I'm putting this warning out there because this chapter especially has quite a bit of the show's original dialogue/scenes. Please just appreciate the fact that it takes me a very long time to rewatch these scenes, copy the dialogue out word for word, watch expressions and explore other character's perspectives. It's not as easy as it looks, trust me.

That being said, EVERYONE, thanks for your support, reviews and interest!

I do not own Pretty Little Liars.

Spencer was so grateful that her best friends had spent the night at her place with her, not wanting to leave her home alone after the –A break-in the night before.

Aria needed the extra friend support just as much, since the night before her mother had finally found out the truth of her father's affair the year before that she had been keeping a secret since. They had discussed the sensitive topic over breakfast in Spencer's kitchen, Hanna putting her foot in her mouth a couple times in her typical way, and it was clear that this was only the beginning of the tough road the Montgomery family would be going down.

When they all teamed up to go upstairs to clean the mirror before school, Hanna had received a text from the usual devil. They had unblocked their phones and email addresses last night after that fiasco—they really didn't want personal visits from the beast. The taunting texts, however horrid, were definitely the better alternative.

–A had sent them a video clip of the four of them discovering the mirror together. The angle and setting of the shot alerted them that the video was shot from inside Spencer's closet.

Which meant that –A had been only feet from them last night.

The four of them raced upstairs to check the closet, although they knew –A wouldn't have sent the clip unless they were long gone. All that they found in their search was the lipstick tube which, after testing it across Aria's skin, was a perfect match to the writing on the mirror.

Too freaked out, the four of them got ready for school quickly and headed off before they could be late.

At Spencer's locker, Aria made a proposition of the identity of –A that she couldn't agree with, however much she hated Jenna.

"You cannot seriously think that a blind girl broke into my house? That would take a lot more than a talking GPS."

"Well I didn't say that Jenna was alone." Aria reminded her.

It was Emily who jumped to the Cavanaugh boy's defense. "Let's not go to the Toby place, okay?"

"Why not? You guys think her guide dog left behind his lipstick?" Aria asked patronizingly.

Spencer looked to Emily, knowing that Aria wasn't going to be letting up on this one any time soon. "Yeah, you want to ask your lab partner what he was doing last night?"

Emily had confessed last night that she and Toby had been paired up in chemistry. Spencer felt a douse of jealousy and resentment, and then hated herself for it. It wasn't Emily's fault—she hadn't picked Toby. But Spencer's feelings for Toby were so confused right now, and kissing Wren again the night before had only made things worse. She didn't know what she wanted. So much had changed since she and Toby had been together; she didn't think they'd ever get back what they had. And she still didn't entirely trust him, not with the way things had panned out lately.

She wanted to see the best in him, but this whole Alison/A ordeal had left her feeling more paranoid than ever. It's not as though Toby had no motivation, and Aria was certainly convinced that it could be him. She saw her reasoning, but her lovesick heart was constantly disagreeing and trying to find loopholes to get Toby off the hook. She really didn't know what was truth or fiction these days.

Mr. Sheldrake, her Russian History teacher, suddenly cut in before Emily could answer. "Spencer. Sorry ladies, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I hope you're as proud of your friend as I am." He pulled the large envelope from the Golden Orchid board from behind his back and handed it to her. "Congratulations. My instincts were right. This just makes it official."

Aria seemed confused. "What's that about?"

"An essay contest." Spencer explained quickly, not wanting to get into it.

"Wait, did you win it? Aren't you going to at least open the envelope?" Emily asked. It wasn't like Spencer to pass up tallying up her to-date victories, but the others had no idea that that essay had been plagiarized.

"Why should she? She wins an award for waking up." Hanna teased as the academic teenager stowed the envelope in her locker.

Spencer forced a smile, and the four headed off to class.

She sighed. She had no idea what she was going to do now.

