Thank you so much for the reviews & encouragement! The plan is to update this roughly once a week. Even though this a Wren POV, you can assume Spencer's side happens how it does from the time she goes back to Rosewood until the Dollhouse. It'll AU from here on out though.


The flat is as still as ever by the time Wren and Spencer move through the front door. It's only half past ten but Melissa chatted his ear off about having a morning meeting she couldn't miss under any circumstances when she called him on the train. Colin normally slips off to bed early to be fully functioning for the kids he instructs. With them both he's thankful for the absence, fearing the tension coming off of both him and Spencer is noticeable to just about anyone. Questions he's not much in the mood to answer.

His bag drops by the door and he shrugs his coat off, watching Spencer out of the corner of his eye. He desperately tries his best to not think of the way she looked at him when they were nothing but a mess of tangled limbs in an awful hotel bed. He fails when the smile comes across his lips, allowing his gaze to linger for a moment too long, only managing to fall when she catches him. Even then it doesn't fall that much. Not when it's hard to deny just how much time he enjoys spending with her, has since they first met.

He's not entirely certain what she is thinking and is hesitant to ask. No part of him is proud for what they did. Self control never seems to exist when she's around. Only being around her makes him feeling something he's been craving to get back to when he met her in her parent's backyard with that look on her face telling him just how much animosity existed between her and her elder sister. They are a long way from Rosewood and nothing is as simple as it seemed back then.

It's ironic in a mess of ways. Back in Rosewood he had a failed engagement but as he walks to the fridge so much more weighs upon his shoulders he doesn't know where to start. In truth, he didn't think Spencer would be a factor in his life again. Foolish given his stance with Melissa, but they live in London for a reason. He doesn't think Melissa would bother with him if they were still living in the States. Not when she can keep a whole ocean between he and Spencer. His affection for the younger Hastings' runs deep. It is bloody apparent to anyone who looks at him and he knows it.

He also knows just what kind of man that makes him.

"Are you hungry?" Wren asks casually as his eyes scour the fridge, doing his best to look anywhere but her.

Spencer doesn't answer immediately, leaving a silence until Wren looks back at her. "I should just...go to bed."

"You didn't eat on the train."

"I'm not…" she trails off before moving to look through the fridge, grabbing the jar of pickles and moving to the counter.

He finds it odd but doesn't mention it, grabbing a yogurt as he searches for a spoon. The air is thick with tension between them. They should talk before Melissa takes note the following day. She picks up everything and he's in no mood for a fight with her. Of course, if they are to have the conversation anywhere a few feet from where Melissa seems a poor idea. Full of those as of late. As if being in Rosewood followed him to London, making connections he should not be making.

Not all of which Spencer knows about, not in their true detail. He's hesitant to tell her even if he knows he should. She deserves to know complete truths over the fragments he delivers instead. Always deserves more than he's ever been able to offer her. Even one stolen night while he continues his relationship with her sister is something that feels him with a shame and guilt, something that screams at him on the inside, that she deserves something, someone more. He's reading too much into it. It's not as if he doesn't know what one night means or that when she goes back to Rosewood she'll likely patch her life back up with Toby.

Just the mere thought of his name causes Wren to grip the spoon harder. It's ridiculous how he feels about the poor bloke but it's existed for so long he doesn't know how to do without it. Spencer may say she will break things off with Toby but he knows better. He knows she manages to find her peace with him and he exists as something of a detour when she needs something different. All of which he has no right to allow the bitter, sad feeling to flood him, or to think of how things could be different.

They can't be different. They are what they are and that's all there is to it.

He turns around and finds himself seated with her at the table. The yogurt is not something he desires nor is something he particularly pays attention to as he consumes it in order to fill the silence. She's staring at him in a way he thinks the table could be used for ulterior purposes. He's a risk taker but not that much of a risk taker, it being nothing but a thought fading away.

"Thanks for coming with me. It was...nice."

"It was." He agrees, setting the containing down on the table. "Decided if Britain is better than the States yet?"

"Well, the Britain has Melissa but the States has...everyone else so…" she shrugs and eats a pickle. "I think it's a toss up. Maybe I should just move to Australia. I mean, the odds are higher that a venomous snake gets me in my sleep, but far away from the crazy."

"I do not believe running away is your answer."

"Isn't that what Melissa did?" Spencer shrugs, not taking her gaze from him. "What time does Melissa leave?"

"She'll be gone by seven."

"And you?"

"My shift does not start until noon."

Spencer nods but doesn't say anything else. Instead she puts the jar back in the fridge before grabbing her bag next to his and disappearing around the corner. When he hears the door close he runs his hands over his face, letting out a deep sigh. He knows he cannot sit there forever in the kitchen in the dark. Definitely not when his mind is just a war of thoughts with multiple Hastings. The last thing that sitting there is going to do is solve any of his problems, problems that he constantly brings upon himself.

Forcing himself to finish the yogurt he slips off to the bedroom. His eyes catch the slight of a sleeping Melissa as if she doesn't have a care in the world. She doesn't, he supposes, not when everything is unknown to her. He desires to keep it that way when everything else managed to cause him to hurt her. It's never his intention. Things just happen. It's a poor excuse and one that doesn't make him feel better about his actions. What she doesn't know cannot hurt her. It's the only justification he can manage to come up with.

