Thursday came and I was beginning to feel just as cooped up as Hanna. Other than visits to the hospital, I hardly stepped foot out of the house. The newest 'Jenna Thing' had caused a huge stir in this small town. Everywhere I went I felt like I was an attraction at a carnival with the way people stared and whispered.
"Spencer, Toby's dad is here to talk to you." Caleb told me while I was making some coffee.
"Okay, tell him I'll talk to him in here." I told him.
"Right, nothing stops you when you're making coffee." He joked and I throw a used napkin at him.
"Wow that was really mature. I thought you were graduating college not kindergarten?" He shot back.
"Funny, I could say the same about you. I think it's pretty immature that you're so jealous about graduation." I stated. My graduation was this Saturday but Caleb's wasn't until the following Saturday since he attended a different university.
"Whatever," He blew me off and left the kitchen.
"Hello, Mr. Cavanaugh." I greeted him when he walked in a minute later.
"Hello, Spencer. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute. Has Toby said anything to you about his stepmother?" He asked as we sat down at the kitchen table.
"Not lately," I shook my head.
"Well, she and I…she's been arrested because she knew about Jenna's plans and helped her. And since you're parents are lawyers…"
"Look, I appreciate what you did for Toby. I can never thank you enough. But if you want me to ask them to defend your wife that's not gonna happen." I interrupted him and stated firmly.
"No, no, that's not what I was getting at. I want to get a divorce. Now, I know your parents aren't divorce lawyers, but I trust them and I was hoping that they can at least give me some advice in the matter." He explained.
"Usually when I hear someone's getting a divorce I feel sorry. But quite frankly, in this case, I'm not." I told him honestly. It was about time in my opinion.
"I'm only sorry I didn't do this sooner. I've been thinking about it a lot since February, Marion loved that month. Maybe a lot of this could have been avoided if I had done it then." He commented.
"Jenna was determined to do this. That wouldn't have stopped her." I told him. "But as far as lawyers go, I recommend my mom over my dad. She'd be more helpful and understanding to the case than my dad would since she likes Toby and my dad just sees him as the guy I'm with."
"Nobody's good enough for daddy's little girl?"
"No, that's not it. He just expected me to marry a doctor, a lawyer, or the son of one of his clients or business partners. Not a carpenter that runs a little furniture store. He's not as bad as he used to be but you'll never catch them watching football together on Thanksgiving."
"I'm sorry, about the way I reacted to the news that you and Toby were engaged. I let Jenna's opinion of you cloud mine. I can see now why he cares about you so much. You remind me of Marion. And I'm happy for the two of you." He told me.
"Thank you, I'm sure Toby would appreciate hearing that." I commented.
"Speaking of Toby, he's set to come home today isn't he?" He asked and I nodded. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather be at the loft? I don't want to impose and I could easily stay at the motel."
"I'm sure both of us would rather be at the loft, but it wouldn't be practical. And you're not imposing. Even though you haven't been a big part of his life, Toby would never turn out family."
"Yes, that's something he gets from Marion. A lot of his personality comes from her; she was a much better parent than I was." He told me. "Well, I need to be going. I'll stop by soon to see Toby. And thank you for the advice about your mom. I'll give her a call later."
I walked Mr. Cavanaugh to the door then went back to the kitchen to finish my coffee.
Finally after a few more hours passed I was on my way to the hospital. Hopefully for the last time, until Hanna had her baby of course. I talked to Toby's doctor and found out what I needed to and then we were on our way to Hanna and Caleb's.
"Toby," I called and gently shook his shoulder. "Toby, wake up we're here."
"Sorry, I didn't even realize I fell asleep." He apologized and yawned.
"It's okay. Let's get you in the house, prove to Hanna that you're alright, and then you can take a nap." I told him then I stepped out of the car and got his crutches from the backseat.
We got to the door and Caleb opened it for us.
"Hey, Toby, good to see you." Caleb said as he moved so we could get in.
"You too, Caleb, and thanks again for letting us stay here." Toby replied.
"Don't mention it." Caleb told him.
"Caleb, are they here?" I heard Hanna shout.
"We're here, Hanna, and we'll be there in just a minute." I yelled back.
"I'll go keep her busy so she doesn't come running in here." Caleb sighed. "But don't feel rushed by Hanna. Take your time."
"Toby, I'm really sorry. I would have seen you in the hospital, but I couldn't because of this stupid bed rest thing. Thankfully, I can finally go out on Saturday. Oh, and I never would have let Spencer go after Jenna by herself if I could go out. That wasn't the brightest idea she's ever had." Hanna rambled excitedly when we got into the living room.
I could also tell she was dying to give us a hug but Caleb had his arm wrapped around her to keep her from tackling us.
"Yeah, I know that wasn't smart. I've been told several times." I replied and looked at Toby.
He was not happy when I told him how I went to the cemetery by myself when Jenna called.
"I just hope we're never in a situation like that again." Toby commented and we all nodded. "And if we are, I'm not letting us get separated."
"Well, would you mind being separated under different circumstances?" Hanna wondered and both Toby and Caleb gave her a questioning look.
"What do you mean?" Toby asked her wearily.
