Spencer rolled over in the grass and leaned in like she was going to kiss Toby, but when he started to lean in she bit his nose instead, laughing as he pulled backwards. As he recovered she stole his baseball cap from his head and placed it on her own, turning it backwards and jumping to her feet, knowing he was about ready to get her back.

"You're going to have to be faster than that," she said running behind the big tree in the corner of the yard, popping around the other side as he stumbled forward to reach her.

"You're gonna be sorry," he stuck out his tongue and chased her around the yard, but she was always just out of his reach. She was faster than he thought. Every time he came close to grasping her, she would suck in a quick breath and scream like a little kid being chased by their older sibling or father.

"Fine, you win," he threw up his hands in a surrender, coming from the side of the house where she had ran in a circle to fool him, doubling back towards the opposite fence when he'd turned the corner.

"You're still not getting your hat back," she said securing it on her head.

"That's okay. Come here, just give me a kiss instead?" He offered. "Consolation prize?" He secured his feet in their place, unwilling to meet her halfway.

She shrugged her shoulders. "How can I say no to that?" She started to inch forward, but towards him and he quickly reached to his side, grabbing the hose and squirting it at her.

She jumped back at the icy contact and screamed the most high-pitched noise he'd ever heard from her lips, causing him to laugh. She pulled at her shirt, now clinging to her with the heavy dampness. "You are so next," she said running towards the hose to grab it from him as he squirted it on and off in little spurts, dampening her hair and legs. When she finally grabbed the hose from him and squirted him right in the chest, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, playfully spanking her butt and bringing her back over to the sunny spot in which they started.

She kicked her legs, "TOBIAS CAVANAUGH LET ME GO," She laughed, still holding the hose but now wetting them both if she turned it on.

The gate creaked open, both of them giggling too hard and yelping in icy wetness to notice.

"Are you two playing nice?" Aria said coming through the gate upon seeing Spencer's ass in the air and her face hanging down Toby's back, her hair dripping across the grass, Toby's hat now on the ground a few feet away as it'd fallen off Spencer's head when she was turned upside down.

"No," Spencer yelped, squirting Aria once. Toby howled and put Spencer down, high-fiving her as Aria screamed and shook the water off her romper.

"Are we graduating high school or preschool?" Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on, it's fun. You'll dry in three seconds, it's sunny out." Toby shrugged and Spencer pulled her wet hair off her face. "He started it," she said, playfully shoving Toby aside.

"No surprises there," Aria said fixing the strap of her crossbody bag. "How are you feeling?" She looked at Spencer and her eyes flickered down towards Spencer's legs, more curious than she'd like to admit about finding her scars.

Toby made a face at Aria, trying to ask her not to let Spencer know that Aria knew about parts of the night before. Toby just needed to unload some of the weight, he never meant to defy Spencer's trust. It wasn't like he revealed any of the secrets she'd spilled about her family or her feelings. But the night prior was a long one, and he needed a release.

Spencer looked down, suspicious of what she might know, but honestly not blaming Toby for it. She was his best friend.

"I mean—are you excited about prom?!" Aria spat out nervously, trying to recover.

Toby's eyes widened and he made a noise from the bottom of his throat, signaling with his hands and shaking his head no to let Aria know that that, too,was not good conversational territory.

This time Spencer caught the silence communication between the two friends more overtly. She leaned into Toby hooked her hand into his back pocket playfully. "I'm actually not planning on going. You better take good care of Toby for me," she said kissing Toby's cheek.

Aria looked at Toby and then at Spencer, and then back at Toby with a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean you aren't—Spencer, come on, it'll be so much fun. We're renting a limo and we're thinking of taking a train up to New York afterwards."

"And I'm sure you'll have a really great time, and I'll want to hear about every second of it," Spencer said firmly, removing her hand from Toby's pocket and walking over to where she'd dropped his snapback and placed it back on her head, smoothing out her hair underneath.

As she walked away, Aria looked at Toby and he gave her an exasperated look. He didn't have an answer for her about why Spencer didn't want to come. He wished he knew.

"Well that's a shame because I actually came over here to see if you wanted to come dress shopping with Hanna and I. I'm picking her up in a little bit."

"You should still go," Toby said, encouraging her towards Aria with a light tug of her shirt when she'd magnetized herself back to his side. She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, their afternoon being all screams and giggles but on the inside she was still shaken up from the encounter with Wren. "Girls love shopping and stuff, right?"

