Chapter 10:
"Spencer, you can say something now." Jason snorted, cocking an eyebrow at his beaming half-sister.
Spencer merely continued to grin like an idiot, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. "I can't. It's just too good to hear you talk. And know that you remember me."
Jason smiled back and shook his head. "Didn't think I'd be gone forever, did you?"
"I don't know. I guess I just couldn't get the sight of you comatose out of my head. I thought about you all the time, you know."
Jason shook his head, his face an expression that read 'Silly, silly Spencer' – a look he wore most often.
"Do you…remember anything about that night?" Spencer asked carefully. She peered over at Melissa, who stood by the door, having previously talked to Jason and giving him and Spencer space.
"Not much." Jason sighed. "Just…coming home and turning a corner and…a bright light. Next thing I knew, I was covered in darkness, and then I woke up in the hospital. I was told I was out cold for days."
"I know." Spencer sighed. "This wouldn't be the first time I've had a panic attack about a loved one in the hospital. And, unfortunately, I don't think it will be the last. But, right now…we're just glad that you're okay."
"Did the doctor say when you can go home?" Melissa asked.
"Uhm, in a day or two." Jason replied. He winced as he moved his injured arm, trying not to disrupt the harmony of the cast and splint. "I'm sorry I'm going to miss Aria's engagement party."
"Hey, don't worry about it." Spencer laid a reassuring hand on his non-broken arm, "Aria knows that you would want to be there. And that you wish her the best."
"Yeah." Jason sighed. "So, she's really going through with this, huh? Marrying the poet?"
"His name is Ezra, and he's a teacher." Spencer said, rolling her eyes. She smiled and shook her head.
"Yeah, hers." Jason replied.
"Don't tell me you're not over it."
"Oh, I am. Believe me, I am. He's a great guy – and I want her to be happy."
"I know you do." Spencer smiled.
Before she could expound on the subject, the door creaked open, and Spencer's head whipped around to see who it was.
Aria – not yet dressed for the party – stood in the doorway, wearing a soft smile and hopeful expression.
"Hi." She smiled, peering past Spencer to Jason.
"Aria, what are you doing here?" Spencer got off the stool she had propped beside Jason's hospital bed, hurrying towards the bride-to-be, "You should be getting ready – the party is in two hours!"
"I know, I know. But Melissa texted me and…I wanted to come see Jason." She said, her lips parted in a gentle grin. The look she wore on her face made Spencer's panic fade. She then understood.
Returning her smile, Spencer nodded. "Sure." She stepped to the side, clearing a path for Aria to reach Jason's bed.
"Hey." Aria beamed as she slowly approached the bed, sliding onto the stool Spencer had just occupied.
"Hey, haven't seen you around. Thought you might have disappeared like the rest of this town." Jason said softly.
Aria shook her head. "Nah."
"You're right. You've never been part of this town. You've always been something else entirely."
Spencer stood beside Melissa, leaning against the wall. She read the subtle subtext lying beneath their simple conversation.
"So you're really doing it, huh?" Jason flashed his signature half-smile, "Tying the knot?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I thought it was time." Aria replied. "Never really pictured it, did you? Honestly, I didn't either. Gosh, I wonder how I'm going to be as a mom." She snorted. "Pretty scary."
"Nah. You'll be a great mom. I know it."
Aria wet her lips with her tongue and laughed once, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hey," Jason said, reaching up with his uninjured arm to touch the side of her head, "I'm happy for you."
"Thank you." Aria said, her voice hardly audible. "That means so much – coming from you." She sighed. "You know," She started, letting out a laugh. "I had the biggest crush on you growing up – when Ali was still around."
Jason smiled. "I know. I think I did, too."
"On yourself?" Aria asked, incredulous. She burst into a fit of giggles.
"Very funny. I meant on you."
"Wow. If only I had known that then." She wrinkled her tiny nose with her grin. She sighed once again. "God. The years have come an gone. I'm getting married in a few months' time."
"And I'm bedridden, fresh from a coma."
"Crazy, huh?"
"Definitely."
Aria smirked and leaned in to kiss his cheek. He took her hand and lifted it to his face, kissing the back of it softly. Spencer watched as they looked at each other for a long moment, all the words they wanted to say drifting between them; they understood.
Aria stood up and Spencer smiled as her best friend wiped a tear from her eye. "Get better for me, tough guy."
"I'll try. Don't trip down the aisle."
Aria laughed, in spite of herself. "I'll do my best."
While another rite of passage passed by them, with the speed of a London train, here amid the ash and grime the years had brought were the two people in her life that would never have anything, but would yet always have something, making peace within themselves and each other.
It was like her mother always said: your first love – or, in Aria's case, childhood crush – would always stay with you. Steal a little piece of your heart and never give it back. And Jason had that little piece, in the tiny empty space of himself, where the part she had stolen would have been if they had not come into each other's life.
They would always have that to turn to – that last, little hope. One shining light within themselves that beheld the utmost innocence of a childhood love. One that never got the chance to blossom, but was beautiful all the same.
"Toby, you're making it very difficult for me to put on my necklace." Spencer complained, throwing back her head in frustration.
Toby chuckled into the curve of her throat, where her neck and shoulder met, pressing yet another lingering kiss to her flesh. "Alright, sorry." He drew back and spun her in his arms, turning her away from the bathroom mirror so that he could look at her for real – not just her reflection.
"Toby, seriously. I have to get ready."
"Come on. Let me just…soak it all in before I have to share you with everyone else."
"You hardly have to share. I'm pretty much wrapped around your finger. I mean, just last month, you asked me to come to your apartment at the middle of the night, and I did, like a freaking zombie. You have to have a pretty powerful hold on me to get to me to disrupt my beauty sleep."
"Ah contraire, Mademoiselle. If I remember correctly, a certain…Brit will be attending tonight. One heavily in your past, I might add."
Spencer snorted. "Please, Toby." She turned back to the mirror to begin putting on her earrings. "You don't have to worry about that."
"It's not you I'm worried about." Toby muttered under his breath.
Spencer smiled and rolled her eyes, turning back to him and putting a hand on his tie, wriggling it so that it sat symmetrically amid his collar, then pat the lapel of his suit jacket. "Please, don't worry. I mean it. There's nothing to worry about. I'm yours. You know that."
Toby sighed and closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I love it when you say that."
"What? That I'm yours?"
"Mmm-hmmm." He burrowed his face into her hair, nuzzling her softly.
"I'm yours." She repeated, giggling. "So, please, don't worry your pretty little mind."
Toby groaned. "Oh please, don't start quoting Taylor Swift again. I'm still having nightmares about my birthday. Loom mental note – reciting real Shakespeare would've worked out much better than clunking out sour notes to 'Love Story' on my guitar."
"What? She's cute. I see nothing wrong with that song. And I worked hard on that!"
"Did I ever mention that I'm not really the country music type?"
"Multiple times. And that's not the point. I love you. And nothing can change that. Like you said, it was the past. Well, you are my present, and my future. So, for the love of God, let's get this show on the road or we're going to be late."
"Alright. Lead the way, Juliet."
And Spencer did, smiling and practically skipping out of Toby's apartment, in her feisty new dress, all the while humming 'the stakes are high, the water's rough, but this love is ours…'
WOW. It's been so long since I uploaded and im sooo sorry! lol haha. finals are kicking my ASS.
Alright, next ch up soon! ;) Hope you enjoyed the Jaria - I love them as well as Ezria, so please no hate from Ezrians! I still love Ezria! ;)
-AJ