A/N: So I want to apologize in advance for the fact that this story is less dialogue and more paraphrasing and whatnot. The biggest problem with coming back to writing for a ship that I haven't written for in about 5 months is that I'm not as used to the dynamic that I set up for them. Because thing is, the only way to get ahold of it again is to reread this, which I have, but I'll probably have to do again before my next update. Like, I've been only writing Clexa for a few months, and it's hard to not revert to that dynamic. Obviously, it's different for every story anyway, so it's not like I'm writing a Clexa story all of the sudden instead of a Spashley story, it's just weird to suddenly switch back lol. Anyway, so that's why there's not a ton of dialogue.

Also the first section of this chapter was meant to be in the last chapter, but I'm a dumb-dumb and I forgot it lol... so it's added here.

ALSO! We reached 150 reviews ;) Ahah, so shoutout to user dragonsprit :D Thanks to those of you who are still around haha, I know it's been a while but it means a lot that some of you are still here. *hearts*

Disclaimer: I do NOT own SoN!

PLEASE enjoy, favorite, follow and REVIEW!

At the end of the weekend, after Spencer drove Mitchell back to LAX, Ashley offered to take Spencer out to dinner, and the blonde of course accepted. It was then that Spencer mustered up enough courage to ask her girlfriend what had been on her mind over the whole weekend.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Yeah?" Ashley asked, her gaze moving from her menu to across the table at Spencer.

"Can I ask you something?"

Ashley quirked up an eyebrow. "Of course you can."

"So... I know you don't really have anything to do for Thanksgiving... and I'm kind of terrified of going back home that week because of coming out to my parents and everything... and I was wondering if you want to come with me?" Spencer asked the last part in a rushed voice, because she was afraid that she would chicken out of asking. "I think it would be easier if you were there, and I don't want you to be alone on Thanksgiving."

A smile was already spread across the brunette's face. "Of course I'll go with you. Are you sure, though?"

Spencer nodded. "Yes. I love you, and I want you with me there."

"Then of course I'll go. It'll definitely beat anything that Madison would drag me out to do on Thanksgiving."

"She won't be mad at me, will she?" Spencer asked, laughing lightly as she realized that she'd probably just stolen Madison's plans for her. She actually did feel a bit bad about it, but Ashley just shrugged.

"She's always mad about something, plus, if she got mad at you I'd kick her ass," Ashley replied, smiling cheekily as Spencer laughed.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

-Thanksgiving Break-

On the first day of Thanksgiving break, Saturday, Spencer woke up feeling invigorated, and a strong sense of nervous excitement was overtaking her. Her and Ashley's flight left LAX at one in the afternoon, scheduled to get to Ohio after five hours, which, with time zones in consideration, would get them off the plane at eight or so.

Spencer had packed most all of what she needed the night before, because she had a feeling that Ashley wasn't going to be completely packed, and she didn't want them both to be rushing all morning. It was at about eight that Spencer had woken up, and she was surprisingly energetic after just waking up.

Kate was nowhere to be seen, though Spencer was pretty sure that she was staying somewhere else in LA during the break, so it wasn't too much of a surprise. Madison, though, was out cold. Spencer wasn't sure how late she'd stayed up, but it didn't look like she was waking up anytime soon.

Spencer couldn't calm herself down at all as she got ready to leave, doing her makeup and pulling some clothes on that were warmer than what she usually wore in LA. She'd be a little warm until she got to Ohio, but she knew that once she got off the plane, she would definitely want to be warm. It was nearly December, after all.

Once she was completely ready, at around nine, she grabbed her suitcases, double checked that she had everything, and then left her room. She had considered waking up Madison to say goodbye, but she knew that she would get no thoughtful goodbye if she woke the beast. It took her a few moments to get to her car, and she quickly shoved her stuff into the back of it, before driving it the short distance over to Rieber Vista. She parked it quickly and then headed for Ashley's room. She had thought about texting her girlfriend to see if she was awake, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't be. Apparently she'd had an assignment for the break, but since she was going to be gone, she'd stayed up late to finish it the night before.

