Thank you all for all the kind words and follows and favorites! They made me so happy!

Also, keep in mind, almost all of this was written before 4x04 and is in no way based off of it. Enjoy Chapter two!

It already felt like a long day when Toby returned to work at around a quarter after 3. He tried to jump right back in, distracting himself in wood stain and power tools, but those kind of things only distracted his hand. His mind, on the other hand, had space to wonder...

"Toby, get me those 2x8's?" A voice broke in, "Henry's comin' around the back with 'em."

Toby obediently obeyed his bosses wishes. Walking around the side of the construction riden colonial, he went over to the green truck that was slowly pulling through an opening in the fence. Once it came to a stop, the driver walked around the back and popped the trunk.

"Jim says he wants 'em in the dining room." Henry said and Toby instinctively grabbed a few and heaved them over his shoulder, heading back towards the houses back door. He was about to place the boards down when his phone started ringing in his back pocket. He took it out to turn it off, Jim didn't usually like them taking calls on the job. Before hitting end, Toby quickly glanced at the caller. It was Spencer. He stowed the phone back in his pocket. It seems that she was going to have to wait like he had.

He helped Henry finish unloading the rest of the material and began his previous work of helping another worker with applying the crown molding along the living room ceiling. That's when his phone ran again. Spencer. He glanced at the guy next to him, who glanced behind him; he could hear Jim heading outside, saying something about a buzzsaw. There was no one else in the room. The man looked back at Toby and shrugged his shoulders.

Toby hit answer.

"Spencer you know not to call me at work." He spoke in a hushed tone.

"I know, I'm sorry!" She sounded upset, Toby's heart sank. "I just needed to -"

"Spence what's the matter?"

"No I - it's just Melissa - I'm - " he could tell she was trying to pull herself together. "I'm fine." Fine surprisingly meant a lot in their situations. Fine didn't mean you weren't an emotional reck but fine meant that you were alive. And that counted for a lot. "How was… how was the meeting? I'm so sorr-"

"I can't really talk about it right now" he said turning towards the wall, he could hear Jim heading back into the dinning room, shouting orders behind him.

"Right, I'm sorry, I'll - I'll talk to you when you get home." And she hung up before he could say anything. He stowed the phone away and went back to applying molding. Hoping he could get lost in his work and not think about what could have possibly happened to make Spencer so upset, not that her life was full of happiness on a regular basis anyway but still…

It was highly unlikely that he'd be able to get his mind off it, though, at least that hasn't been the case with his conversation with . His head was a whirlwind of worry and questioning. He just tried his best to make sure no one could see that as he glued pieces of wood to the wall.

He finished up a few hours later. Around six o'clock. He was suppose to leave earlier but it had started to rain just as they were about to leave, and they had to make sure all their equipment was protected for the next morning.

Mentally and physically drained, Toby slugged up the metal stairs to his apartment. Water pounding hard against him. Once he reached the top of the stairs, what he found on the other side of the door did nothing to ease his tired stature. Spencer was pacing, back and forth, between the kitchen and living room, her heels clicking across the hard wood. Her hand was to her mouth, she seemed to be biting her fingernails. She stopped when she saw him, and lowered it from her mouth.

"Hey." was all she said.

"Spencer what is going on?"
She didn't hesitate, words just began to spill out of her mouth in such a rushed form she wasn't sure if she was speaking coherently."It's Melissa." she began,

"She was on the Halloween train, she put Aria in the box, she was working with Wilden, she followed Alison to that mask maker. Toby…" Her voice cracked and her eyes began to weal up, "Toby I think she killed her." she squeaked.

"Hey," he said as he cleared the space between them. She immediately clung to his body for support and he placed his head protectively atop hers. "What happened?"

"I went - I went to check on the mask, when I got home from school, to make sure it was still where I'd hidden it and - and it was gone - no one had been in the house for hours except Melissa so I - I went to go find her. She was in the backyard - I confronted her and she denied she knew anything about it." She pulled away from Toby, only slightly so that she was still within arms reach, and wiped a tear from her chin. "I told her I knew - I knew she had seen the mask maker and that Alison had seen him too. I - I told her I knew she followed her there."

