Author's Note: You get the long-awaited answer! Oh my God!
Chapter Fourteen
"Spencer? Are you going to answer or not?"
After Toby had found her spilling out her guts, Spencer had returned to the kitchen in silence. She hadn't said a word since Toby had asked her, and that was making him very nervous.
"Toby—"
"Wait a second. Before you solidify this decision, I want you to know that you're not obligated to say yes, if you really don't want to do this," he said. He still knew it would kill him if she said no.
"Toby," she began again, "you are an amazing person, and I feel so lucky to have you in my life, especially as someone I can call mine." She reached out to take his hand. "And I want you to know that I love you. A lot. Too much, even."
He retracted his hand from her grip. "You don't have to sugar-coat it or feel obligated to stay, Spencer. I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't be sorry!" She took a moment to think of her next sentence. "I just don't feel ready for this again. Not yet. And I love you, and I want to get there someday, but not now. I don't want you to think that I love you any less, though," she assured him.
She examined him, but his face remained unwavering. She sighed and got up. "I think we just need some space, away from each other. I think I'll go stay with Hanna for a couple of days."
"I can't believe it. She said no," Caleb said quietly as he was hanging around Tiffany's house.
Tiffany, who was cutting up vegetables at the time, preparing for dinner with her husband, looked up, stabbing the big knife into the soft wooden cutting board. "She said what?" she asked, some anger present in her voice. "Where is she so I can go kill her?"
Caleb looked at Tiffany in surprise. She always knew the girl was a wild card, but didn't realize how volatile she could be. "I thought you and Spencer were friends."
"Yeah, but Toby is basically my brother with blue eyes that stands at six-one. Giant brother trumps friend every time," she explained.
Caleb shrugged. "I guess I see your point."
"Bros before hoes," she said before continuing to cut the vegetables.
"I would also agree with that, but Spencer isn't really a—"
"Could you stop being so politically correct, Shaggy, and just smile and nod?" she snapped comically before going back to chopping.
He put his hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot me, Tiff," he told her.
"I'm sorry, but I get very defensive over family. You know I'd be the same way over you, or Hanna, or Emily," she reminded him.
"Shane?" he asked, inquiring about her husband.
She shrugged. "He never gets involved in trivial stuff like this, but he can fend for himself. He's smart. I trust him to be a grown-up about these things," she said.
"So you're more protective over us than your spouse?" he asked.
She stopped cutting to look up and throw him a very sarcastic look. "No, Smart-Ass. I'm just saying, Shane is so far removed from this kind of drama that it doesn't really matter. There's no secret child of his, no shady ex-girlfriends, nothing of that sort," she said.
"I'm pretty sure you could take them if you needed to. The ex-girlfriends, I mean."
"Oh, if any of the ex-girlfriends got in our business like Chanel is doing with Toby…someone would need to bail me out of jail," she warned.
Caleb laughed. "I'll take note and make sure not to cross you."
"That's probably a good idea, Sketch."
"Hanna, I just feel really awful. What if this is the wrong thing to do?" Spencer inquired as she and Hanna sat down for some tea and coffee.
Hanna sighed as she put some sugar in her teacup. "Oh, Spencer…if you're so concerned, you should talk to Toby about this. I know he knows you care about him very much. If you really aren't ready to be engaged, you did the right thing by saying no. Just because you said no doesn't mean you have to leave," Hanna reminded Spencer.
Spencer bit her lip in nervousness, anyway. She took a sip of her coffee, and then put it down. "It just bothers me a little bit. I need to tell you something, Hanna, and you need to promise not to tell anyone. Really, all roads lead back to Toby. Don't tell Tiffany; she'll tell Toby. Aria will tell Jason, who'll tell Toby. You can either tell Toby or tell Caleb, who will tell Toby, anyway. And Emily will just go up to him and say it," she said.
"I swear, Spence. I won't tell anyone," she promised.
Spencer sighed. "I met up with Chanel the other day, before Toby asked me, and she told me something really important. It's making me feel really sick, not telling anyone about it." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Chanel told me that before Toby engaged to her and they broke it off, she was trying to get pregnant."
Hanna began choking on the tea in her mouth. "Pregnant? Chanel? I'm interested to see how their offspring would turn out…it's satanic spawn," she said. "You know, mixed with Toby's great genes," she added when Spencer shot her a poisonous look.
