Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot.
A/N: In case you guys haven't noticed, chapter 12 is up. :)
Spencer's phone rang on the coffee table, distracting her from her reading. Sighing annoyed as if the person on the other end of the line would stop bothering her, she put the book aside and answered whoever decided to call at this unfortunate time.
"Hi Spencer, what ya doing?"
"Hey Toby, I'm studying right now why?"
"Do you mind helping me with something?" Spencer chuckled silently.
"Nope, not at all. What is it?"
"Hm… Can I come over? I need you to correct an essay that I'm supposed to turn in tomorrow." He sound pleading, hope evident in his sweet voice over the phone.
"Sure, no problem. Are you coming like, right now?" Spencer sounded amused.
"Yeah, do you need anything?" She thanked him for the offer and told him she would see him soon before hanging up.
Spencer was already into her own little Law world when Aria stepped into the living room.
"Spencer, I need your help." Aria asked, being ignored.
"Spencer!" Still nothing.
"SPENCER HASTINGS, YOU EITHER LOOK AT ME NOW OR I'LL RIP THIS BOOK OFF YOUR HANDS AND THROW IT OUT OF THE WINDOW." Spencer slowly glanced up at Aria, lowering her book on her lap, laughing at her little friend's silliness.
"What is it tiny A?"
"I need your help." Had everybody taken the day off to ask me for help?, Spencer thought.
"If you could be more specific it would be of great help." Aria narrowed her eyes at Spencer for being sarcastic then became nervous right away.
"Ezra asked me out on a date and he thought you and Toby were seeing each other, so he sort of wants to double date." Spencer threw a cushion right in Aria's face, slightly knocking her out of balance.
"All you have to do is call him up and inform him that me and Toby are nothing but friends."
"You see, I would have done that right after he popped up the idea, but I'm freaking out to go alone, so I need you and Toby to tag along." Spencer smiled ironically.
"You dated Jason for God knows how long and yet you're afraid to go to a first date? Freaking kidding me Montgomery?" She looked down to start reading again, but once Aria spoke up again she knew the world just didn't want her to read today.
"Spencer I'm serious, it will be less awkward and so much funnier with you guys." The brown haired girl shook her head from her seat on the couch and crossed her arms like a stubborn kid.
"No way, I'm going." Aria let out a frustrated sigh, crossing her arms against her chest just like the girl in front of her.
"Spence, come on, help a friend out. I think you don't want to go because Ezra said you were and item with Toby." The smirk in her friend's lips teased Spencer to the fullest, but she knew she couldn't lose her arguments now. It didn't matter if Aria was right after all, but if she could end up with Aria's reasons for her to join her, she would win this battle.
"Oh ple-ease Aria. I just don't see any sense on going to a double date with you."
Trying to rationalize and come up with an excuse good enough so Spencer had to come, Aria grabbed the nearest cushion and threw at Spencer's face, pissing her off more.
"Pretty please Spence, I really don't want to go alone." Her voice changed an octave higher, pleading more than asking.
With a roll of her brown eyes, Spencer threw her book on the middle table in front of her, completely giving up on trying continuing reading.
"Seriously Ari, try to understand my side here. Me and Toby would be like a third wheel and Ezra's my professor which will only add more awkwardness to it." A knock on the door interrupted her talking, Aria walking away to open the front door.
When she came face to 'chest' to the person who could save her life right at that moment, she smiled big, pulling him in.
"Toby, hey…!" She wrapped her arms around his torso once he was inside and whispered just for him to hear, "help me out". He didn't have time to agree, disagree or even ask what she was talking about for he was being pulled into the living room by the tiny brunette in front of him. He saw an annoyed Spencer on the sofa, with her legs tugged under her, she looked frustrated, but to him, she still managed to look beautiful, even with little make up on.
"Spencerrr… Look who's here." Aria singsong happily, while Spencer just smiled at Toby.
"I knew he was coming you."
"How would you know that? Anyway, your date is finally here, so we're going." Aria smirked, realizing that maybe she had Spencer trapped now.
"What exactly is going on here?" Toby spoke up, walking across the room to sit beside Spencer after placing his backpack on the floor near the couch.
"I have a date with Ezra and he suggested we double date, you and Spencer, me and him. But…, Spencer doesn't want to go." He looked at Aria's hopeful smile and then at Spencer who was glaring at her friend.
"Come on, let's join them. I'll be honored to be your date." His elbow meeting her ribs playfully, teasing her, Spencer slowly opened up a big smile. "Shut up Toby, you don't know half the story or the reason why I don't want to go." She was giggling as he still teased her with pokes to her side.
As she was too busy giggling, he took her lack of explanation as a yes. "Alright, we'll go then." She immediately stopped and help his fingers against her palms, to end his attacks.
"Toby, nooooo. Ezra thinks we're seeing each other."
"Aren't we?" He smirked teasingly, getting away from her hands grip.
"Noo, of course not." She said smiling, in no way meaning to hurt his feelings, and he knew that.
