Who: Spence and Roxy When: Tuesday, Oct 31, night Where: the store, Spence's truck Status: Complete
Halloween was always a busy night at the bar, and this one was no exception. With Gavin still not really working, and Mila gone, it had been an all hands on deck situation. Roxy had been working her ass off with Caden, Aaron, and Miles, and she was stupidly grateful that Caden had made the call to close down at the regular weeknight time -- eleven. They still had to clean and everything, but she was just grateful to get the lingering patrons out of the bar and look forward to going home. But an errand had to be run first.
Because of Gavin’s absence, nobody had been keeping up with the stock as well, and they ran out of dish soap halfway through cleanup, a little bit before they locked the doors. Nobody wanted to leave the kitchen half-filthy, so Roxy ran out to the store to get some, along with some other supplies that had been neglected. She felt worn out and dead on her feet as she parked her car and went inside the store. She grabbed a basket and walked into the aisles, not really paying attention to what was around her.
She grabbed several bottles of Dawn and some of the kind that went in the dishwasher, and turned to head toward the paper goods, when a figure at the end of the aisle stopped her short. It was a guy dressed up like Jason Voorhees, hockey mask and rubber machete and all, just standing there and staring at her. Roxy jumped and let out a startled noise, then put a hand over her heart and rolled her eyes. “Shit, you scared me,” she breathed. The dude looked like a teenager from the build of him, but there was something creepy about the way he was just ... standing there. Roxy scowled at him and was opening her mouth to say more when the dude started advancing. She backed up several steps, with a loud “what the fuck?” but he kept coming.
Spence wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but at some point earlier that night, a couple of his high school buddies managed to convince him to join them at Cherries. Strip clubs weren't really Spence's thing, but he always felt a bit strange admitting that half naked women didn't really do it for his libido. Okay, well that wasn't entirely true. He did like half naked women. Just... women who weren't strangers, or covered in body make up and glitter, smelling of sweat and cigar smoke. But it was Halloween and he didn't have much else to do, so he went and spent a couple of hours there, enjoying the company of his friends much more than the women shaking their tits at him. Eventually he got tired and bid his friends farewell before leaving the club and climbing into his truck. He drove carefully back into Point Pleasant, aware that even though it was late, there would still be Trick or Treaters and party goers out and about, racing from street to street, party to party. Spence was headed for the store, aware that he needed to pick up some more toothpaste and since it was on his way home, he figured he might as well. And maybe he'd grab a bag of chocolate peanut butter cups too. And some beer. He could finish off his Halloween night eating a bag of sugar, drinking and watching some lame horror movie on cable.
Spence parked and headed inside, glancing over his shoulder when he heard a loud, female shriek in the distance. He stopped briefly, but the scream cut off abruptly and Spence sighed before continuing into the store. He had forgotten how crazy Halloween in Point Pleasant could be sometimes. Spence walked inside the store, noting how quiet it was, given the chaotic evening. He went directly for the hygiene aisle and picked up his brand of toothpaste, along with some new floss. That was when he heard a familiar voice somewhere in the store. What the fuck. It sounded like Roxy, and Spence walked to the end of the aisle, glancing back and forth before he began to walk the larger aisle to glance down the others. He might have called out to her, but there was a possibility it wasn't Roxy, and he didn't want to look like an idiot.
He caught sight of her, finally, but there was a guy in front of him, dressed like Jason Voorhees. He was approaching Roxy with a rubber machete, and needless to say, Roxy didn't look amused. "Hey man," Spence said, starting down the aisle toward them both. "Hey, come on, back off. There's plenty of kids for you to chase outside."
Roxy didn’t notice the other man appear until he spoke, and then it struck her that it was Spence. Oh God, how fucking embarrassing was this? She couldn’t devote a lot of brainpower to that though, because the Jason was still walking toward her in that threatening way, his hand white-knuckled on the machete. It wasn’t real metal, she could tell that, but he sure was hell was holding it like it was. And he wasn’t listening to Spence. Unfortunately, Spence was on the other side of the guy. Anger flaring up inside of her, Roxy planted her feet, her jaw clenching as she stood her ground. “Hey, fuck off,” she told Jason, sounding more pissed than surprised now. “That’s not fucking funn-- ow!” Before she could flinch back, Jason had lifted his rubber machete and brought it down against her half-raised arm. “Dick!” Roxy had time to yell as he lifted it again.
