After raining for three days straight, the gray clouds finally gave away to partly clear skies. Rays of sunlight peeked out from behind the clouds and made a spotlight on the Hastings' front lawn. Within the four walls of the Hastings' barn, you would be able to hear the shower running and the faint sounds of Spencer giggling.
The morning started out with Spencer lying in bed with her fiancé lying beside her. As the sun peeked in through the side window, Spencer groaned and pulled the covers up over her head. She really doesn't want to get out of bed today, let alone leave the place. Today is Jason's funeral and all of their friends are going. Along with everyone else in this town. What's really going to piss Spencer off about today is seeing all the fake people coming to the funeral and showering Alison, Spencer, and their families with fake sympathy.
"Babe."
Toby rolled over and kissed the back of Spencer's neck. He knows that she's debating whether or not to go to her brother's funeral. It is his job to make sure she shows up. His funeral starts in two in a half hours and Spencer has yet to get out of bed. They both need to shower, change, have time to eat something, and still make it to the service on time. Toby moved his hand and started rubbing slow, soothing circles along her thigh. He kissed the back of her neck again and let his lips linger against her neck while he spoke.
"We better get going."
She turned her head and mumbled into her pillow, "Why?"
"Because we have that thing about your brother, remember?"
"Hmm," she groaned and rolled over to face him. "Wouldn't you rather just stay at home in bed all day with me?" He closed his eyes for a second when she caressed her hand down his face. She smirked and crawled over him so she's straddling him underneath the sheets.
"I figure we could skip the funeral and just stay in bed all day. If you want, you can just lay here with me straddling you much like I am now," she spoke in a seductive tone. "I may even tease you a little like this."
She leaned down and pressed her lips into the crook of his neck. A low growling sound came from deep within Toby's throat. It is so tempting to just skip today and stay in bed with her, but he knows they have to be there.
"Spence," he rubs her back. "You know how much I would rather be here with you like this all day long, but this is for your brother. I know the reason you don't want to be there is because of all those vultures that might show up. Don't let them get to you."
She buries her face in his chest and sighs, "Do I have to go?"
"No," he murmurs. "You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to go, but I think you know what you should do."
"Fine. I'm going to take a shower"
She groans and slams her fist down on the bed. She climbs off of Toby and rolls out of bed. Toby removes the covers from over his body and sits up on the side of the bed. Spencer walked over to the closet and picked out her the little black dress she plans on wearing. After she got her dress out, Toby went over to the closet to get his little black suit. Spencer turned to walk into the bathroom only to turn her head back at Toby.
"Are you coming?" she asked in a sexy tone.
"I didn't know I was allowed."
"Oh," she smirked and said. "You're always allowed."
Toby quickly ran into to join her in the shower. While trying to concentrate on getting clean, neither one of them seemed to be able to keep their hands off each other. Spencer was rinsing the conditioner out of her hair when Toby wrapped his arms around her waist and praised his face in the back of her neck. She giggled when he lowered his hands down her body and kissed her neck. Couples always joke around about showering together to save water, but with those two, they probably use twice as much water.
Eventually, they stepped out of the shower to get dried off. Toby got dressed in the bathroom while Spencer got dressed in their room. By the time Toby exited the bathroom, he found Spencer standing in front of the mirror wearing her black hearse dress. She's working slowly on buttoning up the front of her dress. Toby walked over and stood behind her.
"You ready?"
She sighs slapping her hands to her sides, "As ready as I'll ever be."
He gently rubs her shoulder and leads her out to where the car is. Just as they were leaving, Melissa and Veronica were riding down the street. They waved at each other as they passed by. Spencer got into the passenger's seat of their car, put on her seat belt then, let out a deep sigh as Toby got in. Pretty soon, they were off to the church.
Aria stood outside the church facing the double doors. She uses her left hand to adjust the watch on her right hand. A comforting hand comes up and touches her on the shoulder. Looking behind her, she sees Emily, and Hanna isn't too far away. Emily gave her a sympathetic smile and lowered her hand.
