"Whoever you are, shut the hell up," a husky voice growled as Eloise screamed and kicked. It was definitely male, but of uncertain age or accent. "If you keep that up, whoever you're hiding from will find us, and both of us will be in trouble, so I suggest that you- OOF!"

He cut off as Eloise's head smacked him in the chin. It hit with a satisfying smacking sound, and he released her and grabbed for his mouth. Eloise dashed forward and grabbed a skillet of a shelf, the closest thing she could see to a weapon. She turned around, and finally faced the person for the first time. She gasped, and whispered, "Who the hell are you?"

The voice had come from a tall, muscular figure wearing a tight black hoodie and jeans. It was clearly someone young, someone fit. His hands were covered by thick, black leather gloves, and he wore nondescript grey sneakers that looked like they had been white once in a past life. The hood on the jacket was up, and the man's face was covered by a black ski mask with only his eyes showing. In the dim, light, Eloise couldn't tell the color or anything else about them, except that they were pissed. Eloise noticed that the jeans were ripped, the jacket stained and fraying. Whoever it was was clearly hiding, and he was definitely in some sort of trouble.

"Well, does it matter who the hell I am?" The guy leaned back on the closet's far wall and rubbed his jaw. He glared at Eloise and said in that same, gravelly voice, "This is my hiding spot; I got here first. So, I suggest that you gather your things and clear out before I make you clear out. Is that understood, princess?"

Eloise flicked a quick glance out towards the restaurant; Aria wasn't even here yet. She groaned; Aria could walk in at any second, and there was no way Eloise could leave the closet now without blowing her cover. "I'm sorry for invading your precious hiding space, but I'm spying on someone, and if they see me leave now, I will be in quite a bit of trouble."

The guy chuckled. He had a nice laugh, sexy albeit cocky. "Ah, so you're up to no good, just like me. Who in there are you spying on, Sherlock?"

Eloise frowned. "Wouldn't it make more sense to compare me to Nancy Drew, a female known for her sleuthing abilities?"

He laughed again. That, thought Eloise, is one hot chuckle. "Smart ass," he said. She could tell by the crinkles around his eyes that he was smiling. They were nice eyes, and she could now see that they were a friendly color of blue- not quite piercing, icy blue, but much paler and softer. "I figured the famous Holmes would be more appropriate, considering your birthplace, ol' chap." The last few words he said with a British accent. The accent had come so naturally to Eloise in the last few months that she hardly had to make an effort to remember to use it anymore. But when this mysterious stranger mimicked her, she felt self-conscious and shy.

"So who ARE you spying on, Nancy?" he taunted. There was something familiar about that cocky, growly voice that Eloise couldn't place.

Eloise motioned for him to walk over to the window. Up close, she could see that he was a good half a foot taller than her, maybe a little less. The two of them pressed their faces up against the window. Eloise's eyes darted towards the door. Aria still hadn't come in, and it didn't seem like anything was going on. I might as well humor this creep, Eloise thought as her eyes scanned through the restaurant.

"Them," she said, pointing at two people in a corner booth. One was Abby Summers, a generic, tall, brunette girl on Spencer's old field hockey team two years older than her. Eloise knew she was at Hollis now, and the sporty looking blond guy she was with was probably her boyfriend. Thinking on her feet, she started to ramble off an explanation. "The guy, Jacob, is my ex. and that bitch used to be my friend before she stole him. This was where he took me on my first date, too."

Mr. Ski Mask chuckled again, that smooth, sexy chuckle, and walked back towards the rear of the closet. "So what? This sounds like it'd make a fine episode of Degrassi, but it's no reason to go nuts stalking these two."

"You watch Degrassi?" said Eloise, raising an eyebrow. She watched it religiously, but she rarely met anyone else who was a fan. Spencer had frequently forced Emily, Aria, Hanna, and Toby to sit through episodes with her, but all of them were bored with the over-dramatic line delivery and confused by the twisted story lines.

Mr. Ski-Mask nodded. "An ex got me into it. I used to hate the show, but . . . it reminds me of her, I guess. I know, that's kind of pathetic."

"It's not," whispered Eloise. "My ex gave me one of his undershirts, and I still wear it under my sweater sometimes." Whoa, Eloise thought. Why did I just say that? She had never, ever told anyone that. But when she wore the shirt, it felt warm and soft, just like Toby, and it smelled like wood shavings from his carpentry projects and his musky cologne. How could she have admitted that to this stranger in a random closet?

No, he isn't just some stranger, she thought through the awkward silence. They had some things in common. They were both hiding from someone, spying on someone, and glad to have finally friend who understood what kind of mess had driven them to hide in a closet. Eloise could imagine the hell that his life was that had driven him here, something that she could definitely relate to. It comforted her to know that some one could finally understand what she had done, what she had felt, and the way her life was turning out.

I might as well make a friend, if nothing else comes of tonight. Whoever Mr. Ski Mask was, there was something about him that made her feel safe. She extended her hand and said, "My name is Eloise. Eloise Williams. It looks like we are going to be in here together for a while, so you might as well take off that mask and tell me who you are, too."

Mr. Ski Mask chuckled again, that sexy chuckle. She loved that chuckle. Eloise wanted to rip that chuckle's clothes off and make love to it. Suddenly, in the second before he pulled off his black ski mask and ran his gloved hand through his hair, Eloise released exactly why she loved that chuckle so much. She had heard that chuckle a thousand times before, on late nights in the hot tub, on mid-afternoon coffee dates, on the couch in her living room, on her bed while it swam through the room, vibrating through her while its strong arms wrapped around her body.

When the mask slid off, Eloise saw the soft, smiley blue eyes more clearly as if they had known her forever, which they had. She knew every detail of that beautiful face, from the soft, pink lips that could kiss like you couldn't believe, to his cute, bumpy nose that had nuzzled against hers in so many blissful memories. His light brown hair had grown long and shaggy since she had seen him last, and she could remember every single time she ran her fingers through it. His face formed a familiar smile, so sweet that it could melt the polar ice caps. A million emotions passed through Eloise as the boy uttered the scariest thing she had ever heard, yet the thing she had been dying to hear for months:

"I'm Toby. Toby Cavanaugh."

Well, did I deliver for the Spoby fans? :) Now that Toby is bad in town, things are going to get HOT and TRICKY. I hope I will be able to update soon, but I have a busy schedule! Please review!