Who: Spence and Roxy When: Late, Saturday, June 2nd Where: Phone and out Status: Complete
It was getting late when Spence began to walk home from a night out with a few friends. The weather was getting nicer, but it was still cool in the evenings so he had his hands shoved into his jacket pockets and a light beanie tugged down over his shaggy hair and ears. He knew he could have driven but he’d also known that he would be drinking and he didn’t want to risk it.
Of course, he came to regret that decision as soon as the screaming began. It scared the shit out of him, especially on such a dark, quiet residential street. It was a woman and there was something eerily familiar about it. With his heart in his throat, Spence pulled his hands from his jacket to run towards the sound… except he didn’t know where it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from all around him. Spence half expected some lights to turn on, or doors to open, but the street remained quiet, undisturbed.
“Hello?” He called, desperately trying to pinpoint where the woman was. The screaming only seemed to intensify and Spence was horrified to realize, belatedly, that it sounded like Roxy. The realization seemed to paralyze him and just as he began to yell for her, the screaming stopped. It seemed to continue echoing in his ears but then he was left alone on the quiet street, breathing heavily and wondering what the hell had just happened.
Swallowing hard, Spence reached into his pocket with shaking hands and pulled out his phone. Rather than text - that would be fucking stupid - Spence found Roxy’s contact and dialed, bringing the phone up to his ear. He knew it was late and he knew it was possible Caden would be around if and when she answered, but he didn’t care. If she didn’t answer, he was going to call the police because that had been her screaming, he was sure of it.
Roxy was happy not to be working that night. They had enough of a staff now at the Porch that she occasionally got a weekend night off to herself, and she was relishing it tonight. Roxy had decided that while Caden was at the bar, she would do a bit of self care. She’d given herself a mani pedi while she sipped on a glass of wine, done a facemask, listened to the music she liked as loud as she wanted to, then ended up soaking in the too-small bath tub, surrounded by candles and bubbles, on her third or fourth glass of red wine. Eventually she planned to get out, lotion herself up all over, and probably masturbate herself to sleep. Perfect evening to herself.
When her phone started to ring where it was sitting on the closed toilet lid, Roxy jumped and let out a little squeak, sitting up straight a bit too fast. She reached for it, her heart already pounding, because who called this late unless it was a problem? Caden never called her from work, preferring to text almost always, and it definitely wasn’t his name on the caller ID. Roxy swiped to accept the call and put the phone to her ear, a worried frown on her face. “Spence?” she asked, her mind blanking out on anything else to say.
She answered. And while she sounded tentative, she didn't sound out of breath or scared, or like she was in pain. It did little to ease the tension in his body, though. For all he knew she was bleeding out somewhere, in shock. But would she be able to answer her phone? Millions of thoughts raced through his head and he was having difficulty sorting them all out. "Where are you?" Spence asked breathlessly, walking faster now though he wasn't entirely sure where he was headed. "Are you okay?"
The urgency in his tone made Roxy’s heart pick up speed and she sat up straighter in the tub, more concern flooding in. Was he in trouble? Had something bad happened to him? They hadn’t spoken for months, but that thought scared her more than she would have thought. But he was asking if she was okay, so there was plenty of confusion mixed in the sudden rush of emotions too. “I’m at home, in the bathtub,” Roxy answered, the words questioning. “I’m fine, yeah I’m okay -- are you okay? You sound freaked out, what’s going on?” She reached to pull the plug on the drain, then started to get up, clutching her phone tighter. So much for a relaxing bath.
At home in the bathtub. The words prompted Spence to finally exhale with relief although he was still concerned... mostly for himself now, if he was hearing things. Or maybe the scream had been real... it just hadn't been Roxy. "Yeah, I'm... f-fine." He managed, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face. "I just started hearing s-screams and it sounded like you." Saying the words out loud made him realize how crazy he sounded. Or maybe like he was making up shit just to have a reason to call her. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I don't know what happened. Maybe I had too much to drink. As long as you’re o-okay, that's all that matters."
Maybe if they lived in some normal town, Roxy might have thought he was making shit up to call her. Or worried he was on some drugs or something. But this was Point Pleasant, and the chances were high that Spence had actually heard someone screaming. The fact that he thought it was her gave her an odd feeling in her chest, but Roxy couldn’t focus on that just yet. “I’m okay,” she repeated, not quite sure how drunk he was at the moment. “But now I’m worried about you. Where are you, are you close to home yet? Do you still hear screaming?” Roxy found that she cared less about the source of the screams and more about whether Spence was in danger. Roxy reached for a towel with one hand to start drying off.
"It stopped right before I called you," Spence said. He felt silly now, that maybe he had imagined the whole thing. Roxy probably thought he was a lunatic. A desperate lunatic. "I'm... um..." He looked up and around, trying to remember what street he had turned on towards home. "Mulberry... I was just w-walking home. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out." Exhaling, Spence glanced behind him, just to make sure he wasn't being followed by some... ghastly apparition or something. "You're sure you're okay?"
She paused to think for a second -- Mulberry was closer to where she was than where Spence lived. Roxy didn’t like the idea of him continuing to walk home alone when he’d heard something like that. She absolutely believed him too, he sounded genuinely shaken up, and if he’d been worried enough to call her, it was something to take seriously. “Yeah, I’m sure I’m okay, Spence,” she told him with a touch of gentleness. “Hey, how about I come pick you up? I can give you a ride the rest of the way home ... or we could grab a coffee or something? Catch up?” Even as the words came out of her mouth, Roxy knew it was probably a bad idea, but she found that she wanted to see him. It had been a long time.
Spence nearly pointed out that he was almost home and then realized she probably didn't know he'd bought his own place. She probably thought he was still at Castle View. He could have said so. He could have said he was only a few streets away. But the opportunity to see her was too tempting to pass up. "Y-yeah," Spence said, clearing his throat before speaking again. "If you're okay with it. I know it's late." And he didn't want her to get into trouble with Caden, though he imagined if the guy was home, Roxy wouldn't be offering to come see him at all.
“Ugh, working at a bar for so long has fucked up my internal clock for life, it’s okay, I want to,” she said, smiling more than she probably ought to. Roxy had fully expected him to say no, and the fact that he wanted to see her too had her stupid heart fluttering. She’d probably had too much wine to be doing this, but oh well. They were supposed to be friends now, right? Spence was freaked out, and friends helped other friends feel better. It was that simple. “Give me just like, two minutes to throw some clothes on and I’ll be on my way, okay? Call me back if you hear anything else.”