"That's the point then, he doesn't know that. We can pull up an act or something, just so we can help Aria, she's your best friend, and plus Ezra will be all over her, he won't even notice us there." His begging face almost matched Aria's, except that his blue eyes were added to help Spencer give in.
"You're a great friend Cavanaugh." Spencer said sarcastically, slapping his forearm that rested beside her, and right at that moment he knew she was on the edge of agreeing on double dating with Aria.
"Yeah I know. Now can you be a great friend yourself and correct my essay?" His blue eyes met her brown ones and they both smiled, coming to a silent agreement. Meanwhile, Aria was witnessing their little exchange and instead of interrupting them she walked away to her room to get ready to her date, which, hopefully, Spencer would be a part of.
"What is it about?" Toby put out of his backpack he brought along his MacBook and handed it over to Spencer.
"How architecture started and a few curiosities about interior design." Spencer chuckled as she waited for his computer to come to life.
"I don't know anything about that, how am I supposed to correct it?" Toby typed in his password, which Spencer accidently saw it was something like 1, 2, 3 and 4.Of course she didn't let him know she now knew his supper strong and safe code, it could come in handy someday.
"How many pages?" As the desktop popped up, she saw his background was a whole bunch of old and new pictures, one in special caught her eyes. An younger Toby with a beautiful young blonde woman and a happy man beside them. Before she could see any more, Toby had opened the saved document his work was in.
"Just about 30." She gasped surprised and playfully hit the back of his head.
"Ouch I'll do something in return for you. I promise, anything." He smiled innocently, wrapping one arm around her shoulder.
"Alright then, give me a back rub while I read." He smirked and got up, walking all the way around the couch.
"Luckily for you I have the best back rub on town." His hands met her warm shoulders, a new chill running through his hands all the way down to his belly. He never felt something similar, so he decided to ignore it.
About 15 minutes later, Spencer was half way through his essay when Toby informed his thumbs were hurting, and she excused him from paying his debt.
"Did you write this yourself?" She asked him, her eyes fixed on the screen, not blinking once.
"Yeah, is it that bad?" He lowered his head to look at the floor out of embarrassment, he had tried his best to write that essay, but he knew Spencer's vocabulary was much bigger than his, so his writing would hardly ever look like hers.
"What? No, it's amazing." Toby felt proud to have received such a compliment from her, he knew her standards of study and if she said his writing was amazing, she was really meaning something.
He knew she wasn't paying attention to him, so he let his huge smile right where it was, plastered on his lips, his heart warming up of pride and joy. It was long ago since he felt like this, like he was worth something more than just a pretty face.
More 20 minutes later and Spencer was done, having saved the corrected file and given Toby his MacBook back. Truth was, she changed a max of 25 words that just sounded out of place, but still they were making sense. She then realized a side of Toby she thought he didn't have, the bright side of him, the side that even if she didn't want to admitted, sort of looked like her.
"Thank you so much Spence." Toby gave her a quick one arm hug and pulled away when he heard Aria calling for Spencer's help to pick out a dress.
"Maybe you should go get ready as well. Not too fancy though, I only brought this." He joked after she got up to answer to her friend's desperate call. Before she walked away she took one last glance at his clothes, which were black jeans with gray Vans and a graphic white shirt, written 'enjoy life'. And just like that she walked away, leaving him alone on the couch.
Toby thought he looked normal, his everyday clothing option. Indeed he would have chosen better ones if he knew he was going out with the girls, but that was what he had at the moment. The only concern he had in mind was how Ezra would go dressed, after all he was older and had majored English, and right there he felt insecure for the first time of how Spencer would see him.
Deciding it would be better for him to snap out of it and make sure time passed fast as he waited for the girls to get ready. He turned the TV on ESPN and got comfortable on the couch, already feeling at home.
"TOUCHDOWN." Toby cheered loudly as he threw his hands up, making the booty dance he always did whenever he was alone, except that right now he wasn't. He had failed to hear the girls' footsteps approaching the living room from the hallway, and so Spencer witnessed his butt shaking from side to side.
"Nice dance Tobs." She was biting the inside of her cheeks to keep her from laughing out loud. A very blushed Toby turned around, eyeing her new clothes, a summer flowery dress and sandals, looking just as simple as him, but managing to take his breath away.
Once Aria stepped into the room, he also checked her clothes, a last minute decision of a black tank top along with black sandals and denim shorts.
"You both look beautiful." Though he really meant for both of them, he turned his eyes to look at Spencer again when speaking up, perhaps meaning to say more directly to her than to Aria.
"What happened to your hair Cavanaugh?" He simply struggled his shoulders and watched as she walked over to him and started to put his messy hair back in place.
"Awww, you guys are already acting like a couple, keep up the good work. Now let's go, come on." Aria picked on them, earning different answers. Toby just blushed while Spencer rolled her eyes dramatically and mumbled something inappropriate. And with that they were out of the door into the nice night breeze in the street.
Being the only one with a vehicle, Toby drove them to the diner Ezra told them the date would be. It was a small place that served Italian. A table of 6 teenage friends competed with the soft music playing when they talked loudly. A pair of elderly was finishing their dishes, visually bothered by the type of language the adolescents were using. On a far corner, in a rectangular table with four plates, waited Ezra looking nervous as hell.
