Chapter 4 – To the Future

Spencer opened her eyes and viewed her surroundings.

Crystal doves on strings of glass icicles cascaded from the ivory drapes that descended from the epicenter of the vaulted ceiling above her head. The aroma of freshly picked white roses weighed heavy in the atmosphere. Blinking excessively to adjust to the all-white setting, Spencer felt like she was occupying a cloud.

To her left, a row of shirtless men clad in white bottoms smiled delicately at her. In their right hands positioned next to their side, they each possessed a shiny, gold trumpet. Spencer's eyes quickly turned to the right side of the massive room. Mirroring the guys, a row of smiling women clad in white dresses held gold harps that matched well with their golden halo-inspired headbands.

Tears accumulated in Spencer's eyes. "So…" she choked, talking to herself. "This is my future. I die."

"How many times do I have to drill this into your brain?" a tender voice asked. "You're not dead. But if you want to switch places…" Ali said.

"No!" Spencer exclaimed. She pointed to the exquisitely decorated scene they were making a cameo in. "Where are we?"

"At a wedding in the future," Alison informed her, purposely giving her a vague answer and not telling her who's wedding it was. That part, Spencer would find out on her own, in addition to some more things.

Spencer's eyes focused in on the scene. A crowd of nicely dressed people occupied the pews of the massive church. Walking down the aisle, Spencer skimmed the many faces of the audience, recognizing a lot of them. She wanted to wave and speak to them, but she remembered they couldn't see nor hear her. In the front row sat Ella Montgomery with puffy red eyes. Surrounding her was Ashley Marin and Pamela Fields. Veronica and Peter Hastings were there. Melissa Hastings. Ian Thomas. Jenna Marshall. Noel Kahn. Garrett Reynolds. Sean Ackard. Lucas Gottesman. Paige McCullers. Everyone seemed pleasantly blissful except for Jason DiLaurentis.

Spencer was about to ask Alison why Jason was wearing a slight frown when the most peaceful sounds filled the room. The shirtless men sounded their trumpets; the angelic women played their harps. All heads swiveled to look over their shoulders.

Down the plush ivory carpet appeared a smiling couple. Clad in a strapless light blue gown with silver sparkles, Hanna smiled exceptionally. Escorted by an equally attractive counterpart, Caleb was the best accessory as he coordinated his all white tuxedo with an azure vest and tie to match the color of her dress. Followed closely behind them was a naturally tanned brunette. Emily was wearing the same gown as Hanna's, but hers was floor length, hugging her athletic figure just right. What made Spencer bug out was the gentleman Emily was clinging on to: Wesley Fitz. But before Spencer could interrogate Alison, the arrival of the next couple distracted her. Adorned in the same gown as the ladies before her, Maya's gown differed as it was a one-sleeved. Accompanying her was Mike Montgomery. Once the three couples reached the altar, they all went to their designated positions with the girls off to the left side and the guys to the other side.

While everyone's attention was still focused on the opened doors, Maya utilized the opportunity to slap Emily's tush. Blushing hard, the swimmer rolled her eyes.

"Ohh, ok," Spencer said, realizing what was going on so far. Emily and Wes were not a couple, nor were Maya and Mike. The guys just escorted them down the aisle, and Emily and Maya were still going strong as well as Hanna and Caleb. That was good to know.

But Spencer feared her relationship. The last thing she remembered was that she and Toby had broken up—according to the scene she witnessed in the present.

The men and women employed to work the wedding started playing "Here Comes the Bride." Everyone in the audience stood up, many with Kleenex blanketing their red noses and others with mile-long smiles entrenched on their faces. As if an angel delivered the beauty from a cloud, the bride gradually strutted down the aisle. Her face was hidden by the veil, but Spencer knew who the bride was. Her wavy raven tresses that hung to her shoulders revealed her identity.

Spencer watched in anticipation as the scene seemed to proceed in slow motion. She couldn't wait to see who the future-version of herself was marrying. Biting on her nails, Spencer was chanting Toby's name in her head, hoping that she and he reconciled their differences and he was her groom.

Once the bride reached the grinning preacher, her groom appeared from behind his best man.

"Fitz!" Spencer screamed. "I'm marrying Ezra Fitz!" She looked at Alison in disgust.

Before she released her verbal, profane ammunition at the ghost, a light tap on the shoulder caused Spencer to turn around.

"I'm so happy to see you! Team Sparia forever!" Spencer cried and attempted to hug her best friend.

But her arms swam right through the little one. Spencer cursed herself for forgetting—this wasn't the real Aria. "Ghost of the future?" Spencer asked.

Aria winked.

Ali snapped, "You're late. You'd think ghosts would just teleport and be on time, but…"

Aria poked her tongue out. "Don't tell the big guy upstairs, but I secretly used my powers to enhance the bride's bust size. My gift to the bride and groom for their honeymoon."

Ali and Aria giggled wildly. Spencer wasn't too keen on the ordeal.

