Here I am taking time out of my day to give you all another chapter.

Chapter 13: A Town Full of Scars

Spencer spent the night with Toby in his loft. As promised, they kept things innocent. There was a little dispute before bedtime on whether they could share a bed. Toby opts to sleep on the couch and give Spencer his bed, but Spencer insisted that it would be fine to share the bed. They were both adults.

A single ray of the morning sun peaked through the little slit of Toby's curtain into his bedroom. The pair fell asleep on their respected sides of the bed far apart. At some point during the night, Spencer felt the chills leave her body as she found herself a new source of heat to keep her warm. She awoke that morning to identify the source of that heat. She woke up with her arm wrapped around Toby's torso and her whole body was all snuggled up against his back. Spencer's eyes looked over his smooth, tan skin. Her hormones were under control until she woke up hugging a shirtless Toby. She very carefully, and very slowly, pulled her arm out through his hold trying not to wake him up.

"Don't move," he mumbled. "You're warm."

Shit busted! Spencer stopped with her arm halfway around him. Toby's lips curved into a small smile. She took a breath and finished pulling her arm free. Toby turned over to his side to face her.

"Hi," he said it quietly.

"Hi," she whispered back.

She could not help the smile forming on her face as Toby looked at her with his soft blue eyes and warm smile. Crimson colored her cheeks.

"Were you trying to skip out on me?" Toby poked her jokingly on her shoulder.

"No," her smile grew wider as butterflies flew into her stomach. "I just…I didn't want to wake you."

"I think you were trying to put a move on me," he teased.

"Was not," she giggled.

Toby tossed the covers away from his body and slipped out of the bed. He was wearing long flannel pajamas pants. Spencer felt the draft once he left the bed. She sat up in his bed curling her knees up against her chest. Spencer watched as Toby stretched out his muscles. His biceps were the size of her head. She had to force her eyes away before any not so innocent thoughts got into her head.

"Are you hungry?" His voice squeaked, as he was in the middle of a stretch.

Spencer's heart melted at the sound. "A little."

"Okay. I'll make us some breakfast."

Toby yawned as he made his way out of the room and into the kitchen. Spencer had to give herself a minute before getting up. Why does everything that man does make him so damn attractive? Spencer shook off a chill and climbed her way out of the bed. The chilly air hit her legs. She was only wearing Toby's long shirt, so she had no warmth protecting her bare legs. When she stepped into his kitchen, Toby was in the middle of getting the coffee pot started. He had a frying pan heating up on the stove. He walked over to his fridge to grab two eggs. He cracked them gently on the edge of the counter and Spencer heard them sizzling over the heat. Toby then grabbed four pieces of bread and stuck them in the toaster. A couple minutes later, the eggs were done, and the toast popped up. Toby put one egg on a plate then added two pieces of toast.

"Here you go," Toby said as he handed Spencer the plate. "And." He got down a mug and poured her a steaming cup of coffee. "Here you go."

Spencer smiled, "thank you."

She sat down at his table. Toby brought over his plate, a couple forks, and his cup of coffee before sitting down with her.

"This is nice," Spencer said. She took a sip of her coffee and her eyes widened. "Where did you learn to make good coffee?"

Toby chuckled, "before I worked for Mr. Sweeny, I interned with a master carpenter since I was thirteen. He often put me in charge of making coffee for him and his crew."

"I like it," she said. "It's nice and strong."

"I don't normally drink mine this strong, but I know this is the way you like it."

"I do, thank you," she smiled.

He smiled back. "Did you sleep okay last night?"

"I did. Better than I've slept in weeks. It was nice just hanging out with you last night. I had fun and you're good at making me forget my problems. Even if for just a short time."

"Good. I'm glad I was able to help you with that."

Toby rested his elbow on the table, rested his chin against his palm, and stared at her. Spencer instantly became flustered at the way he was looking at her. His eyes were soft, and his smile made her feel weak in the knees. Why was Toby looking at her like that? What was he thinking about?

"What?" She giggled.

His smile turned into a shy one. "You're beautiful in the morning."

She blushed and looked at the floor. "Stop." She managed to look back up at him. Toby was still staring at her. Her smile grew.

"Today is Saturday," she said, while picking at her eggs with her fork. "It's your day off. What does Toby normally do on his days off?"

He laid his hand down on the table and sighed, "well, most weekends are uneventful. Sometimes I like to get a few things done around the loft."

"Like what?"

"Oh, you know things like; doing my laundry, wash the windows, make my bed, and hope that one day I can get the plumbing in my bathroom to work properly."

"Since when do you have problems with plumbing? I thought you were good at home repairs."

"Most things," Toby said. "But even the greatest carpenters have their weaknesses. Mine just happens to be plumbing."

"What about taking showers and using the toilet?"

"I can use the toilet fine. It's the shower I have trouble with. It doesn't get hot water, so if I want to take a shower, I either must take a cold one or go to my parents' house. Believe or not, I would rather take the cold one."

Spencer smiled, "you never talk about your parents."

