This chapter is dedicated to "Emilee Amethyst" because I loved her comment on the last chapter the most. Thank you so much!
Play "All these lives" by Daughtry
For a moment, Spencer freezes in place and strongly consideres pressing the red button to end whatever hold Wren has on her relationship with Toby at the moment, before, recollecting what she's told him about calling her and him threatening to press charges, she thinks better of it and decides to answer the call in order to do damage control.
"I need to take this, Toby, I promised he could call and he might press charges against you if I don't take care of this," she explains before picking up without giving him a chance to reply.
"Hello, Wren?"
"Spencer…" Even just saying this one word Wren's voice sounds weak and strained and she instinctively knows that he wouldn't be calling if he wasn't absolutely feeling like shit right now.
Despite all of his smart-ass comments today and his stupidity, she knows that Wren's a good guy and he doesn't mean to do any harm which is why she might be able to convince him to lay off of Toby. No matter how mad he is at her, she's pretty sure he wants only what's best for her – and that is Toby being free.
"Wren, what is it? Are you alright?" she asks in a worried voice that has Toby looking up with a hurt expression. She's feeling conflicted right now in this bizarre the phone with her former crush while sitting opposite her boyfriend who's just punched said crush's face.
"No. I'm not feeling too good. I…" his weak voice trails off and she furrows her forehead in worry.
"Ok," she tells him, actually meaning "I'll come over" but not wanting to suggest it in front of Toby, trying to spare his feelings – she's trying very hard not to hurt either of the two men but begins to notice that this is an impossible task.
"If I had anyone else to call…" he says and she knows that confident Wren, always trying to appear strong, is having a hard time asking her for help and it must really be bad.
"No, no, Wren, I'll come over. I might need to take you to the hospital after all," she adds for Toby's benefit.
Toby gets up, the romantic mood between them having vanished the second Wren's name flashed on the caller I.D..
After hanging up with Wren, the goodbye with Toby is strained and very awkward and she dashes out as fast as she can after making sure that everyone in the house seems to be asleep.
Before she can drive off, however, she gets a text.
"Spencer's torn between the doctor and the town's creep. I might have to make that decision for you. Or you'll just be left with neither of them. –A"
Her feelings for Wren are pretty much sorted out now, at least the fight solved that. What she told Toby was the truth: she really wasn't going to kiss Wren. She loves Toby. Wren's in the past and she likes him as a person but nothing more.
When she gets to Wren's house, the lights are shut off everywhere which gives the house the impression of being empty.
Ringing the doorbell, she doesn't get an answer but seconds later Wren sends her a text to come in with the spare key and the location of it. He must not be feeling well at all.
When she enters, she can hear a little movement from upstairs and hesitantly moves past the unpacked boxes that tell her he hasn't been here for long.
She finds Wren lying on his back in his bed in the dark bedroom, a washcloth thrown carelessly across his head.
"Hey, Wren!" she whispers upon entering.
"Hey." She immediately walks over to him – which is when she notices that he isn't wearing a shirt. She uncomfortable clears her throat and tries to ignore it.
"Do you need anything?"
"Not right now," he mutters. She drapes the covers fully around him and tucks them around him like she'd do for a little kid. She notices that there are goosebumps on his arm.
"Are you cold?" she asks him. He shrugs which she takes as a yes.
Removing the cloth from his head she gently wipes his forehead dry with the corner of his blanket.
"Have you been throwing up?"
"I'm the doctor here, Spencer," he attempts a joke and smiles weakly at her.
"Maybe I need to take you to the hospital after all," she says. He shakes his head.
"I'll be ok. I just hoped that your company might make it better."
She ignores the flirty ring to his words and busies herself with fixing the towel he's placed beside his head.
Play "We've got tonight" by Ronan Keeting
"I'm sorry, Spencer."
Despite of what she'd actually planned her eyes shoot over towards him in curiosity.
"Sorry about what?"
"A lot of things," he says quietly, "But right now I meant about provoking the boy. I knew what would happen if I kept talking but I did it anyway."
Spencer is so startled that she doesn't even notice or mind the usage of the word "boy" – she is truly in awe that Wren not only admits to having provoked Toby but also that he takes part of the blame. She is strangely moved by this. She knows that with an ego like Wren's and having gotten punched in the face – which of course puts some blame on Toby – this admission must be super difficult.
