Author's Note: I wasn't going to tell you guys this, but I am secretly pulling all of your legs. I am actually not a Spoby shipper. I am a Wrencer shipper, one-hundred percent.
You see, I just fell completely, devastatingly in love with them, especially after the recent turmoil which Toby and Spencer have gone through with the whole him being A. I have stopped trusting Toby Cavanaugh. It's sad. He just fell from favor. I don't know how else to put it.
So in swoops that beautiful English bird and I kind of just felt a thousand tiny violins playing bittersweet symphony. I fell.
So, what I am trying to say by this long, winded author's note is that I am sorry, but you have all been rickrolled. Wrencer is my endgame. Sorry not sorry.
Chapter Twenty-Three
She arrived home, not realizing just how late it was. She scrambled to get to their bedroom, but was upset to see he was already fast asleep.
Not wanting to wake him, she just changed into her pajamas and slid in bed next to him.
She was so anxious. How was she to tell him the next day about everything? How was she going to fix it? She knew she was going to, regardless of what anyone said.
Her thoughts continued to roam, until she eventually grew tired and fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke up to the sound of an alarm. It was the alarm she usually got up with. She always woke up long before Toby, so she thought that she had time.
Of course, when she looked over her shoulder, she found that he was nowhere to be found; just her luck.
"Toby?" she called out quietly, hoping he'd reappear. "Toby?" she repeated, louder this time.
"Toby?" she asked again as she crept into the main living area.
Neatly folded, she saw a letter on the kitchen counter with her name on it. Nervously, she picked it up, reading it.
So Toby had left already.
Just her luck.
Less than three hours later, she had called the hotel he was staying at to see if he had gotten there already (once more, using the alibi that she was his wife). Apparently, he had gotten there about an hour ago.
I can't just let him leave that easily.
She completed a quick round of lighting packing and within twenty minutes, was out the door and en route to New York.
"Have you spoken to Spencer? I've been calling her all morning and she hasn't picked up," Emily said as she was fumbling with her phone.
Tiffany shook her head. "I saw her yesterday. She was flipping about Toby. I feel so bad for both of them. They're just really scared about everything."
"Looks like the honeymoon is finally over."
Tiffany nodded in agreement. Before they could say anything else about the situation, Hanna came running over to their table in the restaurant, sliding before she sat down next to Tiffany.
"Did Spencer call you?" Hanna asked, out of breath.
"No—"
"That girl is crazy," Hanna declared.
Emily furrowed her eyebrows, confused at what Hanna was getting at. "What makes you say that?"
"Because she called me about half an hour ago, telling me about how she had just gotten to New York City and was waiting to check into the hotel," Hanna answered.
"She's in New York? Why?" Tiffany inquired.
Hanna shrugged. "I know Toby was going there. She probably went to follow him," Hanna theorized.
They all thought for a minute.
As she thought about it more and more, Tiffany's blood began to boil. She knew who was to blame for a lot of this. Sure, Spencer and Toby had their own faults, but there was certainly a catalyst.
She was going to get revenge on that bitch.
She looked around the room. He obviously wasn't here.
Sighing, she hid her suitcase in the closet. The room was void of any evidence he was there, which made her wonder where he was.
You don't need to stay here all day, waiting around.
Nodding and agreeing with herself, she exited.
Spencer spent the rest of the day wandering around New York, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Times Square, and Broadway.
She stopped by Rockefeller Center, where the great Christmas tree was already lit for the upcoming holiday and there were couples skating.
Suddenly, she remembered coming to New York with her parents and older sister, Melissa, when she was ten years old. She remembered watching the couples skate and thinking about what it would be like to have someone to skate with like that when she got older.
Now, she looked longingly at them.
After the tiring fifteen minutes or so of punishing herself due to her inability to keep a man, Spencer headed back to the hotel. She walked up the stairs slowly, worn out from the day of walking and hopping on and off of subway trains.
She debated knocking on the door, but decided to just open it. Once again, the room was empty, but the lights were all turned on, so she assumed he was back.
She looked around the room, peering in the bathroom and seeing it left open ajar, with the light turned on. She looked outside and barely saw a figure outside, just outside the light from the room.
Some part of her wanted to go over there and talk to him, but the other part wanted him to find her.
She decided to go out onto the balcony. She sat down on the ground beside him.
He looked at her, very confused.
"Hi, Toby," Spencer said finally.