"Is Ezra going to make an appearance at Jason's funeral?" Emily asked.
"Yeah," Aria said. "He dropped me off while he goes to park the car around back. Where's Alison?"
"She's talking to her father on the phone."
"Is Mr. Dilaurentis not coming?"
Emily shrugged, "He's arguing that since Jason was never really his son he shouldn't have to be here."
"Unbelievable," Aria scoffed. "He raised Jason as if he was his own son and now that he knows the truth, he suddenly just stops caring."
"Sadly, I don't think Mr. D ever cared about Jason. He treated Jason like dirt, shipped Cece off to a mental hospital. Who knows what he would've done to Ali."
Just then, Hanna and Alison appeared. Hanna was waiting for Alison down by the corner of the street while she spoke with her father on the phone. By the distressed look on Alison's face, the other girls could tell it wasn't good news.
"Your father's not coming," Emily said.
Alison nodded, "He said he's too busy with work. Really I think he just doesn't care."
"It's so sad," Aria said shaking her head.
Coming up the sidewalk, Spencer and Toby walked side by side holding hands. Spencer spotted the other girls standing by the front doors of the church. They seem to be in deep conversation about something. When they got closer, the only words Spencer heard was Aria saying, "It's so sad."
"What's so sad?" Spencer asked.
Aria looked over her shoulder to see Spencer and Toby standing close by.
"My dad's not coming to Jason's funeral," Alison said.
Spencer rolled her eyes, "Why am I not surprised by that?"
"Caleb just texted me from the inside," Hanna spoke up.
"He's here?" Emily asked.
Hanna nodded, "He really had to go pee, so he ran inside while I waited for Ali to get off the phone. He said they're going to start soon, so we better get inside."
"Guess we better go," Spencer said while reattaching her hand with Toby's.
Ezra walked up just as they were walking in. He held Aria's hand and she smiled back at him. Spencer wondered if Aria said anything to Ezra yet. She shrugged it off and paid attention to the man standing beside her. Inside the church, Veronica and Melissa are already seated inside waiting for the others. Melissa scooted over when Spencer finally came to claim her own seat and Toby sat beside her. Emily also sat in front beside Alison and held her hand. Those two have gotten rather close since the night the whole group reunited a few weeks before Hanna and Caleb's wedding.
During the service, Alison stood up and gave a very touching speech about her brother. A lot of people know him to be an alcoholic, but Alison was still able to share moments where Jason was a good brother to her. She explained that they didn't have the greatest brother/sister relationship around, but she knows that Jason cared about her. Just like any other brother would care for their sister. Spencer stood up and gave a speech as well. She explained that she hadn't know that Jason was even her brother until a few years back. For a short-lived brother and sister relationship, she was able to share some good memories she had with him. Like how he got her a gift for graduating college. The priest gave a few last words before the service ended. By the end, Spencer thought that maybe coming to Jason's funeral wasn't so bad after all. Then again, the day's not completely over yet.
"That was a nice service," Emily said.
Right now, the gang is standing in the back of the church discussing some things. Spencer looked around the room and caught sight of Mona talking to some old friends of Jason. Mona averted her eyes from her conversation and saw Spencer looking back at her. Spencer accused herself from the group to talk to Mona. Mona did the same with her group.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Mona said.
"Thanks. Do they know anything? Jason's friends."
"Not really," Mona sighed. "They just worked with him. They're completely useless."
"So, who do we think did this? It's the same person who's trying to bring back Bethany's case right?"
"I think there's a very good chance of that. If I tell you something you have to promise not to get too upset with me."
"Can't make a legit promise, but I'll try."
"Okay," Mona said. "Jason overheard what we talked about that night outside your barn and he offered to help. No, more like he forced me to let him help us. He wanted to help cover up what happened to Bethany that night because from what Cece shared in her story, Bethany was going to hurt Mrs. D. I think Jason got a little bit too close to the truth and that's why he was murdered. This person who wants to avenge Bethany's murder killed Jason to shut him up. That's why I'm thinking Jason knew who this person was."