Spence fully expected the guy to laugh and run off at that point, but apparently he was feeling pretty dedicated to his character. He could tell Roxy wasn't amused, however, and neither was he, especially as "Jason" just swung his fake machete down on Roxy's arm. "Okay, hey, that's enough," Spence barked. He reached up to grab the guy's arm before he could hit Roxy with the machete again. Jason swung his arm around and tried to shake Spence off of him, but Spence held fast, dropping his toothpaste and floss in the aisle. What the hell was the matter with this guy? Pushing the guy away, Spence fully expected him to give it up now and ditch, but as soon as he was free, Jason swung the rubber machete at both Spence and Roxy again. Spence grabbed the arm as he had just done and realized he couldn't exactly hit the guy in the face with a hockey mask on, so he instinctively punched Jason in the stomach, causing the guy who grunt loudly and double over before falling onto his knees in the middle of the aisle. Spence had done it without a lot of thought, but he realized that may have been too much. But then, attacking a woman with a fake machete was pretty pathetic and shitty too, so he figured they were even. Spence turned to Roxy. "You okay?" he asked, sounding a little breathless now that he was buzzing on anger and adrenaline.
Roxy flinched back a bit from the struggle, just so she didn’t get hit in the face by accident. Spence was obviously stronger than this idiot in the Jason mask, and she felt a surprisingly intense surge of something warm in her stomach when Spence punched him in the gut. Roxy was tempted to kick him in the balls when he fell to his knees too, but that was probably too much. Sure, the rubber machete had been thick enough to hurt, but it wasn’t a deadly weapon ... still, Roxy felt a flutter when Spence turned and looked at her like that. “Yeah,” she said, an odd-feeling half smile crossing her face. Roxy rubbed at her arm where the guy had hit her; it would probably bruise, but she would live. Jason was still trying to get his breath where he was kneeling on the ground, but Roxy thought he would be ridiculously stupid to fuck with them again. “Whatever you’re on, you need less of it, motherfucker,” she added, looking around Spence to address the idiot on the floor.
"Come on," Spence said quickly, taking Roxy gently by the elbow to lead her out of the aisle in the opposite direction. He didn't want that guy to have any chance to touch her again. He was breathing a little heavy now, feeling unsettled in a way he couldn't describe. He didn't care about the toothpaste or any other reason why he was there. He glanced over his shoulder to see the top of Jason's head appear from the top of the aisle. The hockey mask turned in their direction and Spence inhaled sharply, feeling like this might not be over until they were gone. The weird thing was, he didn't see anyone else in the store. Where were the employees? Roxy had a basket full of stuff and he glanced down at it while making her walk a bit more quickly. "Do you need all of that tonight?" If she did, they were walking out with it. Spence would come back tomorrow and pay, but his gut was telling him to get out of the store now.
Roxy let herself be led away, throwing another glare at the dumbass in the costume. He wasn’t anything to really be scared of, but she still had that unsettled bad feeling. Spence seemed to have it too, she could feel the way he tensed when the dude stood up. Part of her wanted to stick around and square off with Jason again, maybe really kick him in the balls if he tried anything this time, but Spence was hurrying her toward the exit. She glanced down at the basket and then back up at him, her brow furrowed. “Yeah, it’s for the bar,” she explained, looking toward the registers as that uneasy feeling flared again. There was nobody else around. That was actually really weird. “Spence, I gotta pay ...”
"Just take it to the bar. I'll come back here later and take care of it," Spence told her, still leading her toward the doors. "Jason" had begun to follow them, though he didn't seem to be in any real hurry. Just like in the movies. That didn't make it any less creepy. "No one is around and I don't think Mr. Voorhees back there is going to give us a break." If they got busted for shoplifting, Spence would take the heat for it. "I haven't seen or heard another person in here, have you?" There was nothing but the music played overhead, the song of which was currently 'Monster Mash' which would have been funny if he wasn't feeling so uneasy about this entire thing.
