AN: First I want to say thank you to those of you who left a review. When I started writing this I wasn't really sure if there would be any interest but now I'm 10 chapters in. I hope you all stick with me as the story continues.

Second, I want to thank my followers. I hope you are all enjoying this journey with me. I would be posting a new chapter every day if I could write them that fast.

Lyrics will be in italics and texts will be between *these* from now on.

Enjoy! Xoxo

"Melissa.. thank you. "

"For what? "

"Today. Coming home. Supporting me. Sometimes it feels like you really hate me. "

"Spence, we have our differences but I have never hated you. I'm so sorry you ever felt that way. I guess the whole sibling rivalry thing gets pretty intense between us, huh? "

"Intense is one way of putting it. " Spencer let out a half-hearted laugh as she stared at the steering wheel.

"Look at me sis. " Melissa put a finger under her sisters chin, lifting her head up and to the right. "I am so proud of you Spence. You've gone from my bratty kid sister to this insanely smart, strong willed and confident young woman. And very beautiful. It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. You are my sister and I support you no matter what. Okay? "

At first Spencer wasn't sure she was hearing correctly. Was her older sister really complimenting her? "I don't.. wow. I really needed to hear that. What if I.. you know.. disappoint mom and dad? "

"We all feel that way at times but..being gay will never be a reason for that. Now if you're ready, let's go inside before mom thinks we are out here tearing each other's hair out. And when dad gets back next weekend I'll be here again with you. "

"Can you blame her? I'll meet you in there in a few. I just need a moment to.. breathe. "

Melissa nodded, got out of the SUV and made her way into the house. Their dad had been called out of town on a case and wasn't expected back until that Friday at the earliest. Spencer was nearly positive her mother would also be very supportive but there was still a hint of fear and doubt. She took a deep breath, got out of the SUV, made her way to the door and just stood there with her hand hovering above the knob. One more deep breath and she was in the house about to expose her own secret.

"Spence hunny, come join your sister and me. I was just about to make some coffee. The club serves some fantastic food but their coffee is just deplorable. "

"Yeah.. sure. "

"Have a seat sweetie. I'm sorry your dad couldn't make it tonight. When he gets back we should all head to Philly for dinner at that new French restaurant. What do you think? "

"Sure mom."

Spencer looked to her sister hoping to gain the last little bit of courage she so greatly needed. A smile and a nod came her way and it was now or never. With both hands gripping the island, Spencer sucked in yet another deep breath and began to speak at the same time as her mother.

"Mom.."

"Spencer are you feeling okay? You look a little pale. "

"I'm fine mom. "

"Are you sure? I know the district championships are coming up.."

"Mom! "

"Mom, I'm pretty sure she is fine. But I do think Spence has to tell you something."

"Okay. Spencer? "

"I don't know how to say this.. so.. "

Veronica look back and forth between her daughters, her fears growing by the second. "Oh please don't tell me your pregnant."

"What?! No! I'm not.. uh.. " Another deep breath. "I don't like.. we'll I used to.. but not.. "
More deep breaths. "I'm GAY! "

Veronica watched her daughter jump up from her seat at the island, spin around and bolt for the stairs. "Spencer! Do not even think about taking one step further. "

The tears poured down the girls face as she stood with her back to both her mother and sister. "I'm so sorry mom. I'm just a huge disappointment. I tried so hard to ignore it, to make it go away but I can't..."

The older Hastings was standing behind her daughter, her sister now stood a few paces off to the right. "Spencer please turn around."

Spencer slowly turned to face her mother, her eyes closed but the tears still flowing like a river. She finally opened them to see her mother holding her arms open wide, a gentle smile spread across her face. So many of her fears melted away in that moment as her mother closed the distance between them and hugged the girl tightly.

"Sweetheart calm down and listen to me. You have never been a disappointment. Come and sit with me?"

"You're not mad at me or ashamed or think I'm disgusting? "

All three Hastings women sat, Spencer feeling relieved to have finally admitted her secret, Melissa feeling happy to be there showing her support, Veronica feeling slightly confused as to why Spencer would ever think this was something to be ashamed of.

"You are not disgusting. You put that out of your head right now. Mad or ashamed? What would lead you to think that? "

"Because we are Hastings and being..gay.. doesn't exactly fit.."

"Oh hunny, gay or straight, none of that matters. I couldn't be more proud of you. This is just one small aspect of who you are and I love you no matter what. We all do. I just want you to be happy and if this is what makes you happy I fully support that. "

"Really? You're proud of me? Is dad going to be upset? "

"I am absolutely proud of you. You bring home straight A's, belong to countless clubs at school, you're the captain of the field hockey team and you volunteer every chance you get. Your father is just as proud of you as I am."

