Author's Note: Today was soooo much fuuuuuuunnnnn :)

Day Two-Hundred Thirteen: Battlefield by Lea Michele

They were like two opposing forces: dark and light, black and white, evil and good.

He knew which side he was on. He liked to believe that he was once on the other side, with her. But maybe he never was. Maybe it was time he stopped lying to himself to make himself feel better. He was pretty much always on the dark side.

The bad guys were supposed to have no heart and no soul. So why was this so hard for him to do? Why was it so hard to break her heart?

He wasn't all bad, maybe. He was in love.

It was so easy to fall in love with her. She was smart, kind (past her tough exterior), and gorgeous. She was the kind of girl any guy with common sense would lust after senselessly. He lusted after her, too. Once you get a taste of something good, it's all you really want. She was all he really wanted.

He wanted her too much. He just wanted her to himself. This was not the same Toby that she had fallen in love with. He was—for lack of a better term—jealous of all the time consumed by Alison's murder. That was his tipping point and when he officially went over to the "dark" side. It really seemed like a good idea at first; he'd do anything to protect his Spencer. But as time went on, it just turned into a war of sorts between the two of them. She was unknowingly in the midst of this battle while he tried to keep her oblivious and to himself. He knew he had to be the one to give up and let her cope with things her own way, but he was too selfish to do that and walk away. He was too self-involved.

Those were all the things he should've done. Perhaps if he had done all those things at the right time, she wouldn't have gotten hurt and everything could've been done with minimal damage. But no, he was too concerned with his own feelings and his own future with her that he didn't.

He was doing today what he should've done a long time ago.

"Toby?"

He walked into her house—a familiar sight: her alone and studying with a cup of coffee, her parents nowhere in sight—with a craven demeanor about him. It almost looked like she could sense something bad coming. If only she'd known how fake his façade had been.

Now was the time to expose all his lies. He showed her the hoodie—the one that transformed him from someone she could feel safe with to someone who was present in all her worst nightmares—and she just stared in confusion. Still, she didn't say anything. She just heard him breathe and vice versa. There were no words; it was just breathing. There were no words in the entire English language—in any language, really—to satisfy what she wanted to say.

The lies were out. There was no turning back now. A small part of her wanted to hold onto the mirage he had conjured for her, but now she had to let him go. He had to let her go. He had to do what he hadn't wanted to do at all in the first place.

He looked at her sadly before he dropped the damned piece of cloth on the floor. The look he gave her pleaded for her to be strong and not cry—not over him, at least. He pleaded for her not to run away or do anything rash; he wasn't worth it.

He looked her in the eyes. It was reluctant, of course, but they were eye-to-eye and face-to-face. She was face-to-face with her worst enemy and the love of her life.

There were no weapons or sly and cunning devices or artifice. It was just the two of them.

"How?" was all she could manage.

He wished he could explain it. Everything seemed like a good idea—they seemed like a good idea, at first—but the best laid plans often go awry.

Guest: THANKKKK YOUUUUUU I tried. At first, this one really sucked, but I think it's at least slightly better now. I really hope you liked it (and lol did you not see Love of My Life? I think Freddie Mercury would roll over in his grave if he saw it. I would.)!

Guest (MaKayla): Wow thank you! I feel like my writing has gotten better (so by the time you see this I hope you see improvement?) but really thanks so much.

Sarah: Oh. That's cute. Elephants are cool. Now the name "bongo" is going to be in my head as I think of bongos...you're not really bitchy though like not in my opinion (you're not like, "BUT DADDY WHERE IS MY VENTI PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE?!" but maybe that's bratty not bitchy. Idk you don't seem bitchy to me (you actually seem bitchier when you say you're a bitch tbh idk how to explain). No, like and liked would both be correct! I'm glad you like it!

Tomorrow's one-shot is Hotel Heart by Sharon Kenny and warning: it's sad. I really liked writing it though. It was the only one-shot that made me cry as I wrote it. -Kayson