Author's Note: Hello, all! I just thought I'd let you guys know what's new with me this week: I found out that I may just suck at writing, I finally feel quasi-normal again, I found out I have a serious addiction to Marina Diamandis, and by some miracle, I am not failing classes! Woo-hoo!
I could go on and on about my week and my new theory on how Marlene King & Co. think Toby is Jesus, but I don't think I'm going to go into that.
On the other hand, BOO HOO! No Spoby in the Season 4 finale? That pisses me off! It's like tradition to get some epic Spoby scene! You can't ruin tradition. Meh.
Chapter Eight
"Spencer! I know you have a hint of OCD, but I swear, the cake is fine," Toby promised Spencer as she continued to mess with the icing on the cake.
"Really, Spencer, you need to calm down," Jason prompted from behind.
Spencer sighed, stepping away from the cake. "Are you two going to promise not to ruin it?" she asked.
They both nodded in unison. "Yes."
She sighed once more, before she placed it gingerly into a box. She closed it gently, careful not to ruin any of the icing.
"It came out really well, Spence," Jason insisted.
"Thank you, Jason. I worked really hard on it. I hope Cassidy likes it," she replied.
Toby laughed. "Spence, Cassidy is turning one today. I'm pretty sure that if it's cake, she'll like it," he informed her.
Spencer nudged Toby. "Hey. You could at least pretend to make me feel better about slaving over it all last night."
Before Toby could respond, Jason nudged him. "Hey, we should bring this over and you can help me with all of the stuff for Cassidy's birthday party. Come on," Jason said before this could escalate into a food fight like last night.
"You can tell Aria I'll be over soon. I just have to get some things cleaned up and I still have to write out her card," Spencer told Jason.
"Sure, Spence!" he called as he and Toby left the room.
An hour later, Spencer looked at herself in the mirror as she put in her diamond studs. She loved them so much.
She took a deep breath as she looked at herself. Her thoughts wandered as she thought of mirrors, how they looked into different dimensions, and parallels they manifested in her life.
Her reverie was broken when there was a knock at the door.
She opened it up and was shocked as she saw Andrew standing before her. She furrowed her eyebrows, confusion showing itself all across her face.
"Andrew? What are you doing here?" she asked, truly muddled.
"I wanted to talk to you, Spencer," he said.
Spencer reluctantly allowed him in the apartment. She watched him uncomfortably.
"Andrew, I don't want to play games. I already told you everything about Brandon. What do you want?" she asked, calmly, but clearly lacking much patience.
He sighed. "I just keep thinking so much about our son. And it just keeps me thinking of what could've been for the two of us," he said slowly.
She raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying?" she inquired anxiously.
"I keep thinking about our son and…it makes me want a child."
Spencer continued to look at him with looks of confusion.
"Spencer…I want to have a child together."
It took her a moment to process that statement. Finally, when it went through her mind, she stared at him, wide-eyed.
"What?"
He sighed again. "Thinking about him all the time makes me want a child. And you're the only person I really ever considered having a child with, ever," he said.
She shook her head, flustered. "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that you'd like me to dump Toby so I can have a child with you, who cheated on me all throughout our engagement and abused me on occasion, too," she recapped. "No way! Are you out of your freaking mind?"
"I'm not asking you to break up with him, or for us to be together. I just want to have a child with you," he said.
Spencer shook her head incessantly. "I think you must be on something, Andrew. There's no way in hell that I'm going to have a baby with you," she said before she led him out the door and closed it behind him.
Hanna held Cassidy in her arms. "Happy birthday, beautiful girl! It's your birthday today," she said, before kissing the little girl on the cheek. Cassidy's cheek turned a little pink, both from her blushing and a stain from Hanna's lipstick.
"Hanna, you look good with a kid. Are you and Caleb getting any ideas?" Aria asked.
Hanna scoffed. "Dream on, Montgomery," she retorted.
"Where is Spencer?" Emily inquired.
"I don't know. Jason said she said she'd be here soon; she just needed to get some stuff done. Why? You seem on edge," Aria noted suspiciously.
Emily sighed. "Hanna and I need to tell you, Aria. We found Chanel the other day in the coffee shop and we confronted her," she began.
"You guys are so great! Did you tell her to back off?" Aria interrupted.