He's not in love with Melissa just as he suspects she's not in love with him. They care about each other. It's familiar in a way that only the other can give and it allows them both to have something when everything else gets ripped away in droves. It doesn't mean that if she ever finds out he slept with Spencer she won't hate him for it. Maybe she'll be able to forgive Spencer for it. They are sisters, after all. There's a certain amount of things siblings can get over.

He thinks he should shower before getting into bed next to Melissa. He can feel Spencer all over him. It's not something he wants to rid himself of, but Melissa has a suspicious way about her. Something he doesn't blame her for, just something he doesn't wish to encounter before he's able to rest and collect himself.

The water from the shower is hot as he allows it to cascade down him. Soon it feels like all traces of Spencer are gone, a thought that doesn't sit well with him. It's irrational, he knows that. Entirely irrational in a way that ticks at the inner psychiatric part of him, to delve deeper into things that are never as simple as what exists on the surface. Regardless of how irrational or rational the thoughts moving through his mind are he knows he's a damn bloody mess. Nothing can be undone.

Some of those very things that cannot be undone will only hurt Spencer in ways he doesn't wish to hurt her. It seems that is something of a common theme with him and those with the Hastings last name. He made his connections with Charlotte and Alex at the most inopportune times to be there with such a hesitation that he only realizes where he's standing when the water shifts to cold.

Stepping out of the shower her grabs the towel and dries himself off. His mind shifts to Spencer near constantly, as if he simply cannot stop thinking about her. He can't. Whenever he's near her she just consumes him. Something about her. He hasn't quite understood it. Not when he first kissed her and now as he stands there in the bathroom.

One moment, wasn't that one Spencer had said to him? If only she knew just how true those words for them. The secrets with Alex were only something of the beginning. He aimed to protect through as much as he could but things were twisting further and further away from him. "Damn it." He murmurs to himself running his hand through his hair.

By the time he makes it to the bed Melissa wakes glancing over at him only partially awake. "How'd it go?"

"You should ask Spencer. It's her interview." He comments as he lays down next to her, laying on his side so he can look at her. "She was quiet almost the entire ride back."

"I'm tired of lying to her."

"I know." More than she understands. "You should let her go home, Melissa."

"They'll arrest her. You don't know what that town is like. They decide you're guilty before you have a chance to prove you're innocent. If I know anything is where Alison brings her trouble it's Spencer that goes down first. Jason chooses to protect Alison, I have to protect Spencer. Everything I have done is to protect Spencer."

"You can't protect her here, you know that. They'll arrest her anyway. Let her do it on her own terms."

"I thought we agreed."

"You agreed for the both of us."

Melissa rolls her eyes. "Let's just see how the trial goes."

Wren gets comfortable in the bed without replying to Melissa. He knows if he pushes her too far she'll only lock up completely and Spencer will end up stuck in London until the end of time. It's not that wishes for her to leave and go back to Rosewood. He knows just how dangerous the charges against Alison are and how dangerous they will be against Spencer. He doesn't find it odd that a sister and mother would do anything in their power to protect Spencer. He does know that running was not going to solve anything, not unless she finds herself missing like Alison did.

"We'll see how the trail goes." The words only come when he hears the way Melissa's breathing shifts telling him she's asleep.


By the time he wakes Melissa is long gone, her side of the bed cold, leaving Wren all tangled up in the sheets. It's somehow earlier and later than he thinks when he does manage to check the time on his phone, a soft groan slipping from him as he manages to make it out of bed, and find a shirt. He chooses not to allow his mind to wander as he makes it out to the living room, eyes catching Spencer immediately.

"I'm going for a run." She tells him as she stands from the couch, pulling up her hair in a tie.

"Want some company?" The question comes without him even really thinking about it.

Spencer raises her eyebrow at him near instantly. "Do you even run, Oxford?"

No, is the correct answer. "I can run." Physically, he can run. Whether or not he can keep up is something else entirely. It can't be that hard, can it? Either way he's about to find out.

"Okay, yeah. But if I leave you in the dust not my problem."

Wren rolls his eyes even if she's right, she will most definitely leave him in the dust. Not that he expects any less. She's competitive, to put it lightly. Very, very lightly. He slips off to the bedroom only to find himself dreadfully unprepared to run with her or anywhere. His trainers are all the way in the back of the closet right next to heels Melissa swears up and down she needs to keep even though he's never seen her wear them in the years he's known her. By the time he actually makes it back to the living room, where Spencer is firmly seated on the couch captivated by her phone, he knows how bad of an idea it is. The snort that comes from her doesn't help.

"You look," she begins, pausing, eyeing him carefully, "so out of place."

Wren feels as out of place as he looks. His days of rowing at Oxford are long behind him. "I heard that."

She feigns innocence. "What?"

"Let's go, Spencer."

