I apologize if this chapter's too short, but it's a chapter.

The second the warmth of the sun hit Spencer's face, it felt strange. It was almost blinding when she first stepped outside. Sure she's been outside on sunny days like this before. She just hasn't been outside that gigantic wire fence in what feels like forever. On the day that Spencer was released, Toby brought her some clothes proper clothes to change into. Thank god she won't have to wear those ugly jumpsuits everyday anymore. He brought her a pair of white jeans and a white t-shirt with black polka dots all around it. She hasn't been able to wear makeup or properly brush her hair in several weeks. Right now, her usually perfect hair, kind of looks like a mess.

As soon as Spencer got herself dressed, a guard released her to the main hallway. There Toby was waiting for her with the keys to his cruiser. He had his police bag strapped over his shoulder, but he wasn't wearing his uniform. One of the other officers told her that Toby will be the one taking her back to Rosewood. Before Toby takes her back to that town, he has some things to pack up at his apartment here in Main.

Spencer got confused when he pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building ten miles away from the detention facility. The building itself looks to be about seven stories high. This doesn't seem like a very good neighborhood to be in. A few apartments had boarded windows and chipped chipped wall paint. The sidewalk doesn't look too great. There were a few guys chilling on the stoop outside one of the apartments. The group of boys contained whites and Mexicans. Two out of five of them had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth. One of the white boys whistled at Spencer when they walked by, and the other boys grinned and chuckled. Feeling a little jealous, Toby put his arm around Spencer's waist and fixed those men with a withering stare.

"You live here?"

Spencer made a face of disgust as she looked around the inside. The walls are covered in an ugly gray color and most of it is chipped off. There are different sizes and colors of buckets sitting around to catch the water dripping from the ceiling. All the furniture in this place looks broken and is covered in dust. Toby walked over holding a clean towel from the closet.

"This place Isn't great, but it's a place where I can sleep and there's a roof over my head."

"Barely," Spencer said, glancing up at all the holes.

"Here," he handed her the dark green towel," why don't you take a shower. I'm sure you haven't had a proper one since you were arrested."

She gave him a look," are you trying to say I stink?"

"No, you smell fine, but I just thought you might want to get cleaned up in a good shower with no other people around to look at you."

"Am I supposed to shower in there?" She pointed to the old, wooden door leading to the bathroom.

"Believe it or not, the shower is the only thing that works well in this place. The waters hot and the bathroom is clean. You'll be fine."

Spencer took the towel out of his hand then walked into the bathroom. Once she shut the door and locked it, she took a deep breath and stared at her reflection in the mirror. A lot has changed in the last few months. Her hair seems darker, but that's probably because it's not very clean. Her nails are long and have very little nail polish on them. She hasn't had the chance to paint them since a week before she got arrested. She's lost a lot of weight too. Not that she ever really needed to. Looking at her up and down, all you can see is skin and bones. When she took her shirt off, you can see her ribs. You can also see the faint scars of old cuts she carved into her body.

Her legs barely have any meat on them. If Toby saw her right now, he would demand for her to eat something. He has seen her, but he hasn't seen her stripped down like this. Those jumpsuits they give you in prison are baggy, so you wouldn't be able to tell just how skinny she was when you saw her walking down the hall. She turned on the shower and stuck her hand under the water to test it. It's warm, but slightly cold. She adjusted the setting until it was close to burning hot. That was how she liked it. She took off her bra and panties before stepping under the clear water.

Toby was right. This is what she needed. A hot shower is what she needed. The water in prison wasn't very hot. In fact, she'd be lucky if she got even slightly warm water. The water was usually really cold and barely came out. Not to mention how dirty the floor and the walls were. And the whole bathroom always smelled like wet toilet paper covered in pee. After washing her body and hair with shampoo, she stood there in the shower for a few extra minutes allowing the water to stream down her body. Her skin kept turning a different shade of pink the longer she stood there. When the water showed signs of cooling down, that was when she stopped it. She stepped out of the shower and her body shiver at the lack of warmth grazing her skin. She used the green towel Toby gave her to dry off. When she dried off her face, she stopped to stare at herself in the mirror. The circles under her eyes appear darker than the last time she saw them. She really needs to start wearing makeup again.

"Spence," she jumped when she heard Toby knocking on the door. "Are you alright in there?"

"Uh, yeah," she stuttered a bit. "I'm getting dressed right now. I'll be out in a minute or two."

"Okay."

When she heard him walk away from the door, she sighed. Being out of juvie is nice, but she's no longer under the protection of those four walls. She knows that Toby will try anything to keep her safe, but she's still worried about him getting hurt. If Toby gets hurt because of her, she won't be able to handle it. That's just how much she cares for him. As soon as she put her clothes back on, she walked out of the bathroom. Toby's in the living room hold two bags of stuff in each hand.

"I have everything ready to go for the car ride home. Since it's so late in the day, we probably won't make it all the way back home."

"Home," Spencer chuckled. "I haven't called Rosewood home in a long time. Rosewood's not my home."

"Spencer," Toby sighed, setting the bags down. "I'm sorry you have to go back. Rosewood's not the same way it used to be. I think you'll like it better. I have some friends there who might be interested in meeting you and I think you'll like them too."

