AN: Words can't describe how sorry I am for being such a big fat liar! (well I'm not big or fat but I'm a liar!) I know I promised to update like 2 Fridays ago but I had a major crisis of writers block but I got over it, don't worry! I already started to write chapter 8 so it will be posted very soon.
I don't blame you if you don't believe me.
As always thank you for your amazing reviews, I love you all!
to Loeloveme229: Can you send me a PM with the link of your stories? I've tried to find them but failed :(
Chapter 7: Shine bright like a Diamond
True love. That's something we are all looking for, we all want it and I would even dare to say we all need it. But, what exactly true love is? If I start asking people I would probably get different answers. Some must say that true love is a beautiful gift given to enrich the life of two people. For others love is not physical or romantic, it's just acceptance, is knowing every flaw the other person can have and loving them even more for it. The point is that there isn't an exact and universal definition of true love, or simply of the word love, maybe that's why it's so hard to find.
Spencer Hastings thought she knew what true love is, she used to know every time she looked into Wren's eyes, every time he kissed her, every single moment she had spent with him she felt true love. For her, true love was something pure, honest, and it was capable of cover up all kinds of pain and never causes pain to the loved one. That's what she used to think of love before everything, before Toby Cavanaugh, before cheating on Wren with him. Now, she had no idea what true love was, because her love wasn't pure anymore, she wasn't being honest and what she had done would cause an unimaginable amount of pain to Wren if he ever find out. And don't get me wrong, with this I'm not saying she didn't love Wren because she did, but was her love for him real? Aren't you suppose to be faithful to the person you are in love with? You are not supposed to jump to bed with someone else and feel a magical combination of fireworks and electricity if you really love your boyfriend, right? And what about Toby Cavanaugh? She definitely felt something for him, she felt goosebumps every time she thought about him or someone mentioned his name. Spencer didn't know what that meant but she was sure of something, she was too scared to even try to figure it out. Analyzing her feelings for Toby and Wren would change everything and she wasn't ready for that.
"Are you ready, dear?" Wren asked kissing his beautiful girlfriend's cheek. The couple was being forced to abandon the comfort of their luxurious apartment in Philadelphia to attend a party in Rosewood's Country Club and it wasn't just a party, it was Veronica and Peter Hastings' anniversary party.
"No, I don't feel good." The brunette faked a cough, "I think I'm sick." She faked another cough and threw herself to the bed. "Can you go and apologize to my parents for me? And please make sure they don't hate more than they already do."
The curly-haired man smiled and rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's childish behavior. "Sweetie, your parents don't hate you, they just aren't very affectionate and I know for a fact you aren't sick. So get up and let's go. You have a room full of people to dazzle with your speech."
"Yeah, well…I haven't written the speech yet." She covered up her face in shame. Every year, the Hastings celebrated their Anniversary as it was The Oscar's; hundreds of people of the high society of Rosewood and Philadelphia were invited to the soiree to flatter the most loveless couple of robots of the state of Pennsylvania. And of course, the flawless, perfect and ultra special Melissa always gave the most touching speech about how much her parent's love inspired her to find her own. Only thinking about you just want to roll your eyes and face palm yourself, right? Sadly, this year Melissa couldn't make it to the party because a complicated pregnancy that forced her to stay in bed until childbirth; which is why Veronica and Peter asked their youngest daughter to give the speech this year.
"You haven't?" Wren said shocked, Spencer was always prepared to everything; it was hard to believe she was planning to improvise.
The beautiful brunette sat up and looked at her boyfriend. "I've tried for weeks, but I just can't write about what love is to my parents or how their marriage inspired me to find my own true love when it's exactly the opposite", truth is that she felt like a complete fraud talking about love when she didn't know what word meant anymore. "I don't know how Melissa does it every year."
"I see your point, but you can always improvise or talk about your own experience. Now it's time to go, we are going to be late." He kissed her perfectly curled hair and helped her stand up.
"Fine" Spencer growled and followed Wren.