“No,” Roxy murmured, looking back over her shoulder. The Jason mask was visible over boxes and bottles of products as the guy walked along the aisle. It was fucking creepy. He hadn’t said a word or made a noise, even when Spence punched him. The skin on the back of Roxy’s neck crawled. She didn’t protest anymore as Spence led her out of the store, and she was glad for the lack of alarms as they crossed the threshold. It was only some dish soap, but still. Roxy looked around again and Jason was still walking toward them, closing the gap. Another chill ran up her spine. “Spence ...” she said, a bit of alarm building. She gripped his arm with her free hand. This was not right, something was seriously fucked up about that guy.
Spence looked back and all he could think about was Halloween in Point Pleasant... it would figure something bizarre would happen, even if it was some creeper pretending to be a serial killer. What could he do? Incapacitate the guy? Knock him out? He'd probably have the PPPD on his doorstep in the morning. But he also didn't want this taking a turn for the worst and having Roxy get hurt. "Go," Spence told her, nodding out into the parking lot. He assumed she had driven there. "Take that back to the bar. I don't know what the hell this guy is on and I don't want you to get hurt."
Roxy could see her car from there, the parking lot wasn’t huge. While a big part of her was very ready to run -- which was stupid, it was just some junkie idiot with a rubber machete -- she didn’t want to leave Spence behind either. “Where’d you park?” she asked, aware it would probably be annoying since he was trying to get her to go, but still. “I don’t want you to get hurt either!” She also didn’t quite want to go back to the bar after this, still with the grocery store basket, but she didn’t really have any other options, did she? And the fake Jason was still coming. Roxy was sure he was some kind of psychopath now, dangerous even without a real weapon.
Spence motioned to his truck, which was only a few cars away, but he knew the guy following them would be upon them before he managed to get the doors unlocked. "I won't get hurt," Spence promised her, digging his keys out of his pocket to shove them into her hand. "Go get in my truck and start it up while I h-handle this. I'll take you to the bar, if someone can come back later for your car." They were probably overreacting, but if this had been some stupid prank by a dumb kid, they would have stopped as soon as Spence had punched them in the gut. And if this guy was high, or on something, who knew how dangerous he might get, even with a stupid rubber machete.
She wanted to ask him what he meant by handle this, tell him to be fucking careful, but there didn’t seem to be any time. Throwing another unsure glance at Jason, Roxy took Spence’s keys and hurried toward his truck. She unlocked the door and scrambled inside, feeling stupid and angry and scared all at once. Roxy closed the truck door and hit the lock button, staring out the windshield at Spence standing there with the costumed guy still advancing on him. “Come on,” she murmured anxiously to herself, her hands gripping the plastic basket tight. “Please don’t be bad, please don’t.”
Spence ‘handled it’ as simply as he could. The guy pretending to be Jason was not as strong as Spence was, but he was persistent. Spence had tried to just push him away a few times, but his patience was snapped as soon as that stupid ass rubber mallet swung at his head again. Spence was not a fan of violence. He had seen enough of it overseas to last him a lifetime. But the knowledge that this guy wasn't going to go away, and that he might have actually hurt Roxy if Spence hadn't been in the store at the same time, had him suddenly seeing red. The next thing he knew his fist was throbbing, some of the knuckles bleeding where they had split open. "Jason" was on the ground, knocked out cold, his hockey mask in Spence's other hand. He had torn it off the guy's head and cold-cocked him.
The guy looked like he was in his late teens, which made Spence feel mildly guilty about what he'd done. But... it was what it was. He tossed the hockey mask down on the ground beside the guy and turned to head for his truck. Opening the driver's side door, Spence climbed inside and exhaled softly as he shut the door. He reached for his phone that was on top of the dash. "I think he'll be fine but I'm going to call for an ambulance anyway, just in case." Spence looked over at Roxy. "You okay?"
