you're dancing with a dead man's bones (edgeofmybreath) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-03-31 13:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, roxy, roxy x spence, spence |
Who: Spence and Roxy
When: Saturday, Oct 14th, late afternoon
Where: The Back Porch
Status: Complete
It felt like it had been a long week. Roxy had been working a lot since Mila was taking a break. She’d been hinting around at Caden that they just needed to go ahead and hire another server. At least for the weekends, because she couldn’t keep working doubles for forever. It was money, but sometimes that felt like taking it out of one pocket to put right into the other, given her relationship with Caden. Which felt kind of strained lately, something else she didn’t like. She’d purposefully been avoiding talking about Mila’s pregnancy, not wanting to start shit with him over things that really weren’t even her business. She loved Mila and she would help her friend as much as she could, but she didn’t need yet another reason to fight with her man on top of it.
It had been a decently busy Saturday so far, with a couple of games on the big screens. There’d been a lull, so Roxy had finally been able to get to some of her secondaries before the inevitable evening crown came in. She’d wiped all the tables and the bar down, swept up a bit, and was busy loading up the clean glasses in the spaces under the bar. The regulars were hanging out on their regular stools, and she had a couple of tables in booths, but they were fine for the moment.
Spence had only been home for a couple of weeks now, though he hadn't done much in the way of getting out and socializing. He was trying to get settled in at his one bedroom apartment in Castle View, and his hospital visits to get his therapy set up had taken up a lot of his time and energy, not to mention searching for a job. He had a bit of savings to keep him afloat for awhile, but that money wouldn't last forever, and he wasn't the kind of guy who was comfortable with his bank account being depleted when he didn't know where his next paycheck was coming from. After the whirlwind of the past sixteen hours or so, what with Greg having gotten a concussion in that school bus crash, Spence was feeling pretty antsy, and once he was sure his mom wouldn't end up suffocating Greg with her worry, he left Overlook to head back home.
While he was driving through town, he caught sight of the Back Porch and made an impulsive decision to park and head inside for a drink. Yes, it was probably too early to have a beer, but it was Saturday and he'd been denying himself relaxation ever since he drove into town with his truck and U-Haul. One drink wasn't going to kill him.
Spence headed inside and took an open seat at the bar, not wanting to take up an entire table by himself. He saw a brunette head below, and the clanking of glasses, so Spence took a look at what they had on draft, not wanting to rush the woman when she was busy.
A moment later, Roxy straightened up and gave her back a little stretch. She noted the presence of a new person at the bar, and she grabbed one of the small laminated menus and a coaster to slide in front of him, not really looking up at his face until she was right in front of him. Her ‘hi, welcome to The Back Porch’ died on her lips and Roxy just stared for a beat at that face that was so familiar and yet not. Her stomach did a weird thing as recognition kicked in, and Roxy’s cheeks suddenly felt a bit flushed, all of which was a bit disconcerting, but there it was anyway. “Spence Wheeler, holy shit,” she said then, a smile spreading across her lips. “Hi.”
He had spotted her before she got a good look at him, and Spence's own stomach did a strange flip flop once he realized it was Roxy. She hadn't changed at all, unlike Spence, who had shaggier hair now, and a beard that probably needed a bit of a trim. While he kept his apartment neat and orderly - a habit he'd been unable to break since leaving the Marines - he had let his hair go and got bored with shaving every day. Now he kind of wished he'd at least combed his hair some before coming inside. Her smile relaxed him considerably, and Spence grinned back at her. He had been getting a lot of 'welcome home' conversations from various people in town who remembered him, or knew his family, but this was the first time he didn't feel like running in the opposite direction. "Roxana Muñoz, holy shit y-yourself. How are you?"
He was still recognizable as Spence, even under all that face-fur, but there was something different about him. Roxy had heard through the small town grapevine that he’d joined the Marines and gone off to war, and she’d be lying if she said he didn’t cross her mind every so often. They’d dated for a while in high school and she’d always liked him quite a bit, and didn’t want him to die overseas or something. That was just normal concern, right? And she’d heard that he had gotten hurt, so that was a valid concern. Roxy’s hand lifted a third of the way to her hair before she caught herself and put it back on the bartop. She had minimal makeup on today and had her hair back in a ponytail, so she probably looked like a hot mess ... and why should she care? She didn’t, it was just ... an old friend. “I’m uh ... yeah, I’m okay,” she said, fighting back the urge to look around to see where Caden was. “How are you? Oh my God, big war hero come back home.” She grinned at him. “Just visiting?”
