Hello everyone! I just want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. It really means a lot to me! I was kind of worried that no one would want to read a story about Sparia since they aren't even a canon couple. But I was very pleased to see that there are quite a few Sparia shippers out there. Anyway, this chapter took longer to get out then I was hoping, I kept getting really long days at work this week, so it cut down my writing time. :( I'm also not sure if I like how this chapter panned out. But I promise to make the next one better and longer than this one. Now, on with the chapter!
Spencer arrived at the Grill fifteen minutes earlier than she and Aria had planned on meeting. It was slightly awkward sitting at a table all alone in a restaurant crowded with dozens of people in large groups, but Spencer was determined to get out of that damn house and into the fresh air and around actual human beings. Most of the crowd at the Grill consisted of Rosewood High students getting together for dinner after their sports or clubs they had just after school, all of them chatting away happily and loudly. It made Spencer feel even more lonely and miserable...
She should be among the crowd of students, laughing and making jokes about the teachers or discussing the latest homework assignment or... whatever kids talk about these days. She didn't really know. Since A had started attacking her and the girls, and since she started dating Toby, Spencer had become more withdrawn from her peers than she realized.
But she still had the girls. They were her best friends. And with them by her side, she could get through anything... Even this.
She would start by telling Aria first. She was the person Spencer was most comfortable telling this to. Not that she didn't feel comfortable telling the other girls (and they obviously had to know) she just wasn't ready to tell them yet. They were a tight-knit group of friends, but with Aria there was just something... A certain closeness on some strange level that Spencer didn't quite feel with Emily or Hanna. Aria was just different...
"Can I get you something to drink, dear?" said a cheerful voice.
The waitress had appeared so suddenly that Spencer jumped, nearly falling out of her seat.
"Jesus Christ," Spencer hissed under her breath. Startled, she raised her hand to her chest. She felt her now accelerated heart beat. "Uh, um, yeah, I'll have a coffee please." She tried to sound as normal as possible, but a flush of heat was creeping up her neck and cheeks. Blushing, as though the waitress could tell what Spencer was thinking. Stupid, thought Spencer. Stupid to be reacting this way.
The waitress smiled and disappeared into the back room.
Probably thinks I'm crazy, Spencer thought to herself.
Maybe I am.
"Hi," said another voice. This one was much more familiar.
Spencer looked up and saw the dark haired, doe eyed beauty just a foot away from the table.
Spencer had always thought Aria was very uniquely beautiful. She had even admitted to herself a few times that she had been jealous of Aria's look as they were growing up. But jealousy was not the right term for what she was feeling at the moment. To be honest, she didn't really know what she was feeling looking at Aria. Her stomach did a little flip as she looked her up and down. Aria was never closed minded when it came to her fashion choices. And today, her pink pastel dress with a lacy peter pan collar, vintage looking cardigan, and white pearl necklace only added to her doll-like demeanor. Her hair fell in loose ringlets down past her shoulders.
"Hey," Spencer said as Aria sat down across from her. "I see we're going for the granny chic look today." She grinned.
Aria chuckled softly. "And I see more of the old Spencer is coming back," she said, eying Spencer's own outfit.
She shrugged and smiled. "It's Spencer 2.0. New and improved. Better than before."
Liar, said a small voice in her head.
"So is that what you've been doing these past few days of silence?" Aria asked. "Remaking yourself?"
Spencer sighed. They were coming to the subject already. "Not exactly..." She tugged awkwardly at the sleeve of her blazer, trying not to meet Aria's eyes.
Aria leaned closer across the table. "Spencer," she said softly. "I thought you wanted to talk about it."
"I do... it's just..." She felt her eyes suddenly filling with tears.
Shit, not already.
Aria slid her hand across the table and took Spencer's hand in her own. This forced Spencer to meet her eyes again.
"You know you can trust me, Spence, I'm your best friend." Aria said.
"Of course I know that," she answered. "And how can I ever resist you with those big doe eyes peering into my soul?" She tried to lighten the mood again.