"So," Spencer concluded. "If we find out who's trying to avenge Bethany's murder, we'll find Jason's killer." Mona nodded. "That could be anybody. An old friend that Bethany had or maybe a boyfriend. It could be somebody who just hates our guts and what's us to go down."
"The list gets bigger and bigger," Mona clicked her tongue. "The only problem now is how to get the list to go smaller and smaller until we can narrow it down to one person."
"That could take months."
"Have you said anything to Toby about this?"
"No," Spencer shook her head. "I want to, but I haven't."
"Try to keep it that why. Once he hears that you have a chance to be an accessory of murder again, he's going to try to jump in and play hero."
"Yeah," Spencer rolled her eyes and said, "I know."
"Okay, I gotta go, but I'll keep you posted if I find anything."
"Thank you."
Mona touched her shoulder then turned to exit the church. Spencer inhaled deeply then exhaled. Turning back around, Spencer saw her friends still standing in the back talking. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked back over to them. Toby was the first one to notice her and gave her a little smile. She smiled back in return.
"We were just going to get some lunch," Alison informed her on what she missed. "You can join us if you want to."
"Yes, of course, I do," Spencer said then looked at Toby. "That is if you want to as well."
"Yeah," Toby nodded. "I'm up for lunch."
"Okay," Hanna clapped her hands together. "So, let's go."
The gang walked out of the church together and down the steps. Just like when they walked in, Toby held onto Spencer's hand. They reached the sidewalk and began making their way to their cars. Behind them, two more figures came out of the church. They both look very familiar. A tall blonde guy walked out with a brunette strapped to his arm. Spencer gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath. The other's weren't too pleased with seeing her at the funeral either.
"What the hell is Jenna doing here?" Alison hissed.
"Paying her respects is what it looks like," Emily said.
Spencer crossed her arms and shook her head, "The nerve of her showing up here. See this is why I didn't want to come. To see fake bitches like that filling the room with their fake sympathy."
"I guess she figured she should be here," Alison said. "One NAT member saying goodbye to another."
"What I wouldn't give to slap her again," Spencer said.
Everybody was looking at Spencer now.
"You slapped Jenna?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I did it a few nights before graduation. Jenna said some things about wanting to get us back for what happened to Shana and I got mad, so I gave her a well-earned slap across the face."
Hanna smiled and bobbed her head up and down, "Mama's proud."
"Okay, Hanna and Spencer got to slap her, when do I get my turn?" Alison asked.
"You already had your turn," Spencer said. "That's why she's still wearing the sunglasses."
"Come on, you guys," Emily said trying to act mature, but wanted to give Jenna a good slap herself. "We should go."
"Emily's right," Aria said.
The eight of them got in their separate cars and drove to the Grill where they planned to meet for lunch. They were seated at a table big enough for all of them and indulge in a lovely conversation. They all took turns sharing stories about any experiences they had with Jason. Hanna told a story about how one time Jason scared her so bad she wet her pants. It wasn't funny at the time since Hanna was thirteen when it happened. But looking back at it, it was pretty funny.
A half an hour past and the laughter continued. Emily was in the middle of telling the story about her needing a ride home from swim practice and Jason was nice enough to do it. Halfway through, the door to the grill open and somebody approached their table. Everybody looked to the side and were shocked by who stood there. Spencer was on of the last person to notice and finally looked up.
"Dad," Spencer gasped and stood up.
"I thought I would find you here."
"What are you…"
"I was in town for Jason's funeral."
Spencer looked down to the floor and bit her lip, "I didn't even see you at the church."
Peter shrugged, "I was in the back and slipped out a few minutes early."
"You shouldn't have come here," Spencer said still keeping her head down.
"He was my son, Spencer."
