CHAPTER 25: Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend

TOBY'S POV:

"Spencer?" I asked. Her long dark hair was blowing in the frosty wind, and her back was to me, but I knew it was her. Seeing her hade my heart hurt, but I was also overrun by curiosity. Why did she come to my house?

"Spencer? What are you doing here?" I asked, waiting for a response. I hadn't seen, or heard from or of the girl in ages, and I longed for her to be mine again. However, I assumed that those reasons weren't why she was here.

She turned around, and her bright eyes burnt into my soul.

"I just wanted to say thank you. If not for you, then Emily wouldn't have…found me when she did and things could be a lot worse. Thank you for helping out my friends, even though you were most likely still mad at me. That's all." She smiled coldly and turned to head back to her car.

I ran forward and grabbed her hand. Her body tensed up, and I immediately let go, unsure of her reaction.

"Spencer, wait. Let's talk. Please? I haven't seen you since…that night. And I haven't heard from you! The last thing I knew about you was that you were out wandering somewhere, and your friends were paranoid. Please, let's just sit and talk." I begged. The brunette seemed to think it over.

She sighed. "I guess that would be alright. I don't have much else to do anyways." She smiled sadly, and followed me into my house.

I told her to sit on the couch while I made coffee. I may not be her boyfriend, but I still know that Spencer loves her coffee.

Once it was done, I handed her a cup and sat across from her, holding my own.

"Spencer, I don't want to pressure you into telling me anything you don't want to. I know how you feel about me. I just want to know…what were you doing when your friends came to see me?" I watched as her head fell, and she looked at the ground.

"You don't have to tell me anything-" I started, but she interrupted me.

"I broke." She replied hastily.

"You…broke?" I questioned. I was unsure of what she meant, but the girl I knew would never just break.

"Yes. I had too much to deal with, as well as a huge wave of emotions and it was more than I could handle. I broke. Shut down. Whatever you want to call it." She snapped, agitated.

I sighed, not wanting to upset her anymore than she already was.

"Okay." I replied. She looked up at me, confusion in her eyes. She stared for a while, unsure of what to think.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, a flirtatious smile creeping onto my face. "Like what you see?" I muttered quietly, unsure of how she would react.

I immediately regretted my decision. Her eyes flashed with anger, and darkness crept back into her face. She frowned.

"Toby, I didn't come here to get back with you. I've moved on. I'm sorry." She replied, emotionless.

"I know, I'm sorry. I guess I haven't moved on yet." I sighed. "Spencer, you know that-"

"You joined to A team to protect me? To keep an eye on things, and try to solve the problems from the inside out? To keep my friends and I from getting hurt? Yeah, I know." She interrupted.

I couldn't help but gape at her. "Yes….that's why I did that. But, if you knew, then why were you so mad at me?"

Spencer sighed. "I was mad because I didn't know at first. I jumped to conclusions, and for that I'm sorry. However, you still could have told me, and I would have understood." She smiled.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about that, I was just paranoid that you were going to get hurt, and wanted to do anything I could to keep that from happening." I glanced up at her, attempting to read her expression.

"I know." She smiled sweetly.

A moment of silence passed, and I dared ask her what was on my mind.

"Do you think we could ever try things again?" I asked, hesitant.

Spencer frowned, and she immediately looked guilty.

"No…I don't think that's going to work." She muttered.

"Oh." I sat for a minute, fuming in my jealousy. She liked someone else.

"Who is it?" I rolled my eyes. She sensed my irritation, but didn't do anything. I sat, waiting for her answer. If it's Wren or some other creep I swear…

"It's Emily." She admitted quietly. My thoughts left my head immediately, and the fires of jealousy died out.

"Okay." I smiled at her.

"What are you smiling about?" A look of confusion spread across her face.

"I'm smiling because I'm glad it's Emily. If it was Wren, or some other guy I would probably question your judgment, as well as question myself. However, I understand. And I feel better about us not being together. I don't know, it's strange. But I'm more content. Besides, Emily is a fantastic person, and I couldn't ask for a better girl for you to be with." I continued smiling.

"Oh. Okay. But we aren't actually together yet." She admitted. "Things have been kind of rough between us lately." She sighed.

"Oh…" I trailed off. "Well, I'm sure things will work out for the best." I wasn't really sure what else to say, I was just glad that she was talking to me, and not screaming like last time.

"Yeah. I hope so." She smiled sadly and started to get up. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Thanks for talking with me. You always can. I know things aren't great between us, but I'd still like to be a part of your life." I reassured her.

She waited a minute before responding. "I'd like that." She grinned and walked out the door.

"Thanks again…Toby."

I watched as she closed the door, my heart at peace with the relationship between us.