"I mean, it's a Thursday and all of us are here together. Does anything come to mind?" Hanna hinted.
"Guys versus girls video game night!" Toby and Caleb both said and the same time and they looked like two little kids on Christmas morning.
"Yep, but don't get too excited. We're not doing it until tonight, keeping with tradition." Hanna told them.
"Fine with me, it'll be nice to do something for old time's sake that's fun after the bad stuff Jenna recreated." Caleb commented and we nodded in agreement.
"Well, since we aren't doing this until later, I think I'm going to catch up on some sleep so Caleb doesn't have to beat the girls alone." Toby said.
"Hey, you are not going to beat us! And Caleb wouldn't beat us singlehandedly. I've learned a lot of his tricks." Hanna stated defensively. "But yeah, go get some sleep; you look like you could use it."
I went down the hall ahead of Toby and opened the door for him. There was a small guest bedroom next to Caleb's office that we would be staying in. I felt bad that we had a bedroom while Hanna slept in the living room. But apparently this bed hurt her back so she wanted us to stay in here.
"Do you need anything?" I asked Toby once he was settled.
"You." He replied. "I know you're probably not tired, but would you mind staying?"
"Of course not," I shook my head.
I quickly grabbed a book then got in on the right side of the bed since it was his left leg that was injured. I held the book in one hand while the other one lightly played with his hair. And Toby was sound asleep within minutes.
About two hours later Toby woke up with a start.
"Toby! Are you alright?" I asked in alarm.
"Yeah, just a dream." He shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
"What was it about?"
"Nothing, I don't even remember." He shrugged but I knew that wasn't the case.
I set my book down and curled up next to him.
"You're not the only one you know." I told him and kissed his cheek.
"What?"
"Nightmares. You're not the only one that gets them." I said quietly.
I knew where this conversation would probably head, but I said it anyway.
"Jenna's gone, Spence. And I promise I would never jump off a roof." He assured.
"I know that." I nodded. "But that's not what my nightmares are about."
"Then what?" He asked with a puzzled expression.
"When I got out of the cabin, I started following tire tracks. I found your motorcycle. It was wrecked and there was a body lying beside it." I told him quietly.
"How did get there? I certainly wasn't driving it?"
"I think it was the other vehicle Jenna drove. And I think Garrett drove it to that spot in the woods when Jenna told him to set up outside." I replied.
"And he didn't even know she was having him cover up his own death." He shook his head. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I can't even imagine if I was the one that stumbled across that."
"It was pretty shocking. But it gets worse." I sighed.
"What could be worse than finding Garrett's body in the woods?" He wondered curiously.
"I didn't know it was Garrett. I thought it was you." I whispered the last part so quietly I wasn't sure he could hear me.
"Spence," He said, with a little shock in his voice, as he wrapped his arms around me to comfort me. "I had no idea that's what she was going to do after she shot Garrett. I'm so sorry, Spencer. I should have gotten away and tried to find you and let you know that I was okay. Instead I just passed out from the pain."
"Don't." I whispered as I shook my head. "Don't blame yourself, I don't. There was nothing you could have done."
"I know. I hated feeling so useless that night." He sighed.
"But there's something you can do for me now." I told him.
"What's that?" He asked as he brushed a few tears from my cheeks.
"Stay with me." I answered. "I need you, Toby, more than anything else. If it weren't for Caleb and your dad who knows how long I would have stayed in the woods. I probably would've become a patient at Radley instead of going there to stop Jenna."
"I need you too, Spence. And you'll never be alone, not even for a second." He promised me then captured my lips in a kiss.
We kissed for several minutes, expressing emotions and making up for lost time. We hadn't kissed like this since we were in the hospital hallway before visiting Hanna the day she came home. That seemed like a lifetime ago instead of four days.
"Hey, are you guys…uh-oh." Hanna came in and we abruptly ended things.
"Hanna! What are you doing here?" I questioned her and quickly sat up.
"I was going to ask if you were hungry and where to get takeout from." She replied.
"No, I mean what are you doing up?" I clarified.
"I can walk around a little bit. How else do you think I get to the bathroom?" She told me.
"But this isn't the bathroom." I pointed out.
"So I took a little detour. If you wanted privacy you should have taken the nursey upstairs." She shrugged. "Now, do you guys want food or not?"
"Yes, we do." Toby answered. "You and Caleb can choose the take out place. And Spencer and I will be out in a minute."
"All I needed to know." Hanna smiled and then left.
"I guess there's no returning to what we were previously doing?" I asked rhetorically.
"I don't think so." Toby shook his head and laughed. "But there's always later."
I smiled and gave him one more kiss before passing him his crutches.
Toby's home! I hope you all enjoyed that long needed Spoby at the end. Well until Hanna interrupted that is. Who do you think will win the video game? The guys or the girls? You'll see who won next chapter, as well as what bets they made. It'll be a mostly fun chapter, especially since Jason will be in it ;)
BTW I just wanted to let you guys know that I won't be updating later this week due to the holiday. So Happy Thanksgiving in advance. I'm thankful for everyone that has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. It's starting to come to an end I appreciate those that have stuck with it from the beginning. And I'd be really thankful (and super excited) if this had 100-120 reviews by the time it finishes.