He matched her smile with an eye raise. "Neither do you."

They shared a smile that could've lasted a lifetime.

"What do you normally do on the weekends?" Toby asked.

"Go shopping with my friends. Sometimes, I'll spend time together with my mom. Very rarely I see Wren and we'd get together to go to some pub to watch rugby."

"Do you have any plans for today?"

"You want to hang out with me again today?" She asked. "I would think you'd be tired of me by now."

Toby smiled and said, "I don't think I could ever get tired of you."

"Well, I actually have plans to meet my friends for lunch, but that's not until 1 o'clock. I was going to go riding after breakfast. Do you want to come?"

"Riding? You mean like with horses."

"Yeah," she chuckled. "I go about once a month. It's really fun."

"I've never ridden a horse before. I suppose I could give it a try."

Spencer smiled, "good. I'll call the stables and tell them I'm bringing a friend."

For Toby's first time riding a horse he wasn't half bad. Spencer introduced Toby to Bashful, the horse that Spencer had adopted as a rescue. Bashful had a lot of trouble trusting people and up until today, Spencer was the only person the horse trusted to be near him. When Toby reached out to pet Bashful Spencer was surprised at how quickly the animal seemed to approach Toby. Maybe it was just some instinct the horse had that made him trust Toby so quickly. When Spencer brought Wren up to the stables once, the horse snorted in Wren's face and bucked his head away. That was the last time Spencer tried to introduce someone new to the horse. Toby must be the exception.

Spencer and Toby, road along an easy dirt trail that leads to Lookout Point. It was the area in town people could go to sit and get a pleasant view of the town of Rosewood. Not a lot of people took this trail. Most people take the one that goes to The Kissing Rock. This was Spencer's favorite spot in town. They reached the top of the hill and stopped their horses. Spencer breathed in a sigh as they took in the view. They could see the whole town from here covered by a very thin layer of fog. Spencer liked coming here because this place often helped her gain a new perspective on things that were going on in her life.

"It's not so bad from up here," said Toby. "It just looks like a town."

Toby's eyes filled with a haunted gaze as he took in the view. From a distance, they could hear a car's horn blaring. The horse's mane swayed in the gentle breeze.

"It is just a town," Spencer said.

"It's more than that." Toby's gaze was long and hard. "It's got some secrets in it."

She looked at him and said, "all towns have secrets in them."

"I grew up in this town," he said. "I spent a lot of time dreaming about getting out of this place."

"How come?" Spencer bounced as her horse adjusted their footing on the ground.

Toby slid off his own horse and walked over to the giant boulder sitting on the edge of the cliff. Spencer got off her horse. She tied both horses to a tree before joining Toby on the rock.

"My mom died here," said Toby.

Spencer's heart immediately went out to him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even know she was… How long ago did it happen?"

"I think I was—" Toby thought back. "Thirteen when it happened. She had been struggling with some things that I didn't completely understand at the time because I was just a kid. My father had her sent to a hospital here in town that's no longer in service."

"Radley," Spencer guessed. "I heard of it. I know they shut it down five years ago and it reopened as four-star hotel."

"There is nothing four stars about that place," Toby chuckled. "But yes, that's the one. The place was often overbooked and understaffed. My mom stole a key from the nurse's station one night, went up to the roof, and jumped."

Spencer's mouth was agape, "Toby, I'm so sorry." She reached for his hand.

He continued, "I was so angry at everyone for so long. I was angry at my father for sending her to that place. I was angry at the staff for not keeping a close eye on her and helping her. I was mad at my mom for doing what she did. I had a lot of anger for a really long time. I just… I didn't understand how much pain my mom was truly in."

"That's okay." Spencer rubbed her fingers against his. "Whatever you felt back then, whatever you're feeling now, those feelings are valid."

"I blamed myself too," he admitted. "I thought that if I had been a better son, she'd still be here."

"Toby," her heart sank. "You know that your mom's death is not your fault. You can't put that on your shoulders."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "I think being mad at my father really put a rift in our relationship. It didn't help things much when my dad started dating another woman just four months after she died."

"Oh, my."

"I did not handle it well. Then, my dad married that woman at the end of the year and that really… Building things was a comfort for me. It gave me something to do and it kept me busy."

"Keeping busy can be good," said Spencer. "But shutting down feelings for so long isn't so good."

"I know," Toby rubbed his thumb against her palm. "After I finished high school, I got some counseling. It did help, but this is the first time I've really talked about it in years. I don't like being vulnerable."

"No one does.

Toby sighed and looked at her. "You make it easy though. I don't know what it is about you, but I always feel like I can tell you anything."

"You can." Spencer laced their fingers together tightly. "And I really hope that someday you might be ready to tell me all about your mom. I'd really like to get to know her. And I'd really like to get to know you better."

Toby squeezed her hand to return her gesture. "I'd really like that too."

They shared a small smile. Then, they turned their heads to share in the sight of the view before them.

Toby shares something personal about his life with Spencer. What did you think of this chapter?