Thankfully, it wasn’t bad. Roxy watched Spence with a growing sense of something she didn’t want to look at too closely. Like if she defined and named it, she would have to face up to what it meant. She wasn’t ready to do that, especially not with adrenaline pumping through her and her heart beating so hard. But watching him snatch the mask off of that guy and then deck him like a pro put a crazy warmth in the pit of her stomach. Spence could’ve just hopped in his truck and taken off, with or without her, but he’d taken the risk to actually defend her. Her heart was still beating hard when Spence climbed into the truck with her. He was calling an ambulance too? Sweet Jesus, help her. “Yeah, just a little ... shaken up,” she murmured as she stared at him. “Are you?”
"Yeah, I'm fine," Spence told her, and he meant it, even if his heart was beating hard and his knuckles were bleeding. Sometimes shit just happened, especially here. He put the truck in reverse and was carefully backing up, aware that there might be some other whack jobs out there taking dress up a little too seriously. He brought the phone up to his ear, listening to it ring as he maneuvered out of the parking spot and shifted into drive. Jason was still out cold on the pavement. When the dispatcher answered, Spence gave her the name of the store and the fact that there was a young man unconscious out front. He hung up without giving his name, though he had plans on going to the police in the morning if he discovered the guy had been seriously injured. But Spence was betting "Jason" would just have a really bad headache in the morning. He might even wake up before the ambulance got there. Sighing, Spence dropped the phone on the seat between them and looked at her again as he drove. She had a basket full of dish soap. "That was fucking weird," he said, huffing out a short, unamused laugh. "What the hell is wrong with people?"
It wasn’t until they were on the road that Roxy realized how hard this was going to be to explain. She’d shoplifted and fled from a guy in a hockey mask, leaving her car behind? How was she going to tell Caden that? She couldn’t leave Spence out of the story completely, because otherwise how did she get back to the bar, but Roxy could already hear him getting pissed that she’d let some guy ‘rescue’ her. Especially some ex-boyfriend. Shit. Shit shit shit. “I dunno, but that was fucked up,” she agreed with a bit of distraction, sitting back in her seat and clutching the plastic basket even harder. Her chest was starting to feel tight with worry. “Just ... wait. Don’t go back to the bar yet, just ... let’s just drive around a bit, okay? Please, Spence?” Roxy looked at him pleadingly in the dark. She just needed a few extra minutes to calm down and really think.
Spence was a little surprised by the request, and it probably showed in the raise of his brows before he nodded and returned his attention back to the road. "Yeah, of course. Everything okay?" He knew what had just happened had been weird and unsettling, but they were both safe now. He had plans to return to the store in the morning and pay for the soap Roxy had taken. If it became a bigger problem, Spence could deal with it. He didn't want her to have to worry about it, but he could understand why she might be.
It wasn’t the dish soap she was worried about. Roxy would much rather face the Point Pleasant cops than a jealous, angry Caden. Ever since Amelia had disappeared he’d been easily upset, volatile. It had only gotten exponentially worse since the fight that took his fingers. Understandable to a point, but Roxy was very well acquainted with how Caden dealt with his anger, and she knew she would end up in the crosshairs because of this. She just knew it. “Yeah, um ...” she started, then realized she didn’t have any other words. A bit of panic was starting to settle in, probably not helped by the leftover adrenaline coursing through her. “It’s just ... Caden can’t see you. He’s been really easy to piss of lately and I just can’t deal with him. So just ... give me a minute to figure out my story.” Maybe they could drive around until the ambulance had surely gone to pick up the guy, and they could go back for her car? That was risky though ... She could say someone else gave her a ride? Fuck.
"Your story?" Spence's brows drew together in confusion, and he glanced at her a couple of times as he worked out a route in his mind to keep driving, but not go terribly far from where she needed to be. "What's he got to be pissed off about? That guy attacked you. I helped you out." He couldn't imagine any boyfriend getting angry at his girlfriend for nearly getting assaulted. It wouldn't be too hard to go back for her car, since the bar wasn't far from the convenience store. "You think he'd be mad that it was me bringing you back? Or just another guy in general."