"Sure, yeah." Spence didn't want to stay on Mulberry. Not if something was lurking. But he also didn't want to keep walking and risk Roxy not being able to find him. Though... they had cell phones. "I'll b-be here." He hung up, trying to stay focused and alert rather than anxious about seeing Roxy again. He had been pretty adept at making sure to steer clear of the places she would likely be. It was childish of him, sure, but it was for the best that they didn't see each other. Except now he seemed to have thrown that all away as soon as he heard her voice. Sighing, Spence shoved his hands into his pockets and waited, unable to ease the tension in his back as he waited for another piercing scream to echo in his ears.
If Roxy hadn’t needed her hands so much, she would’ve kept him on the phone, but drying off wasn’t working well single-handedly, so getting dressed would’ve been even worse. She moved much quicker once they hung up, tugging on some yoga pants and a tank top, then throwing a hoodie on over it before she hit the door, her hair still up in a messy bun. She might have primped some more to see Spence, but she was worried about him hearing things, so she tried to get to him as quick as she could. Roxy’s hands were steady enough on the wheel as she left Seaview and headed for Mulberry. It didn’t take her long to get there, and she slowed down to scan both sides of the street as she cruised down it, finally spotting Spence. Her heart and stomach twisted a bit as she slowed to a stop next to where he was standing and hit the button to unlock the doors.
Mercifully he didn't hear anymore screaming, which only made him doubt what he'd heard even more. For a moment he considered calling Roxy to tell her to stay home but before he could really make up his mind, her car was pulling up to the curb. Hesitating for only a moment, he stepped forward and climbed inside. "Hi." Spence managed a small, sheepish smile, still feeling suitably embarrassed for calling her. "This is really... kind of crazy. I'm sorry." He knew he kept apologizing but he didn't really know what else to say. Maybe he had had too much to drink. Maybe coffee would right his mind and they could both laugh about this.
The first thing Roxy noticed was that he’d grown the beard back. It gave her a little pang in the chest, since he’d shaved it for her months ago. But it was probably a good thing, a good sign that he was moving on. Which was a thing he absolutely should be doing, because Roxy was a lost cause. That was how she felt, anyway. Still, she managed a smile to answer his, and shook her head. “Don’t be sorry,” she told him. “Shit gets crazy in this town. I’d rather come scoop you up than see your face on a missing poster, you know?” Roxy put the car back into gear and pulled away from the curb. “Joyland’s closed this time of night, but there’s a 24-hour Dunkin-whatever out by Cherries if you don’t mind a bit of a drive?” It would’ve been much faster to take him home and make coffee there, but Roxy thought that might be unbearably weird for both of them.
Spence cleared his throat a bit and nodded. Shit did get crazy in this town. Sometimes he wondered why he moved back here at all. But he was settled now and he was doing okay. "Yeah, that sounds fine." He wanted to tell her that she didn't have to take him out for coffee, but he did want to catch up and hear how she was doing. Caden was probably working but people liked to talk in this town and if anyone saw her car at his place, it might get around. He finally looked over at her, a small smile still playing at his lips. "I ruined your bath, didn't I?"
It seemed kind of shady to go out for drive-thru coffee just to sit in the car and chat for a bit, outside of the range of most people they knew at this hour, but Roxy did want to catch up with Spence. If she had to be shady to get that done, then so be it, she guessed. That was her lot in life. She set out for Witcham Road and glanced over at Spence at his question. Roxy gave a soft little laugh. “I was pretty well done anyway, I’d been in there over an hour already,” she told him. The lowkey hope crossed her mind that Spence was trying to picture her in a bath, and Roxy sighed at herself internally. Whatever fucked up attachment she had to him would never go away, would it? “So no, you didn’t ruin it. Where were you hanging out before you headed home? See anybody fun?”
Spence had been way too focused on making sure Roxy was okay to really think about her being in the bath, but she did look pretty, makeupless and all that. He was honestly trying not to notice too much, so he kept his gaze on the road ahead of them. "Went to a bar with a couple of friends," he said. "Tyler and Jack, from high school? Tyler just moved back home from somewhere in G-Georgia. Just kind of catching up. They were going to stay a while longer but I've got to w-work in the morning so I was walking home. I didn't have that much to drink," he told Roxy, just in case she thought he was drunk, which could have triggered him hearing things.
Roxy was selfishly and stupidly glad to hear that Spence had been with a couple of guys instead of on a date. It wasn’t fair at all, and for all she knew he had a steady girlfriend now, so she just needed to put it out of her mind. “Oh yeah I remember them,” Roxy said with a little smile. “Jack changed a tire for me in the snow once, I was stuck by the side of the road. Nice guy.” She glanced over at Spence, suddenly second-guessing this whole thing, or worrying that he was, or both. “Sure you wanna ...? I can just take you home if you want, if you’ve got to go to bed. I keep crazy hours, I know, sorry.”
Spence smiled, because that sounded like Jack. He was glad a few of his friends were back in town. It kept his mind occupied, having things to do and people to do them with. He had gone out on a couple of dates, women his mother had set him up with, but there was no one steady in his life. He was okay with that, all things considered. "I wanna," Spence assured her, glancing her way with a small grin. "We haven't talked in a while and I was the one who called you acting like a lunatic. I think I owe you that coffee."
She let out a soft huff, trying to ignore the way his smile made her heart beat a little harder in her chest. “I’ve lived here long enough to know you weren’t acting like a lunatic,” Roxy murmured. “But I’m glad it wasn’t ... something worse. It really sounded that much like me? The screaming?” She squinted through the windshield before glancing over at Spence briefly again. She wasn’t skeptical, she believed him, it was just weird. He probably should’ve called the cops, but Roxy knew there probably wasn’t much they could’ve done but taken notes about it. That was just Point Pleasant.
"Yeah, it did." Spence shifted uncomfortably. "I've never heard you scream like that before, but I knew it was you. It sounded like it was outside, but I couldn't figure out where. No one on the street heard it... or if they did, no one came outside to check. I guess people in this town know better by now." Running a hand through his shaggy hair, Spence was hopeful that he would forget the sound of it. It seemed to still echo in his ears when he thought about it too much. "You know how Point Pleasant is, Roxy. I heard about the teacher who got mauled to death last year, and... shit, I can only i-imagine how our stats compare to other towns when it comes to people going missing. If I hadn't had your number in my phone, I don't know what I would've done."