"Well, it didn't exactly end well for you, did it?" she replies, trying and failing to seem unaffected.
Wren chuckles and then flinches from the movement.
"Look, Spencer, the last thing I want is for you to get hurt. Which is why I'm not going to be pressing charges. I can tell how much he means to you and I'm not going to sabotage that because I was too stupid to realize what I had in you."
It's uncomfortable to be looking into Wren's eyes at this confession but it's impossible to look away from their sincerity and the emotions in them while trying to grasp what he first said. He's not going to press charges!
A huge wave of relief and gratitude overwhelms Spencer and without really thinking, she takes Wren's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.
She doesn't really know what to say to the rest of that confession and he doesn't seem to expect her to say something but he holds on to her hand. Despite of him freezing his hands are warm and they feel big in comparison to hers – even though she doesn't feel anything romantic towards the young doctor, she really enjoys holding his hand.
There are no more words exchanged between them for a while. Wren seems content lying on his back and not moving and Spencer looks from his face to her hand in his. For some reason, this does not feel at all uncomfortable like she had feared.
Wren is a good guy and it pains her to be giving him pain – he doesn't deserve the way she'd treated him. After a couple of minutes that's what she tells him.
"I'm sorry, too, Wren. I haven't always been as clear about this as I should have be…"
"None of this is your fault," he interrupts gently, his british accent making the words even softer than they already were.
"But I…"
"Spencer," he smiles but for the first time she can see the pain in his expression – the pain of rejection, the pain of the person you're interested in being with someone else. She feels sorry for him and lowers her head but quickly looks back up as he continues, "you did absolutely nothing wrong. I shouldn't have kissed you when I was engaged to your sister. I shouldn't have left the way I did and I should have made sure to let you know how I felt from the beginning."
There they are – sentences she's always wanted to hear. Past issues being resolved – only that it's too late for them now. Only a couple of months ago she would have given anything to have him tell her what he felt, for him to hold her hand, for him to be chasing her.
"Wren…" her voice sounds pained and when she opens her mouth, she doesn't know what to say to him. She can't break his heart but she can't encourage him either.
"I know, Spencer, I know."
Wren finally looks away and Spencer has some much-needed time to collect herself – it doesn't seem she's as over this issue as she thought she was. His honest whispered words have brought her feelings into a tumult, have stirred up the things she's stored away. Put away with good reason. This should feel more wrong that it does.
He's his sister's ex-fiancé who cheated on Melissa with her and subsequently left town only to come back because of her – and she's taken, at least she thinks so. How did things ever get so complicated?!
This being one of the few moments where Spencer Hasting has no idea what to say, the room remains silent. After a while Spencer gets up to get a new washcloth drenched in cold water to cool Wren's head.
His eyes are closed when she returns and she ever so softly lowers the fabric onto his head, carefully and softly brushing his dark hair from his forehead.
"You can sit on the bed, you know," he says without opening his eyes and scoots over.
"I don't know, Wren, I should probably go…"
"Spencer, I'm not asking you to come cuddle, I'm just saying make yourself comfortable."
Just like that and with a gentle smile the Wren she knows is back and Spencer sits on the bed without letting go of his hand, leaning back against the head part of it.
The dark room is silent from now on, all that's audible being their breathing. Spencer feels increasingly tired with every breath she takes but her thoughts prevent her from relaxing. She can't help but wonder why her and Wren never got a chance to really try, and what would have happened if they did.
She knows these thoughts make no sense at all and she isn't regretting getting together with Toby, she's still very much in love with him, but she can't help but wonder about this.
Sometime later she must have fallen asleep because she wakes up from the pling of a text message. Disoriented, she looks around the room and realizes with a start that it's already the beginning morning. She's slid down the headboard a little and Wren is leaning against her, his eyes are closed and he appears to be sleeping. Their intertwined hands are resting on his bare chest and Spencer doesn't want to move as to avoid waking up.
Feeling guilty towards Toby even though nothing happened and stretching her sore neck Spencer manages to grab her phone. When she reads "Hannah Marin" on the screen she breathes a sigh of relief – not A!
Her friend wants to know if they'll do something today since it's the weekend and Spencer replies that she's free in the afternoon. Before she can throw her phone to the side again her phone signalizes another text. Unknown.
