Spencer Hastings makes shockingly bad choices. (ctrl_a) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-12-01 12:12:00
Who: Spencer & Toby When: Nov 13 Where: Street outside a cafe What: Random run-in of awkwardness Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Toby couldn’t say that he’d made an effort to reach out to Spencer after Halloween. He knew that it was probably stupidity on his part, but it was also just the mixture of emotions and the very real confusion he felt about what had happened. He wasn’t exactly sorry that he’d kissed Spencer. He’d wanted to. He could admit that to himself. It was more that he hadn’t actually intended to follow through with that impulse. But she hadn’t seemed to mind...until the very end, that was. Then she had seemed to mind. She said that she hadn’t, but she’d still left without any real explanation, so he’d assumed that meant she regretted it somehow.
He’d texted Emily about it, but it didn’t mean he knew what he was doing about it any more than he had before. So now he was walking around and trying to figure out whether he should contact Spencer about it or not.
So when he looked up to see Spencer hurrying toward him and doing something with her phone, Toby stopped walking, trying to decide whether or not he was going to change direction and walk away from her or walk over to her.
There was a cafe nearby. And, because Spencer’s blood was approximately 43% coffee, she was headed there to buy her hourly cup. And since she was a busy girl, she was in the middle of a heated debate with someone online while she did so. Multitasking, right? It wasn’t until she was only a couple of feet away from Toby Cavanaugh that she realized she was walking straight at him. Her gait hitched a step when her eyes met his. She actually nearly stumbled, and she went a little pink.
“Toby.” She said, forcing a smile she hoped wasn’t as awkward as she felt. “Hi. Fancy meeting you here.”
Before he could make a decision to bolt, Spencer noticed him. “Uh. Hi, Spencer.” He cleared his throat, feeling even more awkward than he had just a few moments ago. “Yeah. I didn’t expect to run into you...here.” He glanced over, noticing a cafe close by. “But I probably should have. Where there’s caffeine, there’s...Spencer Hastings.” He was definitely awkward. All of this was definitely awkward.
He adjusted his jacket, gaze dropping to the sidewalk. “So…” So what? Where was that sentence going? “How’s things?” Smooth, Toby. Definitely not awkward.
“That’s me. You can just call me coffee girl.” Coffee girl?? Seriously, Spencer? What a moron. She actually winced a little at herself, and shook her head a bit. “Um, things are fine. Studying hard… y’know.” She shrugged her shoulders, and then glanced at the cafe.
“What about you?” She asked. “You’re uh… you look good.” God, did he ever look good. Those eyes were absolutely amazing. But it was another stupid thing to say. Stupid, Spencer.
It made him feel a little better that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what to say. Coffee girl. He made a mental note to jokingly call her that before reminding himself that there was no reason for him to ever do that if they weren’t going to talk about what happened. “I guess that makes sense. That’s what you’re usually doing.” When she wasn’t showing up to his parents’ house and kissing him only to get weird and run out on him. But he didn’t bring that up.
“Oh...well, nothing really. Working sometimes. It’s not all that bad.” His gaze shot right back up to her face when she said the last thing. He couldn’t keep the question from being evident in his eyes. “Oh. Yeah. I guess so.” He glanced at the cafe. “Uh. Am I keeping you? I don’t know if I should stand between you and caffeine.”
Those beautiful, beautiful eyes. Spencer was probably red to the point that she was blotchy under her foundation. Though, it probably did very little to hide the blush. She cleared her throat. “No, um… well, you could… y’know… come along with.” She motioned toward the cafe. “If you want to.” She probably shouldn’t be inviting him to coffee. Probably not after what happened. Maybe she should talk to him about what happened. Okay, not maybe. She knew she should definitely talk to him about what happened. But what should she say?
Toby noted the reddened skin. He didn’t know what it meant. Probably just that she was embarrassed about something. Maybe about the fact that she was kissing you a few days ago, a voice in the back of his mind pointed out. That was probably it. He cleared his throat at the invitation. “I guess I could go. I haven’t had any caffeine today.” Which was actually true. He’d been jittery enough without the help of coffee.
“Good.” Spencer turned to walk with him to the cafe. It was only a couple doors down, and then she held the door open for him. “So… crazy election, huh?” She said. God, had it really been a couple weeks since Halloween? Almost, anyway. She’d been avoiding him, and distracted by thinking about him, for thirteen whole days now.