Clouds overcast the city as they make it downstairs. Not that it stops how enthusiastic Spencer is. A sight he's missed since she's been quite displeased with him since stumbling upon him and Alex. It does not take long before his lungs burn in a not so pleasant way and he realizes a desire to spend time with Spencer was probably best satisfied if they do something that doesn't cause his mind to turn to dramatic thoughts. He's a doctor and should likely be in better shape than he actually is.

His struggle to keep up with her is obvious as his breathing becomes more labored just by trying. He also takes note of the way she's slowing down periodically so he doesn't fall far behind. She's winning, even if they aren't racing. Everything's a competition and his own drive might have began to rival hers if he didn't feel as if he was going to drop at any moment.

It takes a near mile before he stops, unable to keep going. He simply doesn't care and leans against a wall, so close to doubling over, and expelling the contents of his stomach. The only saving grace is that it's not bloody hot outside, otherwise he's positive he'd be lying on the ground in a dramatic fashion that doesn't even suit him.

"You can't keep up." There's a gloat in her voice as she stands in front of him, a smile to match her tone.

He's panting heavily, shaking his head. "I don't run."

"You're a doctor."

"I don't know if you know what doctors do but there is hardly a physical."

"And the smoking?" She can't help but point out. "How does Melissa put up with you?"

"If you see Melissa out here running…"

"Point."

"Come on. We're finishing."

"No." Wren groans as he manages to stand up straight. "We are not running anywhere."

"Yes."

With one look from Spencer that he swears is how she has to get her way with anyone they run down the block again. His lungs burn less than before but he can feel himself psyching out just because he knows the misery. He slows down to something of a job and swear he looks a total amatuer compared to Spencer who is running as if there's some marathon happening.

His athletic days of secondary school and Oxford were long gone and so was his ability to keep up with eighteen year old Spencer. She ends up running quite ahead of him, to which he hardly minds. It's a view worth seeing even as there's guilt that creeps in...for both her age and everything else. He thinks his lungs burning is better than his mind roaming and manages to catch up to Spencer where she's standing.

"Were you waiting for me?" He pretends to not be as out of breath as he is.

"No." The lie is clear as she smiles. "Don't you feel better?"

"No, I feel like I need to shower before work and I'm tired."

"That means you should run more so you don't end up with a beer gut."

"Not your type?" He doesn't help the way he stands a little closer to her then.

She doesn't move back from him but there's a certain stiffness that finds her. "Melissa can't find out."

"That we went on a run?"

"She'll never forgive me or you."

"It's always been you, Spencer." Wren does his best to not reach out and touch her. He wants to. He wants so bad that he ends up crossing his arms simply so he doesn't. The rain starts to fall on them then, to which he doesn't move. Just watches her with that expression he knows he has around her, unable to keep the soft smile from across his lips. She likely thinks his line is pure rubbish. "I have made a lot of mistakes but this, you, you've never been a mistake."

"I'll remember that in prison."

"Spencer," he looks down briefly to avoid touching her. His mouth opens but he struggles to find any of the words he's looking for. What is there to say when he shouldn't be saying anything at all? There is a whole host of things he should tell her. He needs to, he knows that. He needs to give her a whole vision of what exactly happened and what is happening around her. He doesn't, not when he's standing there and just watching her. In all fairness, he doesn't have any information on Mona or Alison. He doesn't know much about what happened. If something exists that makes Spencer look guilty right next to Alison it's not something he can intercept to keep her out of jail. It's not as if he nor Melissa can help her, but still, something exists within him that makes him need to tell him what he does know. Even if it doesn't help and just makes her hate him.

"Spencer, I…" She goes wide eyed for a brief moment as she looks down at her phone. Her face evens and he pretends not to notice.

"I have to...call Jason."

Wren doesn't believe she's telling the truth but he just nods, not planning on shoving himself in where he doesn't belong.

His own phone goes off when she walks a bit away from him to make a call he briefly thinks about attempting to listen in on. The rain isn't heavy enough to impair it. But his own eyes widen when he looks down at his phone. Charlotte and him hold something of tumultuous dynamic, to put it nicely. His first psychiatric rotation happened to be at Radley where he met Charlotte, for her to nearly completely manipulate him until he learned better. One of the supervising doctors had simply been amused by the whole deal saying something similar happened to him. He risked a lot for Charlotte or for her to make a complete mess of everything in the end. To him, she was Charlotte, but to everyone she was Cece. Spencer deserved to know but she knew Cece and it all seemed so…

[ Charlotte; 9:04, AM] Tell on me, I tell on you.

The message doesn't bother to hide who it's coming from. Charlotte. It causes something of an inner war with himself. If he tells Spencer about Charlotte and what she did then he's entirely certain that the lovely little video on his phone will go to Melissa and her parents. He knows how she operates and it's maximum impact. He desperately tries not to think about being seen, about what was theirs now isn't, how that invasion is something next level when it's just not the two of them kissing. It's them on the bed, it's them without clothes, stolen in moments that should be for them only, not for the psychotic pleasure of another.

[ Wren; 9:05, AM ]: Leave her out of this. I mean it.

[ Charlotte; 9:06 AM ]: Sure you're with the right Hastings'? I can hit send at any time. I'm sure daddy Hastings would love to see what you do with his little girl when nobody's watching.