"And you have great taste," Aria offered. "We could use your input!"

"Uhm," she chewed on her lip and looked back at Toby for approval and he nodded. "But I'm all wet."

"We can stop at your house—"

"Actually, it's fine, I'll dry," She didn't want to go home.

"Why don't you go upstairs and take one of my t-shirts," Toby said, walking over to his porch and pulling out the spare key from behind a potted plant and unlocking the door for her. She mumbled a thank you and disappeared inside.

"What's going on?" Aria said walking towards Toby.

"She said no," he shrugged. "She was in a weird mood when I asked, though. I thought it would cheer her up but I think it caught her in a funny place. I'm going to ask again. If not, then I won't go. It's not worth fighting over."

"But—" she sighed, he was right. And for once, the more mature one. "Is she actually okay, or is she just pretending?"

"I think a little bit of both," he sighed. "It's like, she hurts and I feel like I've got a stab wound in a place I can't see. I just can't wait until we all get to leave this town," he kicked at the grass.

"You're so in love with her it's borderline Nicholas Sparks territory. You know that, right?" She teased.

He blushed and shrugged, continuing to kick at the patch of grass.

"Hey," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

They both looked up at the sound of the back door closing and Spencer stepping outside, delicately fixing the Phillies t-shirt she had on, tucked into her jeans it looked like it fit her near perfect.

Aria's gaze returned to Toby and the sparkle in his eye when his met Spencer's. "She loves you like 100x more than you think she does. Just as much as you love her, maybe more," she remarked quietly as Spencer re-joined them. She could tell just by the way they looked at each other, and the way Spencer looked more radiant in his ratty old t-shirt than she did before in her own, styled clothing. She looked proud to be wearing it, and genuine. She looked at him like he put eacha nd every one of the stars in the sky and he returned the gaze as if she were the only star in the sky. It made Aria's stomach flip thinking love like that could even exist like that outside of fiction and cheesy parents, no less to her own friends who were her own age. The hopeless romantic she was wasn't even jealous, just so hungry to know what it felt like.

"Everyhting cool?" Spencer said pulling out her now at least half-dried messy bun and shaking it out and putting her hair band around her wrist.

"Yup! If you two can manage to be apart for a few hours, anyway…" She joked and Spencer blushed. "I'll bring her back, I promise," Aria said as they headed towards the gate and Toby walked them there, pressing a kiss against Spencer's lips gently before letting her go. Spencer blushed as she got into the car with Aria.

"Sorry about all the icky PDA. I hate couples like that but we're kind of becoming that couple I think."

"You barely touch in school and you're all over each other everywhere else," she laughed. "I guess it kind of evens out." Aria shrugged. "Whatever, it's nice. You two are seriously the cutest. Like can I please start planning the wedding?" she teased.

"We're no different than any other couple…no more special," Spencer shrugged. "It's actually weird to keep calling us that…a couple," she said as they parked in front of Hanna's and Aria honked the horn. "It doesn't feel real like that,"

"First of all, have you seen half our school? You guys are so different."

"What are we talking about?" Hanna got in the back seat and secured her seat belt.

"Spencer and Toby's relationship," Aria explained, causing Spencer's cheeks to turn hot.

"I was just saying that I don't know why Aria thinks that him and I are any cuter than anyone else,"

"Probably because you guys are like going to get married three seconds after graduation," Hanna laughed. "I'm calling it, you guys will be the first. Maybe second, depending on Caleb I guess." She laughed.

Spencer groaned and shook her head, laughing.

"What did I say?" Hanna scooted forward.

"She's mad because I said the same thing and she didn't believe I was right," Aria laughed. "See, it's not just me."

"Well, whatever." Spencer sighed. "Aria's probably sick of hearing about this relationship garbage anyway."

"Yeah, you're right, girls day girl talk." They agreed.

The rest of the trip they sang loudly along to the Taylor Swift discography on Aria's iPhone and Hanna documented it all in the form of Snapchat videos.

When they got to the store, Aria quietly explained to Hanna to behave and that Spencer didn't want to go to prom. Hanna made a face, but Aria reminded her not to push Spencer.

Hanna had seven dresses in hand to try on before Aria had even fully looked at one. "That one's really beautiful," Spencer said, nodding towards a black mermaid cut dress with a bedazzled waistline and a sheer lace back. "It comes in purple or red, too," she said, sorting through the hangers. Hanna had disappeared into a dressing room and came out in a short, green dress. "Green is not my color," she made a face, turning to the side to inspect herself in the mirror.

