a/n: this chapter is short, and not much spoby, but I promise that the next chapter will be a lot better! There is only two more chapters of this left :( And possibly an epilogue. So, yeah, that's sad.

And also, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or spoiled or just annoying, but i didn't get that many reviews last chapter! :( I don't know why. So. Yeah. Just leave some after reading this? Whether it's constructive criticism or what, just something? Please? Ok. But thanks anyway for reading and sticking with it. And thanks to those who reviewed/favorited/followed.

As I said before, this chapter is pretty spoby-less. I apologize. Anyways, you'll find out how they met either next, or in the last chapter. :)

Chapter 22

Have Faith In Me

Spencer would try texting him, but it kind of seems useless to her. What is she supposed to even say? She supposes sorry would be a good start, but her stubbornness stops her every time she picks up her phone. She feels bad, and she knows it is mostly her fault, but Toby's whole optimistic point of view of relationships is just wrong. Considering what his last girlfriend put him through, shouldn't he know that? They fail, and perish, and unravel, and it doesn't have to be something huge, or wide, either. It can be the smallest leak that sinks the ship.

"Something wrong?" Wren asks her.

Her mother put her in the living room with Wren, while Melissa and her mother finish off the meal. Apparently she isn't trusted around the food, and is better for entertaining Melissa's intrusive husband. "I'm fine," she states.

He offers a smile, setting a hand on her knee, patting it. Wren has this issue about personal space. "You're strong, all you Hastings are strong," his hand returns back to him.

Spencer just nods because she doesn't really know how to respond. There's a difference between hiding your emotions, and being strong. Everyone thinks it is the same thing, but it's not. Bottling everything up, and ending up bawling in your car after you hit the limit, isn't strong. It's unhealthy. That's the Hastings for you, though.

"Sometimes I wish Melissa wasn't so elusive," he suddenly sighs. "I just—I wish I knew what she was thinking. She can be very cold sometimes."

"Melissa has always been like that, trust me," Spencer comments.

"I just wish I knew when I was upsetting her," Wren states. "It's very hard sometimes," he goes on. "I guess I'm just saying all of this because you're her sister. A Hastings. You know her genetics."

Spencer laughs, "Trust me, I have no idea what is going on in Melissa's head."

Wren just sighs, breathily. She's never really liked Wren because of the whole personal space thing, and there have been instances where she was almost sure he was flirting with her, but he was really helpful after her father's death. She sort of has grown to at least—somewhat—respect him. So, seeing him, dumbfounded and clueless on the works of her sister, kind of made her feel bad for him. Kind of.

"Melissa is just bad at showing affection, sometimes," she offers, supportively. "She doesn't mean to be elusive, or doubtful, it's just in her DNA," she states glumly, thinking of Toby. She checks her phone again for any text messages. None. "She married you, didn't she? That's something."

Wren nods, "it's something," he states in a lighter tune.

"You seeing anyone?" he asks, a charming smile appearing on his lips.

"I'm not sure," she decides after a moment, glancing back at her phone. "…it's complicated."

Wren chuckles "aren't all relationships, though."

Spencer half smirks, "yeah, they are, but…I don't know. I tend to complicate them even more," she smacks her lips together in a huff.

"We all have our faults, Spencer," he says. "Nobody's perfect."

"Don't tell my family that," Spencer scoffs.

After talking to Wren she decides to text Toby. Nothing really specific, but just "We need to talk." She isn't sure where they stand. Are they still together? Was that a break up? Does she need to prepare herself for dealing with the awkward pretenses at the wedding?

During dinner, she hears her phone go off, and her heart nearly skips a beat at the noise. Once she is sure all eyes are unfocused on her, she slides her phone into her lap. But is majorly disappointed when she see's that it is only Hanna. She almost forgot through this whole thing with Toby that she was mad at Hanna.

"Still pissed at me?" the message asks.

She doesn't think she is, but she feels like she should be. In the end, she decides to text her back. "No." she replies.

"I promise I'll make it up to u," she reads a few seconds later.

Another message pops up after, "love u."