Roxy closed her eyes for a beat. What did Caden have to be pissed off about? That never mattered. He found things to be pissed off about, it came as natural to him as breathing. She could already hear the lack of concern for her, the derision that she’d been scared of a guy with a shitty costume and a fake weapon, the annoyance that she hadn’t even gotten everything she’d been sent for. It would turn into a fight no matter what, but having another man involved would just make it worse. But she couldn’t really explain all that to Spence, could she? “He doesn’t know who you are, he doesn’t need to know. So just another guy in general,” she said. “He won’t care what you did for me, just that I let some guy rescue me, so I must want to fuck him.”
Spence's brows drew together in confusion as he stared out the windshield. He slowed at a four way stop, watching as a group of kids ran across the street, shrieking and howling. He watched them disappear in between two houses on the other side of the street before looking over at Roxy. "It's not my place to s-say anything, but that... doesn't sound very healthy." It made Caden sound like a dick, actually. What boyfriend would get pissed off that another guy helped his girlfriend? If Molly had been in the same situation, Spence would have felt relief and gratitude to anyone who helped her out. "Does he get jealous easily?"
Ugh, God. Usually when this sort of line of conversation went this way with someone, and the unsolicited advice and judgement came out, Roxy got annoyed and snappy. Tonight, with what had just happened, and with it being Spence on the other side of it, she just felt more trapped and upset. Roxy turned her face toward the side window and rubbed at her eyes and the bridge of her nose with one hand. ‘Easily’ was not even the accurate word for how Caden got jealous. “Can we not talk about it?” she asked, her voice cracking a bit. Roxy cleared her throat. “He’s just ... a lot to deal with sometimes, when we fight. And everything’s so stressful right now, I don’t wanna make it worse.”
Spence wasn't trying to give her advice. It was just more concern that maybe Caden was the possessive type. But he barely knew the guy, and all he had to base it on was the little bit of information he was getting from Roxy. It wasn't exactly flattering. Frowning, Spence eased his foot off the brake and started driving again, though he wasn't entirely where to. "We don't have to talk about anything you don't want to," Spence said quietly. That didn't mean he wasn't thinking maybe she was dating a jerk. But that could also be his own perception, and maybe the past sneaking in there a little. Spence fell silent, not wanting to push or make her uncomfortable. So he kept his eyes on the road, ready to go wherever she asked him to.
The shitty truth was that Roxy was dating a jerk. And that was an understatement. As much as she loved him, she had no illusions that Caden was a nice person. He had goodness in him, deep down, she knew that, but he wasn’t sweet or even easy to get along with. It was something she’d gotten used to -- she wasn’t always a peach to deal with either -- and Roxy had more or less convinced herself that it didn’t matter. There hadn’t been anybody else she had any interest in. Now though ... were things getting worse, or was her tolerance changing? She didn’t know, and now she felt like crying. Just bawling like a weak-ass bitch and blubbering at Spence about her problems, and it was so stupid. She was silent for a while, struggling to make her panicky brain settle down while she gnawed on her bottom lip and felt guilty about wasting Spence’s gas. “Do you think the ambulance has been by to get him yet?” she asked eventually, looking over at him again.
Spence lifted his brows at the question and glanced at her. "Uh, we can go check if you want," he said, already flipping on his turn signal to head left at the next street. "Roxy, you can always tell him someone else drove you to the bar. A woman, if that makes him feel better." Which was a fucking ridiculous thing to say, but apparently that was the kind of guy she was dating. He felt prickles of irritation but promptly ignored them. Spence had no business or right getting upset at the state of Roxy's relationship.
She felt so stupid, because of course that was a simple solution, but Roxy’s brain was so frazzled and flailing around that it hadn’t exactly occurred to her that way. This was why she didn’t tempt fate and hang out with men. She couldn’t even hang out with her brothers in law on her own without hearing shit about it. It was probably fucked up that she was more scared about Caden’s potential reaction to this than some psycho coming after her. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and rubbed at her eyes again. “You’re right,” she murmured. “Okay, just ... drop me off close to the bar.”
