Title: "The County Fair"

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own South of Nowhere or Nissan. Paula's line at the beginning is taken right from the episode.

Pairing: Spashley

Spoilers: Season 2, Episode 6: "That's The Way The World Crumbles"

Summary: "Spence? You remember when you were six, and we went to the county fair, and that little boy took your cotton candy and rubbed it in your hair?"

Author's Note: I was re-watching "That's The Way The World Crumbles" the other day, and Paula's conversation with Spencer kinda popped out at me.

"Spence? You remember when you were six, and we went to the county fair, and that little boy took your cotton candy and rubbed it in your hair?"

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since she mentioned it, and I'm not sure why. I just feel like I'm missing something important. I remember it - bits and pieces of it anyways. I remember the boy rubbing the cotton candy in my hair and mom hugging me because I was crying, and I remember seeing the boy get shoved to the ground - probably by Glen.

I lean back on my bed with a sigh. My fingers anxiously fidget with the edge of the pillow I've been clutching. This is going to bother me until I can figure it out. I just know it-

*Clink*

I sit up quickly at the sudden noise. It wasn't loud, but-

*Clink*

This time I see the pebble hit the glass. I toss the pillow down carelessly on the bed and quickly move to the window.

Ashley. She came for me.

I open my window, unable to keep the grin off my face. I knew she wouldn't let my mom keep us apart, but I wasn't expecting her to be standing beneath my window grinning up at me holding a "WE'RE RUNNING AWAY" sign. Aiden carefully leans the ladder against my window, and Ashley's gesturing for me to come down quickly even as she glances around to make sure no one's noticed what's going on.

Time seems to crawl as I put together a bag of essentials. I keep glancing worriedly to my door, afraid that at any moment my mother will come in and catch me and send me far away. My lips twitch into a half-smile. It wouldn't matter where she sent me. Ashley would find me.

I climb down the ladder as quickly as I can without making much noise. Ashley takes my bag as soon as I reach the bottom of the ladder and grasps my hand tightly, leading me to Aiden's awaiting SUV. I stop short, pulling Ashley back to me. She's got that adorably confused look on her face, and I know she's worried that I've changed my mind. I just lean in and kiss her. My free hand comes up to her waist, pulling her even closer, until there's no space left between us.

She pulls back - too quickly for my liking - and rests her forehead against mine. Even in the low light, I can tell that her eyes are darker than normal, and I can't stop the grin that forces it's way onto my face knowing that I caused that. "I missed you."

She smiles and places a soft kiss on my lips. "I missed you too. We should get going before your mom finds us though."

"Yeah." I let her lead me to our getaway car this time. Ash doesn't let go of my hand as we climb into the backseat of Aiden's Nissan Xterra.

My feet pound against metal stairs, and I distantly hear mom yelling at me to stop running. I stop when I reach the roller coaster and climb into one of the cars.

"Don't know why you're so excited. These things are lame."

My head snaps towards the voice, and I notice the girl sitting next to me for the first time. She's slouched in the seat with her arms folded over her chest, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. "Why are you on it then?" I can't help wondering.

"They won't let me on the other one." She points to the large roller coaster in the distance. The one with lots of loops. "They say I'm too short." She scowls.

"The loops scare me." I admit quietly. I don't know why I just said that. She's probably going to laugh at me and call me a baby just like Glen did.

I feel her hand close around mine, squeezing lightly. "I'll hold your hand. It won't be so scary then."

She smiles at me, and I don't tell her that I don't think this ride is scary. I just smile back.

"Spence?"

I burrow further into my pillow, trying to hold onto my dream. The soft chuckle and the fingers running through my hair are refusing to let me slip back into my dream though.

"Spence, time to wake up. We're here." She smiles down at me, and I smile back.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself. Did you have a good nap?"

"Yeah." I sit up and look around. We're still in Aiden's car, but now we're in a parking lot, and Ashley's car is parked beside us. "I couldn't sleep last night."

"Me either." She admits as she smooths back my messed up hair. "I was too worried about you to sleep."

I smile and place a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth. She'd hate me saying it, but Ashley has no idea how adorable she is when she says things like that.

"Thelma. Louise. Either one of you coming out of there sometime tonight?"

Ashley rolls her eyes and glares over at Aiden. She looks ready to hit him for the remark, so I have to step in. "Didn't I just do that last night?" I comment wryly, climbing over Ashley. I land on the ground a bit awkwardly, but still reach up to help Ashley down.

She steps down and backs me up against the inside of the door with a grin. I bite back a moan as she presses up against me. "I can't wait until we get to a hotel," she whispers in a husky tone beside my ear. "No Paula barging in at the wrong moment. No Aiden with his stupid comments." Her voice drops even lower, "No interruptions," and between her touch, her voice and the images she's instigating, I can't hold the moan back. She pulls away with a satisfied smirk and walks away like nothing happened, leaving me slouching against the door as she hugs Aiden goodbye.

