This chapter is going to be short but there's a semi-cute Spoby scene towards the end.
Chapter 4 New Attitude
Getting coffee late at night isn't always the smartest thing to do. Especially when you have an early day ahead of you with a lot to do. Then again, it's helpful to the people who tend not to get a lot of sleep at night. The ones who ditch sleep to do research. When Emily got off from work she made time to meet Spencer at the Brew with the rest of the girls.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Emily took a seat in the armchair closest to the couch. She looked at Spencer, "hey I thought you were staying with Toby tonight."
"I'm going back it's just I wanted to show you guys something," she said.
"Did you get a text from A.D?" Hanna asked.
Spencer nodded and showed them the text. They each took a turn reading the text and gasped. Clue Toby in about me, he won't have a clue about you. - A.D.
"What does A.D mean by this?" Emily asked. "If you clue Toby in about me, he won't have a clue about you."
Spencer put her phone on the table, "it can mean many things. One being if I tell Toby about A.D, they'll kill me or worse, they'll kill him."
"If they kill you and Toby would happen to get his memories back…" Aria trailed off.
"Can we please not go there," Hanna said. "I don't want to think about any more people ending up in body bags or buried somewhere in the woods."
"Does Toby know who we are?" Alison asked.
"Yeah," Spencer said. "With all do respect Ali, I think it would be best if you keep your distance for now. You know since the last thing he remembers is you blackmailing him."
Alison nodded, "of course."
"When do you think Toby will remember?" Emily asked.
Spencer shrugged, "I'm not sure. Dr. Royal said it might not be for a few months. He also said if he does get his memories back, there's a possibility he won't remember everything."
"He better remember everything," Hanna said. "He's the only officer we've got on the inside."
Spencer glared at Hanna, "could you be any more insensitive? This isn't about you or any of us. This is about Toby getting better for himself."
"Okay, sorry," she rolled her eyes.
"It's getting late," Emily stood up.
"Yeah," Spencer agreed.
Hanna announced that she was leaving too. She collected her empty cup, tossed it in a nearby trash can, and walked out the door. Emily waited for Alison to get ready since she's staying with her tonight. They said their goodbyes to Spencer and Aria then left. Aria stayed back with Spencer for an extra few minutes. Spencer gave Aria a half smile before reaching for her empty cup.
"Can I take that for you?"
"Sure." Spencer stood up from her seat and walked over to the trashcan. Aria got up and followed closely behind her.
"So you're going back to sit by Toby's side all night," Aria said.
Spencer shrugged, "I'll just be in the waiting room keeping a lookout for A.D or worse, Jenna."
"If you want I can wait at the hospital with you."
"No, um, thank you, but that won't be necessary."
"Are you sure? You might get tired and might need an extra eye there."
"I'm sure I'll be fine. Right now, I'm the only one Toby's leaning towards trusting. I don't want to say or do anything that could ruin that."
"What do you think will happen when he get's his memories back?" Aria asked. "Do you think he'll remember what you told him before the accident?"
"Remember be telling him what?"
Aria sighed and tilted her head, "Come on Spencer. You know what I'm talking about. Before the crash, you told Toby you loved him."
"Yeah, I meant that I loved him like a friend. Come on you know that."
"Psh," Aria faked a laugh. "Do not even try pulling the friend card, please. What did you think would happen when you told him? Did you think he'd break his engagement for you? Toby's about to get married, Spencer. The more time Toby spends with you now, the more he'll push Yvonne away. Yvonne is his fiancee now. She should be the one watching him, Spencer. You're trying to jump into bed with an engaged man."
Spencer snapped, "oh, that's rich coming from the woman who jumped into bed with another man when she had a boyfriend at the time."
Aria closed her eyes for a second to think about her next line. Maybe she had gone too far with the judging.
"Sorry," Spencer apologized.
Aria opened her eyes again and smiled, "it's okay. You're right I have no room to judge."
Spencer twisted her bottom lip, "look I'm not doing this to jump into bed with Toby. I'm doing this because I want him to get better. Toby's my friend and even if he doesn't remember, I promised I'd always be there for him."
"Okay," Aria said. "If that's what you say you're doing, I believe you. You do love him, though, don't you?"
Spencer looked towards the ground and sighed, "it doesn't matter. Like you just said, Toby's an engaged man."
"What if because Toby lost all his memories from before, it causes a repeat in history."
"What are you implying?"
