"Yes." she said, cutting me off.

"I wasn’t finished. I don’t think she is. Can’t you see the way she acts around me, as if she’s afraid to touch me unless I touch her first? The way she’s always so nervous? She’s different, I can tell."

"Spencer, you can’t honestly believe that everything will be perfect again. Do you?"

"Maybe. Someday."

"Okay, I’ll give you that. Someday. But not right now. Wait it out. Make her work for it. Make her see what she’s done. Make her really clean up. Spencer, don’t give in so easily. It’ll only make it harder for both of you in the long run. I don’t want to see you hurt again." she pleaded.

"I can’t. To me she seems so broken. She needs my help."

"Where was she when you were broken! Huh? Where was she when you cried for days. When you couldn’t climb out of bed because you were too weak? Where was she when the nightmares started?"

"She did what I told her to do. She left. I wasn’t the only one who got hurt. She lost everything too!" I screamed at her now, letting my anger get the best of me.

"Stop taking up for her! Quit protecting her!"

"You don’t even know her! You don’t know what I put her through!"

"What you put her through! Give me a break. She cheated on you, twice! She broke your heart and stomped all over you and then she left. Didn’t come back for two years. No contact or anything and your standing here worrying about what you put her through!? I’m sorry Spencer, I love you. You’re like a sister to me but maybe . . . I don’t know. I was just trying to look out for you, ya know? But I give up." she said and turned and started walking to the door. I was crying now, because I knew everything she said was true, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I was mad for her putting her nose in my business, but I knew that she was just trying to help. She was trying to look out for me. But she didn’t know the whole story. I had hurt Ashley too, and it seemed I was subconsciously trying to make up for that by making it easier on her now.

"You don’t know everything." I said between sobs. She stopped just before she reached for the door.

"Maybe I don’t, and I didn’t mean to make you cry Spencer." she said. I nodded cause I knew she hadn’t meant it either. "I was just trying to . . . I don’t know, help? Protect you?"

"I don’t need you’re protection. I’m fine on my own. Just let me do things my way. It’s my heart if it gets broken." and I immediately wanted to take those words back. Anger flashed across her face before she composed herself enough to respond. "I . . ." I was going to say that it had come out wrong, that I didn’t mean it like that. I was going to say that I had already been there once, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt as bad if I ended up there a second timebut I knew it would. But it didn’t matter, her protective side had kicked in again. I should have known that she wouldn’t let me get hurt again, but before I could say anything, she cut me off.

"So it is Spencer. It’s your heart." she said and hurried to grab the doorknob.

"This conversation isn’t over. Where are you going?" I asked.

"To the one person you’d apparently do anything for, and I’ll give you one guess as to who that is." she said as she yanked the door open only to tumble to the ground when Reagan, Lane, and Josey fell through the doorframe.