A/N: Two chapters back to back - make sure you got chapter 15 too. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 16

The month of January had expired as fast as it had arrived with New Year's Eve. Holmes was recovering quickly with help from physical therapy and constant doctor's appointments, which meant that he needed less and less help around the house, much to his excitement. His dad had put a down payment on a brand new Ford Explorer for him with the understanding that he would make his own monthly payments. And fortunately, Holmes's mood had improved considerably – with the exception of when his dad flew back to Georgia. Nobody in the house had even wanted to interact with him for a short time after that, for fear of having their throats torn out. Within a couple of days, however, he had adjusted to the change and was back to himself.

He and Hanna were still adjusting to their new relationship, which often threw Toby and Spencer off guard. None of them were quite used to it yet, and there were still days where watching Holmes and Hanna kiss was likened to an inexplicable acid trip.

With the dawning of February, Spencer's neuroticism became more unbridled. The wedding was fast approaching, and before any of them knew it, it was a matter of mere days away. Her anxiety had been through the roof with the final wedding arrangements, and her classes were not helping matters. Toby had attempted to calm her down one day with the suggestive idea of taking a bath together. After all, the last time they had been intimate was the day she got home from the hospital. In response, she had practically screamed at him about how they weren't allowed to have sex until their wedding night, leaving him feeling nothing short of terrified…and sexually frustrated.

The Monday before the wedding she had taken one look at Holmes and burst into tears. When asked what was wrong, she stammered about something to do with coordinating his crutches into the ceremony. Then she had begun to bawl even harder as she apologized for being so selfish. In desperate hopes to appease her, Holmes had tossed his crutches onto the floor.

"I can handle it," he had said. "See?"

But then, of course, when he stumbled to the ground, Spencer only hiccupped in despair.

She had cheered up substantially when Aria and Emily arrived in town on Thursday morning. The two of them and Hanna had spent much of the day trying to reassure Spencer, and remind her of the festivities happening with her bachelorette party that night.

"You're right. You're right!" Spencer declared finally on Thursday evening as she slammed her laptop shut. The girls had come out to stage an intervention and force her to get ready for her party. They were already dressed and ready to go, and Spencer – the bride herself – was holding back the entire night. After all, dinner time had come and gone and the boys had left a few hours prior to meet Lancaster, Jason, and Ezra.

"I know I'm right!" Hanna agreed as she and Aria bodily lifted Spencer from her chair and began pushing her towards the bathroom. "You need to get dressed and let us doll you up."

"I don't need to be dolled up," Spencer protested.

"Yeah, you do," Emily cried. "It's your bachelorette party!"

"Yeah, you don't have a bachelorette party in your sweats, Spence," Aria said.

Spencer sighed and allowed the girls to proceed. Within a half an hour, her hair and makeup were finished, and she was practically being pulled out the door. It wasn't as though she hadn't looked forward to tonight – that wasn't it at all. She was simply concerned that there was so much to double and triple check before Saturday and that there ultimately wouldn't be enough time.

Aria seemed to read her mind in the limo, sending a swift kick into her shin. "Lighten up, Spencer. Tonight's about you."

"Yeah," Hanna chirped, handing Spencer a glass of the champagne she had found in the limo's fridge. Spencer accepted it begrudgingly.

"You know we have to pay for that. Right, Han?"

"I'm the maid of honor," Hanna retaliated with a dismissive wave of her hand. Spencer sighed.

"You've been saying that all week," she stated. "You've been using it as an excuse for everything. And to be honest, I'm not really sure how it works."

Hanna rolled her eyes in Spencer's direction. "I'm the maid of honor," she repeated firmly, as though it sufficed for explanation.

"That better translate to 'I'll take care of it'," Spencer chuckled. "Because God knows I need you as a safety net right now."

"Drink," Emily commanded, pushing Spencer's glass of champagne closer to her face. Spencer allowed herself to smile at last, bringing the flute to her face and taking a sip.

"Mmm!" she mumbled through a mouthful of champagne. "God, that's good stuff…"

"I told you," Hanna said, flipping her blond hair behind her shoulder.

"What do you suppose the guys are doing?" Aria asked curiously as she sipped her own. Hanna shrugged dramatically.

"Probably losing all of their money at the casino," she scoffed. "I'll tell you what, Derek better be damn careful about what he spends, when he has that car to pay off…"

"I'm never going to get used to that," Spencer quipped. "You calling him Derek."

"What is she supposed to do?" Aria demanded. "You can't very well scream out 'Holmes!' during sex, right?"

The blatant statement had caused Hanna to cough into her glass of champagne. She pulled it away and wiped her chin, a scandalized look on her face. "Aria Montgomery!"

"What?" Aria asked innocently. Emily and Spencer were both staring at her as well. Her comment had been more along the lines of something Hanna would say than Aria. "I'm just being realistic!"

"So – I mean – have you?..." Emily began shyly.

"No!" Hanna cried indignantly. She collected herself quickly and cleared her throat. "I mean…no…we haven't. Not yet. We're still kind of getting over the whole hump of going from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend…"

"Hanna," Spencer declared with mock surprise. "You said the word 'hump' and didn't laugh!"

"Oh, my God, I did," Hanna breathed. "His maturity is rubbing off on me, isn't it?" She took a long sip of champagne, downing her glass in one.