Aria laughed. "Right..." Her voice grew more serious again. "I can tell you want to talk about it though. I think you're just a bit afraid. I know you, Spence, and I know that you want to talk about it. Otherwise, why would you have asked me here after not speaking to us for days? Something is bothering you."
Spencer sighed. She seemed to have lost all control over her voice because she just couldn't bring herself to say anything just yet. She let out a small whimpering noise as a single tear poured down her cheek. "I... don't... know... w-what to do, Aria," she sobbed loudly. Many people sitting at nearby tables turned their heads to look in her direction.
And at that precise moment, when Spencer was starting to break down again, the waitress returned with Spencer's coffee. She stood awkwardly for a moment, just watching Spencer cry.
Aria turned her head and gave the waitress a dirty look that told her to back off.
"Uh... right. Here you go, dear," the waitress set the cup of coffee down quickly in front of Spencer, some of it spilling onto the table, and shuffled off into the back room without another word.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." Aria mumbled quietly.
Spencer looked down, covering her mouth, trying to muffle the sound of her sobbing.
Great, she thought. I've already scared off my best friend.
She stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'll just go. I didn't meant to embarrass you."
She turned quickly and headed for the door, but not more than five seconds later she felt a warm hand wrap around her arm and pull her to a stop.
"Spencer, no," Aria said quietly. "I meant it wasn't a good idea to come here. It's way too crowded. Let's just go to my house and we can talk there, okay? My dad has a meeting at Hollis today, so he won't be home. And Mike has Lacrosse practice. It'll just be the two of us." She smiled softly.
...
The two girls sat facing each other indian style on Aria's living room couch. Aria had made each of them a cup of hot cocoa and pulled out a few plush throw blankets from one of the downstairs closets. She wanted to make Spencer as comfortable as possible. She knew that whatever Spencer was going through right now wasn't pleasant. Aria understood that... She had some problems of her own she was dealing with at the moment. Problems she wasn't sure she wanted to share with anyone yet...
"So tell me," Aria said after taking a sip of her cocoa. "How did your anniversary dinner go with Toby?"
Spencer, who was also about to take a drink of her cocoa, had suddenly stiffened. Her hand froze in mid air, with her mug just a few inches away from her mouth.
Spencer was quiet for a long moment. Then finally looked down as she spoke, "Toby and I... broke up."
"What?" hissed Aria.
Spencer nodded, still looking down.
"Spencer," Aria breathed. "I'm so sorry. Is that what this is all about?"
Spencer suddenly closed her eyes and nodded her head just once.
"God," said Aria. "What happened?"
Spencer opened her eyes again and finally looked up at Aria. Her brown eyes were full of tears. She cleared her throat. "That's what I needed to tell you... and the girls. Toby is...well... he's... he's working for A."
There was a moment of silence.
Then Aria said, "What? Are you... sure?"
Spencer nodded again, her jaw clenched. "Positive. He broke into my house on the night of our anniversary looking for A's key."
"Well that doesn't necessarily mean he's working for A..." But her voice didn't sound very convinced.
"He asked me how long I had known, and I showed him the Radley id I found at his place. He was caught it the act. He's working for A, Aria."
Aria suddenly felt like she had been punched in the stomach. She shook her head slowly. "I really thought we could trust him. I remember at the beginning he was suspicious of being A... but..." She shook her head again.
"And we all just thought he was misunderstood," Spencer said quietly.
There was another moment of silence.
"That bastard!" Aria shouted suddenly and stood up. "I'll kill him. I will soo kill him!" She was growing angrier by the second. "So it's been him this whole time? Torturing us constantly for the past couple of years. Threatening us, using our weaknesses against us, running Hanna over with a car, and throwing a snake at you! He's been working with Mona and doing her dirty work while she was locked in the nut house!" She was pacing around the room frantically now. "What else did he say to you?"
"Nothing... he took off shortly after I slapped him."
"You slapped him? Good. That bastard and coward. I want to get my hands on him next! I swear to God I will chop off his di-"
"Aria!" Spencer stopped her midsentence. "You can't. If he's working for A, then he's dangerous. I don't want you to get anywhere near him. I don't even know where he is now. He's probably run away to A's new lair."
