Chapter 41:

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

As surprising as it sounds, Ali used to be quite an artist. Spencer used to come over and watch her sketch sometimes, in their childhood. Ali quit when she was about fourteen, when she decided that chasing older boys was a much more popular and fun pastime. But Spencer still thought about her drawings from time to time. Of course, they were probably still locked away in her drawing box beneath her bed, which was still untouched in her old bedroom. Correction: they were probably now a pile of ashes, mixed in with the rubble that was once the DiLaurentis house.

Still getting back into the school groove after break, Spencer found herself thinking more and more about the DiLaurentis household and the afternoons she had spent there as a child. It was like a completely different world there. Alison's room was an ongoing party, the entrance to Narnia, a place where all worries checked themselves at the door. And Jason was always holed up in his room down the hall, probably higher than an airplane. Ali's parents made them amazing food, brought home movies that Spencer's parents would view as "impractical," but would make preteen girls giggle their asses off, and let them go in the hot tub when it was snowing outside. To Spencer, it was like falling through the rabbit hole into Wonderland. In a way, it made putting up with Ali's shit somewhat bearable, if that was what came with it.

Also, as the first few days of the new semester began to churn and rattle into a full-fledged month of school, she noticed herself attracting the attention of her fellow students. At first, she was puzzled by the sudden interest – especially since half of her admirers had been people she hadn't thus spoken to – but she soon found her answer: the beautiful, twinkling engagement ring that now adorned her finger. She had expected herself to be self-conscious when the time for people to gawk at the new addition to her hand, but she was, surprisingly, at ease about it. Maybe it was because the man who had given it to her was so at ease about, well…everything. Toby made a hard day's work look like a walk in the park. He never dragged his stress into their relationship, and always made sure to make her feel as wanted as she was the day they first fell for each other.

"I drove by Ali's house today." Spencer told him, pouring a glass of milk for herself.

His eyes lifted off of the blue print in front of him and met her gaze evenly. "You did?"

"Well, the rubble, anyway." She shrugged. Toby gave her a warning look, but she waved her hand, "Relax; Jason's in the shower. He can't hear us."

Bent over the coffee table, Toby nodded and returned his attention to his work.

It was silent for a few moments.

"Are you mad at me?" Spencer asked. She was usually very stubborn to admit her own wrongs, but Toby's slightly chilly attitude that had been present throughout the day was chewing on her nerves. At this point, she was willing to say anything to bring him back to his old self. Sure, she'd been griping and bitching about Jason all week, but that was just Spencer being Spencer. Toby was sunshine. Maybe it was selfish for her to expect that of him, but come on…every Bella wants a sweet, sparkly Edward.

…And her Jacob had just come back from the dead and was now showering in their apartment.

Toby looked up again as Spencer skirted around the counter and stepped into the living room. His eyes followed her as she dropped into the vacant armchair across from him.

"Am I mad at you?" He repeated.

Spencer nodded.

"Of course not." He answered, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, you've been rather Jack Frost-like all day. And it's a Saturday! They're your favorite days! Even when I woke up this morning when I reached over for you, all I found was rumpled sheets! What's gotten into you?" She asked carefully.

Toby sighed. He looked down at his blueprint and then back up.

"Toby?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"That my usually happy-skippy fiancée is now cold and distant? Not likely, Mr. Bond."

Toby wasn't assuaged by her attempt at the joke, and remained slightly frigid.

Spencer cleared her throat and set her cup on the coffee table. She leaned back and folded her hands in her lap.

"Out with it." She told him with a puckered brow.

Toby sighed again and began to roll up his blue prints, as if the story was tangible and needed an entire table's space to be laid out.

"Last night, after you went to bed…Melissa called." He started.

Spencer was quiet for a second. "Did you tell her about – "

"No, I didn't say a word about Jason." He shook his head. "But she had plenty to say."

"Whoa, whoa, wait." Spencer leaned onto her elbows. "Why didn't she ask to talk to me?"

"She did. I told her you were sleeping."

"Why didn't she wait until the morning to talk to me?"

"I guess she just needed to get it out in the open. It doesn't sound like a lot of people know. And a secret like that…well, layers of secrets like those…they're not the easiest to keep hidden. After a while something snaps and they all flood out like a dam. I know they did for me; hell I had been running for so long that I ended up telling some homeless dude on the side of the road all of my deepest fears the year they found…" She trailed off and looked down into his hands folded on his lap.

Spencer nodded. She knew that the memory of being accused of killing Alison was sometimes too much to bear for him.

"So what did she tell you?" Spencer asked.

"Well, first off…the day they found 'Jason,'" He used his fingers to indicate air quotes, "she found out that she had lost the baby."

Spencer clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh no." She said, "How sad." And she meant it, too. Spencer knew how much of a connection Melissa had already formed with her little fetus, and what it meant to her and Franco.

"And is Franco still around?"

"Well, that's a totally different story." Toby pulled at the hair at the back of his neck. "First off…Wren called her. She'd left her phone at her apartment when she went to pick up Taylor. So, she wasn't home when he called. Unfortunately…Franco was."

"So Franco actually talked to Wren?" Spencer's eyes went wide.

"Well, no. Franco was showering when Wren called, but when he got out, he saw that there was an alert for a voicemail from him on her phone. Out of curiosity, he listened."

"And he got mad at her over it?" She asked skeptically, "That's…a rather douchey thing to do."

"No, just the opposite. In the message, Wren said that he was coming home soon to talk to her. He said he'd done a lot of thinking and was ready to try to figure something out."

Spencer snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, that's likely."