"I don't think Toby ever knew, but the very thought that his last potential-fiancé was doing something like that…added onto how horrible my last engagement went…it's all too much for me to deal with right now," Spencer explained.
Hanna nodded in agreement, turning to her tea. "All of that, in addition to the fact that as Aria's maid-of-honor, you have the pleasure of planning her wedding. You don't need a second one," Hanna reminded her.
Spencer pressed her palm against her forehead. "Shit," she cursed. "I totally forgot about that." She sighed. "I love Aria, but how much of a bridezilla do you think she'll end up being?"
Hanna shrugged. "I think it depends on what you're planning out. On certain things, I think she'll be worse than others. The photography, she'll be really picky and bitchy about. On stuff like the dress or music or whatever? I doubt she'll care. The bride-to-be might just request a string quartet at the ceremony, but other than that, I doubt she'll make a show of it all," Hanna told her.
Spencer nodded, hoping this would be a lot less painful than she anticipated it to be.
Hanna turned back to Spencer. "I know you said no, but did he show you the ring?"
Spencer shook her head. "He just asked me. I don't even know if he had a ring."
Hanna put her chin on her hands, sighing, though she knew that he did have a ring. "I'm sure it would've been beautiful," she said absentmindedly.
"I'm sure," Spencer said with melancholia filling her voice.
It had been such a long time since Toby had gone to a bar to forget. He had gone for leisure, for a beer, to meet someone there.
Never had he felt so hurt before that he felt no other means of coping than to just drink up and forget.
He supposed, at times like this, it wasn't completely crazy to wish you had never been in love in the first place. Those were dangerous thoughts. The fear they instilled in him were horrible. But they were still there in the recesses of his being.
He sighed as the alcohol began to take effect and he felt his head begin to pound like a hammer on a nail. The pain only increased as time went on.
It struck him, subconsciously, that people never really thought about what would happen if their sweetheart rejected their proposal. They were too busy thinking about the white picket-fence, the cats and dogs, the kids in their future. Never once did it go through a hopeful person's mind that they could be given a no.
He also supposed that this was because it rarely ever happened. In all the movies and books and TV shows, the girl always said yes. There was some sappy, cheesy, romantic proposal grown women would swoon over which the person in question could never even fathom reject. When had there ever been a movie where the guy gets rejected?
Maybe one or two. And he was pretty sure those were flops.
And what was supposed to happen to the couple after she said no? Were things supposed to be forgotten and resolved, then go back to the way things were? Was that even possible? He assumed that was the reason why so many couples broke up after a proposal gone wrong; it was simply too awkward for the relationship to continue.
But he didn't want to lose Spencer. Even in his inebriated state, he could tell how much he wanted to turn back time and take back that proposal.
"Hello," said a voice from behind him.
And even though he was getting very drunk, he could still remember that voice and all the horrible memories it stirred.
Spencer surfed through the channels on Hanna's TV. "I'm glad you paid the cable bill this month, Han," she said as Hanna took out some cookies from the cupboard.
Hanna sat on the couch beside Spencer as Spencer settled on reruns of Friends. "Caleb was nagging me about it. He told me for being totally on time with all of my bills this month, he would pimp out my phone. He did something that lets me make free calls to China."
Spencer raised her eyebrow. "Why would you need to call anyone in China?"
Hanna laughed. "Spence, who cares? It's freaking China. Do you know how much it would cost to be on the phone for like two seconds to someone in Seoul?" she asked.
Spencer examined Hanna. "I'm impressed that you've even heard of Seoul, but that's not in China," she said.
Hanna shrugged. "It's still cool. When I'm bored, I type in random Chinese numbers. People there get a lot more confused when I say random words in Spanish over the phone. What do they speak there again?"
"Cantonese or Mandarin," she answered.
Hanna nodded. "I'm sorry about what happened with you and Toby, but I'm honestly kind of glad that you're here," she confessed.
"Don't you have Caleb?" Spencer asked as she picked up a cookie.
Hanna smiled bittersweetly. "It's not the same as having you around. You're like a sister to me," she confessed.
Spencer smiled before the two girls gave each other a hug and turned back to the show they were watching.
"What do you want?" he asked coldly to the green-eyed snake before him.
The blonde crept slowly to her ex, who was obviously feeling very vulnerable. "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Well, I don't want to talk to you," he responded with a slur. Even though his eyes were glazed over and cloudy from the alcohol, a clear sadness was depicted in his blue irises, the windows to his soul.