Close to the bar. Not at the bar, because then her boyfriend might see and... Jesus Christ. Spence sighed and headed for the bar, torn between wanting to voice his opinion and keeping quiet. He understood things could be perceived badly, given their history, and he didn't want Roxy angry at him for meddling in her relationship. As he drove, Spence glanced at Roxy again and had to resist the urge to reach over to take her hand. "Do you want to press charges against that guy for attacking you? I can drive back and try to find out who he was." That probably meant the guy could call the cops on Spence for knocking him out, but he wasn't too worried about it.
Roxy didn’t look at him as he drove, just kept her face pointed toward the passenger side window. She wasn’t really seeing anything outside, it was just something to stare at. The sigh he gave spoke volumes to her: she was a pain in the ass, she was weak. Why had he even bothered to help her out? Afraid of some high idiot with a fake knife and now afraid of her own boyfriend? Spence’s question interrupted Roxy’s mean inner monologue and she glanced over at him only briefly. “Oh ... uh, no, don’t worry about it. He didn’t even hurt me, so ...” Roxy shrugged. She’d been hurt a lot worse and not pressed charges. Not even gone to the hospital when she probably should have, a couple of times.
Spence nodded and then gave in to the impulse and reached over to rub her shoulder a little. He didn't linger, because he didn't want it to come across as creepy, but he hoped it was comforting, even in a small way. This night had just taken such a bizarre turn and Spence wasn't entirely sure how to wrap his brain around it. He knew it wasn't his place to judge her relationship. From what he understood, Roxy and Caden had been together a long time and maybe Spence was just predisposed to hate the guy. "I'm sorry if I upset you," Spence murmured after another moment. "It wasn't my intention."
The gentle touch made her tense for a split second, but Roxy gave a wan smile to try and cover it. She was just edgy, that was all, and maybe if she kept telling herself that, she would believe it. The apology was just too much though. Had Caden ever apologized just for upsetting her? It wasn’t even a valid apology, because it wasn’t Spence’s fault, but he was offering it anyway and it just dissolved the lump in her throat. Roxy covered her face with both hands, her shoulders shaking a bit as she tried to hold her breath and stay silent through the first couple of sobs. She didn’t want to be crying, it was the most ridiculous thing, but Jesus, why did everything feel so fucked up? Amelia disappearing, Caden’s fingers, Mila’s miscarriage and subsequent Weird Shit, Spence’s presence back in her life, some lunatic trying to Jason her to death ... it was too much. “I’m sorry,” she managed to push out as soon as she could. It was not at all steady. Roxy tried to rein it in, wiping at her face and sniffling. “S’not you.” It wasn’t just him, anyway, and he couldn’t even know about the parts that were. About all the doubt she was having. Nobody could know about that.
As soon as she started crying Spence was convinced he had done or said something wrong. He felt like an idiot for trying to smooth things over, and Spence nearly pulled over. There would have been no point to it, though, given the bar was only a couple blocks ahead. He got close, but not close enough for anyone to notice them if they looked outside, and parked the truck. "Don't apologize," Spence said, brows drawn together in confusion as he studied her in the dim light. "What's wrong?" She might not want to tell him, and that was okay, but Spence wanted Roxy to know she could if she wanted to. If it wasn't him, Spence would have been surprised, given she seemed okay up until they started talking about her boyfriend.
Roxy hated crying in front of people. Loathed it. She felt weak and ridiculous, like a complete drama queen, just being emotional over nothing. Her father had always hated it when she cried, Caden hated it when she cried, and Roxy could rarely forgive herself for it. She shook her head helplessly, because what could she say? Everything was wrong. She couldn’t dump her whole life on him. But she didn’t want to leave him hanging and not sure what to do with her, either. “It’s just ... everything with Am-Amelia and Mila lost the b-baby right before that and-- and Caden got into a f-fight and got two of his fucking fingers cut off, and I know he started it, but he w-won’t tell me what h-h-happened, but he’s always starting shit and everything’s b-been awful and he’ll k-kick my ass if he sees you and I just can’t anymore, Spence, I just really c-can’t.” It all came out at once and unsteady, and Roxy was sure it didn’t make any sense, but she did feel a tiny bit more unburdened. She cried harder for a second before she got it under control again, then waved a hand like she could wipe all that way. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
That... was a lot to digest. He wasn't even sure where to begin. Amelia, and Mila - had he known she was pregnant? - and Caden with his fingers. Really, it was the 'he'll kick my ass' that really stood out, as awful as everything else was. Did she mean that literally? He had a gut feeling that she did, and it made him feel ill, so much so that he had to take a deep breath to keep from saying something he would regret later. "Okay," Spence murmured, reaching out to take her hand when she waved it around. "Okay, hey, it's okay. He won't see me, I promise. I'm sorry all of this is happening, Roxy. You can cry if you need to. I kind of want to cry for you." That probably made him sound like a pussy or whatever, but he didn't care. He squeezed her hand gently. "What can I do? Is there anything?"