"Yeah, knock it off!" Aria laughed. "We need wild Hanna tonight."

"Oh, she'll be there," Hanna agreed. "I've never been to a bachelorette party, and I am not about to be a buzz kill for my first one."

By the time the girls arrived at the club, the bottle of champagne was already working its way through their systems. Before they stepped out of the limo, Hanna suddenly remembered something.

"I almost forgot!" she cried, pulling out a plastic bag that had been shoved in the back with her purse. From within it, she unearthed a white sash that read 'bachelorette' in cursive pink writing as well as a tiara with fuzzy pink adornments.

"No," Spencer declared. "I'm not wearing those."

"How is anyone supposed to know that you're the center of attention tonight if you don't?" Emily demanded.

This reasoning was quite solid for Spencer. She did want everyone she met tonight to know that she was about to tie the knot with the most wonderful man in the world…

"All right," she sighed. "Why the hell not?"

"I told you it was a good idea to wait until she drank a little before you gave it to her," Aria muttered to Hanna.

Part of Spencer wanted to be annoyed at this manipulation. The other part of her felt entirely too high to care. She pulled the sash over her shoulder and placed the tiara into her curls. "Good?"

"Perfect!" Hanna declared. "All right. Let's get inside before you change your mind."

The inside of the club was chaotic, that was for sure. What with the booming bass and the incessant strobe lights, Spencer's buzz increased twofold by just walking through the door. The girls were already pulling her towards the bar eagerly, shoving her onto a stool.

"Get this girl a shot!" Hanna commanded. "It's her bachelorette party!"

The crowd around them whooped enthusiastically, and before Spencer knew it, a number of total strangers were shoving various shots of alcohol in her direction. She was downing them faster than she would have ever thought possible, and was feeling considerably more relaxed. When Aria at last pulled her to her feet, Spencer stumbled giggly to the dance floor.

"I love this song!" Hanna declared loudly as a dance remix of the Black-Eyed Peas came over the sound system. She held fast to Spencer's hands as she danced with her, which Spencer was silently grateful for. If she wasn't holding on, she wasn't sure she would be able to maintain any semblance of balance. She needed to metabolize some of the liquor from her veins – that was for sure. The lights were blaring more brightly and the music was thumping in her muscles. And she had to admit, the feeling of it was intoxicating.

"Hey baby."

Spencer turned. A group of men in probably their mid-twenties had approached the girls, and one of them was looking intently at Emily. "Let me buy you a drink," he said.

"I'm sorry," Emily stated bluntly. "I'm gay."

"Sure," the guy dismissed. "They all say that. C'mon, just one drink."

"She is gay!" Hanna shouted over the music. "In fact…she's my girlfriend."

Emily shot Hanna a look of panic. Hanna, however, was expertly carrying on the façade. "So if you don't mind, we'd like to be left alone."

"If you're lesbians," one of the guy's wingmen began, "prove it."

Before Spencer even knew what was happening, Hanna had grabbed Emily's face in her hands and was planting a kiss on her lips. She and Aria stopped dead in their tracks as they watched. It was like a car crash – as morbid as it felt, they simply could not look away.

When Hanna pulled back, she looked as confident as ever. Emily, on the other hand, was blushing scarlet from head to toe.

"Proof enough?" Hanna asked roughly. The guys were already walking away to find another group of girls to meet. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" she yelled after them, though they were long gone.

"Hanna!" Emily declared brashly. "What did you do that for?"

"Sorry," Hanna chirped. "Just trying to make them go away. We don't need any boys bothering us tonight."

Spencer doubled over in laughter. Try as she might to hold it in, the alcohol content in her blood stream could not negotiate any amount of seriousness about what had just happened. "Hanna – you kissed Emily!" she guffawed.

"I know," Hanna said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I was there."

Spencer's laughter was somehow contagious though. The other three girls were soon in identical tears of mirth, clutching to one another for balance and gasping for breath.

"Thanks for making me come out tonight, guys," Spencer said at last, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "I'm having a blast."

"You can't get married without having a bachelorette party," Aria agreed. "It's like, a rite of passage."

"Oh, my God," Hanna cried, grabbing onto Spencer's wrist. "You're getting married in 42 hours!"

Spencer looked at her watch for clarification. It was ten o'clock – her wedding ceremony started at four o'clock on Saturday.

"I'm getting married in 42 hours!" she declared. Excitement was bubbling up in her chest now as she pictured Toby standing at the end of the aisle in his tux, his baby blue eyes shining across the hall at her. She imagined him reciting his vows to her as he clung to her hands, feeling self-conscious about everybody staring up at them. Toby had never been the type to be the center of attention. Spencer, on the other hand, thrived off of it. He would need her to stabilize him and calm his anxiety. And she couldn't think of any other way she would want to spend her wedding day – comforting the man she loved.

"Let's get another shot to celebrate!" Aria hollered over the music. She had grabbed onto Spencer's hand and was leading her through the crowd and back to the bar. Spencer's mind was still on Toby, and she wondered if he was having as much fun as she was. She hoped so. He deserved to enjoy himself tonight, too.

And suddenly – as a bride-to-be so typically does – she couldn't wait until the end of the night when she could be wrapped in his arms once more.