Running back to the lobby as fast as he could, Toby tried to make sure the love-sick couple at the bar, Spencer’s sister and his ex-girlfriend, did not see him. His mind spun was possible explanations to how that would have happened. Maybe Melissa was eager to meet some people and just happened to see Jenna; maybe they started to flirt and knowing Melissa and Jenna, it turned into more.

                Somehow though, he knew that couldn’t be right. Not from the way she kept asking about Jenna and mysteriously mentioning a girl that made her hate Spencer a little more each time she thought about her.

                Something just wasn’t making sense.

                Toby wanted to gain the courage to turn back around, get the answers he badly wanted, but for some odd reason, he just couldn’t; he didn’t want to face Jenna’s cold glares of interruption, didn’t want to come in contact with the girl who darkened his stay during Not Alone. He could always ask Melissa once she got back upstairs…

                But Spencer! What would Spencer think of this?

                His mind and heart raced; would this crush her? Would she care? Would this distract her from getting better?

                As those thoughts consumed his mind, he began to absently pace through the lobby, until he came in contact with a hard chest, making him and the tall man in front of him stumble. “I’m so sorry!” he started nervously, spitting out random apologizes until he recognized the all-American face. “Parker!”

                He smiled in response, his brown hair blowing gently from the Californian breeze rushing through the open window. “What’s up, Toby?” His blue eyes twinkled, especially when Madison, who was obviously at his side squealed in a mix of delight and pity, running up to him and hugging him as tightly as she possibly could. The scent of too much Taylor Swift perfume overwhelmed his senses, but Toby didn’t really mind.

                “T-o-by-y!” Madison practically sang, giving him a long squeeze before letting go. “We all missed you so much!” Smiling, Toby politely said that he missed everyone too, but at the moment his mind was still concentrated on that odd moment at the bar. “How’s Spencer? The thing I read and saw on TV were scaring the living daylights out of me! I heard from somewhere that she lost, like, all of her memory…and another said she was actually dead for twenty seconds! I almost had a heart attack…”

                Laughing lightly, though talking about Spencer and her injuries was a touchy subject that brought up bad memories, Toby explained. “No. She didn’t lose her memory.” But she was…dead. They saved him. It was a miracle.”

                Madison, always one to get overly sentimental, gave Toby another hug. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Toby. You must have been so scared. At least she’s okay. She’s here, isn’t she?”

                “Yeah,” he replied, forcing a smile. “You see her in a few days at the show.”

                “Epic,” Parker drawled out, making Toby giggle. “Guess we’ll see her then! We’re about to go surfing and meet with Jamie and Joe….want to come?”

                Madison shook her head. “Baby, I’m sure he has more important things to do than go surfing.”

                “No!” Toby responded instantly. “I haven’t had much fun lately, with everything that’s been going on. I’d like that. I haven’t surfed in a while.” Internally, he let out a sigh of relief. This would give her time to make sense of Jenna and Melissa and figure out exactly what to do about it.

                “Where’s Toby?” Emily complained, plopping down on the couch beside Spencer. “I want my ice cream!”

                Approaching the main room of the suite and taking a seat in a chair across from them, Aria laughed. “You’re like a little kid. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get your scoop of strawberry. I promise, you’ll have another one in your lifetime.”

                Spencer, amused by their friendly banter, chimed in, “He probably ran into someone from the house. Can’t you just order room service?” From the tone of her voice, it seemed as if she was not fully involved in their conversation; most of her attention was on the acoustic guitar against her shoulder. She continued to play five different notes over and over again, her fingers only wavering about twice every minute.

                “Order room service? That means I have to order the ice cream, which means I’ll end up getting like three scoops, which means I’ll have to go to the gym and I’m on vacation and I don’t want to work out…”

                “Three scoops of ice cream won’t do anything. You are ridiculous,” Aria chuckled, shaking her head dismissively. She then turned her attention to Spencer, who was staring down at her fingers on the strings with furrowed brows. “You sound good,” she complimented.

                Spencer grinned softly and looked up. “Thanks,” she said. I’m trying…I know it makes Toby happy to see I’m actually making progress without angrily throwing things across the room.”

                “Aww!” Emily squealed happily. “You played guitar for him? On the couch!”

                “So give us the details,” Aria added, her eyes twinkling like a typical teenage girl listening for gossip, not that she was even going to spread it. “Are you totally in love?”