Toby was grateful that Emily seemed friendlier in chemistry. After his talk with her last night, he had hoped they'd get to a more comfortable place, but he knew that their situation hadn't changed; he was still a guy who took the fall for a crime for them, the guy that dated her best friend until he broke her heart, and the guy who beat up her boyfriend for getting too handsy with her.

But Emily had come in and said hi to him immediately, settling into her seat and passing him a copy of the class assignment when they went around the room with ease.

They would be mixing up a new experiment today from scratch. Toby had collected the chemicals while Emily collected the instruments needed.

"Sodium borate." she narrated a little while later, pouring the substance in the beaker and swirling it with the glass stir stick.

Her spins were rather forceful and the stick kept cracking against the sides.

"Easy. That glass beaker is made of… glass." he warned, trying not to smile.

Emily released the stick. "Maybe you should do it. I've had too much coffee and not enough sleep."

He acquiesced. "Big party on a Thursday night?"

"No I …slept at a friend's."

Her awkwardness made him contemplate two different people. Either she had stayed at the new girl's and fought her feelings for her more, or she had been at Spencer's and was too afraid to say her name around him.

"What did you do last night?"

Her persistence in the question alerted him that she was eager for a subject change. "Sat at the Grille doing homework." Toby replied honestly.

"That's where you study?" she asked in surprise.

"Got to. Jenna listens to her lectures loudly and it messes me up. She doesn't like using her headphones at home." he explained.

"Why the Grille? It's not exactly quiet there either."

"It is if you stay late enough. I close the place like every night." he admitted.

He was curious if she had told Spencer yet about if they were lab partners and decided to take the back door route in asking whether she had seen her recently.

"So who's house did you stay at last night? That new girl?"

"Who, Maya? Why would you think that?" Emily asked quickly.

"I just figured she's the newest member of your posse. Has she learned the secret handshake yet?" he teased, knowing the group of four friends were inseparable these days. Although, truth be told, he hadn't been around for the year that they had distanced themselves.

"She's more my friend than the group's." Emily told him.

"Why is that?" he asked in surprise. She and Emily seemed to get along wonderfully; he couldn't imagine the other girls not liking her.

"She just cares about different things." she replied shortly, sounding a little defensive.

Toby realized that he may have pushed things a little too far and backtracked. "Different is good. I like different. This town has too much of the same."

Emily smiled a little at his words, looking back to her notebook. People were starting to leave class now and she seemed to notice the time.

"I didn't think this would take so long." she said apologetically.

"I don't mind. I like being at school when nobody else is." he reassured her.

Emily checked the assignment list and compared it to her notes. "Viscosity, elasticity, and tensile strength. Anything else we need to cover?"

Toby caught a whiff of the sticky paste they had created. "Maybe our noses. This stuff's rank."

She leaned forward to take the proffered sniff and recoiled. "Oh god." she exclaimed, wrinkling her nose, and pushing it away.

In her haste to get the disgusting smell away, she pushed his arm, causing his elbow to knock over the beaker of water on the counter and splash across his stuff.

Her eyes went wide and she immediately moved to fix the mess. "I am so sorry."

"It's just water." he reminded her.

The beaker had been almost empty so it was just a small mess. He knew there would be no lasting damage.

Emily was wiping off the back of his wet notebook when she spotted the doodles on the back. "Did you draw this? It's just like this cover from this band: Circa Survive. This is so good."

He simply stared at her. He had never heard of another person liking that band. They were a small indie band that wasn't very famous. He never knew Emily was even into that kind of music; although, to be fair, he didn't know much about her.

"You know that band?" he had to ask, still unable to wrap his mind around it.

Emily smiled broadly. "My cousin works at a bar on South Street. He snuck me into a show."

Toby was impressed and forgot all about the mess, intrigued by her opinion. "Have you heard any of their new stuff yet? It's totally-"

"Amazing!" she gushed.

The pair shared a long gaze and smile, before Emily got shy and looked away. He swore she was blushing and it made something jump in his stomach.

"If you're into them, there's this other band I should turn you on to. I'll burn you a CD." he told her.

