Spencer and I left the cemetery and I parked the truck two blocks away from Spencer's house so that her parents wouldn't see it. Melissa knew about us and was happy for us. But Spencer was still scared of how her parents would react, especially if they found out now in the middle of all this.

We got to her house and I held the back door open for her. When she didn't walk through I thought she was going to give me some speech about how she was capable of opening the door herself. And I was almost right.

"You know, I could give you a whole lecture about always opening the door for me." She stated as she leaned against the doorframe.

"And I would listen to every word." I told her as I leaned down to kiss her. "But then I would tell you that I was just being a gentleman. I know it's sort of rare nowadays, but I can't help it, just like you can't help that you're addicted to extra, extra strong coffee."

"I said I could give you a lecture not that I was." She clarified. "There's something else I want to tell you."

"What's that?"

"You sure know how to walk a girl home." She smiled and then started kissing me again.

"We better get inside, it's pretty cold." I told her.

"Well, then I'll have to make coffee to warm us up." She said slightly joking and slightly serious.

"Whoa, what's all this?" I asked when I saw all the boxes scattered in front of the fireplace.

"If you're asking about the boxes, it's all Ian's stuff. My dad is supposed to take it to a storage place tomorrow I think." She told me.

"Hey, here's his yearbook. I wonder what he was voted most likely to be."

"My guess is, most likely to play professional sports or most likely to be a creep." She replied sarcastically.

"Both of those are true, but I doubt they'd put the second one in the yearbook." I laughed as I flipped through the pages. "Hey, Spence, what's the N.A.T Club?"

"The what club? I have no clue, I've never heard of it. Why do you ask?"

"In the yearbook, it has Ian's picture and underneath it lists all the sports and clubs he was involved in." I told her.

"Is it listed in the back index? And is there anyone else that was part of it?" She asked as she handed me a cup of coffee.

"No, it's not in the index. But I do see two other people that were in it, Garrett and Jason."

"Well, it kind of makes sense. The three of them were friends up until Alison went missing and they drifted apart I guess."

"Why would that cause them to drift apart?" Now I was the one asking the questions.

"After Ali went missing, Jason sobered up and so did Garrett. But Jason didn't just sober up, he also really cleaned up his act and finished college with flying colors. Garrett on the other hand, is a police officer but I think he's only doing that to look out for himself. And Ian, he might have eventually gotten his life together but he still seemed stuck in his college party years."

"Do you really think that Garrett is only a police officer to protect himself?"

"I don't know about protecting himself. But it makes sense that he's a cop for reasons other than keeping the people in this town safe. I don't think it's a coincidence that he was on duty when they found Alison, arrested you, and found Ian."

"I still don't know how Jenna knew about Caleb picking me up at the church that night." I sighed as I started digging through Ian's things again. "But a lot of things would make sense if the person framing everyone is working for the police."

"It would make sense, but I don't think Garrett is smart enough to do this on his own."

"Yeah, I agree." I told her just as I found something helpful in one of the boxes. "Hey, I think I just found out what N.A.T. means. There's a t-shirt with three words on it that look like Latin or something."

"Spell it to me and maybe I can figure it out." She suggested. "I took it for a semester last year and passed at the top of the class."

"Of course you did." I mumbled before spelling out the words to her.

"That's definitely Latin, and it means, we see all." She told me and I could tell she was trying to figure out how this fit into the scheme of things.

"Well, we can figure out what it means later. Your parents should be home in a little while so let's enjoy some time together before they get here. And I would prefer to spend that time not trying to solve the mysteries of Rosewood."

"I completely agree with you." She nodded and took a sip of your coffee. "What do you want to do?"

I had an idea or two but I didn't have a chance to reply.

"Spencer, what is he doing here!? What on Earth is going on here?" Mrs. Hastings questioned in shock as she, Mr. Hastings, and Melissa entered the room.

"Mom, nothing is going on. He just gave me a ride home from the cemetery." Spencer told her defensively.

"If he was just giving you a ride home then why is he still here?" This time it was Mr. Hastings that was questioning her.

"I offered him coffee to polite. Isn't that what a Hastings is supposed to do, be the perfect host?" She challenged them and I fought back a laugh.

"Not when it's a murderer like him." Mr. Hastings told her and then he turned to me. "I don't ever want to see you with my daughter again. I want you to leave my property immediately."

"Dad, he's harmless! And don't talk about him like that! He didn't hurt Alison and he would never hurt me." Spencer yelled at him.

"Spencer, stay out of this, he's clouding your judgment." Her mother told her.

"Mom, Dad, she's right." Melissa stepped in and defended Spencer and I.

"What!?" Both Mr. and Mrs. Hastings turned and stared at Melissa in shock.

"I said she's right." Melissa repeated. "Today was my husband's funeral, so I really don't feel like standing around and listening to a pointless argument. Toby would never hurt Spencer."

"Oh Honey, nobody's arguing." Mrs. Hastings immediately comforted her eldest daughter.

"Of course we're not arguing." Mr. Hastings added. "Spencer is just being stubborn and Mr. Cavanaugh was just leaving."

"Toby, don't!" Spencer begged as she latched onto my arm.