                She took the guitar off her shoulder and set it on the ground, making sure to keep her head down so the girls couldn’t recognize the sudden heat flashing to her face. “Yes,” she answered shyly in a voice that the girls thought was unconditionally adorable. “I’m in love.” Spencer laughed just a little bit as she stared ahead at something only she could see, a distant grin on her lips.  “I’m in love with my best friend. Literally. Who would ever thought we’d be so...”

                “Perfect together?” Emily finished with a knowing smirk. She loved the way Spencer’s face got red once again; to Emily in school, Spencer always seemed so mature, so refined…but when she was with Toby, whenever his name was merely mentioned, she turned into this stereotypical schoolgirl who couldn’t stop blushing and smiling like an idiot.

                “Huh,” she grinned. “We’re perfect together?”

                Aria rolled her eyes. “Come on. You know you are.”

                “I mean, everything feels right when I’m with him,” she confessed unable to get rid of that foolish grin. “But we’ve had a drama. We’re not exactly the essence of a perfect couple; we’ve never ever been on a real date.”

                Arching her eyebrows, Emily tilted her head. “Is that so?” Spencer nodded and Emily eagerly reached for the phone on the table beside the couch. “Well, Ms. Hastings, that’s about to change.”

                The sun was beginning to set in the pink sky when Toby finally entered the room again. He was sure he looked unquestionably horrific, with his hair messy, and his clothes drenched. But nevertheless, he had thought things and was going to discuss the Melissa situation with Spencer tonight. “Sorry I disappeared, guys,” he started busily as he entered the room. “I ran into Madison and…” He turned his attention upwards, and was shocked that no one was there. “Hello?”

                He furrowed his brows in absolute confusion. “Hello?” he tried again. No reply.

                Where was everybody?

                That was when he saw his phone on the coffee table. Toby’s lips formed an unsettled frown. He hadn’t left it there. Tiredly trekking over to the cell, he let out a sigh when he picked it up. As soon as he turned it on, a message displayed on the screen.

                You have: 2 Voice Messages

                “Hey, baby, it’s me. Spencer. You’re probably really confused right now, but don’t worry! I’m not in the hospital or kidnapped. I was going to write you a note, but my fingers didn’t work.” He giggled to himself. “Emily and Aria rented a limo, I think…they’re driving around the city so people think they’re celebrities or something. Well, would you like to be my date tonight? If the answer’s yes, put on your bathing suit and play my next message.”

                Toby momentarily forgot about Jenna and Melissa as a love-struck grin curled up on his lips, taking over his entire face. Quickly, he ran into the room, changed in swimming trucks and a shirt, did his hair and grabbed his phone again, pressing to hear the second message.

                “Hi again! Hopefully this means that you’ve accepted by offer. So here’s what I want you to do. Go to the elevator, and go to the highest floor you can; I think that’s the twenty-first floor. Quickly, Toby paused the message and rushed to the elevator, pressing the up button. He could practically hear his heart racing with excitement and wonder. Once he got into the elevator and reached the twenty-first floor, he stepped into the hall and played her message again. “Now, walk to the very end of the hallway. You should see a smaller, dark hallway that looks like it’s headed nowhere. Follow it.” So he did. “Now, at the very end, you should see a staircase…walk up it. Okay?”

                Smiling to himself, Toby quickly found the stairs and walked up. Instantly, he was greeted with the cool Californian air, quickly realizing that he was in fact on the roof of the hotel. He gasped at the sight; purple, blue, and red lights outlined the whole place, and the huge pool was illuminated with green lights. He gasped when he saw the Jacuzzi. Everything was so fancy…

                Spencer had outdone herself.

                Then finally, his gaze fell on her face, her bright, shining face that lit up even more when their eyes locked. His heart skipped a beat. Practically floating, not even aware of that fact that his feet were moving, he made his way over to her and greeted her with a deep kiss. “Spencer!” he gasped once they broke apart. “This is incredible…I can’t, believe you did this for me.”

                She smiled down at him almost indifferently, all of her undeniable love apparent in his fathomless pools of green. “Well, it’s a date. Why not do it right?”

                Toby giggled, happily leaning against her and just enjoying the way it felt to have his body against hers. Like they were two puzzle pieces.