Spencer looks up at her family. Her mother and Melissa are talking, and Wren is nodding along to everything they say. She looks back down at her phone, "wanna have a girl's night, tonight?" she sends.

"For sure! No wedding stuff, I promise! J"

"I'll call you when I'm home."

The rest of the dinner goes by and then they have desert, and her mother asks the three of them to come along with her to Spencer's father's grave on Monday. They all agree, and then they eat these éclairs and other pastries Melissa bought from the bakery.

By the time she leaves the Hastings Household, Toby still hasn't replied, and she feels like chucking her phone out the window, but she remains calm and collected.

When she gets home, she calls up Hanna, and she comes over, suggesting they should watch The Notebook. Spencer declines to this offer though because the thought of watching The Notebook right now just sounds like a way to push herself deeper into this hole of sadness and anger over Toby Cavanaugh. So, they end up watching some romantic comedy they find on Netflix. But it's not that great, so they mostly just talk, the movie absently playing in the background.

"So, what's Caleb doing tonight?" Spencer yawns. It's getting pretty late. Late for her, anyway.

"I think he's with Toby," Hanna replies, shrugging.

Spencer grits her teeth at the mention of him.

"Did you know he has a girlfriend?" Hanna sits up, suddenly eager.

She takes in a deep breath, "you really think he would tell me that?" she absently responds.

"I mean, you're friends now, aren't you?" she questions, but it was more of rhetorical. "I just, I can't help but think he's just saying that to get out of this date."

"Maybe he's just waiting to see if it works out. I mean, that's what I would do."

"Spencer, you don't date people," Hanna states, giving her a strict, pointed look.

"Yeah I do," she argues, trying to remain steady.

"Not really," Hanna says. "You have flings, and that's okay. I don't judge you for it, but Toby's committed. He'll date the girl for like a month before making it official. And he tells Caleb about it. He's talks about it. It's just all very strange, Spencer."

Spencer inhales deeply, rolling her shoulders back uncomfortably. "Can we just stop talking about Toby?" she irritably requests. "It's giving me a headache."

"Okay," Hanna answers. "Do you have any nail polish?" she ponders.

"Yeah," Spencer smiles at the blonde. "Be right back."

She goes to retrieve the nail polish, and in a moment of defeat, texts him again. "Please can we talk?" she sends the message, hesitantly. She goes back to Hanna with the nail polish, and pastes on a smile, and decides to turn off her phone off when she is pretty sure Toby isn't going to respond.

….

DAY 2

The day follows with no return from Toby, and she tries to just forget about it all, but anger boils inside her. This is another reason why she avoids relationships. They're always so dramatic—always bringing in unnecessary arguing and heartbreak into your life. It's tiring, really.

She goes on with her day, though, nonetheless. She doesn't have work today because it's Saturday, and her dance classes don't start for another two weeks, so she doesn't really have much to do. So, she spends half of the day cleaning, and then decides to call up one—any—of her friends to have dinner with her, or something.

She ends up with Aria at some vegan place, and Spencer has to call herself an amazing friend for going along with it. There are about two things on the menu that sound appealing to her. Both salads.

She likes hanging out with Aria when she has a lot on her mind because Aria will talk about herself for hours end, and not notice the vacant expression on the listener's face. Aria doesn't question things. Unlike plenty of her other friends. It's a relief to just sit and be quieter than usual, and to not be questioned about it.

"I cannot believe you came to this vegan place with me!" Aria expresses in pure bliss.

"I'm a great friend, what can I say?" Spencer responds, a smug smile crossing her lips.

"It's actually great. It's all organic, and it's kind of expensive, but you know how that works," she rolls her eyes. "It's no wonder America is struggling with so much obesity when the prices of organic is triple what everything else is."

The rest of the evening pretty much goes as follows—Aria going on about whatever, Spencer doing her best to listen, all while trying to block out thoughts of Toby.

DAY 3

She wakes up later than she normally does, but it is not the time that surprises her when she picks up her phone. She has a text from Toby. Her heart flutters instinctively, but she is quick to roll her eyes.

You're right. We should talk.

