Author's Note: I'm back! Guess what I have as an early present? A one-shot based off of the world that you know and love. Yes, it's the "Red" universe (more on this later). Anyway, it's the AU in which I have based "Begin Again" and "Everything Has Changed". I call it the "Red" universe because Red is a significant symbol in both stories and they're named after two Taylor Swift songs off her Red album. You probably didn't need that explanation, but whatever.

Was anyone in the mood for some Tanel vs. Spoby or some Spencer/Toby/Chanel?

Day Seventeen: Put the Gun Down by ZZ Ward

She looked into her envious green eyes which glistened crimson under this eerie light.

"I swear to you, I'll get him back."

She hissed, the very sound resonating like a gunshot in an alleyway.

The first girl just crossed her arms, seemingly not at all intimidated by this new girl's threats.

"And what makes you think I'm going to let that happen?"

The green-and-crimson-eyed girl laughed evilly. "You haven't seen me play dirty yet," she promised before walking away.

Something about that sentence made the brown-eyed girl's blood turn cold. She watched the girl walk off in the moonlight, followed by her slight, curvy shadow.

Sure, she was gutsy and strong. But what if this girl was gutsier?And stronger? What would she do, then?

She brushed it off, sure that this girl was bluffing. The man that she had left at home wasn't about to abandon her so quickly for this new girl. What did she have that Spencer didn't?

Spencer had everything.

She couldn't believe that the girl made good on her promises.

All along, Spencer was under the misconception that she was unbeatable. Eventually, she realized that her bubble would burst and someone would win against her at something.

But she never figured that the "something" would be love.

She had felt so confident and secure in the relationship. Maybe that was her mistake. Just when she turned away, that green-eyed monster had stolen him right from her.

Spencer thought about when she had found out.

She walked home to boxes on boxes stacked everywhere. She was wondering about it. Honestly, the thought of the homewrecker coming and stealing him away didn't even cross her mind.

"Toby? What's going on? What's with all the boxes?" Spencer asked as she looked around.

Only Toby wasn't there. Another person stepped out of their bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" Spencer asked, her normally raspy voice going up at least an octave.

"Toby asked me to help bring his stuff over to his new apartment in South Philly," she answered, a slight smirk coming across her lips.

Spencer felt her heart break inside of her. "What do you want?" she asked weakly. "Do you want money or fame or jewelry or…what is it that you want?"

Chanel, the green-eyed monster, only laughed. "I have what I want now."

"He's not yours to keep," Spencer replied weakly.

Chanel only shook her head and smiled. "But he will be, soon. You'll be so far out of the picture, he'll forget your name."

Chanel dropped a key on the marble countertop of the kitchen, brushing past Spencer, who stepped back in defeat.

Spencer watched the door close. She slid down the wall, taking in the reality of things. Just eight hours ago (or not even), he was there, with her. What went wrong?

Just a week later, she was having dinner with Hanna at this nice restaurant in Chestnut Hill, which was in northwest Philadelphia.

"Spencer," Hanna said soon after they ordered, averting her attention to a table near a window.

Spencer turned around to see the green-eyed monster holding hands with someone. Toby.

Her mending heart tore at the faltering seams, sinking down deep into the remains of her soul. She glanced at their interlaced hands.

Chanel averted her eyes away from him for a second and spotted her. A slight shimmer in her envy-filled eyes sold her out.

What are you willing to give up to get him back? How far are you willing to go?

She frowned. Hanna spoke up. "I'm sorry, Spence. We can go right now if you don't want to stay," she offered.

Spencer shook her head incessantly. "No, we're celebrating your new job at that magazine. I'm not about to make us leave from your favorite restaurant just because of an ex," she said before taking a sip of water to calm her nerves.

Hanna took a piece of bread from the breadbasket and put a piece of the Italian bread in her mouth. "What do you think she did to get him so into her, anyway?" she inquired, glancing at them. She thought about it for a moment. "She looks like a slut, Spencer. I'm sure she did something really trashy and slutty to win him over," she assured Spencer before sticking another piece of bread in her mouth.

Spencer's throat filled with bile just thinking of it. "He's not like that."

Hanna looked at her friend oddly for a moment before putting down her drink. "So are you over it or not?" she asked.

Spencer looked down, somewhat ashamed with this whole situation. This was unfolding like some drama with some kind of inexplicable, tragic curse to it. "I don't know."

Hanna sighed. She looked over at the table. Chanel was smiling at Toby as he got up. Chanel watched him walk off, and Hanna took this as her cue to enter.

Before Spencer could register what was happening, Hanna had gotten up and walked over to Chanel's table.

Hanna slammed her hand on the table, shaking Chanel.

"Hanna? What do you want?" Chanel asked, somewhat intimidated by the lithe blonde.

"You need to back off. Toby isn't yours. He certainly doesn't belong to you, much less are you in possession of his heart. Maybe another part of his anatomy, but his heart belongs to Spencer. You're a lethal, dangerous person, Chanel. Toby doesn't need someone like you in his life. You do things just to spite people and it's not healthy. So I suggest that you leave them both alone. Things were so great until you had to come and screw it up like you always do," Hanna snapped.

"Why isn't Spencer telling me this herself? Why are you her carrier pigeon?" Chanel inquired, eying Spencer, who was fidgeting nervously.