She sat down next to him anyway. "Are you okay? Is there something wrong between you and Spencer?" she asked, portraying sincerity.
He was very reluctant to believe it, however. "You don't really care. You don't have to pretend. You just want things to end badly between the both of us," he said venomously.
She sighed. "Just remember that I'm still here, Toby. When things don't work out—"
"If things don't work out," he amended.
"When things don't work out," she continued, ignoring his interjection, "you need to know that I'll be here, just like I've been waiting to do for you. Just remember that, Toby. I've known you. I feel like I've known you for a long time. You've barely known Spencer a year. You've been dating for like eight months. How is she supposed to love you more than I will?"
"Because she knows how to love more than you do. You just know how to be loved."
spoby equals awesomeness: Thank you so much! And trust me, it is flawed, but I get the idea :)
Girlz-Rule: Sorry to disappoint...well, if I was really sorry, I wouldn't have done it, and I might do it again, so I'm not revealing anything about future chapters just yet. You'll get disappointed again.
eveningshades1107: I am the Great Charlemagne. And that sixty percent of you would be right! And my darling, I AM an evil genius here. I think you've all understood how you, my dear sweet readers, are the victims of my capricious moods and incessant personality changes. And since I think I am the fates that be in this stories, I have to say EW, no I don't ship #TeamTanel or #TeamSpandrew. I think someone made up the tag #TeamAndranel, so I figured I might as well resurrect it from the dead...You didn't actually do as poorly as you think. I do have brown hair (but I am short) and yes, I am statistically average, as I have brown eyes. And I'm half-Caucasian, half-Latina, so I'm like a mix (but in essence, yes, white). And to entertain you with the specifics: I may or may not have Cupid's Bow (idk, it kind of looks like I have it, but I still don't know), no Widow's Peek, no freckles (come on, a brunette with freckles? Maybe if you guessed I was a redhead, but I've never met a freckled brunette), and if you had said two birthmarks on my face/head, you would've been right. I just have scar marks on my arms.
LynnLayne18: Yes, deeeeeep breaths, girl. breathe in, breathe out. No comment on Tanel...the one-shots collection will most likely be devoid of any Chanel, to your relief. And I had to look her up, but as far as celebrities go, I really don't look like any of them. I'd say we look more alike than most celebrities and I.
bluebird10023: Sorry I decided to be a bitch...maybe next time...
Spobyforever259: I've captured your feels! Ha ha, I win. I don't know what, but I win. And she didn't lock him out of the bathroom! I'm glad that my writing isn't that predictable. And apparently, you don't stink that much on guessing what I look like, because you kind of have my look down, spot-on. Congrats. You win an award in I don't know what...guessing what people online look like. And I decided not to torture you all, but rather crush your feels with this chapter. I'm such a sadist. Thank you, I know.
spobettes: Just doing my job...that is the job of the Kayson.
AL3110: Yeah, yeah, yeah...you're a crazy thing, too :P
Sylviecake231: *sing-songs* I can't tell you... *clears voice, assumes weird Jenna Marbles voice* And that, my friend, is what I wanted everyone to think, with the morning sickness bit. I don't know, is Spencer actually with child? I might play around with pregnancy this Part (hint, hint), and there is definitely going to be a pregnancy allusion, in some way, shape, or form. This could be a dream, real life, flashback...
vondydora: He might be rushing things a little bit. For your own reference, they've been dating (thus far) about eight or nine months (their relationship started right before the end of Begin Again; this story picks up seven months later, after Tiffany's wedding, and it's been about 6-8 weeks so far in the story). I think Toby sees things as better because he's just ignorant to the things going on with Spencer lately. He doesn't really know the extent of Spencer's harassment with Chanel and Andrew. He's kind of unaware, so things may be better in his mind than in hers. And I am short, I have a tan complexion (not very dark, but darker than most people of Caucasian heritage), short (like you said), and dark hair. The only thing you were wrong in was the length. It's pretty long. It's down to about my elbow.
So I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in ever meeting Tiffany's husband? I just feel like I've been mentioning him a lot, but we've never been formally introduced to him. Plus, I'd just love to see myself writing Tiffany and Shane's blissfully awkward, adorable banter (because I have a pretty good basis for what Shane is like).
And I think I'll update when I get like 165 reviews? I hope! And everyone, PLEASE keep an eye out for that one-shot collection! I've been working very hard on it, but you know how I have a lot on my plate. I'm still very excited for it. -Kayson