"You coming, Spence?" She teases as she walks past me to her car. My eyes narrow at the smug tone. I am so getting her back for that later.

"Thanks." I give Aiden a quick hug before rushing over to the other side of Ashley's car and climbing in.

The roller coaster slows to a stop and we wait for the attendant to undo the bar that's holding us in place. "That wasn't so boring, was it?" I ask, even though I'm pretty sure I know her answer.

She smiles at me. "No, but that's 'cause you're here."

I smile, ducking my head to hide my blush. I glance up, surprised when I feel her lips on my cheek.

"You're cute when you blush." She grins, and I feel my face get warmer.

The attendant gets to our car and releases the metal bar. "Guess you got her to stop complaining about the ride." He smirks, and I watch her glare at him as he walks away.

I lean in and kiss her cheek, making her blush lightly. "You're cute when you're mad." The blush is gone, replaced with a horrified look that I have to fight not to laugh at.

"I don't do 'cute'," she grumbles. She sits back in the seat and folds her arms over her chest.

"Are you sure?" I tilt my head in mock confusion. "'Cause it's even cuter when you pout," I tease. I know I shouldn't. Something tells me it's like when I get to the toy in the cereal box before Glen. I may get the toy, but my Barbies disappear, only to turn up later on with missing arms, legs and heads. So, I know I shouldn't provoke her, but I just can't seem to resist doing it anyways.

I watch with an odd sort of fascination as her head snaps over to my direction. Her eyes have a dangerous glint to them, and she stares at me for a long moment before she speaks. "Run."

I grin and take a step back as she stands, and when she takes her first step forward, I bolt. Racing down the metal ramp, I chance a glance back at her and see her not far behind me, grinning as she chases after me. I turn my attention back to where I'm going just in time to notice the stairs. I slow slightly as I run down them. Last thing I want to do is trip. That'd be embarrassing. Once I reach the bottom, I pick up speed again, running until I crash into a pair of arms.

"I thought I said 'No running', Spencer." Mom. I struggle a bit in her grasp, but it's useless. She's not letting me go. I glance behind me and see the brown haired girl from the roller coaster standing a few feet away with a smirk playing on her lips.

"Sorry," I blush a bit at being scolded in front of my new friend. "Mom, this is-" I glance over at her questioningly. I forgot to ask for her name earlier, but she didn't know mine either - or at least, she hadn't until Mom called me by it.

"Ashley!" Her attention is pulled away to the teen running towards her. "I told you to come right back over to me once you got off the ride." She shoots me an eye roll and a grin that I return.

"Sorry, Ethan. Can we stay with Spencer?"

He looks confused. "Who?"

"Spencer. I met her on the kiddie coaster you made me go on." I smile as she glares up at him - obviously still a bit upset about that.

He rolls his eyes. "Ash, you are a kid, but sure. I don't see why not. As long as it's okay with her mom?" He directs that last part towards Mom.

I look up at her with what Dad calls my 'puppy dog eyes'. "Can we stay with Ashley? Please? I promise I won't run around anymore," I add quickly.

"All right," she relents.

"Yes!" I manage to pull out of her grip this time and run over to Ashley.

"No running."

Ashley grins at me and slips her hand into mine. "So, what d'you wanna do next?"

"Leave me alone!" I yell.

"Leave me alone!" He repeats mockingly.

I let out a furious noise that he imitates as well. I turn to leave when he grabs the cotton candy my mom just got me out of my hands. "Hey! Give that back."

"Hey! Give that back." He mocks, holding the candy out of my reach as I grab for it. "You want it back?"

"Yes! Give it!"

"Fine." He smashes the sticky candy into my hair, making sure to smear it in.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes and spilling down my face.

"Hey!" Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a streak of motion, and the boy is roughly shoved away from me. He crashes to the ground. "Leave my Spencer alone!" He scrambles away from my defender, stumbling over himself to get away from her.

"Spencer? Are you alright, sweetie?" Mom holds me, and I cling to her as she picks the cotton candy out of my hair as much as she can.

"Why was he being so mean to me?" I manage to choke out in between sobs.

She crouches down to my height and brushes my tears away, but more replace them. "Oh, honey, he likes you. He just doesn't know how else to show you."

"Spence? You okay?" I pull out of my mom's arms and hug Ashley. I nod against her shoulder as she holds me close. My tears die down quickly, but I don't pull back. "Boys ruin everything," she grumbles, and I nod my agreement.

I hear mom chuckle behind us, and I turn to see her. "You say that now, but they do grow up." She smiles when Ashley snorts her disagreement. "When you're older, you'll meet the right boy and get married and live happily ever after."

