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Better Together

"Wow." Ashley and Madison both breathe out at the same time.

"It's fine." I turn to Ashley. "I love you, and I'm not gonna let my parents, Carmen, or anyone else keep me from being happy with you." I tell her with a smile and she pulls me into a hug.

"Oh, Spencer! I love you, too." She tells me in my ear.

"Alright, alright. Enough with the lovey dovey, love birds stuff, it's making the single girl in the room nauseous."

"Sorry, Madison." We say in unison and smile at our friend.

"So Spencer, what are you gonna do?" Madison asks suddenly.

"I don't really know. I mean, they took my car and I only have four hundred dollars saved." I tell my best friend. "I was gonna ask Mrs. Duarte if I could stay with you guys for a couple days until I figure something out."

"What? No, Spence!" Ashley says getting up from the bed. "Why are you trying to leave when you can stay right here?"

"Ashley." I start, standing up, too. "I don't want to be that girlfriend. I don't want you to have to take care of me." I tell her truthfully.

"I don't care, Spencer. All of this is happening because of me and I want to take care of you. Please, Spencer. Let me take care of you." She pleads, grabbing my hand.

I look back between Ashley and Madison who just shrugs.

"I can't Ashley. I don't wanna be dependent on you for everything. It's just not right." I tell her, hoping she will understand.

"This is bullshit!" She exclaims before letting my hand go and storming out of the room.

"Spencer, maybe you should just..." Madison starts.

"No, Mads." I cut her off. "I don't wanna be that girl." I tell her hoping she'll drop. She nods her head. "You think your mom will let me stay?" I ask and she laughs.

"Spencer, my mom freaking loves you. She would much rather have you for a daughter than me." She says as she finally controls her laughter. "Where's your stuff?" I look around Ashley's room and see that it's not here.

"Um, I don't know. Ashley put it somewhere for me." I tell her.

"I'll go ask her what she did with you. Why don't you go get cleaned up before we go."

"Do I look that bad?" I ask and she smiles.

"Like shit." She replies as she leaves the room.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence.." I yell to her back and giggle at my best friend. I go in the bathroom and splash some water on my face and fix my hair. When I walk back out into Ashley's room, about ten minutes later, she's standing there holding a guitar. "Ashley?" I question, confused.

"Sit." She says simply, pointing to the bed. I comply. "Um, we both know that I'm better at expressing myself through song so I wrote this and I want you to listen." She says and strums her guitar.

"Wait, you just wrote this?" I question. She gives me a puzzled look.

"Like, just now when I walked out?" She asks with scrunched eyebrows

"Yeah."

"Don't be crazy, Spencer. I can't write a song in five minutes, It takes me at least a couple of hours. Now be quiet and listen." She tells me again as she strums her guitar and starts singing...

There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together

Mmm, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone
When the morning light sings
And brings new things
For tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too
Too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
I was somewhere in between
With only two
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do
Or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the palm tree now

Yeah, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, we're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

Mmm, mmm, mmm

I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing
We're better together.

"So you see, Spencer. You can't go." She says walking over to me, sitting her guitar down next to me on the bed. "Things are so much better when we're together." She finishes with a huge grin. I can't help the smile that spreads across my face too.

I pull her into a hug. "You totally just wrote that." I say as we pull back.

"I totally did." She smiles. "It's not hard to write with you as my inspiration. It all just comes to me." She tells me and I can't help but grin stupidly as Madison walks back in the room looking tired and sweating.

"You ready, Spence?"

"Um, actually Mads, I think I'm just gonna stay here. But just for a couple days, until I figure out what I'm gonna do." I say, directing the last part at Ashley who just shakes her head enthusiastically. I'm guessing she's just happy I'm staying at all.

Madison blows out a puff of hair causing her bangs to fly up before saying, "I am so not lugging your shit back outta my car." Ashley and I both laugh.

"It's okay, Madison I'll get Juan to do it." Ashley tells an exhausted Madison.

"Really, Juan?" Madison said giving Ashley a look.

"What? You asked me where the bags where, you never said you were about to go and be superwoman and lug them all to your car." Ashley counters with a smile.

"You know what, I don't even have the energy, Davies." Madison says with a smile, flopping down on the the couch she just vacated. Ashley kisses me then tells me that she's going to tell Juan to get the stuff from Madison's car, before leaving the room.

"You two are infectiously cute." Madison smiles at me.

"Speaking of infections, where did your mask go, sickly? Am I gonna catch whatever you have?" I ask playfully backing up from her.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "Probably." She smiles then stands up. "Are you gonna be okay, Spence? Like, really okay?"

I think about Ashley and immediately know the answer. "I think so, yeah." I tell my best friend with the hugest grin plastered on my face.

"The cuteness of you two is so freaking sickening, I swear." Madison shakes her head before giving me a hug. "Call me if you need me, I don't care what time, Spence. Call me and I'll come, okay?" She asks pulling back from me but still holding my shoulders.

"Okay. I promise." I tell my best friend. She gives me another small smile before exiting Ashley's room.

Everything's gonna be just fine...

The song is Better Together by Jack Johnson. I suggest listening to the video on the side if you've never heard it. It's a great song. Next update will be Sunday. Thanks for reading everyone.