"I meant here," she snapped and finally looked at him. "You should not have come in here and talk to me. I do not want to talk to you. I made that very clear the night I found out your dirty secret. Please, walk away and don't ever bother me again."
"Spencer," Peter reached for her hand.
"No!" Spencer yanked it away. "Get out! I don't want to see you. I don't want to look at you. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want anything to do to with you! Now, get out!"
Peter stuck his hands inside his suit pockets and walked out of the building. Spencer plopped back down in her seat and cradled her head in her hands.
"Spencer…" Hanna spoke up first.
"Who called him?" Spencer asked quietly.
Everyone sat there in silence. She has a pretty good idea on who called her father, but hopes she's wrong. Alison probably didn't call him and she know for sure the other girls didn't call her father either. Veronica doesn't want anything to do with Peter either, so she's off the list as well. Spencer slapped her napkin on the table and slowly rose to her feet. Looking at Toby, she cocks her head towards the door.
"Toby, can I have a word with you outside, please."
Toby stands up and follows her out onto the sidewalk. They get a few good feet away from the building and stop by the light post. Spencer stands there with her arms folded over her chest just staring at him. One look was all it took to feel her burning rage staring back at him.
"Spencer I…" He opened his mouth to defend himself, but she cut him off.
"You called him."
"Spencer just listen."
"You called him," she raised her voice. "After I told you that I didn't want anything to do with him. I told you that I didn't want to speak to him or look at him."
"Somebody should've told him about Jason."
"Let the police take care of that!" Spencer shouted. "The problem is that you called him after I told you not to. After I exaggerated about how much I really didn't want to see him! You still went behind my back and called my dad. Were there any other phone calls you two had behind my back?" She said crossing her arms. "Are you two pen-pals now or something?"
"Spencer, I understand why you're angry with your father, but it happened years ago."
"He lied to me! He lied to both of us. Are you seriously telling me that you're just okay with his part in what happened?"
"Of course I'm not okay with it, but I've accepted it and I've moved on from it. You should too."
"This secret could've made things turn out differently. Mrs. D wouldn't have had to lie for Cece and…"
"And what Spencer?" Toby asked. "My dad wouldn't have moved on and gotten married to someone else? Jenna wouldn't have moved in and did what she did to me? It wouldn't have changed anything."
"It would've changed everything!" Spencer shouted.
"Spencer," he spoke in a calm voice. "I only called your father to let him know about Jason. I did not invite him to come here. I made it very clear that you didn't want to speak to him. He came here on his own."
"But you still called him, which gave him the idea that it was okay to show up this evening."
"You can't stay mad at your father forever. One of these days, you're going to wish you had him around."
"My dad also made a deal with Mrs. Dilaurentis to have Cece freed the night she was arrested for Wilden's murder. If my father hadn't made that deal with Mrs. D, this whole thing with A would've been over sooner. Your parent's house wouldn't have been blown up. Most importantly, I wouldn't have had my eighteenth birthday inside of a life-sized doll house! I'm not mad at my father because he told a little white lie. He is partly responsible for everything that's happened to my friends and me!"
Toby softened up a bit, "I didn't even think about that." He sighed, "Spencer I'm sorry. I just didn't want you holding a grudge."
"You should know that if I cut someone out of my life I have a pretty good reason for it," she turned to walk away. She paused and turned halfway around, "Oh, and by the way. What you said about not blaming my father. You didn't speak to me for two days after we found out the truth about his secret."
Spencer folded her arms across her chest and walked down the sidewalk. Toby stood back and sighed while watching her go. He knows that he should talk to her more until they solve this whole conflict. He also knows that she needs to cool down some before he does. Right now, all she needs is to cool off. Toby's going to give her time to do that before they talk again.
Trouble in Spoby paradise. Will Spencer stay mad at Toby for long? I know you all hate it when Spencer and Toby fight, but what is Spoby without their fights? Next chapter will be up as soon as I have time and when I get some reviews, maybe?
Do you think Spencer had a right to be mad?
