Things get hella crazy soon. Prepare yourself my loves. This chapter is mostly in the past. Sorry not sorry.

Last chapter got nine reviews, but I suppose I will still answer a question! Woodstock99, if my outline stays true this should be somewhere between 18 and 21 chapters, depending on how long each chapter ends up being. I'm thinking on the higher end of that though!

Same dealio. Ten reviews and I'll answer a question. This time I'll answer something that involves a spoilers, and I'll PM the person responsible. If you're a Guest reviewer and have a tumblr leave me your url and I'll send you a message on there. HINT... if your review only involves a question yours won't be picked. Just saying. 15 reviews and I'll post the answer to the question in my next author's note.

Shouts to caitycaites AGAIN for first of all being a clear and obvious diabolic genius. This girl needs to go ahead and add professional mystery solver to her resume, okay? But also for helping me work through the one part of this I was unsure about! You'll thank her when we get there, loves! Haha.

OKAY READ. I'm going to bed, leave me beautiful things to wake up to!

Chapter 7

-APOV

After a long day he arrived back home. He walked into the walk in closet of his spare bedroom and immediately relaxed. He couldn't be surrounded by Spencer yet, but this was almost as good. Her face was plastered on the wall from floor to ceiling. Sometimes she was smiling, sometimes she was frowning. Sometimes she was alone and sometimes she was with friends. What never changed was that she was so beautiful.

Years had passed since she actually looked at him, since she acknowledged him for who he was and not who he became for her. But that would all change soon. Soon she would have no choice but to acknowledge him.

He was almost ready.

SPOV

February 7, 2010

She couldn't help but be a little nervous, and she didn't know why. No, she knew exactly why. Justin was still following her. Well, maybe he was following her. Hanna kept pushing her to ask him about it, but she couldn't do it. What if it was all just a coincidence? What if he wasn't following her at all?

Bio Lab was awkward, to say the least. Emily knew of her suspicions, so she wouldn't speak to Justin at all; which left her to awkwardly mumble questions and requests. On Monday she was going to request a new group. She couldn't have this effecting her education.

But now she had Toby by her side, and that was truly when she felt the safest. In their four years of dating he had proven that he would protect her, take care of her. So if for some stupid reason Justin showed up he certainly wouldn't try anything tonight.

"Are you alright?" Toby ducked down slightly, trying to look into her eyes.

She shook off the fear and uncertainty to look up at her boyfriend with a small smile. "I'm great. I mean I hate football, but other than that I'm great."

"It's the Superbowl, Spence. Watching it and gorging yourself on unhealthy food is practically a requirement for all Americans," He chuckled and held the door open, steering her inside ahead of him as he always did.

"Well, call me a communist because I already ate." As soon as they were out of the way of the door and turned around, grabbed his other hand, and leaned up to press a soft kiss to his mouth. "I love you." She wouldn't admit it to him, but she wasn't really alright. She couldn't shake off the nerves. Something was going to happen tonight, she was certain of it. And Toby was the only one who notice how put off she was. He was the only one who ever noticed.

He pulled away and just looked at her. It felt like the clear blue of his eyes was seeing right down into her soul. "I love you too, but are you sure you're okay, Spencer? If you want to go we can leave-"

She laughed and kissed him again. If he thought that she would let him give up something that she knew he was excited for because she was feeling less than fabulous he was crazy. "I really do love you," she dropped one of his hands. "Let's go find us something with an unhealthy amount of calories."

He rewarded her such a happy grin that she couldn't help but catch some of his enthusiasm. Maybe this would be a good night. He stopped her in front of the food table. "There's some salad..." he trailed off uncertainly.

And right then and there she decided to make this night all about him. He deserved it. "I'm thinking some greasy wings," she gestured to the containers at the end of the table.

"Really?" He looked at her like she just suggested running naked through campus. She didn't eat unhealthily very often, but this kind of reaction was ridiculous.

She laughed and took the plate from him, filling it up with the stuff she knew he loved and she barely tolerated. He was always making sacrifices for her, doing the things that he knew she loved. She could do this for him. It was nothing compared to what he did for her. "Shut up," she laughed. She took a boneless wing off the top of the stack and handed the rest of the plate to him. "I'm going to run to the rest room. Find us somewhere to sit, okay?"

He nodded and ducked down to kiss her quickly. "Hurry back." He smiled and squeezed her hand before walking toward the living room.

It was weird. Most of the time she felt like a strong, independent type woman. But Toby showed her that it was okay to need someone, to admit when you needed help. She wasn't entirely comfortable with the concept, but she was getting there.

"Spencer?"

