Here you guys go! I'm so sorry it's taking so long! But I promise I haven't forgotten you! A Colorless Sunrise is almost done too, but that's only taking forever because it's an emotional disaster! I MISS YOU ALL THOUGH. PM me if you ever want to chat :)

Chapter 13

TPOV

If it were just him, if he didn't have to worry about his friends, about Spencer, he would have already gone for the gun. But as it were, he didn't trust anything other than his own body to keep Spencer safe. Because he would take a thousand bullets for her if that's what it took to protect her.

He could hear one of the other girls screaming, but he had to trust that Caleb had them. Because he couldn't focus on anything more than Spencer's concerning lack of a reaction. She was far too still, and it was scaring him. So while shouts and bullets rained around them he took her cold, bruised face in his hands. "Spencer!"

"Stop, just put the gun down."

"Are you seriously telling the girl with the gun what to do?"

He supposed that he should take a minute to be shocked by the fact that Jason was the one trying to persuade Aria to lose the gun. But he wasn't, and it took him a moment to realize that it was probably because Jason's betrayal was the most shocking thing he could have done. There weren't many people he trusted in Rosewood to take care of his girlfriend, but Jason DiLaurentis had been one of them.

"If you hurt them," Jason said slowly, "the cops are all going to wonder where you are. The Rosewood PD are a bunch of idiots, but they're intelligent enough to realize that you should probably be with them."

"I'll figure something out. I always do. And if you don't stop this insubordination I might have to let what you did to Bethany slip."

He was almost glad that Spencer was seemingly unaware for that revelation. It was bad enough that Jason had hurt her, but to find out how willing he was for her to spend the rest of her life in jail? It was breaking his heart, and he was only involved in as much as it effected Spencer.

The gun expelled another bullet, this one landing just above him and Spencer. He gathered her limp body closer as the drywall dust raining into their hair. He had to get her out of there. He wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but it couldn't be anything good. "Spence, please open your eyes."

She shifted slightly, but she still didn't look at him. But that was okay. Movement suggested consciousness which suggested the ability to be fixed. But God, if he could change places with her he would. If he could take her pain upon himself he would do it in a heartbeat, because watching her like this was so much worse than actually feeling it for himself.

"I can't let you do that, Aria." Jason's voice sounded resigned, and that scared the hell out of him.

He tucked Spencer into the alcove and scooted back to observe the chaos. His eyes left her face just in time to see Jason throw himself at Aria, tackling the small girl to the ground. He reacted immediately. The gun went off two more times, but he couldn't worry about that, not yet. He threw himself forward and grabbed the gun, taking the cold steel into his hands and pointing it at the unmoving mass of limbs on the ground. "Caleb!"

"On it," the younger boy muttered, shifting past the girls and hesitantly walking toward them. A sickening pool of blood was spreading from their bodies, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

An inhuman screech came from Jason and Aria's bodies, and in a small flash of brown Aria bounded up and sprinted for the door. He probably could have stopped her, but there was so much else to worry about right now. He tucked the gun into his pocket and stumbled back to Spencer, dropping to his knees in front of her.

The fact that Aria had gotten up meant that the blood belonged to Jason, and he was feeling overwhelming mixed emotions about the fact. The darkest part of him, the part he usually ran from, felt like that was all that he deserved. He had nearly killed Spencer, the only person that he couldn't live without; for that he wanted Jason to burn. But he also remembered the Jason that was Spencer's family when no one else was. He remembered the Jason who was one of the only people in town who seemed to related to his black sheep status, the Jason who gave him a job when no one else would. But nonetheless, he was grateful that Emily was helping him because he couldn't bring himself to leave Spencer's side.

He lifted her frail body into his arms. "I'm going to get her outside. Hanna, call 911."

"Already on it," she spoke in a clipped tone. "Is she okay?"

He didn't answer her. He just swept an arm under Spencer's legs and bundled her against his chest, praying that the fresh air would do what he couldn't and rouse her.

It did seem to help at first. She was talking to him, looking at him. But her hazy eyes and persistent focus on the body bag were causing him to worry further. She was awake, and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that, including inducing the sting of despair that Jason's death would have on her.

Her persistent fingers on his face had his immediate attention. "Toby," she whispered, using her trembling fingers to keep his eyes on her. "Toby, who was it? Emily? Hanna?" Her voice broke at the end.

He shook his head, immediately assuaging those needless fears. Because he knew as painful as Jason's death would be for her, it was nothing compared to the crushing despair that would be accompanied by the death of one of her friends... or him. But he pushed down the guilt that accompanied any thoughts of November. It wouldn't serve any purpose right now. "It was Jason, Spencer. He pushed Aria down to stop her from shooting at us and got shot in the process."

She went rigid, tucking her face into his neck to hide whatever emotional reaction she was having. But he could feel the tears pooling on his neck. "Why would he do that?" She whispered shakily.

He didn't want her to cry, he never wanted her to cry. But right now he was grateful for her tears because they reminded him that she was alive. She was alive. He wrapped his arms around her, one around her waist and the other cradling the back of her head. "I think that he was being blackmailed, Spencer."

"Yeah," she murmured. "I got that too. But it doesn't matter, does it? He tried to kill me."

He shook his head at the reminder, burying his face in her hair. He needed to be strong for her right now, but the reminder of how close he came to losing her forever caused his throat to tighten. He focusing on the steady rise and fall of her chest, of the tears running down her face, he focused on the clear and obvious signs that she was alive and well. "I'm not going to sing his praises," he whispered into her hair. "but he didn't kill you, thank God. And he stopped the rest of us from dying. I think that what he did was reprehensible, but he could have done so much more damage."

She let out a noise that was a cross between a laugh and a sob. "Gold star vocab word. No wonder you always beat me at Scrabble."

Her words caused a sob of his own to rise up in his throat. "Oh God, Spence. I- I just love you so much." What would he have done without her? What would he have done if he had lost her for good?

She pulled away slightly keeping her hands on his chest to presumably steady herself, and he slid his arms down to her waist to support her. He never minded taking on her insubstantial weight. He would gladly take her in his arms and carry her forever if that's what she needed. She leaned forward again, stumbling slightly, falling into his chest. But he wouldn't let her fall. He had her.

"I love you too," she whispered in a raspy voice before leaning up and meeting their mouths together in a heated kiss.

"Excuse me?"

They broke apart, slowly. He reluctantly glanced over his shoulder at the pair of paramedics behind him. The woman smiled awkwardly. "We were told that one of you needed medical attention."

Spencer's fingers immediately tightened in his shirt. He turned back to her and smoothed her hair back, pressing a soft and gentle kiss to the crown of her head. "It'll be okay."

She just nodded taking a step toward them without letting go of him. He tightened his grip on her when he felt her unsteady steps. He wanted to protest as the paramedics took her from him, helping her onto the stretcher. But he didn't. They could do more for her than he could, because as alive as she was, there was something wrong with her; something that he couldn't fix.

"Toby."

He was torn from his thoughts by her panicked whisper. He immediately took her hand in his, her fingers tightening almost painfully around his. "I'm not going anywhere, Spence." And he meant it, he would be by her side for as long as she wanted him.