Hey everyone. I'm sorry it took a while to get this last chapter up; I just wanted to make sure it was good enough. I'm still not entirely satisfied with it, but I hope you guys like it. Massive shoutout to Runawaybaby555 for helping me out with the ending. And thank you everyone who's read, favorited, followed, and, most of all, reviewed this story. I am so thrilled at the reaction this story has received, and I will definitely be writing more Sparia stories in the future. I'm also working on a lot of other pieces at the moment, so if you liked this you may want to keep an eye on my page. (If you like dark, keep an eye out for Darkness, the Wren x Spencer story I'm going to publish this week.) That's all I have to say this chapter, other than: enjoy.

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February 14th

McDonald sits down across from Spencer, who looks more distant than she did before. She meets his eyes, but she seems faraway; he wonders what she's been thinking about while he was gone, and then he checks himself. He doesn't want to know.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asks, opening up the file and looking at the crime scene photos again.

She considers him for a moment, deciding at last that he deserves her honesty. "I'm okay," she says. "Everything's… it's starting to settle down, in my mind… you know?"

He nods, still perusing the report. All the pieces of the puzzle have been set in place now, by Spencer and Emily and Hanna, supplemented by the report. He understands why she did it, and how. The where and the when were never in doubt. So the only question remaining is the what, as in, What happens now?

Spencer must be thinking the same thing, because she lowers her gaze to her lap, where she's fiddling with the hem of her dress, and asks softly, "So you know what happened?"

He looks up and closes the file. Then he steeples his fingers and surveys her, this damaged survivor of an almost-love-story. "I do," he says. "But for the sake of thoroughness, could you run me through the details? If you're up to it, of course…"

She seems to have composed herself during the time he was with Hanna and Emily, because instead of bursting into tears or switching off, she only takes a deep breath and begins to speak. He jots down a few notes as she does, but mostly it's what the others told him.

Spencer talks about how she fell in love with Aria, who didn't feel the same. How she tried to make things work, even though she knew deep down that she'd never get her happy ending. She stumbles over the story of how Mason raped Aria (although she can't quite force herself to say the word 'rape'), and practically got away with it. She does start crying again as she explains how Aria never recovered, how she slipped away from them and eventually ended her life (he notices that she can't quite bring herself to say the word 'suicide' either).

After a pause to regain control of her breathing, she recounts what happened tonight, how she left the party early and went to the diner, how she ran into Winters there and confronted him. How she tried to get away but he followed her. How they fought, and she ended up stabbing him.

McDonald tries to figure out her emotions; there's a hint of regret dulling her voice, and beyond that something close to disbelief, but she seems more tired than anything. He feels for her, but he's still here to do a job. Once she finishes he tries to comfort her, but she's very unreceptive. She's shutting down again, and he has a feeling this time it's for good. The truth is out, but it's not going to bring her girlfriend back. She has nothing left to fight for, and that's made her a broken person.

He knows that broken people can be repaired, and he sincerely hopes that Spencer will be one of those cases. Behind the weariness and the lingering shock, he senses that there is still a spark. If she can hold onto that, maybe she has a chance. He says as much to her as he leaves, hoping it will encourage her to keep fighting.

But he doesn't know that as soon as he leaves she slumps down in her chair, giving up any last hope of a future. He doesn't see the light fading from her eyes as she reminds herself of all that she's lost. And nobody knows that in that moment, in that one single instant when she lets herself feel the full force of everything that's happened, a part of her dies. It's the part that allows her to feel joy, hope, love. She pictures it departing, like a butterfly caught in the wind, and she knows that she will never be whole again.

And she knows, she's always known, that she will never get her happy ending. What's worse is that this isn't even an ending at all. Her life is effectively over already, but she's going to have to wake up every morning with a hole in her heart, that gaping metaphorical chasm where Aria should be. She's going to have to live every day knowing she never gave her enough of a reason to stay, that she didn't fight hard enough for her, that she let her slip away. She will spend her whole life blaming herself for something the logical part of her brain knows was not her fault. But that part is still on vacation, and she has a feeling the rest of her mind will be joining it soon.

Won't you take me to a higher ground?
I need to see again the way I'm bound
and choose the uneasy redemption,
run by fear and the flaws of attraction.

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So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review. Maybe I'll see you guys over in some of my other stories? ;)