Higher rating change for mentions of drug uses in this chapter. This is one of my longest chapters, so please leave a review after reading. I understand people don't have time, but if I can find time to write a 4,000-word chapter, I think you can spare one sentence. It would make me smile (-:

Somebody That I Used To Know part 2

A car horn sound echoed outside Mona's bedroom window. She rolled off the bed and peek through the window to see who it is. It's just her friends driving by. They smiled and waved at her. Mona responded by flipping them the bird and smiling. Her friends drove off in some car and disappeared around the corner. Just as she was peeling her eyes away from the window, Spencer came stomping into their room and slammed the door. Mona turned around and saw Spencer huffing and puffing.

"You okay?"

Spencer took a deep breath, "I'm sick of this."

"Sick of what?" Mona asked.

"This place. Our parents. I'm mostly sick of those boys especially Gary."

"Gary will be leaving for college soon. You can hold off until then."

"I don't think so," Spencer sighed and put her hands on her hips. She looked at Mona and bit her lip, "do you still have some pot?"

Mona raised an eyebrow and looked back at her curiously. Without saying a word, Mona kneeled down and looked under her bed for her shoe box. That's where she hides her drugs. She dug out the little plastic bag with pot in it and tossed it over to Spencer. Spencer sat down on Mona's bed, poured some out on a piece of paper.

"Okay," Spencer took a breath. "Show me how to do this."

"Gladly."

Mona smiled and sat next to Spencer on the bed. She took a dollar bill out from her dresser drawer. She showed Spencer what to do then, gave her the dollar bill so she could try it. Spencer leaned down and snorted some feeling it go up through her nose and through her system.

"Wow," she tore the dollar away and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Mona laughed, "it's a little overwhelming the first time you take it, but give it another shot. It's better the second time, I promise."

Spencer snorted some more and her nose started burning. That time was better, but it feels weird. The third time she did it, she felt herself starting to loosen up. Before she knew it, she was addicted.

For the last several weeks, Spencer would come home from school and she and Mona would go up to their room and smoke a few. Ever since she started hanging out with Mona, she started pulling away from Toby. She hasn't shut him out completely, but they definitely haven't been seeing as much of each other lately. The next week, Mona introduced Spencer to Maya. She's a year older than them. Maya is the person Mona gets her drugs from. Eventually, Spencer started buying drugs from her. At fourteen, Spencer started getting addicted to cocaine.

As winter rolled around, nights got darker and a lot colder. Every year during the winter, Spencer would spend a week with the Cavanaugh's. Toby had been wondering why Spencer hasn't been coming around as often. On Thursday, he heard from a friend of a friend that Spencer's missed a few days of school. It wasn't until later he figured out the reason she missed school was because she got caught getting high on campus. Which is strange because Spencer doing drugs is so unlike her. On Friday, Toby went to confront her. He texted her to meet him at their usual meeting spot. In the woods by the river. He got to the river and she showed up fifteen minutes later.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" He asked crossing his arms.

She looked at the ground, "I screwed up big time."

"Yeah," he nodded and dropped his hands. "You got caught getting high at school. Spencer, how could you do something so stupid? This is so unlike you."

"I know," she said. "I know it is. I don't know why… I just. I don't know."

"Is there something going on? Something that's bothering you?"

"No, I just made a mistake, Toby. I'm sorry. I started smoking a few weeks ago and before I knew it, I was doing it more than once. That's no excuse and I know that."

Toby sighed and stepped forward so he's standing a few feet away from her. More harm is coming to Spencer and she won't open up about it. She's not living under her father's roof anymore, so why is she back to being depressed all the time?

"How can I help you if I don't even know you're in trouble."

"I get it and I would be feeling the same way, but you don't have to worry about me. I promise not to do it anymore. The incident at school happened last week and I haven't taken any pot since. I won't ever do it again."

Toby removed his hands out of his coat pocket and reached out to touch her hands. He spoke in a soft tone.

"Promise me that you will call me if you get the urge to do drugs again."

"I'm done with that."

She said and searched his eyes for assurance. She needs to know that he believes her. It was a mistake to get addicted to drugs. She won't do it anymore. She can't do it anymore. Will she really stop, though? For the past few weeks, Spencer's felt so much better. Better than she's felt in a long time. She's loosened up. Pot makes her feel that way. No! She's done with that stuff.

Buzz! Even after hearing that door open ten times a day, it never fails to startle her. The door slides open and Spencer stepped inside with Toby following close behind her. She took a seat on the bed and sighed. The door slide closed behind her, but she knew she wasn't alone. Toby's still standing there waiting. He sat down on the chair across from her bed and waited for her to talk.

