Sorry to do this to you, but actually I'm not :).

It's Sunday. I'm a teacher. This means I will PROBABLY not update again until Friday, to be perfectly honest, unless life is easy this week. We shall see. But you know me. Reviews will definitely make the updates come faster.

Chapter 2

TPOV

He could have every word in the English language at his disposal and he still wouldn't have sufficient words to describe the anguish that burned in his stomach when he saw that Spencer wasn't where he left her. All he could see was her heartbroken face when she stumbled into his arms outside of that dungeon.

When she was missing, that terrible month without her, he had to force himself to keep going. He had to force himself to keep moving or else he would fall deep into every kind of thought he had to avoid. He would think of her cold, still body somewhere in the woods. He would think of A hurting her or making her do things that she would never get over. He would imagine her calling out to him, begging him to help her. But he couldn't. He never could. So he had to keep moving. Because there was no way that he would ever give up on her. There wasn't much that he believed in, but he did believe in Spencer. He knew he would find her, and he did.

But this? He had a feeling he was going to need all the strength he could muster to get them out of this. He uttered a quiet curse and dialed her number again. Embarrassing tears of frustration welled up in his eyes. She always did this. He loved her more than he could say. He loved her more with every breath that he took. But sometimes she made him so angry that he couldn't see straight. What was she thinking? Why couldn't she just wait?

He turned and saw Tanner and Lorenzo approaching as he took a steadying breath. "Spencer, I swear to God I will tear this town apart if I don't hear back from you in a few minutes."

To an outside observer that may sound like a figure of speech, but he had no qualms about going to extremes to protect her. She was all that he had, and there was no way in hell that he would leave her to defend herself. He had to find her, because no one would be hurting her while he was there.

"Toby?"

He grunted, prying his sleep weary eyes open. "You okay?"

She shook her head, her dark curls hitting her cheeks. "I um- I-"

He sat up, tugging her body into his chest, wrapping both arms around her shoulders. She still refused to talk about went down in that horrible place, but from her frantic eyes and tired movements he could only imagine the horrors that she faced. Spencer had gone through disaster after disaster in her short life and she met it head on. But he had never seen her react like this. It was like she was defeated.

"Remember what I told you," he murmured into her sweet smelling hair. "You're never alone, Spence. I don't know what happened to you in there, and I may never know. But that's okay. What I can tell you is that you're safe with me. You can sleep. You can rest, because I won't let anything hurt you."

She nuzzled her cheek into his bare chest. "How can you be so sure?"

"That you're safe with me?" He asked softly, fighting to keep the incredulous tone from his voice. "Spencer, I don't think that you have fully comprehended the lengths that I could go to to protect you."

She laughed softly. "Says the one that joined up with the devil."

He frowned, brushing his lips over her temple. "Tip of the ice burg," he whispered. There wasn't a single thing in the world that he wouldn't do for her, and sometimes that scared him. But most of the time it was a comfort, because he knew that as long as she was with him he could keep her safe.

"Cavanaugh, where would they have gone?"

Toby shook his head angrily. "They have this insane, impenetrable sense of loyalty toward each other. I never should have left them alone. They went after Alison."

Tanner rolled her eyes. "I need more than that. Where's Alison?"

He threw up his hands. "If I knew that do you think that I'd be here talking to you?"

"Cavanaugh-"

He shook his head, jamming the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I can't- I can't do this right now. I have to find her." He could hear Tanner calling his name as he spun around, tearing through the throngs of high schoolers. His chest ached for what they should have. That one dance they shared earlier... that was how it should be. He should have been able to rent a tux and a limo. He should have stressed over matching his tie to her dress. Her biggest worry should have been how she was going to manage dancing all night in the ridiculous heels that girls insisted on wearing.

But instead they continuously dealt with blood and death and mystery. His girlfriend, the person that he loved more than anyone or anything in the world, had her childhood stolen from her. He couldn't get it back, but he would be damned if he let her pain continue for another minute. This was going to end tonight.

He climbed into his truck, his heart heavy with thoughts of Spencer. His mind was telling him to keep pushing forward, that he'd find her. But his heart was running through the condition that he might find her in. They have had too many circumstances of near escape. What if this was the time they moved too slow? What if their brushes with death because an actual, irreversible tragedy.

He started as the passenger door was yanked open. "I managed to ditch Fitz, but if you think you're doing this without me you've lost your fucking marbles, man."

Caleb was probably the only other person on the planet who knew what he was feeling right now, so he was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of endless gratitude. Doing this alone would be impossible. If he ran off alone he would be as bad as his idiot girlfriend. "Do you know where they are?"

"I put a tracker in Hanna's phone when they got back. I told her I dismantled it, but I lied." He pressed a few buttons on his phone, his forehead crinkling in confusion. "The signal is weak, but I'm pretty sure- I think they're at Radley."

That was all that he needed to hear to ram his foot into the gas peddle. The engine roared as he tore out onto the rough pavement. Of course they were at Radley. Didn't this all lead back there?

It only took him a moment to get there, but it was a moment too long. She was alone. She was vulnerable. It didn't matter that her friends were there. They were slowly becoming his friends too, and because of that he knew how much they all looked to Spencer to be their leader. He knew that Spencer knew that. She felt responsibility toward them, and because of that she would put herself in harms way if it meant that they stayed safe. That wasn't speculation. It was horrible, terrifying fact. He had to find her.

"We need-"

But Caleb's words were lost to the night as an ear shattering explosion filled the silence. His ears rang and he was suddenly blinded by bright oranges and reds. He braced himself against the truck as dust and rubble bounced off of his shoulders. Bricks rained around them as what was left of Radley Sanitarium settled to the ground around them.

He was numb. He didn't feel anything as he stared up at the building. It couldn't be true. She wasn't in there. Caleb's tracker was wrong. Something was wrong, because his mind would not accept that fact that the love of his life had been inside of the building that just exploded.