.

Crumbling World

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 25 (Stand Stronger Together)

The patio was perfect, adorned with a purple streamer that ran between each support pole, and further decorations that were commonly associated with birthdays. Some picnic tables had been pushed together in the center of the patio, and at the center was a beautiful Spanish cake prepared by Anita.

Trina had everything set up, with each crucial relative seated in their own place. She'd instructed them to not swarm Tori, and let her go to them. The only one missing was Spencer, who had gone on a short walk around the park. The strange thing was he'd said he'd only be five minutes, and it was almost a half hour. He should have been back before Tori arrived at the park.

"Okay." Tori approached Anita, who was already looking around for Spencer. "I'm going to go find Spencer." Anita turned to her, nodding gently. "Hold down the fort, and give me a call if Tori shows up or Spencer does."

"Certainly."

Steven approached from behind, wringing his hands. "There's no way he'd miss this." Trina agreed, and that's what was bothering her. She was scared something might have happened to him. "I saw him going down the trail towards the waterfall, and I thought I saw somebody else going down that trail too."

"Who? The people in charge of this park closed it off. Park security wouldn't have let someone else in. Did you get a good look at the other person?" He shook his head and laced his fingers together.

"Looked like a woman with dark hair, but I couldn't really get a close look." Her heart sank into her stomach and she began groaning, irritated by the thought of who could have been stalking him. There was only one woman with dark hair that she knew of who would be a problem. "I could be mistaken."

"I hope so." She decided to take off towards the waterfall, knowing that's where he said he wanted to go beforehand.

Her heart was racing as she jogged the trail. Even the sound of the waterfall growing louder wasn't calming her. Eventually, she could make out someone's voice followed by another. "Spencer!" She ran up to a tree, furrowing her brow as she remained hidden and gazed into the clearing.

Spencer looked furious, throwing his hand through the air and raising his voice. His face was red and his teeth were baring. "I said leave me alone. Why are you following me, and how the hell did you get in here?" As suspected, the woman standing nearby was Sasha.

She spoke with a sultry voice, moving around Spencer and touching his shoulders and arms. "Easy, I just asked the security guard to let me through. In exchange for a special deal." Spencer growled lowly, taking another step away from her.

He looked like he wanted to shove her away, and Trina was curious why he didn't. "Quit touching me." Sasha narrowed her eyes and Spencer started to growl. "You ruined my life once, you won't ruin it this time. Don't forget, I have an attorney, so your threats won't scare me."

"Threats? What threats?" Sasha clenched her hands and a slick smirk curled onto her face. "You know you enjoyed it back at the arcade."

"I didn't want it, and you know that." He began to circle with her, their eyes locked in a deadly game as though like a pair of predatory animals awaiting a moment to strike their prey. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. You destroyed everything I had just for a chance to get at Trina. Fifteen years I went without my daughter because of what you did to me."

"Your actions were a full part, if I remember."

"Oh sure." He sneered, his eyes glistening with hate and disgust. "Because you said, and I quote, 'push me and I'll cry rape'." Trina moved her hand to her chest and her eyes grew with shock and anger. "If I was so fucking willing, why the hell did I take off running when you turned around to take off your clothes? Huh?"

"Well." Sasha put her hand to his chest, her face darkening as a cruel grin spread across her face. "I won't make that mistake again." Spencer started to pale as she pushed him back, causing him to stumble. His heel struck a rock and he fell backwards with a shout. "And this time, I will make that accusation."

"No!" He flipped over and grit his teeth, but before he could push himself up, Sasha kicked him in the side. He grabbed his side and breathed in sharp. "Why are you doing this?"

"Same reason I probably should have given fifteen years ago." Sasha hovered over him and pinned his wrists to the ground. "Because I hate you and your girlfriend. I hate how popular you two became, I hate how loved you were and how fucking perfect of a couple you two were." Spencer started to pull away, his strength greater than Sasha's, but she slammed his arm back into the ground. "No, no…who's word do you think they're going to take? Mine or yours? Fight me, and I promise you it's going to be a lot worse."

"You're just lucky I don't believe in hitting a woman." He grit his teeth and tried twisting his body. "Not today. Not on my daughter's birthday."

"It's not so bad." Sasha moved her hand to his belt, her eyes taking a devilish turn. Spencer held his breath and started looking around for a way to defend himself with. Sasha lowered herself, stopping over his zipper and looking up his body with narrow eyes. "I don't think you want an assault charge. Think about it…we've got a history, and it's not unknown you don't care much for me. If I tell them you attacked me, well, guess what happens then?"

Trina couldn't take much more of this, and on this particular day she just wasn't having it. As she tightened her fists and steadied her breathing, she took a small step into view. "Get off of him, Sasha." She spoke with a low and deep voice. Spencer cried out and cursed.