Her smile returned. "Thanks. I should go. I'm going to be late for swim practice."

She got up and walked around him, but Toby realized that he was missing something from his pile.

"Um, Emily?"

She turned back slowly, looking nervous. "Yeah?"

"My notebook." he said, gesturing towards the top of her stack of books.

She shook her head in disbelief, chuckling a little as she handed it back to him. "Oh. Jeez. I totally need more sleep."

"Or more coffee." he added, then had a thought when she didn't avert her gaze. "Want to meet up at the Grille later?"

He was so nervous for the rejection that was sure to come, but she smiled.

"Sure."

She left the room and Toby tried not to think about the last girl he had made plans like that with. Maybe this hangout with Emily later would be a perfect chance to talk to her about Spencer.

Toby gathered his stuff and headed out of the classroom.

The Grille was pretty quiet when Toby arrived. He and Emily hadn't set an exact time but he figured she'd come after her swim practice. That was sort of what was implied.

He took his usual spot by the window. He had been taking this seat since he and Spencer first hung out there. He knew it wasn't helping him let go any, but he wanted to treasure the happy memories he had with her. Back before everything went to hell.

He spotted Hanna enter the Grille, sitting down at a table and immediately pulling out her phone, no doubt to check if her date was coming soon. She ordered an iced tea from the waitress and Toby went back to his homework.

He planned on saving some for when Emily arrived in case things got awkward, but he hoped that wouldn't happen. So far things had been pretty easy with Emily. She was easy to talk to and he was enjoying finding things in common with her.

The door opening to the Grille caught his attention and he looked up to see Spencer entering the restaurant and immediately settling across from Hanna. They were soon wrapped up in intense conversation, barely pulling themselves out of it to order their dinner.

It was getting darker out and Toby wondered if Emily was coming at all. He had made the CD he told her he would make, looking forward to giving it to her. He had drawn the cover art, hoping he didn't look too eager, and it had taken him quite some time so he hoped she liked it.

Toby flipped the page to continue reading on about Holden Caulfield's adventures, secretly wondering why Spencer had a red lipstick in a plastic baggie. She and Hanna were almost arguing in their discussion and he wondered what was up. Had someone borrowed the lipstick and used too much? He'd never understand girls.

He looked up as the bell jingled again to announce the newest person's arrival and he saw Emily shooting him a smile as she closed the door behind her. He immediately returned it, moving his bag so she knew where she was welcome to sit.

But he heard her name being called and Emily turned towards Spencer and Hanna who were curious as to why she was there.

Would she tell them? Toby wasn't even sure Emily had told Spencer that they were lab partners. Did Emily feel the need to keep it from Spencer? Was Spencer that hateful of him?

Emily sat down with the girls, briefly glancing back at Toby before getting engaged in whatever the girls were sharing.

Toby clued in finally that Emily had made her choice. She was only his friend if they could keep it a secret, and that's not how he wanted things to be. He packed up his stuff, trying to force back the hurt that was causing a lump to form in his throat. First Spencer, now Emily. Would he ever have a friend in Rosewood again? He had hoped Emily could help him with Spencer, and now he realized that there was no hope for them at all.

Toby spoke to the waitress and asked her to deliver the mixed CD to Emily for him after her dinner was finished.

It was Spencer's eyes that found his as he made to leave. Hers were filled with a subtle agony that he knew was because of the seat he was rising from. She was remembering their first date there too.

He finally tore his eyes away from her and swept out of the door, running away from all of the pain that came from looking into the love of your life's eyes and knowing that you had to move on.

Peter Hastings scolded his daughter for her excellent scoring hit and Spencer wondered briefly how she ended up with such a screwed up family.

She accepted the ball and this time threw the hit so the ball went careening into the net and bounced back at them. Her father's grin of approval made her sick to her stomach and she couldn't keep the scowl off her face.

