards the fridge.
"Why is mom making you where that?" Spencer asked, as the thought of her mom trying to make her wear something similar fleeted across her mind.
"She volunteered me to help out at your school's Valentine's Day Candy Gram handout thingy. If it wasn't for her volunteering me, I wouldn't have gotten "dressed up"." Melissa said with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed a thing of yogurt and a bottle of water out of the fridge and then turning to face her sister.
"I'm sorry Melissa. I really am. But I have something for you." Spencer said as she took her sister's hand and led her up the stairs to her room.
"Spence, I'm really not in the mood for anything…" Melissa said slowly, but followed Spencer none-the-less.
"Please Melissa. This is me trying to make amends. And when I saw this, I immediately thought of you." Spencer said as she walked over to her desk and grabbed a box that was sitting next to her laptop.
"What is it?" Melissa asked, eyeing the box and then looking up at her sister.
"Just open it." Spencer urged.
"Fine, I'll open it… but if something pops out at me, I swear that I will…" Melissa started to say as she opened it and pushed the tissue paper aside. "Oh Spencer, it's beautiful." She ended up saying instead.
Taking the material in her hands, Melissa set the box down on Spencer's red chair and held the red dress up so that she could admire it. It had a heart shaped neckline, and it ended just above the knees. Turning around and holding it up to her body, Melissa looked at her reflection in her sister's full length mirror.
"Try it on?" Spencer asked hopefully. She had really thought that it would suit Melissa, and with the outfit that Melissa currently had on, Spencer hoped that her sister would like it.
"Of course I'm going to try it on. Thank you Spencer." Melissa said with a genuine smile on her face as she hugged Spencer and then made her way to the bathroom.
"Hey Melissa, I gotta get going. So I'll see you at the school. And I hope the dress fits okay." Spencer said as she started to make her way out of her room.
"Okay, see you later Spence. Thank you again for the dress." Melissa said from the other side of the closed bathroom door.
As Spencer made her way downstairs and out to her car, a very familiar truck caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. 'What is that doing here? I drove it back to Toby's house…' Spencer thought as she just stood there and stared at the truck sitting in front of her house. As she shook her head to clear out all of the possible scenarios, Spencer slowly made her way forward.
Upon reaching the truck, Spencer saw that the passenger side door was unlocked. Cautiously opening the door, Spencer's breath caught in her throat. Sitting on the seat was a single long stem, red rose, tied to a small piece of paper. Picking both the rose and the piece of paper up, Spencer slowly let out the breath that she had unintentionally been holding and read the note.
Spencer, I'm sorry that I took off without saying goodbye. But I needed time to think about some things, and I couldn't do that with having the truck with me. I'm sorry that it's been a month since we last talked, but I didn't know how to say to you what I've been saying to you since the beginning. I love you, Spencer Hastings. I always will. I don't care that you once had a small fling with the doctor; I know now that Emily had actually been referring to the time just after you broke up with me. I hope you can accept this rose and that you will forgive me. Because this rose and this note are my way of saying that I forgive you. And know this Spencer, as long as my heart beats, I will continue to love you. – Love, Toby.
Spencer didn't know what to say; she didn't know how to react. Even after everything that she had said and done to Toby in last couple of months, he still loved her. And if she was going to be honest with herself, Spencer still loved Toby. As she just continued to stand there, staring at the note that was clearly written by Toby, Spencer vaguely acknowledged that Melissa was calling her name. It wasn't until Melissa walked over and tapped her on the shoulder that Spencer looked up.
"What's this?" Melissa asked.
"Toby still loves me." Spencer said softly.
"Of course he does. Once someone has feelings for you specifically Spencer, those feelings don't change very easily." Melissa explained.
"You have no idea how much pain and suffering I put him through Melissa. I broke his heart, along with mine, and he still loves me." Spencer said as she clutched the note and the rose to her chest as she locked the door and closed it.
"Spencer, I'm your sister; we have been at each other's throats since forever. I think that I might have an idea of how much pain and suffering you put that boy through." Melissa said with a small laugh.
"Let's just get to school, shall we? I don't want to be late." Spencer said as she climbed into the driver side of her car.
Melissa just shook her head at Spencer. Even after finding out that the boy that she loved with her whole heart still loved her in return; Spencer still didn't want to be late for school. That had to be a Hastings' trait. As she watched Spencer pull out of the driveway and start heading in the direction of the school, Melissa shook her head again and climbed into her own car.
End Chapter One