The Hastings' anniversary party was being held at the same salon as Spencer's prom was. Of course that brings back memories, right? It was decorated differently, obviously, but it was still the same place where she and Toby had their first kiss, where she once felt safe and in the arms of a prince. Oh, the good and old times.
After Spencer congratulated her parents for surviving another full year without killing each other, and faked a smile three hundred times greeting a bunch of old strangers she had never seen before, the brunette finally found the only of her friends who was allowed to come to the exclusive event, Aria Montgomery. The Hastings never allowed their daughters to bring friends, for years Spencer had begged her parents to let her invite Toby or Hanna but they always said no because it wasn't proper to have children at the party, which never made no sense to Spencer considering she was a kid too and she was obligated to attend. Gladly, ever since Jason became a part of the family and was fully accepted by Veronica, he started to come to such events in company of Aria.
"I'm so so happy you are here." Spencer hugged her tiny friend tightly. She was in desperate need of support, not only because of the speech but because of the mess her life had become. "Let's go get a drink, I really need it." She turned to Wren and pecked him on the lips. "I'll be right back."
The two brunettes made their way to bar and took a sit, both ordered champagne and it only took Spencer 3 seconds to make it disappear from her glass.
"Whoa! Someone is thirsty." Aria said confused and waited a few seconds for Spencer to say something but instead she ordered another glass of champagne and drank it faster than the first one. "Is everything alright?" The small girl asked to her tall friend, now worried.
"Nothing in my life is alright, Aria." Spencer wondered if she should tell Aria about Toby, she needed to talk about it without someone, she was drowning in her own thoughts about Toby and Wren and Toby again, she needed to get it all out. "Can you keep a secret?"
Aria drank a zip of her champagne and nodded. Of course Aria can keep a secret, she dated a teacher!
"Okay" sighted Spencer. She couldn't look Aria in the eyes while talking, it was already hard to think about telling someone about her passionate night with Toby but she needed it more than anything. She focused her sight on her now empty glass "A few weeks ago, I did something th-"
"Hi." A familiar manly voice said behind Spencer, making her froze and feel the goosebumps again, she haven't heard his melodic voice in a while and God how much she missed it.
"Toby" She turned around and gazed him. "Wha- What are you doing here?" Asked the girl with chocolate eyes, posing a smile that for the first time that night wasn't fake and forced.
"Wren invited me and your parents insisted." The blue-eyed man responded and stared at the beautiful girl in front of him. After an awkward silence that lasted an eternity, he finally dared to speak up. "I've wanted to call you but…"
"I know; me too." Spencer interrupted, knowing exactly what he was going to say. She sighted sadly, she hated how awkward being around Toby felt, it wasn't the same as it was a few weeks ago. More than best friend they seemed like strangers. "So, look…I've been thinking and I mis-"
"Honey?" This time the words were emitted with a British accent. "It's time for you to go to the stage and talk."
Spencer felt some sort of pain in the stomach, like someone had put a burning brick inside of it. She was nervous, for the first time in her entire life she had no idea what say or do. She was going to talk in front of hundreds of people about something she didn't know about. For the first time in her 22 years of life Spencer Hastings felt the fear of not knowing something.
"Can we continue later?" She asked shyly to Toby, he nodded and walked to the stage hand in hand with Wren.
Before she could get up the stage, Wren squeezed her hand in reassurance and whispered to her ear. "It's going to be okay, if you feel lost and don't know what to say just look at me and talk from heart. I love you."
"I love you too." She whispered back and kissed quickly. She ran up to the stairs, worried about screwing it up and not being at same level of perfection as Melissa, of course she would never be, at least not in her parents eyes but she hoped more than anything this wouldn't make them dislike her more.
The beautiful brunette grabbed the microphone; a nervous smile adorned her angelic face as she attempted to make the words come out of her mouth. She tried to remember Monica's speech in her parent's anniversary but that was useless, Friends was a sitcom and Spencer's life was more of a drama. Then she remembered Lynette's, from Desperate Housewives, speech at Renee's wedding, but she wasn't a middle age woman trying to get her husband back. She have had the microphone in her hands for a few seconds now and judging by the disappointed look in her parents eyes, she knew it was time to start talking.