Her father had welcomed her home from school the day before with butter creams, her favourite candy when she was seven, and tons of praise. Considering she had received the cold shoulder for the past few weeks thanks to her kiss with Wren, she was rather surprised. But soon her dad was discussing essay competitions, and, before she could diffuse the situation, he was already inviting her to play doubles with him and a major client and his daughter.

Safe to say she was both surprised and pleased. She immediately agreed. She and her dad used to play together at the club all of the time; if he was inviting her to do so again it meant that all was forgiven and she was eager to get her family back.

Wanting to represent their family in the best way possible, Spencer headed to the club immediately to swat some balls around.

Five hours in, a curly-haired boy who worked for the country club had made an admiring comment about her powerful serve and she had flirted back without thinking. He was really cute and admitted that he was supposed to close the courts ten minutes ago.

Spencer realized he had kept them open for her and tried not to feel flattered. They exchanged some witty banter and she served a couple more before she agreed to call it quits for the day and left to change.

She caught his eyes following her, and she realized that she was feeling the smallest flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

Of course, the next morning all happy, butterfly-like feelings got squashed when her dad admitted that the pair they were playing against weren't very good and that they had to throw the match to score the client. Spencer, who had spent hours working herself to the ground on the courts yesterday, hadn't been impressed.

And it didn't get much better when her dad continued to send her annoyed looks whenever she scored well. It was so backwards from what she was used to she felt like her head was spinning.

After the match, where the guests of course won, Spencer headed to her bag on the sidelines to put her stuff away. The boy from the day before, who she now knew was named Alex, passed her a bottle of water and asked her about it.

"Did we waste your real game yesterday?"

She zipped up her stuff. "What? No. I was… just off." she lied.

But he saw right through her. "No you weren't. Not when the match started." he reminded her.

She sighed. "It's a long story. And it was important for our guests to win."

"So the only way for you to do that was for you to lose?" Alex asked.

She didn't respond. She didn't agree with her dad's decision, but she wasn't about to bash him to a club employee, especially not one she kind of wanted to impress.

"What's up with that? Did your dad ask you to do that or…?"

"Look, he's not always like this." Spencer said quickly. She may not agree with her father's decision, but he was still her dad. She didn't want Alex thinking he was normally this manipulative, but she was starting to wonder if maybe he was.

"Whatever you say. I just… I see a lot of it here." he said, clearly not wanting to offend her.

She was confused about what he was referring to. "A lot of what?"

"People playing games… just, off the court, you know?"

She imagined at a country club full of the rich and fabulous that was pretty common. "Yeah."

Spencer turned to leave but then paused, mustering up all the courage she could.

"Hey is there any chance you'd want to hang out some time? Like, not here?"

She had to move on from Toby. They didn't have a future. And Alex was the first guy that was close to her age that she had felt butterflies around since Toby. She wasn't going to let him get away because she was too coy.

"Yeah." Alex replied, looking surprised but pleased by her proposition.

"Okay." she said before waving him off, trying to keep the bashful smile off her face.

Spencer pulled out a pear from the kitchen drawer and grabbed a knife to begin slicing it up on the wooden cutting board. She left her books on the table, planning on staying to study once her snack was prepared.

Her dad came down the stairs and spotted her, immediately coming over. "Don't tell me that's how you want to celebrate? With a pear? Put that away. You deserve a three-course meal tonight." he boasted jollily, sifting through his mail.

"I think I'll pass." she said grimly, still not happy with what had gone on earlier. It left her feeling really uncomfortable. She had been raised to believe that you were a failure if you didn't try your best and win. Today, her world was turned upside down when she was forced to intentionally lose. Everything since had felt so backwards.

"Pass? Honey, you're the guest of honour. You won a national award and helped me sign Newhoff. Which almost didn't happen."

She hadn't heard that bit. "Why? Didn't I hit the net enough?" she asked sarcastically, but her dad didn't pick up on it.

"No, no. You were perfect. But things almost fell apart when you guys were in the locker room."

"Why? What happened?" she asked, surprised that he was actually serious. When she and the client's daughter had left the locker room, everything seemed just as upbeat as it had before they had gone in so she hadn't suspected a thing.