Play "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden (a little old school maybe but it works)
"Look at you, having a heart to heart with Melissa's ex. Remember what happened to another one of them, Ian? You better make sure you keep an eye on this one or they might share the same fate. And you better make sure Toby doesn't hear about this. –A"
Spencer's heart seems to race and she gets up from the bed with some difficulty, by some miracle managing not to wake her sleeping companion.
What does A want? Why are they referring to Ian? What does this threat mean? They want her to keep an eye on Wren and not to tell Toby about it?
The memory of Ian and that dreadful night at the church makes Spencer flinch. The thought fills her with dread and causes goosebumps to rise on her arms. Is that a death threat towards Wren?
Looking at him, innocently and unknowingly on the bed, she shivers.
What the hell does A want?
To busy and distract herself and because she feels like leaving without checking on him or saying goodbye would be weird she goes downstairs and finds a piece of bread and some water for her patient.
When she comes back, Wren seems to be waking up. His eyelids flutter and when he sees her by the door, he gives her an adorable, happy smile that makes her heart skip a beat.
"Morning," he says and his voice already sounds better.
"Morning! How are you feeling?" she asks him with a smile while carrying her tray over to the bed.
"Much better, thank you," he replies in his usual polite way.
Spencer is a little distracted because she can't stop thinking about A's threat and what it actually means. The way she understood it she can't tell Toby about A blackmailing her and she's supposed to keep an eye on Wren. What does that even mean? And what does A want?
Wren sits up a little straighter on the bed so he's leaning against the headboard, and places the tray on his lap.
Spencer watches absentmindedly as he takes a few sips from the glass of water and even bites into the bread she's found in his kitchen.
Wren doesn't comment on her absence of mind while he, very slowly, drinks and eats.
Suddenly Spencer shoots up from the chair she's been sitting on motionlessly.
Play "Pieces of me" by Ashlee Simpson
"Shit!"
"What is it?"
"I totally forgot I'm grounded and my parents can't know I left the house."
Spencer starts running around the room, collecting her stuff and making sure she isn't forgetting anything.
"Are you gonna be ok on your own for now?"
Wren nods reassuringly.
With a hurried goodbye and "get well and call me when there's something wrong"s Spencer dashes out of the house, to her car and races down the street. When she gets to her house she realizes with great relief that none of her family's cars are in the driveway – since she also doesn't have any angry phonecalls from her mother she knows she got away with sneaking out last night and breathes a huge sigh of relief,
When she's about to get out of her car, she sees Toby coming out from the path which leads up to her slide door. He also seems to see her and both of them freeze in their motions. Spencer's heart starts racing with a mixture of happiness and unreasonable guilt but most of all longing and desire for her boyfriend.
Worried that he might think wrongly about her just getting home just now, Spencer suddenly unfreezes, gets out and rushes towards him.
Toby comes to meet her halfway while Spencer feels like they're moving in slow motion and her heart is racing in her chest. She wants nothing more than to run into his arms and feel his warmth and support after the stressful last days without him.
When Toby slightly opens his arms, that's all Spencer does. She literally runs into his arms, presses her head into his chest and wraps her arms tightly around his waist because she never wants to let ago again.
"Nothing happened with Wren, I promise. I just fell asleep," she mutters, her voice quiet because her face is pressed into her chest.
"I missed you," he says while he holds her tight and Spencer knows in her heart that there is no place she's rather be even despite of all the things left unsaid and the secrets between them. She knows he doesn't mean missing her because he hasn't seen her but missing this, them, their relationship, the love.
"I missed you, too. So much," she admits before lifting her head and pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss full of longing and love. And for that moment it feels like everything's right in the world, all worries are forgotten and all that's left is her love for him.
*AN: Ok, guys, here we are. This time I didn't take very long, did it? And I'm guessing you'll like the sweet reunion at the end. Think you can reward me with some extra love in the form of reviews? ;) What do you guys think? A's threat is not off the table, Wren's actually a nice guy and we still don't know what Toby's secret is. So not a happy ending yet? You'll only know when you keep reading! JI am now done with my final exams so I hopefully have some time now. Don't forget to REVIEW, please! Love you guys!
Xxx
Layla