"Ok, please explain to me why in the hell am I marrying your man!" Spencer demanded.

Aria tilted her head to the side. "Always so quick to jump to conclusions," Aria stated. She placed her hand on Spencer's face and redirected her attention towards the bride and groom.

Ezra lifted the veil to reveal his bride. Spencer exhaled.

She turned back to Aria. "Ok, so you're the bride. And Jason isn't too happy, because he used to harbor this major crush on you. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is if Han, Em, and Maya are your bridesmaids, shouldn't I be your maid of honor!"

"You were," Aria indifferently professed before rolling her eyes.

Spencer gasped, "What happened?"

Aria looked Spencer up and down and crossed her arms over her chest.

Spencer gasped again, "Am I dead?"

Alison groaned audibly. She snapped her fingers to make the loud buzzer rumble Spencer's eardrums.

"For the umpteenth time, you're not going to die anytime soon, darling."

"Oh," Spencer said. "Ok, then. Where am I?"

Spencer answered her own question. The T-Mobile jingle caused the audience to look back as the ringing rudely interrupted the exchange of well-written vows by the aspiring writers—Aria and Ezra. Future-Spencer's eyes enlarged at the embarrassing moment. Grabbing her phone and excusing herself, future-Spencer answered her cellular once she was alone in the hallway of the church.

The real Spencer, tailed by ghostly Aria and Alison, followed future-Spencer who was engaged in a bickering match with the party on the other end of her call. The real Spencer surveyed the future version of herself. Her tall, lean frame had been decorated in the same sapphire material that matched the girls in the weddings. With glitter sprinkled in her chocolate spiral curls, Spencer gave future-Spencer a round of applause for looking so hot.

"Why was I sitting in the audience and not a part of the wedding?" Spencer asked.

Alison and Aria stared at her momentarily.

Rolling her eyes, Aria explained, "You volunteered to be my planner, but you weren't there for anything. You missed the fitting; you missed the rehearsal dinner. There's not enough time to shovel through the large laundry pile of reasons… You were always too busy with your job. You continuously neglect everyone around you."

Spencer threw her hands up into the air. "I'm so sick and tired of everyone blaming me for securing a bright future for myself. I can't live off my inheritance forever; I gotta solidify a stable career for myself. Why am I being ridiculed for that?"

Ali added, "No one blames you for your dedication to your studies, so you could be a successful attorney. But there's a fine line between working and playing. You focused too much on work. Yeah, you're winning a lot of cases, but in the process, you're losing a lot of loved ones."

"I'm just trying to be the best I can be!" she shouted back.

"Like your parents?" Aria asked.

"Oh, you're definitely turning into them," Ali educated before directing her attention to the future-Spence.

Spencer was about to ask who she was fighting with on the phone when another question suddenly spewed from her larynx. Referencing the large diamond on the left hand of future-Spencer, the real Spencer smiled brightly and exclaimed. "I'm married! I'm married! Did Toby and I make up? Where's my husband?"

Aria and Ali shot each other quick glances before looking back at excited Spencer. Granting her wish to discover her lover, the ghosts positioned their hands on Spencer's shoulders and teleported across town.

Spencer looked around. White walls again. White curtains again.

"I'm sorry, but I have to work," an angry foreign voice argued.

Following the voice, Spencer walked through the curtain. Sitting on the edge of a gurney, Wren was going back and forward with the person on the other end of the phone, frequently rolling his brown eyes in annoyance.

Piecing everything together—finally—Spencer turned on her heels to face Alison and Aria. They avoided eye contact with her.

"Wren! This isn't the future; this is a nightmare! You let me marry Wren!" Spencer barked.

"We don't have control over your future; only you do. You obliged to marry him," Aria said.

"Why?!" Spencer inquired.

"You thought that you two shared a common interest—obsessed workaholics in order to excel in your chosen elite professions," Ali stated.

Spencer returned her attention to future-Wren. Wren was attractive and really nice, but her heart was with Toby. "Ok, he isn't my first choice, obviously, but whatever. I guess he'll do."

Future-Wren continued to frown up as he listened to future-Spencer on the phone. Spencer asked the ghosts why they were fighting.

The little one replied, "You're mad at him for missing my wedding; he was your date."

The blonde concluded, "And he's mad at you, because you're trying to scold him for taking on your most notorious habit—neglecting your loved ones."

Future-Wren hung the phone up in his wife's face. Shortly after he did, the curtain separating the bed from the other half of the room was pulled back to reveal a nurse. The Britain's face lit up like stars as the nurse neared him. Positioning herself in Wren's lap, the two originated such a hot make-out session that their clothes were soon being stripped off of their bodies.

Spencer's jaw dropped to the floor.

Once the couple was naked in the bed, Wren kissed the nurse's bare stomach. "I love you, son," Wren smiled.

Spencer's jaw went through the floor and dropped all the way down to the hospital's first floor.