"Oh, well, he expected lunch at the club and of course I didn't make a reservation so there were no tables."

Spencer was confused. "We sat at your favourite table."

"After I made a scene." he explained. "I had to tell the manager that kid on the courts forgot to call it in."

It clicked exactly who he was talking about and she blanched. "Who, Alex? Wait, will he be in trouble over this?"

If Alex got fired because of her dad's selfish actions to protect his reputation or score a client…

"Who cares? The kid can pick up balls anywhere, right? We snagged a major client, Spence."

Spencer couldn't wipe the disgusted look off her face. She could not believe the stuff coming out of her father's mouth right now.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Just did what I had to do."

It reminded her of what Alex had said earlier, about people always playing games. She was really getting sick of games. Ali used to play them, and now A. She didn't need another round.

"To win?" she asked sassily.

"Don't give me that attitude. Spencer, you're just as driven and competitive as I am. Don't pretend you're not." he teased in his typical I-know-best tone.

Spencer sucked in all of the patience she had, but then realized she had none. She started to pack up her books. There was no way she was studying down here.

"You know what, you're right. I am. I'm just not sure it's a thing I want to celebrate anymore."

Her father didn't look particularly concerned so she continued on, not backing down this time.

"Oh, and by the way, you don't have to read my essay."

Now she had his attention. "Why not?" he asked, looking disappointed.

"Because I stole it. But I'm going to win a big fat award so I'm guessing you're okay with that. Because winning is all that matters, right?" she retorted before storming upstairs, unable to believe the family she had been born into. No wonder she was so screwed up.

Her dad's speechless expression was worth all the hell she received for it later too.

Toby didn't avert his eyes from his book, even when he felt a girl descend next to him at his spot by the window. He didn't need to look to know who it was, and he wasn't about to let her off the hook for the other day that easily.

"Hi. I was hoping you'd be here." Emily said.

"Why?" he asked pointedly.

She hesitated, and he knew she felt guilty about the other night. He could see the guilt on her face before he left, but the fact that she couldn't tell her friends she was meeting him had really hurt.

"I really liked tracks three, seven, and nine. Nine was the best." she gushed. "And I'm sorry about last night. Really sorry."

He didn't reply, just flipped another page, not sure how long he could keep up the semi-silent treatment. He really needed a friend.

Emily placed a plastic CD case on the table, pretending to nonchalantly look around the room, but her smile of pride gave her away.

Intrigued, Toby couldn't help but smile as he ran his eyes over the title. Toby's Mix, it said.

"What's that?"

She turned more towards him, happy for the invitation to explain. "Something I made for you. There are a couple girly songs so you have to keep an open mind."

Toby picked it up curiously and she knew she was in.

The waitress passed and she grabbed her attention. "Can I get a coffee please?"

It looked like this time she was here to stay. And that was good enough for Toby to forgive her for the indiscretion of the day before and learn more about the special gift he had received from his new friend.

No one had ever made him anything before, but the feeling he got from it made him happy and he decided to put off asking about Spencer. Frankly, he was more interested in getting to know Emily right now.

He and Emily got lost in conversation for hours, and he had to admit that closing out the Grille with a friend by his side was a million times better than doing it alone.

Spencer nervously leaned against the railing, watching the match going on below. She was waiting for Alex to change and come out for their date. He had been working until five so she had decided it was just easier if she met him at the club.

She was relieved when he said he had to work though, because it meant her father hadn't cost him his job. She knew Alex worked hard and that working at a country club paid better than flipping burgers.

He greeted her friendlily and she returned the favour, just as eager to get going.

Alex was cute, sweet, and she had yet to get to know him really well. But she was definitely looking forward to it. She knew they were from two different worlds, but she and Toby had been too and they had worked well together. She had similar hope for her and Alex.

And maybe one day, when Alex took her hand like he did before they crossed the street, she wouldn't crave Toby's calloused fingers interlaced with hers.