She cringed. It was like a scene out of a freaking movie. Dumb, unsuspecting girl runs into the person that she wanted to see the least. She turned around slowly, and from the hungry look in his eyes as he scanned her body she knew that she was stupid for ever thinking it was a coincidence. He was following her. "What are you doing, Justin?"

"I-"

She shook her head. She wasn't going to listen to his excuses. Before she was nervous; now she was pissed. "Are you following me?"

"I just- I don't know. Maybe." His maybe sounded an awful lot like a yes.

"Why?" Her voice was hard. She wouldn't let him know how much he scared her.

He just looked at her for a second, his hand reaching out for her. But that wasn't going to happen. She took a step backward, out of his reach. She wasn't stupid. He could definitely overpower her, so she had to make sure that he didn't touch her. He looked like he wasn't going to say anything. She narrowed her eyes and took another small step back, her hips bumping into the wall. "Why?"

"Damn it, Spencer," his voice was a harsh whisper. It was a tone she had never heard from him before and it was starting to freak her out. He reached out again, this time snagging her wrist before she could pull away. "I think I love you."

"Excuse me?" She wrinkled her forehead. "Justin, you don't even know me."

"No, I do!" He spoke earnestly, and with each syllable his fingers tightened on her wrist. "I love the way you smile at everyone. I love how you tuck your hair behind your ears when it's getting in your way. I love how you always have chapstick in your pocket. I love the way you snap on the hair tie around your wrist when you're thinking. I love how you're the smartest person in the room, but you never act braggy. I love how you're always willing to help people. And damn it, Spencer. I just love you."

"Justin," she kept her voice as calm as she could. She wanted to yank her wrist out of his grip, but instinctively she knew that this would make him more earnest, more determined to keep a hold of her. "Listen to me, okay. You're a sweet guy, but I have a boyfriend that I love a lot. It's always going to be him."

"How do you know? Maybe if you gave me a chance-"

She shook her head. She knew she needed to keep him talking. Apparently the party guests mulling around couldn't see her panic, but Toby would. He'd come looking for her before too long. "How do I know? How do I know that I love him? Because my heart literally aches every time I see him. I always want to be close to him. I love when he's around, and I miss him when he's not. I hurt when he hurts, I laugh when he laughs... I just love him more than anything. I love him, Justin. I'm sorry that's not what you want to hear, but it's true. It's always going to be him."

"Maybe you just need a little convincing." His hand tightened to the point of being painful and pulled her in. She only realized his intent as his lips were nearly on her. Her head whipped to the side so that he hit her cheek.

She twisted away from him. "You're hurting me," she said as calmly as she could. "You need to let me go."

"Not until-"

"What the hell's going on here?"

It was like ever single nerve ending in her body relaxed at the sound of Toby's voice. Somehow she knew that everything would be okay as long as he was there. But she couldn't make her vocal chords work to let him know that she was alright.

But his eyes were no longer on her. The hands that were always so gentle on her roughly grabbed Justin's shoulder and pulled him off of her. Her wrist actually hurt more once it was released and the blood was able to rush back to the region. She shrank back against the wall and watch as Toby pushed Justin against the cool plaster. "I asked you a question." His voice was hard, and he almost looked dangerous. She found it hard to reconcile that with the soft and gentle Toby that she knew. But she also knew that he knew how to defend himself and to protect her. She knew that there was a reason she always felt so safe around him.

But even still, she couldn't let him do this. Watching Toby kick the ass of the guy that scared the hell out of her would have been nice, but she couldn't let him jeopardize his future like that. Not for her. "Toby," she murmured. She took a shaky step forward and put her good hand on his heaving back. "Toby, come on. He's not worth it."

She could actually see his hands tightened into fists on the fabric of Justin's shirt, who looked about as scared as she felt a second ago. Physicality was only good when you were the bigger one. "Toby, please," she begged, her voice bordering on hysterical.

Her pleas sent his shoulders sagging. He shoved Justin into the wall before turning to her and wrapping both arms around her. "I swear to God, if I ever see you even looking at her again nothing will stop me from killing you where you stand. Do you understand me?"

His words concerned her, but she didn't have the energy to do anything other than lean into him. Being completely enveloped by his warmth was doing more to calm her than anything else could. Her heart ached at how gentle, how careful, he was as he spun her around and led her into the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder at Justin, and she immediately wished she hadn't when she saw the longing in his eyes. Was this not over?

The door to the kitchen flopped shut behind them with a thunk. As soon as they were alone Toby pulled away to look at her. She tried to divert her eyes, but his gentle fingers caught her chin, tipping her face upwards. "Talk to me, Spencer. Did he hurt you? Are you alright?"