Chanel walked out of the bar, her brightly colored heels clacking against the pavement. It was pretty dark out and rather silent.
She was too caught up in her own mind to hear heels clacking behind her.
The person followed her all the way back to her apartment, finally making their presence known just about twenty feet away from the front door of her building, right in front of a dark alley.
"Hey, bitch. We need to talk."
Chanel stopped abruptly. She recognized the voice. But why would they want to confront her?
"Tiffany? What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.
Tiffany sighed. "Oh, Chanel. You're just as ditzy as ever."
Chanel waited for Tiffany to explain herself. Tiffany sighed and went on. "You're messing with my friends and I don't like it," she explained.
Chanel just stared at her blankly. "Why are you the one confronting me? Did Spencer not have the guts to come and do it herself?"
"Okay, you listen here, bitch. You're not going to talk about Spencer like that, okay? Unlike you, she deserves Toby and she is thankful for him and she doesn't treat him like he's inferior in any way. Unlike you, she treats him right and he actually loves her."
Chanel tossed her hair over her shoulder. "So why are you getting involved?"
Tiffany glared at her. "Listen, Spencer is too nice to come and confront you, so I'll play carrier pigeon for now. Stay the hell away from the both of them."
Chanel rolled her eyes.
"And I can say whatever the hell I want since you won't hit me."
Chanel narrowed her eyes. "How can you be so sure?"
Tiffany would play along with it. "Well, for one, I'm pregnant, so you can't hit me, and two, it would be a hate crime since I'm so small."
Chanel looked her up and down. "From what I remember, you're five-five. You're average height."
"I'm short compared to you, Grasshopper Legs."
Chanel sighed, rolling her eyes. "Is there anything else you'd like to say while you're here?"
"I'm a badass bitch and you don't scare me," Tiffany said with a small smile. "And also…you should probably get a better plastic surgeon since it looks like yours put in two different size implants and did it unevenly," she commented.
Chanel scowled, looking down at her chest insecurely.
Tiffany smiled. "Alright, well, have a nice life!" she said as she brushed past Chanel. She then turned around. "But if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to start something with you, when I am not with child. Are we clear?"
Chanel rolled her eyes in response. Tiffany accepted this and walked off feeling very content with herself.
"What are you doing here, Spencer?"
She looked out at the starry Manhattan night. "I'm doing the same thing you did for me in Paris," she said. She finally looked up at him. "I miss you. I'm not going to let you go," she said firmly.
He reached for my hand. "I'm so sorry for ever making you feel that way," he said apologetically, his voice cracking.
Spencer wiped away a silent tear. "When I broke up with Andrew, I didn't fight it. I just accepted that I couldn't change anything about what happened. But with you, I'm willing to fight whatever to stay with you because I love you so much. It's just hard because…I feel like we're both giving up now," she confessed.
"I'm sorry that I haven't been as open and affectionate with you as I should have been," he told me. "You deserve better than that." She gave a small scoff, not really believing that statement. "But I need to tell you something. When we had the argument at the restaurant and you walked out, Chanel was there and I…um…"
Oh no.
"I let her kiss me," he said.
Spencer found herself letting out a small breath of relief. "Really? I need to tell you something, too. I kind of…I got really drunk and I kissed Andrew," she confessed.
Toby was clearly somewhat frustrated by that, but realized that he made the same mistake.
"Toby…can we just agree that the only lips we want to kiss are each other's?" Spencer asked.
Toby smiled and nodded. "I couldn't agree with you more," he told her.
Spencer smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. It made her think of something.
"I'm tired of dealing with the past," she said, capturing his undivided attention. "Chanel, Andrew…they were the past. You're my future. They don't matter to me." She took his hands in her own. "You do. So if it's still on the table, I'd like to try for you and me looking at a future together. It just doesn't feel right if my future isn't with you. And honestly, I can't picture it any other way."
Toby took a moment to think about this. "Am I dreaming, or are you saying what I hope you're saying?"
Spencer broke out into a smile. "Do you still want to get married?"
"Are you serious?" Toby asked, pulling away so he could try and extract himself from the incredible euphoria she gave him.
She laughed. "Toby, do I have to pinch you or something to make you believe me?" she asked.
He smiled. "Can I ask you again? Can we have the proposal I wanted us to have?" he asked as he began to look through his pocket for the ring.
"You carry the ring around with you?" she inquired.