"But you've definitely got the legs for a short dress," Aria smiled.

"Maybe blue?" Spencer suggested.

"I have one in here, I'll try that next," Hanna smiled and returned inside. Spencer kept pulling dresses for Aria that were far more flashy than anything she herself would wear, but knew Aria would like.

Hanna had found something she didn't like about all seven dresses she'd brought into the fitting room, and was on the hunt for more. Soon, Spencer was pulling dresses for her, too. They were having a lot of fun pulling dresses that looked like they were fit for a princess, and others that they'd never wear but were funny to imagine. Hanna and Aria were trying on ridiculous dresses at this point, having more fun trying on and taking photos than they were spending time actually looking for a serious dress.

"Spencer why don't you just try some on? Even if you're not coming, it's fun!" Hanna suggested, pulling a long sleeved gold dress with metal detailing along the wrists from the rack. "This won't fit either one of us and it's begging to be tried on," she smiled, practically pushing Spencer into a fitting room. Her lips were upturning into a smile before she could seriously say no and snatched the hanger from Hanna, pulling the curtain closed and putting it on.

"Well?" Hanna called from the outside, still sitting in a poofy, orange mess of tulle and Aria in a dress that replicated Molly Ringwald's Pretty in Pink frock.

"I can't, it doesn't fit right," She said tugging at it as she scrutinized herself in the tiny mirror in the fitting room. It was too short and bared her scarred thigh, and the neckline plunged nearly halfway down her torso.

"Who cares? Show us anyway," Hanna said pulling the curtain open. A surprised Spencer turned and started to try to pull the skirt down, risking pulling down hard enough that a boob would pop out. Neither scenario was good. This is it, you're going to have to explain, quick, how else would you get— her thoughts were interrupted by Hanna pulling her from the dressing room and towards the larger mirror outside, pulling the fabric back up and readjusting the sleeves.

Aria and Hanna both saw the scars, but Hanna made a point to look right in Spencer's face as if she'd seen nothing, noticing the embarrassed look on her face. "Spencer you're literally on fire right now. That totally fits. I wish my boobs would fit into a dress like that because it's sexy as hell."

"And your legs are like seriously the perfect length for a short dress like that. We have to send a pic to Toby," she laughed.

Spencer was relieved when the girls so obviously saw but acted like nothing was different. They were true friends that way. "I don't know," she blushed, but smirked at the idea. She felt a thousand times more confident when Toby looked at her in a way that made her know he was aroused and excited about her body. Which was nearly any time he had his hands on her, and doubly so when she'd come to him in just a leotard after dance or in anything revealing like this, which he'd never really seen before.

"Fine, but JUST Toby. Use my phone," She said motioning towards her own. Hanna did so and smiled. "You're going to get whatever you want if you wear that dress anywhere, you know that?"

"Whatever," she said, looking around the racks. "You're right, this was fun, but we came here for you guys," she said closing the curtain and starting to change back into her clothes.

"Wait!" Hanna said, pulling a dress from the rack and throwing it over the curtain. "I saw you pick this one up and put it down like ten times since we got here. It's a sign you have to try it on,"

Spencer took a deep breath. She actually loved the dress Hanna had thrown over and was surprised she'd noticed. But she didn't want to tease herself into thinking she was going to go through with an evening that would theoretically hold some many promises but really end up in tears somehow. She knew she would be happier not going.

"Spence?" Aria came by the curtain after changing into a one-shouldered hi-lo dress with beading all along the strap and underneath the chest, and a purple, green and black peacock feather print along the rest of the dress. It was funky but understated as opposed to the frilly, actually-feathered, poofy dresses otherwise. Very Aria.

Spencer came out in the dress and went straight to the mirror, turning to the side to inspect herself. It was a long, olive green dress with a lower v-neck and gold sequined thick straps that criss-crossed in the back, leaving a few cut outs on the back in the spaces of the "X" and underneath the straps before the zipper. The dress had a sheer overlay and the underneath layer ended mid-thigh, leaving the rest see-through. Edgy enough to be sexy and fun and Spencer's style and still understated and classy enough for a Hastings.

"Now you can pull off green," Hanna raised an eyebrow, almost jealously. Spencer's olive skin-tone took the color so much better than her own pale complexion.

"There's a similar dress in navy," she nodded over to the racks in the corner. "You could probably look really great in that."

