What Could Have Been.

Settled Down

Toby's POV -

We decided to make a new life for ourselves.

We bought a nice house in a small town outside of Philly, I'm doing community work and Spencer is of course working to be the best and brightest lawyer anyone has ever seen.

It's winter, and we spend most of our days cuddled up by the fire, drinking tea and just talking.

It's just us out here,  Ezra and Aria stayed in Rosewood for some odd reason, Emily and Alison moved with their kids out to California, and Hanna and Caleb are getting ready for their baby in their New York penthouse.

I was home alone cooking dinner when I heard rustling at the back door.

"Hey babe!" I hear Spencer yell from the mudroom as she wipes her feet on the rug and throws her boots off.

"Hiiii!" I said giggling as she ran up behind me to give me a huge hug. "So... how was work today?" I asked.

"Eh, same old same old.  You know, file papers, check on my mom, listen to her ask for the same files, grab the files, run back to give them to her, and then have her tell me those are the wrong files... But otherwise, it was great!", she said, not sounding very enthusiastic.

Spencer walked around to the bar stools, sat down and laid her head in her hands.  I walked to her and rubbed her shoulders to calm her down. "Hey,  you know it's all gonna be worth it when you're the next Veronica Hastings but instead of being in Rosewood, you can be somewhere like DC!", I said trying to help.

She smiled at me, "I know, but I sometimes start to wonder if it's really worth it?", she said as she turned around. "I just wish I could take off work for like two weeks and you and I could travel as much of the world as we could get to, and then come back and do all the work again... I just need a break." , she said.

"Well then, let's do it.", I said.  She turned back to me and gave me the 'are you crazy?' look. "What? I'm serious!  Your mom is your boss Spence, I'm sure she can take over for you, she's done it before."

"You're right...", she said smiling at me still.

"You deserve the time off, and maybe we can go see your friends?", I said excitedly.

"That sounds so nice.... And you and me can share breakfast in bed every morning in a cute little bed and breakfast?", she said seductively. "Oh, and maybe we could do other things too..." 

"I think that we can make that happen...", I whispered back and quickly picked her up and threw her on the couch as she laughed.  She sat up and laid her head against my chest.

We sat in a moment of silence, enjoying what we had in that very moment.

"What would I do without you?", she asked me, cuddling into me even more.

"I think that I could ask the same about you too." I said back.

"You know, throughout high school, I always pictured us getting married and having kids and growing old together and then when that all ended, I didn't know what to think anymore.  I didn't know what my life was gonna end up looking like.  I didn't think that the adult world would catch up with the two of us, I wanted for us to stay teenagers forever.", she said.

"I feel like I made so many mistakes.  I feel like it was my fault that we ever split up in the first place.  I was dead inside. Heartbroken, for so long, but I eventually found a way to get over it, and then I came back to Rosewood and saw you and it was like... It was like we were never apart from each other.  Not even for a minute.  When I saw your face for the first time in two years, it felt like I was home again.", she said getting teary eyed.

"Hey." I said, sitting up, looking her in the eyes and wiping her tears away. "It wasn't your fault.  It was a decision we made together.  Yeah, it killed me to see you with Caleb, and I know it killed you to see me with Yvonne.  But somehow, I knew that we would end up back in each other's arms, safe and sound when I saw you again.", she looked at me and smiled.

"I love you so much.  No matter what.", she said, still crying.

"I love you too.  Always.", I whispered back. "Now, lets go get some sleep, you look exhausted..."

"Are you sure you really want to sleep?  I'm not THAT tired...", she said getting up, slowly unbuttoning her shirt, and making her way upstairs.

"Well um, I mean.... I guess we don't need to sleep right now...", I said taking a big gulp and chasing her up the stairs into our bedroom.