I have to be honest. I'm a little disappointed that there weren't many reviews last chapter. Hopefully, this one is better. Most of this chapter is Spoby and Spencer has a brief interaction with Toby's dad and she's not a happy camper.
Sunlight streamed into Toby's hospital room. He stood at his bedside packing all of his stuff in a bag that Spencer allowed him to borrow. Spencer will be in at any minute to give him a ride home. He's not really looking forward to going back home to his father, but he is looking forward to being in the car with Spencer for a good twenty minutes. Knock. Knock. Toby looked up and smiled at the brown haired beauty standing outside his door. Her brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail and her lips are coated with a soft red lip shine. Her dark gray blazer is covered by her white and black polka dot jacket and a pair of black pants. She has a brown satchel like bag hanging around her shoulder down her side.
"Hey," she smiled while stepping into the room. "You almost ready?"
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for my nurse to bring in my discharge papers, so I can leave."
"Okay."
A moment later, the nurse came in with his papas. Toby signed them then he walked with Spencer out to her car. Spencer smiled when he opened her car door for her. He circled around and climbed into the passenger's seat. They pulled out of the parking lot and took the highway home. During the whole ride home, Toby would steal glances of Spencer when she wasn't looking. She would also look at him when he was staring out the window. One time Toby looked at her while she was looking at him. He smiled and she turned away blushing. They pulled up into Toby's driveway a little after 10 am. Spencer walked up with him to his room and sat on his bed while he unpacked his stuff.
"Where's your father?" She asked out of curiosity.
Spencer noticed that his dad didn't even show up while Toby was in the hospital. She stayed with him all night until the sun came up. Not once did Mr. Cavanaugh bother to come in and check on his son. Spencer was appalled by the fact that his father didn't even care to make sure that he's alive. She doesn't know what Toby's relationship with his father is like, but she's guessing it's not too good. Toby avoiding eye contact when she asked that question.
"He probably had something more important to do," is all he has to say about that.
"He didn't even bother to check on his son who could've died."
"It's fine, Spencer. What my father does is more important than my well-being."
"I disagree. Nothing is more important than knowing if your son is alright. Especially when it's someone like you."
"You'd be the first to think like that."
Toby finished putting his clothes away and walked over to his bedroom window. Spencer watched him move around his model cars. She stood off the bed and walked over to him. Toby felt her presence without even having to turn around. Spencer noticed how he tensed up a little when she touched the back of his shoulder. Toby opened his mouth to say something but before any words came out, Spencer was pulling him in and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Toby stood there for a second not knowing what to do at first. Nobody's ever hugged him like this. Actually, he's never been hugged before. Spencer leaned into his chest and inhaled deeply. He's never been hugged before, but he likes it. He finally responds to the hug and wraps his arms around her. He leaned his head down a bit to rest on her shoulder. Spencer didn't pull away when he did so. Instead, she reached up with her hand and stroked the back of his head.
After being wrapped up for a few minutes, Toby wondered how long this hug was going to last. Not that he wanted to let go. He was about to speak again until he felt something wet fall on his t-shirt. It took him a few seconds to realize that she's crying. Spencer inhaled deeply and more tears continued to fall down her cheeks and onto his shirt. He's not sure what to do, so he just rubbed his hands up and down her back and held her closer.
"I'm sorry," she sniffled.
She loosened her grip around him and leaned her head off his chest to look at him. Her eyes are all red and puffy, and the tear stains on her cheeks appear visible. His arms are still wrapped loosely around her waist.
"It's okay," he said.
She whipped her cheeks and sniffled once more, "it's just…" She stopped to calm herself. "I thought I lost you. When I walked into that bathroom and I saw you on the floor I thought you were…"
She stopped herself as tears rolled down her cheeks again. Toby pulled her back in and hugged her with much more feeling than their last hug. She sniffled and cried into his chest for a few minutes. When she finally calmed down, Toby walked them over to his bed. They sat next to each other with his arm around her and her head on his shoulder.
"What time do you have to be home?" He asked after a while.
The time has passed and it's now later in the day. Toby is leaning back against his headboard, and Spencer is sitting Chris-crossed on the other end of his bed. She has his French book opened up in her lap. For the past hour, she's been teaching him some new phrases in French. Actually, she's teaching him how to insult people in French. After spending the morning in tears, Toby managed to make her laugh with his attempt to speak French just as well as she does.
"Okay," Spencer laughed while wiping away her tears from laughing so hard. "This is my favorite thing to say. It goes like this, Merci pour la pointe, stupide."
Toby laughed, "what does that even mean?"
"It means thanks for the tip, stupid. I say that when somebody either states the obvious or gives me useless advice."
"I'll have to remember that one."
They both jumped when they heard a crackle of thunder echo across the sky. Spencer checked the time and it's almost 3 in the afternoon. Her parents will be home in an hour, but they're leaving for D.C at 9 tonight.
"What time do you have to be home?" Toby asked.
"Before 4 o'clock. I don't have to leave just yet."
"Maybe you should go before it starts raining," he suggested while looking out at the dark cloud rolling in.