"I'm a glutton for punishment, but I guess I'm glad I had it with me now," he said as he finally found it. "And it helps me think of my mother," he added.
Spencer looked at him with amazement in her brown eyes. "How did I ever get so lucky to find you?"
"Actually, I think it was me who found you, smoking on a terrace garden and giving yourself lung cancer."
Spencer rolled her eyes. "Hey, we all have our vices," she said defensively.
He just smiled at her as he took the ring out of the box. He felt his hands shaking slightly. Spencer stood up and he stayed on the ground, getting on one knee.
"Spencer, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?" he asked.
She gave him a small laugh. "Of course, I will," Spencer said as he slid the ring on her finger.
She stared at it. "Toby, it's gorgeous," she said.
"It was my mother's ring. She left it in her will for me," he said, his voice adulterated with a tint of melancholy. "She told me to give it to a really special girl and I know that that girl is you," he explained.
She finally kissed him on the lips. It was their first kiss as an engaged couple.
"I'm sorry for the secrets and the lies and not telling the truth," he told her as they walked into the room.
"I'm sorry for not letting you in and not going to you for help. I know that you'd do anything for me, just like I would do for you," she answered.
Spencer couldn't stop staring at the ring. So many thoughts went through her mind.
"I have to bring you to dinner with my parents and we have so much to do before we get married. When do you want to get married? Do you want to go to a church or a chapel? I don't know, I'm kind of torn. I mean, they're beautiful but I—"
"Spence, do you ever get the impression that you walk way too much?" he asked her with a small smile.
She hit him playfully. "Get used to it, since you'll be dealing with it for the rest of your life," she said.
"Good. I can't imagine life any other way," he said before kissing her sweetly on the lips.
"I think we should tell everyone on Christmas Eve," Spencer announced.
"Are you going to visit your family for Christmas?"
Spencer shook her head. "They go to their house in Vancouver to go ski for Christmas," she explained. "I'll be with you this Christmas," she said with a smile.
"Good. I didn't want to be away from my fiancé. And I don't like spending Christmas alone."
Spencer frowned. "Why would you be spending Christmas alone?" she asked.
"My family and I are estranged, especially after my step-sister's suicide. I just couldn't take them anymore. I left the day I turned eighteen and I don't want to go back."
Spencer tried to imagine spending Christmases alone and suddenly ached to have spent every past Christmas with him. She couldn't imagine feeling so alone.
"Well, you'll never have to be alone again," she promised.
He smiled as she took his hand.
Addictedtospoby: Ooh, okay, I think I got it. You live near Quebec, which is (if I'm not mistaken) a mainly French-Canadian province, but Ottawa is more English, right? That's cool. Quebec is kind of close to the USA, right? It's not one of those northern provinces? Or am I totally mistaken? And I'll make sure to include that for you.
mickeymack16: Okay. Well, I'm still here, so your views and reviews are much appreciated :) And I don't know...will they have a happy ending?
mrs-cavanaugh: Hmm...interesting...
Girlz-Rule: Thank you!
Spobyforever259: Very interesting, indeed. I love giving mini heart attacks. I think that's the thrill of being a writer and having the liberty to leave people on a cliffhanger (which won't go unanswered for terribly long, unlike in published books). You're the only one who said anything about Andrew not taking advantage of her and I was a bit surprised. Non-bitchy Alison was a good change from the norm :)
Guest: Glad to know you're happy and that you loved Alison. It was nice not seeing her as a bitch for once :)
AL3110: I actually do sometimes get the impression that you hate me sometimes. JK, but really...
PrettyLittleDoctorWho: I'll consider all of this while writing, but I'm feeling a bit draconian and a bit like Marlene. I feel like betraying all of you. Not really, but I'm trying method writing. But I'll think of all this. I hope you continue your story because it's interesting and I like giving little shout-outs to some of my favorite stories when I finish a story. This time, I was considering it being mostly just my author friends here on fanfiction who are just the most amazing reviewers ever.
eveningshades1107: Aah! I uploaded this chapter and didn't get you in! Alison and Tiffany were the best original (or semi-original) characters I think I've created. Wait, but we have Chanel and Cassidy, too...ugh, I can't choose. Oh, well I'll stick with Tiffany, since she seems like the best, safest answer.
If you're all still alive after this, I would love 10 reviews before I update (and I need some time to write the next chapter, mind you).
It's wedding time! -Kayson