He’d spent about the same amount of time trying to figure things out. “Yeah.” He walked with her to the cafe, resisting the urge to arch an eyebrow when she held the door open for him. Walking inside, he stared at the menu trying to decide what he wanted when he heard Spencer’s voice again. “Oh...yeah. It was definitely something.” He hadn’t figured out how he felt about it. It had been a few days since the election and there was plenty of discord and concern, but there was also a lot of happy people. He was mostly confused. “Do you know what you want? My treat.”
There were lots of confusing things going on for the pair of them. Spencer felt terrible about what had happened. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed it, but it’d been so awkward when she realised what she was doing. This wasn’t the kind of thing Spencer normally did. Especially not with someone who she ran in the same circles with. Sorta. Kinda.
“You don’t have to do that,” Spencer said, turning to him once they stepped into the line together.
Toby definitely couldn’t claim that he did those sorts of things with just about anyone. Sure, he’d kissed someone before, but not out of the blue and with everything else that happened, it just seemed...unusual. But here he was, feeling completely awkward about it. He still felt the impulse to kiss her, but this time he didn’t act on it. Like a normal person. Plus, he wasn’t sure she really wanted to.
“It’s fine. I kept you from caffeine, so it’s probably adequate payment for it.”
“Well, thanks.” Spencer said. She didn’t want to push the argument any farther. Toby was being kind, and she appreciated it. Even if things were awkward. And she did feel that urge to kiss him again, but it was… well, she could curb it. He was cute and everything, but she didn’t know him at all. Really.
They got to the front of the line and Spencer ordered a cappuccino. Wet, with two sugars. Then she let Toby order, moving to a table not far from the counter. She slipped into a chair to wait for him, hoping she wouldn’t say something stupid.
Toby nodded. It was definitely awkward, but he was trying his best not to say anything stupid and follow Emily’s advice. Just talk to her. Don’t get weird. That part was going to be a little difficult. He didn’t mean to say stupid things or be weird. It was just that Spencer made him feel more stupid than normal. Emily was probably right. He probably did have a crush. Letting out a sigh, Toby ordered a coffee with sugar and no cream. Then he paid for the drinks and stepped off to the side to wait for them.
Coffee and cappuccino in hand, he sat down across from Spencer. “Here you go,” he said as he put her cappuccino down in front of her. “So how have you been?” Since the last time I saw you. He decided not to add that part on because it was probably obvious.
Spencer subconsciously brightened when Toby sat down across from her. She accepted the cup with a gentle, “Thanks,” and tried to will her cheeks to stop burning. Because hey, if anyone could do it, Spencer Hastings could. “Good. It’s been… really really busy at school, getting ready for finals and everything,” she said, almost apologetically. That’s why she hadn’t called. Really. “What about you?”
“You’re welcome.” He hoped that he didn’t look as anxious as he felt. He took a sip from his coffee mostly for the sake of having something to do with his hands and to keep him from saying anything immediately that would embarrass him. “There’s a lot of studying in college,” he commented, feeling almost immediately stupid for having said it. Of course there was a lot of studying in college. What else did he think there was? “I mean, it seems like there’s always a test, I guess. From the outside.” Yes. That sounded better. “It’s been okay. A lot of work-related stuff. Some guys at work are idiots. Nothing I can’t handle, though.” He wanted that to be why he hadn’t called, but it was mostly because he didn’t know what to say and he figured running out was a pretty good indicator. “So what finals are coming up?”
Spencer was watching him carefully now, watching the little dimples on his cheeks as he thought, sipped. He looked anxious. She couldn’t blame him, because she felt anxious, too. But it was more adorable on him than it was on her, she thought. “Yeah, there is.” She agreed. She spent a lot of time studying.
“All of them,” she replied. All her finals were coming up. She had a ton of work to do. “I’ll probably be locked in my room or the library for the next few weeks.”
Toby had a difficult time thinking anything could look bad on Spencer. She managed to look great even when they were both clearly uncomfortable. He wanted to talk about everything, but he wasn’t sure how. So he spent most of his time trying to come up with something that wouldn’t sound stupid.