"Boys are stupid. I don't wanna marry one of them. I wanna marry Spencer when I'm older." She gives me a nose-scrunching grin, and I grin back at her. "C'mon," she locks her hand with mine. "Ethan's getting me a cotton candy. You can share with me since yours was ruined." I follow her over to where Ethan is standing in line, not paying any attention to the expression on my Mom's face.

A slow, lazy smile spreads across my face. I've missed this - waking up in Ashley's arms with her breath lightly tickling my ear. I slowly turn in her arms, trying to move without waking

her. It doesn't go as well as I had planned.

"Spence, too early," Ashley mumbles sleepily, not opening her eyes. "Go back to sleep."

I glance over her shoulder at the clock. "Ash, it's almost 11," I grin.

"Not my fault someone kept me up all night," she smirks, still refusing to open her eyes.

"Aww, that horrible person," I grin unsympathetically. "I guess I should let you get back to sleep then, right?"

She nods slightly. There's a little smile on her face now. It's cute that she thinks she's won. I smirk and place a kiss on her forehead. "I'll let you sleep then." I move closer, so my

lips are hovering just beside her ear. "And don't worry, I promise I won't keep you awake at night anymore," I whisper teasingly. I pull back quickly, grinning broadly as I try to quickly

climb out of bed.

Her eyes open quickly, and she's moving before I've even managed to untangle myself from the bedding. "Oh, God!" I gasp, trying desperately to draw in a breath. "A- Ash! Stop. Please!"

Her fingers are dancing over my sides as I convulse, trying to get away even as I try to stop her fingers. "Ashely, please!"

She smirks down at me. "Take it back," she warns.

"C- C- Can't brea- breathe!" I gasp dramatically. Her fingers stop for a moment, giving me the time to comply with her demand. I use the opportunity to get away instead. Her fingers quickly started back up on my sides, catching me off guard. I jerk away from her grasp, falling hard off the bed and onto the floor.

"Spence? You okay?" She leans over the side of the bed to check on me.

I grin up at her, remembering my dream.

Her words and the concerned look that went with them were exactly the same as they had been all those years ago.

It's almost unbelievable really. To think that at six years old, we had that instant connection, and then ten years later, it had still been there, even though neither one of us had remembered the other.

"Spence?"

"Huh?" She just grins down at me and reaches down. I let her pull me up and back onto the bed.

She pushes a loose strand of hair out of my face. Her grin is gone now. She's staring at me intently with the barest hint of a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"I love you, so much, and I'm really glad you came with me."

I lean in and kiss her before resting my forehead against her. "I love you. There's no way that I'd let my mother keep us apart."

"And do you, Spencer Carlin, take Ashley Davies to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to honor, to treasure, in the good times, and in the bad, to love and cherish her always?"

"I-" I look down at our hands, trying to gather my thoughts. Moments ago, I knew exactly what I was supposed to say, but it doesn't feel right.

Not anymore.

My thumb fiddles with the piece of platinum that sits on my finger, shifting it back and forth. Her thumb glides back and forth over my fingers, reassuring me. "I remember the first time you told me you were going to marry me." My voice sounds almost distant to my ears, so soft that I wonder for a moment if anyone other than Ashley can hear me. "Mom was so upset." I chuckle softly and look back up, meeting her eyes again. Ashley's still smiling, but I can see the confusion clearly in her eyes. "We were at the fair, and Mom had just bought me some cotton candy. You were with Ethan, still in line waiting to get yours, and this boy came up and took my cotton candy from me."

Ashley's got an awed look on her face now, and I know she remembers. "He rubbed it in my hair, and I started crying. Then you came out of nowhere, and shoved him to the ground, telling him to leave your Spencer alone. My own personal superhero," I grin. "Then Mom came over, trying to make everything better, and told us that one day we wouldn't think boys were so horrible.

She wasn't too happy when you told her that you didn't want to marry a 'stupid boy', you wanted to marry me instead." We're both trying not to laugh. "It wasn't until the ride home that I really understood that it wasn't the most acceptable thing in the world. All I knew was that I had just met this amazing, adorably cute," I shoot her a teasing smirk, "girl, who had in moments become my best friend, confidant and protector, and I couldn't see ever replacing her with anyone else."

I take the platinum band, identical to the one that now rests on my hand and slide it onto her finger.

I don't know how long I've just been standing here smiling before I notice her lips moving. "Say 'I do'." She mouths to me. She grinned as I felt my cheeks heating up. We had agreed on using the traditional vows, but I'd forgotten all about that in my little trip down memory lane.

"I do," I say quickly.

The priest just smiles at us. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Ashley barely waits until he finishes before tugging me closer. The kiss lasts longer than it's probably supposed to, but I can't bring myself to care.

"I'm glad you were too short for the adult rides," I say when we eventually break apart.

She smiles at me and brushes aside a lock of my hair that had fallen out of place. "So am I, Spence. So am I."

End.