Author's Note: Hey everyone! Ready for the next chapter? This is the chapter with the double date, but no one guessed the couples who went on the date so no one will be making a cameo, but I will give you another chance for another chapter soon! Alright let's get into the story!
Chapter 7: A Friend Helping Another Friend
The next week passed by quickly. It was full of wedding planning, the plans for the shower, and everything else. Of course Spencer was in the middle of it all. She was really regretting agreeing to be the maid of honor. She didn't just have to plan Toby's wedding, she had to sit through lunches and meetings with him and Hallie.
Toby wasn't exactly happy with all the wedding planning either. It was hard being with Spencer all the time, without actually being with her. He could tell she was uncomfortable and so was he. He made sure not to make it obvious for Hallie's sake, and he knew Spencer was doing the same, but he knew her too well, so he could notice. Though it was awkward, he was
It was Friday afternoon and Toby was hanging out with Ryan and Caleb, watching tv at their apartment. He offered to get more drinks for the kitchen. When he walked into the room, the phone rang at the same time. He recognized the caller ID as his parent's house and put the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Toby, how are you doing?" his step mother asked. He was confused. Normally when he talked to her, her voice would sound cheerful, but this time her voice was nervous.
"I'm fine. How are you?" he asked.
His mother decided to ignore the question. "I was calling to tell you, that…." Her voice trailed off.
"Tell me what?" he questioned.
"Jenna was released from jail last night." She stated.
Toby was surprised. It's been four years already? It has been, because he broke up with Spencer four years ago. He sighed. He was about to speak again, when his step-mom continued.
"And she wants to see you."
Back at the girl's house, Spencer and Hanna were spending the afternoon having a Friends marathon. Spencer was originally supposed to go over more plans with Toby and Hallie, but Hallie just got a call from Toby saying he had to cancel. So now, Hallie was spending the rest of her day shopping. The commercial just came on and Hanna announced she was going to get a soda. Just as she left the door bell went off.
"I'll get it!" Spencer called to Hanna, hopping off the couch. She made her way to the door and pulled it open. It was Toby.
"Oh. Hey, Toby." Spencer greeted, awkwardly.
"Hey," he said back, with a small smile. Spencer moved out of the way, letting him.
"I thought you weren't coming over today?" She asked, shutting the door.
"No, I'm not here for wedding plans. I'm actually here to see you." Toby said, just as Hanna walked back into the room.
"Hey, Toby. Hallie's not here if you were wondering." She said, walking over to them.
"I know, but I'm here to talk to Spencer." Toby told her, nodding at Spencer, who was still surprised to why he was there.
Hanna raised her eyebrow. "Why?" she questioned.
He looked at floor, nervously, and then back at the two girls in front of him. "Well, my step-mom called me today."
"And?" Spencer asked.
"She told me Jenna was released from jail, yesterday." He finished.
Both girls exchanged shocked glances. "Oh, my gosh." Hanna whispered. Spencer nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, and that's not all," Toby continued, "she also told me that Jenna wants to see me."
"What! Why?" Spencer asked. Everything about the present was disregarded. It was like they were in high school again.
Toby shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that I'm supposed to go to Rosewood today to see her.
"You're going?" Hanna asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, well I kind of have to." He said, "And the reason why I'm here was to ask if you'd come with me, Spencer?"
Spencer was taken back. Hanna whipped her head around to face Spence to see what she'd say.
"Me?" she questioned, "why me? Why not Hallie?"
"Hallie doesn't know what Jenna did to you four, and what she did to me." He answered and Spencer's eyes softened. Toby continued, "And there's no one else I'd want to go with."
"Really?"
He nodded, "You understand what this is all about and I'd feel better if you were with me."
Spencer had to bite her lip to hide the smile, and Hanna could tell she was doing that. Eventually Spencer nodded, "Okay, I'll go with you."
