It was pitch black in the house, except for the blue light on the TV, reflecting on Toby and Spencer. They had started out with two large blankets, but she had someone ended up with both. The first blanket was cocooned around her, while the other had fallen on the floor. Spencer, who was too caught up in the movie to grab it, buried her face behind Toby’s shoulder to avoid watching all the things that scared her to death. He, on the other hand, was watching without even flinching. She wished she could be as poised as he was.

                Luckily, a commercial came and Spencer let out a sigh of happiness. “I have no idea why I even watch these with you,” she sighed. Toby looked at her with an arched brow. “Okay, I love watching them. But I hate it at the same time.”

                He smiled. “It’s tradition. We’ve been doing this since, when?”

                Spencer let her head fall back, loud laughter coming from her as she remembered it. “Since we met! We were ten and weren’t allowed to watch PG-13 movies…”

                Toby’s eyes shone with happiness at the memory. “…so I figured out how to download them all to my phone.”

                “The knowledge nerd you are,” she joked. “Then we snuck into your tree house and watched every single one.”

                “Yes!” Toby shouted with a wide grin. “My first all-nighter.”

                Spencer went into a fit of giggles. She knew the situation wouldn’t be funny to anyone who heard it, but the thought of two little kids, huddled up in his tree house around the little phone to see what the hype of Tim Burton was about…it was enough to make her crack up.

                Toby calmed himself down and realized she was still laughing, a sound that was enough to get him chuckling once again. Her laugh was so beautiful and contagious…Spencer smiling was the most beautiful thing Toby had ever seen. It was an understatement to say that he had a crush on her…after spending so much time with her, he’d fallen in love.

                Toby and Spencer told each other everything, but that was the one thing he kept from her.

                It was safe to say he pretty much knew everything, but the one thing he was not aware of was the fact that Spencer Hastings was keeping the same secret from him.

                So, here they sat, two shy best friends enjoying each other’s company, but longing for more. Toby sighed at that thought, when his attention suddenly shifted to the television. A commercial came on the screen, a man’s voice narrating it:

                “Are you the perfect couple? Are you madly in love? Do you really think your relationship can conquer everything we throw at you? Put it to the test…by trying out the newest reality show, ‘Not Alone’ coming to you on MTV. Directors will be coming to a location near you soon. Call the number below on this screen…you may just be the winning couple that gets the grand prize of $800,000!”

                Spencer had been watching in awe, her mind spinning. “800 grand is a lot of money,” she muttered.

                Toby nodded slowly. “I could do a lot with that.”

                They refused to look at each other, staring at the television. “It’s too bad, though,” she started slowly, “that I don’t have a boyfriend to audition with.”

                Toby sighed. “Shame.”

                Just then, they both jumped up with an idea, turning their heads, eyes meeting at the exact same time. “Unless…,” Spencer began.

                A grin curled on Toby’s lip. “Unless we pretend to be a couple. I mean, we’ve been friends for years…we’d probably be able to pull it off.

                Her green eyes widened. “Without question….I mean, we know everything there is to know about each other. We could spilt the 800 grand.” There was a long pause before Spencer said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Call the number!”