I could tell Tommo was annoyed at me.
For what, I wasn't completely sure, but I was beginning to guess it had something to do with the looks he would send between me, the empty seat across from us in the library, and Spencer's form nine tables away. Basically at max distance from our usual spot, almost encroaching freshmen territory. I would've laughed at the sight if I didn't feel a little shitty about the other day. Maybe it was a little much forcing Spencer back into the play by sending his girlfriend after him.
Sighing I pushed back my chair, wincing at the groan it gave but thankful Mrs. Jennings had ducked out to grab new toner for the copier. Grabbing my notebook I tucked it under my arm and made my way over to Spencer's table. Dropping it onto his open textbook I waited until his eyes flashed up to mine before speaking.
"Tommo isn't coping with our separation. I thought if we had shared custody over him he'd still get to see you but obviously, that isn't working," I said in lieu of a greeting.
Spencer leaned back to look past me, nodding at Tommo, then dropped his chair back to four legs. Swiftly he slid my notebook onto the floor, going back to his reading.
"Dude," I said, kicking back the spare chair beside him and straddling it. Draping my arms over its back I waited for a response before flicking his textbook closed.
"Son of– Look, Beau, I was serious the other day. Unless you want to talk about the fucking play you were such an asshole about me being in again I don't want to talk to you." he cut in, voice hard enough that I reeled back in shock.
"Jesus, Spencer, if it was sure a sore topic you should've said so."
"Oh my god, I fucking did. You're just so self-obsessed you didn't care. You got what you wanted, your hours cut down so you can go back to feeling like a good person again," he scoffed, shoving his textbook into his bag before hoisting it onto his shoulder and standing up. The entire library was silent around us, Tommo practically on the edge of his seat as his eyes flicked between us.
"Let's talk about this outside."
"There's nothing to talk about." he bristled, striding towards the exit. Collecting my book I followed after him, nearly colliding with a freshman in my haste to make it through the door.
"Look, I'm sorry that k-i-s-s-i-n-g is such a sore topic for you but isn't this an overreaction?"
"We're not talking about this here," Spencer cut in, shoving the fire exit door open. My eyes widened as he walked through them, waiting for the alarm to turn on. When it didn't I cautiously followed behind him.
"Should I be concerned the alarm didn't go off?" I asked, hooking a finger at the now shut red door.
"This is the only exit with a malfunction, don't worry," he said, climbing onto a short concrete slab that took up the majority of space.
"And you know that why?" I muttered, glancing around us at the multitude of concrete structures that made up the small space. "What even is this place?"
"It's where the art kids practice spray painting. The top of this thing is coated," Spencer explained, tapping beside him.
"So, you didn't bring me here to murder me then?" I smirked.
"No," Spencer said before his face hardened and I remembered our earlier conversation. That was the thing about Spencer I was realizing, it was so easy to fall into step with him. Even in the deli, when he wanted me to go, he still played along with my shit until he felt he needed to put his foot down. Which was what he was doing now.
"I feel like a child being scolded with you up there," I said, climbing up to meet him but keeping a fair bit of distance between us.
"You do act like a kid,"
"A child would respond back with an equally weak insult but I'm taking the high road," I told him before collecting myself with a sigh. "Look, man, I'm sorry for being an asshole earlier. It's just... I really don't see the big issue here. It's one kiss–"
"Multiple times,"
"– one kiss, multiple times, whatever. But it's only like a fraction of the play man. People are going to be too busy laughing at Astrid's inability to get her lines right to care about a gay plot twist. Plus you being mad at me stopped being fun a long time ago. And Tommo misses you, his number one fan, and wants you to do my biology homework for me again and shit."
"Sounds more like you just miss the way I helped you out. I'm sure Tommo is surviving," he said, laying back and immediately shooting forward. I cast a look behind him and saw his shirt was stained orange.
"Don't say anything,"
"I wasn't going to,"
"Yes you were, you're a shit-stirrer, with or without Clark I'm starting to notice." he huffed, a smile breaking across his mouth and he pulled the fabric of his shirt away from his back. "What you did in the store was cute, but dragging Gillian to do your dirty work is what pissed me off. You can't do that shit man. She's a sweet girl, who wants to make everyone happy, and you exploited that, that's why I was pissed at you. I was going to say yes, by the way, you have a way of wearing people down, Beau."
"You think I'm cute?"
"I think what you did was cute. You're an asshole." Spencer pointed out.
"I'll take that, so long as it means we're friends again,"
"We're friends, Beau," Spencer sighed, pulling his shirt over his head and assessing the damage. It wasn't anything a couple cycles in the washing machine couldn't take out, and the spray paint was light enough that the green plaid of his shirt mainly hid it. Instead of putting it back on Spencer balled it up and shoved it in the bottom of his bag, resigned to wear the long-sleeved shirt he had on under it.
"You're honestly too nice, Spencer. Anyone else I know would've beat my ass into the ground if I pulled that shit on them."
"I think you need to rethink the people you keep around you then," Spencer frowned, glancing at me. "I may still be mad, but I know you're worth forgiving, even when you're being selfish, Beau."
I thought about what he said for a while after that. It was during rehearsal that I spoke up though, pulling Spencer to the side as Bella helped Astrid untangle her skirt ties from her boot laces. Bella hadn't even reacted when we turned up, apparently, Spencer had informed her he was back and ready to be humiliated if it meant she would move on with her life.
"What is it?" Spencer asked, dropping to a knee to tighten his own laces.
"I wanted to talk about the kiss," I said and Spencer stilled.
"Beau–"
"Let's not do it until the show actually starts," I cut in and he looked up.
"What d'you mean?"
"Lesser of two evils. We don't kiss during rehearsals, just on the nights we actually have an audience that isn't Kyle and his camcorder," I offered. "Gives you a couple weeks to get on top of your dental hygiene."