The Hastings women continued to talk, each telling a few stories they'd never shared before. An hour had passed and Spencer shed a few more tears, laughed a lot and discovered her own mother had a best friend in college that was gay. She knew she had a few more steps to take before she was completely comfortable in accepting her own sexuality and most of that would come after she told her dad. That would have to wait a few more days.

"Thank you mom and you too Melissa. I was so scared to even admit any of this to myself for so long but now I couldn't imagine going back to feeling that way. I really needed your support and acceptance..so thank you. "

"Sweetie you will always have my support. Okay? I know I get so busy with work sometimes but you can talk to me anytime about anything. I love you Spence. "

"What are sisters for? I'll be back next weekend and I'll be here when you talk to dad and I love you too Spencer. "

"I'm gonna go for a drive and clear my head a little more. I won't be out too late, I have a little reading to do for Lit. I love you both."

*Told my mom. It went really well. *

Spence sat in her driveway waiting for a reply from Hanna and fiddled with her radio trying to find something half way decent to listen to. * See I told u! *
* I know. See you tomorrow. *
*Okay.*

Spencer backed out of the driveway and headed to her favorite thinking place, Robbins park. Sitting on top of that gazebo had quickly become her place of quiet and calm, she could sort her thoughts why staring up at the star filled sky. Over the past six months she had found herself driving there on autopilot. She pulled to the curb on the side street, put the SUV in park and was just about to turn off the engine when the beginning note of a song started to play. The brunette didn't know why but it caught her attention.

-Oh oh oh, there's a place that I know

It's not pretty there and few have ever gone

If I show it to you now Will it make you run away?

Or will you stay

Even if it hurts

Even if I try to push you out

Will you return?

And remind me who I really am

Please remind me who I really am-

Spencer leaned her head back against the headrest, closed her eyes and let the song take over her senses. A few tears slipped from her eyes making their way down her cheeks. Visions of a happy and smiling Emily flashed through her mind.

-Everybody's got a dark side

Do you love me?

Can you love mine?

Nobody's a picture perfect

But we're worth it

You know that we're worth it

Will you love me?

Even with my dark side?

Like a diamond From black dust

It's hard to know What can become If you give up

So don't give up on me

Please remind me who I really am-

Spencer started to get the feeling that she was being watched. She opened her eyes, scanned her surrounding finding no one in sight and turned the engine off. She got out and headed across the field to the gazebo. She looked back over her should and saw a car parked just beyond the visibility of the street lamps. Spencer hadn't been entirely sure if the car had been there when she pulled up but she shoved any crazy thoughts out of her mind as she walked the last 20 feet. She was about half way up the wooden structure when the very loud sound of an air horn went off causing the athletic girl to lose her footing and slip down a little bit. The horn stopped at the same second she felt someone grab her ankle and tug. She felt her foot connect with the person's face and heard a soft somewhat feminine grunt. From across the field someone yelled and began running towards her but in the few seconds she looked away she had almost missed seeing a now fleeing black hooded figure as it ran into the woods.

"Spencer! Are you okay? Who the fuck was that? "

"Noel?" Spencer scrambled up to her feet and was now standing, staring down at Noel.

"What the hell just happened?" Noel climbed up and pulled his friend in to a tight hug. From the outside looking in it would have appeared to be a very intimate moment but to them it was just who they were to each other, even if their friends didn't get it. There was nothing sexual about it. "I saw you hit the side pretty hard, are you hurt? "

"I scraped my stomach a little but I'm fine. I got in a kick to the head of whoever that was so I'm sure they are hurting more than me. "

Spencer stepped out of the hug, turned around and sat with her legs hanging over the side with Noel following suit.

"So.. thanks, you know.. for-"

"Don't mention it. I was actually hoping you'd be here. I kinda wanted to talk to you about.. Aria.."

"Did she give you an answer about Friday? "

"Not exactly. She sent a text saying she'd talk to me in school tomorrow. That pretty much feels like a no. "

"Noel, it's probably a little weird for her. The whole situation is weird. You two have dated twice now and our history never came up. I think if I was her I'd be a bit.."

"Ugh.. I guess. Talk to her for me? Tell her there is nothing between us. I mean, I'm okay with her needing some time to think."

