'So, you think we should follow Garrett?'

I had explained to Toby that Garrett could lead us to A. Before he had gone to prison, the four of us were convinced he had something to do with A. Even if he wasn't A, he was obviously involved in the whole thing, having been part of the NAT Club and having been in Ali's bedroom the night she had died.

Toby's idea came out of nowhere, however, and the idea of him getting dragged into everything was unacceptable.

'Toby, you can't…' He raised his eyebrows at me.

'You're going to go all on your own, is that what's gonna happen?'

I hesitated. I did NOT want that, but the alternative of Toby getting hurt or attracting A's attention like last time…

'I'll go with Aria.' He laughed at this suggestion and I tried not to be slightly offended on her behalf.

'She's tiny, if something happens, she won't be very effective protection.' Unfortunately, he had a point. 'None of the girls will, you've been hurt by A before. Besides, A won't see me coming, you can't deny that. A will assume that you'll keep me uninvolved out of protection, and I'll be more effective because of that.'

I scrunched up my nose and squinted at him, attempting to convey my irritation. He was annoyingly accurate, and I knew it.

'Okay, fine. But I don't like it. Let the record show that I disagreed from the beginning.'

'Yeah, you didn't protest too hard, though…' I swatted Toby's chest, but I couldn't help smiling at him.

'What would have been the point? You're determined.'

He smiled at me and leaned down to hover over my lips as he said, 'well, we have that in common, don't we?', and then pressed his lips to mine. They were so soft that I could not help but moan and smile against them.

'Speaking of determined…' I whispered, kissing him harder and winding my arms around his neck, bringing our chests closer and giving me better access to muss up his hair more. But he saw right though me.

'Determined to distract me… that won't work.' I faux pouted as he unwrapped my arms from around him, his smile faltering slightly.

'Spence, I'm trying to help, to protect you.' Toby's hands curled around mine and he looked down at them. 'You know how… you said I was your safe place? Well, you're mine, too. And if A thinks that he or she can just put you through all of this and get away with it… then they are going to get one hell of a shock.' He looked me in the eye, and I could barely breathe, let alone return the look; my heart hurt with how much I loved this man, I felt my eyes sting with a mist of tears. No one had ever protected me, let alone said anything like that to me before. Even my family… My sister loved me, I knew that, but she'd never gone very far out of her own way to protect me. And despite everything my parents had helped dig me out of, I'm not sure how much longer they would have continued to protect me. I'm sure even they had their limits. Especially since Melissa was obviously their favourite daughter. I had never known anyone who was willing to put themselves on the line, to put their safety on the line, to ensure my own.

I bit my lip, hesitating but eventually giving in to the overwhelming temptation to tell him how he made me feel, to reciprocate. 'I've never had anyone to protect me. I love that you're going to be the first one.' Toby raised an eyebrow at me, hinting at our upcoming milestone. I giggled, and corrected myself, 'the first one to protect me, I mean… why do my words come out so jumbled when you're around?'. I pressed my palms to my cheeks, sure I had become red from embarassment, but Toby grinned again and pulled my hands away.

''Cause you love me?' Toby asked. I stared at him for a few seconds, then realised the hesitation was seriously unnecessary.

'Yes, that's exactly why.'

Let me know what you think :) I'm going away until the 2nd of July, so I won't be uploading anything. I wanted to post a bit of fluffy stuff before the newest ep, so I could focus my A theory after the newest ep comes out.