She knew she shouldn’t, but Roxy let Spence take her hand. She squeezed his fingers back, much tighter than he did, and shook her head, though she wasn’t sure what she was negating. She couldn’t cry, not in the way she did need to, it would take too long. And Spence would probably think she really was crazy. Roxy couldn’t lose her shit, it would take too long. Her grip on herself was too tight to let go completely. She didn’t think Spence sounded like a pussy at all; what he said sounded so nice it made her chest hurt all over again. “No, I just ... I’m just all shaken up, is all,” Roxy said, but that sounded lame even to her. She swiped at her wet face and wiped it on her jeans as she tried to clear the emotion out of her throat. “It’s just a lot at once, I dunno. Sorry.”
"It sounds like a lot," he agreed, though he had a feeling it was much deeper and more complicated than that. "I'm sorry about Amelia," Spence murmured. "And Mila. I had no idea..." Was he supposed to say he was sorry Caden got into a fight and got his fingers... what, cut off? Jesus. Who did that kind of stuff? It was hard to sympathize there, especially with everything else Roxy said. He hesitated for a moment, still holding onto her hand, though he was ready to let go if she pulled back from it. "You said Caden would kick your ass if he saw you with me. Does he... does he h-hurt you?" Yes, Spence was aware that it was probably inappropriate of him to ask, and he wouldn't blame her if she got angry with him, but he didn't think he could drive home later and relax at all if he didn't ask. Then again, that might not happen anyway, depending on her answer.
Oh God. Roxy didn’t pull away from Spence, but she covered her face with her free hand for a moment. Her stupid fucking mouth had gotten away from her. She could try to lie, she could tell Spence it was none of his goddamn business, or ... she could tell him the truth. The way she and Caden fought was an open secret in the family and the regulars at the bar, where most of her social interaction came from. She’d had bruises she couldn’t hide. Nobody really talked about it. That was just how it was in the Lucas family. She wiped some fresh tears and heaved a sigh. “It’s not like I don’t fight back,” she whispered, her gaze lowered. “We hurt each other.” Granted, Caden tended to hurt her more, but she didn’t need to say that. She already felt ashamed enough. “He’s just ... that’s how he was raised. They have a fucked up family.”
"Come on, that's b-bullshit," Spence said, sounding exasperated before he closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I just... that's not an excuse." He had heard plenty about the Lucas family. Anyone who had lived in Point Pleasant for more than a few months knew all about them. Yes, they had a reputation, but he still didn't think Caden's upbringing was a justification for being an asshole to his girlfriend. "Even if that's how he was raised, why would you want to d-deal with that? You deserve better." He was speaking out of turn now, but Spence didn't care. What kind of person would he be to just ignore it or brush it off? Is that what her family did? Caden's? It wasn't right. Surely Roxy knew that.
She of course knew that it wasn’t an excuse, and that she shouldn’t deal with it all, but Roxy had her own home training to contend with as well. She didn’t think she deserved better, she never had, not really. She’d gotten lucky, having some nice boyfriends over the years, but the one she’d settled on gave her what her subconscious expected to get. It was something she only vaguely understood herself, so she couldn’t exactly march her own fuckedupness out to Spence as a defense at the moment. Roxy knew that ‘I love him’ should’ve been her next sentence, but she couldn’t force that out either. Not when she was so sure that Caden would put her in the hospital for even being in this truck and having this conversation. She was too afraid of him to leave, that was the real answer. Where would she even go? Point Pleasant was tiny, he would be impossible to avoid, and Roxy was sure Caden would make her life hell. “Listen, it’s complicated,” she started, painfully aware of how stupid that sounded. She pulled her hand out of Spence’s. “And I can’t-- ... I should go.”
