[✓] 𝐶𝐼𝑁𝐷𝐸𝑅 | 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃

𝟏𝟕 | 𝐍𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐔𝐓: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊

— 𝒮 —

"𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 horror we already see at work," complained Garcia as they headed to the auditorium, their arms full of popcorn and drinks, "why don't we ever just go watch a comedy or romantic movie? Something cute, y'know? Why do we gotta watch Vacancy and not Georgia Rule or something?"

"Those aren't any fun," Morgan replied with a scrunched nose. "And anyway, unlike work, this horror ain't real."

She quirked an eyebrow. "As far as we know."

He grinned and reassured her, "I'll protect you, princess, don't worry."

Spencer chuckled as Charlie, JJ, and Emily exchanged gagging noises.

Garcia scoffed, reaching over and swatting Emily's arm. "You wish you had a love like ours."

"You know what . . ." Emily shook her head. "I think I'd rather be single."

"I'm excited for this," Spencer chimed in as they found the right auditorium and stepped inside. "I don't know if it'll top my favourite horror film, though."

"What's your favourite?" questioned JJ.

"Halloween—it was even named the fifth scariest movie of all time by Entertainment Weekly."

"Oh, please," Morgan scoffed. "Halloween wasn't scary in the least."

Charlie laughed. "Okay, Tough Guy."

"Really. It was a little ridiculous."

"You're ridiculous," JJ returned.

The preshow had already started when they found their seats, and Spencer chose to sit between Charlie and Morgan (and he ignored the raised eyebrows and smirk the latter was wearing).

Seeing that it was five minutes before seven o'clock—when the movie was supposed to begin—the auditorium was nearly full. He couldn't expect anything less for a well-anticipated movie showing on a weekend evening.

He turned to Charlie, who was watching the trailer for The Heartbreak Kid, and asked, "Do you like horror movies?"

She shrugged as she turned to face him, her voice a little hushed to meet his volume, "Honestly, I'm with Penny; I prefer rom-coms. I don't mind horror movies, though."

"Do you find them scary?"

"Not really," she replied with another shrug. "Do you?"

Spencer copied her action. "Sometimes."

"Aw, Spence," she teased with a grin, "if you get scared, you can hold my hand."

Though he knew she was joking, Spencer's cheeks warmed, and the fact that Morgan then whispered, "Yeah, Spencey-Wencey, why don't you hold her hand?" didn't help in the least.

"Shut up, Morgan," he mumbled, elbowing the man on his right and receiving a grin in return.

The movie began not too long after, and the conversations in the theatre suddenly hushed with the opening scene.

And though he was paying most of his attention to the movie as it went on, his eyes occasionally drifted to the woman beside him, and he prayed that it was dark enough in the theatre so no one noticed. Each time she flinched or grasped the edge of her seat, Spencer would have to restrain himself from reaching out.

The movie was nearly three quarters done when something suddenly dropped onto his shoulder, and he carefully turned his head to see the top of Charlie's head. He craned his neck the slightest bit forward to catch a glimpse of her face, and his lips formed a small smile when he realized she was fast asleep.