A/N: This chapter is brought to you by two Redbulls and a ton of panicked screaming. Every time I sat down to write, it felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall, so this update is basically a miracle. Seriously, I wrote most of this today in a lucky burst of inspiration. It feels clunky and it's pretty short, but I'm trying to move things along as best I can. Oh, and it's barely edited either, so you might have to bleach your eyes afterward. Maybe the next chapter will be better :)

The next day at lunch, they held hands under the table. Aria kept sneaking glances at her, occasionally initiating a round of footsie or two, and Alex couldn't keep the big, stupid grin that had settled firmly onto her lips sometime last night off of her face. It was like some invisible barrier had been dissolved between them, and they were sharing some huge secret that only they knew about, despite the fact that their friends were clued in and kept trying to draw them out of their private universe.

"I guess we should at least be glad you two aren't feeding each other," Emily said, once Alison snapping her fingers at them had brought them to attention.

Immediately, Hanna's eyebrows shot upward and she opened her grinning mouth, obviously on the verge of spewing innuendo. "They were–"

Spencer threw a salt packet at her to cut her off. "Inappropriate," she chastised.

"I didn't even get a chance to say anything," countered Hanna. She picked up the salt-packet-turned-projectile and tore it open to sprinkle over her sad, wilted, school lunch version of a salad. "And don't act so superior. Your mind went there, too, Spencer."

Alex's twin went red, but she didn't argue.

Alison scoffed. "You two are the straightest people on the planet, are you even allowed to make those kinds of jokes?"

"I dunno, Ali," quipped Aria, nudging Alex's foot with her own again. "The straightest people on the planet? Spencer and Hanna? It's kind of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Right," Alison mimicked smacking her hand against her forehead, acting like she was just now remembering something. "Duh. Spencer and her menswear. Hanna with her pink drinks."

The pair in question both blurted their indignant cries simultaneously:

"It's a statement!"

"That was one time!"

"Still gayer than anything one of us with an actual girlfriend has ever done," insisted the queen bee.

Bristling, Spencer straightened her spine and her mouth fell open in what was sure to be an argument. "You mean doing those things while having legitimate reasons—besides fluid sexuality—is gayer than actually eating–"

"Nope." Hanna slapped a hand over the adamant brunette's mouth before she could continue. "Look who's being inappropriate now, Spence." She turned to the rest of them, her hand muffling Spencer's protests. "I'll have to apologize for my friend—she's a bit dense. And doesn't know the meaning of hypocrisy, apparently."

Rolling her eyes, Spencer ripped Hanna's hand from her mouth. "Do you even know what that means?" she tossed at the blonde.

The rest of them just sat back and watched the intense staring contest play out between their allegedly straight friends. Hanna picked up a baby carrot and munched haughtily on it. Spencer crossed her arms.

Finally, the blonde blurted, "Okay, rude. I've been reading lately and expanding my vocabulary. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a complete dunderhead, Spencer."

Spencer looked impressed. Maybe even a little proud. "Fair enough."

After a silent beat, Alex furrowed her brow and kneaded her chin thoughtfully. "See, this is why we're confused. There's this tension between the two of you."

"Mhm, yeah," Alison murmured her agreement. "It's like, 'will they or won't they?'"

Aria squinted. "Hencer? No, no, no, Spanna. The ship name is definitely Spanna."

"Guys," Emily said with a slight chuckle, obviously exhausted by their teasing. "Leave them alone. Come on. Wouldn't you feel like the biggest assholes if all this joking around actually pushed them even further into the closet?"

"Okay, but neither of us are 'in the closet' to begin with," emphasized Spencer, with stern air quotes.

"I mean theoretically," Emily amended.

They all took their hands off the topic at Emily's casual beckoning, even Alex, who would usually jump on a chance to tease her twin. She reminded herself that now was not the best time, anyway. Spencer was laughing a lot more lately, with Wren around especially, but there was still something hollow behind her eyes. Something fragile that Alex didn't want to rattle, lest her sister collapse inward again.

Naturally, the universe decided to take that decision out of Alex's hands.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Along came the devil herself.

It was like the temperature dropped twenty degrees as Jenna appeared beside their table, and each of their expressions visibly hardened. But the tension in their jaws now had less to do with the guilt that came with blinding Toby's stepsister and more to do with knowing that Jenna was in Fitz's pocket.