"Is it?" he asked. Maybe it was complicated, but it was still wrong. Surely she knew that. But maybe she really loved this guy, and love was blind, wasn't it? Spence reluctantly released her hand, letting his own fall to the console between them. There was an uncomfortable weight in his chest, but he knew there was nothing he could do about this other than to walk into that bar and kick Caden Lucas's ass, but he knew that would only make this worse for Roxy and he didn't want that. It would be pretty fucking satisfying, though. "I'm sorry," Spence told her quietly. "I just... care about you. I don't want to see you hurt in any c-capacity. Maybe it's none of my business, but... I'm just sorry, Roxy."
He cared about her. Why did that make her chest ache? Roxy closed her eyes briefly and ran a hand over her face again. Part of her wanted to scream at him suddenly, ask him why he’d broken up with her if he cared so much, blame him for the direction her life had taken after that, but she knew none of that was fair or right. She was just upset and angry and she couldn’t take it out on Spence. “Don’t be sorry, stop,” she told him, her voice hoarse and oh so tired. “I care about you too, okay? Like ... more than I should. Which is why I’m telling you that you need to stay out of this. He doesn’t hurt just me.” If he thought they were having an affair or something? Caden would probably kill both of them. It was best that only Roxy be in the line of fire. “Thank you, for everything you did back there,” she added as she re-gathered her stuff together and reached for the door handle. “I’m sorry it ... I’m just sorry too.” For so much more than she could say.
This was a direction Spence hadn't really expected the night to take, and it made him feel a bit hollow and frustrated. Not at Roxy, but at her situation. He didn't want to let her go, to let her walk back into that bar and into a life she clearly wasn't happy in. But what could he do? Keep her in his truck? Drive away? Drive to where, exactly? He didn't want to be the reason she found herself in danger, but he also didn't want to do nothing and be the reason she kept getting hurt. Spence tried to think of just the right thing to say to maybe make her stay, but he didn't want to force her into anything. Maybe he could talk to someone she was close to. Mila, or another friend. Maybe it was none of his business, or... maybe it was. He didn't really know. "Will you call me?" Spence asked, aware that it was probably the wrong thing to say, but it came out before she could get out of the truck. "Just... let me know you're okay. Or just to t-talk, I don't know."
Roxy paused and looked back at him in the faint light. He looked so fretful. Genuinely worried about her, like she really mattered to him. It was such a strange, warm feeling. Roxy reached out and stroked her hand over his cheek, sliding her short fingernails through the beard at his jaw. An inappropriate touch, sure, but she was far beyond caring tonight. He was just so sweet, and the memory of loving him so much was so close to her surface lately. “I will,” she told him, though she didn’t know if she actually would or not. At least not for a while. Talking about it all wouldn’t do either of them any good, Roxy was kind of stuck between rocks and hard places in every direction. “Be careful getting home, okay?” she added softly. Roxy took her hand back, opened the truck door, and slipped out of it. She shut it as quietly as she could behind her, then started hurrying for the bar.
His expression felt pained for a moment, as soon as she touched him, but he tried not to let it show. It felt like this should have been an easy fix for her, to leave some guy who treated her badly, but Spence knew it was never as easy as it might seem. And even though he knew her boyfriend was a piece of shit, Spence felt a bit of guilt for even being back in town and putting her in a position that might make things worse. He had no idea if she would actually call him or not. She could have been saying she would just to placate him, and he wouldn't have blamed her for it. But Spence didn't think he could just let it go if she didn't reach out. He watched her go, waiting until she disappeared from view into the bar just to make sure she got there without some psychopath emerging and trying to hurt her again. Unfortunately, he now knew there was someone inside who could hurt her too. It didn't help him feel any better. Sighing, Spence drove away from the curb toward his apartment, his mind overwhelmed with thoughts of what to do next.