Once he saw Aria he smiled big, a big weight lifting itself from his shoulders, immediately getting up to greet her. Toby and Spencer were side by side behind Aria, and when Toby reached out to hold Spencer's hand out of fun she just let him, a smile creeping on his lips.
Ezra smiled at them and offered his hand for Toby to shake it, and just for that split second Toby hated him for making him let go of Spencer's hand in order to greet him properly. Spencer shortly following Toby's actions, feeling just out of place as him.
"Nice to personally meet you Toby." Ezra made small conversation as they all sat down. Spencer beside Toby, Aria beside Ezra.
"Yeah, me too." Little was asked about Spencer and Toby being a couple, the spotlight was mainly on Ezra or Aria, and for that Spencer was thankful.
Whenever the couple in front of them got oblivious about their presence, Toby started to somehow keep Spencer interested, after all he begged her to come.
At first he started with pokes and sneaky jokes here and there. Then he changed to placing his hand on Spencer's knee and act like an old man engrossed in Ezra's conversation, making Spencer giggle silently and slap his hand away. When Ezra wasn't paying attention, most of the time, Toby would turn around and place a quick sneaky kiss to Spencer's hair. Why? Just because he wanted to, and as long as Spencer smiled he would do it. The very first time he pulled this on up she blushed, but realized nobody had noticed, not even the bored waitress on the cashier. Then after a couple of repeated kissed near her temple, she decided to have fun as well and started to turn around, making him lose his balance a couple of times.
Anyway, they each ordered a different meal, and when it arrived, conversation was short, just a compliment here and there about the food.
"Is yours good?" Spencer asked Toby very quietly, afraid she would draw attention to them. Toby turned to her and nodded enthusiastically. She laughed silently and asked if she could a little bite of his dish. Being the gentleman Toby was, or sometimes proved to be, he fed her to his pasta, a piece of spaghetti somehow getting stuck on her chin. While she was looking for her napkin to clean it, Toby beat her to it and grabbed the piece of pasta himself and ate it, smirking her way.
Ezra was glancing at them right at that moment, and wiped his mouth with his napkin before speaking up. "You guys are great couple." Spencer was about to comment on her relationship status with Toby when Aria kicked her under table, instead she just smiled at Ezra.
"Can I taste your dish? It looks delicious." Aria spoke up, breaking the silence. Ezra mimicked Toby's actions and fed Aria a spoon of his gnocchi.
The rest of their date normal, each ´couple' shared a dessert, each men paid for their respective lady. Once they were on their way outside Toby grabbed Spencer's hand yet again, more to tease her than to prove something.
"Would you guys like to walk around before leaving?" Ezra asked, one hand tucked on his front pocket and the other reaching out to hold Aria's delicate hand. With glowing brown eyes, Aria silently begged Spencer to say yes, which she did with a simple nod of her head, still holding on to Toby's warm hand.
She honestly didn't know why she let him hold hands with her, perhaps it was the feeling of having him close to her in such a different new way, or maybe the tingling sensation she got every time he caress the top of her hand with his thumb. The simplest answer she came up with in her head was because it was easier to pretend to be dating Toby than to have Aria explain why she didn't tell Ezra they weren't.
"Are you feeling chilly?" Toby snapped Spencer out of her thoughts as they walked on the sidewalk, admiring the cars passing by.
"Just a little." Toby immediately let go of her hand just to his arm around her shoulder and bring her closer, an attempt to warm her up.
His body against hers felt strong and warm, and suddenly Spencer wasn't feeling chilly anymore. She swore she didn't know Toby had this soft side to him, sure he had stayed with them after they had watched Paranormal Activity and were too scare to sleep alone, sure he had taken care of her when she had a little bit too much to drink, but still this side was new, and she sure as hell like it.
"Ezra thought about going to the movies, are you guys in?" Aria announced a couple of feet away from the couple ahead of her.
"Nah, it's alright, you guys go ahead. We'll just go home." Spencer said, walking up to them to say good night, Toby right after her, grabbing her hand in his.
Once they had parted separate ways, Ezra and Aria to Ezra's car, and her and Toby to Toby's car, Spencer giggled.
"You can let go of my hand now, they're not with us." Spencer teased Toby, still giggling.
"I know." He chuckled, not moving an inch away from her nor her hand.
"Then let go." When she playfully tried to pull her hand away, he tighten his grip around her fingers, making her laugh.
"What if I don't want to huh?" Spencer elbowed his ribs, not strong enough to hurt of course, but enough for him to let go.
"Wow real mature Spence." He paid back and elbowed her arm, slightly knocking her out of balance, as they continued their walk to his car.
A/N: Well, here it was. And I'm sorry for the wait. Good news, I already have the next two chapters ready so just review and I'll update them. I just want to say, that this is probably the worst chapter I've written. I wrote this long 5,000 words chapter and I had to split it up so I can reread the second part and make it better.
Seriously guys, I love you and thank you for sticking up with me. Review and I'll be forever grateful!
Love you