I know I posted the last chapter very recently, but I thought I'd throw this one out there and give you guys a bit of happiness to ease the gloom for the moment. I'm about to start publishing another story I've been working very hard on, so I'll probably alternate between posting chapters of this one and the other. So please keep reading and reviewing this story, and I hope to see some of you over in my other one. :)

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November 8th

The stands erupted with the sounds of wild cheering and clapping. Spencer was on her feet too, screaming along with the rest as Emily finished a length ahead of the other girl. This was only a practice meet, but it had still generated a good turnout. The crowd had been so thick that when Spencer had arrived, twenty minutes into the meet, she hadn't been able to spot her friends at first. Finally she'd caught sight of Hanna, who had taken the day off work to come and cheer Emily on, and made her way over to her. Aria was nowhere to be seen.

"She's still got it," Hanna said proudly, watching Emily climb out of the pool and shake hands with the other competitors. Spencer glanced sideways at Hanna, unsure if she was referring to her swimming prowess or the way she rocked the swimsuit look.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Spencer announced. "You want anything?"

Hanna shook her head, and Spencer started weaving her way through the crowd. As she waited in line, slightly crushed in the throng of people, she felt someone tap her on the arm. Expecting it to be a little kid or somebody who had accidentally bumped her with their bag, she was surprised to find herself looking into a pair of familiar eyes.

"Hey Spence," Aria said.

They hadn't spoken since Aria had stormed out of Spencer's room a week ago. Spencer had tried calling, but there'd been no answer; she'd even gone over to Aria's dorm, but her roommate had told her she was out – despite the fact Spencer could hear Aria on the phone in the other room. She was so surprised to see Aria here that she was struck speechless.

"Can we talk?" Aria asked.

"S-sure." Spencer ducked out of the line and followed Aria to the bathroom, which was the only quiet place they could find. The door closed behind them, and there was a silence which Spencer didn't know how to interpret. She looked at herself in the mirror, fixing her hair and touching up her makeup, waiting for Aria to speak.

"How've you been?" Aria said at last.

Spencer turned around and surveyed her, trying to figure out if this was a joke. Were they just going to pretend the last week hadn't happened? Was she about to act like she hadn't been ignoring her? "I've been okay."

Aria leaned against the sink, playing with the chunky bead necklace she wore; on anyone else it would look childish, but she managed to make it look trendy. "I'm sorry about the other day. I shouldn't have run off like that."

A rush of relief washed over Spencer. She'd thought she'd crossed the line, that maybe Aria didn't want anything to do with her anymore. And to be honest, the thought had almost killed her. "I'm sorry too," she gushed. "I overreacted. I was in a bad mood already, and I shouldn't have let it get to me."

"What do you mean?"

Spencer clamped her mouth shut. She'd said too much. She'd kept her feelings to herself for months, and now was no time to be breaking that.

"Spence, come on. Why did you care so much? When I told Hanna and Emily, they were nowhere near as pissed as you."

In that moment, something inside Spencer snapped. Maybe it was her common sense, her logical side, that little filter in the back of her brain that usually stopped her saying something stupid. Whatever it was, once it was out of the way, she found herself admitting something she'd never thought she'd have the guts to say.

"Because they're not in love with you!" she burst out, and then her eyes flew wide open as if she hadn't expected herself to say it. Aria turned to her, eyes wide as saucers, mouth slightly parted as she tried to process this. Spencer was full of nervous tension; her heart was beating wildly, her nails were digging into her palm, and she felt faintly sick. She took a deep breath, and forced herself to meet Aria's eyes. "I'm in love with you, Aria."

She braced herself for the backlash. Aria would be shocked, unable to deal with it. She'd storm out and probably never speak to her again. Maybe she'd tell Emily and Hanna and they'd all laugh about it behind her back.

Before she could work out what was happening, Aria took a step towards her, fluttered her eyelashes, and said, "What took you so long?"

And without giving Spencer a chance to answer, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed her.

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