How can she explain this to him? He's already missed so much. She left Rosewood for a reason and now that the reason she left is here. It's here walking around this place. She's not safe again. Neither is he. This guy Spencer ran away from threatened everybody she's ever cared about. If anyone were to get caught helping her get away, they would be seriously hurt. A month before she got arrested, this guy tried to kill Maya. Spencer just doesn't want anything happening to Toby. Since they were kids, he's been the one person she cares about most. If he got hurt trying to help her, there would be no questions about it. It would've been her fault.

"What's the matter," Toby finally spoke and crossed his arms. "No snappy remark? No, jokes you have to make about this. You're not going to say something like I photoshopped the photo. You're not going to lie and say that girl in the photo is somebody who just looks like you?"

"Stop," she said in a barely audible voice.

"What? Do you need a minute to get your story straight? More like a story that makes sense to you, but not to anybody else. Good luck trying to lie your way out of this one. This photo was inside your pillowcase. Why keep this picture if you keeping saying everything we've been through in the past never happened?"

"Stop it," she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"Spencer!"

Mona came running into their bedroom and found Spencer curled up on her bed. Her whole body is shaking and tears are streaming down her face. Mona dropped her bag and rushed over to kneel down next to her friend. She touched her knee and Spencer flinched away. Mona apologized.

"I just heard what happened, but I didn't get the full details. I'm so sorry I wasn't home sooner. What exactly happened?"

Spencer hiccuped a few times before speaking, "when I came home nobody was here or I thought nobody was. Since nobody was here, I thought it would be a good time to take a shower without somebody watching me. When I got out to dry off, the bathroom door opened and Gary was there. He was home the whole time and he…"

Spencer dropped her face into her knees and sobbed. Mona rubbed her shoulder soothingly.

"Did he rape you?"

No," she hiccuped. "He was going to. He would've if Janet and Jenna hadn't come home. But he did touch me. Gary grabbed me and held me on the ground. He started touching me and I…"

"Shush."

Spencer laid her head back down and Mona continued to comfort her friend. The image of Gary touching her like that will always be on her mind. Why can't her foster parents understand that Gary is a pervert? If they would just get rid of him. Spencer knows that he's leaving for some police academy at the end of the month, but she can't wait that long.

"Spencer," Mona started. "I'm going to tell you something, I wasn't originally going to, but I think you deserve to know this. I'm leaving this place."

"Leaving?" Spencer looked up.

"I'm running away."

"Mona, you can't leave. You're my only friend. You're the only person that I can talk to about this. If you leave, Gary will be waiting for me every day now up until he leaves. After he leaves, one of the other boys will start."

"Have you ever thought about telling your guy friend what's been going on?"

She nodded, "yeah, but I don't think he would be able to do anything. Plus, Gary threatened me not to tell anyone about what he's been doing."

"You mean he's done this more than once?"

She shrugged, "once or twice."

"God," Mona sighed. "Why don't you come with us?"

"Go with you where?"

"Away. Run away with us. We can leave Rosewood and never look back."

"Who's we?"

"Maya and I, and a few other people we've met. Maya and I have talked about letting you tag along and the other's are okay with it. Just say the word and we'll be out of here tonight."

"You're doing this tonight?"

Mona nodded, "tonight's our best option. This older guy named Jake has a car and is willing to be our ride out of here. If you don't come with us, my advice to you would be to tell your other friend what's been going on and stay with him. If you do come with us, you'll be embarking on a wild adventure."

"Toby will be going to college soon," Spencer said quietly.

Mona smirked, "so mystery friend does have a name."

"You don't have to ask me again Mona, I'm in."

The time finally came. At midnight, Spencer and Mona will sneak out of the house and walk down the block where a car will be waiting for them. It's almost midnight now and they're just about ready. While Mona went down into the kitchen to grab some snacks for the road, Spencer was upstairs getting her things together. When she turned around to walk to the dresser, somebody walked up behind her and cupped a hand over her mouth. The person gripped their hands tightly around her mouth so no one could hear her scream. Tears spilled out the corner of her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

"Listen," Gary hissed. "You make one sound and I will cut you. I've had my eye on you from some time now and I intend to get what I want. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Let me go," she breathed when he moved his hand away.

He quickly covered it back up.

"I know you've been sneaking out after hours to visit your friend. Once mom and dad hear about that, you'll be in big trouble. However, I'm willing to keep my mouth shut if you do a favor for me."

"No," she cried.

"Who's this guy you keep running off you see? Maybe if I get rid of him, you won't have a reason to say no to me."

More tears spilled out when he felt his lips touched the back of her neck. It felt gross. His lips are all cold and dry. Before anything else could happen, Spencer heard a loud thud then someone fell to the floor. Spencer spun around and saw Mona holding a broken lamp in her hand. She must've used that to knock Gary out.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Spencer forced a nodded.

