I just want to thank you all again for the continuous feedback and reviews you have given me! It feels good to know people like the words I come up with. Sparia might have a small fanbase, but I think those two have something special, and bringing Alex into the mix is a lot of fun! This chapter might be a little hard on the heart, but I hope you like it! Review please, and let me know what you think! Feedback helps me update faster! Also, is there anything you would like to see happen in the story? Or do you wish for a character to make an appearance? I will try to include your wishes! Until next time! Now enjoy..
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For a second, nobody moved or said anything, but then Spencer broke the silence.
"Please. Keep it to yourself, Han, okay? No word to Aria."
The shock on Hanna's face had slowly vanished and she approached her and Ali who sat on the couch, plopping down beside them.
"Are you serious?", she asked, while rising a perfect eyebrow. "Maybe it's just confused admiration that you have? You two have always been close."
Alison rolled her eyes at Hanna's comment and Spencer let out a tired sigh. "Everything is so messed up. I don't want to think anymore. She is in my head all the time."
"That does sound like you have it bad! Do you have.. you know..like.." and she lowered her voice a little "fantasies?"
"Hanna!" Alison's hand rose to slap the back of Hanna's head. "Shut up."
The other blonde muttered something along the lines "that hurt!" but Spencer was too busy trying to hide the deep blush that rose to her cheek, her mind going to DC and the taste of Aria's lips.
"Spencer?", came Alison's voice.
"Told you!", Hanna's voice exclaimed again. "She is fantasizing over Aria! Wait until Emily finds out about this! Aria and Spencer being the newest couple in Rosewood! Am I the only one that is actually with a guy now? How is it that I am suddenly the odd one?", Hanna rambled without stopping to breath in and Spencer would normally laugh at her friend's ramblings but she couldn't find humor in that moment.
"Hanna I just told you to keep quiet! You weren't even supposed to be here! And we are not going to be the next couple of Rosewood, okay? Aria is not even interested in girls!"
"It's not like she has never kissed a girl before Spencer! Plus, you two would be adorable together! Team Sparia taking their relationship to the next level!"
"Can you please make her stop?", Spencer pleaded for Ali to help her. This wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't even a hundred percent sure about her feelings herself and now not only Ali knew about her messed up heart but Hanna as well. She wished the floor beneath would crack open and swallow her. Alison was about to try and get Hanna to stop talking, but Hanna was faster.
"I am sorry, Spence. I am just happy for you. This is good!"
Spencer shook her head. "I have to make this stop. Aria is never going to see me that way. This will only be harder if this continues. God, I don't even know how this happened!" She buried her head into her hands, tears making their way silently down her cheeks.
"It's love, sweetie." Alison's hands ghosted over Spencer's shaking frame, while Hanna looked over with a concerned look. "You can never control who fell in love with."
…
The room was quiet, the dim lights barely illuminating Spencer's barn. Spencer was still at work, so that left Aria sitting by herself on the couch, with thoughts running through her head. She played nervously with the small folded sheet of paper in her hand. Alex had given her a number to call. She was allowed to have an old prepaid phone now that could do no more than call a few phone numbers that were saved in her contacts. She unfolded the paper for the tenth time, starring at the small digits glaring back at her. She wasn't sure if she should call, Spencer could be back any minute and she didn't want to risk her coming in in the middle of the conversation. It had been a week since she last saw Alex in Philly and even though she wouldn't admit it, she kind of missed her presence. Getting lost in her thoughts, Aria didn't hear the turning of the key, nor the sound of her voice being called. But she did hear the sudden approaching footsteps towards her and she quickly folded the paper back together, shoving it into the side pocket of her blue hoody.
"What are you doing?" She looked over to Spencer who had sat down on the couch beside her.
"Just thinking."