It sounded awful, and Roxy knew that if it had been her hearing him screaming for help, she would have freaked out far worse than Spence had. Or at least worse than he’d sounded on the phone. She would have freaked out if it had been anybody she cared about, of course, but something about not seeing Spence for months and then hearing him in dire trouble hurt to think about. Before she could overthink it, Roxy reached over to grasp his hand. “I’m glad you called me,” she murmured. “I’m sorry it was ... under that circumstance, but still. I’m glad.” She was also glad that it had been on a night Caden was closing the bar. She would have picked up, regardless, but at least now she didn’t have to answer a million aggressive questions about it.
His fingers curled around hers before he could really think about it. It felt nice to touch someone again. It felt nice to touch Roxy again. They hadn't seen each other in a while, though he could still see the ring on her finger. An engagement ring, though he didn't see a wedding band, which gave him an odd sense of relief. "I'm g-glad I called too." As soon as he had heard her voice on the phone, something had relaxed in him. She hadn't been hurt... at least not to the point where he'd heard her screaming outside. And she looked good now, healthy if a bit tired. But who wasn't? "How are you?" It felt like such a heavy loaded question though he doubted she would give him an honest answer.
She’d always liked his hands, and feeling the strength in his fingers around hers was weirdly comforting. Caden would only hold her hand occasionally, like he was doing her a favor, and she had no desire to pull away from Spence at the moment. Roxy didn’t flippantly answer his question right away, taking a slow deep breath and sighing it out. “I’m doing okay,” she said slowly. That was the most optimistic adjective she could find, which probably ought to tell her something. “Still just working at the bar. Starting to help Mila get ready for her wedding.” Roxy realized Spence probably didn’t know what she was talking about, so she added, “She’s marrying Aaron Lucas. They’ve got a baby on the way now.”
"Okay" was definitely akin to "Fine" in his head and both of those words generally meant "Meh" or "Not great", but he was glad she didn't try to force a lie. He wasn't stupid enough to think she was actually happy where she was. Spence's brows raised in surprise. "Wow, really? That's great. Good for them. She's doing better then?" He knew Mila had disappeared and come back with some issues, but Spence didn't know her family all that well and he and Roxy hadn't been talking, so it was hard to decipher what had really happened there. "When are they getting married?" Probably soon if they were having a baby. Spence knew some people liked to rush the legal part when there was a kid involved.
It belatedly occurred to Roxy that Spence had asked how she was and she deflected to talking about Mila instead. Ugh. Even though she wasn’t very okay and part of her really wanted to share that with him, as a trusted friend ... she didn’t, at the same time. If she talked about Caden and their problems, she felt like she was rubbing it in, that she’d chosen long-term unhappiness over Spence. That was a shitty message for someone she cared about, wasn’t it? At the same time Roxy didn’t want to lie and say things were even good, much less joy and rainbows. So talking about other people was safer. “Yeah, she’s doing a lot better. I’m not sure exactly when yet, they haven’t set a date ... but probably in the next couple of months. Her family doesn’t know about the baby yet, and I know Mila wants to have a wedding date to wave around once they break the news,” she said, giving a soft huff through her nose. “So how are you? Really?” Roxy glanced over at him again.
Aware that Roxy had deflected his question, Spence raised a brow in her direction when she asked how he was doing. "I'll tell you, if you tell me." That seemed fair to him. He cared more about how she was doing than how Mila was. Obviously he wanted the people in her life to be well and happy but Spence wanted Roxy to be well and happy too. Deep down he knew that she wasn't, but he wasn't entirely sure how to help her out of it. He'd tried once and she opted to stay with Caden after being shown a ring. The ring that was still on her finger. But this could just be a casual coffee between friends. Even if they weren't going to be together, he did care about her.
Roxy gave a little groan, but she was smiling through it. “That’s fair,” she murmured, unwittingly agreeing with his assessment. She almost asked him if he really wanted to hear it, but she knew he would say yes no matter what. And she did want to know how he really was. Roxy sighed softly. “I’m not great,” she said, squeezing his hand a tiny bit. “Me and Caden haven’t been fighting much, but ... we haven’t really been anything, much. No wedding plans. It’s kind of torture to know I have to help my best friend get ready to have everything I’ve ever wanted? But I’m happy for her at the same time? So that’s been not that fun. I can’t even go to church anymore, you know they’re not rebuilding St. Dismas?” She paused, then added, “This isn’t like ... hard to listen to, is it?”
Nothing she said was overly surprising. She never seemed to be happy when they spoke to one another. "I heard about St. Dismas. I wouldn't be surprised if someone renovates another building for a church, though. There are too many Catholics in this town to not have somewhere to gather and no one wants to drive to the next town every Sunday." He offered a small, hopefully optimistic smile. "And no, this isn't hard to listen to. It's j-just..." Spence licked his lips, aware that he was treading into dangerous territory where it was fully none of his business, but, fuck it, it wasn't like he had anything to lose. "Did you want Caden's ring on your finger? Or just a ring." He knew how that sounded and he didn't want to upset her, but she had been ready to leave the man until he proposed. It made him wonder if she just wanted the wedding and the marriage, regardless of who she would be marrying.
Roxy used the excuse of making a turn to take her hand back, her lips tightening up just a bit as she glanced both ways. I wanted your ring! she yelled at him in her head. Roxy knew that wasn’t fair though, so she kept it inside. They’d broken up for legitimate reasons, even if it had broken her heart at the time. Instead she gave another sigh and murmured, “You sound just like Mila.” That was probably the case because they both cared about her and were concerned with what they saw. Roxy couldn’t really blame them, she supposed. It just sucked to get called out all the time. “That’s a hard question, Spence. I don’t ... if he had given it to me in good faith, like he actually wanted to get married, then ... but he doesn’t, not really, so this was just to shut me up, I think.” She twisted the engagement ring around with her thumb. “I didn’t just want a ring, I wanted a partner, to start a family.”
His fingers curled into his palm when she took her hand back and he couldn't blame her for it. He would have been defensive too if the tables had been turned. "So why are you still wearing it?" Spence asked, trying to keep the frustration from seeping into his tone. Maybe if he hadn't had a few beers tonight he would have just nodded and given her some sympathy. But how much sympathy did she need when she understood her own situation was crap? Spence ran his hand through his hair, wishing he could tamp down on his feelings, just for tonight. He didn't want to upset her but he was upset for her... and for himself. "You want something he doesn't and you know it. Why're you doing this to yourself?"