                But as he stared into her eyes, he remembered the moment that had been occupying his thoughts all night. “Spencer…I have to tell you something. I don’t think you’re going to like it.” His stomach lurched when he saw the confusion in her eyes, and he realized he was actually getting up the courage to tell her that he possibly knew why her sister hated her.

                He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted. “It can wait,” she said calmly, caressing his hair to relax him a little more, seemed to make him momentarily forget all about the drama and crave her touch, her lips. “Tonight, it’s about us. Anything else is beside the point. It’s our first date, and nothing’s going to bring it down.” Her voice was stern, strong-minded. “Is it a matter of life and death?”

                Toby smiled just a little and shook his head. “No.”

                “Then you can tell me first thing tomorrow if you want to.” She pulled him close and slowly began to place feather light kisses along his neck, affectively taking his thoughts off of the problem at hand and putting all of his concentration on Spencer, and it felt good to be in her arms, victim to her kiss, to her toxic touch.

                “Okay,” he whispered through closed eyelids. After all, it wasn’t as if this would change anything right away; maybe Melissa and Jenna were nothing. He didn’t have to worry. Not tonight.

                Tonight, it was about him and Spencer.

                “So, Ms. Hastings,” he chuckled, gazing up at her with loving and adoring eyes. “Now that you’ve got me here, what do you want with me?”

                “Nothing really,” she joked. Spencer stepped away from Toby’s warm embrace and walked over to the small table beside the pool, turning away from him. He simply watched as her head down a little bit and her elbows bent to let her fingers rest on the tie of her cover-up.

                “Do you need any help?” he asked quietly after a long moment of powerful silence.

                “No,” Spencer replied quickly, urgently; Toby couldn’t see what she was doing but he had a feeling she was still struggling with the lie. “I can do this by myself,” she said a little too frantically, more to herself than anybody.

                 Nibbling on his bottom lip, Toby smoothly approached Spencer’s tense frame and ran his hands along her back. Her skin was smooth and warm beneath his fingertips. “I know you can,” he encouraged. “Just concentrate, Spencer.” As he said this, Toby barely grazed his lips against the back of her neck.  “Don’t lose your cool.”

                He stepped away again to quickly remove his shirt. Intently, he stared while Spencer worked to undo the tie on her dress, her back still to him. His slender lips curled up in a proud grin when he saw her hands drop to her sides in accomplishment. She shrugged her shoulders back, allowing the dress to slowly slide down her arms and collect at a pile on the ground. Briefly, when she moved a bit, and the purple light hit the skin of her back, he could have sworn that he saw her glowing before him, like his own righteous angel.

                His righteous angel, who was saved from death because she was undeserving of such an unpleasant demise at such a young age. His flawlessly flawed angel who God had saved because she was simply too good to let go of. Because she was pure…and so was her fathomless love.

                His desirable lover who had never failed to make his breath at the most unlikely of moments. All it took was one look, one simple look for him to understand how much she loved him, how deeply and passionate she loved him. Truly, it made no sense at all most of the time, how much he loved her and wanted her when they were both still so young, and usually, no one else could fully understand. That wasn’t important though, for he knew that she was the one person he was destined to be with just from those brief touches and momentary glances.

                “This is why I love you,” Toby breathed, knowing that she heard him. Finally, Spencer turned around with a smile on every inch of her beautiful face. He didn’t need to say anything else; she knew what he meant.

                She nearly drifted over to him, and the next thing he knew, her forehead was against his and he could taste her sweet breath against his lips with her every exhale. Her shaky hands cupped his cheek and she just stood there, frozen. Spencer didn’t kiss him, didn’t say anything; she just merely stayed in Toby’s embrace with her eyes closed. Toby kept his own eyes wide open though, taking in every detail of her naturally beautiful face, from the way her nose was slightly curved, to the subtle, little birthmark past her right cheek. Just looking at her managed to give him chills. Had there ever been a time when they hadn’t been together like this, when they were merely friends? Because, honestly, it felt af if he’d never spent a day of his life with Spencer’s loving arms around him like this.

                “Spencer…,” Toby eventually started.

                “I just need one more second.” Toby slowly nodded, grinning up at her. He knew what she was doing; he could read her like a book. She was preserving this moment, taking in every sensory detail in case she was someday only life with the bittersweet moments of their time together.