She shook her head and pushed his hand away. She leaned forward and buried her face in his solid chest. She hated appearing so weak in front of him, but she would never calm down otherwise. She needed to feel safe, and nothing could make her feel safe but Toby. She felt as he stretched her bruised arm out with all the care and tenderness in the world. She felt his breath as he leaned into the embrace. "Was that the kid from your Bio Lab?"

She nodded against his chest, content on never moving again. She felt him tense slightly as someone walked through the kitchen. "Let me get you some ice, and then we can go."

Her fingers grabbed fists full of his shirt to stop him. He couldn't move, because he was literally the only thing keeping her sanity intact right now.

"Spence," he murmured. "He won't hurt you, okay? I swear to you, he'll never hurt you again." He hesitated. "Why did he do that in the first place? Do you know?"

"He had a crush," she murmured into his shirt.

She hadn't expected him understand her, but apparently he had. "Has he done anything like that before? Even just scared you? Because I am perfectly fine with riding down to the police station right now to fill out a restraining order."

She hesitated. If she told Toby everything he would needlessly panic. It was done. It had to be done, because what idiot would come after her again knowing how TOby would react? She shook her head. "This was the first time."

He nodded against the top of her head. She felt him brush his nose against her hairline and knew that was his way of calming down himself. "Okay, that ice." He tried to pull away again, but she just held onto him more tightly.

He changed tactics and brought her with him. She felt the blast of chill air and heard the soft clinking as he fiddled with the ice cubes. As he put the hastily prepared ice pack on her wrist he slowly steered them back into the living room. "You ready to get going?"

She shook her head. She wasn't going to run, and she wasn't going to let this effect her life any. "No, let's stay."

Present Day: October 2, 2014

"Yeah." Toby held her at arm's length and studied her face. "Yeah, I remember that. You think that prick broke us up back then?"

"It's the only thing I can think of." She stretched her arm out and brushed her fingers along the bandages Toby had carefully covered her wound with. Was he the same one that was doing this now too? "I just- I don't know. Things like this usually start out with an unrequited crush, right? I basically have the sex appeal of a water buffalo, so we're working with a limited list here. And as for breaking us up... if you hadn't shown up when you did that day I'm not sure what he would have done. He had to see that you were..." she let the sentence trail off, unsure of how to continue.

"You don't see yourself clearly at all." He brushed her hair away from her eyes. "You might be onto something though, but it just seems too sudden. He harasses you once at a party three years ago and then jumps to this? But the letter, that makes sense. He would see me as standing in your way after I intervened like that."

"I might have lied to you back then," she admitted reluctantly. "It might not have just been the party."

"What are you talking about?" He asked like he didn't want to hear the answer.

"He had been following me for awhile. I just didn't want to see it. He wouldn't leave me alone until you stepped in." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

His hands were immediately on her face, tilting it upwards to force her to maintain eye contact. "You're telling me he was basically stalking you? Damn it. What if he had hurt you? I need to tell Ezra about this because it's the best lead that we have. What was his last name?"

"I don't think that I ever knew it. He never told me." She felt stupid now. How could Justin not have been the first place that her mind went to? But she supposed that it was because she tried to block out anything that had to do with Toby. It had hurt too much.

"Perfect." He closed his eyes. "Okay. Okay we need to go upstairs, mostly because Hanna's going to end up charging down here and really kicking my ass if I don't bring you back to her. But also, I need to talk to Ezra. Maybe if we call the University we can figure out who he was. I'm sure they keep class records somewhere."

She kicked at the grass. "I'm scared, Toby." She had the sense that Justin was violent even then, but now it seemed so much more prominent, so much more real. Had he wait that long? Because that displayed a lot of self control, which made her terrified for what he might be capable of. She could handle what happened to herself, but if Toby or one of her friends got hurt in the process she wasn't sure that she'd be able to forgive herself.

"Hey," he dropped his voice low. Every syllable felt like a gentle caress against her skin. "I promised you this back then, and I'll promise it to you again now. He won't hurt you. Nothing will hurt you while I'm around."

And that's what she was worried about. She was worried that he'd get himself hurt trying to protect her. She wasn't sure that she was ready to trust him with her heart again, she wasn't sure that she'd ever be ready for that. But what she did know was that he was waiting for her to decide. He loved her as much as he always had, and she knew that he'd protect her at all costs, even himself. She didn't like that.

In the upcoming days she'd find out she had a lot more to worry about than that. She was in for the fight of her life.

He grabbed her hand. She thought about pulling away, but it felt natural... it felt right. "When we get up there pack an overnight bag, okay? I already talked to Hanna, and you're going to stay with her. It's safer, okay? We're pretty sure we got all of the bugs, but we can't be certain yet."

She nodded wordlessly. All she could do was pray that this ended soon so that she could get back to her life.