He was trying, but Roxy could hear the emotion in his voice, and it made her chest feel all sorts of weird. She was old enough to know that no knight in shining armor was coming to save her from herself, but if anybody was close, it was Spence Wheeler. She kept her eyes forward and swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Because I’ve sunk years into him,” she said, not liking the touch of desperation in her own voice. “And sometimes it’s great. We laugh and we drink and fuck and have a good time. And when it’s not great ... I know how bad it can get. You know that phrase, ‘the devil you know versus the devil you don’t’? Well I know the devil inside Caden Lucas, and I can endure it. And if I leave him it will just confirm all the bad things he thinks about himself in his own brain and then he’ll be right and he’ll just get worse, and inflict it all on some other woman who might not be as strong as me. His family, his father destroyed him. You’re not supposed to bail on the person you love when they’re struggling, and I ... I do love him.” That part came out so much weaker and unsure than she wanted it to be. “Why can’t any of you see that it’s not that simple?”
"He's not a home project that needs work," Spence pointed out. "He's a grown man and you're willing to be miserable for the rest of your life because you don't want him to feel bad about himself if you leave. What does he do for you, Roxy? You're not his mother." He exhaled, rubbing his palms against his thighs and wishing he hadn't said a word. But the floodgates had opened and it was hard not to spill the last few months of his own misery out into the car. She didn't deserve that. "I'm sorry," he said, closing his eyes and scrubbing his hand over his face. "I'm out of line. You love him and that's your... it's your life. I just sometimes think about... I wanted to give you things... things that I wanted too. And then he flashes a ring and you're gone and..." Spence breathed in deep and exhaled before risking a glance in her direction. "It was just a blow, realizing you'd rather be with him... and that's on me. It's my own shit t-to work through. I was the one who walked away in the first place and it's arrogant of me to think I could just..." He gestured dismissively. "I'm sorry, Roxy. You love him and I'll respect that."
He was saying things that were difficult to hear, but they still rang true to her deep down inside. Roxy knew she couldn’t save Caden single-handedly, he had to be willing to work on himself and work with her ... but he wasn’t. What does he do for you, Roxy? She didn’t know if she had an answer for that, besides the fact that he fucked her how she liked. Even that didn’t happen as often as it used to, did it? Roxy’s throat ached with a lump that she kept failing at swallowing down, and as she listened to Spence she lifted her hand to swipe at her damp lashes. It made her chest hurt to hear him mention what he’d wanted to give her, but it still resonated somewhere. “It’s not as simple as where I’d rather be,” she said, her voice a little hoarse. “I wanted to be married to you for years by now and have your kids, Spence. And now I’m just so scared to leave. I love him and he loves me as much as he can -- how do I know I won’t leave him and he’ll make my life hell for a while and then what if you leave me again too and I’m all alone?” Her face twisted and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from really crying, aware she was driving and she had to calm down.
"No one can predict the future, Roxy. But you're not going to h-have one if you're afraid to take the step..." Spence realized he probably sounded like a therapist, and that wasn't what he wanted to do. He'd tried that before and she still went back. There were only so many times he could set himself up for rejection, so many times he could deal with Roxy choosing that asshole over him. He didn't understand it, but he supposed it wasn't his place to. "If you love him, then you love him. I can't t-tell you what to do, or how to feel. You already know I want to be with you, but I don't... if you love him, I don't want you to leave him just because you want to be married and have kids. You should be with whoever you want to grow old with." He reached over to touch her arm gently. "I'm sorry I upset you. I didn't... call tonight to do this. I was just worried about you."
Roxy didn’t like doing this over and over either. It made her feel like she was leading Spence on, but she did still have intense feelings for him, and every time he was around they got all stirred up again. They came out of the gray fog of her general unhappiness and reminded her of all she could have. It always seemed to crash into a wall of self-doubt -- could she be a good partner to an actual good man? would Spence still love her once they got intimately acquainted again? did she even deserve good things? -- but Roxy could feel her resolve crumbling. Conversations like this with Spence and Mila were wearing her down to see the truth she didn’t want to face. She could only keep her eyes closed for so long, and trying to imagine herself and Caden still together as old people was extremely difficult. Time just kept moving, did she want to waste more of it unhappy? She swallowed a few times and moved her hand over to brush against his. “I know you didn’t,” she murmured. “My life is just ... upsetting. And I know that’s my own fault.”
"It's not," Spence said. "I know things aren't simple or easy. I was a day away from sending out wedding invitations when I ended things." He grimaced a bit at the memory. "I'm not saying my situation is like yours at all, but... when you know something's not right, you owe it to yourself to change it." He curled his fingers around her hand again, but kept his grip loose so she could pull away if she wanted to. "I don't want to tell you what to do, or how to feel. I want you to be happy, though. You deserve a lot more than taking care of someone who's not willing to take care of you back."
Roxy had even less desire to think about Spence’s ex-fiancee than she did to think about Caden, so she pushed that comment away in her mind. He hadn’t left that woman for Roxy, but would she be leaving Caden for Spence? Or just a different life altogether? Honestly at the moment she wanted to run away and join a nunnery and not deal with men anymore at all. Except Jesus. The thought almost made her laugh in the stupidest way. Roxy was quiet for a couple of long moments while her brain turned in circles. She was almost surprised when she saw lights approaching, breaking up the black monotony of the forest they were driving through. Suddenly there was Cherries, and the gas station, and the cheap motel, and the doughnut place where she’d intended to get coffee. Roxy turned her blinker on and turned off of Witcham, but instead of heading straight for the drive thru, she parked off to one side of the mostly-empty lot. Roxy rubbed her face with both hands and sighed. “If I do this and you and I ... rekindle something, it’s not going to be a walk in the park, you know that, right?” she murmured as she finally looked up at him again. “I’m damaged goods now.”
Spence didn't mind it when she parked, rather than going through the drive thru. It felt more important to talk and he watched the side of her face curiously. Did she think he was a walk in the park? He had his own issues, ones that she didn't know about. This wasn't high school anymore and they both knew it. "Explain that to me," Spence murmured. "This idea of d-damaged goods. What does that even mean?" That term had always annoyed him as much as something like "sloppy seconds". He was sure the idea came from being with Caden for as long as she had, but he was curious as to what she meant by it.
Frustration pushed at the inside of Roxy’s chest. She knew Spence knew what she meant, but she also knew that if she started listing off the shit she thought was wrong with her now, he would just disagree and tell her again that it wasn’t her fault and he didn’t care and all those things that sounded too good to actually be true. “I’m just ... difficult now, Spence, okay? I’ve got a temper and I’m used to having to fight for everything I get. I’ve been with a violent man for years, I just don’t see it being an easy transition out of that,” she said. She wasn’t even sure if she was trying to make him understand, or make him run away from her. Maybe both, to some extent. “I just need you to know that you’re not instantly going to have some sweet and perfect, adoring girlfriend right off the bat.”