"Hi, so…my sister Melissa is always in charge of the talking and well, she couldn't make it tonight so you are stuck here me, Spencer, the black sheep of the family." She let a small nervous laugh out, she was sure she was making a fool of herself and she wouldn't dare to look at her parents. Spencer was sure they were wishing she wasn't their daughter, and maybe they were about to cut her out of their will. "That was joke; I guess I'm not funny. Anyways…" The tall brunette felt dizzy, she looked at Wren, who was sitting at their table, trying to get some inspiration. After 6 years of being together that was the least you could expect but inspiration didn't come. Then she looked at Toby, who was sitting next to Wren, he was smiling at her, maybe he was the only one who laughed at her bad joke because that was Toby. His deep blue eyes were fixated in her, and then she remembered the gift Toby gave her for her birthday, the inscription in the back. And then it hit her, maybe that's what true love really was, maybe that's what she should talk about even it wasn't related to her parents at all. Wren said she should talk from the heart and that was in heart right now.
"All my life I've wondered what true love is. There isn't an exact definition of love, if you look through the different dictionaries you would realize that no one seem to agree on what love is. When I was a little kid, I thought love was what Disney Movies sold us, they made me believe that Prince Charming was going rescue me and I was going to leave forever happy in a castle, with nothing to worry about. But one day I grew up and I realized it wasn't real and even I have found my Prince Charming, life is not a fairytale. There are good days and there are bad days, some days you are happy and some others you make terrible mistakes. True love comes in some many forms; you can find it in your boyfriend, in your parents, in your siblings, in your best friend. You know you have found true love when you find a person that is capable of doing everything for you, a person that is willing to be your shadow when you are alone, your shoulder when you want to cry, your pillow when you need a hug and your smile when you need to be happy. And it doesn't matter who that person is or what kind of relationship you have with them, all that matters is that if you have all that then you have found true love.
When I look at my parents, I don't see a fairytale couple and they must not be very affectionate or the perfect couple everyone wants to believe they are but I see support, I see a lifetime of mistakes but also a lifetime of forgiveness. Even if they have been through a lot, they are still together because they are always there when they need each other and I guess that's true love for them, they have found their own very special way to be in love. And you know, they have always tried to influence in my decisions, they have always demanded perfection from me and my sister in the academics and sometimes I hate when you both do that, but deep down I appreciate it a little. But what I'm really thankful for is that you never tried to impose me a way to love, you have let me figure it out on my own. So, thanks Mom and Dad for giving me the chance to learn that on my own, I'm sure you are going to be happy together for many many more years."
Everyone applauded, some people was tearing up, Peter and Veronica were smiling and crying, something that never happened with Melissa's speeches. Spencer felt relieved, that she could breathe again, but more importantly she felt happy. She was happy because she had spoken the truth, she had finally figure out what true love was, now she only needed to figure out the difference between romantic love and friendly love. The smiling girl looked down at the table where her boyfriend and best friend were suppose to be, Toby had tears in his eyes and Spencer was sure it was because he knew where she got that speech from. Wren in the other hand wasn't there anymore, a rush of fear traveled through Spencer's body. What if he had figure everything out? She wanted to jump from the stage and run looking for him, try to explain everything but her parents came up to the stage and hugged her.
"That was beautiful honey." Her mother said still with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you, mom." She hugged her mom and faked a smile, her eyes were seeking through the room trying to find Wren.
Her mother finally let go of the embrace and Spencer tried to run away and find Wren, but her father stopped her before she could get down the stage. "Wait a second, Spencer." Peter grabbed the microphone that was minutes before in Spencer's hands. "Someone has a special question to ask my beautiful daughter."
And there was Wren, standing in front of Spencer with his gracious smile and those adorable dimples, his eyes were bright and he looked nervous but happy. Spencer froze and she could swear she almost fainted. She knew what was going to happen and she wasn't ready for it. She wished she could run away and escape forever, this moment had caught her completely by surprise, like the hit of a train.
