Author's Note: I freaking love you guys so much! Your reviews are awesome! You are honestly the reason I write! So this is the wedding and I hope it turns out as good as you would have hoped. After you read this, be sure to review and tell me what you want to happen next! I need some ideas so review! Now as promised, Chapter 20.
It was hard, watching the man she loved stand at the altar and vow to love another woman for the rest of his life. Yes, it was extremely hard. But, being the strong girl she was, she took a breath and repeatedly told herself to move on and let go.
Chapter 20: …Or Forever Hold Your Peace
For most people when they go to weddings, they feel excitement. They feel happiness. Weddings are a time of love and family. People cry tears of joy. There is supposed be laughter and joy, but for Spencer Hastings, it was the exact opposite. She has been dreading the wedding since it was announced. It was the wedding of her best friend and ex-boyfriend, who she was still completely in love with. She was definitely not excited, not happy and if there were any tears coming out of her eyes today, it would be of sadness.
Right now, she, along with the other bridesmaids, Emily, Hanna and Aria, were in the room where the bride was supposed to get ready. They were helping Hallie make the finishing touches to her dress.
"I have something blue, my earring, something old, my grandmother's necklace, and something new, this dress and these shoes. But where the hell is my something borrowed?!" Hallie shrieked.
"Isn't Toby her something borrowed?" Aria muttered to Emily, who chuckled quietly.
"Here, you can borrow my bracelet." Spencer offered, taking it off of her wrist.
"Oh, thanks. Spencer you are a life saver!" Hallie exclaimed, hugging Spencer. "Could you also do me a favor by checking to make sure everything is okay in the church?"
"Um, sure," Spencer nodded before leaving the room. She made her way into the church. All the guests were seated on the long benches facing the alter. She could see Toby standing across the church, waiting for the wedding to start. He looked nervous, which was expected. He was fiddling with his tie which wasn't properly fasted. This was also expected. Spencer chuckled before making her way down the aisle to him.
Toby noticed her walking towards him when she was half way down the aisle. He had to stop his jaw from dropping. She looked beautiful. Her hair was tied back in an elegant bun with wisps of hair tucked behind her ears on each side. She was wearing the bridesmaids' dress Hallie had picked out for her and the other girls. To Toby, she was the most breathtaking woman there. He hadn't seen Hallie yet, but he still was sure she couldn't top Spencer.
When Spencer reached him she smiled slightly. "Hey," she whispered, nodding to his tie, "do you need help with that."
She didn't wait for an answer before she started fixing it. Her eyes were focused on the tie while his were focused on her.
"Thanks," he muttered to her. He watched as she concentrated with perfecting his tie. Soon he found himself talking again. "Spence, I wish it wasn't like this."
She looked up at him, hands resting on his chest. Her eyebrows narrowed, urging him to continue.
"It should be our day, not Hallie and my day." He said quietly.
Spencer's eyes softened. "Toby, don't say that."
"But it's true I-"
"Stop. I don't want to come between you and Hallie. I couldn't live with myself if I ruined your wedding day."
"Spencer-"
She shook her head, "I have to go." She said. She muttered a barely audible 'goodbye' before disappearing out the double doors. He watched her walk away sadly. He wished she would have given him a chance to say 'I love you'.
The organ began playing music, cueing the bridal party's entrance. First walked out Emily and Ryan. Emily smiled at Samara, who sitting in the front row, as she walked by. Next walked out Aria and Ezra. Aria was already planning what her wedding would be like. Following them was Hanna and Caleb. They both wore smiles on their faces, happy to be next to each other. Lastly walked in Spencer. She was without an escort. She was originally going to walk with Caleb, and Hanna with Ryan, Aria with Ezra and Emily with Drew, but since Drew walked out on her, she agreed to go alone. She looked at all of the faces staring back at her. She smiled slightly out of politeness, but in reality she was dying inside. She and Toby made eye contact at the altar, which she was hoping to avoid, but she couldn't help it. She so desperately wished she was the bride in this situation. She would be walking up the aisle with her father, who would pass her on to a smiling Toby. But instead, Toby and she just stared at each other with sad eyes. She made her way to the spot next to Hanna. Hanna gave her a sad smile before rubbing her arm.
Seconds later, the organ began playing the wedding march and all eyes watched as Hallie, led by her father, walked down the aisle. Spencer had to admit she looked gorgeous and Spencer envied her. Hallie was marrying the man she wanted to marry. She had the life Spencer planned on having. Spencer made a quick peek at Toby. His eyes weren't sparkling like they were supposed to be when they saw their fiancé walk down the aisle. Instead, his eyes were filled with regret and sadness. Spencer tore her eyes away when Hallie had made it to the altar. She and Toby joined hands and stood in front of the priest. She watched as Lucas, who was in front of the crowd of people, move slightly so he could get a better angle for his camera. He was the one in charge of recording the entire wedding on video. There were other people around talking pictures.
Spencer hated watching this. She barely heard the priest talking. She only became aware of his words when they were almost to the 'I do's'. This was it. This was the moment she had been dreading and fearing the most. It was the moment where they would be tied together forever with two simple words. It was hard, watching the man she loved stand at the altar and vow to love another woman for the rest of his life. Yes, it was extremely hard. But, being the strong girl she was, she took a breath and repeatedly told herself to move on and let go.