The car ride to Rosewood was about an hour long and it wasn't as awkward as Spencer and Toby thought it would be. They sat through the entire drive in comfortable silence. About half way through, Spencer looked over at Toby. She could tell that he was nervous. She reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently. Toby was surprised and looked over at her from the corner of his eyes, though he wouldn't dare pull away.
"I know how you feel. I'm nervous too." She said softly, "she hurt me and my friends physically and emotionally and I know what she did to you. I always hated her for that."
They pulled up to a red light, and Toby looked over at her. He squeezed her hand back. "Thank you, Spencer." He said quietly, giving her a soft smile. She smiled too, and they both turned back to face the road as Toby began driving again.
It was about six and Aria and Ezra were sitting next to each other a in a booth at Rosetta's awaiting Samara and Emily for their double date. They only had to wait a couple of minutes for the other two to arrive. Everyone said their greetings and soon they were all ordering drinks. They made small talk for a while, until Aria brought up the biggest topic of the moment.
"So, Spencer was talking to me about the wedding plans." Aria started, "They're getting married in three weeks."
It was silent for a moment, before Emily spoke up. "They've been engaged for a month, it's been pretty fast."
"Well we know Hallie, always jumping into things." Aria said, sipping on her cherry coke.
"Yes, and I also know Toby. I still can't picture him with someone else, other than Spencer." Emily spoke.
"You can tell that both Toby and Spencer have feelings for each other, by the way they act when they're around each other." Samara said, adding to the conversation.
"It's even worse that Spencer has to plan the wedding." Ezra stated.
"And the hardest part will be the wedding." Aria added.
It was quiet for a few minutes. Whenever Spencer, Toby, Hallie, or Drew wasn't around, the four of them, sometimes including Hanna, Caleb, and Ryan, would discuss the situation. They all knew how it was affecting Toby and Spencer. Spencer was a little more obvious since everyone knew she never really got over Toby, even though she was dating Drew. They all hated seeing their friend go through this, but there was nothing they could do.
Toby and Spencer arrived at the Cavanaugh's house in Rosewood. Emily's mom still lived across the street with her dad, who was permanently back from serving overseas. Spencer made note to go say hi after the visit with Jenna. The two hopped out of Toby's truck, which made Spencer happy to know he still had. It also made her happy to ride in the passenger's seat with him again. Spencer and Toby walked up the steps and onto the porch. Toby put his hand on the door knob, turning to Spencer. "Are you ready?"
Spencer took a deep breath, "Ready as I'll ever be." They walked into the house, Toby shutting the door behind her. "This brings back memories," Spencer said softly. Toby nodded, walking her into the living room. Seated in there were Toby's parents and across from them was Jenna. The three of them stood when they saw Spencer and Toby enter. His parents came to greet them first.
"We're glad you came, Toby." Mrs. Cavanaugh said.
"And we're glad you could join him, Spencer." Mr. Cavanaugh added.
Spencer nodded, with a small smile. "It's good to see you again."
Toby spoke up after, "Do you think we could talk to Jenna alone for a few minutes?"
His parents nodded, before excusing themselves to the kitchen. Toby and Spencer hesitantly walked further into the living room.
"It okay, I'm not going to bite." Jenna said, with a small laugh.
Spencer and Toby sat on the couch across from where Jenna was sitting in a chair.
"It's good to see you both." Jenna continued, when they were all seated.
They could only nod, because they both knew they weren't too glad to be there.
"Why did you want to see us, Jenna?" Toby asked, cutting to the chase.
Jenna sighed, "I wanted to apologize." Spencer raised her eyebrows and Jenna continued, "While I was in, uh, jail, I saw a therapist a few times a week. She helped figure out why I threatened the four of you." She gestured to Spencer saying that. Spencer tensed, and Toby reassuringly squeezed her hand. "The therapist helped me realize that I still held a grudge about all of you, that I did everything out of revenge. The reason why I wanted to talk to you, talk you both, was to say I'm sorry. For everything. And I really want us to be able to move past this."