"I'm just wondering what if Toby falls in love with you again."
"Aria that's crazy," Spencer laughed. "I'm not the same person I was back then. The chances of Toby falling in love with me again are one in a million."
Aria smiled, "I think I'll take my chances on that one."
Spencer huffed a laugh and said, "goodbye."
Aria laughed too, "bye."
"I'm Sara Sheperd here today covering the story of a car crash that took place just a couples weeks ago. The crash took place right here in Rosewood. The Phillip's daughter's fiance was riding in the car with the Hastings youngest daughter when their car was hit suddenly and almost spun off the road. Spencer Hastings and Toby Cavanaugh were the two victims reported in the crash. Spencer Hastings was left with a broken wrist and a few bruises that are healing nicely. As for Toby Cavanaugh, he laid silent in a coma before waking up three days later with amnesia. Veronica Hastings, who was just elected as a state senator, has wished the best to Mr. Cavanaugh and his family. The Phillips family seem to be holding on strong. Today, Yvonne Phillip's is here to speak with us on how she's dealing with her fiance's amnesia."
The camera zoomed out on a lounge area with the interviewer sitting in one blue chair and Yvonne in the other chair. Yvonne sat innocently in her chair with her leg crossed over the other and her hands folded nicely on top. Her dark brown hair hung to one side in silky waves. Her smile was enough to fool the world.
"Thank you for being with us today," Sara said.
Yvonne continued to smile politely, "thanks so much for having me."
"All of us here just want to start off with how sorry we are for what happened to your fiance. We can't begin to understand how hard this is for you."
"Thank you so much. It's been hard to put up a strong front, but that's all we can really do right now. Toby's working through this hard time and his family's working through it. I'm working through it. I think we all are working through this together."
"Who has been your biggest support system through all of this?"
"Definitely my mother," Yvonne said. "Yeah, you know my mother has just been amazing these past few weeks. Since we heard about the accident, she's been doing everything in her power to be there for me through this difficult time. We're all healing together."
"How are you holding up with everything?"
"It's hard you know. It's hard to just watch somebody you love to slip away from you when they're right in front of you. Toby's here, I can see him, and feel him, but it's not him. I just feel lost in this whole thing. But, I'm putting my game face on and showing no tears. I'm not going to show weakness now. I'm moving along fine and staying strong. That's the Phillips way."
"You are a true inspiration," Sara said. "You're strength through all of this is just truly inspiring. How do you feel about Veronica Hastings winning the election."
Yvonne put on her fakest smile, "I can't say that I wasn't bummed my mother didn't win, but it was the people's choice. I wonder if it's too late to call for a recount."
Before more could be shown on the screen, the television got switched off and the screen went black. Spencer actually missed most of Yvonne's interview since she was so busy rolling her eyes at everything that girl was saying. How dare she make Toby's accident all about her. Spencer stood up from her couch, with her empty coffee cup in hand and headed for her kitchen. How can Yvonne be so okay with doing all these interviews? That girl has done three in the last two weeks. Spencer has been stopped on the street many times and was asked a bunch of questions, but she responded with no comment each time. She's not going to turn their accident into entertainment hour for the News. Especially when Toby has no idea what's going on.
After showering and fixing up an outfit for the day, Spencer went to the hospital. When she got there, Hanna was sitting in a chair outside Toby's room. She was reading a magazine while drinking her coffee. Things are still weird between them, but they're coming around to being friends again. Spencer really appreciates Hanna taking her shift watching Toby for the night.
"Hey," Spencer stopped in front of Hanna.
Hanna folded up the magazine and stood up, "hey."
"How is he?"
"He's fine," Hanna said. "Nobody else came or tried to sneak into see him. Toby slept through the night and now he's waiting for breakfast. And don't worry, he didn't see me. I made sure to keep myself hidden."
Spencer nodded, "okay, good. Have the doctor's said anything new?"
"No, but Dr. Royal did say Toby still has no memory of the accident."
"Right," Spencer clicked her tongue. "Well, I'll take it over from here. Do you want me to walk you to your car?"
"Um, no actually somebody else stayed with me tonight and is taking me home."
"Oh," Spencer said, already knowing who that somebody is.
Hanna bit her lip, "you know he's here if you want to talk to…"
"I don't," Spencer said rather quickly. "You guys can just go ahead."
"Okay, well, I better go then." Hanna started walking.
"Hey, Han?"
Hanna turned around, "yeah?"
"Thanks for staying with Toby."
