Chapter 14:
Myrtle Beach Take Two
"That just doesn't make any sense, Spencer. Why in the world would Jason let Jenna Cavanaugh – "
"Marshall." Spencer corrected her harshly for the fifth time since their phone conversation had began.
"Whichever. It doesn't make sense for Jason to let Jenna Marshall stay at his house. People are going to think that he's screwing her for sport!"
Spencer snorted. "I know. I told him that. But he "doesn't care" I guess."
Melissa sighed. "Whatever."
"So, how was your ultrasound?" Spencer asked absentmindedly. After meeting with Aria to discuss what band would be performing at her wedding, Spencer had accepted her mother's request of staying in her old room for the night. Melissa was on her way home from the pharmacy, and had told Wren that she, too, was staying the night at her parents' house. Of course, it wasn't the most responsible choice to leave Taylor with Wren for another whole evening, but Melissa said that she needed "time to think" and that was enough for Wren. Spencer was starting to suspect that Wren knew just what was going on, but was happier swallowing the lies than looking too closely.
Veronica had thought it would be good for Melissa to have Spencer sleeping down the hall from her once more, even if it was just for a night. However, the great plan-maker failed to show up due to a late meeting. So by herself, in the midst of the November rain, Spencer curled up in her old red chair, dressed in ratty sweats like she was in high school again. She absently picked at her fingernails while Melissa responded:
"Good, good. The baby is…healthy. I'm only a few weeks along, though." Melissa replied.
"That's good. Have you…figured out what you're going to tell Wren yet?" She asked.
"Not really. I'm still thinking about it. But, speaking of Wren…I think I'm going to stay at home tonight instead."
"What?" Spencer's head fell back against the back of her chair. "Are you kidding me? That means I'm alone until Mom gets home? She says she's going to be out until at least one in the morning, working on the case!"
"I'm sorry." Melissa replied. "But I just think that Taylor needs her mom tonight – what with the thunder storm and everything."
"Yeah, you're right." Spencer sighed. "I'll just…wait up until Mom gets home. Watch a movie or something."
"Well, feel free to go back to Toby's."
"No point." Spencer sighed. "He's staying at a hotel in Pittsburg. Mr. St. Clair has him working on a neighborhood development out there. So he's gone until Wednesday."
"You could go back to your dorm?"
"Nah. Bree's probably going to be asleep and I don't want to wake her up. And plus…I don't want to drive all the way back to campus in this weather."
"Alright, your choice. I'm pulling into the driveway now. I'll call you tomorrow, Spence."
"Yeah, tomorrow. Night, Melissa." Spencer sighed and hung up the phone.
She promptly slid off of the chair and, after a moment of contemplation, grabbed Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and headed popped the DVD into the old Blu-Ray player. Since their daughter's move to college, Veronica and Peter had somewhat transformed her room into a home theater, replacing the bed with a fold-out futon and slapping a huge flat-screen on the wall. Her trophies, metals, books, and pictures had been loaded up into large white boxes and stored in her now bare closet.
Spencer sighed and flopped down on the open futon that had been prepared for her by her mother and watched as the opening credits rolled and Alexis Bladel and Blake Lively took the screen.
Of course, her resolution to stay awake until one a.m. failed miserably as her eyelids began to droop not ten minutes into the film. Within the first two scenes, she was out like a light. Thunder clapped in the background and some, reoccurring dream cycled through her head – the same one that had been with her since her years of running from A and Alison's death. She tossed a turned for a bit before a loud thump from outside her window caused her to jerk awake so fast she tweaked her neck.
"Ow!" She exclaimed, raising a hand to her aching neck. "Dammit…" She growled, sleepily wiping spit off her face and swinging her legs off of the bed. The movie was long over and had resorted back to the home menu. Spencer squinted to see her bedside clock; it was exactly 11:59. She groaned and got up, her feet hitting the ice-cold wooden floor.
The storm was still raging outside, and she jumped when she heard another thump against the window, behind her closed curtains.
"Hello…?" She asked hesitantly. "Mom…mom are you home?" She called down the hall, but received no answer. Her dream was still running through her head as she turned towards the window. Another thump rang out from the other side, and as she cautiously neared it, she feared that she was about to experience a Twilight-Zone-Gremlin-On-The-Wing-Of-The-Plane moment.
But if Spencer Hastings was one thing, it was that she was never a coward. She closed one eye and leaned away from the window as she threw the curtains open and braced herself for whatever was causing the loud thumping. When nothing physically struck her, she opened one eye and carefully leaned towards the closed window, hearing the floorboards groan beneath her.
When she finally opened both eyes, she peered out into yard, squinting hard against the contrast of harsh rain and the occasional thunder. She pressed her face against the glass and suddenly, a pang of lightning clashed through the air, illuminating the grass outside. "What the –" She groaned and forcefully unlocked the window, opening it quickly and leaning out.
Sure enough, there he was. Standing there in the middle of the rain, soaking wet in his black t-shirt and jeans, without a care in the world.
"Toby?" She exclaimed over the rainfall. "What the hell? I thought you were in Pittsburg!"
"Interesting, isn't it?" Toby replied simply, smiling up at her. Luckily, the second floor wasn't that far off the ground. She didn't have too much of a problem hearing him over the rainfall and occasional thunder.