                Nearly dying had really changed Spencer’s view on life; she saw the new wisdom in her eyes every time she opened them. Love to the fullest, that was her way of life, because you’ll never know if you’ll get another tomorrow,

                “I’m not going anywhere,” Toby promised. “Neither are you.” With those words, just as he had predicted, Spencer opened her eyes. He gave her a loving look, and she absently mirrored it. She believed him. “It’s you and me…forever.”

                “I know,” she replied softly. “Always.”

                Toby’s face lit up, and suddenly, he could almost see his future, their future, flashing before his eyes. “I’ll hold you to that,” he teased, leaving a light kiss on her smiling lips. “Now let’s enjoy our date.”

                Emily and Aria giggled wildly, clinking their champagne glasses together in their large limousine. “Everybody’s staring at us!” Aria chuckled happily.

                “Indeed,” Emily smiled, grinning brightly at her curly-haired friend.  “I have no idea why Toby and Spencer are so against the media. Let me tell you something, Aria, if I was famous I’d let them chase me everywhere!”

                Aria’s smile faded a little at those words. “You know why Toby and Spencer are so against the media, Em. You can’t blame them, after all the stress they caused with her accident.”

                “Yeah,” she sighed. “You think Spencer’s going to be okay?”

                Aria nodded, glancing out the moving window. “I think so…as long as Jenna doesn’t mess things up between them this week. He sure doesn’t need that extra stress of a psychotic ex.”

                “But they’re the epic love!” the swimmer objected. “Jenna’s not going to get to them! Trust me. She didn’t on Not Alone. They’re going to be fine.”

                “Right…I guess.” She smiled slightly in response. “Isn’t it weird to see them so…”

                “Close?” Emily finished with a giggle. “Yeah. It’s cute though. I’ve never seen either of them so happy.”

                From the top of the grand hotel, everything was quiet. The bubbles in the Jacuzzi had long been turned off and was gradually beginning to cool. The only sound they could hear was the occasional light splashing of water as Spencer or Toby barely moved in the hot tub.  

                His head was comfortably against her shoulder and she knew he was fading fast. Sometimes, it took him a few minutes to finish his sentence because he lost his train of thought and ended up dozing off. She thought it was incredibly cute.

                “Spencer?” he mumbled into his chest with that drowsy, half-asleep voice of his she loved. Relaxed, she placed a kiss on his shoulder and rested her forehead against his temple.

                “Yes, love?”

                “Are….are you going to…marry me?” He snuggled even closer her, and Spencer, amused by his sleep-talk, chuckled and grabbed his hand as effortlessly as she could.

                “Someday,” she answered softly, quietly. She wanted to be careful not to wake him, or fully wake him. Ever so gently, she just clasped and unclasped their fingers together under the water.

                “Someday,” he repeated. “Do you…love me?”

                Spencer laughed under her breath. “You know I love you?” She couldn’t hold back her smile when Toby started giggling, a slow and low sound that made his stomach twitch a little bit against hers.

                “You love Melissa?”

                Spencer furrowed her brows at bit at this off-topic question. “Yes, of course.”

                “No matter what?”

                She nodded slowly. “Why are you asking, love”

                Toby didn’t respond. Once again, it took him a few minutes until he started babbling again. “I like us. Where…we are right now. Do you like us?”

                “Us?” she questioned with an arched brow, and Toby simply smiled in response, his eyes closed, ear pressed against her chest to hear the steady beats of her heart. His strange Melissa questions were quickly forgotten. “I love us, Toby. I don’t want it any other way.”

                “Me either,” he sleepily agreed. “I-I love you because your comfy.”

                Spencer couldn’t stop laughing at her boyfriend’s adorable words. “I think I need to get you into bed…”

                “Okay,” he breathed. “But let’s stay here.”

                Grinning softly, Spencer half-led, half carried Toby out of the hot tub and over to the large couch-style beach that sat close to the pools edge. She reached over to grab his shirt and some towels and with fumbling fingers, helped Toby into the soft blue shirt.

                Then, she carefully covered Toby up with the fresh, white towels, sliding in beside him. He was already resting away from her on his side, so she wrapped her arms around him and placed a slow kiss beneath his smooth shoulder blades. “Goodnight, Toby,” she whispered. “Love you.”

                Toby sighed out dreamily and absently cuddled into Spencer’s warm arms. “Love you.”