Disclaimer: I do not own these characters! AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far!
Sunday morning in the Hastings' household usually consisted of the family sleeping in later than usual and then enjoying a nice, peaceful breakfast together. This morning however, Spencer rose at the crack of dawn, having once again endured a sleepless night having been plagued by nightmares and flashbacks. Her mom had once again come to her aid in the middle of the night but Spencer had sent her back to her own room soon after, insisting that at least one of them should get some sleep. Shortly after six a.m., she drags her weary body down the stairs and into the kitchen, making herself a large mug of coffee, the only breakfast she can seem to stomach. She is so absorbed in thought, staring intently at the black liquid, that she doesn't hear her father enter the kitchen a few minutes later, he places his hand on her shoulder and says good morning but her senses are in overdrive and she panics, jumping at his touch and knocking the cup of coffee to the floor. She screams as the mug smashes to pieces on the floor and as her father moves closer to try to calm her, images of Ian flash through her head and suddenly she is back in the bell tower, struggling underneath him again.
Mrs Hastings hears her daughter's scream from upstairs and fearing that Ian may be back, she rushes down the steps, only to find her husband standing over Spencer, his features fraught as their daughter rocks back and forth on the floor, curled up in a ball with her knees to her chest and tears streaming down her face.
"What happened", she shouts at her husband,
"I don't know…I said good morning, patted her shoulder…"
"You shouldn't have done that, she's afraid of being touched",
"I'm sorry", he says to his wife before looking at his terrified daughter,
"Spence I'm so sorry, baby, its daddy, I would never hurt you", he whispers as his wife moves to wrap her arms around Spencer.
Spencer feels arms wrap around her, but they are gentle and warm and she begins to come back to reality, images of the attack fading as she smells her mom's perfume over her shoulder.
"Mommy", she whispers, her voice raspy from crying,
"Spencer, it's alright honey, you're ok now, let's get you sitting up again, ok?" she asks as she helps her daughter to sit back on one of the high stools surrounding the kitchen island.
Veronica notices her husband quietly shuffle out of the room, towards his office and she feels sorry for him momentarily before remembering that Spencer is her priority right now.
Spencer is still shaky when her mother places a bowl of cereal in front of her. They're her favourites and normally she would eat them without hesitation, but now just looking at food makes her feel sick. Still she lifts the spoon, reluctantly swallowing a small portion for her mother's benefit more than her own, but the milk makes her queasy and she pushes the bowl away, refusing to eat any more.
"Spencer, you have to eat", her mom pleads,
"I had a slice of toast when I got up", she lies.
Her mom accepts her answer and she sighs in relief, this morning had already been hard enough without a lecture on good nutrition.
Her mood is brightened considerably however, when a delivery boy arrives at the door ten minutes later. He has a huge bunch of flowers in his hands and her mother signs for the bunch before closing the door and handing them to Spencer,
"I think these are for you honey", she says.
Spencer smiles, her first genuine smile since the attack, as she looks at the bunch of flowers. They're pink daisies, her favourite, and she reaches excitedly for the card.
*Spencer, thinking of you always, all my love, Toby*, it reads and she feels tears prick her eyelids at his thoughtfulness.
She giddily climbs the stairs with the bunch, before placing them in the vase on the desk in her room. This isn't the first time Toby has sent her flowers, he's the romantic type, but something about today's gift feels special and she knows now that Toby really does still love her, no matter what.
Spencer spends the rest of the afternoon texting Toby, expressing how his gesture made her day so much better and promising to see him again tomorrow. She texts the girls too, she can tell they're all worried and trying to give her space but the truth is she misses them and she just wants things to go back to how they were before. Determined not to let the attack ruin her life, Spencer decides that she is going to return to school tomorrow, she's ready to be normal again and this seems like the best way forward to her. She finds out later on however, that her mother strongly disagrees, telling Spencer that it's too soon and she's still too fragile to go to school.
"Look what happened this morning Spencer", she argues
"I panicked but it won't happen again", Spencer replies
"You don't know that sweetheart, I think you should wait, go back next week instead", she pleads.
"Next week won't be any different, I'll still be the girl who was stupid enough to get raped", Spencer screams.
Veronica flinches at her daughter's words, how could she think that she had been stupid, did she really think the attack was her fault?
"Spencer, honey, what happened wasn't your fault, nobody thinks that", she assures her daughter.
"Whatever, I want to go back to school, please, I just want to feel normal again", she chokes out and Veronica can't bear to say no to the broken girl,
"Ok you can go", she relents, "but if you need to come home at any stage you just tell a teacher or call me and I'll be there ok", she adds as her daughter reluctantly nods in agreement before heading to bed, hoping to actually get some sleep before returning to school the next day.