Spencer and Toby exchanged glances. Toby spoke up again. "As long as you promise never to hurt Spencer, or one of the other girls again." Butterflies flew through Spencer's stomach at the way Toby exaggerated her name, and that he was still holding her hand.
"I promise. I really regret everything I did to all of you, and I won't do anything again. I just hope you accept my apology." Jenna pleaded.
Spencer still wasn't used to talking to Jenna without her glasses, now that she could see, despite it being almost five years. "I forgive you." Spencer said softly, "and I'm still sorry for what we did to you in high school."
Jenna exhaled in relief. "So can we forget everything and move on?"
Spencer and Toby nodded.
Toby's father emerged from the kitchen to bring a glass of water for each of them before walking back into the kitchen. Spencer noticed Toby hadn't let go of her hand yet, but she wasn't complaining. Toby knew he was still holding onto her hand, but as long as she didn't pull away or protest, neither would he.
After Jenna took a sip of water, she began talking again. "So, last night, mom and dad told me you were getting married."
Toby nodded, "Yeah, it's true."
Jenna smiled slightly, "I'm so happy for you two. I'm glad to hear after all these years the two of you are still together."
Spencer's eyes widened and Toby's eyebrows shot up.
"Wait, you thought that we were…."
"No, no, no, we're not…"
Jenna's jaw dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry I thought that you two were engaged." Jenna gestured to their still interlocked hands.
This time they did pull away and scooted farther apart on the couch they were on.
"Actually Toby and I broke up before college." Spencer told her, rubbing her next awkwardly.
"Yeah, and I'm marrying a girl named Hallie." Toby explained.
"Hallie is actually one of my best friends and roommate. So Toby and I are just friends." Spencer added, and Toby nodded along.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just- I always thought you two would end up together." Jenna said, as Toby and Spencer's eyes met. "You both were inseparable in high school."
The room filled with awkward silence for a few moments.
"I'm just going to see if mom and dad need any help with dinner." Jenna said, standing up and excusing herself to the kitchen, leaving Toby and Spencer to sit awkwardly next to each other.
The rest of the night went a little more smoothly. The dinner was nice. Toby talked about his new job he got near his new place. Spencer talked about getting her teaching degree and that she would start looking for a job around August before school started. After dinner, Toby and Spencer thanked his parents for a nice meal and after an awkward hug from Jenna, they were back on the road home. After an hour, Toby pulled up in Spencer's driveway. Spencer had fallen asleep on the way home. Toby unbuckled his seat belt and turned to face the sleeping girl beside him. He let himself admire her for a moment, before he lightly shook her awake.
"Spencer, wake up," he said softly, "Your home now, wake up."
Spencer smiled lightly, being woken up by the voice she had fallen in love with. She quickly took her surroundings and her smile washed away.
Toby grinned slightly, "Do you want me to walk you to the door?"
After a minute, Spencer shook her head. "No. I don't want Hallie to see you. It'd be hard to explain this to her since the whole Jenna situation is complicated.
He nodded in understanding. Spencer unbuckled her seat belt. "Thank you for coming tonight. It meant a lot to me." Toby said.
Spencer smiled softly. "I'm glad I came." Toby leaned over a placed a small kiss on her cheek. Spencer was glad it was dark, so he couldn't see her blush.
"Good night, Toby." She said, pushing the door open and hopping out of the car.
"Good night, Spencer."
She shut the car door and waved as he pulled out of the drive way. She walked up the porch steps, quietly talking to herself. "A friend helping out another friend. That's all it was."
Spencer wasn't sure if she was stating a fact, or trying to convince herself.
Author's Note: Well, that was chapter 7. What did you think? Did I portray Jenna okay? I wanted to make her good, because the only drama I want in this story right now is the whole wedding love triangle thing. Okay, be sure to leave a review and tell me what you thought. Reviews equal faster update! Next up, the boys have a guys night and the girls go dress shopping. Okay, see you next time! xxxMelody