"Can I help?" Spencer's voice always held a caring and warming tone that made it almost impossible for Aria to lie to her. Technically, she wasn't lying about her visits to Alex, but she continued to feel guilty about hiding the truth. Aria felt like she was going behind Spencer's back and as the weeks went by, Aria didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. It had been a little over three weeks now since Aria's first visit. And since then she had been there at least four times. It was becoming harder to come up with excuses to go see her, even though Aria knew nobody was suspecting anything. She sometimes felt like she was back in time, being a teenager with too many secrets and the fear of getting caught always on her mind. Or maybe, Aria thought, it had never changed at all.
"I am good." Another lie, another hidden truth kept under the surface.
"I know something is up, Aria. You can't fool your best friends." Aria looked up then, feeling almost anxious; thinking that she might not have behaved as normal and as natural as she had thought.
"I am fine, Spence. I am. I am going to get a shower and then we can grab something to eat, okay?"
"You're not off the hook, you know. I just want to make sure you know we are here for you. Is it Ezra?" And Aria couldn't decide what the swirling in Spencer's eyes was as she said his name.
"It's not Ezra. I haven't even talked to him. He hasn't called yet."
"Are you sure it's not that? You can tell me. I won't judge. Are you sad about it?" Aria sighed. She didn't think of Ezra that often anymore, but if admitting to Spencer that she was still a little heartbroken over Ezra's and her break up, she could get Spencer to back down a little and not have her hover over like some overprotective mother.
"A little maybe. It's just been a hard time.", she whispered, adding a sigh to sound more convincing. She hated how good she had become at hiding the truth from the people she loved most.
"I am sorry, Ar. I won't push you any longer. Go take that shower, I am going to order something for us and choose a movie. It will be good for you take your mind off of things."
"Okay. Thank you, Spence.", she smiled gratefully and got up off the couch, making her way towards the bathroom, not paying attention to the folded note that had fallen out of her pocket.
…
Spencer was about to call out to Aria as she saw the small paper flutter to the ground, but she already heard the bathroom door shut close. She reached out to the floor to grab the item that had fallen out of Aria's hoodie, thinking it might be some useless recipe or something. When picking it up however, she noticed that it had unfolded itself during the fall and a number of digits was starring back at Spencer, along with a few words written underneath them: Please call me some time. Your voice makes it easier to get through the day. I miss you already.
Spencer's eyes squinted in confusion, while her brain was trying to make sense out of the note before her. She couldn't look away. Somewhere in the background she heard the shower being turned off, and not knowing what else to do before Aria came back and saw her, Spencer pulled out her phone, snapped a picture of the paper and folded it back together. With a swift movement she threw it back to the floor, just in time as Aria emerged from the bathroom, in nothing else than a towel. It was nothing new to the taller girl's eyes, but ever since she had admitted her feelings for Aria to herself, it was harder to not let her eyes linger on Aria's wet body.
She remembered then that she was supposed to order food for them, so she pulled out her phone again when Aria went into the bedroom. It was strange how her bedroom had somehow become theirs as Aria was still staying at Spencer's tiny place in the barn. She barely concentrated on the voice speaking through the receiver, as she ordered some Chinese food and stressed out that the spring roles had to be made vegetarian. The note was still nagging on her brain, not leaving her a second to think about anything else. Who could have written that? Was it Ezra? Had Aria been lying to her this whole time? Or had Aria met someone? Is that why she had been acting so weird all the time? Why wouldn't she tell Spencer? Why all these secrets?
"So, what are we having for dinner?", Aria's voice interrupted Spencer's train of thoughts and she sighed, focussing on Aria again, trying to force a smile. Her voice glanced to the note, but she furrowed her eyebrows in confusing when she didn't see it. Her head went back to Aria, still putting on a fake smile. Aria was smiling back. "We are having Chinese.", Spencer said, never once letting the curves of her lips fall. She spotted the very edge of the yellowish note inside Aria's pocket of her pajama shorts. That tiny human being sure was quick and good at hiding things, she thought. The door bell rang and Spencer knew a long night of pretending happiness and fake smiles was lying ahead of them – probably for both women in Spencer's living room.
…
"You should call it! That's the easiest way to find out!", Hanna excitedly bounced on Alison and Emily's queen sized bed, finding the whole situation overly amusing.