"Roxy..." Spence couldn't help but grin a little. "You've never been sweet and perfect... that was part of the reason I l-loved you so much." Maybe at some point in their lives they had idealized their high school relationship and while it had been good, it hadn't been perfect by any means. "I mean, you were... p-perfect for me, but... I'm not trying to minimize what you're feeling or going through. I just... I never asked you for perfect and adoring. I'm not the guy I was in high school anymore. I've got my own shit I deal with. I've got this." He tapped his finger against his temple. "And insomnia, and... sometimes the PTSD gets to me. I don't want you thinking I'm looking for what we had in high school. That's not what I want."
Spence had a point there. Roxy had been difficult her entire life, at least for the men around her to handle. Her father, Spence, Caden, a string of other boyfriends who had never worked out. She’d been told she was too much so many times, she had taken it to heart. To hear Spence say he’d loved that about her did things to her chest that felt good and bad at the same time. Her gaze roamed slowly over him as he talked, and she marveled a bit at how he didn’t sound defensive at all as he acknowledged his own problems. Caden never did that, did he? Roxy felt like she could read between the lines and see what Spence was saying -- we could deal with it all together, with love. It just seemed like too much to hope for, because that was all she wanted. “What do you want?” she asked in a soft murmur, meeting his eyes again. “Specifically.”
He couldn't help it as his smile spread a little. She had to know the answer to that question already, right? But Spence supposed he couldn't blame her for wanting it spelled out. He could tell she had a lot of doubts and worries and it was so unlike the Roxy he had known in the past. But... like he said, he knew they had both changed a lot. Maybe now they could get to know one another as they were and let go of the past. Maybe. "Specifically, I want you," Spence told her. "And I know you know that. B-But I need you to make that decision... what it is you want. I don't want you to do anything for me... I just want you to want to be with me." And he hoped that made sense. It did in his head, but things didn't always come out properly.
Roxy realized she should have put a ‘don’t say me’ caveat on that question. But her ego still liked to hear it. I want you. When was the last time she heard Caden say that in a non-sexual way? Hell, it had even been a long time since she’d heard it sexually, now that she thought about it. Whenever they fought, he always had such a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude, like he wouldn’t even care if she did leave. She definitely couldn’t see him trying to fight for her like Spence was, in this crazy respectful way where he wasn’t pushing her to do any one thing. He really seemed to care, and it was so scary. “I want somebody who will try to understand me,” Roxy said after a moment’s thought. “And meet me in the middle. Somebody who really wants to be with me and hears me and respects me. A real partner. Somebody strong, but also kind ...” Roxy reached over to lightly drag her fingers through the beard covering Spence’s jaw. She wanted to believe he could be all of that for her, but she wanted to be what he needed too, and she was afraid of failing and disappointing him. “Can you tell me what you need, when you need it?” she murmured.
Spence listened quietly, but intently. He wondered how often she was able to tell Caden these things. He was guessing not often at all, if ever. Spence had never liked the guy anyway, given what an asshole he was in high school. But he disliked Caden a hell of a lot more for being the guy who made Roxy doubt herself so damn much. It honestly didn't sound like she was asking for a lot. Just to be loved and treated with respect. It was both infuriating and heartbreaking that she even needed to ask for it. Spence's brows lifted at her question and he smiled softly before lifting his hand to take hers in it. "I'm sitting here right now, in a Dunkin Donut's parking lot at ass o'clock telling you exactly what I need." He took a chance and brought her fingers to his lips to kiss them. "I can p-promise to keep up that momentum."
Caden never seemed interested in sorting out what each of them needed in their relationship -- Roxy knew that a cornerstone of his damage was thinking he didn’t need anything. Having needs was a weakness to Caden Lucas, and he seemed to apply that standard to everyone, not just himself. She understood it, having grown up the way she did, but she couldn’t fix it for him. Roxy was learning that the hard way. He had to want to get to a place where he saw how important this kind of conversation was. She wished he understood how much she’d wanted to give to him to make him happy, but it was like he’d written happiness off a long time ago, and was content to wallow where they were. Roxy wasn’t sure what to call this space, but it wasn’t happy, that was for sure. And she wasn’t ready yet to give up on happiness, especially not when her stomach fluttered so much at the feel of Spence’s lips on her skin. “I believe you would,” she said softly, giving his fingers a tiny squeeze. After another couple of heartbeats, she added, “I still have a lot of feelings for you, Spence. I hope you know that, that you’re not ... some escape plan or anything. I’m sorry for what happened before, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
"I know that." And he did. That didn't make it hurt any less, but he hadn't wanted to be a consolation prize either. If Caden was who she wanted, he wasn't going to stand in her way. "And I don't want you to feel pressured or anything either," Spence added. "I feel like I did that before, and I d-don't want that to happen now. I just... it's out there now and you know how I feel and what I want. If it's not something you're ready for, I understand that too. I just think this decision needs to be yours." But he wanted to make sure she knew she had other options, if she truly wanted them. Spence knew that the phrase you can't help someone who won't help themselves was a factual one. He wanted to help Roxy but he couldn't do that if she didn't really want to leave Caden.
Roxy knew that she had genuinely soft feelings for Spence because she took absolutely no satisfaction in knowing that she’d hurt him. He’d broken her heart years ago and she knew herself well enough to know that if she didn’t care about him, she would’ve been bitterly happy to give him a taste of that heartbreak. Instead it made her stomach feel a little sick. Would she have that same regret if she broke it off with Caden? Maybe. But would it be worth it, was the real question. Maybe he would just strangle her to death when she tried to leave him, and she wouldn’t have to worry about making any more decisions. It was probably a sign of how fucked up she was that the idea was even slightly appealing. “I know, it does,” she murmured. “And I’ll make one, I promise. I won’t just leave you hanging, you deserve better than that. I should just ... get ready to deal with the fall out, first.” Maybe she should buy a gun. Or take one from the little stash at the bar. Something.
Her words reminded him of the last time they talked about this. How she felt like she needed to make a plan to leave... and then Caden proposed to her and that was that. He wondered if the two of them were just stuck in some vicious cycle. She would plan to leave Caden again and then he would suggest a wedding date and Roxy would apologize to Spence and that would be that... again. He knew it probably wasn't fair of him to think that way, but there was some underlying fear that he was just setting himself up to get hurt again. "I'll be here for whatever you need," Spence murmured. "And like before, you know you can stay with me, if you need to."