Spence's smile slipped just a bit but he chuckled and shook his head. He didn't like anyone calling him a hero of any kind, because he wasn't, but he didn't want to snap at her about it like he had some others. "I'm doing good," he told her, and it was mostly true. "Not visiting this time. Moved back home a couple weeks ago. Got an apartment over at C-Castle View. Just been takin' my time getting acclimated to things." Spence was pretty proud of himself for getting through most of that with minimal stutters. His smile widened again. "Didn't know you worked here." He knew the Lucas brothers owned this place, but Spence hadn't done a lot of drinking during his quick visits home. He'd always made it a point to avoid Roxy too, only because he knew he'd be leaving again, and what would have been the point?
God, that smile was what she remembered the most, and it felt like pressure on her chest. That and his smell, but he was too far away for her to really pick up on that yet. ... and he needed to stay on the other side of that bar, too, Roxy suddenly felt. The way her body was reacting just to Spence Wheeler sitting in front of her couldn’t be a good sign. They hadn’t seen each other in years and years, but their relationship their senior year in high school had ... well, it had meant a lot to her. She’d been in love with him, as much as a seventeen year old could be in love with anyone, and then he was just gone and they couldn’t handle the distance. God, how she’d cried after that breakup. But that had been a million years ago, so she needed to not think about it.
She smothered the tiny bit of surprised hurt that he’d been back for weeks and she hadn’t seen him, because he was there now and why should she see him anyway? Fuck, now she felt flustered. “Oh, yeah, well ... y’know, it pays the bills,” Roxy floundered, making a vague gesture around the bar and smiling in a way that felt weird. And I’m practically married to one of the owners, only he won’t marry me and everything is so weird and hard lately and-- “Speaking of, what can I get you?” she forced herself to say instead.
It was definitely strange to be transported back, what, twelve years? This was the first time the two of them had been face to face in a really long time and it was kind of crazy that he could barely remember what he did last week, but he remembered everything about Roxy like it had just happened yesterday. It was really good to see her. She looked healthy, if a bit tired, but Spence couldn't imagine working in a bar in this town was very easy. There wasn't much else to do but drink the pain away. He didn't need the drink menu, since he wasn't one for cocktails and the like, but he arched his neck toward the taps again. Yes, definitely too early for hard liquor, so beer would have to do. "I'll take the IPA," he said, tapping his fingers idly on the bar top. "It's not just you working right now, is it? S-Seems kind of busy right now."
Roxy was already telling herself off in her head, because she’d completely dodged mentioning Caden, but that was fucking stupid because everybody in the town knew they were together, and what the hell was she even thinking about? Now she looked like she was trying to hide something and if Caden found out, if one of those stupid other fuckers sitting at the bar opened their mouths and said she was acting weird-- Roxy did her best to cut that line of thought off and moved to grab a clean mug for Spence’s beer. “Nah, Miles is around here somewhere, and uh, Caden’s in the back, I think ...” As she pulled the tap handle to pour, she looked around toward the double doors at the other side of the bar. No sign of him. Why was she even nervous? Fuck. She was just talking to someone she used to know, that was all. Roxy put the full mug in front of Spence and gave him a wan smile. “You remember them, right? Caden and Gavin and Aaron Lucas ... they all own this place.”
Spence nodded as Roxy set his beer down. "Yeah, I remember them. Hard to forget the Lucas brothers," he said with a grin, because if anyone had lived in Point Pleasant for more than a couple years, they knew the Lucas brothers. Maybe not personally, but by reputation. Spence had grown up the same age as Caden, but knew plenty about the other two boys. From what he remembered, and it wasn't much, they had a sister too, but Spence had never met her. "I mostly remember Caden though, since he was in our class. How's he doing?" It seemed only polite to ask, since the guy co-owned this place and Roxy was working for him. Spence wasn't one to sit at a bar like it was Cheers and gossip about the people he knew. He certainly wouldn't want anyone there talking about him, so it was best to keep his mouth shut.
They were indeed hard to forget, and Roxy suddenly felt like all three of them were staring her down, even though Aaron and Gavin weren’t even in the building. “He’s pretty good,” Roxy said, nodding a bit. Her gaze ticked down to Spence’s shoulder for a second before she added, “We’re uh, we’re dating. For a few years now.” Caden hadn’t been any nicer as a teenager than he was now. If anything he’d mellowed some in his older age, at least to people he wasn’t related to. He’d earned his shitty reputation back then, and it was that anticipation of judgement in Spence’s eyes that was making her feel antsy about claiming their relationship, right? Because it couldn’t possibly be any other feeling. Nope, because she wasn’t having any other feelings about anything. “How’s your family? I see Greg around every now and then, he got huge.”