"Sorry to interrupt," said Jenna curtly. "I know this is the fun table." If her sunglasses weren't blocking her eyes, Alex thought she might be rolling them.

"Oh, it's no problem, Jenna," lied Alison, with thinly-veiled hostility. "What can we help you with?"

A crooked smile spread across the raven-haired girl's face, and she folded her hands on top of her cane like it was some regal staff and she was overseeing a throne room. "Actually, I need to speak to Spencer. If we could step into the hallway, it's news that might best be taken alone."

"What?" snapped Alex's twin. "If it's about Toby, go ahead. You can tell me right here."

Hanna practically growled. "Yeah, like we'd let her go off alone with you, anyway."

"So territorial," Jenna simpered, before tacking on, "like a pack of dogs." Then, she shrugged. "Very well. I thought it would interest you to know, Spencer, that Toby is officially a missing person. I filed a report with the police yesterday."

They all cast their gazes to Spencer, who only blinked rapidly. "So what?" she said finally, fiercely recollecting her composure. "He probably has a job in another county or something."

"Maybe," conceded Jenna. "But he's usually in touch with you when that happens. Since you don't know where he is either, I can't be totally sure he's not lying in a ditch somewhere. It's been more than a week. You can't tell me you're not worried."

Spencer looked especially pale all of a sudden. "Yeah," she murmured, with surprisingly less venom. "Yeah. Thank you for telling me, Jenna."

The devil excused herself then, with an odd lack of snarky comments left in her wake. They each sat there in silence for a moment, until Alison muttered, "'like a pack of dogs'? Seriously, how many subtle ways can she find to call us bitches?"

An uneasy chuckle went around their now somber group, but it passed right over Alex's twin.

There was a look like broken glass in Spencer's eyes.

When Alex got home that afternoon, she fully intended on going up to her room and flopping onto her bed for a nap, maybe texting Aria until she fell asleep. Her plan was going well until she walked past Spencer's ajar door and made the mistake of glancing into the room.

Spencer was sitting on her bed, gnawing at her thumbnail as she scanned the screen of her laptop with weary eyes. Her textbooks from school were stacked neatly on her desk, so Alex figured it wasn't homework she was stressing about. Deciding she should check up on her after the breaking news about Toby, Alex rapped her knuckles on the door.

"Hey," she said when Spencer didn't look up. "Stress case."

Spencer finally offered her a glance and a tired smirk. "Yeah, Al, what is it? I'm busy."

Alex leaned against the doorjamb and folded her arms casually. She wished she could see whatever Spencer was so intently working on, but she knew that prying wouldn't get her answers when it came to her twin. No kicking down the door when it's made out of steel. "You need anything?"

"Like what?" Spencer finally took a moment to actually look at her, apparently curious about the answer.

She didn't know exactly, so with a shrug, Alex opened her arms. "I dunno. A hug?"

Spencer scoffed and her attention went right back to her laptop. "I'm good, Alex. Really."

"Are you sure?" Alex couldn't help but prod. Something felt… off. "The thing about Toby, I just–" She shook her head as if to clear it. "I have a bad feeling."

It was like some kind of sixth sense. Call it intuition or whatever, something was prickling at the back of Alex's neck. And with that look in Spencer's eyes…

"You know what," said Spencer, a bit impatiently. She rubbed her eyes with a fist. Yawned. "Coffee. I could use my regular from the Brew if you really want to help."

Alex surprised even herself when she perked up at the request, thoughts of curling up for a nap long gone. Something about Spencer's entire demeanor had shifted, and Alex suddenly felt like grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. Because maybe that would fix her.

But if she didn't have to do that… if all Spencer needed was coffee… great. Maybe running this little errand would banish the uneasiness that had settled over Alex. Maybe the scaffolding behind Spencer's eyes would steady itself again, once she had a stimulant in her system. Like greasing cogs that had ground to a halt. Simple.

Maybe this would make things okay.

And, god, things had been very okay just a few hours ago. The air felt so much lighter at lunch, their worries momentarily forgotten as they bantered, and then Jenna had swept in like a bad smell. She landed in their line of sight like a raven, like some harbinger of death. A bad omen.