"I'll have you know I have wonderful teeth," he said, stand up and grinning widely. I actually blinked back at how nice his smile was.
"Spencer, I need you to pull back the curtains. I'm too short to reach them," Bella called from the stage. Dropping the grin Spencer rolled his eyes, making his way to the wings where she apparently needed him.
My phone vibrated a moment later. Pulling it free I frowned at the texts from Tommo, complaining about a drunk Clark showing up on his doorstep. I hadn't spoken to Clark since I walked out of his house after our directing session, not that he made any effort to speak to me. We kept our distance in the halls and during lunch period he stuck with Romeo, the pair of them camped on the bleachers to watch Tommo run while I stayed in the library to catch up on studying. Since things with Spencer resolved themselves quickly all I've had time to worry about was Clark. Even when we were on the outs the guy still ran a large portion of my brain.
"Beau, grab a step ladder, I fucked up," Spencer yelled and I ducked my head out to see the guy barely holding up a collapsing set of folded curtains.
"Jesus, I'll be right back," I said, heading towards the reception desk out front. A bored woman, close to my Mom's age with doe-eyed glasses and a stern mouth, sat there clicking through a yahoo account. I wasn't even aware anyone used yahoo at all anymore.
"Hey, is there a step ladder around here by any chance? The curtains on stage broke," I told her.
She paused in her scrolling long enough to glance me over before pushing her chair back and walking off. When she returned a man was behind her, hefting a stout ladder that he dropped into my arms without warning.
"Jesus," I huffed, adjusting my grip.
"Try not to break it," she said, returning to her computer screen.
It took me a couple minutes to lug the thing onto the stage, Kyle taking over and clambering onto it quickly in a bid to release Spencer's arms.
"Thanks, that was not how I wanted to go out," He chuckled, dusting off his hands. I grimaced at the line of soot running down the side of his face.
"Might wanna go wash up Spence," Kyle grunted, pushing the curtain's support beam back in place. "Mind taking him, Beau."
"Yeah sure," I said, sending Kyle a confused look, not totally sure why Spencer couldn't go to the bathroom himself.
"I think I need to take up a sport or something, my arms were giving out on me, holding that thing up," Spencer frowned when we reached the back hallway leading to the bathrooms.
"What're you talking about? Your arms are huge," I said, tripping over my own feet at the awkwardness of what I said. "I mean, when you held me down–" oh my god that was not helping "– when you arrested me, I mean. Not you, obviously since you're not a cop, I meant your Mom."
"Beau, calm down," Spencer chuckled, shouldering the bathroom door open for us to slip inside. Yanking a few paper towels Spencer wet them in the sink before rubbing at his face. "Jesus, this stuff will never come out. And fuck, I've got it on the shirt. God, do they not clean back there?"
"I got a B+ on my Biology test," I blurted. I had no idea where it came from and felt cheeks tinge with embarrassment when Spencer glanced up in the mirror at me in confusion. Jesus, I needed to get myself together. "I was sitting on barely a B- before you helped me out... So, yeah."
"Is this your way of thanking me for my help," Spencer smirked, tossing the dirty towels into a wastebasket before motioning at me to collect more. And I did.
Handing them over I rolled my eyes, sitting on the stretch of countertop between Spencers sink and the neighboring one. The lighting in the bathroom was bleak, casting more shadow than actual light so I was surprised Spencer was able to make out the marks on his face at all.
"Do you want me to thank you?" I teased and Spencer's lip raised in a mocking smile.
"Wouldn't hurt to hear. I swear if I hadn't met your parents I'd think you were raised without manners."
"Thank you, Spencer," I said, forcing earnestness into my tone.
Reaching over, Spencer clapped a wet hand on my shoulder.
"Look at you, that's what we call character development," he teased and I shoved his hand off, pulling at the wet material of my shirt.
"Dude," I scoffed.
"Don't be a child, it's hardly any water. It'll dry in a few minutes." he rolled his eyes, going back to scrubbing his face. When he misses a smudge on his eyebrow for the third time I grabbed his elbow, redirecting his hand to it.
"You wanna take over, Nurse Minders?" he smirked, expression souring when a stream of water slipped into his mouth.
"Funny," I muttered, letting him go. I thumbed the collar of my shirt where his hand managed to span, frowning at the wet texture.
"Oh my god, you look like a kicked puppy," Spencer huffed, grabbing one of his discarded towels and pressing it to my shoulder, hard. Without my consent, my heart rate picked up at the brush of his fingers against my neck. Tensing I waited until he lifted his hand to resume his clean up before hopping off the counter. Glancing out the corner of his eye Spencer made no comment when I gathered his old towels and replaced them with new ones.
"I'm gonna make a call but I'll be right back. You'll be alright?"
"Doubt I can inflict much damage in here beyond drowning myself in the sink," Spencer said, brow arched. In the dark light, his grey eyes bolded and I forced myself to avoid them when they unexpectedly made my stomach roil. "Go make your call, Mr. Important. I've almost got this off so we can get back to running lines."
"Right, you do that," I said before catching myself. "I mean don't do that, don't drown. Okay, I'm just going to leave."
"Exit gracefully Beau," Spencer said, chuckling to himself before shutting his eyes and running a wet towel down his face.
Bumping into the door as I left I pulled out my phone, punching my speed dial.
"Ah, so he's alive. Where were you a half-hour ago?" Tommo grunted down the line.
I leaned against the wall. "We gotta talk. You free tomorrow?"
"Jesus, you two are so co-dependent. Always spiraling at the same time. Sure, meet at Dover?"
"Thanks, Tommo," I said, cutting the call before squatting on the ground, wondering, not for the first time, what the hell was wrong with me.