The night went by quickly, full of dancing and laughter and gossiping. Spencer managed to catch up with Emily, Aria, Alison and Hanna and learn a few of Toby’s dance moves. At one point, Caleb, Ezra and him high on sugar, got on stage and started trying to do the moonwalk with the band members. The girls were practically dying on the floor and eventually joined in. Within an hour, Toby was twirling Spencer in the air and around him. It really impressed her, to say the least.

                Then, everyone slow danced some more, but somehow, between stolen glances and slight flirtation, Spencer ended up chasing Toby through the woods.

                “Come on!” she shouted behind him as he darted through the tress. “I just want to fix it!”

                Their laughter echoed through the palm trees. “No!” he yelled in response. “I’m not letting you anywhere near my hair!”

                “Diva!”

                They continued at this for a few minutes until they just gave up. They ended up on another side of the woods, breathless and laughing. Feeling extremely exhausted, Toby dramatically fell on the ground with a plop. Spencer giggled. “I’ve never seen you like this before,” she noted, falling next to him.

                “Note to self,” he retorted. “An entire liter of Dr. Pepper is not made for the ingesting of one person.”

                She rolled her eyes. “I could have told you that!”

                They both laughed, even though it wasn’t that funny. The mood was so careless they couldn’t help but feel strangely giddy. They relaxed for a bit after their side-splitting calmed down. The only sound being their heavy breathes, they gazed up at the stars, calming down.

                “That’s the big dipper,” she pointed out, gesturing to the night sky.

                “That’s the little dipper, Spencer.” He glanced at her with a smile and she grinned right back, turning her attention up to the sky again.

                “You know,” she said, changing the subject. “Tonight was fun. It was a good break from all the fake stuff. I was starting to forget where reality ended and make-believe began.”

                Toby nodded slowly. “I know what you mean. Tonight feels good. It feels real. I missed moments like these, you know, where it’s just you and me.”

                “It’s always just us, even when the cameras are on,” Spencer objected.

                Toby smiled lightly, “I know…but right now, everything just feels better. It feels real. I can’t explain it.”

                A gentle breeze whizzed through the air, carrying the intoxicating scent of Toby and his aftershave to her senses. She closed her eyes for a second and just relished in it, unaware of the fact that he was watching her intently. When she opened her eyes and came in contact with his perfect green ones, that somehow seemed to shine in the darkness, she could understand the way he felt. It was all in his eyes.

                “You know one thing that would make me feel all even better?” she finally asked.

                He continued to gaze at her intently but softly at the same time. “What?”

                She snickered and leaned closer. “If you’d let me fix your hair!” With those words, she quickly raised her hand to smooth it out at the top, but he was too face. Within a second, he grabbed her wrist.

                “Don’t…you…dare…” His eyes were dancing with playfulness.

                Spencer gasped, staring at him in shock. “Impressive moves, Mr. Cavanaugh.”

                Toby snickered; she giggled too, though their laughter quickly faded when they realized how close they were. His grin slowly disappeared. His heart started to race and he was almost positive she could hear it. Gaze flickering to her lips, he forced himself to speak.

                “What would you do,” he nervously whispered. Their eyes locked as Spencer stared at him, awaiting to hear his next words. “If I kissed you?”

                She was happily caught up in this crazy moment. “I wouldn’t stop you…”

                Toby exhaled shakily, the world around him completely fading away. He watched as Spencer closed her eyes and he did the same, his head tilting forward…

                Their lips met. It was unlike anything else either of them had been through; no, it was fueled with anger and desire and insanity like their last one had been, yet it wasn’t lacking anything either. It was so tender, so gentle, so loving that it made Spencer’s heart burst with happiness. The essence of all things Toby flooded her body with his soft kiss that ignited her entire being. Then, they both pulled away.

                It only lasted about four seconds, but it was the best four seconds of her life. When she opened her eyes and saw the expression on his handsome face, she knew he felt the same. Just when she was about to open her mouth to speak, they were interrupted.

                “Hey, Spencer, this guy, sorry…” They both turned their attention to a very surprised Ezra. “The guy in the limo is here. He says it’s time for you guys to get going. I’ll give you a second.” With that, he darted off.

                Spencer let out a disappointing sigh. “I have to go say goodbye to Emily, Alison, Aria and Hanna,” she said sadly. Spencer quickly rose to her feet and darted back towards the clearing. But right before she disappeared into the woods, she turned. “Toby?”

                He hesitantly turned to face her. “Yeah?”

                Spencer bit her lip, looking at him hopefully. “Was that our first real kiss?”

                Toby’s distraught expression disappeared almost instantly. “Yeah,”’ he answered. He smiled at her; she grinned right back. “Yeah, it was.”