"And what did she say?"

**Flashback: a few hours earlier**

"What, because everything has to revolve around that little bitch?" Melissa spat.

"No, because I know you don't go spending your afternoons getting your face plastered." Spencer snippingly replied, the cool breeze cutting against their backs.

"You don't know me."

Spencer stared in disbelief at her sister. At her fine made curls framing her face; the same face she use to envy.

"No I don't know you Melissa. All I know is some pompous girl, who was over focused on being the best and would do anything to get what she wanted."

"Are we talking about me or you?"

Spencer huffed, "Does it matter? We're both not the same people we were a year ago."

"You're right Spencer, we've both evolved. We're no longer just the preppy little Hastings girls. We've both had to deal with some stuff. But now that stuff is over and I think we both need to bury the hatchet."

Clever word choice sis "But it's not over Melissa! And it won't be until we find out who killed Alison! And Wilden and Garett…"

Melissa rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh give it up Spencer! You know there are people who've devoted their entire careers to solving these types of things?"

"Yeah and it seems that the ones that get killed in the process are able to form an exclusive little club in the afterlife!" Spencer retorted. "But then again, they didn't have simply a business like attachment to the case, did they? But you already knew that, didn't you Melissa?"

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"It means I know you were at Cape May that summer with Ali, Cece and Wilden. I know you know Ali was hooking up with Wilden, just like she was doing with Ian. I know you went and got your face cloned by that shady mask maker. And I know you were at the DiLarentis's house the night she died too, after that video of you in her bedroom. So what else haven't you told me that I had to find out on my own? What else haven't you told me about all the time you spent with my friend -".

"Pff! Friend?" Melissa scoffed, "I don't think you even believe that anymore. Whatever Alison was it wasn't a friend, to anyone. That girl only cared about two things, herself and other people's secrets."

"What kind of secrets Melissa? Ones like you've been hiding?" Spencer howled snippily

Melissa glared at her, "I don't have to report to you" turning her back to retreat to the Hastings Barn in the distance.

"I've been trying to figure this out for two years." Spencer bellowed after her, a sudden surge of weakness flooding her system. She wasn't sure why, but she decided to release all her pent up frustration at this moment. She knew it wasn't safe, Melissa couldn't be trusted for all the reasons listed before. But maybe this sense of vulnerability was all Melissa would need to trust her. "I've been harassed, arrested, and nearly killed more times than anyone who's still alive has…" She gave out an exhausted sigh. "I'm so tired, Melissa, you're right I'm done. I just want answers. I want the closure I should have gotten two years ago."

"Fine Spence, you want some answers?" Melissa's voice was turning acidic with fury. "Yeah, I was with that group in Cape May and I did know about her an Wilden, the little slut was running around with half of Rosewood. She was fifteen and she was seeing more guys per week than she could keep straight. So yeah, I followed her to that creepy shop to see what she was up to. I only got that guy to open his yap when I let him mold my face for his Lady Macbeth sculpture. He told us Alison had been coming because she wanted her face permanently immortalized for after she died, probably planed on handing them out as favors to her funeral party. A few dollars later and he was able to hand us a few copies…"

"Us?"

"Yes, Cece Drake was with me. I seems she wanted some answers out of Alison too."

"But why Melissa - why would you want masks of Alison's face? What kind of answers would that get you?" Spencer questioned snidely.

A small smirk grew on Melissa's face, eyeing her sister knowingly, "It's always helpful to have something over someone else."

"What does that mean?" Spencer spoke, her nerves tingling.

"It means I know things about you too, Spencer."

Memories flashed before Spencer's eyes like violent rain. Her kiss with Ian. Her kiss with Wren. The Jenna thing. Her forged presidential election. Her plagiarized paper. Spencer had done so many things she'd regretted. So many things she wish she could forget but knew she had to live with. They ate away at her everytime someone looked at her with innocence or praise. But she was done being scared by them. She's heard this threat before. She wasn't going to let Melissa intimidate her. If there was one thing she learned from all this it was that the truth will find it's way to the surface no matter why you do to try and stop it.