"Explain yourself!" Spencer leaned slightly out the window. "Why did you lie? It's the middle of the night – and it's raining cats and dogs. "
"What's interesting about that theory is that it's exactly 12:00 in the morning, the sixth of November."
"Our….shit." Spencer clapped a hand over her forehead. "Our anniversary. Why didn't you remind me? I've been so busy with the wedding and Jason and…I'm so sorry!"
Toby simply grinned and shook his head. "Well, at first I was going to surprise you by taking you to Myrtle Beach. But then I realized that scaring you shitless in the middle of the night would be better."
"Oh, and I'm sure that your old ingenious plan involved renting out your old family beach house and seducing me into sleeping with you in front of the fire?" She replied, unable to keep the smile from gracing her lips.
"Hey, I try." Toby shrugged, chuckling. "But you gotta admit – this brings back memories."
"Like what? Of dragging me out my window every night and robbing me of my precious sleep?"
"Oh, like you were fighting it. Try this on for size – 'Oh, Toby, come sit with me in your trunkbed to star gaze, even though it'll throw your back out for a week, but that's okay, because the Big Dipper is looking sparkly tonight!'"
"Oh please, I never said that!"
Toby snorted and shook his head. "Alright, Juliet, are you gonna come down here and kiss me in the rain like we did in Myrtle Beach? Or are you already having too much fun watching me freeze my ass off?"
"Well, as fun as this is…I'm a sucker for a fairytale romance…" Spencer shook her head, already leaning away from the window, shutting it and sliding on her fuzzy socks down the hall and tripping down the dimly lit staircase, towards the double doors that opened into the terrace. Tugging on the sneakers she had left by the door, she ducked out into the rain, rounding the side of the house into the drenched lawn. There he was, right where she saw him last, in the midst of the occasional thunder and pouring rain.
Spencer gave a coy smile, "So, should I angrily yell at you to set the angsty mood, or…?"
"Shut up, Spencer…" Toby shook his head, smiling as he wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her tight against him, encasing her in his warmth. She smiled as his soft breath warmed her face and he pushed a strand of wet hair from her face. She stretched up on her toes and kissed his smile, sighing as he cupped her face and the warmth of his kiss traveled down to her toes, protecting her against the chill of the rain.
Of course, the intent of the kiss was sweet and soft, but it quickly turned deep and ardent; Toby lifted Spencer up and she wrapped her legs around his torso, his tongue delving into her mouth, and she groaned. He raked his hands through her mess of wet chestnut hair, and she grabbed fistfuls of his soaked t-shirt. She gasped as his mouth broke away from hers, moving down her throat, towards the indentation above her collarbone, where her pulse thudded beneath her skin. "Living room?" She whispered.
"Living room." He agreed.
After a rather angsty, Notebook-like love-making in front of the fire place – not unlike the encounter they had had in South Carolina junior year – they curled up beneath a knitted blanket, their heads propped up against the burlap-sheathed couch that Spencer's parents had kept all these years.
"I feel like a teenager." Spencer smiled as she let her fingers run along Toby's palm.
"Fun, isn't it? Forgetting about the worries of…being an adult."
"What adult? You're a little kid trapped under a layer of six-pack and deceiving blue eyes." Spencer teased.
"Am not." Toby poked her in the ribs. She squirmed, giggling into his bare chest.
"Oh, please, Toby. Two weeks ago, when we were doing the dishes after dinner and you picked up the faucet and sprayed me with water like you were James Bond!"
"Hey, just because I'm an adult, doesn't mean I can't be young at heart."
She shook her head and curled up closer to him, his fingers intertwining with hers a little tighter. She sighed as he playfully tickled her ankles with his toes and she stretched up to kiss him softly. Her phone beeped from her jean pocket, strewn a few feet away in a heap with Toby's t-shirt.
"Mm…" Spencer groaned, squinting at the screen. "It's my mother. She says…she's not going to be home for another hour. She says that she thinks I'm sleeping, but wants to let me know anyway."
"Wow. One thing that never changes – your parents pretty much live everywhere but here." Toby chuckled, running his fingers slowly through her damp curls.
"Oh please, like your parents are so homely. For the first two years we dated, I'm wasn't sure they even existed." Spencer replied, shaking her head.
"Well, they did." Toby softly played with her fingers, bringing them up to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently. "You know my favorite memory about high school is?"
"No, no, no, lemme guess!" Spencer insisted. "Uhm, when I bought you your truck? Uhm, no, when you got your own loft above the Brew. No, no! When you got your GED!"
Toby chuckled into her hair. "Nope, nope, and nope. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The day you came to tutor me is most definitely the best memory. After that day, my life has been nothing but better."
"Oh please. I put you through hell and back. I'm more trouble than I'm worth."
"That is not true. And the best things are worth the wait." Toby smiled and pressed his lips into her hair softly.
Spencer smiled softly. "I love you."
"I know." He murmured, squeezing her palm. "Happy anniversary, Spence."
"Happy anniversary, Toby."
ahh thanks so much for all the support my loves! shout out to Breedom2Be, my baby Bree whom I love beyond words. girly, you are my forever and always. the spencer to my toby. my bestie for eternity 33
ZOMG DID U SEE THAT SPOBY LAST NIGHT? SEXY. AS. HELL.
Live. Love. Spoby.
AJ