A/N- Wasn't going to update today, but I promised spoby equals awesomeness because they sent me a PM telling how much they liked the story and wanted an update. I also want to thank everyone else who reviewed because that gives memy inspiration to write. So enjoy!

Chapter 4

Seeing The Truth

He wasn't always so abusive. When Spencer first started dating Andrew, he was the most thoughtful, sweet, and gentlest person she had ever met. It wasn't until they had been dating for 8 months when Andrew first hit her. They were arguing about something that seems so irrelevant now. After he hit her, he apologized and promised that he'd never do it again. She believed him.

The next two years of their relationship was filled with apologizes. He'd apologize for when he'd beat her. He'd apologize for when he'd take her body against her will. He'd apologize for leaving the bruises. Even now after two years, he'll still abuse her and apologize. And she'd still forgive him because she knew that she was trapped in this relationship forever.

The water burned her skin just how she liked it. She wanted to scrub until she was pink all over, but it was kind of hard to do so. Her sides were bruised and a few ribs were probably broken. Her face felt swollen and she could barely stand up. She knew that today wouldn't be a great day for school, but it was time for a trip to the doctors.

After her shower, Spencer dressed quickly before going back into her room. She peeked through her door to make sure that Andrew was gone. When he woke up, he apologized for the night before and kissed her on the head before he released her to get into the shower. He left a note on her bed saying that he left for school and that he'd call her later.

Spencer let out a breath of relief because she'd have a whole day worry free. But when school was over that she'd knew her freedom was over. She gasped when she looked in the mirror and saw her face. It was indeed swollen with a black eye and bruise on her cheekbones. She lifted up her shirt and turned to the side to see her ribs. Yep, the skin over her ribs was discolored and felt terrible. She had to get to a hospital, but she couldn't have people knowing. She knew she had to call in another favor.

She picked up her phone from her desk and dialed that familiar number. It only took two rings until the phone was picked.

"It's Spencer." She took a deep breath before she continued."I need your help."

Spencer pulled into parking lot of the hospital. She drove her car around the back where there was a private entrance. She parked and put on her sunglasses, zipped her jacket, and pulled the hood over her head before she got out of her car. She did their special knock on the back door and within minutes he answered. Wren Kingston.

"Follow me." He whispered before they both disappeared inside the building.

The building felt all too familiar to Spencer. When the beatings went from bad to worse, she turned to Wren for help. He would stitch her up, fix any broken bones, give her medication, and he did it all free of charge so that no one would know. If anyone found out about this it could ruin his career and it could ruin her life. He was going to tell people about her, but she blackmailed him about telling people about him helping her unless he kept her secret.

He navigated then through the hospital out of sight of anyone else. He unlocked a door and they slipped in. It was an examination room, but it was more private.

"Alright." He locked the door and turned to Spencer."Let's see the damage."

Spencer took of the sunglasses and got rid of her jacket. She lifted her shirt for him to see the bruises on her legs and pulled down her pants for him to see the bruises on her legs. She felt ashamed like she always did. A Hastings wasn't supposed to be weak, but sometimes someone will be bigger and stronger than you.

"What's the lie this time?" Wren asked. He knew about the lying because she told him after the third time she came to him. Before she ever told him, he was just another person that believed every lie.

"I don't think I have a lie for all of this." She gestured to her body."The only thing I can do for now until my bruises heal...is hide."

Toby knew something was off today. He noticed when he didn't see her car in the parking lot. She wasn't in the halls or in class. He didn't see her at lunch with Emily, Hanna, and Aria. He may not have known her well, but he knew that she wouldn't be the type who skips school. Or she was avoiding him.

"Hey, Emily. Have you seen Spencer?" Toby asked as he raced over to the girls after last period.

"No, but me and the girls have been trying to call her all day. She hasn't called us or anything, so we were just gonna stop by her house."

"Can I go with you to her house?"

"Sure...," Aria squinted her eyes at him."I didn't know you and Spencer were close."

"We aren't. Not yet." He smiled at them and sent them a wink."I'll meet you guys at Spencer's."

Toby waved at the girls before he started to run down the hallway. As he was turning the corner, he bumped into some guy, making them spill their bottle of water all down the front of their shirt and pants.

"Watch where you're going!" The guy yelled after Toby.

Toby quickly glanced back and said."Sorry!"

Toby would have stopped and helped the guy out, but he had to go. He had to make sure Spencer was okay. Even though he knew deep down that she wasn't.

After getting patched up at the hospital, Spencer just felt like lying around at home. Just like she predicted, Andrew had in fact broken two of her ribs. Thankfully the pain pills were making the pain go away. That was until she returned home and realized what time it was. School was almost over and she knew that Andrew would be stopping by soon. Her freedom was almost up because her parents would be returning home tomorrow.

She went to her room to put on her makeup to look better for Andrew. The makeup hides the bruises pretty well, so well that if you don't look at her hard enough then you'll never notice. The next thing she put on was her promise ring. The ring wasn't a promise to keep her virginity, but a ring that basically promised her to Andrew.