"I don't know. Isn't that like invading her privacy?" Spencer was currently in the Dilaurentis-Fields house. She couldn't hold on to her secret, and she needed advice so she had decided to go to Alison for some wisdom. However, Alison had guiltily confessed that Emily had found out about Spencer's feelings for Aria. Alison had explained that Emily had been mad at Ali for staying out so long at the Lost Woods without answering her phone and when she had not reached Spencer, nor Hanna, nor Aria, she had grown worried. When Ali explained they were all at the Lost Woods discussing something important, except for Aria, Emily had felt neglected and sort of left out and not being able to stand seeing her wife hurt Alison had told Emily what had happened. Spencer wasn't really mad at all. It would have been only a matter of time until the swimmer would find out and she hadn't liked leaving Emily out either. After all, Hanna knew, and she had surprisingly been supportive about it – so she had no doubt Emily would be nothing than understanding as well.
"She could be in danger. It's not invading if you want her save, don't you?"
"Hanna, I don't think this note sounds like Aria is in danger, more like the opposite actually.", Emily said, looking at Spencer apologetically.
"What if it is Ezra though? I don't really trust the guy anymore.", Ali chimed in and Emily nodded in agreement.
"I say we call and find out!", Hanna wouldn't bug, Spencer knew. They would never admit it, but somehow after all the tension about A and the loss of adrenaline their lives began to spin in routines and normality and neither one was used to this life. "I brought one of Caleb's burner phones. The person on the other line will never know who called! They won't even be able to track it back, because we will just throw it away!" The bouncing continued. Hanna was not going to give up.
"Isn't that a bit much? Maybe she just wants to wait to tell us."
"You are boring Emily, you can leave!", Hanna exclaimed, giving her friend a look of disapproval before looking back at Spencer with pleading eyes.
"I live here!", she shot back, shaking her head at Hanna's words. The room filled with silence then, nobody really sure what to say next.
"I think I want to find out." All eyes turned to Spencer then, who was still looking at the numbers in front of her. It was almost as if they were laughing at her, daring her to dial them.
"Fantastic!" In one smooth motion, Hanna had pulled out the burner phone out of her purse, handing it to Spencer with an excited smile.
Spencer's fingers moved over the phone, dialing one single number after another, the doubt slowly shrinking as she continued to fill the screen with digits. Then finally, she pushed the green call button. Hanna tried to reach out, possibly wanting to turn on the speaker but Spencer waved her hand away, shaking her head. If she was the one uncovering Aria's secret admirer, she wanted to hear the voice first. She still didn't know if she wanted to find out.
Seconds passed and the phone rang. Once. Twice. A third time. The girls next to her grew impatient as well, moving from side to side, but not daring to say a word. By the ninth time she let the phone ring, with no answer, she was about to hang up, when suddenly she heard it click on the other line.
"Hello?", the voice asked and Spencer's eyes grew wide. Her friends starred at Spencer's shocked face, wanting in into the mystery. Spencer didn't say a word. She couldn't breathe. Did she call the correct number? She continued to press the phone to her ear. Anxious to find out the truth. "Aria? Is that you?", the voice sounded through the speaker, almost pleadingly. Spencer tried to not yell through the phone, tried to stay still. That was Spencer's answer. It was the right number. It was her. Her phone slit out of her grasp slowly, falling to the bed with a light thump. "Hello? Are you here?", the voice continued to speak through the phone but Spencer couldn't move. Her heart felt like it stood still, a pain ripping through it, emotions running through her like a race car. Disbelief. Anger. Betrayal. Pain. Heartache. Emily clicked the off button, nobody said a word. They had all heard. They all knew. Even though they had never heard the voice before, the other girls knew too. Spencer covered her ears, shielding out the voice. But it was ingrained in her mind. Her British accent sending chills through her spine, her firm voice haunting her. She couldn't understand. Her normally overdriven brain couldn't make sense of the situation. She felt lost, confused, hurt.
"Shit! Was that freaking Alex Drake on the phone?!"
...
dum, dum, duuum! Spencer knows. Aria is in trouble! Will Sparia survive?!