Chapter 12

Paige didn't come home again that night but Spencer did. She walked in sometime around midnight, drunk and alone, using a pilfered cane to steady herself. Jenna will just have to make do tomorrow.

Spencer rallied up her courage and started pounding on the door, waiting for Paige to let her in, but no one came so she knocked again, louder this time. The only person that heard was Emily but she was too conflicted to do anything to help. On the one hand she could sponsor a guess at where Paige had been, having been the one to drive her away and also being the only person that knew her inside and out...well, that may not be true anymore, she thought as she gazed at the drunken mess of a friend that was pacing around next door.

Lacking the synchronization (and patience) required to pick the lock, Spencer had let herself in through the window she'd have to get replaced the next morning, cancelled out the alarm Paige armed promptly every time she left the house, and was now running around like a lunatic, looking for Paige in every room of the house. Emily could almost feel Spencer's heavy footfalls as she ascended the stairs calling out her name. It was very late and she was making a lot of noise and Emily tried to remember if she shut the nursery window. The babies were usually heavy sleepers but they had been woken up by the odd storm every now and then.

Spencer was in her room now and Emily could see her through the window. She flopped down onto the bed and lowered her voice as if she was speaking to someone who was in the same room. Emily squinted and saw that Spencer was pulling the blankets down, and looking around confused, as if she'd genuinely thought that Paige had somehow to flatten herself against the bed and she was expecting to roll back the covers and see her. She just sat there, stunned for a couple of minutes before she started yelling again.

Emily grabbed her phone and shot her a text. She watched Spencer fish it out of her purse, read it and then chuck the mobile onto the bed as she left the room. A few seconds later she saw her walk out the door and next thing she knew she was pounding on her door. Emily sighed as she rushed downstairs to greet her.

Spencer's garbled 'hello' gave way to calling her a skank for stealing Paige away from her. Emily assured her that no such thing had happened but her words weren't going through at all. She sighed again before she dragged her out onto the patio, grabbing her keys and shutting the door behind her. She wrapped an arm around her and led her to her house where she prepared some painkillers and water for the morning and settled her in. They needed to talk as well, but she wasn't going to get through to the other girl in her current state so she put her to bed. She sat down next to her and stroked her hair as she listened to her mumbling. Spencer said:

"It isn't fair you know, Em. It isn't fair that everyone else gets everything and I get nothing. I just wanted one thing. I just wanted Paige. I know she's yours and I know Caleb was Hanna's and Ezra is Aria's but I couldn't be with Toby, at least not after Alex, and I didn't want to start anew with no one else. I saw Paige outside your house and she was still so broken up about you. She's always gonna love you, I knew that, I know you guys are Paige and Emily but I just thought that maybe with time I could occupy a space in her heart just like you do. She has such a big heart and it's not fair of you to take up all of it!"

Emily however couldn't make that out because Spencer was mumbling and slurring her words. She wasn't going to push her, just try to get her to rest and sure enough, eventually Spencer settled. She stood up to leave as Spencer mumbled her last words. These ones she caught. She said "You don't deserve her, you know."

Emily couldn't agree more.