Spencer had suggested that she could just do it when they got back, because they would be back with two extra days, but Ashley was a firm believer in getting homework done as early as possible, and Spencer didn't mind. Even if it did mean she had to wake up her girlfriend.

Quickly grabbing the key from under the mat in front of Ashley's door, the blonde stood back up straight and unlocked the door. She slid the key back under the mat as she let herself into Ashley's perfectly clean bedroom. As Spencer had suspected, she noticed a suitcase sitting next to her dresser, and it was open and only half packed. She supposed that she couldn't really blame the brunette for it, though.

"Ash," Spencer cooed, sitting on the side of the bed where Ashley wasn't. The sleeping girl let out a groan. "C'mon, baby, you have to finish packing."

"No," Ashley grumbled into her pillow. "Lemme sleep."

"You sound like Madison now," Spencer said, laughing.

"No I don't."

"You do."

Ashley finally rolled over, freeing her face from the pillow, and opened her eyes a little to look up at Spencer. "I'm tired."

"I know," Spencer replied, "but you need to pack so that we can get food and coffee before we go to the airport."

"Mm... coffee sounds nice," Ashley muttered, her hands coming up to her face to rub her eyes. "Fine, but you have to help me pack."

"That's what I'm here for," Spencer said, smiling to herself.

An hour and a half of Ashley getting ready and both of them finishing her packing, they were on their way to the airport. They'd stopped at a Starbucks to get some coffee and a small breakfast, and now they were both considerably more awake.

Ashley had offered to drive after they stopped at Starbucks, and Spencer let her, because they could both tell that the blonde was quite a bit too flustered to focus on driving. "Why are you so nervous?" Ashley asked as they drove, giving her girlfriend a sideways glance.

"I'm not... I mean, I am a little bit, but I'm also just excited and like... I don't know what to expect," Spencer admitted.

"Well if your leg bounces anymore, I might start getting nervous about nothing," Ashley said, and Spencer glanced down at her knee, which was indeed bouncing. She stilled it quickly.

"Sorry."

Ashley smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's probably just better that at least one of us stays in their right mind."

"I'm not going crazy, Ash," Spencer argued, though her lips were quirking up into a small smile. Ashley just talking to her was enough to calm her down a bit. "I'm really excited to see Mitch again, though, and Clay, since he's coming home for the break with Chelsea. I'm pretty sure they'll both like you."

"Pretty sure, that sounds confident," Ashley commented, raising an eyebrow at the blonde, who shook her head.

"Of course they'll like you," she corrected. "My dad will, too. My mom will probably judge the hell out of you just for being from California, but I mean... she'll be the only one who doesn't like you. She's crazy, though, so just don't worry about her."

"I'm not worried," Ashley promised, looking amused. "You seriously need to calm down, though, Spence. I can practically see your brain moving at like fifty miles a minute."

Spencer just nodded, taking in a deep breath. Everything would be fine.

They spent about an hour at the airport, though most of it was spent getting their tickets, going through security and searching for their gate. Spencer hadn't ever been inside the airport before, so she was basically clueless about where to go, and Ashley said that she hadn't been there in quite a while, so it was an interesting experience to be running around everywhere trying to find their destination.

Finally, though, they settled into the chairs outside their gate, their carry-on bags with them. It was about another fifteen minutes before the call for first class to board was announced. A few minutes later, and economy was called, and Spencer and Ashley rushed to get to their seats and avoid the giant crowd of people who were going to be getting on as well.

Once she was on the plane, Spencer felt far more calm, which was actually surprising. Maybe it was because she knew that at that point, there was nothing to do but sit there.

She and Ashley spent the first half of the flight talking, and the brunette managed to keep Spencer calm. About halfway through, though, Spencer could tell that her girlfriend was still extremely tired from getting so little sleep, so she suggested that she take a nap, and Ashley fell asleep almost instantly. At that point, Spencer's mind wandered as she stared out of the window.