[ Wren; 9:07 AM ]: What do you want?

[ Charlotte; 9:10 AM ]: Keep your mouth shut. Wouldn't want to lose it. Deliver the package I'm sending to your apartment to Alex. No questions asked.

[ Wren; 9:11 AM ]: Stop spying on me.

"Ready?" Spencer comes back over to him to ask just when he sent the last message.

Wren bites his tongue on all of the things that he wants to say but makes no mention of anything. He doesn't trust Charlotte and while Spencer is acting odd it's not enough for him to think she's making a mess again. Alex assured him she just left to be with Archer. Mona's death and Alison's trial serve to satisfy it, along with Spencer's obvious issues she's had since he saw her in Radley. "Yeah, I'm not running back."

Spencer rolls her eyes. "Fine, we'll walk."

He can tell by that look on her face she's giving him a playful judgement and he finds it's endearing almost. "Melissa should be back around four."

"I'll busy myself."

"You going to avoid her forever?"

Spencer crosses her arm as she shoots him something of a glare. "Yes. I've been doing it most of my life. Just because I'm staying with her doesn't mean anything."

"She cares about you."

"Please, please do not defend her right now."

He knows he touched a nerve and can feel the way he's caught between both Spencer and Melissa. It's not his favorite place to be. Somehow the messes get messier. His care for Spencer mixed with a loyalty to Melissa. They both manage to mess with his head in ways that are a lot harder to explain than he desires. He's a piece out of many that gets between them and there's a sense that he needs to smooth the waters. Even before he met Spencer, Melissa didn't speak of her in high regard. It struck him as odd but as time ticks by it seems normal. "I wasn't."

Spencer doesn't reply and silence finds them as they walk down the street.

"What are you thinking?"

Spencer shrugs, avoiding for a few passing moments. "Do you regret it?"

"No." He answers quickly and absolutely, no wavering in his voice, nothing defensive in his tone. He doesn't regret anything with her no matter all the messes it brings him. Even with Charlotte's knowledge on his mind, not trusting her in the slightest, does he not regret it. "Do you?"

"I should but I don't know."

When they make it back there's a package sitting outside the door to which he picks up. He opens it in the kitchen and hopes there's nothing in there to set Spencer off. Her phone rings though, giving him a moment to open it without making him seem like he's being secretive. From her greeting he notes it's Veronica and can see the way she tenses and her tone turns to something akin to how she was with Melissa the previous day when they were in the hotel room.

He tries not to listen as he dumps the contents of the package out on the table. It's a whole pile of paperwork that traces back to the Carissimi group. Along with a file on Mary Drake and Peter Hastings, confirming that he is Alex's father, Spencer's, too. That's something, he thinks, that throughout this whole mess at least Spencer's father is her biological one. It's a complicated situation, he's aware. He just knows that only losing one parent, in a figurative sense, will be easier. Or perhaps Spencer will be too upset by the lies to care.

Spencer lets out a frustrated groan and he shoves the contents back into the envelope to be delivered to Alex later, not wanting to arouse questions.

"She's insufferable." Spencer lets out as she sits down on the couch. "She and Melissa are. I'm tired of the Hastings family image. All the time. If you say they are trying to protect me I'll kill you."

Wren smiles as he walks over and takes a seat next to her. "It's hard to escape our families."

"What about yours?"

"My mum lives up in Liverpool. I see her sometimes. I don't have any siblings. My whole life has been devoted to finding answers my father couldn't." Wren looks down for a moment. "You could go on and live a life away from them. You could end up wandering around Europe looking for your calling. Only," he turns to her, "we both know your desire to go to Oxford is not because of your parents or Melissa. It's because you want it."

"Maybe that's what old Spencer wants."

"Is it?"

Spencer lets out a sigh. "I do want to go to Oxford or St. Andrews or Georgetown. Break from my parents."

"And your friends."

"We've been through a lot," she confesses, "more than anyone who is only eighteen should. I'll miss them though."

Wren gives her a smile. He can only empathize with her aloud to Mna, to Alison going missing. Nothing concerning Charlotte, the fire, New York. He doesn't like lying to her but thinks the truth might be too much. It's entirely selfish. "You're all alive now, minus Mona. But she wasn't very much your friend, anyhow" when she smiles, so does he. "This will all blow over and you'll have a chance to embrace life. You deserve that, Spencer. Melissa is wrong about a lot of things but a fresh start is not one of them."

"I've been caught in Rosewood for so long that it seems so foreign."

"Yeah, it's like that."

"Will you teach me to be British?"

"Something tells me you'll be an expert before you even get back here."

"No." She attempts to deny but smile. "Okay, maybe, but that's neither here nor there."

"I have to get ready for work." He does wish he can sit there for the rest of the day, just with her. Even if they'd probably only make more messes. "If Melissa gets on your nerves too much you know where the hospital is."

"Yeah, thanks."


