Five Years Later
"'Rear Window' is clearly a study of the effect of McCarthyism in suburban America!"
"Yeah," Spencer scoffed sarcastically, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "Because Jeff's apartment and socialite girlfriend are clearly symbols of suburban America."
Ashley rubbed her head in frustration. "Fine! Not suburban America. But I'm right with the McCarthyism. He's suspicious and paranoid and jumps to conclusions-"
"Yes, conclusions that save a life."
"His girlfriend's life! She was the one snooping around! If she didn't fall into the cycle of voyeurism none of that would have happened."
"So," Spencer boomed, suddenly becoming frustrated by Ashley's analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest film. "You'd prefer if Jeff never realised that Thorwald killed his wife. You think that letting a murderer run free among us is better than observing a few suspicious individuals."
"It's spying! And that's what leads to profiling and discrimination eventually!" Ashley cried, suddenly sitting up and getting out of bed.
"Shit. Wait, I'm sorry. I'm just stating my opinions, come back to bed." Spencer sat up to reach for her hand but she whipped it away.
Ashley quickly threw on her bra and jumped into her dress from last night. "Spencer, you have the right to state your opinions but ever since last night you have been contradicting everything I say. You're so frustrating!"
Spencer rolled his eyes and fell back after realising his one-night stand wasn't worth running after. He couldn't be rude or else she could tell all her friends. They would 'cancel' him and never sleep with him. Spencer really didn't want that.
"Ok," He simply stated, taking out his phone and scrolling aimlessly through Instagram.
"I cannot believe I slept with you!" She grunted, angrily blowing her fringe off of her face.
Spencer couldn't believe it either. He wasn't really the type of guy who was lucky with girls. Well he wasn't until last year. Then he released his award winning short movie, 'Queenly', and suddenly everyone wanted his attention.
"Do you want breakfast or anything?"
"With you? No thanks."
Spencer didn't know why Ashley was so angry. He was only stating his opinions which coincidentally clashed with her stupid ones.
"Okay. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
"Fuck you."
Spencer gasped sarcastically and smirked. "You did that already."
Spencer didn't know when he became such an asshole. It was sometime after the release of his movie but it was so gradual that by the time he realised he was a massive jerk it was too late.
She huffed dramatically before snatching her bag and leaving the room. Spencer took the sound of the door slamming as his cue to get up. Stretching he could hear his back cracking satisfyingly and he smiled to himself before going to brush his teeth and shower
When he returned back to his room in a fresh set of clothes, ready to take on the new day, he was caught off guard by the guy stretched on his sofa, holding a small, crystal glass of whiskey. He let out a yelp.
"Charlie, what are you doing here?"
"Drink up, brother," He drawled flamboyantly, standing up to shove a glass of whiskey into Spencer's hands.
"Man, you're a mess," Spencer sighed, swallowing the whiskey in one painful gulp. His brother was the definition of a mess. If he was a word, he would be the product of a careless one-night stand between Partying and Drugs. Scratch that, there would probably be a third party involved called '40% alc./vol Vodka'. He was permanently high and had no aspirations in life at all. But, at the end of the day, Spencer loved his brother.
"You didn't go to see her grave?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I don't believe that gathering around our dead sister's grave every year will do much except waste our time. Besides, Ellie would have much preferred we drink to her honour instead of staring idly at muddy headstones and dying flowers. Besides, you didn't go either."
Spencer shrugged. "I don't see the point."
"In remembering our dead sister?"
Spencer sighed and flopped down on the opposite recliner chair. He met his brother's challenging eyes. "I meant the point of going to her grave. She wanted to be cremated remember? And then Mom went against her wishes. So, I'm just doing what Ellie would have wanted."
Charlie took another swig of whiskey and nodded slowly. "Helena Kingsley... what a bitch."
"Don't call our mother a bitch!"
"She's a massive bitch though!" They both knew he didn't mean that. At the end of the day, Helena wasn't the worst mother to have. But she definitely could improve.
Spencer laughed and looked up at the high ceiling of the living room. "Ellie, if you're up there, give me a sign."
Both Charlie and Spencer shut their eyes tightly, waiting a few seconds for a 'sign'.
"Come on, Ghost Ellie. Make a bird fly into the window. Knock over a vase. Blow up a light bulb," Charlie called out to the air. "Do something!"
Spencer fell into a fit of laughter, almost toppling over the chair. "Even in death, our sister refuses to be associated with us. I guess we've already established where she got her bitchiness from."