He would like her to stay, but at the same time he doesn't want her to be here when her father gets home. Who knows what he'll do when he finds Spencer here. One time after Spencer left, Toby's father got angry that she stayed for so long. He told Toby that she wasn't allowed back after that day. Of course, he ignored his father's ridiculous rule and had her over anyway, but usually she would be gone before his father got home.
"I kind of wanted to stay the night if that's okay with you. I want to make sure you're okay."
Toby's heart warmed at the gesture, but she can't stay. He doesn't want to risk his father hurting her. When Mr. Cavanaugh is sober, he's a little but more controllable over his actions, but when he's drunk, there's no telling what he'll do.
"That's very nice of you to want to stay, but I promise I'll be fine. I won't do anything tonight, I promise. You should go before your parents get home and worry about where you are."
Spencer huffed a laugh, "they wouldn't be worried about me."
"I want you to stay," he admitted. "But for your own protection you should go."
"Okay," she sighed and stood up.
Toby sighed and watched her put on her jacket. He always hates watching her leave. It's always the hardest part of the day. She comes over and they have a great time. It all ends when she puts on her jacket. Spencer straps her bag over her shoulder and turns around.
"Hey, Toby, can I ask you something?"
He nodded. She bit her lip and took a step closer.
"What would you think if you saw me walking down the halls holding hands with Andrew?"
Toby's stomach twirled at the thought. Honestly, he wouldn't like it at all. Not just because he's in love with her, but because Andrew just Isn't a good guy. He wouldn't be good for Spencer. Andrew is a cocky-ass, bad boy, and he doesn't know how to treat other people right. If Spencer dated him, Toby's sure that Andrew would treat Spencer horrible.
"Why do you ask?" He looked away from her.
"Because you're my friend and your opinion matters to me. You also seem to have a pretty good judgement of character and if you told me that Andrew is wrong for me, well I would take that under consideration if Andrew ever asked me out again."
With a heavy heart, Toby said this, "if you like Andrew then it's okay for you to like him back, but in all honesty, you deserve better. You can date whoever you want, but I worry that if you date him he'll only end up hurting you." He looked at her this time. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
She smiled softly and touched his shoulder, "you're a good guy, Toby."
She kissed his cheek then walked out of his room and down the hall towards the stairs. Toby sat back and felt a throbbing sensation in his cheek. Not the throbbing he feels after he gets hit or slapped, but a different feeling. His whole face is heating up and his heart is racing. Something inside Toby tells him that Spencer will be the death of him. Maybe it won't be his father's abuse that kills him or the bullies at school or himself that causes his death. Maybe it will be Spencer Hastings.
Spencer couldn't stop smiling after all the fun she's had today with Toby. It started out with tears and ended with laughter. Only Toby can change her mood in a blink of an eye. One minute she was close to bawling, the next she was in tears from laughing so hard. She made it halfway down the stairs when her phone beeped. She smiled at the text Toby sent her. Date Andrew? Non. She laughed to herself. The smile left her face when she reached the bottom step just as Mr. Cavanaugh was walking in. Mr. Cavanaugh paused when he saw her. They looked at each other for a moment before one of them spoke. Anger filled Spencer's eyes when she saw him.
"What are you doing here?" The older man demanded.
She crossed her arms and said, "doing something you weren't. Making sure Toby's okay."
"What do you mean?" He scuffled.
"He could've died you know? While you were out doing god knows what, he could've died and you would have lost the best son anyone could ever ask for."
"I don't have time to talk," he turned away. "Get out of my house."
Spencer wanted to stay back and argue. She wanted to slap that man hard across his face. Doing so wouldn't help Toby. Instead, she clenched her hand around the strap on her bag and walked towards the open door that Mr. Cavanaugh held open for her.
"Toby's doing fine right now, by the way," she paused in the doorway. "Thanks for your concern for him. It's much appreciated."
With that, she walked out of the Cavanaugh's house with her head held high. Mr. Cavanaugh grumbled and shut the door behind her. How dare some foolish girl come in here and tell him how to raise his son. Toby's a big boy and he can look out for himself. He doesn't need a guardian to make sure he doesn't burn his hands. Toby watched Spencer walk down his drive from his bedroom window. As soon as she disappeared, he heard the sound of his father's footsteps marching up the stairs. He took a deep breath in anticipation of what's about to happen. He knows what's going to happen. His father saw Spencer leave here. Toby disobeyed him. Of course he's going to get punished for it. Toby took another deep breath when his door opened up behind him.
"I told you not to haver her over anymore," his father growled.
The first blow went to the back of his head followed by many more after that. His father hit him until all he could see was black.
The Hasting's left for D.C just thirty minutes ago. After they left, Spencer walked out into the cold, late night air. She walked down the long grable road until she showed up to her destination. When she showed up, she never expected what she just witnessed.
I was going to add more, but I decided to put that into next chapter. Plus, I gotta give you all something to look forward to next chapter. Where do you think Spencer went? What happened? What did she just witness? Review and share your thoughts. I'm sending a sneak peek to whoever reviews this chapter.