This is it guys! Thanks for all your reviews, and massive thanks to those who reviewed every single chapter. It really kept me writing. I might write more spoby in the future, but have to focus on school right now. Love you all heaps!
The past three days had been a blur for Spencer. Her days had been spent sitting with Toby, looking after Adrianna and speaking to the Rosewood PD about what had happened. Conversations with her high school friends melted away from her memory the second she finished talking to them, she was barely aware of her mother telling her about what was happening to Melissa, Alison and Sarah. She was only focused on him, and getting him better.
But now, a tentative peacefulness had settled upon her fatigued mind. Her fingers were interlocked loosely with Toby, who was in a deep sleep on the hospital bed, and Adrianne too was sleeping on the chair beneath Aria's coat. The other three girls were gathered around the bed. Hanna sat on the arms of Spencer's chair, Aria was crouched beside Adrianne gently smoothing her hair and Emily was sat on the floor her knees curled into her chest. Spencer felt safe in this room. It contained everybody she loved, everyone she cared about.
"What are you smiling at?" Spencer heard Hanna say. She looked down at Emily who was wiping her face of a soft grin and dropping her phone to her lap.
"Uh nothing. Just I started talking to Paige again."
"Ooh," Aria responded teasingly. "Do we think this could…escalate?"
"Potentially." The darker girl blushed, dipping her head and Spencer laughed.
"Bring her to Hanna's wedding," she suggested.
"I think it's a bit early for that," Emily replied, her thumb sliding back and forth along the screen of her phone.
"No, you have to." Hanna slid off the side of the chair and sat beside her friend. "Show her how hot you're going to look in the bridesmaid dress I picked out. Oh my God I can't believe the wedding's in five days!"
"Inside voice, Hanna," Spencer snapped softly glancing first at her daughter and then Toby- neither had stirred. Hanna sighed, swivelling round on her knees and grabbing Spencer's hand to examine her ring. A wicked glint flashed in her eyes, and she quickly raised her own left hand to compare the jewellery. Spencer jerked her hand away, laughing. "Stop!"
"I can't believe he's finally got his act together and asked you," Aria said gleefully. "But I also can't believe that I'm going to be the only one going to your wedding without a date."
"I don't think we'll set the date for quite a while Aria," Spencer said, her eyes sliding down his side and focussing on the wad of bandages taped to his side.
"Yeah they've basically been married since junior year nothing will change," Emily said decisively. A content silence settled across the room and for the first time since the shooting, Spencer let her mind wander freely for a few seconds. She allowed herself to imagine herself on her wedding day, standing beside Toby. Adrianne could be bridesmaid, along with the girls. Her parents would be there, all their friends in New York and Melissa…
"Melissa won't be at my wedding," she said slowly. Emily glanced up at her, resting a reassuring hand on her thigh.
"I'm sorry Spence."
"My parents know there's no hope," she said flatly. "The evidence couldn't be more solid. She won't even get a shorter sentence for pleading guilty because she failed to turn herself in at the time. And part of me feels like that's the way it should be but there's this other part of me th-that doesn't. And then there's this other part of my that feels awful for feeling bad for her when Mrs DiLaurentis was the one who-"
"I know she's family, Spence but Melissa is crazy," Hanna said bluntly. "Maybe she was always going to end up in jail, somehow. And I know it's wrong but this time she thought she was doing it for you. She did love you."
"How much do they have on Alison," Emily asked hesitantly.
"It'll probably go through as something like accomplice to attempted murder with perversion of justice and withholding evidence," Spencer said listlessly. "She'll be out in half the time Melissa will be."
"I still don't understand why she would do it," Aria said.
"Wren told her that he could reunite her with CeCe for good, right?" Emily said. Spencer nodded.
"Yeah but that wasn't her motive by the end. She said she started enjoying the power it gave it."
"There's something else," Hanna said. "I only found out today, but Caleb said there was footage of Ali and Wren… together."
"Together together?" Aria said incredulously as Hanna nodded grimly.
"He always had a thing for younger girls," Spencer said, glancing meaningfully at Hanna who nibbled at her lip thoughtfully.
"Who always had a thing for younger girls?" Toby shifted slightly in the bed. He squinted slightly to look at her and traced his thumb up and down hers.
"Wren," she said, entranced by the sight of her slender fingers entwined into his hand. They fitted together so well, like puzzle pieces. Puzzle pieces that together completed the picture.
"I thought we made a pact?" he said lightly, moving his other hand to rake gently through the waves of her dark hair. "No more Wren talk until we get out of here."
"I didn't realise that counted when only one of us was conscious." She leant forward to kiss him, and his hand fell from her hair to her waist. Her heart surged with love and gratitude. And relief. It could have so easily ended differently. She could be planning her outfit for his funeral rather than her best friend's wedding.
"Are you excited to go home tomorrow?" Emily asked. "Spencer's Mom came over with some fresh clothes to change into."
"I can't wait to see anything other than the inside of this room," he said honestly. "And I can't wait for this one to wait on me hand and foot." Spencer raised an eyebrow.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," she muttered darkly.