Admittedly that was something of a surprise, though Spence couldn't exactly pinpoint why. Of course Roxy was dating. And for all he knew Caden Lucas had grown out of his asshole phase and was a stand up guy now. Hell, Spence had been engaged, so it made total sense that Roxy had a long term boyfriend. He was happy for her, if she was happy, and he was sure his smile projected that. Probably. The last thing he needed to do was start asking an ex-girlfriend personal questions that were none of his business. "That's great for you guys," Spence told her before taking a drink of his beer. He nodded a bit and glanced around, like he might see Greg there, even though he knew his kid brother was home... and underage. "Yeah, it's blowing my mind that he's playing football. That's one of my regrets about joining the Marines. I missed him growing up. Age difference didn't help, but y-you know what I m-mean." He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "He's graduating this year. I don't know where the time went, you know?"
It was great for them, wasn’t it? Roxy relaxed just a tiny bit, but something still wasn’t sitting right. It was probably her, just being stupid and caught off guard. Talking about Spence’s brother was much safer territory. She remembered Greg being a little kid back when she and Spence had dated -- something that made her feel old now if she thought about it too much. He’d been an insane bundle of energy, and she’d had fun playing with him a few times. For the first time since he’d sat down, Roxy noticed that Spence’s stutter wasn’t just a fluke, it seemed to be a thing he did now here and there. Not that she was going to say anything or ask, but she wondered if that was part of the war injuries she’d heard vaguely about. “It’s crazy, it makes me feel like an old lady,” she said with a chuckle, trying not to look at the way his hair fell back into whatever place it wanted to. “I hope he’s got college plans so he doesn’t end up in here all the time. Bet he’s glad to have you back though, before graduation.”
It was definitely easier to talk about Greg than Roxy's love life, which would no doubt lead back to his. Or his lack thereof. They hadn't seen each other in so long that it didn't feel like the right time or place to get into that kind of discussion. "We're all f-feeling pretty old," Spence agreed with a chuckle. "I think he's got plans. He's been so busy with football and his f-friends that we haven't had a lot of time to sit down and talk. I like to think he's happy I'm back, but I don't know." Shrugging softly, Spence took another quick drink of beer. Then he smiled a bit sheepishly. "We kind of barely know each other." It didn't feel weird admitting that to Roxy. She was well aware of the age difference, and how Spence hadn't really known how to act around Greg when he was little. It didn't help that he left town after high school and only made it only for holidays and brief vacation breaks until he'd joined the Marines and his visits grew fewer and farther in between.
Roxy gave him a soft smile and nodded a bit. She could understand that, especially since he’d been away for so long. “Yeah, I barely know my siblings anymore either,” she said, drumming her fingers against the edge of the bar for a second. Being all but estranged from her family was always a sore spot, like a hole in her heart that she could only sometimes ignore. Not being allowed to fill it with a family she created herself only made it bigger. But that wasn’t something she needed to get into with Spence Wheeler, for God’s sake. “Well y’all have some time now, so take advantage of it,” she added to not be a total downer. Roxy glanced over her shoulder, then gave Spence an apologetic little wince. “I gotta check my tables though ... let me know if you need anything else?”
Spence nodded, though he thought his situation with Greg was a bit different. Roxy and her siblings hadn't gotten along very well from what he remembered. He and Greg got along just fine... at least Spence thought so. They just hadn't spent a lot of time together. He was hoping to change that now that he was home. Spence couldn't help but hope in a small way that Roxy was close with Caden's family. He knew she hadn't had much else. Cocking a brow, Spence then smiled to mask some of his disappointment at her needing to get back to work. He couldn't expect her to stand there and entertain him all night. "Oh, yeah, no problem. I'm good for now." Spence lifted his beer mug slightly. "Thanks." He hesitated, not sure what else to say, before taking another drink.
She both did and didn’t want to keep standing there and talking to him. On one hand she really, really did. She wanted to ask him how he really was, go somewhere they could really talk. Roxy hadn’t truly cared about many people in her life, and Spence was on that short list. But it had been forever ago, right? She didn’t truly know him anymore either. And besides, if Caden caught her chatting up some dude she used to date more than he deemed necessary, there would be hell to pay later. That thought more than any made her turn around and move away from him. She checked with the two other patrons sitting at the bar, refilled one of their beers, then headed off to see if her tables needed anything. And if her gaze kept wandering back toward Spence that was ... well, she couldn’t help it.