"We told her to give up on Toby, but that Bee-In-The-Curious-Hive didn't want to listen. She kept moaning and complaining about how she's so in love with Toby or some BS like that," Hanna explained, lacking patience to talk about Chanel any longer.
Aria raised an eyebrow. "I'm somehow guessing that you two weren't as calm as you are talking to me right now," she commented.
"Hey! I was not the one who got angry. It was Em, for once," Hanna said before cuddling up to Cassidy.
Needless to say, Aria was surprised that the supposed peacemaker was the one to get mad. "Really? Em, what did you say?"
"Nothing bad, I promise. I just told her to leave them alone, because nothing will ever transpire between her and Toby, anyway," Emily explained.
Aria nodded mockingly, not really believing that. Emily was about to speak in her defense when the apartment door opened and Spencer walked in. Hanna immediately noticed something was wrong with her, and quickly passed Cassidy off to Aria.
"Spence? What's wrong?" Hanna asked with concern, being the first to greet her.
Spencer sighed. "Nothing's wrong." She tried her best to come up with a good lie. "My car just had some problems, but it's not a big deal," she lied simply.
"How did you get here?" Aria asked, as Cassidy reached out to touch Spencer.
Spencer smiled and held Cassidy's hand. She finally turned to Aria. "My car eventually started, but I think I have to bring it in to get checked out," she explained. She kissed Cassidy on the forehead. "Happy birthday!" she cooed sweetly.
"Do you want to hold Cassidy for a minute?" Aria asked.
Before she actually got a chance to answer, Cassidy was handed to her. Cassidy immediately began playing with Spencer's hair. She began mumbling something into Spencer's neck. She loved Spencer so much.
"So what did I miss?" Spencer asked.
Hanna and Emily stood tight lipped as Aria left to go get something for Spencer. Finally, Emily spoke. "Not much. We were just talking about you."
"What about me?"
"You and Toby, mostly," Hanna said.
It wasn't a total lie, since they were talking about them. But they were also talking about a certain blonde who was looking to re-enter Toby's life…
"What about us?" Spencer inquired curiously, nervously, almost.
"Not much. Just about how you guys have been getting closer lately. Is there something you're hiding from us, Spence?" Hanna asked suggestively.
"No! Of course not! Things are exactly the same!" Spencer exclaimed. That was a lie, too. Things were better…but they were worse, too. It was an odd feeling Spencer couldn't explain. She had no doubt that Toby loved her, but she felt them growing apart.
Hanna nodded. "Just checking. But you will let us know when something happens, right?" she asked.
"Hanna! Leave Spencer alone. She'll indulge what she wants about her relationship. But Spencer, I wanted to give this to you," Aria said as she walked back over to the girls. She handed Spencer a black box. Spencer took it with her free hand.
"What is this?" Spencer asked.
"Don't open it right this minute. It's a present from me. You'll understand when you see it."
Hesitantly, Spencer accepted this. She handed Cassidy back over to Aria and looked at the box awkwardly.
Spencer and Aria watched as Jason and Toby played with Cassidy. Emily, Hanna, and Caleb had left a while ago.
"You can open that box now, if you want to," Aria informed Spencer.
Reluctantly, Spencer looked through her bag and found the box. She opened the box and saw a silver locket.
She looked at Aria, hoping for an explanation. Aria simply responded, "Open it."
Spencer listened and opened the locket. She saw pictures of her and Brandon in the hospital after he was born and another of the two of them, a month or two after he was born. Spencer felt a little dizzy after seeing it.
"I know you're trying really hard to pretend nothing ever happened. It's not healthy, Spence. Brandon was here, and you loved him. I know you're scared that if you open up to Toby about him, it might upset Toby, but…what'll make him more upset is to see you in so much pain. Bottling it all up is worse for you. When you wear it, he'll be close to your heart," Aria explained.
Spencer bit her tongue, not sure how to respond. Aria accepted that this necklace would make her feel uneasy, but did it anyway as some form of shock treatment for Spencer.
"Toby? Can we go now?" Spencer asked as she stood up. Aria let out a small sigh.
"Are you okay, Spencer?" Toby asked once they arrived home.
She nodded, not really offering much explanation for their sudden leave.
"Can you please get me some tea?" Spencer asked weakly.
This automatically made him suspect something was up. Spencer never requested tea unless she was feeling really awful, either physically or emotionally. "Sure," he replied.