"Trina, this isn't-"

"Save it Spencer, I've already seen and heard enough." She began to approach and Sasha started to rise. Trina cracked her neck to the left and looked down at Spencer, who was sprawled on the ground and breathing heavily. "I thought it was just me…I can't believe we were too young to realize the truth and talk things through. Emotional, reactive, impulsive, and young…but now, we're both a lot more focused, I think."

She looked at Sasha and shook her head. Sasha pulled her hair from her face and huffed loudly. "Oh thank god Trina. Spencer-"

"Don't even try it. I saw what you were doing." She flexed her hand. It was tempting to want to strangle the life out of this woman right now, but as much as she wanted to do so, she was trying to keep calm. "Tell me something, Sasha."

"What?"

"Fifteen years ago. He was trying to get away?"

"First time I ever had a guy tell me no, but yes…Practically had to pin him down when I went down on him. Honestly, I thought he was enjoying it." Spencer spat and looked away, full of disgust.

Hurt and angry, Trina was beside herself. On one hand she wanted to grieve, grieve a wasted fifteen years of hell that this woman caused; but on the other hand she wanted revenge. "I hated every second of you touching me," Spencer replied with a vicious growl. "I didn't want to cheat on Trina."

"Doesn't sound like cheating." Trina cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath. "Sasha." Sasha took a small step back. "Spencer may not like hitting women, but I have no problem with it. You'd better get the hell out of my way before I deck you right now." Sasha's face paled as Trina's sneer grew worse and her glare deadlier. "All this time I wondered why you hated me, but it turns out you hated both of us for petty reasons. Because you couldn't get a date, you wanted to tear us apart."

Her voice didn't rise in anger, instead there was a frightening calm to her speech. The sun was hitting just right that her shadow fell over Sasha, giving the impression that Sasha had shrunk several feet before her.

"Fifteen years. That's how much time I lost with my baby. Fifteen years. It's not even Sikowitz's. I shouldn't blame you, because Spencer and I both reacted; but if only I had known the truth. If he'd known the truth. My daughter wouldn't have had to grow up living a lie…all because of you."

"Sorry, but Spencer shouldn't have made it so easy."

"Easy?" She snapped her eyes back onto Sasha, her eyebrows rising and her chest expanding. "You bitch. I'm going to be generous. I'm going to give you three seconds to leave before I punch you square in the face and call my godfather to come collect your ass off the ground." She raised her hand, pointing a long finger at Sasha. "Because mark my words, I will protect the people I care about; and if you continue where you are right now, I will have you sucking up blood and dirt. Do not think I am joking."

Sasha crossed her arms and stood in place. As soon as Trina started to count down from three, she swirled around with a huff and stormed off. "Fucking bitch. Sick of seeing her." She crouched beside Spencer and looked him over. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He started to sit up, but winced. Trina slipped a hand under his back and looked down to see a large, jagged rock just under him. Her heart clenched and she tried to help him sit up.

"Careful. I think you landed on something." He turned his head and moved his hand to his lower back. Trina pushed the rock away from the area and sat beside him, letting him lean against him. "I can't believe that woman…going after you like that." It hit her what Sasha was saying, and she still didn't know how to react. "All this time. At the arcade. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Kids already told you that I was with her, and with how impulsive we were…would you have listened to me?" He winced again and Trina threw an arm around his back. "Fuck, I'm a guy. Back then, how was I even supposed to react? I didn't even know what the hell happened."

"I…" Her voice trembled and fresh tears fell from her eyes.

Spencer ran his hand over his face and through his long brown hair. "She forced herself on me to tear us apart, and she succeeded." Closing her eyes, she shook her head and moved her hand over his. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and opened her eyes partially to look at him.

"No. No she didn't. You know why?" He was looking away, his gaze distant and face long. She placed a tentative hand to his cheek and gently guided his face towards hers until his eyes moved into his. "Because we're together right now. We're stronger now. Sasha, Mr. Sikowitz…They can't drive us apart Spencer. "

"Fifteen years, Trina. Fifteen years because neither of us could say what happened…"

"We were young. We didn't know. I mean hell, I didn't even know what sexual assault even was at that time. I just thought I screwed up royally. Thought I drove you off."

"I thought I drove you away." Spencer shrugged. "Call it what it is. I was so sure I cheated on you and ruined our relationship. I felt horrible. I…I…couldn't even face you." Trina smiled sadly as Spencer tried to turn more towards her. "Trina, I love you. I always have. I was terrified of what I had done, and I was scared of losing you."

"You can't blame yourself, Spencer. I think maybe we need to stop blaming ourselves for Sasha, for that teacher, and start taking responsibility for the fact…the fact that we both were just too scared to talk about it at the time." She looked at him and gently placed her hand on his thigh, pursing her lips. "Your belt's undone, by the way." He groaned and quickly fastened it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"It's not your fault Spencer. I think we might need to file a restraining order on that woman. Do whatever we can to get away…She's worse than Sikowitz at this point, far as I'm concerned." Worse in the sense that she was free while the teacher was in prison. It disgusted her to think about, so the best thing to do was focus her mind on other things. "By the way, the whole reason you don't like me to go down on you anymore…"

"Sasha," he said with a groan. "Every time I even…" His eyes clenched shut and he began to shake. Trina carefully moved her hand back to his and set her head onto his shoulder, waiting for his body to relax. "Words cannot describe how much I can't stand that woman."