Spence did pretty well at just drinking his beer and not staring at Roxy. He knew that would be creepy, especially since she had a boyfriend - of a few years - and the last thing he needed was to make her uncomfortable. It was just strange seeing her again after all these years. Talking to her, even if it was just basic chit chat. Spence wasn't entirely sure what he would feel comfortable telling her if they'd had any privacy. Maybe it was better that they didn't. He finished off his beer, having taken only a few glances in her direction while watching the sports channel programmed on the bar television. Spence didn't plan on ordering another, and he knew he could have just left money on the bar top to cover the drink without bothering Roxy, but... something kept in him that seat, and he told himself it would be rude to toss cash down and duck out without saying goodbye, so... he waited. He felt stupid about it, yes, but he waited anyway.
He didn’t have to wait too long. Roxy was a good server, and while a couple more people had come in while Spence was sitting there, the place wasn’t swamped or anything. She noticed his empty mug on one of her passes by his section of the bar, and walked around behind it. With another little smile that felt slightly strange on her face, she raised her eyebrows at him and nodded at his mug. “Want another?” she asked. Roxy already kind of got the sense that he would say no, he was ready to pay and leave, but it was better to offer. God, he looked ... good, even under the shagginess. Like he’d filled out, gotten thicker. It made sense, the military would do that to you, but it suited him. She’d filled out a little more too, in an entirely different way, and Roxy caught herself kind of wishing she was still as small as she’d been in high school. Stupid.
Spence was pretty convinced he looked terrible. He was in desperate need of a haircut, and his beard needed a bit of a trim. His clothes covered up most of his scars, and the burn that had left his hip looking pretty fucked up. It made him grateful that Roxy wasn't likely to ever see him naked again because he felt pretty hideous. She looked amazing, though. Curvy and soft. No, he didn't need another drink. Spence smiled then and shook his head, reaching into his pocket for his wallet with his good arm. "I'm all right. One is usually enough for me these days." He might have ordered another, just for an excuse to stick around, but that was a bad idea, and he wasn't entirely sure Caden wasn't around somewhere. Spence pulled some cash out and placed it on the bar. "It was really great seeing you again. I'm at Castle View now, if you ever want to come a-around." He paused and winced before chuckling. "That sounded... I don't know. I mean, if you want to c-catch up sometime. If that's all right. It's nice to see familiar faces."
Roxy wasn’t seeing any of that, of course, just the matured face and kind eyes of a guy she’d cared a lot about once upon a time. She tried to smother the vague disappointment that she felt when he said no and pulled his wallet out, and then tried to smother whatever that weird feeling was at his quasi-invitation. Roxy reached out to take the money he laid down and impulsively moved the empty mug and grabbed the coaster under it instead. She pulled a pen out of her apron and scribbled her number down, then slid it toward Spence. “Let’s have coffee or something sometime,” she said, meeting his eyes again with a little half-smile. There was nothing wrong with a cup of coffee with an old friend, right? They had a lot to catch up on. And it was safer than turning up at his house, that was for sure. “It was good to see you too though, I’m uh ... glad you’re home safe and all.”
He was mildly surprised when she wrote her number on the back of the coaster and Spence took it with a small smile. "That sounds nice," he said, clutching the coaster as he put his wallet back into his pocket. Were there still rules for how long he was supposed to wait to call? Did that count for exes? Friends? Spence wasn't sure, but he reminded himself she had a boyfriend, and coffee meant only that: coffee. And catching up, which he was eager to do. His family didn't often talk to him about Roxy, so he wasn't sure what she had been up to. Plus, it would be nice to talk when she wasn't on the clock. Spence didn't want to linger and make this awkward so he slid off the chair and nodded. "It was definitely nice to see you too. I'll give you a call soon, okay?"
“Okay,” Roxy answered, her smile brighter and more natural for a moment. That was the second time he’d said it was good to see her. Her heart was beating too hard for the circumstances, and she told herself again that she was being stupid, but it didn’t seem to help. “Take it easy, Spence.” She tried to sound as casual as she could, aware that there were always ears listening to her in this damn bar. Roxy grabbed the empty mug and turned away to go back to work, determined not to watch Spence walk out the door. She’d looked at him way too often already.
"You too," he said, wishing he could say more without sounding strange. Spence watched Roxy get back to work for a moment before realizing he was staring, which was creepy, and he turned quickly to leave the bar, not wanting to look like a moron. He stared at the coaster as he walked to his truck, and once he was sitting in the driver's seat, he programmed her number into his phone, somehow resisting the urge to text her right then and there. Stupid. Still, he was in a much better mood as he started up the engine and headed home. Despite everything else, it had been a pretty good day.