It's been a while since I last updated anything. Things got busy, and I don't have my laptop right now which makes it even harder to find the time. Everything will eventually be finished, but for now, there is this randomly OOC short piece -

She sighed, stepping into her daughter's room quietly, picking up the soft blanket that had been discarded over the back of the rocking chair. Unfolding it, she placed it over the teenager's sleeping form before moving the latest book she was reading for her Lit class from under her hand and placing it on the bedside table.

She looked around, checking for anything else that needed to be done in the room, unwilling to leave just yet, and caught a glimpse of her neighbour's house out of the window. She frowned, stepping forward as a figure quickly moved away from the window of the DiLaurentis house. Pulling the curtains closed, she let out a sigh of exasperation, Jason was back, she assumed, and she knew how much her daughter loved her half brother, but that didn't settle her own fears that the man could be a threat to them.

She moved to the other windows, closing the curtains, suddenly aware that it was the only way she could ensure that no one but she or her husband could watch their daughter as she slept. The amount of murders in this town had her increasingly concerned that anyone could be next, and she had no idea how these perpetrators chose their victims. She turned to look over at her daughter, considering whether or not to stay in the room. Watching their child sleep was not something that either she or her husband had done since the girl herself had been merely five. Work had got hectic, and their daughters had spent most of their respective childhoods in the care of a nanny. She never really let that hit her until she had time with them. Time that showed her just how much she had missed while focusing on the next court case.

She paused, moving towards the bed and sitting down by her daughter, examining her face as she slept. She found it hard to believe that this was the same girl who just last week had been staying at a psychiatric hospital. She was almost back to her normal self, but Veronica couldn't help but think there was still a lot she was holding back. She reached out brushing her thumb gently over her daughter's forehead, being careful not to wake her as she ran her fingers over her cheek, wondering how she hadn't seen how necessary it was for her to be with her children as much as possible. She stood, not wanting to risk waking the teenager any longer, before moving to turn out the lights and quietly exiting, leaving the door ajar out of habit.

She paused at the top of the stairs, listening to the whispered voices of her husband coming from downstairs as he spoke on the phone. She listened for a while, establishing that he was talking to their elder daughter. She'd been avoiding them since they had returned home after hearing what had happened to her sister, and Veronica knew that was because she believed she had failed them. She had agreed to care for her sibling while they were away and had lost track of her. Hadn't been there to prevent her stay at Radley. She was blaming herself more than anyone else ever could.

"She's sleeping." Veronica responded to the questioning gaze as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

She watched as her husband hung up the phone. "Melissa just wanted to check in and see how she is." He paused. "She thinks her staying away for a few days may help Spencer."

"I don't know what will help her right now." Veronica sighed. "She won't talk. I have no idea how things ended up the way they did, and she won't let me in."

"She's a teenager."

"Something's wrong, Peter." She insisted. "I thought it was Toby at first but she's clinging to him as if her life depends on it, so whatever they were fighting about is clearly done."

"Are we sure it wasn't him?" He brought up. "Spencer letting him back in doesn't mean we should be trusting him."

"I don't know." Veronica admitted. "He's always been so good to her, but you saw how she was, Peter, that was not nothing."

He hesitated, looking into the flames of the fire as he thought of the events of months before. "Do you think she'd tell us if Mona started something again?"

"I asked her to." Veronica pointed out. "But I don't know. I don't know what's going on in her head."

He sat down, dropping his head in his hands as he rubbed his temples as if to ward of an oncoming headache, before turning back to the flames, watching as they danced in the safety of the fireplace. "Melissa didn't just call to check in." He looked back up at his wife. "She called to apologize for not telling us that Spencer was skipping school while we were gone. She thought she could handle it." He took a breath. "She also said that when she found her at Radley, she seemed somewhat indifferent as to whether or not we came to her. Almost as if she was pleased that she had ended up there. Melissa got the impression that she was a lot more upset than Spencer was."

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"I think she wanted to prove to us, and to herself, that she doesn't need help to take care of her sister."

Veronica sat down next to him, staring forward. "Do you ever wonder if all of this is our fault?" She paused. "I don't know what I was thinking. I knew she was in a bad way, I shouldn't have left. There was no real need for me to leave her and I did. I left her and put Melissa in a horrible situation."

Peter sighed, unsure how to react. Their marriage had been strained for a while now, ever since she'd found out about Jason being his. The trip had partially been to try and salvage something from it, but they hadn't considered whether or not the timing was good for their daughters. "I thought Melissa would be able to handle it." Peter reminded her. "You were the one that wasn't convinced, and you were right. You always are."

She nodded. "I talked to Dr. Sullivan."

"What did she say?"

"She believes that Spencer needs some time. Time and routine. We should give it a few weeks and if we're still concerned make an appointment."

"That probably isn't a bad idea."

"I think it's something we may have to take her up on. I feel like Spencer needs help that we can't give her, especially if she won't talk to us."

"She won't like it."

"She gave me the funniest look earlier." Peter watched as his wife almost laughed at the thought, ignoring his own words, before seemingly changing her mind as to whether or not it was funny. "I didn't know why until I realised how strange this must all be for her. It's like what happened after Mona all over again, my staying home with her as much as I can."

"Maybe that's what she needs." Peter suggested. "For us to be home more." He paused. "It's never that simple though."

"Nothing ever is."