Long Way Home

Chapter 23

October 2017

The rest of the morning went smoothly. Ashton kept the girl distracted and did his best getting her to relax, but she just wanted to do things around the apartment after Sebastian had left. Spencer had always been the jealous type, at least a little bit. But the way she felt seeing the name Quinn flash across Ashton's phone screen was new. It was stronger than before. It didn't help that the name was familiar.

"Hey Ash, you're getting a call." She called over her shoulder to the boy making them lunch in the kitchen. "Someone named Quinn."

"Oh, perfect!" He smiled widely and made his way to the short coffee table to pick it up. "I'm going to take this in your room, is that okay?"

"Yeah, yeah of course." She smiled and nodded, continuing to fold the blankets thrown everywhere. The boy walked into her room and closed the door behind him before he sat on the bed and answered the call.

Spencer continued to nervously clean the living room, unsure as to why she felt so odd, but she tried not to worry about it. She knew she had feelings for him, and started doubting any ideas that the boy might share those same feelings. Especially after the way he smiled and got excited to hear it was 'Quinn' who was calling.

He wasn't in there for long, only a few minutes before he walked back into the kitchen with his phone still pressed to his ear. "No, no Quinn." He shook his head, giving the girl a small smile as he continued making them lunch. "Dinner tonight? Uh yeah, yeah I can make that work. What time?"

Why was he making dinner plans with another girl when the two of them had been so close lately? Spencer didn't feel great suddenly. She sat and continued her research for a lawyer.

After another minute of setting up a time and place, a rather fancy restaurant if the blonde had heard the name correctly, he sat next to her on the couch, a huge grin on his face. He peaked over her shoulder, shaking his head when he saw her looking at lawyers once again, and took her phone. "I told you, I'm taking care of that, Spence."

"It's fine, I can do it." She glanced at him, taking her phone back. "It's my problem, not yours."

"I want to help." He whispered, opening his arms and laying back on the couch. "Come here." she just sighed and shook her head, going to stand up before Ashton lightly grabbed her wrist. "Spencer, come on." He furrowed his brows together.

"I'm just not really in the mood, Ash." She whispered, shaking her head. "I think I might just go to sleep."

"It's three PM." He stood up, following her when she walked towards her bedroom. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine." He grabbed her hand again, pulling her to face him. "Talk to me about whatever is going on in that pretty little head of yours."

The girl shook her head. "It's nothing, I just got in my head and I let it get to me and I just need to–"

"You can talk to me about anything, Spence." he sighed, cupping her cheeks. "You're my best friend, I would never judge you about anything."

"I know you wouldn't." She laughed lightly, staring up ay him. He was quick to lean down and give her nose a quick kiss before raising his eyebrows at her. "I do really want to take a little nap though."

"Okay, okay." He nodded, a small smile on his face. "You do that and I'll keep cleaning, I'll make sure everything is put away."

"You don't h--"

"I want to, Spencer." he kissed her nose again, then started pulling her to her bedroom. "So you relax, and I'll clean."

After tucking her in, turning off the light, and leaving her in the silence of her room, she fell asleep rather quickly. After an hour, Ashton debated on waking her up, but instead getting the house cleaned to Spencer's standards. He didn't want her worrying about it when she woke up.