His shift goes by painfully slow, as all had that week. He likes his job, otherwise he would not be doing it. One does not pour so much time into getting the qualification to become a doctor for it to not be something he truly likes. Only, he's been caught listening to patients all day. The group therapy session left little to be desired as none of them spoke much, nor did the fighting with the patient who would often decides her medication is not worth taking. The human part of him doesn't necessarily blame her. The things he's seen from the people that move through those hospitals...even something as simple as medication disrupts them in ways that are helpful, yet undesired personally.

It's sobering in a lot of ways, to go and see those people who are having issues they cannot fix themselves. It reminds him of seeing Spencer in Radley and how his heart sunk to his stomach for her. His attachment is always near and over the past few days he's definitely caught himself eying her a little too closely. She deserves more credit than that. She's pulled herself together and managed to sober her up. He can't help himself regardless.

Not when he sees how on edge she is and how things are a little more closer to danger than he'd like. He tries to not psychoanalyze her. She'd hate that but being witness to someone one cares about essentially breaking down as things around her fall apart brings a little more of the doctor side of him out.

There's no clarity to dealing with the mentally ill. He's noticed that with his father. He's noticed that with Mona. He sees it in Charlotte when he tries not to be her doctor and instead be her...he doesn't know. Friends is something of a loose term that hardly applies when she's constantly using him to her own advantage and he's doing his best to pull away so that his life can remain normal. None of this is what he ever meant to get himself involved in. Only he is. He's involved right alongside everyone else for reasons that seem so foolish when he thinks them out.

He signs one last patient file before grabbing this things and making his way out of the hospital. It's well into the night but his phone is silent. Even Melissa hadn't bothered to text him, which is about right. Things are stable with her in a way that is so predictable he knows when Spencer leaves any form of excitement leaves. He likes Melissa, cares for her, loves her in a way, but they aren't going to marry. She will not have his children. They'll just be for now, however that is. Sometimes he looks at her and thinks she's still in pain over Ian, over her child. He's an odd sort of comfort, someone who doesn't really deserve anything like a second chance, nor someone who explicitly desires it. As time goes by he's aware of just how unsavory of a person he actually is. Not deserving of anyone in the situation as it moves. Charlotte, perhaps. He cannot help but laugh at that. Charlotte would use him for her own gain before anything else.

He slips into the still flat and off to the bedroom where Melissa is sound asleep. Within minutes he's next to her and wondering far too many things. Wren almost wakes her to have a conversation he promises Spencer he won't or to ask questions he shouldn't. He doesn't, in the end.

He just lies there hoping sleep will find him before the alarm does.


"I don't think she likes me much." Alex tells him as she leans back in her seat opposite of Wren.

Wren doesn't have a position to argue with Alex. Spencer is impossible to read sometimes but there are other times the way she stands, the way she speaks, it makes the picture crystal clear. "Spencer doesn't know how she feels about you either."

"With Charlotte it was just so instant." Alex's eyes glance down to the drink in front of her, running her finger around the rim of the glass. "Like I found who I was missing my whole life but Spencer is lost in her own bloody mind half the time. Like she's not even seeing me. If she doesn't want to see me I wish she just said it."

"I told you we should have just told her."

"Maybe what charlotte said is true. She's just as wicked as the rest of the Hastings."

"Give her a shot."

"We're not all pussy whipped like you."

Wren ignores her statement and slides her the envelope full of contents he promised he'd give. "Charlotte wants you to have this."

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Alex gives him a suspicious kind of look as she peeks into the envelope and reading through all of the papers. "I want to meet him. Peter Hastings."

"No, you don't."

Alex sighs, "Wren, come on. I do. He's my father. I have one. I've never had one."

There's no way to tell her what he thinks of Peter Hastings without sounding like a pompous ass, or how he doesn't think the meeting will go all that well. The details of how everything happened are a mystery to him but he cannot think that both he and Veronica are innocent parties in all of this. Especially when there's a certain level of natural judgement they give Spencer. "You need to talk to Spencer. Your way is through her, not me."

The answer doesn't please her. Instead it only causes her to finish her drink. "She came 'round last night."

"How'd that go?"

"It went." There's a shrug, focusing more on the papers than anything. "So, who's better? Hastings your own age or the eighteen year old you've been chasing since you met her?"

"Who pissed in your cheerios?"

"She's going back to Rosewood. Leaving just like Charlotte did."

"She's a high school student with parents that…" He decides better than to finish that sentence. It doesn't matter much if Alex knows his feelings on either of Hastings' but Peter is her father. Perhaps she'll bond. He thinks it's unlikely but doesn't wish to give the harsh reality that Melissa and Spencer were angels sent from the heavens above over Peter Hastings. It likely has to do with the desire to wring his bloody neck for kissing Spencer, in her bedroom of all places, while engaged to Melissa. It matters little. "Charlotte chose to leave of her own free will but Spencer is adjusting to the news while trying to finish school."

"So…"

Wren rolls his eyes, unable to help him. "So, she wants to go to Oxford in the fall. You two can see each other. Develop one of those twin bonds people are always on about. She wants to escape family and you want to form one. It'll take time."

Alex pouts, barely accepting his answer. "Take me with you to the airport tomorrow."

"That's not a good idea."