Things had been downright blissful even before lunch, yesterday, when it was just herself and Aria. When they were both thoroughly exhausted, they'd used their remaining hours of alone time to lay in each other's company. Quietly, their legs tangled together and eyes locked. Aria's hand had rested on the side of Alex's face, her thumb brushing lightly across her cheekbone, fingers moving to trace her lips, the bridge of her nose, her eyelids. They'd ghosted over the faint burn scars at her temples, and Alex had asked, "Do you think we'll be okay?"

"I don't know," her girlfriend had whispered. "Maybe not. But maybe I don't care. There's now, at least."

Not really one to waste time worrying herself to death, Alex had agreed. She'd agreed that now was the most important, despite the imminent doom they probably had an appointment with. She'd kissed Aria's knuckles and told her, "I like now."

Things had been perfect before they fell apart again. Now, all Alex needed to do was try and fix it.

Coffee. Spencer needed coffee.

"Supersized drip, coming up," she said, like some overeager intern. She snapped her fingers and pointed at Spencer. "Anything else? A bagel? Wait, do you even like bagels?"

Spencer looked at her like she'd grown another head. "Bagels are fine, but I don't… I don't really want one. Are you okay? You don't normally offer to–"

"I know, I just… I just need to do something, okay?" She turned on her heel to march away, but Spencer called her back.

"Alex, wait!"

Alex looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Use my wallet. Hell, get yourself something while you're at it, you psycho," she said fondly. Her voice softened with something like sincerity, though her eyes were heavy. "And thanks."

Alex nodded, then charged away, stampeding down the stairs. She glanced down at herself in the entryway, making sure she had shoes on. And pants. Sneakers—check. Jeans—check. She slid on sunglasses and a hoodie, and grabbed Spencer's wallet out of her purse, deciding to just use it instead of digging her own out of her backpack. They had the same face, anyway.

The drive to the Brew took all of five minutes, and her wait in line took even less time. She decided not to get anything since the bagels on display looked pretty stale, so she just ordered Spencer's coffee. She paid for it with Spencer's card and trotted back outside, on a mission. But as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she was intercepted by a familiar lean form and ample amounts of boyish charm. "Spencer, you are here! I've been calling you."

Before she could even open her mouth, Wren had smacked a kiss on her temple, and when she turned to tell him he had the wrong twin, his lips were suddenly on hers. Startled, she kissed back for a moment, until her senses came back to her and she pushed him off, her free hand splayed against his muscled chest.

"Woah, buddy. Alex. Not Spencer," she blurted. She lifted her sunglasses to show off the tale-tell heavy eyeliner she usually distinguished herself with. "Just playing coffee mule."

"My mistake," he said. His ears turned a bit red, but he looked over her head as if Spencer was going to come sweeping out the door behind her. "Have you seen her? We were supposed to meet here around–" He glanced at his wristwatch. "Now, actually."

Alex lifted a shoulder. "She's at home. Working on something or other." Her brow pulled together. "What is this supposed to be, anyway? The third date?"

"Sort of." His lips pursed. "Maybe. Coffee, you know. We've been talking since the other night."

"Looks like things are moving awfully fast if that's how you say hello."

"Yeah…" An awkward look flashed across his face. "Sorry, Alex, really. Can you remind her to check her phone?"

"Sure," she said, trying not to let sympathy creep into her tone. Hopefully, the poor guy knew he was a rebound, and with Toby's whereabouts unknown, he barely stood a chance fighting for Spencer's attention. Props to him for trying, at least. "Yeah, I'll tell her. She's kind of distracted, though."

Wren shifted so his body was angled toward the entrance to the Brew. "Well, it's no big deal. Just tell her I'll see her next time, yeah?"

Alex agreed, and they parted ways.

She wasn't superstitious, but that bad feeling was crawling under her skin again. Kissing Wren had felt wrong, of course, but also in a more significant, other-worldly kind of way as if she'd just accidentally knocked over the first domino in a line of chaos. Call it instinct. Call it paranoia. Things were already going wrong, and she had a feeling that they might get worse.

If only she hadn't tried to fix anything and just taken that damn nap.

A/N: Hello again.

1: I was in a Spanna mood, okay? I don't know. And 2: Urgh... If you haven't already guessed, that little accidental kiss is gonna have some big consequences. And those big consequences will have BIGGER consequences, and so on. I've got it all planned out, it's just actually writing it that's a challenge right now. As I said, it's like banging my head against a brick wall. But I'm trying, guys.