But she knew she couldn't. She knew she would never be able to move on from Toby Cavanaugh. No matter how many times she told herself she didn't, she would always be in love with him. That was why she couldn't watch it. Watch him make someone else his wife. So she had to get out of there. She looked for an escape route, a door to the side of the church. She turned to Hanna, whispering, "I'm sorry but I can't do this." She handed her the flowers she was holding and rushed out the doors, letting the tears freely flow as she collapsed on a bench after hearing the door shut behind her.
Quiet murmurs were heard throughout the church after Spencer's exit, but it quieted down as the priest began speaking again.
"Do you, Toby Cavanaugh take Hallie Tucker as your wife, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, to death do you part?" he said.
Toby's eyes were still fixed on the door where Spencer had just previously vanished through. He had barely heard a word the priest had said.
The priest spoke up again, "Mr. Cavanaugh?"
People in the crowd began muttering again. Emily, Aria and Hanna exchanged glances, as did Ezra, Caleb and Ryan.
"Toby!" Hallie whisper scolded. "Say 'I do'!"
"But I can't…" he whispered.
"Yes you can. It's simple. I. Do." She whispered back.
"But I really can't!" he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I can't say I do, because I don't!" He looked at Hallie's shocked reaction and everyone in the crowd had the same look. Emily, Aria and Hanna's mouths were open and Caleb, Ezra and Ryan's eyes were wide. Toby's eyes softened at the hurt in Hallie's eyes, so he spoke softer this time but still audible to everyone around them. "I'm so sorry Hallie but I can't marry you."
"Why not?" she said softly, sad and angry at the same time.
"B-because I'm not in love with you." He said, "I'm in love with Spencer."
Everyone in the crowd gasped and everyone was whispering to each other. Hanna, Aria, Emily, Ezra, Caleb and Ryan both gasped as well, but soon huge grins broke out on their faces.
"Excuse me," Toby whispered before running off the altar and through the same door Spencer did, leaving a shocked and angry Hallie at the altar. Hanna, who was the most happy, hopped off the aisle and made her way to Lucas saying, "Please tell me you got all of that on camera!"
Toby found Spencer curled up in the corner of the room next to church. He walked over to her and saw she was silently crying. He stood in front of her, gently putting his hand on Spencer's shoulder. "Spence…" he whispered.
She looked up abruptly, red eyes and tear stained cheeks. She gasped quietly. "Toby, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your wife?" she said bitterly.
"No Spence, I stopped the wedding, I couldn't do it." He said.
"What?" she shrieked, standing up so they were face the face. "How could you do that? Hallie must be crushed!"
"I don't care about Hallie. I care about you. I love you Spencer!"
Her face softened and the tears suddenly stopped. "W-what?"
He nodded, putting his hands on each of her cheeks. "I have never stopped loving you. Hallie was just a distraction when I thought I couldn't have you. When I thought I'd lost you. You were with Drew when I came back so I thought I'd lost my chance. I would have broken it off in a heartbeat knowing you still wanted to be with me. But seeing you with Drew, thinking you were happy and in love with him, made me think it was really over between us. Then I saw you kept everything from our past, the rocking chair, the scrabble board, even that old shirt, made me realize you still loved him and I still love you. So, please Spencer, take me back. We are meant to be together. I love you." Tears were streaming down both of their faces now, but of happiness. She was so happy to hear those words come out of his mouth. She had been waiting to hear them for a long time.
"I love you too." She said, before pulling him in for a kiss. She didn't hold herself back and neither did he. Neither of them felt guilty anymore. This was right, they were right. No one could come between them now. They were perfectly fine with staying in that moment forever. That is, until someone barged in through the door. The pulled apart quickly only to see a smirking Hanna in the doorway.
"Okay, I hate to break up this love fest, but we got a crowd of angry people that were expecting a wedding so…" Hanna trailed off, smiling seeing how happy Spencer and Toby were together.
Toby and Spencer were staring at each other with huge grins on their faces. "There won't be a wedding today." Toby muttered.
"Yeah, well I know that. You should probably tell everyone else now." Hanna said.
"Oh, right," Toby said, tearing his eyes from Spencer. He made his way back out into the church, before he left the room he turned to Spencer mouthing 'one second'. She nodded smiling, ecstatic to have him back and all to herself.
The crown of people in the church had quieted down, seeing Toby back in the front. Toby noticed that Hallie was nowhere to be found and neither were her parents.
"I'm sorry everyone, for making you come all this way today when there will be no wedding. I really did care for Hallie and I am so sorry for hurting her and ruining her wedding day, but I couldn't let myself go through with that when I didn't really love her. Hallie deserves to be with someone who loves her with all their heart. I couldn't do that because I love someone else." Toby looked over to see Spencer watching in the doorway and they smiled at each other. He turned back to the crowd. "I hope everyone can understand that."
Everyone on Hallie's side of the church made their way out of the church one by one. Most people on Toby's side left also, but a few stuck around. After his speech, Toby was greeted by pats on the back from the guys and hugs from the girls. When he hugged Hanna, she whispered, "Please don't hurt my best friend again." He smiled pulling away. "I swear on my life I won't." She smiled, saying "I knew I always liked you." Toby was about to reply when he heard someone clear there throat behind him. He turned around and smiled when he saw Spencer. He immediately pulled her in for a long kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his wound around her waist. All the remaining people in the church cheered. The loudest though, were definitely their friends behind them. This was how it was supposed to be. Toby and Spencer. Maybe they could have their happy ending after all.
Authors Note: What did you think? Too cheesy? Horribly terrible? And NO THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER I HAVE A FEW MORE COMING AND PROBABLY A SEQUEL! So please tell me what you thought of it and give me plenty of ideas of what to come for Spoby in the future!