Charlie accidentally rolled off the couch while struggling to breathe from laughing. "Oh god, this is so wrong."
"Kamil Charles Kingsley saying something is wrong? I never thought this day would come!" Spencer gasped sarcastically.
The sudden frown on his brother's face made him cackle in satisfaction. Calling Charlie by his full name always got to him. Charlie, the first son, was named after their father, Kamil Nowak. However, after the messy divorce, Helena Kingsley made sure to erase every evidence of Kamil's existence from their lives. That meant making 'Kamil Junior' go by Charlie and changing her children's last names to her own maiden name, 'Kingsley'. Kamil- the real Kamil- came to Ellie's funeral five years before but vanished again afterwards. Kamil went back to Poland for a while, remarried and lived happily ever after. He sent a half-a-million dollar alimony every month but it meant nothing to any of them. Helena was a top lawyer and owned her own law firm so they never really needed his money.
"Don't call me that."
"Oky doky, Kamil!"
Charlie rolled his eyes before falling silent for a few moments. The calm before the storm. Then he opened his mouth and said eight words that would change Spencer's life forever. Eight words that broke him.
"Did you get invited to Madeline Lockhart's wedding?"
Spencer's head quickly turned to face his brother. "Huh?"
Charlie smirked. "I guess you didn't. I didn't either, obviously. But a friend of mine works with Blake Rodriguez aka Madeline's fiancé. They're getting married in a few months."
Spencer's head spun. Madeline was getting married.
"We're end game....It means you and I are going to end up together. When we're together that's it....I'm so in love with you right now that I don't think it will ever fade away. You're my dream guy, Spence."
Five years. It had been five years since they spoke, five years since Madeline confessed her love for Spencer and promised that they would find their way back to each other.
"She promised me..." He whispered to himself.
"Spence..." His brother started, adopting a sudden and unexpected tone of sympathy. "She moved on. You need to as well. So what she made some childish promise to you five years ago. It obviously didn't mean as much to her as it did to you."
"You don't understand..." Spencer spat, dismissing his brother. "No one understands. What Madeline and I have- had felt like it would last forever. I just can't believe she got over me like that."
Spencer had so many questions for her. Why did she leave him? Why did she never contact him? Why did she give up on him? On them? It wasn't fair. In the five years since she told him she loved him, he never dated anyone. He wasn't celibate and had slept with plenty of girls but he couldn't bring himself to actually go out with anyone. In a way he felt that by dating someone he would be betraying Madeline. But clearly he didn't mean anything to her if she didn't even contact him or tell him she was moving on. 'We're end-game'.... what a huge lie.
"Ugh, Spence you're really bumming me out. I'm trying to stay away from bad vibes-"
"Do you hear yourself? You sound like a hippie."
Charlie threw a cushion at his brother and stood up. "Let's go out. Celebrate our dead sister and- oh my god, is that a bra under the sofa?"
"What?" Spencer bent his head to look under the sofa he was sitting on and, crazily enough, there was a red lace bra sticking out. Spencer widened his eyes and picked it up, examining it closely.
"Someone's been busy," Charlie chirped. "Maybe you're over Madeline after all!"
Spencer rolled his eyes and flung it back where it was. It must have been Ashley's from the night before. Or Jessica's from the night before that. Or Sienna's? Or...
"I just can't believe Madeline is getting married. She didn't even tell me."
"Move on, man! I never thought I'd say this but stop sleeping around and find yourself a proper girlfriend! No more one night stands. You need someone to fill the Madeline Lockhart shaped hole in your heart. Come out tonight. We can call Oliver and Nora. I'm sure they'll come and that way you'll have three out of four of the old gang!"
"But I only want one out of the four. I want Madeline."
Charlie groaned and made his way to the waste basket where he threw away the now empty whisky bottle. "You don't have a choice. Oliver just replied and he said he's in. Nora will probably come with him because they're basically attached at the hip. I'll come collect you at ten. Until then, stop moping around."
Spencer rolled his eyes at his brother. Did Charlie really think one night out in some overpriced elite club would help Spencer get over Madeline? He was worthless to her but she was everything to him. At that moment, Spencer really didn't think anything could distract him from his heartbreak.
Boy, was he wrong.
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AGAIN, THIS BOOK IS SET BEFORE THE ENDING OF GB IN CASE Y'ALL WERE CONFUSED OVER THE N+O REFERENCE
Love,
-hexed
xoxo