Aria snapped a photo and sent it to Toby on Snapchat, captioning "Dresses change minds?" with the heart eyes emoji.

"No, Spencer, that is your dress," Hanna stepped back and inspected her. "Gold wedges would really complete this." She stepped back more to get a full look. Spencer turned and flattened the fabric over her midsection and readjusted her boobs in the cups of the dress.

"Seriously," Aria finally piped up.

"Well too bad I don't need a dress," she shrugged and looked Aria once over. "Okay if I didn't know better I'd say that dress was designed specifically for you,"

"If you don't buy that dress I'm buying it for you," Hanna chimed in. "Spencer, you too. Every girl deserves a beautiful dress."

Spencer blushed. "I'm going to change. Hanna, try on the short blue one with the silver beads you took in there? I wanna see it."

Hanna and Aria exchanged looks after Spencer went in. They were determined to get her to prom after seeing her in that dress.

Aria felt bad for her. She was so broken. She didn't tell Hanna the secrets Toby shared. But they'd both seen the scars.

"She's stronger that I thought," Hanna said quietly. "No wonder Toby loves her so much. Like if I didn't like them both so much I'd probably vomit."

Aria shook her head. Hanna was crazy. She playfully bumped into her and pushed her into the dressing room to try on the blue dress.

xx

Spencer gingerly walked around the back of the house and knocked on the door.

"Wow — what happened to you?" Toby laughed, letting her in.

"I let Hanna practice prom hair and makeup on me," she laughed. Her hair was pinned and doused in hairspray, her makeup was 10x heavier than it normally was with false eyelashes, smoky eyeshadow, glitter highlighter, and a perfectly purple pout.

"If I kiss you is that stuff going to get all over me?" He smirked.

"Probably," she said reaching around him for a paper towel from the counter.

He stopped her and cradled her face, "Well that's a risk I'm going to have to take." He kissed her, their lips stuck together with the gloss.

"That shade looks good on you," she joked, and kissed him again.

"I prefer you in red," his dad walked in and opened the fridge, taking out some things for dinner.

"Hi, Mr. Cavanaugh," Spencer stepped back. "I was just going to have Toby drive me home, I know you're about to eat."

"Stay," he offered. "We could use a lovely lady like yourself at the table, God knows we get tired of looking at each others' twisted mugs."

Spencer laughed. "Well, uhm, okay… thanks."

"Grab a knife and start cutting some onions for the salad, would you?" He said pushing a cutting board and onion towards her. "Toby, go fire up the grill. You eat burgers, hon?" He looked at Spencer.

She nodded. "I'm not too picky." She said starting to chop.

Spencer spent time in the kitchen with Toby's father while Toby grilled outside for them,

"You've been spending a lot of time with Toby, right?" His father didn't make eye contact as he kept cooking, now at the stove warming vegetables.

"Don't worry, I'm not distracting him from school." She stammered.

"I know — you've been helping him. He's never done so well. I thought I should say thank you."

"It's all my pleasure…" she trailed off.

"He treating you right?" He looked up.

"Your son is the best person I've ever met," she turned pink as she admitted it. "He's a real gentleman."

"Hasn't always been," He said truthfully. "You bring it out in him, I can tell by the way he talks about you."

Spencer didn't know what to say. She'd moved on to chopping tomatoes and cucumbers.

"You don't be shy," His father piped up again after the silence. "I want you to feel comfortable coming here. I don't mind as long as there's no trouble."

She nodded. "Thank you, sir." She smiled a little and tossed the salad.

Toby walked in at that point. "Sir?" He laughed. "Dad, are you scaring her?"

"No, he's not. He's being very sweet," Spencer swooned playfully. "I can see where you get your charm from," she said flirtatiously and quietly when Mr. Cavanaugh's back was turned, talking so close to Toby's mouth he was afaird their teeth might clash. She knew how to tease him.

"You picked a good one, don't fuck it up now," Mr. Cavanaugh laughed as he put three plates on the table and a package of hamburger buns and ketchup, mustard and a jar of pickles.

This time Toby's cheeks flushed. They rarely did that and Spencer laughed, kissing Toby on the cheek as they sat down.

It feels good to be home, Spencer thought. Sometimes home isn't a set of walls but a set of arms, lips, and a beating heart. Sometimes home is just the feeling when you finally un-tense after a long day. Spencer felt as if the last 17 years had been one long day, and this meal was finally her homecoming.

She could get used to this.