"Yes but don't do too much Toby because I'm not having you pulling a sickie on my wedding day," Hanna added.
"Han he literally took a bullet," Aria chastised.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Toby said, without a hint of irony in his voice. Spencer leant forward to kiss him briefly again, before she leant into his ear to whisper. Her hair fell in front of his face like a shield.
"We're never going to miss anything again," she murmured, kissing his ear lobe. "No more mystery solving, or –A hunting getting in the way of our lives. Just me and you and Adrianne." Toby smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear and leaning forward to whisper back. His breath caressed the tender flesh of her neck.
"That sounds perfect."
*18 months later*
"Mommy can I take baby Lexi to see the gardens?" Spencer tore her eyes from those of her husband- her husband to look down at her four year old daughter.
"Ask Aunty Hanna, Ady. Why do you want to see the gardens?"
"The statues are from England and were made in the 1840s," the girl replied sincerely, before skipping off to find Hanna. Toby chuckled.
"Trust our daughter to interrupt our first dance as a married couple." His hands returned to her waist and his head dipped forward to kiss her deeply. She curved her body closer to his, her arms hanging over his shoulders.
"And to know about garden artwork from the Victorian period," she added, leaning back from the embrace and looking back into his eyes. His face was lit and shadowed by the warm, glowing lights of the venue and his eyes were sparkling with life and love. "Today has been…" she paused, searching for the word. He cut her off.
"Why not try not analysing everything for once and just…just be?" His lips traced along her neck, and she shivered slightly.
"I'll try," she rasped softly, a smile dancing across her lips. "But I won't promise anything."
Emily leant against the side of the dance floor, watching as Toby whispered in Spencer's ear. She felt light, lighter than she'd felt for years as she watched her two friends together. Somebody brushed against her side, and she looked up to see Paige.
"Spying on the happy couple?"
"I just can't believe how blissful they are," she stated emphatically. "After everything they've both been through."
"Kind of gives us some hope, right?" Emily smiled, hooked her arm around her girlfriend's waist and pulling her into a kiss. As the song faded, she withdrew from the embrace, her fingers brushing through Paige's brown hair.
"Spencer's wrong about hope. It doesn't breed misery, it destroys it."
"I'm so glad you two are back together!" Hanna burst in on the happy moment, her six month old daughter Alexis in her arms. The girl had Hanna's characteristic blonde hair, but the more tanned skin and darker eyes of Caleb. Paige bent down, cooing at the girl. "And have you seen Aria? She and her new publishing boyfriend look so cute together."
"It's all sort of coming together isn't it," Paige said. "Seeing you four girls and being with Emily feels like we're back at high school but without the –A thing."
"Oh," Emily exclaimed, as the next song began to play, opening with a grungy guitar. "Spencer loves this song."
First you look so strong/ Then you fade away
Spencer cupped Toby's face in her hands, they stopped swaying for a moment. All of a sudden, she felt overcome with emotion, memories of him lying in that hospital bed at the forefront of her mind. For so long she had defined strength as being self-sufficient, independent. Surviving on your own without talking to anybody else. Now she knew different. Strength was being able to lean on Toby and let Toby lean on her, like a counter balance. "I love you, Toby Cavanaugh."
"I love you, Spencer Cavanaugh," he echoed. "I always will."
The sun will blind my eyes/ I will love you anyway
"Come on," Emily took Paige's hand and dragged her to the dance floor. "Let's dance." Paige's hand slipped into Emily's, and the other rested on her waist.
"I'm glad we're back together too," she murmured.
First you form a smile/ I watch you for a while
Hanna leant against Caleb as they sat watching their friends dance, their baby on her lap. "I don't want anything to change," she said, her voice muffled in his jacket. "I want Alexis and Adrianne to always be able to see each other and I want to see the girls all the time. I don't want Spencer and Toby to have to live in Philadelphia."
"Well they can't afford New York any more, and I think they're growing out of the Hastings barn," Caleb reasoned.
"Adrianne loves Lexi so much," Hanna wined. "And Ady's such a smart kid, it might rub off on Lexi. We could have a genius as a baby if we live closer to Spencer and Toby."
"Then why don't we just move to Philly," he intoned. "Now Aria's back in Rosewood you girls would all be together. New York has been fun, but perhaps it's time to put this one first." He gestured to the child on their laps. She straightened up.
"Really?"
"Why not?" She kissed him, her eyes shining in excitement.
"I can't wait to tell Adrianne."
You are a vapour trail/ In the deep blue sky
"I'm looking forward to our honeymoon," Spencer said as they swayed in time to the music. "But I really can't wait to move into the bigger flat and live as our family again. Staying in my Mom's barn has been nice but now-"
"There's just no room for four." They glanced down at Spencer's now flat stomach, and a grin tugged at the corners of Toby's mouth.
"7 and a half a months and Adrianne's gonna have a little brother or sister," she whispered. His hand brushed over her abdomen before settling on her back, pulling her into him. As he held her their future stretching before them. Spencer smiled idyllically.
"I can't wait."
And all my time/ Is yours as much as mine/ We never have enough/ Time to show our love.