If Caden did kill her, would anybody think to tell Spence? Or would she just disappear out of his life again until he happened to hear the news through the grapevine? Maybe Mila would. Maybe then they would understand why she’d been so afraid to do this. If they even found out the truth -- Roxy could very well imagine herself ending up in a shallow grave next to wherever they’d buried Joseph, and Caden telling everyone she’d left him and skipped town. She had no doubt he would cover his own ass, he always did, and he could probably rope Gavin into helping him. Brothers looked out for each other, after all. God, she really did need to get away, if she was thinking seriously about that possibility. She blinked herself out of those thoughts and back into the present, giving Spence a faint little smile. “Thank you,” she murmured. Roxy was scared to bring that potential violence down on Spence, but she appreciated his offer. She pulled his hand over to press her cheek against the knuckles for a moment, then sighed and glanced around at the outside world. “Do you still want coffee?”
All they could really do now was wait. Or rather, all Spence could do now was wait. If she decided to stay with Caden, he would wish her well and finally move on with his life. At some point there had to be closure, right? It was just something he hadn't thought about in years. It had been so much easier to just compartmentalize things and just... exist. "Actually, yeah, if you don't mind," Spence said with a soft laugh. "It's been kind of a long night, so maybe decaf." He wanted to keep her hand in his, so he did. He knew she probably had a lot on her mind and a lot of worry and if he could ease that in any way, he would. Spence wanted to ask her to stay the night with him, but he knew that wasn't possible. Not yet. And he didn't want to put her in any position where she could get into trouble.
Roxy knew this was probably her last chance with Spence, and rightly so. He deserved to have a life with someone special in it, and if she didn’t make the leap of faith now, it would end up being another woman. Maybe that would be the best thing for him, but it wasn’t what Roxy wanted. It didn’t seem to be what he wanted either. Her life was down to two options -- take a chance at really being happy, or stay stuck in this foggy malaise. It seemed like a simple choice from the outside, maybe she really was making it much harder than it needed to be. Hell, maybe even Caden would be happier in the end. Roxy could hope. She didn’t want to let go of him either, so she reached over with her free hand to put the car into gear and pulled out of the spot she’d parked in. “Decaf sounds good to me,” she agreed. Roxy took them through the Dunkin drive thru and ended up ordering herself a hot chocolate, needing the comforting sweetness while she drove them back into town. “How’s the family?” she asked once they were back on Witcham Road, glancing over at Spence. “Greg just graduated, didn’t he?”
Despite it being nearly summer, the hot coffee felt good in his hand. Not as good as Roxy's hand did, but she needed to drive and drink her own beverage so he was willing to let her go for now. "Yeah, he did," Spence said, a smile forming on his lips again. "He wants to be a firefighter. I don't think he has any plans to leave for college either. He's got a girlfriend here, so... you know how teenage boys can be." Spence wanted to do the big brother thing and push Greg out of Point Pleasant, mostly for his own good, but he was clear-headed enough to know Greg would just plant his feet in harder to stay. "Parents are good too. You know, same old, same old. Oh, when you turn into town, I'm on Cedar Lane now, not Castle View."
She’d always had a soft spot for Greg, he’d been such a cute kid. A cute, crazy kid. The thought of him becoming a firefighter made her smile, and that he had a girlfriend. It wasn’t surprising, he was good looking just like Spence was, but Roxy found it adorable for some reason. She thought of Jasper and how he was supposed to graduate with Greg, but didn’t bring him up, because she didn’t want to think about the goddamn Lucases for another minute tonight. “Good for him,” she said, lifting her hot chocolate to take a sip. “I could see him being a firefighter. He’s got that same ‘help people’ gene that you’ve got.” Roxy smiled at him briefly. “Cedar Lane though? That’s all houses, isn’t it? Are you renting, or ...?” she asked, curious.
Greg was a good kid... although Spence knew he had to stop thinking of his brother as a kid now. He had graduated high school and had plans for his future. He would always be Spence's baby brother, but he definitely wasn't a kid anymore. "Nah, I b-bought a house a month or so ago," he explained. "I had money saved and I was getting tired of throwing money away on rent. Once I decided I was probably staying for good, it made sense to own." He shrugged and sipped his coffee. "It's not much... kind of a fixer upper so that keeps me busy when I'm not working." It was a house he bought with his future in mind and while he knew life didn't always cooperate, it never hurt to be prepared.
Roxy was surprised to hear that Spence had bought a house. Somehow she hadn’t been sure he would stay in town. Maybe because he’d left once before. But having a mortgage was a pretty big commitment, so it seemed like he wasn’t going anywhere. She found that oddly comforting for reasons she couldn’t quite explain. “Well congratulations,” she said. “Glad you found something you liked enough to buy, at least. Nothing wrong with a fixer upper, that’s like ... all of us, these days.” Roxy took another swallow from her cup, already tempted to ask him if she could come in and see the inside. They weren’t even there yet, and it was probably a terrible idea to be alone with Spence in an environment where it was easier to touch each other, but ... she wanted to. See his house and touch him. “What-all are you gonna need to do with it?” she asked. Men loved to talk about their projects, in her experience, and she enjoyed listening to him, stutter and all.
"It's not so bad that I need to do any heavy duty repairs," Spence said, grateful for something to talk about that wasn't Caden. "The inspection went well... but the kitchen is a little outdated, and the floor needs replaced... the carpet, I mean. It's shag carpeting." He grinned over at Roxy. "This pea green color. I'm not usually one who moans about the appearance of stuff, but it's pretty hideous. I figure if I'm g-gonna live there for the majority of my life, I should probably like what I'm... forced to look at every day. I already remodeled the... the bathroom upstairs and the k-kitchen is next." He paused to sort out his thoughts, since the words were becoming harder to choose and say. Sipping his coffee helped. "You can come in and take a quick look if you want."
She laughed a little as he described the carpet, very able to picture it in her mind. That puke-green shag had been standard-issue in a lot of houses in the 70s. It was funny how collective tastes changed over the years. Roxy’s heart gave a jumpy squeeze at the last bit, like he had read her mind ... or maybe it was just that she wasn’t the only one feeling that yearning to be together. Roxy knew she ought to decline, say some other time, make the safest decision, but she found her eyes ticking to the clock on the dashboard. Caden still wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours. “I can’t turn down a chance to see a gross shag carpet again, so I’d love to,” she said, lightly enough. “I can distinctly remember crawling around on one at my abuela’s house as a little kid. It smelled like a million cigarettes. I would love to remodel a house, I daydream about swatches and tile and paint sometimes. If you need help picking stuff out, I’m good at color matching.”
