The Walls Between Us [ S. R. ]

Chapter 3

It was almost a week since the night you spent talking to this mystery Spencer. Once the sun rose, he told you he had to go to work and you had to go get your prescription. Once you had it, your mind calmed enough to go to sleep with peace of mind just knowing they were in the drawer. You caught some sleep before waking up around 2pm. You unpacked some more things in your new home, finally settling in.

That night you made mac&cheese from the box and spent the time in front of the TV watching through reruns of the cartoons you used to watch back home.

It wasn't til the sun almost set that you decided to go sit on that chair outside that you became so used to. You didn't even get the door the whole way slid open before you heard a happy chirp from the other side of the wall. "Hey! I know that sound. That's you, right, B?"

"Yes, that would be me again, Spence." You didn't even mean to cut off the -r at the end, it kinda just flowed.

"Spence? You know only a select few people call me that."

"Sorry... I didn't-"

"No! I.... I like it."

"Okay then, how have you been, Spence?" you said playing with the way that name slipped off your tongue.

"Uh, fine. Hopefully you're doing better than me. After that one night, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Hey, I'm so sorry about that."

"Don't be, it's nice to hear someone who feels safe enough to show that kind of emotion. I'm just glad you're okay now."

"Thank you for listening. I'm not sure how that night would have gone without you being there."

You could hear him chuckling through his smirk. You could tell he liked feeling needed. You finally broke the silence, "Hey, you know out of all the things you've told me about, you never told me what you do? You're never here during the day but then sometimes your side of the wall goes days without sounds?"

You could hear him backoff, putting his wall back up after you had taken down yours. "Um, I try to keep my work out of my personal life... the job I do is really hard and I don't want to drag my select few friends outside of work into it."

"Thats okay, you don't have to tell me."

"It's interesting to know your listening for me though... kinda makes you sound a bit crazy, don't ya think?" Through each word, you could feel the wall falling back down.

"I- I didn't mean it like that, I just meant..."

"It's okay, B. It's cute. It's nice to know someone cares."

"Yeah, it's nice to know your just a wall away. Calming almost, like even if I feel alone in this city, you're just right there."

"I couldn't have said it better myself.... I'm always here if you need anything. It's always nice to have a friend to talk to so I just want you to know I'm here."

"Thanks Spence."

—————-

It had been only silence through his apartment for days. Your boss had called you and told you that you would start as soon as they were back from this case. It wasn't the date you originally thought, so you had even more time to sulk in your lonely apartment. You had got a call that day saying your first day would officially be the next day and your excitement was through the roof.

The night before your first day is when the sounds returned in the room beside you. It had been radio silent for almost six days and your balcony sessions had all been spent alone.