"Spencer said you were taking her since she's not speaking to Melissa. Look, Melissa won't be there. No one else will." She leans across the table a little, looking at him with a wide, hopeful eye. "Come on. I'll owe you."

"Fine." If only because there is nothing that will get him out of it. "We're leaving at 11."


Standing in Heathrow with Spencer and Alex throw him for something of a loop. It's different when he sees them in the bar across from one another than the bright lights of the airport standing next to one another. Spencer is wearing a jumper over her perfectly buttoned up blouse with the collar peeking out the top, to which she put her trench coat over it. It's entirely Spencer. Alex remains in her heavy eyeliner as she wears her leather jacket covering the obvious black skin tight shirt underneath. It's entirely Alex. The only thing they in common is the jeans they are wearing, but he's willing to bet Alex's are worn in versus Spencer's are the second time she's worn them after her mother shoved the pair at her.

They are the least identical twins he's ever seen even when they look at him with that same blank expression questioning while he's just staring at them without saying anything. He smiles, as if he's not studying them, until they are both crossing their arms and all he can do is laugh. It's then, right there, he doesn't have any worries about anything. It's just an amusement that washes over him so completely the ridiculousness of it all hits him. Spencer and Alex are twins.

It's so silly when it's so bloody obvious. Of course they are. He knew the minute she clarified that she was not Spencer and from then things shifted in a whole other direction. If any family was going to have a secret child, outside of Jason DiLaurentis, it was the Hastings. Didn't think the girl would be from England but he supposes it's better than her being right under their noses the entire time.

"You two look like you came out of The Shining."

Alex smiles. "Thank you."

Spencer smiles just like her sister. "My flight is going to board. Could you give us a minute, Wren?"

"Yeah, I'll be over there." He points to some aimless spot where he walks to and just stares up at all of the flights that are boarding. It's about as interesting as watching paint dry when he's not actually going anywhere. When he does happen to look over to Alex and Spencer standing there Spencer is smiling in that genuine way that made him fall for her in the first place. He knows she's still mad at him but she's not Charlotte. It amazes him that she's related to Charlotte with all of this. A detail he forgot to tell her and now it's just...not the time. He doesn't want his last memory of her to be her as she walks away from him angry for leaving out a few more choice details.

Alex looks just as happy as she hugs Spencer. Actually hugs. It's different from how she was with Charlotte but he thinks it's a good thing. Spencer is not the type to cast family aside just because. Even when they kissed in her bedroom she did all she could to make amends with Melissa. Always making amends with Melissa no matter how dark their moments were. A quality he admires. He makes a mental note to call his own mum. Not that they had a falling out just that time passes them by and suddenly he realizes how long it's been since he's bothered to call.

Spencer slips off from Alex and walks over to him, stopping with a look on her face that causes his own to fall to something softer. He's always had something of a soft spot for her. "Don't look at me like that."

"I'm not." Spencer denies but even her smile is weak. "Thank you, for Oxford and St. Andrews. You didn't have to."

"I'm always pleased to do you a favor." He reaches and tucks her hair behind her ear before running his fingers along her jawline. "Text me when you land."

"I will." She promises. "Goodbye, Wren."

He stands there in a bit of a frozen haze that is something entirely too dramatic the way he watches her leave. It's not as if he'll never see her again, but the moments they shared while she was there happened to be ones he enjoyed most of all with all their memories. Her being drunk in his place back in Philadelphia hold a close second. But then she's walking back to him and it only takes him a moment to realize why. She's leaning up and kissing him like she did in the streets before she was in Radley. She's kissing him different than she did in the hotel room. More controlled, no less desire, his hands at her neck as he just lets himself become something of a public spectacle. He doesn't care. He should but he doesn't. Not the way they remain as they are until she's pulling away from him just enough to let out a breath, the soft smile across her lips one he won't forget.

When he opens his mouth to say something she puts a finger to lips. "Shh, don't."

She's gone after that. Walking away as Wren stands there and Alex walks over to him with that questioning look she's had before when he's left out a few details.

"She can't be all prim and proper if she's shagging her sister's boyfriend."

"You have no idea."


Wren quickly learns just how much Alex values having a sister she never did. No matter how many times he asked what Spencer spoke to her about as they made it out from the airport did she manage to tell him. He assumes it's nothing really worth telling. Doubtful that Spencer shared any deep, dark secret standing in an airport, but they are closer than when Spencer was all but yelling at him. At least through Alex's eyes and her ability to accept someone within ten minutes of meeting them.

Spencer takes longer to adjust but he thinks if she ends up at Oxford in the fall it's plenty of time.

When he steps through the door of the flat he walks in to see Melissa cooking, something that strikes him as odd. Usually she's buried in work, as is he, and their eating habits aren't always the most stellar. They are working on it as they always like to say with Colin usually filling in the gaps.

"You're cooking."

"I got off early." She smiles over him. "It's just us so I thought we would have dinner."

Wren smiles almost as if he's wearing a mask. The idea is good and the thought of just a quiet night gives him more peace than his running mind. "Do you want some help?"

"No, I got it."

"I'm taking the six am shift for the next few days."