"Did you kill her? Did you kill Alison?"

"Wow, so blunt Spencer, you really have changed." She snipped as she turned to continue walking away from the house, away from Spencer, away from the vital question.

"Melissa!" Spencer's phone sounded. She stopped in pursuit of her sister and looked at it. 10 new messages and 3 new voicemails. She cursed violently, how had she forgotten? She checked the time, 2:32. She had been so caught up in her brawl with Melissa she had forgotten where she was headed once she got home.
She opened the messages.

Where are you?

Spence

What's going on?

I'm coming to get you

She cursed again as Melissa disappeared behind the wooden walls of the barn. She wanted more answers, that last one especially but then she thought of Toby and how hard it was for him to make this appointment with and how she had promised to go with him, to support him. She nearly kicked herself, how could she have been so tactless? She glanced at the time again, she'd never make it in time, not before Toby had to get back to work. And she didn't want him to reschedule, it was hard enough for him to do it in the first place. He needed answer just like she did.

I'm so sorry. Go up without me. I'll explain later. - Spence

She hated doing this too him but she figured it was better for him to get his answers without her than not at all. He hadn't slept in days, constantly fawning over the documents details that he had receiver a few days prior. She knew this because he had called her up one of those sleepless nights in a drowsy agitated state, mumbling apologies and crackpot theories about his mother. That kind of behavior prompted her to stay with him every night since then, just so he wouldn't have to spend those restless nights alone. What did Spencer's parents care anyway? They were always off in Philly or off in some conference somewhere, not even aware whether their daughter was sleeping in her own bed or not.

She shut her phone, afraid of some indignant response. She hoped he would get the message and not think she was being inconsiderate, even if that's how she felt.

She looked up toward the back of the yard. Besides, she thought, she had a few more questions she needed to ask Melissa before she packed up and headed off to her suspiciously timed 'internship'.

**Present**

"I went to the barn where I'd seen her go in," Spencer said to Toby, thinking the more she said, the easier for him to understand and, better yet, forgive her. "but she wasn't in there. I was sure I saw her go in there."

Toby locked eyes with her, not sure what to say for a a few moments. His slight frustration with her for leaving him to his own battle was slowly but surely melting away from his body as he looked at her distressed form.

"Did you tell them? Did you tell the girls about this?" He asked

"I couldn't, not yet - I just - I felt so guilty for leaving you there and -" she was tearing up again.

"Hey, Spence it's fine" he pulled her towards him again. "I'm fine."

"Just tell me - just tell me what happened" she sniffed.

He sighed, stepping over to the couch, the exhaustion setting in once more. "Honestly, not much, you didn't miss out."

"We'll what did he say?" She spoke. "Did he remember her?"

"Slightly, he said." Toby said. "He said he remembers being surprised by her decision." Spencer looked at him sympathetically.
"He said he'd give me transcripts from his other meetings with her, once he found them."

"Where are they?"

"Some storage facility in Philly" he said, disinterested. He didn't tell her what he really thought. That it was highly convenient all his mothers papers were in some single lock facility that was vacant 90% of the time.

"Well, alright" Spencer spoke, clearly calming down, at the change in subject, plopping herself next to him "at least you're getting some answers."

Toby placed an arm around her shoulder that she leaned into. He wanted to say 'you'll get your answers too' but he couldn't muster a lie. He had no idea if she was going to get answers, she'd been doing this little back and forth for years now. Each answer seemed to end with more questions and someone else dead.

He kissed the top of her head lightly and she move in closer to his body. They sat there quietly for a while while he wondered if telling her what he thought would make her feel better or worse. Not that he didn't think she was going to get any answers anytime soon but that he didn't think he was any closer to getting his answers than she was.

The way I wrote Toby's work scene kind of left me with a feeling that I don't respect what he does which is not the case at all! I just felt that Toby was feeling very blase today and I was just trying to express that. I have immense respect for carpenters. I once watched two men build my entire staircase from scratch in all of 10 minutes! That takes skills man. Nothing but respect.

*Update: I realized I made Spencer and Toby sit down on the couch twice so I fixed that little mishap haha

Chapter three coming soon!