"God," she muttered and sat down on the couch again. "I'm so sorry Spencer. I can't believe he would do that to you... and to us. Spencer... Jesus..." She threw her arms around Spencer suddenly, holding her tight. She could feel Spencer's whole body shaking.
Spencer was sobbing again. "I can't believe it either. I trusted him, Aria. I trusted him with my whole life! I don't want to believe this is really happening! I can't... I can't..." She buried her face into Aria's hair.
"It's okay..." Aria whispered. "It's okay... It's all going to be okay..."
Spencer pulled away until she was face to face with Aria. Her makeup was smeared and running down her flushed cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy, and half of her hair had fallen out of her bun, which was now hanging messily from the side of her head. But for some reason, Aria had never found Spencer to be more beautiful than right now... a complete and total broken mess.
"Aria, It's not okay. I'm n-not okay. I don't kn-know if I'll ever be okay again..." Spencer said, her voice breaking through her soft whimpers.
Aria sighed. She hated seeing her best friend like this. So completely broken. She didn't realize just how fragile Spencer was. Like glass, she was so easily broken. She was ready to murder Toby. That damn bastard! Looking at Spencer now, Aria couldn't understand how someone could be so cruel to do this to her.
"I know... I know it feels that way now..." Aria said. "But we'll take the bastard down. I promise you that. A can't haunt us forever. You'll get through this, Spencer. We'll get through this together."
"Aria, A is always one step ahead of us. We'll never win! We should all know this by now."
"Spencer," Aria said very calmly. She took Spencer's face in both of her hands, forcing her to look directly at her. Their faces were only inches apart. "I promise you we will get through this."
Spencer sighed and nodded in response. "I should probably get home for dinner..."
Aria couldn't help the obvious disappointed look on her face. "You'll be okay?" She asked, concerned. She didn't want to leave Spencer on her own.
"Yes," Spencer said as she stood up. "I'll be with my family. I'll be okay...for now... I guess."
Aria walked Spencer to the door. "If you feel bad again... I mean I know you must feel really bad all the time, but if it gets too bad, just call me okay? Promise?"
Spencer paused in the doorway and faked the tiniest of smiles. "Sure." It was gone a second later. "But will you promise me something too?"
Aria nodded. "Anything." As long as it wasn't promising to not kick Toby's ass.
"Promise me that you won't tell Hanna or Emily... Just not yet. I'm not ready for them to know now. I need to wrap my head around everything first... Just make sure they don't have contact with him or anything. Especially Emily, I know they were close..."
"Of course," Aria said sincerely. "Whenever you feel ready to tell them... I know it's hard."
"Thank you... for everything. For listening. And for not running away when I broke down at the Grill." She smiled, this time a genuine smile, and gave Aria a hug before taking off for her walk back home.
Aria shut the large wooden door and started for her bedroom. Her head was a completely jumbled mess. Toby... A? Him of all people, it was just so hard to believe. She had truly thought that Toby had loved Spencer. He seemed so genuine the times when Aria was around him with Spencer. But then again, this was A they were dealing with... The most cruel, heartless, cold-blooded person Aria had ever known anyone to be. Well now it was persons. And who knew how many of them there could be? Anyone could be working for A...
Could someone she considered a close friend really betray her like that? Not that she considered Toby a close friend. But he was her best friend's boyfriend. And that was close enough...
Just as Aria reached the top step of the staircase, she felt her phone buzzing in the pocket of her cardigan. She pulled it out and slid the screen to unlock it.
One new message, from: unknown number.
Innocent little Aria, who knew just how naughty you could be? If you think you can take down my most special little helper, then you've got another thing coming. You better stay clear unless you want that dirty little secret you've hiding to be exposed.
Kiss Kiss,
A
Hmm, what do we think so far? I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with this chapter. How were the Sparia moments? And what do you think the "dirty little secret" is that Aria's been keeping? Please please please review and tell me what you think!