"I have a major presentation at the end of the week." Melissa counters, "I don't think we should have let Spencer go home. If they find Alison guilty…"

"We can't control what a jury thinks."

"No, I know." She lets out a deep breath and stops stirring the pot, glancing over at him with a pained look in her eyes. "If Spencer goes to jail that's a mark she won't get rid of."

"Your parents are lawyers."

Melissa has this look that tells him she wants to say something but is keeping it to herself in the end. He walks over and grabs a bottle of wine. "Why don't we have dinner, drink this, be an old couple and go to bed obnoxiously early and you can worry about it when the time comes. Spencer won't even land for a few more hours and if something happens Veronica will call you."

Melissa looks between him and the bottle of wine before relenting. "Just tonight. I'm worrying every day this week and even a bottle of wine with your British charm won't stop me."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

They talk through dinner like they've been talking through the past few months. Sometimes he thinks that Melissa has a list of approved topics somewhere in the flat she looks at on occasion so she doesn't deviate. They certainly do not share everything. Only even moved to discussing Spencer since she was showing up in London. He talks like he's not harboring a few major secrets from her and she talks like she doesn't have a million questions. They never speak of Ian or her baby, or anything that happened in Rosewood. It's cordial almost. In a way he usually cannot read.

She ends up kissing him like she always does when he crosses the line he doesn't even know is there. It's comfortable. the pattern and the comfort. She is calmer than he ever remembers her being but can see the worry in her eyes and the way she's stressed beyond words. His own stressors come from a million different spots to be able to pinpoint them.

His mind shuts off when she drags him to their bedroom. It's no fun if he's filled with guilt and secrets he knows Melissa can read. Shutting it off is the way it goes until their lost in a moment that ends with her climbing off of him and settling herself on the bed.

He barely manages to catch his breath when his phone is buzzing on the nightstand. The moment he sees it being from Spencer he stiffens slightly, in a way that Melissa notices.

"Who is it?"

"One of the patients...it's not important."

Melissa's own phone goes off and she groans as she gets out of bed. "It's my boss. I'll be a minute." He watches as she puts on her robe and slips out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. Her voice echoes of the bathroom walls in that harsh way it does when she's stressed.

[ Spencer; 10:27 PM ]: I'm home.

[ Wren; 10:29 PM ]: You doing alright?

[ Spencer; 10:30 PM ]: Since Melissa didn't chain me to a bed I'm sure my mom will.

[ Wren; 10:31 PM]: I'm starting think that's a desire of yours.

[ Spencer; 10:36 PM ]: That's…
[ Spencer; 10:36 PM ]: Shut up.
[ Spencer; 10:37 PM ]: Go to sleep.

[ Wren; 10:38 PM ]: Sweet dreams.


Things slip into their normal pattern once Spencer is safely back home in Rosewood. It's easier to focus on work after that, making sure that everything is running smoothly. He and Melissa continue in their same dynamic as always. That Hastings' drive is definitely nothing to be messed with, a thread that makes him see how Spencer and Melissa are sisters. It leads them to a cycle of spending some nights together and some nights apart. Colin brings a new girl around that is blonde, a little bubbly, and reminds him a bit of Hanna.

He learns that Alex and Spencer decide to confront the Hastings after graduation in a few months. It seems a ways away but Alex seems happy with the choice. Wren wonders how that will go. He suspects that Spencer will ask her own questions first before bringing Alex in. There's something to be said about it, though. The way Spencer is far more open than Charlotte ever was. Family was always something of a common drive but Charlotte is far more selective. Spencer wants answers and those answers seem to keep pointing to secret siblings she never knew she had.

Mostly his life just remains as routine as ever. It's something he is pleased with while finding it oddly boring all at the same time. His life isn't boring, however, not really. Not when he has a bunch of different patients who are facing their own issues in ways that are simply fascinating in a bunch of ways. Or even Alex going on about her texts with Spencer. Even he and Melissa manage to find the definition of the word fun.

It's just missing Spencer.

He checks up on her every once in awhile. He replies are short. He does know the trial isn't going all that well but does his best not to buy into that. Melissa is on pins and needles as it is, as if she actually cares much for Alison. He's only met the girl once when she was with Charlotte. The tales of her painted something of a different story than anything he saw with his own eyes.

None of that really matters when he sees Melissa walking down the hall to him with that fierce look in her eyes. She's angry but he notices the panic that comes off her, the way her eyes are just a little too red for anything she would ever desire to be seen in public. She doesn't need to say anything before he knows it's about Spencer. In a different world he might think it's about him sleeping with her, but it's not. Not with the trial going on, not with the trial going south. He knows better.

"Spencer," she says, letting out a breath, "Alison was convicted of murder and Spencer was arrested. They were all arrested."

He closes his eyes as he processes the information. No part of him thinks they actually killed Mona. Spencer he knows for certain but his other contact with other girls leads him to think they are not as cold blooded as it suggests. But then there's the thought of Spencer in jail that brings nothing good. It means that they think she did and she's close to throwing away her whole future because of it.