"I'm sorry she hurt you. She won't hurt you again. Just like Sikowitz can't do anything to me or any of the girls he touched."

Spencer exhaled and squeezed her hand back. "Trina, do you…still have nightmares? Flashbacks?"

"Sometimes. I hadn't for the longest time, not until I came back here." Her voice trembled as she focused her distant gaze onto the trees in front of her. "Not until Tori started taking his class. It got bad again for a while, I couldn't sleep. I would wake up in a cold sweat, not knowing where I was…feeling like shit…"

"Is it better now?"

"A bit." She closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck. "With you here. Having Tori with me. It all helps, if only a bit." She turned her head towards him and looked up into his eyes. "And you? If you ever need to talk…I'm here for you. What happened with you and Sasha…does it ever bother you?"

"Yes." He exhaled fully as if blowing off a tremendous weight. "I put everything into my art, focused all my energy into Carly. Sometimes I could distract myself from the memories, but once in a while something-"

"Would set you off?" She knew the feeling; and it was a horrible one. Even fifteen years later, certain sounds and smells were just too much. The stench of the cologne that Sikowitz wore at the time, still today, could trigger her. "Spencer…If you want to tell me what really happened at that arcade, you know I'll be right here for you."

"Same." He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you."

"I love you. I'm glad we're together again." She ran her hand up his forearm and then slipped her fingers into his hair. He chuckled softly as she leaned in, kissing his chin and the corner of his lips.

After a few seconds of this patting, they cuddled up in each other's arms, simply listening to the sound of the waterfall behind them and gazing up at the clouds.

Spencer spoke finally, with a low and quiet tone. "The truth isn't as different as what you've heard." His face bowed a bit and she furrowed her brow. "She was all over me. She pulled me from the machine and wouldn't let me pull away from her, she said she wanted to talk at first. I told her I wasn't going to cheat on you with her, and I didn't like her being all on me like she was…but it didn't matter."

"Spence…"

"No." He closed his eyes. "She pushed me down, told me if I put my hands on her or pushed her away, that she'd say I raped her." Trina's stomach churned as she listened to his quivering and cracking voice. He took another deep breath, his heart racing and his chest expanding. "She…She unzipped my pants and went down there when I kept telling her I didn't want that at all."

Trina nodded slowly, tears filling her eyes. She hugged him close and leaned her head against his chest.

"Finally she moved away from me and turned around to take off her shirt. That was the only opportunity I saw to get away, to run. I wanted to tell you what happened, but I was scared…I didn't think you'd believe me, I-I mean most people would have told me that because I was a guy, I should have just pushed her off, but it wasn't that simple. Wasn't that easy."

"I understand." She looked into his eyes and his rapid breathing started to slow. "I understand. She's gone, okay? She's gone…"

"You know she's not really gone."

"She will be." She pressed her forehead against his and closed her eyes, letting her breath warm his face and lips. "I'll talk to Gary. I'll talk to my dad. We can even talk to your boss. There's got to be something…to keep her away from us, away from our family. We're in this together, Spencer. You, me, and our baby girl."

"Yeah…" His brow furrowed and he started to raise his hand. "Together." He caressed her cheek, drawing blood towards his palm. "Trina. I-there is something." She raised her eyebrows.

"What is it, baby? Talk to me."

"It's not really the best timing." He swallowed hard and she reassured him with a smile.

"No time like the present."

"Yeah. I was going to wait until later, but…Trina, I want to spend my life with you." She froze, her breath hitched and her tears started to overflow. "I don't want to wait any longer, spend any more time apart."

"What are you saying?"

"Marry me. Let's face this world together." He ran his hand through her hair, grooming it gently. Her heart skipped several beats and she fell into his chest, tightening her arms around his back.

Of course she wanted to be with him, there was no doubt in her mind. "Yes. Spencer, yes." She cupped her trembling hands around his face and gently kissed his lips. Slowly his arms wrapped around her back, and the kiss grew stronger. They pulled apart for air after several seconds, where Trina gasped upon realization that their family must be missing them. "Oh god…Spencer, the party."

"We should probably go."

"You said you were going to wait until when?"

"I was going to propose after the party, in front of everyone." He chuckled and Trina started to grin. "Figured you might not want a big scene."

"God I love you." She kissed him again, then helped him to his feet. "We'll announce it." He reached into his pocket and she watched with baited breath as he removed a small box. "Is that…what I think it is?"

"Got a ring for you. Yeah."

Sasha cannot tear them apart this time. Ironically, if anything, she brought them closer together and strengthened their resolve. A heavy and emotional chapter here...