"Maybe he meant it." Toby shrugged. Spencer looked at him, surprised. Toby defending Wren? Not likely.

"When Melissa came home…she called Franco's name but he wasn't there." Toby continued. "She looked around and found a note on her counter."

"What did it say?"

"Franco told her what Wren had said. He said that he wanted her to try again with him. He said some stuff about feeling selfish for taking the place of Taylor's father. He asked her not to call, and to forget about him."

"Wow." By this point, Spencer's face was buried in her hands, and her voice came out muffled. "So he's gone? Forever?"

"Looks that way." Toby shrugged.

Spencer ran a hand through her hair and groaned. "Melissa's probably a mess." She sighed. "I should…I should call her…" She reached for her phone on the table, but Toby grasped her wrist.

"Call her tomorrow."

"Toby – "

"No, Spence. You need a break. And she needs time to let it sink in. You don't need to be responsible for everyone else's problems. You have enough to deal with yourself." He told her. He got to his feet and stood over her, holding both of her hands. He stooped into a crouch before her, and looked deeply into her eyes. "None of this is your fault. Stop acting like it is."

Spencer looked at him for a moment longer, and then sighed. "Okay." She answered. "I'll call tomorrow."

Toby gave a wry smile and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Can I make you some coffee?"

She snorted again, and nodded, "Yeah, yeah that sounds great."

Suddenly, Spencer heard a sound from the hallway, and a moment later, Jason appeared, dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose black tee.

"Hi." He said, awkwardly. "Did I…interrupt something?"

"Uhm, no." Spencer shook her head, and got to her feet. "Not at all."

Jason nodded, and looked from her to Toby.

"Can I…make some coffee for you?" She asked him. "You look a little tired."

"Okay, now open you mouth." Caleb said, and Hanna resisted the urge to open her eyes instead. "And keep your eyes closed!"

"How do I know this isn't a trick?!" Hanna laughed, reaching her hands out to blindly bat at his shoulder.

Caleb chuckled, "I guess you'll just have to trust me!"

The two of them were sitting on a bench in Rosewood's most popular parks, with a bag full of different foods that Caleb had bought at the grocery store earlier that day.

Hanna hesitantly opened her mouth and she felt Caleb's fingers slip a small square onto her tongue. When she began to chew on it, she opened her eyes, "I didn't know you bought miniature Snickers!"

"Well, I knew you loved them." He shrugged, reaching into the basket for a bottle of Izze. Unscrewing the cap, he took a sip.

"Looks like we finished all the food." She sighed. "Well, except for the Snickers." She checked her watch, "We should probably leave soon if we're going to catch the movie."

"Yeah, you're right." He replied, sliding the Izze back into the bag. "We can eat the Snickers in the theater."

"They don't let you take your own food in, Caleb." Hanna said.

"Oh, well, I guess I've always had that slight streak of bad boy." He said, in a pseudo brooding voice.

She giggled and he leaned into her face, kissing her softly. When he pulled away, he gently caressed her short curls. "You ready to go?"

"Mmmhmm." She smiled. Her car was parked on the sidewalk behind them. Her gaze wandered over his shoulder, and she resisted the urge to gasp when her eyes fell on Will, who was leaning against a lamppost a few benches over. She looked back to Caleb, "Uhm, you get it started. I'll be there in a second."

Caleb looked at her skeptically, but nevertheless got to his feet and collected the bag.

Once Caleb had headed for the car, she stood up, dusted herself off, and walked slowly towards Will, her hands clasped in front of her.

When she reached him, he looked up at her. She expected him to be wearing an expression of betrayal, hurt, anger…

But he wasn't; he looked at her like he always had, happy, easy-going. Non-judgmental.

"Uh…Hi." She said awkwardly.

"Hello, Hanna." Will answered her with a calm smile.

"What, uh, what brings you to the park today?"

"Just thought of going for a walk." He said.

It was obvious that this lame conversation was pointless, so Hanna sighed and looked for a place to begin. "Look, Will…"

At this point, he was peering over her shoulder, at Caleb, who was sitting in the driver's seat of the car, looking at the two of them. Hanna looked behind her, and then back to Will.

Will's eyes addressed her calmly, waiting for her to finish.

"I…uh," She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He gave a soft smile. "Don't ever be sorry for being happy, Hanna. I want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted for you."

His words made Hanna's eyes water, and she gave a soft smile. "I wish I had something better to say to you."

Will smiled and shook his head. "We're broken people, Hanna. We need someone who's whole to make us feel whole. Surprisingly, two broken people don't make a whole piece. We just create more misery for ourselves by trying. You should be with someone who makes you feel whole." Will reached out and took her hand, then looked deeply into her eyes. "You deserve everything loving and beautiful in this world. You deserve someone who will make you as happy as you make them. And you deserve to be loved and taken care of for the rest of your life."

Hanna was soon breathless, and she shook her head in awe, "You're too great of a person, Will Lovat." She grinned, looking down at their intertwined fingers. "And I hope you find someone who will love you the way you deserve to be loved."

"Thank you, Hanna. That means more than you know."

Hanna nodded and leaned in, gently kissing his cheek. She felt his hand on her arm – a gentle, friendly gesture. When she pulled away, she murmured. "I hope you find everything you're looking for in life."

As she walked away, their fingers slipped out of one another's grasp, and she made her way back towards the car. Will might not have been the "One," but they had forever changed one another's lives. Will had taught Hanna things she had never known she had been capable of. He taught her to be free.

Every girl needs an angel to help her grow her wings.

And, as she looked down at the beautiful locket that was settled against her collarbone, she wondered what she had done to deserve someone so pure and honest in her life.