"I did after you left earlier but she has to make up her own mind. I think she'll say yes though. "

"So… I uh.. saw Emily at The Brew tonight. With Paige. What happened Spence? "

"Oh you know.. I finally admitted to myself, then her, that I have feelings for her. She told me she feels she same way.. she kissed me.. I kissed her back.. and then this morning A decided to enlighten Emily to the fact that I'm a drunken party whore. She left before I woke up and hasn't spoken to me. And.. she is obviously back with Paige. On the bright side, I came out to my mom which went really well but following that, someone tried to maim me. Its been a stellar day. "

"I knew when you finally accepted it your mother would be okay with it all. So Emily, huh? Paige was all over her but I gotta say Spence, she didn't seem too into her. I've seen the way she looks at you. What are you gonna do? "

Both teens got to their feet with Noel making the climb off the roof first. Once his feet hit the ground the sounds of something or someone running across the field caught their attention. In her haste to get down and run after the hooded person Spencer slipped again, slamming her left side against the edge again.

"Fuck!" Spencer groaned and dropped the final few feet to the ground. "Let them go. They are closer to that car than you are to them. Shit that's going to leave a mark."

"Damnit! Lift up your shirt. Let me see, I heard you hit. "

"I'm fine. " She lifted the left side of her shirt to right above her ribs. Two scratches about three inches long ran down the left side of her stomach below her ribs. There was some smeared blood but the scratches didn't appear to be too deep. "See, just a few small scrapes. "

"You do know if I find whoever the hell that was, my lacrosse stick becomes dual purposed. Right? "

"As long as you let me get in a few whacks with my field hockey stick. "

"Deal. Now come on. I'm walking you to your car. "

As they approached her SUV Spencer stopped and looked at Noel. "We aren't jerks to each other anymore. "

"Uhm..okay? "

"At school and around our friends. If we can be friends here we should be like this everywhere. In front of Aria whether or not things work out and in front of Emily. Because this.. there is nothing to hide. We should have been truthful a hell of a lot sooner. "

"I agree. You're right, we should have. If Aria does give me a chance I do want to tell her everything. There is something about her.. "

"Just so you know. I will break your face if you hurt her. "

Noel laughed lightly but he knew without any doubt that Spencer would, in fact, break his face. "Again, deal. I'll see you tomorrow." He stepped back and watched as Spencer climbed into her SUV and drove off.

The next morning Spencer was standing at her locker a little earlier than usual. She'd gotten maybe four hours of sleep and after waking up at 5AM with her side in some serious pain she decided to just stay up and get ready for school. The scratches hadn't been bad at all but there was definitely a nasty bruise to go along with very sore ribs.

"Good morning Spence! " Hanna laughed seeing her friend jump and drop the book she had been reading but stopped the second a wince and flash of pain wash over Spencer's face. "Spencer what's wrong? Why do you look like you were just stabbed in the side? "

"Nothing. I'm fine. You just startled me. You're here early. " Spencer turned away from Hanna before slowly bending down to pick up her book, a shock of pain causing her to grab hold of her side while biting her own lip.

From the left side of the hallway Emily and Paige walked together, hand in hand , to Emily's locker which was about ten down from Spencer's. When Spencer turned to the left she instantly locked eyes with Paige and she was definitely wearing a smirk.

From the right side Aria walked up hand in hand Noel. The tension between the six of them could have been cut with a knife with most of it being directed at Emily and Paige. Emily finished getting her books from her locker, looked to Aria, quickly scanned over Spencer and settled her sights on Hanna.

"I'll see you guys at lunch. "

"Are you for real right now Em? Remember the whole stay the hell away from me conversation yesterday? Lets stick with that!" Hanna grabbed Aria, tugging both her and Noel down the hallway.

Spencer turned her attention back to her own locker, pulling out two more books and shoving them in her bag. She wasn't sure what part of her was hurting more at the moment. Bruised ribs or breaking heart. She knew her ribs would heal but her heart..

The slender brunette moved to the left until she was shoulder to shoulder with Emily. She sucked in a deep painful breath ignoring the thumping pain from her side, closed her eyes and spoke. Her voice barely above a whisper. "I just want you to be..happy. It's all I'll ever want. "

Emily watched as the girl she loved move through the crowded hall, disappearing around a corner. "Come on Em. " Paige tugged on Emily's arm a bit, then leaned in pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "I still have to stop at my locker before first period."

Who attacked Spencer? Is Aria really okay with Noel and Spencer's past? Will Emily's fears keep her from being with the girl she loves?

Song: Kelly Clarkson-Dark Side

Reviews please! Good or bad.

Xoxo- FindingSide