"No cigarette smell, promise. It just smells musty to me." It would have been too easy to tell Roxy she could do as much decorating as she wanted if she moved in with him, but that felt like leaping several steps in one bound. The most important of which was Roxy ending her relationship with Caden. He didn't want to push things too fast. "I'll definitely need help. My mom keeps trying to give me suggestions but everything she's pushing are things she likes and we have... very different tastes." Spence chuckled softly. "It probably takes me too long to make a decision too. Which may be why I still had green shag carpeting." He also wanted to point out how Cedar Lane was on the other side of town from Seaview, but... he could let Roxy come to that conclusion on her own.
Even though Spence didn’t say it, Roxy made those leaps on her own. She could see it very clearly for a moment, moving into Spence’s place and taking over the decorating, the both of them working together on projects, having a cute paint-slinging fight at some point. And of course the room they were painting would be a nursery, and Roxy could envision her baby bump and a wedding band on her finger. The little fantasy was tinted with golden sunlight, and she could almost feel the happy laugh in her throat. It all felt too pretty and perfect to be possible. Caden wouldn’t allow her to be that happy. Roxy knew she was getting way ahead of herself, so she tried to drag her thoughts away from a dreamy future and back to reality. “We’ll get it gone,” she assured Spence with a little smile. “Do you even know how to replace carpet yourself? I know you can take your time when you’re remodeling on your own terms, but I didn’t know you were that handy.”
"I'm that handy. Surprise." Spence chuckled and sipped some more coffee. "That doesn't mean I'd replace all of it on my own. Probably have some friends come over to help me do it... unless I want hardwood floors, then I'll just do that." He shrugged softly. "Everything w-works in the house so I've been doing things as I can. Trying to do one room at a time so I don't get overwhelmed with a disaster of a house, you know?" Spence never felt like he was in any hurry, but that was part of the appeal of doing his own renovations and redecorating. "I know this sounds... like a weird... suggestion or offer, or whatever, but if you want to help me... I'd pay you."
Roxy nodded that understood why he was pacing himself, then gave a soft little chuckle at his offer to pay her. She shot him a look that was half-amused, half-incredulous. “Spence, no,” she said. “I can’t let you pay me for anything. Especially not for something I enjoy doing. Not like you’re gonna get my fat ass down on my knees pulling up carpet. But I’ll pick stuff out for you to put in.” She grinned a little and glanced over at him. They were getting closer to Cedar Lane, and Roxy found herself admiring the houses in this part of town, trying to picture herself living here instead of in a trailer park.
Spence snorted softly. "I like your ass. But no, I won't make you pull up carpet. But I figured picking out swatches could be a potentially stressful thing and you should be compensated for it." He gestured a bit to his left with his cup. "That's my truck." He had left the porch light on, aware that he would be out late when he left the house. When Roxy got them parked, he tugged his key ring out of his jacket pocket, feeling himself tense a little even as he got out of the car. He half-expected to hear the screams again. Maybe he wanted to, so he could reassure himself that it hadn't been Roxy's voice he'd heard earlier in the year. "Careful of the top step," he told her as he led her to the porch stairs. "It's kind of wobbly. Gotta fix that."
Maybe it would be a stressful thing, or even a thing Roxy couldn’t carry through with at all, but that didn’t change her honest desire to help. She thought she would be a pretty good judge of Spence’s taste too, and part of her wanted to find out if that was the case, if she still knew him that well. She parked behind his truck and got out of the car with him, glancing around before she headed up onto the porch. She wasn’t close with anyone in this neighborhood, and she didn’t think Caden was either, so she felt fairly safe as she waited for Spence to unlock the door to let them in. “It looks nice so far,” she told him in a murmur. “Even with a wobbly step.”
"I'm trying to decide if I want to fix the wobbly step or leave it as is... you know, give the house some character." Spence flipped on the lights once he pushed the door open and stepped inside, moving out of the way so Roxy could follow. The house itself was still sparsely decorated since he was still working on it but he had some furniture and all that. He didn't want to come across as a total recluse, after all. The house wasn't a total mess or anything. It just needed a bit of a face lift. "It's got a nice yard," he said lamely. "Firepit and stuff. Do you want some water? I think I have some iced tea too."
Roxy’s first real thought about Spence’s house was that it definitely needed a woman’s touch. She’d never understood why most men -- most single straight men, anyway -- didn’t really decorate their places much, like they just didn’t know how to nest on their own. She looked around the living room, ideas already filling her head on how she would repaint and rearrange and add to what he already had. Roxy’s eyes turned to Spence at his offer and she gave a sheepish little smile. “I need your bathroom, actually,” she said with a soft laugh. “But I’m okay. Already full of hot chocolate.”
"Oh, right." Spence smiled and gestured to the stairs. "It's upstairs, second door on the left. I've got a half bath down here but the plumbing is kind of wonky, so I guess it's out of order for the moment." At least he was a tidy enough person that he didn't have to worry about whether or not his bathroom was clean. And he could grab a bottle of water for himself while she was upstairs.
“Thanks,” she told him, turning to head up the stairs. The house wasn’t huge, so she wasn’t worried about getting lost, and the bathroom was easy enough to find. Roxy didn’t walk straight into it though, gently pushing the other doors open along the hallway to peek inside. There was only one that looked lived in, and even then just barely. The bed on a simple metal frame next to a dresser gave it away as Spence’s bedroom, but there wasn’t much more to it but a desk with a laptop and some papers, along with a laundry basket. It was definitely spartan for a master bedroom. Roxy thought of him going to bed in here alone every night and it made her chest hurt a little. Still, that didn’t change her desire to go burrow into his bed and smell the pillows. She moved away from the door and quietly walked back to the bathroom to do what she needed to do. At least it was all clean, she had to give him that.
While Roxy was upstairs, Spence grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and then wandered back into the living room to sit and wait. When Roxy came back downstairs, he smiled at her and cocked a brow. "Did you go through my medicine cabinet?" He had the sneaking suspicion that she had probably been curious, which didn't upset him at all, if she was. He was sure he would be looking around her own living space if the tables were turned. Then again, Spence didn't live with anyone so he doubted there was anything too interesting for her to snoop around for.