For the next hour, Spencer spent the time reading a book in her red chair with her window open to enjoy the fresh air. It's wasn't until she heard the downstairs door slam that her carefree mood jump out the window. She was sure it wasn't her parents, so it had to be Andrew. He didn't have a key, but he knew where the spare key was hidden.

His feet thudded up the steps as he grew closer. Her door slowly opened and the first thing that popped out were a bouquet of flowers. Then Andrew stepped into the room with a smile on his face and flowers in his hand.

"Hey, babe." He said as he walked over to kiss her on the head.

"Hi." She said cautiously because she was surprised to see him in such a great mood.

"I missed you while I was at school." He handed her the flowered before kneeling down beside her."How are you feeling?"

She stiffened momentarily and cleared her throat."I'm fine. I got cleaned up at the hospital and I'll be fine."

"That's great, Spence. I'm really really sorry." He apologized, but she knew it wouldn't be the last time he did.

"It's okay. I'll be okay. I'm a Hastings." She laughed off and he kissed her quickly on the lips.

"About that. I was meaning to tell you that I talked to your dad and we're all going to the club tomorrow for dinner when they get back."

"Great." She faked enthusiasm, but he seemed to buy it because he smiled and kissed her again.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I only stopped by because I have to go work for my dad today in Philly and I won't see you until tomorrow. I had to see you again before I left."

He kissed her once again, but wasn't pushing for more. She felt a little relief that he'd be gone for the day. She still had to stay on her toes because everything could change in an instant.

"I'll call you tonight." Spencer said and kissed his forehead.

"Walk me to the door?" He asked and she nodded her head. He helped her stand and they held hands as they walked down the steps. At the back door he kissed her again before he left.

Once the door was closed behind him. She felt peace. She felt peace until she heard knocking at her back door.

Toby pulled into Spencer's driveway so fast that he almost hit another car in the driveway. It looked like an expensive car and he was glad that he didn't hit. He parked his truck before he hopped out. As he started walking up the driveway, a guy started walking down the driveway.

"Hey, it's you!" The guy yelled and Toby was confused. He's never met this guy."You're the guy that ran into me and spilt my water on me!"

"I'm sorry, man. I was just-"

"I don't care about your apology just watch where the hell you're going next time."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Andrew." Andrew straightened his posture to try to match Toby's."I'm Spencer's boyfriend. Who are you?"

"I'm Toby, her friend." He extended his hand to Andrew and smiled, but Andrew just scowled.

"Spencer's not home." He said plainly."And she has more than enough friends and she doesn't need you. So why don't you move your trashy excuse for a truck out of my girls driveway."

Toby clenched his fist and his jaw simultaneously. He took a step towards Andrew, but someone got between them. He looked down to see it was Hanna.

"Alright, that's enough. You guys can stand out here all day and act like two teenage girls fighting over Jacob or Edward, but we came to check on out friend." Hanna said ad walked away from both of them.

Andrew reacted fast and grasped her forearm rather roughly. Too rough for Toby's liking. He got up in Andrews face.

"Back off." Toby growled between his clenched teeth and Andrew let her go, but didn't move away from Toby."I suggest you keep your hands to yourself."

Andrew smiled smugly at him before walking past him. Toby was tempted to walk after him, but Aria and Emily grabbed his wrists to pull him along. As they approached the door, Hanna was the first to knock.

"Spencer! Spencer, are you home?" She asked.

"Spencer, we're worried about you open up!" Emily yelled.

"She's not home." Aria sighed in defeat and turned to her friends."We should just keep calling her and look for her around town."

"Yeah, let's go." Emily walked away with the girls, but Toby stayed behind looking at the door."Toby? You comin'?"

"Ummm, no. I'll stay here in case she comes back."

"Alright, call us if she does." Hanna said and Toby nodded before he watched them leave.

He knew she was here. The saw the curtains on door move and it wasn't the wind. Her car was in the garage because the garage door was up only a little bit, but he bent down and looked under to see her license plate. She was there, but she didn't want anyone to know.

"Spencer, I know you're there. Your car is in the garage." He said through the door, but got no answer."Alright, have it your way."

Toby backed away from the door and headed for his truck. He was going to sit in that truck and wait until she was ready to talk. He was going to wait all night if he had too.

Spencer couldn't believe that he was still in her driveway, sitting in his truck and it was after midnight. She felt bad because it may be sunny and warm during the day, but at night it got cold. Really cold. She knew he wasn't leaving when she saw him lie down in the truck.

She couldn't let him do this. She put on her jacket and walked outside. She approached his window and gently tapped on it. He jolted awake and sat up. He rolled down his window to talk with her.

"You ready to talk now?" He asked.

"Go home, Toby. Please, don't come back."

"Now, you see I can't do that. We've been worried sick about you and you've just been hiding away all day. What the hell is going on?"

A few tears fell from her eyes and she quickly wiped it away."I just want to be alone, Toby."

"I understand, but-" He stopped mid-sentence. His faced changed from happy, to confused, to angry. He gently grabbed her chin and brought her closer to him."Spencer, what the hell happened to your face!"

She finally realized that he saw a bruise on her face. When she wiped away her tears, she must have wiped away the makeup to reveal the bruise on her cheek. He's seeing a part of her that she kept hidden. He's seeing the truth. And this time she didn't have a lie ready.