Spencer grits her teeth together, and doesn't bother to reply. She had suggested that two days ago, and he said nothing. He just ignored her. It pisses her off. He pisses her off.

She gets out of bed, and does her normal procedure—makes her bed, takes a shower, brushes her teeth, eats a little breakfast and drinks a lot of coffee, and when she has accomplished everything she has needed to do. She texts him back, "fine."

If he expects her to beg for his forgiveness, then he has another thing coming. She is definitely not doing that after being ignored for two days. She understands that she was wrong to doubt their relationship, but can't he understand her doubt? Change his perspective a little bit? The whole thing was blown out of proportion.

"Can I stop by right now?" his next text asks.

She sighs, replying with, "I guess."

Spencer prepares herself another pot of coffee because if she is going to do this, she is going to need another mug of it. They probably are going to fight, and then break up—officially, anyways. But is it really a break up if they only dated for three days; three days that they mostly didn't speak for? She isn't sure. It doesn't seem like it would be. But it's probably still going to hurt like a bitch anyway.

Toby shows up at her door about twenty, or so, minutes later, and she opens the door carelessly, a poker face hanging on her features.

Neither say hello. He just steps in and once she closes the door he does something that takes her back a bit—apologizes. "I'm sorry," he states.

Caught off guard, she responds, "what? Why?"

"Ignoring you," he stifles a breath, "running away. I tend to do that, a lot. It's one of the many things I need to work on," he murmurs, not quite meeting her eyes.

She leans against the wall, sighing, her arms crossing. "You shouldn't be apologizing," her voice comes out breathily. "I should," she murmurs quietly. "It's my fault this whole fight happened anyway."

He steps close to her, "you're scared, that's okay," he supports. "I am too."

She meets his gaze, "I'm sorry," she offers. "We can tell Caleb, and everyone, I don't care," she nods. Then adds in a mumble, "that's if you still want to be with me."

"I do," he murmurs quietly, stepping even closer to her. "But I think you're right. Not about us not lasting a week—but about them freaking out over everything. And besides, what's a few more days? We don't have to tell anyone."

"What about Caleb? Him…thinking you're lying?"

"We can tell them at the wedding," he states. "After, when it's almost over…" he elaborates. "If that's okay with you…?"

She nods, "yeah, it's great with me," she says, meeting his hands with hers. She entwines her fingers with his, and smiles tenderly, "this went better than I thought."

His eyes flicker from their hands to her eyes, "how'd you think it would go?"

"Yelling. Screaming. Sadness…" her voice trails on the last word.

"Me too, actually," he agrees.

She laughs a little before saying in smooth, soft words, "I'm glad it didn't go that way."

"Me too."

She slides her fingers out of his, and wraps her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. She certainly did not imagine things playing out this way—working out. But she is grateful they did. She is glad she has had another chance to embrace Toby Cavanaugh and his radiating warmth. She hopes she has plenty more chances to do so.

"I don't know what smells better-you or the coffee brewing in your kitchen," his voice tickles her ear. His hand runs through her untamed curls, and up and down her back.

She snickers, "coffee is a hard to compete with," she declares, stepping away a little to look at him, "do you want any?" she offers.

"Of what? Coffee?" he questions in a low tone. "Or you?"

"Either," her smile expands. She brings her hands to his chest, her palms meeting the fabric beneath his neckline.

His hands travel to her hips, "that's not a hard decision," he rasps, meeting her lips, and pulling her into him. "The coffee may smell good, but you have a lot more going on for you," he states, meeting her neckline with his lips. He leaves gentle, soft, kisses all along her collarbone, and neckline, and eventually cheek bone. She lets her head fall back in bliss, and eyes shut momentarily, as her smile wines out into something built from tranquility. He pulls away after almost meeting her lips, and comments on her coffee once more. "Besides, it's your coffee..." his voice is steady and still as it was before, possibly even more. He kisses her collarbone again with a few gentle kisses, "I wouldn't go near that with a ten foot pole."

She opens her eyes enough for him to see the daggers that lie beneath her eyelids, before smiling, and shaking her head, "amateur" she hisses, coiling her hands around his neck, and crashing his lips with hers.