Disclaimer: I do not own these characters! AN. Big shoutout to Marie for her kind reviews that are keeping me writing, as I said this is my first story so reviews are greatly appreciated!
CH4-Everythings changed!
Spencer tossed and turned for what seemed like the thousandth time, after coming home from the hospital her mother had offered to stay with her until she fell asleep, but Spencer knew that she wasn't going to be sleeping much this night, so she told her she just needed to be alone. Every time she closed her eyes images of Ian's hands on her body flashed before her and her muscles screamed in agony at the bruising and tearing they had endured. Her mom had left a glass of water along with some painkillers on her nightstand but Spencer found they did little to dull her pain. Also on the nightstand was her phone which had been beeping with calls and messages ever since her mom handed it back to her on the drive home, but Spencer refused to look at the phone, the thought of pitying messages from her friends, who couldn't possibly understand what she was going through, irritated her and she cringed at the possibility that Toby knew what had happened and had been trying to call.
It was three a.m. when Veronica Hastings went to check on her youngest daughter and upon finding her sleeping somewhat peacefully, she decided to retire to bed herself. However, she had barely dozed off when she heard a shrilling scream echo through the house. Her husband jerked awake, immediately getting up to see what was wrong but Veronica stopped him knowing that it was Spencer having a nightmare and that her father's presence would only agitate her further. She sprinted down the hallway to her daughter's room and found the distressed teenager tangled up in the sheets, sweaty and terrified. She gently shook her petrified daughter awake and held on tightly as Spencer sobbed in her arms. When the young girl had finally calmed down, Veronica helped her daughter remove her soaked pyjamas, trying not to stare at the bruises that aligned her body. She knew this was only the start of her daughter's sleepless nights and she wondered how anyone got over a trauma like the one Spencer had endured. Spencer insisted on showering again even though it was the middle of the night and Veronica was willing to let her do anything she wanted if it made things easier on her daughter. Whilst Spencer was still showering twenty minutes later, Peter Hastings carefully approached his daughter's room in search of his wife and he found her there silently crying for the loss of her daughter's innocence. He himself felt overwhelmed by what had happened tonight and not long after comforting his wife, he shuffled back to their room, willing to respect Spencer's need for privacy even if he wanted to comfort her too.
Spencer once again scrubbed her body vigorously in an attempt to rid herself of the feeling of Ian's hands on her body but her efforts were futile and twenty five minutes after entering the shower she returned to her room feeling just as disgusting as before. Her nightmare had been terrible, Ian's face smiling at her as she screamed in agony and Spencer was reluctant to sleep again this night. Her mother tucked her in gently, like she had done when she was a child but to Spencer's surprise she didn't leave the room, instead the two lay in silence until the sun rose the next morning. Spencer's muscles ached as she followed her mother downstairs just after six a.m. and she gratefully accepted the painkillers that were offered by her mom. She too accepted the bowl of cereal that her mother placed in front of her but found herself with no appetite and opted for playing with her food instead. Veronica cast a worrying glance at her daughter but decided that she would let it go as frankly it was understandable at the moment. Spencer whispered one word answers to her mother's questions of how she was feeling, did she need anything, had her friends called, but felt guilty at the thought of her friends who had always been there for her before and who had found her last night. Spencer knew that if it wasn't for them she wouldn't be alive so she asked her mom if they could come over for a while. Her mother, of course, was delighted that she showed interest in being sociable and told Spencer to text them straight away and she did.
*Hi guys sorry for not replying last night, come over for a while if you can, Spencer.*
*Hi Spence, hope you're feeling a bit better, with Aria and Hanna, we'll b der soon, love Emily*
Spencer smiled at Emily's text and for the first time that day she felt like maybe she could get through this, that is of course until the doorbell rang and she jumped, feeling herself starting to hyperventilate she talked herself down, "it's just the girls Spencer, they still love you for being you", but when she finally opened the door it wasn't her friends standing there, it was her boyfriend Toby.
His face crumpled at the sight of his broken yet beautiful girlfriend, but Spencer couldn't bear for him to see her like this and slammed the door shut. Outside Toby sank to his knees on the other side of the door as he shouted to Spencer, "I love you so much babe, forever, nothing's changed", but inside Spencer felt like screaming at the innocence of his words, "That's not true, Toby", she shouted, "everything's changed".