“I didn’t!” Roxy insisted, even though Spence’s tone wasn’t exactly accusing. It was true -- she hadn’t touched the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She grinned a little as she sat down next to him on the couch. “I did peek inside your bedroom though.” Given the chance, she didn’t know if he would do the same, since her own place had Caden’s stuff and vibe everywhere. If she was being honest, Roxy didn’t really want Spence to see where she and Caden fucked. Pushing him out of her mind again, Roxy tucked one foot under her knee and gave Spence a little smile. “I like the house,” she said. “It’s gonna be gorgeous when you’re done with it.”
Spence laughed. "Oh man, that must have been a major disappointment. My bedroom is pretty dull." He sipped his water and then set it down on the coffee table. "I guess it'll be gorgeous if I have help with it. Otherwise... I don't know. It might end up becoming a mish mash of color. Or my mom will take over and make it solely in her taste. Which is probably why I really need your help." He flashed her a teasing grin. "No pressure, or anything." He liked seeing her on his couch, even if he knew she would eventually leave and go back home to her boyfriend. Fiance.
She propped her arm up on the back cushion of the couch and leaned her temple against her hand, laughing softly as she tried to remember Spence’s mom’s taste. It had been so long since she’d been in that house, everything could be different, but nobody wanted their mom to decorate their adult living space. “I’ll do my best to save you from a ton of floral patterns and like, farmhouse decor for the kitchen,” Roxy told him. Part of her doubted she would actually be able to do much for him, that pessimistic part that said all of this was impossible and she wasn’t strong enough to break away from Caden, not even enough to be real friends with Spence. Roxy tried to smother that voice. She felt good in his presence, and she wanted to hang onto that. “Are there any colors or styles you absolutely hate?”
"Nah, not really." Spence sat back more comfortably before bringing a hand up to run it through his hair. "I mean... nothing too... bright? I like... blues and greens." Another laugh bubbled up in his throat. "I went to the hardware store a few weeks back to get some new doorknobs and I looked at the paint selection, just to start getting ideas, right? I didn't see one paint sample just named 'blue'. And there were so many damn shades. I think I want neutral enough colors that if I decide to buy a new couch or something later, that it won't clash terribly with everything else, you know? Does that make sense?" It was nice to talk about something non-Caden related. Like they were two normal people without miles of baggage between them. It couldn't last forever, but... hell, maybe it could. Spence didn't want to get his hopes up, but he was struggling.
Roxy’s eyes followed Spence’s hand and she had to put effort into not reaching out to take it in hers again. She’d always really liked his hands. She laughed softly, easily able to picture Spence frowning at all of the paint sample cards that said everything but ‘blue.’ “There’s a lot of variety out there, yeah,” she said, still half-grinning at him. Roxy liked blues and greens too, and she thought she could find some shades he would like that weren’t too loud and bold. “That makes total sense though, we can definitely do that,” she said. “There’s a lot you can do with accent walls and stuff, to give it more character without it being overwhelming. I can find some art for you too, maybe. It’s so bare in here.” Roxy tore her gaze away from Spence to glance around the living room, but it didn’t last too long.
Spence had no idea what an accent wall was but he trusted Roxy's judgment. He followed her gaze to the walls surrounding them and understood what she meant. "I've got photos and stuff in a box upstairs," he explained. "I just haven't gotten around to putting them up yet. I could use some art though. I do have one painting in the closet, but I need to get a frame for it." He was realizing he had plenty of stuff that he could probably have put out that would make the house feel more like a home, he just hadn't done it yet. Spence's brows rose. "Um, do you want a tour? I mean, you've already seen my bathroom and my bedroom, apparently. There's more... not much to it all, but... the space?"
She was sure he was working a lot, and he hadn’t had the house for long, plus he was a man, so she wasn’t too surprised that he hadn’t put a lot of effort into decorating yet. Roxy figured that when he did have company, it consisted of other guys who probably wouldn’t even notice the lack of pretty things to look at. But if Spence wanted her help, she was definitely going to spruce the place up a bit with more than just paint and carpet. Roxy smiled at his offer and nodded. “Sure, yeah,” she said, moving to stand up. “Tour me around.” It wasn’t strictly necessary, but she was going to accept anything that gave her an excuse to stay longer.
Spence stood, hesitating before he spread his arms wide. "This is the living room." Obviously. He smiled and motioned for her to follow him into the next room with a wide door frame. "The dining room..." A slightly smaller room from the living room, but it was covered in boxes that he hadn't yet unpacked. After buying the house he had emptied out his storage garage from the move back from the year before. He just wasn't sure what to do with everything yet. "Uh, yeah, so still unpacking. My table is in the kitchen, so..." The dining room led into the kitchen. His small wood table was pushing up against the side wall with a window. It only had two chairs but he didn't often have company over long enough to eat a meal. "Like I said, I'm going to replace the cabinets and get a new fridge. Maybe new flooring." The vinyl flooring was decent enough but there were small cracks and chips that were a bit unsightly. Spence motioned to the closed door next to the back door in the corner of the kitchen. "That's the basement. It's actually a finished basement, which is really nice. The laundry is down there too. I may put... my exercise stuff down there? And a television... uh... I don't know yet. It's got a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom. I don't know if you saw it." He laughed and felt kind of silly for showing off a house that had very little to it at the moment. "I kind of wish I had a pool or something to show off."
Roxy trailed along behind Spence, looking around at everything and letting her mind wander to possibilities to re-do things. She chuckled softly and told him “that’s okay” when he showed her the boxes in the dining room. Why rush to settle in when it was just a one-person house? That was sad maybe, but realistic. At least she knew he hadn’t been working hard on making the house nice in order to impress a bunch of women. Roxy knew that was an unfair thought to have, so she tried to ignore it, but she couldn’t help herself. In the kitchen, she gave an amused huff as he laughed, shrugging a bit. “I like it, even without a pool,” she told him. “I didn’t notice the laundry chute, but that’s pretty cool. I haven’t had a basement in a long time, but they can be really useful.” Roxy paused, then arched a brow at him a bit. “Show me the upstairs again? Like what plans do you have for the other bedrooms?”
"Finished basements sort of give it a feeling of having three stories, instead of two." Spence chuckled a little, especially as he had no idea what to do with the basement right now. But it would come to him eventually. He was in no real hurry to pack his house with stuff or figure out what would go where. "I can show you the upstairs, but I gotta be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing with the rooms yet." He shrugged, but led her out of the kitchen, back through the dining room and to the stairs. "One of the spare rooms has this old attic door in the back, like three feet off the ground. When you open the door you have to basically lift yourself up to get inside to the attic stairs. It's kind of bizarre."