Vote, comment and show some love! â¡
For a few seconds, Spencer remained still and frozen. He was in shock. Madeline's lips were on his. Then slowly he found himself kissing her back. His arms wrapped around, relying on muscle memory. His head was going into overdrive and he felt really hot all of a sudden.
His emotions were all over the place. At that moment, Spencer Kingsley felt everything. He had waited five years for that moment. Was it worth it? He had no clue.
"Is that enough proof for you?" Madeline whispered, as she pulled away carefully.
She was still close enough that their noses were touching and their foreheads were rested against each other. Spencer could feel her breath.
"I..." Spencer began but he couldn't finish his sentence. He was speechless. He shut his eyes to savour the moment.
Eventually Madeline stepped back and sighed. "I shouldn't have done that."
Spencer felt dizzy. "I don't... I... woah."
Madeline failed to stop herself from laughing and soon he could hear her melodious giggle ring in the air.
"I forgot how awkward you are," She joked.
"I'm just... woah. What was that for?"
Madeline's smiled but it didn't exactly reach her eyes. "To show you how much you mean to me."
"But... what about Blake?"
"Oh. We're in an open relationship."
Oh. So she still wanted to stay with Blake. The kiss wasn't the start of something but the end of it.
"That sounds like a bad idea..."
Madeline's eyebrows rose slightly. "We're both happy. But still, I shouldn't have kissed you. That was a bad idea."
Spencer shrugged. He certainly didn't seem to think it was a bad idea. But he wouldn't tell her how much the kiss affected him because she clearly regretted it.
"Just because we kissed doesn't mean I forgive you."
"I know. I'm sorry, Spence. I wish I could go back in time. I was stupid for not calling. But please try to understand that I needed to distance myself as far away from Manhattan as I could."
"Then why are you back?"
Madeline looked down at her heels and cleared her throat. "My father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year. I came back to be closer to him."
Instantly, Spencer let go of all anger against her and he found himself instinctively engulfing her in a hug. "Shit, Maddie, I'm so sorry."
As he squeezed his arms around her, he felt an odd sense of being in place. It felt right.
"Spencer?" Madeline said softly.
"Yes?"
She stepped back and looked deep into his eyes with a signature 'Madeline' look. It was unintentionally piercing and intimidating.
"Can we be friends again?"
The question surprised Spencer. Being 'friends' with Madeline didn't feel right. After all they had been through, 'friends' seemed to be such a superficial title that said nothing about their relationship.
"I...I think it might be too soon for that now. I'm still on the cusps about forgiving you."
The disappointment was clear on Madeline's face and she made no effort to hide it. "Oh. Well, I'll be here if you do. I really missed you Spence."
'I MISSED YOU TOO,' He wanted to scream back at her. But there was something impeding him from doing so. Maybe it was the sudden heartbreak because after all those years of waiting Madeline still didn't choose him.
Instead he settled for a solemn nod.
"Um, we should probably go downstairs now," He suggested.
"Oh. Okay. Let's go."
They left the room wordlessly and walked with an arm-length distance between them. As soon as they reached the grand hall, Spencer scanned it to locate Nora or Oliver but neither of them could be found.
"Where are Nora and Oliver? Isn't this their party?" Madeline asked.
"They probably just wanted to fu-"
"Spencer!"
"What!" He raised his arms up defence with an impish smile on his face.
Madeline jokingly rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll go then if they're not here. I'm staying in this hotel about a block from here because I didn't want to endure an hour drive home after the party. Although, to be honest, I thought we'd be finished much later than nine o'clock."
Spencer followed her outside as she rambled on. He was stunned when he looked at her because she was standing in a perfect spot where the moonlight perfectly bounced off her face and the golden lights from inside illuminated every thread and bead on her dress. She looked angelic.
"So I guess this is it then," She sighed.
"Do you want me to drive you home?" Spencer asked. He was being polite. It wasn't like the only reason he asked her that was to spend more time with her because he wasn't ready to let her go just yet. Just being polite.
"It's only a five minute walk. I'll be okay."
"It's really dark and you look like a million dollars. You'll get mugged, Maddie."
She grinned and suddenly jerked her arm up, making a whooshing sound with her mouth. "I can fight anyone off. I did Taekwondo in third grade."
Spencer let out a deep, hearty chuckle. "Come on. I'll walk you to your hotel."
Madeline didn't protest and instead thanked him. They walked quietly on the busy Manhattan road. Spencer inched closer to her before bumping into her by accident.
"Oh my god, Spence! You still do that thing where you walk into everyone you're walking beside."
"I can't help it! Walking in a straight line is so hard when you're walking beside someone!"
"It really isn't!" Madeline laughed.
He gently bumped into her again intentionally. "Whoops."
She shoved him back. However, she underestimated her strength and knocked Spencer down against a car.
"Shit! Spencer! Are you okay?"
She helped him up while laughing.
"Oh my god. Madeline Lockhart tried to kill me."
"Spencer!"
"It's true! You're a psychopath!"
"Are you seeing anyone?" She asked bluntly as he laughed at her.
Spencer froze at her sudden question and looked at her. Madeline had always been terrible with timing.
"Sorry, it just seemed like there was no right time to ask that question," She added.
He didn't know how to reply. A part of him wanted to say 'no'. Not because he didn't like Amelie but because once he said he was dating someone, the general vibe of the conversation would change. And it was going so well. And then maybe she would kiss him again. Not that he wanted her to kiss him again (that was a lie; he totally wanted her to kiss him again). However, he liked Amelie. It would be wrong and immoral to just write her out of his life like that. Amelie was nice. Amelie was beautiful. Amelie was bubbly and cheery and knew how to make him smile. Amelie was-
"No."
"No?"
"No," He affirmed. He could feel his mouth go dry from his lie and he felt terrible. But it wasn't like he was cheating on Amelie. Well, apart from that one kiss. But the kiss meant nothing (to Madeline)! It was just a harmless lie that would make their conversation go smoother. "I'm not seeing anyone."
"If you were seeing someone, would you have broken up with them for me?" Madeline asked after a long pause to think.
"Woah. That's a really personal question, Mads," Spencer said but his tone was light-hearted and non-plussed.
"I'm sorry. That was... that was a weird question. Way too invasive. Sorry, you don't have to answer."
Spencer slowed down as they approached Madeline's hotel. He took a while to think. He knew what the answer was. But admitting the answer out loud would make him feel even more guiltier than he already was. Amelie didn't deserve that. So he played it safe.
"Uh....I don't know."
Madeline glanced at the hotel, then back at Spencer like she was making a very difficult choice.
"Um, it was good to see you today, Maddie. I've been waiting a long time for this. I think that-"
"Spence, do you want to come inside?" Madeline blurted, interrupting him.
She had a hopeful look on her face as she asked a question that Spencer had no correct answer to. She was obviously not asking him inside for a drink or a cup of coffee. The connotations were clear and Spencer knew the barriers that would be crossed if he said yes.
His conscience screamed and roared, pleading him not to go in and begging him to remember Amelie. Sweet, sweet Amelie. He was going to move on. He was so ready to move on with her. Amelie was so good to him.
"Uh... okay, sure."
âââ
Low key angry at Spencer because I thought he was better than that... Poor Amelie!