"Because you've shaken her and you should be ashamed of yourself."

Chanel took a deep breath. "I don't feel guilty at all." Chanel straightened, looking up at Hanna with glistening green eyes. "I'm not leaving until Spencer is gone."

Hanna glared at her with icy blue eyes. "You're such a bitch, Chanel. Can't you have mercy on her? They've been through a lot and now you just show up and play with his heart…"

"You and I know it sucks to be lied to, don't we?" she asked sharply.

Hanna flinched. "Don't you want better for someone else?" she inquired, losing some hope in winning this battle.

"The way I see it, she stole him from me first. So I think she deserves to get her heart broken," Chanel answered coldly.

Hanna shook her head in contempt. "When he sees what a cold-hearted bitch you are—"

"That'll be a day."

Hanna sighed, feeling defeated. She didn't know what else to say. "You're an evil, evil bitch, Chanel."

"Nice girls always finish last," Chanel retorted.

Hanna frowned, but saw Toby walking back their way. She had a genius plan.

"Why do you want to do this all to Spencer, anyway? Do you even like Toby that much?" she asked.

Chanel sighed, as though this was all trivial. "I like him, but revenge is sweeter than sex, any day of the week. I just wanted to see her down and see her as pained as she made me. It's really better than sex. You should try it."

Toby was puzzled with the context of this conversation, but didn't say anything. Chanel hadn't spotted him.

"It's not about love, Hanna. It's about revenge. She deserves her just desserts. We were supposed to be getting married, and then she came along," Chanel added bitterly.

Hanna shook her head, but watched Toby's expression, deciding this would be better. "Toby, I think Spencer would want to talk to you," she said, turning to Toby.

Chanel blanched as she watched Toby take his jacket and abandon her. Hanna took his hand and led him back to the table.

Spencer had a mini-heart attack when she saw him. "Toby?" she asked nervously.

"Spencer, I need to talk to you. About Chanel."

Spencer waited for him to go on. He sighed.

"I was wrong. I was really stupid and I wasn't thinking straight."

"What he means to say is that Hanna will explain this all later, but right now, you just need to kiss and make up. So…go ahead." Hanna looked at both of them, who were staring at her. "Kiss and make up!"

Spencer and Toby both laughed before looking rather shyly at each other.

"Don't be shy! Goddammit, I have to do everything."

Spobyforever259: Thanks, but I don't really know how I am as a writer. This is hard to explain. Basically, I don't feel confident as a writer. I don't feel as confident in my one-shots and multi-chapters as I do in my poems and my songs, so that could be it. I especially like the more recent lyrics I've written (reminiscent of Marina and the Diamonds...sorry, couldn't resist) and I think they're unique in the sense that I don't think people really try and write songs about things other than love and sex and drugs. So I think that's why I like them. I write unique things, whereas in my stories, it's kind of just...love. And I'm sure I play way more than three instruments. I just play three instruments in a choir/orchestra (I play violin, euphonium, and vocals in choir/orchestra, but I also play trombone, guitar, ukulele, and more instruments I can kind of play, but not like, oh, I'm a [this] player [namely, piano, drums, Orff, recorder]. I'm hoping to learn the viola soon. Maybe one day I'll learn to play cello, but I don't have that kind of span in my fingers.

AL3110: I have no idea what Bohemian Rhapsody has to do with any of this, but I'm glad I gave you some good music. That song is art.

eveningshades1107:I love making Spencer different. I've added it to the list. Boy, oh, boy, does Spencer have many facets to her. I'm thinking Electra Heart kind of sides, like Housewife, Beauty Queen, Homewrecker, Idle Teen sort of thing. I like it. I'll have to come up with some kind of catchy rhyme for her.

Okay, that's the end of this one-shot. Slated for the next one is: C'est la mort by The Civil Wars. I love The Civil Wars so much that I even named my baby after them. I'll give you awesome points if you know the name. Hint, hint, everyone gets this wrong because they're under the misconception that "Begin Again" was my first piece. Wink, wink.

Stories from across the pond time...

My cherubs (do you see how we're on this Cupid thing? I had a project on Eros today and...yeah...END thought bubble), we were walking in the Tower of London one day when we encountered a murder of ravens. Yes, the name for a flock of those jet-black birds is called a murder. How morbid.

We were walking and one girl is like, "OMG, it's so cute! PICTURESSSSS!"

This kid whose name will remained undisclosed walks over and the bird begins to run away. The thing about the ravens at the Tower of London is that their wings are clipped. There's some urban legend that at any given time, there must be a minimum of 12 ravens on the grounds of the Tower of London to protect the Crown Jewels.

So the birds all run away from the kid whose name will remain undisclosed.

Also at the Tower of London, there are these cool, really ancient royal armors.

I don't know if you know about this dude often referred to as Henry VIII of England, but he had six wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived [and I can name them: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleaves, Kathryn Howard, Catherine Parr]) and was notorious for a raging libido. If you don't know what that word means, you probably shouldn't be reading my stories.

Anywhoozies, talkin' 'bout his raging libido, take a guess at what the most protected part of his body was.

And to quote my history teacher, he's "gotta protect the crown jewels." -Kayson