She wasn't sure at what point during the break that she was going to tell her family about her sexuality, and about Ashley being a bit more than a friend, but she knew that she'd want to put it off, and not be able to. She was too used to being able to be herself, especially when around Ashley, to suddenly bounce back to her old self. And even if she was tempted to do so, she wasn't going to let herself. Her conservative mother and upbringing never changed her for the better, and she wasn't going to let it ever have an effect on her again.

At the same time, if her mother absolutely hated her and kicked her out at the very beginning of them arriving, she would have to either hang out in Ohio away from her family until their return trip, or take an early flight out. Neither of those options sounded so nice.

She just couldn't keep her thoughts still, she couldn't stop speculating about what would happen and think of all the different scenarios. She actually began to wish that she hadn't wanted to tell her parents in person, and that she'd opted to tell them over the phone instead. It would've been easier, not being with them.

By the time the captain came over the intercom to let the passengers know that they were about to start their descent, and Spencer could see the familiar layout of her hometown under her, the blonde felt like she'd run through every possible outcome of that week. She swallowed them all down, hoping that they would disappear, and rolled her shoulders back, trying to relax. She was strong, far stronger than she was before she moved to LA in the first place, and she would show it. She would not let her fear control her.

Ashley moved slightly, and Spencer's gaze went to her girlfriend, a smile coming to her lips. "Are we there yet?" the brunette murmured as she stirred.

"We're landing now," Spencer replied. Ashley sat up, yawning. "Are you finally caught up on sleep?"

"Who knows?" Ashley returned, smiling at the blonde. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Spencer replied, shrugging. "I almost wish I didn't have to come back here like... ever."

"You don't have to," Ashley reminded her, "technically."

"My parents are paying for most of my college so... I kind of do," Spencer said. "Oh well, I'll be fine. I have you with me, so."

Ashley grinned. "I'll do my best to keep you sane."

Once they landed, they grabbed their bags pretty quickly out of baggage claim, and then went out to the pickup area. Spencer looked everywhere for her dad's car, but instead, she saw her brother's car, and Glen was standing next to it, looking at his phone. "Great," Spencer muttered.

"What?" Ashley asked, following her gaze.

"That's Glen," she answered. "Looks like we're in for an interesting ride." They started for Spencer's brother. "Where's dad?"

Glen looked up at the sound of his sister's voice. "Nice to see you too, Spence. And hello, hot California girl."

"Shut up, Glen," Spencer snapped, as Ashley tried not to laugh.

"Hi," she replied.

"Ashley, right? I'm Glen." The expression he wore made it clear that he thought that had way more game than he did, which Spencer knew was true anyway.

"I've heard," Ashley said, glancing at Spencer, who was already pissed off.

"Could you just open the trunk, Glen?" Her brother looked at her with annoyance and then popped the trunk of his car.

The drive to Spencer's house was just as the blonde had predicted, interesting. Glen wouldn't stop talking the whole way, which wouldn't have been a problem if he'd talked about things that normal people talked about. Instead, he kept asking if girls in California were hotter than those in Ohio, and kept trying to flirt with Ashley, which made Spencer literally want to strangle him.

When they finally got to the Carlin residence, Spencer was almost wishing it was her mother who had picked her and Ashley up and not her brother.

That was until she and her girlfriend were following Glen up to the front of the house, and nerves began to rise up again.

Taking a deep breath, she followed her brother into her parents' house.

So yeah, the time skip like I said. :P I wanted to make this chapter a bit longer, but the thing is with the Spashley dynamic that I'd set up... I need to kind of regroup my thoughts so that I don't screw up the way that Spashley would interact around her parents, her mom in particular. As I started writing the plane trip I realized that I can't go past this point right now. So before the next update, I'll do my best to get all of my thoughts in order! :)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway, though, and I hope you're hyped for the next one! :D Have a lovely day, and PLEASE REVIEW! :D