Guarded Hearts and Broken Wings || S.R.

16 - Candy Land

The whole ordeal was rather dramatic a few days before Marcie was about to leave. Spencer was on a case with no idea when he would be back. Marcie was scrambling to find another solution in case he did not return. Andrew was waiting for the call to buy a plane ticket. Then they solved the case, and Spencer called and said he would be home by tonight.

Immediately, Marcie was off to get on the plane she only had a few hours to catch because she thought she was not leaving mere moments ago. Mel had the apartment to herself, but she would never notice because she did not bother to move.

Andrew called soon after Marcie left, and Amelia answered with the old phone Marcie had managed to find for her a few days prior. His voice was softer and more concerned than usual. "Mel, are you sure you don't want me to come? I could call out sick and catch the next plane in the morning."

"I'm fine. I would be fine on my own anyway."

"When was the last time you moved?"

He heard a ruffling noise over the speaker. "Just now."

"Haha. Very funny. I'm serious. You need someone there just in case something happens."

"That's why Marcie asked Spencer, and he lives close."

Andrew scoffed.

"What the hell was that," Mel snapped.

"Nothing... just that he is cocky and condescending and an asshole."

Marcie looked taken aback. "What happened to you telling me to go for it because he was smart?"

"I've changed my mind."

"Is this about him not shaking your hand?" Mel groaned.

"No, of course not. I just don't know anything about this guy." He responded quickly.

"It totally is. You knew less about him when you liked him!"

"Is not!"

"¡Ash, Drew!"

"Okay, Mama." Drew sarcastically replied because Mel sounded just like their mother.

"This is why you can't get a girl. You act like a child." Mel gritted her teeth.

"And you have the audacity to act surprised when the men you pick treat you like shit!"

Mel gasped then wrinkled her nose in anger. Then she hung up. She was even more annoyed when Andrew did not try to call her back.

She sat stewing in anger for quite a while. Her head was pounding and aching while she stared at the ceiling, and her mind began to swirl in thoughts again. Then it was like a switch flipped, and she escaped her body in an exhale. She stared down at the pinwheel of emotions and grasped it in one hand. Was Andrew right? Had he seen a side of Spencer that she refused to see? The thought was not startling like she would have expected it to be. Rather it was just there — floating in the palm of her hand, behind a cage in a zoo. But he was so optimistic at first. What could have changed his mind? He was so optimistic at first.

Suddenly, Mel could hear someone fidgeting with the lock to the front door, and Mel was sucked back into her body with a sharp inhale. The door softly opened then something thudded on the kitchen counter. Footsteps approached down the hallway, and they were oddly slow. Mel's shoulders tensed. Then her door creaked open and a head pushed through the crack. It was Spencer. His hair flopped over his eyes, and he blew the strands out of the way. When their eyes met, he smiled and pushed the door all the way open. His expression quickly turned to a puzzled one.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Well you just scared the shit out of me creeping around like that!"

"Sorry," he cringed. "I wasn't sure if you would be awake, and Marcie isn't here to let me know."