Moving On and Letting Go

Chapter 10: Cloudy with a Chance of Wedding Showers

It didn't matter how many times she denied anything, everyone could tell she was hurting.

Spencer hadn't talked to Toby since the dinner with their parents. A week had passed by painfully slow leading up to the wedding shower. It was being held at the girl's house and both Toby's and Hallie's families attended. Not just their parents but the whole extended bunch. The only one missing was Jenna, but everyone knew-excluding Hallie- Toby wasn't ready to welcome her back into his life so quickly.

Since it was the night of the shower, Spencer was stressing more than usual. She spend the majority of the night making sure there was enough food, that everyone was there, and that all the presents ended up in the same place. She was nonstop on her feet and would ignore Hanna and Emily's requests to take a break. Both of her friends were tired of Spencer's denies, so they recruited Aria to see if she could do anything. Aria excused herself from Ezra and walked over to where Hanna and Emily were arguing with Spencer on the other side of the room. As she walked over, she saw Spencer walk down the hallway in a huff and Hanna and Emily roll their eyes.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Aria asked.

"Spencer's being Spencer." Emily stated.

Aria chuckled, nodding, knowing exactly what they meant.

"But it's worse than usual." Hanna complained.

"Well can you really blame her? She's been planning a whole entire wedding, and if that's not stressful enough, it's her ex-boyfriends, who she still loves!" Aria counters, whispering.

Emily nods, "We know that, but she really just needs to sit down, have a glass of wine-"

Hanna cut her off, "Do you really think drinking is a good idea in her case?"

Emily sighs, turning from Hanna to Aria, "Can you just talk to her, at least try to cool her off?"

Aria nods, "Sure, I'll see what I can do." She pushes past her two friends, "Wish me luck!" she calls over her shoulder, disappearing in the same direction Spencer had previously.

Hanna sighs, running her hands through her wavy hair.

"I'm going to hang out with Samara." Emily says. "Will you be okay?"

Hanna looks up and nods, "Sure. Have fun."

Emily gives her a small smile, "Okay,"

Hanna watches Emily walk off in the direction of her girlfriend. "And then there was one." She scans the room and the mass of people. She finally sets her eyes on the snack table and zigzags her way through the crowd over to it. She reaches for potato chip and dunks it into the onion dip, popping it in her mouth. She reaches into the bowl for more, when her hand bumps into another. She looks up and sees a pair of familiar eyes staring down at her.

"Hey, Hanna," Caleb's soft voice speaks, with a half smile.

"Hi,"

"Knock, knock." Spencer was sitting on the edge of her bed, when a voice brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Aria standing in the doorway. Aria took this as a cue to walk in. "Hey, are you okay?"

Spencer sighs, massaging her temples. "I thought life would be less complicated after college. Turns out its more."

Aria chuckles and sits down beside her. She rubs her best friend's shoulder, "Don't worry, a few more weeks and this'll all be over."

"And Toby will be married." Spencer whispers, staring at the floor.

Aria sighs, her heart aching for Spencer. "Hey." Spencer looks at her. "Where's Drew?"

Spencer groans. "He's not coming."

"What? Why?" Aria asks, eyes wide in alarm.

Spencer holds up her phone. "He's stuck at work and can't make it."

"Well, you need to have fun without him!" Aria hops of the bed as Spencer watches her, curiously. "Come on, you can be my date! Sparia!" Aria extends her hand to Spencer.

Spencer laughs, "And won't Ezra be jealous?"

Aria rolls her eyes, playfully, "He can be Caleb's date. Now, come on! There's free food in there and I'm starved!"

Spencer chuckles and stands up, taking Aria's hand.

Aria smiles. "That's my girl."

In the kitchen, Emily, Samara, Hanna, Caleb, and Ezra were seated around the table. Toby and Hallie were preparing to open their gifts. Everyone in the living room had surrounded to couple. The furniture was arranged so there was a couch in the center of the room for Toby and Hallie. Spencer and Aria walked back into the room and made their way into the kitchen with the rest of the gang, also now joined by Ryan. They leaned against the wall, watching the two take turns opening gifts. They received the normal wedding shower presents, kitchen supplies and little things that would go around a house. After all the presents were opened, everyone began to make their way to separate spots around the room. Aria and Spencer hung out near the front, by the door. Hanna and Caleb stayed in the kitchen and talked. Ryan made his way to Toby where he was talking to Ezra.

"Hey," Toby greeted when he noticed him walking over, "Are you having a good time?"

Ryan nodded a little. He wasn't having a terrible time or anything, but over the past few weeks he had gotten to know Spencer. So he, along with everyone else, didn't like seeing her so upset and broken hearted. It didn't matter how many times she denied anything, everyone could tell she was hurting.

Toby looked over at everyone as Ezra started to say something to Ryan. He noticed Spencer and Aria standing in the corner by the front door. His eyebrows furrowed. Where the hell was Drew? He's supposed to be her boyfriend, why isn't he here? He noticed how depressed she was, not even thinking it could be because of himself, and he wished he could do something to comfort her. He was about to walk over to Spencer, when Hallie rushed over in front of him.

"Toby! I was just thinking about where we put all of the stuff we got today and I thought we need to start looking for a house together...." Hallie continued to talk, but Toby's eyes were still focused on Spencer. He watched her eyes widen as Drew finally made his way into the house. He could vaguely see the word 'Surprise' form with his mouth. He watched sadly, as he hugged her, wish it could have been him. He was snapped back into reality with Hallie's voice. "So what do you think, Toby? When should we start looking for homes?"

Toby sighed, "We shouldn't bother."

Hallie's eyebrows knitted together, "What?"

"We don't need a brand new house, when we have my apartment," Toby said. He looked over at Spencer and Drew again to see them kissing. His heart ached, knowing she was happy with someone else. So he should do the same. Tearing his eyes away from Spencer, he said, "So move in with me, Hallie. Tomorrow."