Spencer nodded, her back still to him before she went into their room. Spencer walked into their closet and went to the very bottom of her underwear drawer, a place she knew Toby would never look. She pulled out the familiar box with Brandon's things. She pulled the locket out of her bag and finally allowed herself to cry.
Toby was just pouring the tea as he heard muffled sobs coming from their bedroom. He abandoned the tea on the counter and walked cautiously into the bedroom.
Spencer, meanwhile, was still in the closet, crying profusely. She sniffled one last time, tears still rolling down her face freely, before she put the box into the larger box with remnants of Brandon's life.
Outside, the closet door, which was left ajar, allowed Toby to see it all. His heart slowly broke as he watched Spencer attempt to pick up the pieces of her heart again and store them neatly away.
spoby equals awesomeness: Hmm...you'd think I would've noticed that, right? No, I didn't, for the record. And there are definite obstacles. I promise.
Sarah: Hmm...I'm guessing that now you kind of want to be asking for less, because in a few chapters it's going to be pretty tragic. I don't mean to be so mean, but I guess subconsciously I'm a sadist since I love the angst :P And I think that by the next chapter or two, you'll probably dislike her as much as Wren (unless you don't, which is okay, too, but as a Spoby shipper...not as someone who might just have a crush on Julian Morris).
spobettes: I think that Hanna and Emily should change their occupations on Facebook to "Ball Busters" at "Rosewood, Bitches". Ha. I'm laughing just thinking about it.
Addictedtospoby: Um, that's not volatile at all. And I'll try really hard not to make you angry, but I have a feeling that will be inevitable within this story. I ditch my schoolwork for fanfiction all the time. If any of your teachers ask, just say you're "reading" and "writing". It's technically not a lie :)
AL3110: You were (sort of) right. I was thinking about it, and then when you guessed, I wondered, "Is this too cliché?" And I guess I just went with my gut. Sorry if it was cliché, but I wanted it this way. Oh well.
BirdSingsBells: Thank you very much!
LynnLayne18: I'm glad you thought it was cute. And, hey, you need to be with a couple of bad ones in order to find a real gem. And Em didn't get that nickname "Killer" for nothing ;)
SpobyTreegan: I thought a baking war would be cute. And then I began having flashbacks to Quinn/Puck in Season One of Glee (sorry if I just made a Glee reference and you're just like, IDKKKK).
mickeymack16: Eventually, she will die. I mean, that's kind of inevitable. Eventually, I will die, too. And you. And Spencer. And Toby. But wait a second...if Toby is Jesus...eh, forget everything I just said.
Spobyforever259: Yeah, Emily defending her ship! And you know how Hanna feels about them...shippity ship ship. And I don't think Tiffany likes that her name is used for something Toby was gonna give Chanel...I wouldn't be...so Tiffany wouldn't. I love the reincarnation game!
Girlz-Rule: Thanks!
Sunset13: Andranel might turn into a thing. Should I start making "#TeamAndranel" T-Shirts like they made #teamMERRICK T Shirts for my school house? I think those would be awesome. You can get the first one.
Cheyxoxo385: Well, I updated today! No promises on when the next update will be, though.
I realized how awkward I come up in my messages to reviewers, and I promise you I am more awkward in real life. Really, I assure you I am weirder IRL.
And also, next time I ever play in the orchestra outside, I solemnly swear to bring clothespins. People in my section had their music blow away and all that...it was pretty funny when it didn't happen in the middle of the big second violin solo. And I got moved to first chair! OMGS. I feel so accomplished. Kind of. But I still want to play the viola. And score a good grade on the SATs.
Also, before I go, I should ask if this is a bad thing: I have to sing tomorrow and I have NO FREAKING CLUE what I actually have to sing. I just know the songs: Rumour Has It/Someone Like You (best mashup EVER), Blackbird, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, and On My Own. I have no clue what my part is. Wow, I just realized how much it sucks to be me.
And I might have gotten vocal nods recently, so don't talk to me about it.
But I have cookies. So I'm good. -Kayson
P.S, if any of you are Diamonds, PM me and we can fangirl over her amazingness together :)
Also, I'm so happy because I get my $25 tomorrow and I can finally get The Family Jewels! Ahh! This is going to be awesome.