"Okay," Mona whispered. "Let's get out of this hell of a town."

"Wait," Spencer said. "Um is it okay if I make one little stop before we go?"

As the sun began to set, an orange ray of light streamed in through the small square window. Toby sat with his arms folded and Spencer has yet to speak. What lie is she going to tell to get out of this one? Honestly, he's intrigued to find out what her clever brain can come up with. Spencer kept her eyes on the floor for too long and finally looked up at him.

She finally opened her mouth to speak, "I recognized you the second you walked through that door."

Toby shot up in his seat, "that's bullshit, Spencer! You know who I am. You know that we grew up right down the street from each other! Why do you keep denying it!? And… Wait." He sat back down. "You knew who I was the second I walked in?"

Spencer nodded. Well, now, there's definitely no turning back. She just admitted she knows who he is and remembers everything.

"I don't understand. Why did you keep lying?"

"It's complicated."

"What could be so complicated that you can't tell me?"

"Everything. This isn't kids on a playground kind of problem. It's a problem that you can't fix. This is my problem and you have to stay out of it."

"How can I stay out of the problem if I don't even know what the problem is!" He exclaimed.

"Because it's better that you don't know. You have always been there for me and stood up for me. Which I can't thank you enough for, but you can't save me this time."

"I need answers, Spencer."

"About what?"

"About what?" He practically yelled. "About why you left. About where you went. I need answers about everything. Can you at least tell me who you ran away with? I know you didn't go alone."

"I left with a girl I shared a foster home with," she said quietly.

"So, you left because of something that was happening to you at your foster home. Why didn't you just come and tell me about it?"

"I was going to, but I couldn't. Besides, you were getting ready to leave for college in just a couple months. They just would've moved me to another foster home."

"You just packed up one night and left, Spencer. That night, you climb through my bedroom window, sat at the end of my bed. You forced me to swear to secrecy. You kissed me and then you just left without saying another word. You didn't even tell me you were leaving! You just left!"

She looked down at the floor and whispered, "I know. And I felt terrible about that. I…"

"Did you," he snapped. "Did you really feel terrible? Do you have any idea what your disappearance put me through?"

A little after midnight, Toby lied still in his bed. He rolled over to lay on his side when he heard something scraping against the side of the house. He looked at the window and caught a shadow figure sitting on a tree branch outside his bedroom. Seeing a strange figure outside your window branch would alarm anyone, but not him. This has happened to him many times.

A few nights a month, Spencer would sneak out of her foster home and come over to his place. She would climb up the tree in his backyard and knock on his window. After awhile, he started leaving his window unlocked so she could get in when she needed to. The lock clicked and the window was rolled up. Spencer poked her head in through the window and searched for Toby's eyes shining in the dark.

"Toby," her she spoke in a soft voice.

He sat up. Spencer hiked up her leg so she could climb in through his window. He noticed how Spencer's dressed in a pair of navy blue skinny jeans and wearing a black hoodie. She pushes the hood off of her head and allows it to fall around her shoulders. Her brown hair is up in a tight ponytail. She stepped in his wooden floor and slowly crept over to the side of his bed. Toby leaned back against the pillows as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Spence, why did you come here this time?"

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. I won't be staying long."

"You're going back your home? If you snuck out to sleep here, why are you not staying very long."

She bit her lip and made a quiet noise, "I can't really explain it." She reaches out and places her hand over his. "All I need for you to know is how much I love you and how I appreciate everything you've done for me."

"You know you don't have to thank me."

"Yeah, I know I don't, but I want to. You have been my friend when nobody else has. You've looked out for me. You've been my shoulder to cry on. You let me sleep here when I would have nightmares about my dad."

"That's what friends do. If you want to stay here tonight you…"

"Ssh."

She silences him by placing her index finger over his lips. He searches her eyes for a moment and doesn't try speaking again. Something about her coming here tonight doesn't feel right.

"I need you to promise me something."

"Anything…"

Once again, she shushed him by putting her finger over his lips. Why is he letting this girl control when and when he doesn't speak?

"You have to promise to not tell anybody that you saw me here tonight. If my foster parents or anyone from the place stops by. Promise me you will tell them you haven't seen me here tonight. Actually, tell no one you saw me here. That includes your parents. I need you to swear it to me."

"Spencer, what is going on? Why are you…"

Again, she forces him to be quiet.

"Swear it to me, Toby."

"Okay," he nodded and said. "I swear."

"Good," she drops her hand from his lips. "One more thing."