"More people," Spencer exclaimed. "Toby, I can't. I shouldn't put more people in danger."

"Spencer it's okay. They can take care of themselves. If you trust me then, you can trust me to keep you safe. My friends are good people. You don't have be afraid."

"Okay," she whispered. "But, if my dad still lives in Rosewood, I don't want him knowing I'm there."

Toby shook his head, "you don't have to worry about your father. He's not in Pennsylvania anymore. Last I heard he was in a rehab center."

"So, he's not there?"

"No, he's not. I promise Spencer, you'll be fine. You can stay with me in my loft in Rosewood. It's much better than this place here."

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"You always have a choice. At the end of the month when your probation ends, you can go if you want to. If I'm really being honest, I'm hoping you'll stay, but I won't make you. No matter how badly I'm going to want you to."

"We better get going," she said while reaching for one of the bags he was holding. "Traffic might get heavy."

Driving back to Rosewood will take them ten hours to get there. They got into Toby's car and began their long drive back. The car that Toby drives actually used to belong to his father. It still runs perfectly. Spencer sat in the passenger seat of the car with her knees bent back against her chest. She rested her chin on top of her knees and kept looking out the window. Every once in awhile, Toby would take his eyes off the road to look at her. The car windows are cracked open a bit. A soft breeze blew in from the window, tussling Spencer's brown hair around.

"So," Spencer turned her head in his direction. "Tell me what's changed in Rosewood?"

"Uh," Toby adjusted himself in his seat. "Not much really. They put in a dog park finally across from the high school. The Brew got remodeled."

"Are people in that town still crazed and corrupted?"

"Depends on how you want to look at them. I have some friends that live in Rosewood. I think you'll really like them."

"Yeah, so you've said. Are you even sure that your friends will like me? They don't know how messed up I can am."

"You're not messed up," he looked at her. "You've just been through a lot. Worse than anyone that I've ever met."

She looked at him for a long time before extending her arm so she could turn on the radio. A soft laugh escaped her mouth when country music blasted through the car speakers. It was some song by Luke Bryan. Toby's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and a shy smile threatened to form across his face.

"When did you start listening to country music?" Spencer asked, laughing.

"What," he said defensively. "I like country music. It's nice to listen to during long car ride home. Don't judge me."

She laughed, "I'm not judging, I just didn't expect you to like country music."

"My father used to play it, remember?"

Spencer smiled and nodded, "yeah, I remember riding home in the car and your dad would have country music playing. You know you kind of look like your father. You have his nose and his jawline. I totally see him in you."

Toby chuckled and looked at her, "thanks."

Spencer sent him a smile then leaned her head back against the seat. The words to the song playing on the radio started coming out of her mouth. "Oh, my god, this is my song I've been listenin to the radio all night long." Toby teased her by saying he's not the only one who's been listening to country. Spencer rolled her eyes and told him to shut up then, started singing again.

When they started out on the road, the sun was cast overhead. Now, it's beginning to set behind the clouds. They still have four more hours to go and Toby knows they won't get there all in one day. He's going to have to stop at a motel somewhere. At nine o'clock, Toby pulled into the parking lot of a motel that's just five miles away from the Pennsylvania border.

He got them a room with one queen size bed. There's no reason to get a room with two beds. Them sharing a bed shouldn't be a big deal. They were sharing a bed when Spencer was seven and Toby was ten.

"The bathrooms all yours," Toby said after coming out of the bathroom.

Spencer tugged on her shirt and said, "what am I supposed to wear?"

"Here," he hands her his gray, short sleeve shirt. "You can wear this. It should be long enough."

She mumbled, "thanks," before going into the bathroom to change. It took her a few minutes to do her bedtime routine. Put on the shirt, wash her face, brush her teeth, and brush her hair. She folded the clothes she wore that very day and hung them on the towel rack. When Spencer came out of the bathroom, Toby turned down the top blanket on the bed and had the pillows arranged neatly.

"Feel better?"

She nodded, "much. Thank you."

He lays down on his back under the covers. Spencer stood there for a few minutes just looking at the bed. It's been a long time since she's slept in one. Well, since she's slept on a proper bed. In reform school, all she slept on was a very thin mattress that felt more like a yoga mat. Before that, she would sleep on a pew in a church or something. If there was nowhere else to sleep, she would be forced to sleep outside on a bench. Honestly, she's surprised she didn't end up dead.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "It's just...I haven't."

"Spence," Toby reached out for her hand. She locked eyes with him. They're so soft and blue. Always filled with warmth and concern. Toby smiled at her and cocked his head.

"Come here."

She smiled and allowed him to pull her under the warmth of the covers. The bed felt really soft and toasty. It was like lying on a cloud. Toby moved over some to give her more room. The more he moved, Spencer kept wanting to get closer. She laid her head on his bare chest and he wrapped his arms around her. This feels good, great even. This right here, lying in bed with Toby feels great.

"Get some sleep, Spence," he whispered while pressing his lips against her scalp.

Spencer's finally out of reform school? In the next chapter, you will see Spencer's first day back in Rosewood. How do you think Toby's friends will react? How will Toby's mother react? Leave your theories in the reviews and also your thoughts on the chapter.