Hanna smiled softly, "of course and don't worry Spence, he's going to remember."
"Thanks."
Hanna turned away from Spencer towards the elevator. Spencer stood outside Toby's room for a minute. She took out her phone real quick to check for any messages from A.D. There weren't any on her phone. Just when she thought she had nothing to worry about, she stepped into Toby's room that was empty. That's strange. He was just in here a minute ago. His bed sheets are wrinkled like he just got out of them. In the corner of the room, Spencer noticed the food tray that the nurse usually brings in. For some reason, she felt something fishy going on. Spencer walked over to the tray and removed the cover over his plate. There were some scrambled eggs on the plate, two sausage patties, and a small fruit bowl filled with strawberries. That wasn't the only thing on his tray. There was a note. Scrambled eggs won't help your scrambled memories. - A.D. Gasping, Spencer ripped the note right off the plate and stuck it in her purse. She then grabbed the plate of food and began walking it over to the trash can next to a sink.
"Are you stealing my breakfast?" A voice caught her off guard.
Spencer spun around with the plate still pressed between her two hands. She stood there with her mouth hanging open. Toby had just stepped out of the bathroom with some gray sweatpants and… No shirt.
"Um, uh, no?" She said like it was a question.
Toby's lip curved up into a smirk as he walked towards her. "You know if you wanted some eggs, all you had to do was ask." He reached for the plate and she held it away from him. Toby looked at her with confusion.
"Is something wrong?"
"No," she huffed a laugh and passed the plate over to him. "I was just messing around is all."
Toby held the plate and looked down at his flat stomach. He then looked back at her and arched his right eye at her. He smiled.
"Is this you trying to tell me I'm getting fat?"
"What," she laughed. "No, of course not. You're not fat. You're perfect. I mean look at you. You've got a perfect body build right here." She didn't realize she touched his abs until she felt a warming sensation in the palm of her hand. She pulled her hand away from him as her cheeks flushed a dark shade of red.
"I mean no, you're not fat."
"You're so weird, Spencer."
Toby meant it as a joke, but it came out as a quiet mumble. He brushed past her to set the plate back on the tray. He then reached for the white shirt at the end of his bed and put it on. Earlier this week, Spencer had stopped by Toby's trailer to pick him up a few changes of clothes. That way he won't have to walk around in that city hospital gown. Toby sat down on the edge of his bed and Spencer stayed standing.
"Hey, did I see you talking to Hanna earlier?"
"What?"
"Hanna," he said. "I thought I saw you outside talking to Hanna. She looks different."
"Oh," Spencer took a seat on the couch. "Yeah, um she knew that I've been coming here a lot and wanted to see how you were doing."
Again, Toby looked confused, "Hanna Marin asked how I was doing?"
"Yeah, to be honest, all the girls have asked how you're doing. Especially Emily."
"Emily asked about me too? Spencer, I'm confused. Did all of you become my friends or something?"
Spencer hesitated before nodding, "yeah kind of. You and Emily developed a pretty good friendship. You and Alison never became friends, but you learned how to live in the same town without killing each other."
"Yeah, I doubt I'd ever be friends with that girl."
"Remember I told you things are different now and a lot of us have changed over the years," she told him.
"I know, but still. If what you told me was true..."
Spencer nodded in understanding. In the past, Spencer had tried pushing Toby to be civil with Alison. He agreed to try being polite to her, but couldn't promise he'd ever be her friend. She accepted that. If Spencer were being honest and he happened to be in Toby's shoes through everything, she probably wouldn't agree to be Alison's friend either. Even though Toby never wanted anything to do with Alison, he always made an effort to try for Spencer's sake.
"Spencer I…" Toby started. "I have to ask you something."
"What?"
"Last night I found this in my room."
Toby took out a polaroid picture from his pocket and showed it to her. Spencer nearly fell off her chair when she took a look. It was a picture of the two of them together at prom. They were both dressed up and holding each other close as they danced. Spencer had her arms wrapped around Toby's shoulders and his were holding her waist. Someone… More like A.D. snuck a picture of them in his room. Down below the picture, someone had written Last Dance. Last kiss. -A.D.
Cliff hanger! What's going to happen now that Toby saw a picture of them from the past? Will he remember? Wlll he know about A? What will Spencer say? You'll find out in the next chapter. Don't forget to leave a comment in the reviews and keep a look out for the next chapter. More juicy stuff is coming your way!