“I guess I’m lucky, then. To see you before then.” He offered her a small smile. “Since you’re going to be a prisoner in your own room till after finals.” He was quiet for a moment before he said, “This is probably...awkward…” It was a start, but he needed to finish. “I...know Halloween was weird. I don’t really know what happened. I don’t normally just kiss people out of the blue.” He glanced up briefly before focusing on his coffee. “Did you…” He cleared his throat. “It’s...Well…” Emily said to get to know Spencer. He just had to figure out how to ask. “Maybe we could get to know each other a little more? We don’t have to kiss or anything if you don’t want to. Obviously. Just talk and...get to know each other. No reason we can’t be friends or something. Even if Halloween was...unusual.”
Spencer was rather flattered at that. And she couldn’t deny that he had a nice smile. Damnit, why was this so hard? Why was she so damned awkward about everything? He brought up Halloween, and Spencer actually felt her cheeks burning. Was she blushing? About Halloween?
“No, I didn’t think you… were the kind to kiss out of the blue.” Spencer said, using his words and smirking all the while. She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not really, either. The type to do that sort of thing.” But then again, she was absolutely the type, wasn’t she? She just didn’t want Toby to think that way about her. She didn’t want him to think she was slutty or something.
“...why, Toby Cavanaugh, are you asking me out on a date?” Spencer teased, ignoring how awkward the stuff about Halloween was.
“Is that why you ran out?” It made sense if she didn’t normally start kissing boys and found herself in the situation and was uncomfortable with it. “I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.” Toby’s heart was racing while he waited for a response. He wasn’t really sure what he was expecting, but when she spoke again, he stared for a moment. “I…” He cleared his throat. “Yes. I think...Would you like to?”
“Maybe. It was… not what I was expecting. I was a little freaked out about the whole thing, so…” She shrugged her shoulders. “I wasn’t really uncomfortable,” she lied. Then met his eyes, and broke into a smile. “Okay, maybe a little. But I’m not now. I’m cool.” Her heart jumped a little at how adorable he was, and the smirk on her lips spread. “I would. I think. Dinner? Sometime?”
Toby nodded. He guessed he understood. Even he had been a little confused about the whole situation. Looking back at it, he couldn’t really even understand how he’d gotten to the point where he was kissing a girl he hadn’t actually meant to kiss at the time. “It’s okay. I guess it’s not that surprising. Given...well...it felt like being drunk without the alcohol.”
When Spencer said she wanted to go on a date with him, he couldn’t help the moment of confusion, like he was waiting for the punchline. It didn’t come, however, so he cleared his throat. “Yeah. Dinner sounds good. After your finals or before?”
“It did.” Spencer agreed. Her inhibitions had been gone. She acted completely on impulse. Actually, it was a little lucky that she hadn’t done something really crazy. She could have been in such worse trouble than kissing a boy she maybe shouldn’t have kissed. “Maybe after? That way you don’t have to worry about me having a mental breakdown over dinner.”
“After works. It’ll give me time to find somewhere to go. Is there anything you don’t like or anything you like more? Just to give me an idea.” Because he wanted to make it a good date and he didn’t know as much about Spencer as he’d have liked. Plus, it was probably better to ask her directly what she liked than it was to ask Emily. Even if she would have been happy to hear he’d actually talked to Spencer like a normal human. “I don’t want it to be a date you’ll come to regret.”
Something about the way Toby was treating her made Spencer feel… special. Girly. He wanted to treat her right, to take her on a date and woo her. It was almost old-fashioned. The feminist inside her almost felt guilty about how much she liked this. The smile was very bashful, the tint to her cheeks a rosy pink. She shook her head. “No preferences. I want to do something you want to do. Something we’ll have fun doing together. Even if it’s just dinner and a movie.” An old-fashioned date. Sounded just about right.
Toby smiled back, feeling a little less like an idiot now. Emily had been right apparently. It just took talking to someone about something. Apparently the parental factor hadn’t actually affected anything either. “Okay. I’ll figure something out then and let you know.” It was the first date he’d had to plan, but he was sure he could figure it out. If not, Emily would be around. It would be nice and he was going to have to believe it would go over just fine.
“You’ve got my number,” Spencer knew he did. At least, he could get it from Emily, or he could send her a message through Valarnet. They were both on the website. She collected up her coffee and cleared her throat. “I really should get back to studying. Finals are next week.” Then she gave him a smile. “But I’ll see you soon.” She was glad the awkwardness was sort of over.