"Spencer, it's better this way. I don't want to cause any more trouble." I told her even though I hated to say it.

"Spencer, let him go." Melissa said quietly as she removed Spencer's hand from my arm.

"I thought you were on my side?" Spencer flinched away from her.

"This isn't about sides, Spencer. It's about keeping you safe." Mr. Hastings told her then once again he turned to me. "This is the last time I'm going to say it. Get off my property and leave my daughter alone."

"Yes sir, Mr. Hastings." I nodded.

I squeezed Spencer's hand as I walked past her. And if it wasn't for the look that Melissa gave me, that said she would take care of Spencer, I wouldn't have been able to leave. Once I was out of sight I ran to my truck and drove over to Mona's. Part of me just wanted to go home and feel guilty about causing trouble for Spencer but the other part knew I had to tell Mona what I had found out.

"Hey, Toby, what brings you here? I thought you would be with Spencer?" Jason asked as he opened his door.

I had gone to Mona's and told her what I found out about Ian. I also told her Spencer's theories about Garrett and the police. And I found out that I wasn't the only one helping Mona anymore.

Mike Montgomery had come over to study one night and accidently found out what Mona was doing. She convinced him to forget about it and then he asked her to go with him to a party the following night where they kissed. But when Garrett took Hanna and Aria away for questioning, after Spencer and I left, Mike panicked. He came to Mona and she agreed to let him help us since he wanted to help his sister.

"I was, but Mr. and Mrs. Hastings came home early." I sighed.

"You got caught, didn't you." He stated and gave me a sympathetic nod.

"Yup, and I've been asked to stay off their property and away from Spencer."

"You're not going to listen to them are you?"

"Well, I'm not going to her house anymore, but I'm not going to stop seeing her." I told him. "And you'll never guess who defended us."

"Who?"

"Melissa,"

"You're a really bad liar, Cavanaugh. You can come up with something better than that." He scoffed.

"I'm not lying. Spencer and Melissa had some sort of heart to heart talk in the barn the day they found Ian. I don't know all the details but apparently they're trying to be normal sisters."

"Something tells me that that won't last long. But I hope for Spencer's sake that it does." He sighed and then turned on the TV. "Now, after today her parents are probably going to watch her like a hawk, but maybe I can sneak Spencer over here. That way you have a way to see her without going to her place."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." I nodded.

"But for now, how about some video games?" Jason asked with a wicked grin.

"You're on." I accepted the challenge.

This time two years ago I only had one friend, and that was Spencer. Having her as a friend meant everything back then and it meant even more when I was gone. And this time one year ago I had no one, except for Caleb who I saw every now and then. But now I had a wide range of people that I could call friends, and Jason and Caleb were almost like brothers. All in all, I was grateful for the people I had in my life when I knew what it was like to have no one.

Six months. I had nearly gone the first sixteen years of my life without Spencer, but now I was ready to go crazy for spending six months without her. And I dreaded the months to come. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. And I found myself quoting Spencer.

"Hope breeds eternal misery." I mumbled.

"What was that?" Caleb asked.

Caleb Rivers was the one person I could confide in in this place. He would show up for a short time every once in a while after hacking into something. But he was learning to cover his tracks better. Having him around made things a little easier but I still couldn't wait to get out. But knowing that Spencer wasn't the one in here kept me going.

"Uh, nothing, just thinking out loud." I shrugged but I knew he wouldn't buy it.

"Are you thinking about your friend?" He teased.

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?" I asked already knowing his answer.

"Not a chance." He laughed. "So, what were you thinking about this time?"

"That I'm glad she's not in here."

"Have you heard from her at all?"

"No," I shook my head. "I went back around Labor Day to see if she was okay. But instead of seeing her, I talked to one of her friends. She's doing okay and learning to adapt."

I was both grateful and hurt by my conversation with Alison that night. I was glad to know that Spencer was okay, not that I thought otherwise because Spencer could handle anything that life threw at her. But it hurt to know that Spencer blamed me for what happened. I didn't believe Alison for two reasons. One, I think Alison lied more than she breathed. And two, I knew Spencer would never think that.

But when you had a lot of time on your hands you thought about things. And most of my thoughts were about Spencer. Usually I remembered the fun I had with her, but every once in a while my thoughts got the best of me. I would be convinced that Spencer resented me for what happened to her. But then I would think she would be mad at me, for me blaming myself. I was both excited and scared to go back to Rosewood when this was all over.

"Don't sweat it, man. I'm sure she's just busy if she's as crazy about studying as you say she is." Caleb assured me and I nodded.

Since this was Spencer we were talking about, it was a good possibility. But a letter or something wouldn't be the same as actually being with her. And whether hope bred eternal misery or not, I counted the days and hoped that things would be okay between us when I saw her again.

So I want to begin with a shout-out to reneexoxtyler15. I hope this flashback is what you wanted when you said you wanted to see Toby in juvie. So to the rest of you out there, I hope you liked this too. And I would love to hear about any flashback suggestions that you have as well. Did you like the suprise of having this from Toby's POV? And who was surprised to see Melissa defending Toby? Don't worry though, Mr and Mrs Hastings won't be able to keep Spoby apart for long. ;)