One Look at You

What The Future Holds

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"What's going on?" Spencer asked as she walked up to the porch Toby was now sitting on "You sounded a little weird on the phone"

"I wanted to show you this house" Toby said shrugging his shoulders "It's the house I told you about. The one I wanted to buy and fix up"

Spencer looked at the house. It was a large colonial and had faded blue paint. Even from the outside she could tell it was going to need work.

"It needs work, I know" Toby admitted "I'm wondering if maybe I should put off buying it."

"Why would you want to put off buying it?" she asked "You said you've been saving up for years."

"I was just thinking about what is going to happen at the end of the summer. Maybe I shouldn't tie myself down here in Ocean Crest just yet."

"Oh" Spencer sighed as she sat down next to him on the porch "I thought we agreed not to worry about the end of the summer until it got here?"

"But it's coming, in a little over a month" Toby said "either we're preparing to be together or we're preparing to be apart"

"I don't want to be apart" Spencer said as tears trickled out of her eyes. Spencer put an arm around his shoulders as he pulled her in for a kiss. It was light at first before giving way to a deeper hungrier kiss.

"Can I see inside?" Spencer asked as she finally pulled away from their kiss. Toby pulled the key from his pocket. Spencer wondered how he had a key but decided it didn't matter. The door creaked as it opened and she got her first look inside. She could see almost every surface was covered in dust and cobwebs. It had a wraparound staircase that lead to an open upstairs.

"It needs to be cleaned and painted. The kitchen needs all new appliances and some minor plumbing. There's other odd repairs that need to be done too. I have a list somewhere." Toby said as Spencer took in the house.

Spencer trailed over to the staircase and looked at Toby wondering if the staircase was safe.

"Go on" Toby said with a laugh before following her.

Spencer bounded up the stairs eager to see the second floor. The view from the upstairs was amazing. From the railing she could see almost the whole downstairs.

"I want to show you my favorite room in the house," Toby said.

"Which room?" Spencer asked.

"The master bedroom" Toby replied taking her hand and winking.

"Oh you think you're smooth don't you?" Spencer joked.

"Not because it's 'the bedroom', get your mind out of the gutter" Toby chuckled.

Toby led her into the empty room. Off to the side was a set of double doors that Toby opened to reveal a balcony overlooking the beach.

"Oh wow" Spencer breathed as she stepped onto the balcony "This is officially my favorite part of the house too"

Toby held Spencer in his arms for what felt like hours as they stood on the balcony watching the ocean. Toby kissed behind Spencer's ear as he trailed kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder.

"I love you, Spencer" he said tightening his embrace around her.

"I love you, too" Spencer said turning in his arms to kiss him.

"You want to get some dinner before we head over to Jake's tonight" Toby asked as they left the house.

Spencer bit her lip. She didn't want to ruin the time they had together but his racing scared her. She worried that he could get hurt or even killed. She had looked up street racing on the internet and the numbers were staggering.

"I know you worry about racing" Toby said cupping her face "I've been doing this along time. You're not the first one to get skittish about it. You think Aria or Hanna or Fiona are always super psyched about it. I'm careful. You don't need to worry baby, I promise."

"I don't want to lose you" she whispered.

"When the summer ends and Jake has made enough money for Fiona and the baby, I'll quit if you want me to." Toby offered.

"Ok" Spencer said quietly. She didn't want Toby to give up something he loved doing but she loved him and didn't want to lose him.

...

The crowd had gathered as all the contestants got ready to race. There was the usual racers and a few from out of town.

Spencer tried to shake off the nerves she had. She worried every time that Toby got behind the wheel for a race. She looked over at her friends, drinking and cheering. They didn't have a care in the world. Fiona was the only one that seemed to share her apprehension. It was probably because she was sober.

Spencer walked over to Fiona and took her hand. Over the last few weeks their friendship had flourished.

They stood side by side as the cars raced off. This race was the longest Jake and Toby had planned so far. It comprised a portion of cliffs and bluffs and winding road. The winnings for this race was $25,000.

The race was supposed to last about 15 minutes.

It had been barely been 13 when Toby's car came zooming around the last turn.

That was a bad sign.

Toby and Jake had rigged it so that Jake would win. Toby was supposed to go for the win if Jake crashed or the car died.

Spencer and Fiona ran over to the car as he crossed the finish line.

"Where is Jake?" Fiona yelled.

"He crashed" Toby admitted "Jason stayed with him and called an ambulance. We're all going to meet him at the hospital. Get in."

When they got to the hospital, all the nurse would tell them was that Jake had been rushed into emergency surgery. All they had to do now was wait. The waiting room was packed with people that had been at the race.

"This is my fault" Fiona said crying "if I hadn't gotten pregnant, he wouldn't have been doing these dangerous races."

"It's not your fault Fiona" Toby said "he knows the risks. We all do."

After hours of waiting Spencer asked Fiona if she wanted to go get something to eat.

"I'm not hungry" she mumbled quietly.

"You need to eat" Spencer said.

"Fiona Stevens" A doctor said interrupting their conversation.

Fiona stood with Spencer and Toby by her side.

"We did everything we could" The doctor said with a grim expression "I'm sorry he didn't make it"

Fiona fell to the ground as Toby caught her. She clung onto him as she sobbed into his shoulder.

Spencer had her hand on her month and felt her face go red as the tears threatened to go down her checks. She then saw Toby's broken expressions as he hugged his best friends fiancé, trying his best to comfort her but knew there could be no way to make her feel remotely better and to soothe her from stop her hysterical crying.

Spencers phone then buzzed, she looked down at it and thats when Spencer felt the hot streaks go down her cheeks.