"I have to go to Rosewood. My mom and dad and Spencer. God, I'm…"

Wren hugs Melissa then, letting her mumble into his shoulder and be upset. She has ever right. The sister she was trying to protect ended up being arrested for murder anyway. He's not surprised when she tells him that they shouldn't have listened to either Spencer nor him, but he doesn't care about her attitude. Not when Spencer is in jail.

"Take the first flight out. I'll fly out in a few days."

"Wren, my parents hate you. I can go alone."

"I'll fly out in a few days."

"Yeah, okay." Melissa manages to straighten herself up. "I'll call you once I get there and talk to my parents."


Alex holds a look of surprise when she sees him walk through the door to the pub she works at. "I thought you were going to Rosewood."

Wren shrugs and takes a seat. He's a little wet from the rain and Melissa was short with him ever since she left. "My flight leaves in a few hours."

"Why are you even bothering? That girl is a whole hell of a lot of bloody messes."

"You don't understand." She can't. Not when he looks at Alex and sees Alex but when he looks at Spencer...it's Spencer. "She's your sister. Arrested or not. She's your sister and if you want to meet Peter."

"I know." She resigns after a moment. "I thought she'd be different. I'm not a girl with high expectations either."

"Tell me this isn't Charlotte." They are the only words he can manage to think of. The only ones that make any sense to him but no sense at all. If Alison didn't murder Mona then someone had to, but Charlotte seemed to care for Alison in a way he never understood. Family, he supposes. Look how far that got Alex. There's just something off about it that he can't put his finger on. It doesn't help that Charlotte and Archer are both not choosing to answer his calls.

"It's not. I promise."

He doesn't believe her but doesn't press the issue any further.


He's been up for far too long by the time Melissa stumbles in from the barn, eyes attached to her phone. He got caught in the most uncomfortable conversation with Peter. He doesn't blame the man for hating him, he just wishes he didn't have to deal with him on his own. But it's not of much importance as he sits there at the kitchen island with coffee that rivals anything Melissa could ever make. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing." Melissa dismisses as she looks through the fridge.

"I had a conversation with your father while you were getting ready."

"What did he say?"

"I think it's more what he didn't say."

Melissa turns to pour herself some coffee, leaving her back facing him. She taps her fingers along the counter which only serves to make him more suspicious. Melissa has little tells he's come to know quite well. They are often a little dance of just what they weren't saying. Normally, he'll let it go, as he knows how much she lets go. Sitting in her parent's kitchen, however, leaves him with little patience to try and figure out what Rosewood specific secret she is hiding. This is her territory, not his.

"Mom said I had to keep it to myself but Spencer, the girls," she grits out that last park, "were...taken."

"Taken?"

"During transport." She turns to him, still not bothering to look at him, only her coffee. "No one has seen them since."

It's not what he expects to hear. Not that he's certain what he expected to hear come from Melissa. He takes a sip of the coffee he doesn't really need as he processes the information. The concern for Spencer is immediate, to which a guilt flashes through him. For a myriad of reasons. It's not as if he should not care for the sister of his girlfriend, he should. It's only everything else that is his own secret.

"Come here." He reaches out for Melissa who walks around the counter. She easily slips into his embrace. It's then he closes his eyes and allows everything to wash over him. The concern is deep and absolute, in a way that tells him more than it doesn't. "They'll be found. Your father can scare the vinegar out of anyone to get answers on his daughter."

Melissa smiles, the chuckle so soft it barely registers. "I don't know if that includes Alison."

"Be bloody stupid not to." When she pulls away he manages to muster up a smile for her.

"I told my mom I'd go talk to Jason." She manages to get out as she stands up straight, carefully fixing herself so she looks more like a Hastings than he can ever remember. "We are going to talk to Jason."

"I'll meet you in a few minutes. I just need to make a call."

"Five minutes."

Wren watches as she grabs her cup of coffee and walks out to the back. There's an unsettling feeling inside of him, one where he's on the receiving end of a secret, not just the one hoarding them. His coffee cup ends up in the sink as he walks into the dining room he's only ever seen the Hastings use once, taking the privacy it granted, not even bothering to turn the light on. He calls Charlotte, unsure what to ask, but knowing something doesn't feel right. The game was over, he was assure by her, Archer, and Alex. Surely, Alex would not allow for Charlotte to hurt Spencer. Or so he hoped they were all decent enough to...it's a laughable thought he doesn't bother to finish. Not when he knows Charlotte isn't even a decent person. One who can't pick up her phone at that.

"Bloody Hell." He doesn't bother leaving a message as he texts Alex and walks out to meet Melissa before she comes in search of him. He supposes sitting in the dark in her dining room while making a phone call seems odd, even for him.

[ Wren ; 7:01 AM ]: Where is Charlotte?

[ Alex; 7:03 AM ]: Haven't heard from her.

[ Wren ; 7:04 AM ]: Since?

[ Alex; 7:05 AM ]: At least a week.

[ Wren ; 7:06 AM ]: Are you lying to me?

"I'm coming." Wren replies just as Melissa calls out for him noticing the way Alex simply leaves him on read, instilling very little faith in anything he thought he knew.