The House That Built Her (Spencer One-Shot)

The House That Built Her

She was adopted. Not only adopted, though; Spencer was secretly adopted. Spencer Hastings, at 23 years old had, just found out that she was adopted by the Hastings family when she was a baby. Alison was her cousin, and Jason was her cousin , and Charlotte was her sister. -A, the person who had tried to kill her, was her sister. Everything seemed even more tangled up than before.

Hanna dropped Spencer off at her house, promising to be back later. As Spencer walked towards the door, she still felt a slight sting of pain in her chest, where she had been shot. The doctor said that she had been lucky to get through that. It's rare, he said. Spencer was used to defying odds, but now, she had defied a whole new level of them, surviving a bullet so closely shot into her heart. She just wish she hadn't woken up to all of these surprises. First of all, she had to wake up and come to the realization that she had almost died. But then she thought about everything else. Noel was dead. Jenna was who-knows where. Toby, the person who taught her to love, was dead. The biggest one of all, though, freaked Spencer out. She was Mary Drake's biological daughter.

Mary Drake was her biological mother, and Spencer had been lied to for years. Years, upon years, upon years, Spencer Hastings was in the family photos, even when she didn't feel like she belonged. Spencer couldn't help but feel like she was betrayed by her own family. What kind of people don't tell their child that they are adopted? It shouldn't change any part of a relationship because either way, you love your child, no matter what. Was her Peter her father? Does Veronica know?

Maybe it wasn't so shocking that Spencer was adopted. She never felt as though she belonged; it always seemed like her family made sure of that. All of their prim and proper personalities, drowning Spencer in confusion of why she wasn't like that. Spencer was smart, but worked harder than the other three people she lived with. Sarcasm was Spencer's savior, and sometimes she felt alone, her family never getting the dry sense of humor that came with their daughter.

Maybe her dire need to impress the people surrounding her unknowingly came from a place that felt like she needed to fit in with the rest of her family.

Even her name made sense now. Peter, Veronica, Melissa, and... Spencer? Her name wasn't even a Hastings name, and now it made sense.

As much as Spencer tried to push these thoughts to the back of her mind, she couldn't. Her whole upbringing was a lie; she didn't know when the her family took her in. She didn't know the whole first part of her life because everything that she had been told previously was a lie. With all of her mental health problems and drug addictions,Moshe didn't know that it was genetic because her family never told her.

Spencer walked over to the phone and dialed her mother's cellphone number, knowing that she wouldn't pick up anyway. She couldn't talk right now, but Spencer left a quick message just to let her parents know that she needed to speak with them.

"Hey, Mom. Could you and dad video chat me when you have a chance? Love you," she said.

Telling her parents that she loved them was necessary. They were still her parents. Spencer hung up the phone and looked around her house. Everything happened there. As far back as she could remember, she never wanted to leave it, as much as she often loathed it. Every fight with Melissa, every passing of a test, every opening of the report card had happened there.

Spencer walked over to the kitchen and sat down on one of the stools, feeling out of breath, which was, apparently, a common symptom of being shot in the chest. (Crazy, right?).

Looking around her house, Spencer's eyes locked on the trash can. It was the same trash can that she threw her muffin into, on top of Melissa's wedding magazines. Melissa was so mad when Wren had kissed her, and Spencer couldn't blame her.

Spencer looked up and caught the thin couch that Aria always sat on when she came over. Whether it was a sleepover, just a visit, or really anything, if she needed to find Aria, all Spencer had to do was look on the couch.

Spencer looked at the stairs that led up to the second floor of her house. She couldn't even count how many times she had bolted up and down that one set of stairs. Whether it was of happiness, anger, or heart break, Spencer felt like she had spent more time on those stairs than anywhere else.

Against all wishes of the countless doctors who had looked at and examined her wound, Spencer went upstairs. She had to see her old room. She had to sit on the bed. Struggling to get up the stairs, Spencer had to take a few breaks in order to catch her breath. One by one, her feet propped up and she was up the stairs, at last. All she wanted to do was sit in the bed that she had known as "her bed" her whole life. It was her bed. It was her house.

Tears welled in Spencer's eyes as she made it to her room, remembering the time that her mom say with her for hours when she couldn't sleep because of all of the anxiety the Dollhouse had caused her. Spencer stepped into the bedroom and immediately, the anxiety and stress burdened her. Memories came back from everything that had happened in this room, good and bad.

When the room became her and Toby's "sacred ground."

When she, Hanna, Aria, and Emily sliced the chips that Charlotte had put in their necks out.

When -A covered her bed in dirt to make her think that she seriously hurt either Alison or Bethany Young.

Walking around, absorbing everything in front of her, Spencer found a photo album. Without even thinking, she picked it up and opened it, looking at the displayed pictures. Memories flooded back. There were pictures of her family and friends, old pets, and people that she hardly remembered.

As Spencer flipped through the old photo album that she had probably already seen 50 times, Spencer let the tears building up in her eyes fall out, onto her face. She was taking this all in. Her thoughts were in jumbles that she couldn't even sort out in her head.

Spencer came to a conclusion, though. She knew she had a connection with Mary before even finding out this news of being her biological daughter. Spencer was able to feel it, just like how she felt a weird connection to Charlotte in the dollhouse, but stronger. Maybe Spencer unknowingly, and unwillingly loved her. Mary gave birth to Spencer, after all.

Despite this, though, the Hastings are Spencer's family, whether she likes it or not. Yes, a large portion of her life had been a lie. Yes, she sometimes felt oddly unconnected with her family. But. It didn't matter. Family is about love, and family is about heart. It's not all DNA and blood.

Spencer would forever have a connection with Mary Drake, and that's okay. She will have a larger connection with the Hastings. The people who raised her, and gave her the life that she has today.

A/N: Not my best work, I know, but I've had this in my head for a while. You all should listen to "The House That Built Me," by Miranda Lambert. I want it in the show so badly! I hope none of you boycott my profile for not writing Ezria. Send me requests, and I promise I will! Thank you for reading! Vote, comment, share!