Without her noticing Wren was on bended knee in front of her. "When I first met you, I saw a sparkle in your eyes that told me it was you the one I've always been waiting for. Loving you didn't seem like the smartest decision at first but it didn't matter because I always knew you are the one and only so I still followed my heart to you. Spencer, you are the love of my life, you are my gift from above. Please let me spend the rest of my life trying to make as happy as you have made me. Spencer Jill Hastings, will marry me?" Wren asked popping open the ring box.
Tears were falling down Spencer's face and they weren't tears of happiness. If Wren had proposed to her before his trip to London, she would have been more than happy to say yes, she would have had no doubts at all.
Her tears now were of guilt and regret, she had this man in front of her that loved her that much and wanted to share everything with her, but her heart and mind were torn between two, this man round hazel eyes and the one with blue eyes watching everything. She wasn't sure of what she wanted, she knew the smartest thing to do was not accept it, but she couldn't do so. There were hundreds of people watching, Wren eyes showed too much hope and happiness and her parents were crying of joy again, and that last thing is something Spencer had never seen before. It was too much pressure for her and she couldn't break Wren's heart like that.
"Yes." Was all the brunette could manage to say.
Wren pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. The hundreds of people who the couple barely knew applauded again, this time more enthusiastic than the time Spencer gave her touching speech.
The beautiful mocha-eyed girl took a look at the ring that now adorned her finger; it was a yellow gold ring with a princess cut diamond on the center and a total of 16 little diamonds on the sides. It was certainly beautiful and looking at it felt like some sort of déjà vu. She knew she had seen it before, but when, where, how?
"If you buy this for me, I promise you I'll leave Wren and marry you"
She had not only seen that ring before, she had worn it. She finally understood everything and her smile once again was genuine that night.
After what seemed like an eternity of being congratulated by the strangers in the room, the couple finally found their friends. Aria and Jason threw themselves at Spencer and hugged her so tightly that she couldn't breathe.
"I'm so happy for you little sis." Said Jason, kissing his sister on the cheek and running to hug Wren, his best friend, and congratulate him.
"Please let me be your Maid of Honor." Laughed Aria and went to congratulate Wren as well.
Spencer laughed and turned around to see Toby, his blue eyes were hiding sadness, like he was losing the girl of his dreams. He smiled at his best friend, but Spencer could tell it was a fake smile. She knew him too well.
"Hi." She said, not knowing how to start to say what she wanted to say. "Thank you." She finally said after an awkward silence.
"For what?" the man with light brown hair asked but he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"You knew about this all along. You never planned on proposing to Delfina, you were just helping Wren."
"Of course I wasn't going to marry her. I'm not that stupid." He laughed and so did she. Then he wrapped his arms around her frame and kissed her hair.
Spencer smiled, she had missed Toby's embrace so much, having his arms around her felt like home. "Why did you help him?" she finally asked looking into his big ocean blue eyes.
"Because you are my best friend and I want to see you happy." Toby answered wishing that he had never helped Wren in the first place. It was selfish wish but he knew he was losing Spencer, now more than ever.
"Do you think it is possible for us to go back to way things were before…you know?" She whispered shyly. "I miss you terribly." She added hugging him tighter.
"We can try baby." Toby responded letting a single tear fall down his face. No. He couldn't lose Spencer. He was not going to let that happen and he wasn't just going to conform to being just her best friend.
Toby Cavanaugh never had the courage to do it before, to talk to her about his feelings, but this time he wasn't going to let the love of his life go away and lose her forever. This time Toby Cavanaugh was determinate to fight for Spencer's heart.
Please tell me you don't hate me! I can assure you I have a plan and if you want a tiny spoiler (you deserve it for being so patient) the engagement wont last very long.
I have a lot of surprises planned for future chapters so stay tuned!
now who wants to play a game?
"You are the one who is getting married to the love of your life but everyone in this rooms looks happier than you."
Someone is going to say this in the next chapter. If you want a special Spoby sneak peek before chapter 8 is posted then send me your guesses in your reviews or via PM. I'll be sending the sneak peek to all the people who guess it right!
Love you all!
A.