Toby opened his mouth to ask another question. He expected her to put her finger back over his lips. Instead, she leaned forward and pressed her warm mouth against his. He was in shock for a second. Feeling her soft lips on his. Did she come here tonight just to kiss him? After a second or two, she peeled her lips away from his. Toby searched her eyes for an answer but didn't find one. All he saw was sadness in her eyes. She whispers goodbye then climbs back out his window shutting it behind her. That was the last time he saw her.

"Did you really feel terrible!?" He exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what your disappearance put me through?"

She looked down and whispered, "I know."

"No," Toby shook his head. "I don't think you do know. You disappeared that night without leaving a single trace. There was no way of me contacting you. Up until three months ago, I had no idea where you were."

"That was part of the point of me not fully telling you," she tried to make him understand. "I couldn't tell you anything. I'm probably damned enough for telling you anything right now. I should never have come here. This was a mistake."

He stood up, "it was a mistake for me to know that you're okay?"

"No," she rubbed the back of her head. "It was a mistake for me to get arrested and come here. Things may have turned out differently if you just dropped it like I told you to. This is what I've been trying to tell you all along. You have to let it go and because you didn't, I'm in even more trouble."

"How are you in trouble? What haven't you been telling me? Whatever it is, I can help you."

"No, you can't!"

"Why can't I!"

"That's one of the reasons why I left Rosewood. I'm trying to distance myself from anyone I've ever had contact with. Which means, you can't be in on what's going on. Walk away and pretend like you don't know me."

"You don't get it," Toby shook his head. "You just don't understand. God, Spencer, I..."

He paused for a second and walked to the other side of the room. Spencer watched him run his fingers furiously through his hair.

"Toby…"

"I thought you were dead!" He yelled while spinning around to look at her. Spencer closed her mouth and for the first time, she looked at him. Really looked at him.

"What?" She asked trying to breath over the lump in her throat.

Toby managed to swallow even with this huge lump in his throat.

"I thought you were dead. I spent weeks. Months actually trying to find you. Then, they told me you were dead."

"Who told you I was dead?"

Two weeks have gone by and no one's found any trace of Spencer Hastings anywhere. The foster home waited 48 hours before contacting the police that Spencer and Mona were missing. Marion was the first one to hear about Spencer going missing and told Toby. Toby took time off school trying to find her. He would go to the river and call out her name for hours a day. He would hike along all the trails in Rosewood looking for her. When the town started to give up looking, he kept going. Toby's looked everywhere

In about a week, Toby has to leave for his first semester of college. He doesn't want to leave without knowing if Spencer's okay. He's spent the last two months looking for her and hasn't seen her anywhere. One morning, Toby went over to Mr. Hastings house and knocked on his door till he answered. It took him five minutes to answer the door.

"What do you want?" Mr. Hastings growled

"Do you know where she is?"

"Where who is?"

"Spencer. Your daughter. Is she here?"

"No, why would she be?"

Toby blinked his eyes and said, "do you know where I could find her?"

Peter shook his head and looked down, "they've already found her body."

"Huh?" Toby asked.

"Spencer's body has already been found. It happened about a week ago. The cops were looking around the stream when they found a bag of hers with pictures, money, and a camera inside. Not long after, they found Spencer's lifeless body floating in the river."

"She's dead," Toby gulped.

Peter nodded, "sorry to say so. They think she killed herself by drowning in the river. I'd tell you more, but my morning shows are on."

Peter stepped back and shut the door in his face. Toby stood there frozen in time for the longest time. Then, he practically stumbled off the back porch and ran straight into the woods. He ran and ran until he came to the river bank. His lungs burned for air, but air is the last thing on his mind right now.

"Spencer!" His cries echoed through the air. "Spencer! Where are you? D-don't play this game with me. I know hide and seek is your favorite game, but now is not the time."

Toby stood for a good two minutes waiting for a response that never came. The earth around him began to crumble and his knees gave out. His legs quivered and before he knew, he was kneeling down on the dirt covered ground. His mom would bust his butt for getting his nice pants dirty, but he doesn't care right now. His tears have threatened to spill out of his eyes ever since he heard the news about Spencer from her father. He finally let them out. The first couple tears trailed down his cheeks. A heavy sob pushed it's way out of his mouth and echoed through the atmosphere. Spencer Hastings is dead. There are a million reasons why this is a heartbreaking moment for him, but the biggest reason. The biggest reason this moment is heartbreaking for him is because he never got the chance to tell her how much he really loved her.

This chapter had a lot in it. It explained how Spencer ran away and who she was with. Later on, you will see flashbacks of Spencer getting to know her new friends. As well, as Toby meeting his friends. You will see Toby trying to cope with Spencer's 'death.' And yes, that is why Toby was so upset with Spencer when he saw her in juvie. For the longest time, he truly believed she was dead.

Thanks again for reading. Until next time.