"Like I said," Aria shrugged. "You aimed for your parents' success, and you got it."

Alison added, "Wren realized a long time ago that you didn't truly love him. He tried to make it work with you, but as always, you were too consumed with being perfect at work, that you neglected him. He started having an affair at work, and now he and his mistress are expecting."

The ghosts were right. She had mirrored her parents' life way too much. Her father had cheated on her mom with Alison's mother, resulting in Jason. Veronica had to live every day of her life living next door to a constant reminder of her failed marriage.

Not that Spencer truly harvested a place for Wren in her heart, his infidelity still hurt her. Running out of the room to escape the scene, Spencer ran into the hallway of the hospital.

A smile gradually spread across her face when her eyes landed upon the blue-eyed creature running down the hall in her direction. Spencer's heartbeat raced as Toby rapidly enclosed the distance between them.

One yard away, one foot away, one inch away, one centimeter away. Spencer smiled greatly as she extended her arms to embrace him. And then Toby was one inch away, one foot away, one yard away and the distance increased. Toby ran right through her and proceeded down the hallway. Tears cascaded down her rosy cheeks as she remembered he was the future-Toby.

Making a turn, Toby disappeared into one of the hospital rooms. Attempting to follow him, Spencer was restricted by a sudden force field. She threw an irritated glance Ali's way.

"I don't think you wanna see anymore, sweetie," Alison suggested.

Aria, too, wore a worried expression. She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Spencer, you should probably return to the present now."

"Ok, fine," Spencer reckoned.

The ghosts were astonished at how easy Spencer surrendered. Spencer Hastings usually put up a good ole fight before giving in. Allowing the invisible wall to crumble, Alison was about to return Spencer to her time. As soon as the wall dispersed, Spencer took off down the hall and ran into the room where future-Toby was.

The allotted period to time-travel was close to its expiration, and Ali's powers were weakening. She couldn't read Spencer's mind anymore. She couldn't fly anymore. She couldn't conjure another force field to prevent Spencer from unmasking Toby's future in hospital room 215.

Spencer entered the blue and pink decorated room. Rivers of tears were running down Toby's profile, but due to the smile embedded on his face, Spencer knew they were tears of joy. He stood next to the hospital bed, holding the person's hand. Spencer couldn't see who the person was from where she was standing at the foot of the bed. The person's legs were drawn up in an acute angle with blankets resting atop the person's knees, concealing the person's visage.

Ali and Aria had entered the room by now and begged Spencer to leave.

Spencer ignored their pleas. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her. Looking around the room again, the clues meshed together in Spencer's mind. The blue and pink decorations. Smiling while someone was in the hospital. The position the person was in.

Spencer covered her ears when an ear-splitting noise filled the room. It wasn't the annoying buzzer she was used to hearing. It was a high-pitched female voice, screaming in agony for a full minute before fading away. That noise was soon followed by a series of small cries. The doctor handed the wailing baby to the nurse and resumed his position between the unknown girl's legs. Another screeching wail erupted into the room before another baby appeared.

"Spencer, we should go," Aria suggested.

"Please, sweetie," Ali begged.

But Spencer's feet were on auto pilot, gliding over to discover the girl in the bed. There before her eyes, she witnessed the birth of Toby's children. Spencer's face was drenched in her tears, because she knew for a fact that she wasn't the one bearing his beautiful blue-eyed twins.

The first thing she noticed was the top of the girl's head. She was a brunette.

Aria. Emily. Jenna. Melissa. Maya. They were all brunettes. But Spencer scratched them off her list of suspects, because they were attending Aria's wedding and none of them were pregnant. Who was this whore?!

Spencer squeezed her eyes shut. She counted backwards from ten before gradually allowing her eyelids to separate and unveil who Toby had married.

"Spencer, no!" the ghosts begged in unison.

But it was too late. Spencer's heart went into convulsion at the discovery. She collapsed on the floor and started to have a panic attack.

"This can't be the future! It just can't! I end up with Wren while Toby ends up with… with that bitch! Are you guys fucking stupid? She's not even his type!"

"Let's compare, shall we? It's obvious he has a thing for brunettes. He likes 'em sassy and confident—a trait you both share. She's a challenging being, like yourself, and Toby enjoys the thrill of that. While you and the other liars easily forget, Mona used to be a nerd, so she's really intelligent. The only variable differentiating you two is the height difference."

Spencer leaped off the floor in an attempt to inflict pain on the first tangible thing she got her hands on. But before she could do anything, the exchange of statements between the new parents stopped her heart from working.

"I love you so much."

"I wanted to say that first."

Gleaming down at his wife who held their daughter, Toby smiled while holding his son.

And the scene faded away as Alison placed her hands on Spencer's slumped shoulders. What in the hell could possibly happen now?

10 reviews and I'll give you what you want! Today!

P.S. Anyone know what movie I depicted the wedding scene from?