Always Us

missed facetimes

Her body began to calm down as her tears dried out. Time to get up and find some food. Opening the freezer, she found a frozen pizza and threw it in the oven. Figuring she had enough time, she hopped in the shower while her pizza cooked.

Walking back into the kitchen, she took her pizza out of the oven and sat down on the couch. She flipped over her phone, and her heart sank at the notification - Missed FaceTime Call - 7 minutes ago. Fuck. She hadn't heard it over the noise of the shower.

She quickly called back and held her breath for the second time that night.

"Hi, baby."

The tears came right back, and Olivia let out a loud sob seeing Spencer on her screen. For a whole minute, she cried as Spencer went on.

"I'm so sorry. I tried calling every chance I got. They're killing us with these training sessions. Liv, are you ok?"

Spencer's throat tightened up watching Olivia cry holding a slice of pizza in her hand.

"Liv," Spencer whispered, "talk to me."

"I -, I -, I miss you," Olivia choked out, "every day. It hurts... so bad."

Spencer scrunched his face as he felt tears well up. He wanted to be strong for Liv, but truth is, he felt the pain just as deeply as she did. Every time they talked, she sounded optimistic and cheery, but he knew she was trying to be brave. Tonight, the act broke.

"I know, Liv. I know," he comforted her, "only 51 more days until I'm back home for your graduation."

Olivia nodded. 

"I'm so proud of you. Hey, I listened to your podcast this week. You killed it on this one. Like always," Spencer encouraged her.

A soft smile crept onto her face knowing that Spencer found the time to listen to her latest episode.

"There she is," Spencer smiled admiring his girlfriend through the phone.

"Gosh, look at me. A hot mess," Olivia chuckled dropping her pizza on the plate.

"My hot mess."

"I wish you were here tonight," Olivia whispered wrapping herself in a blanket and grabbing the stuffed bear that Spencer won for her at a carnival the week before he left to North Carolina, "so does Mr. Cuddles."

"Put Mr. Cuddles on the phone," Spencer joked. Obliging Olivia centered the bear on the phone screen.

"Sup, homie. How's it going? Now listen, my girl is feeling sad right now. Not gonna lie, so am I. It's tough being without her. I miss her smile in the morning. I miss her dancing around the apartment when she thinks no one is looking. Damn, I even miss her hogging the shower and using up all the hot water. But I can't be there with her right now, so imma need you to hold it down for me, ok?," Spencer said softly, "I left a little piece of my heart with you, so when she's feeling down, you stay close to her. Alright Mr. Cuddles, good talk."

Olivia couldn't stop the tears from coming again.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

For the next two hours, they talked. Spencer told Liv about the locker room pranks his teammates play on the rookies, and Olivia updated him on her dance rehearsals for the upcoming recital at the end of March. Spencer yawned every so often, but kept insisting that he was wide awake.

As Olivia started to get sleepy, she got ready for bed bringing Spencer along with her through her nightly routine. He stared at her in silence as she did her skincare and wrapped up her hair.

Getting into bed with Mr. Cuddles, Olivia broke the silence, "It's 3am, Spence. Go to sleep, I don't want you to be exhausted tomorrow."

"No, I'm good right here," he mumbled with eyes half closed.

They lay there staring at each other until Olivia started to doze off. 

Sensing that she was asleep, Spencer whispered, "I miss you so much. More than you can even imagine." 

Finally, he gave up the fight and let sleep take over him. The image of Olivia clutching Mr. Cuddles to her chest being the last thing he saw before his eyes shut.

_____________________

The Next Morning

Olivia opened her eyes to see Mr. Cuddles staring at her from the side of the bed. She grasped for her phone and found it dead. Remembering the night, she smiled thinking of Spencer staying up way past his usual bedtime to be with her.

After her phone charged for a few minutes, it turned back on, and she saw she had a text.

my baby 💙: I love you. I'll be in weekend training all day. Tonight again, 9pm your time?

Her heart felt a little less heavy knowing that he'd be with her again tonight.

_____________________

Two Weeks Later

The crowd cheered as Olivia bowed with her teammates at her final dance performance of her college career. This show had been a special one since she not only got to perform, but also choreograph several of the dances.

"That's my sister," she heard Jordan's voice coming from the right side of the crowd. Standing to the side of the stage as her dance coach took the stage, she scanned the audience trying to locate her family.

Laura was the first one she spotted, and her heart swelled knowing that they all made it to her last show. Her eyes trailed down the row to her dad, then Jordan, then.... Spencer. She gasped and her eyes welled up. Damnit Liv, hold it together. She saw him chuckle at her reaction. 

Olivia's eyes did not leave Spencer through the rest of her coach's speech. The second the curtain came down, she ran to her dressing room and changed into her sweats. Not caring to put on her nicer post-performance outfit she had packed.

"You good girl?" her best friend Tiana asked laughing at Olivia's urgency.

"Yea, just got someone to see," Olivia grinned rushing out of the room while still slipping on her sneakers.

On the other side of the backstage door, she ran to him jumping up and crashing into his body. His arms caught her and wrapped tightly around her waist as her legs hooked around his. Not giving him a chance to say a word, she grabbed his face and kissed him repeatedly until she was satisfied.

"Hi," she giggled.

"Hi," he grinned.

_____________________

A/N: This one tugged at my heartstrings. Hope you enjoyed the sweet ending!