A Journey of the Heart

Chapter 1 - Madrid

Spencer Hastings wasn't one to be derailed easily. She had always been a very focused individual. Driven by her desire for her parent's approval and personal goals, Spencer was easily the biggest overachiever she knew.

4.0 across the board.

Highly active in the community.

Joined any and every club that would help her portfolio.

Being independent was Spencer's biggest achievement. At least it was in her eyes. Going through multiple relationships had shown Spencer that she was in a best position when she didn't have to rely on anyone. And she thought this to be true. Until she met him. Or, well, re-met him.

Caleb Rivers.

A man who never found himself in one place for too long.

The world was too big. He wanted to explore all of it. That's what he told himself every time he travelled to a different city.

Spencer and Caleb's relationship is a bit… complex. They had met many years ago during a more complicated time of their lives. Caleb had been with one of Spencer's best friends, Hanna for a very long time. They grew together. They loved each other. They were inseparable.

Like any couple, they had their difficulties. Unfortunately for them, their differences had caused them to separate. Hanna had decided to stay in New York while Caleb pursued his unquenchable thirst for travel.

While travelling, Caleb's mind had been racked with doubt over his decision to leave Hanna. He had replayed the scene in his mind multiple times. And every time he replays it, he's always hurt by the fact that Hanna had left and chosen her work over him.

So, Caleb decided to move on. Which is why he finds himself on at a train station in Salamanca, waiting for his next destination. The locals were speeding past him, hurrying to whatever place awaited them. Caleb found travelling to be exhilarating. The excitement of the unknown pleasures in the world drew Caleb in. As Caleb revelled in the enjoyment of the present, and ignored the pain of the past, he was thrown out of his thoughts by the sight of an old friend.

Spencer Hastings.

An intelligent and quick-witted woman.

A force to be reckoned with.

What was she doing here? Caleb thought to himself. But before he could deduce what she was doing in Salamanca, his feet had already moved to the end of his platform and her name had escaped his lips.

"Spence?!" Caleb shouted across the platform.

Turning around, Spencer's initial surprise was quickly replaced with a bubbling smile of familiarity. Running to the stairs, Caleb and Spencer embraced in a quick hug before catching up after years of not seeing each other.

"Funny running into you here, Spencer. Of all the places I thought you would be, Salamanca isn't one of them." Caleb said joyfully. He was genuinely excited to see her, even though she reminded him of what he left behind.

"Yeah, no kidding. It's nice to see you here. Wow, it's been at least a few years since we've seen each other!"

"Definitely. So… what brings you to this side of the world anyways? Trying to conquer a new language? Save the poor and innocent?"

"Ha-Ha. No, I'm just finishing up my year abroad actually. I was planning on heading back to Rosewood, and then maybe go to Washington after. What about you, stranger?"

"Ah, right. Hanna-um she-uh told me that you were studying overseas." Caleb responded, inwardly cursing himself for his slipups.

Noticing Caleb's awkwardness when he brought up Hanna, Spencer wondered if there was anything going on between them. She knew that they weren't always getting along from Hanna's brief text messages that she sent every so often. However, Spencer didn't feel that it was the best time to inquire about their relationship. Instead, she decided to make a mental note of this and ask him about it later.

"Well, Mr. Rivers. I have officially missed my train!"

"Same. Well since we're both here, wanna go and explore Madrid?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Spencer followed Caleb back into the heart of Madrid. During her year abroad, Spencer had been so focused on doing well that she didn't get many opportunities to explore Madrid like she would have liked. She really didn't have to be back in Rosewood for at least another two weeks, so she figured it would be an end-of-semester gift for herself to travel for a few more days.

Caleb and Spencer had non-stop adventures since they decided to stay in Madrid. Spencer was incredibly thankful that Caleb was such an amazing tour guide. He knew his was around Madrid like he had lived there for years. Coupled with Spencer's decently fluent Spanish, they made a powerful team.

In the two weeks that they had been together they managed to go to the parliament building, head down to the beaches numerous times, explore the old historic buildings that Madrid had, take a tour of Spencer's university, visit and meet some of the locals, and go see a bull fight at the arena.

To say that Spencer Hastings wasn't impressed at the bull fight was an understatement. Spencer had always been an advocate for the fair treatment of animals. So for her to see these bulls whipped and pulled to and fro was a culture shock, to say the least.

"Savages!" Spencer yelled as the bull fight progressed. Caleb was mildly entertained at the sight of Spencer Hastings, preppy small town girl, jumping out of her seat to yell at the drunk crowd. Caleb had only wished that he hadn't left his phone back in New York so he could capture this once in a lifetime moment.

After the bull fight was over, Spencer was still incredibly upset. She was barely speaking which was slightly alarming to Caleb. Of all the time they spent together, Caleb knew Spencer to be quite the talkative one.

Wanting to make sure that Spencer was okay, Caleb turned around and nudged her gently in the arm.

"Hey Spence… you alright?" Caleb asked softly. Unbeknownst to him, Spencer had started sniffling, trying to hold back her tears of frustration.

"Hey-Hey… Spence, maybe a bull-fight wasn't the best idea. But it'll be okay, I promise" Caleb said sweetly while holding on to her shoulders and looking at her square in the face. Although he should have been focused on comforting Spencer, Caleb had been slightly taken aback by Spencer's beauty. She had this refined, mature quality to her features that Caleb had never noticed before. Spending time in a foreign city had really drawn them closer to each other. Caleb hadn't really given it much thought, but him and Spencer and really grown close over the past two weeks.

Thrown out of his musings by more sniffling, Caleb didn't want to have to see Spencer crying in the middle of the street so he thought of an idea to make Spencer feel better.

"Hey Spence, I'm real sorry that you got so worked up. But, I think I can make it up to you."

Spencer gave him a less-than-enthusiastic glare to which Caleb shot up his hands in rebuttal.

"No more bull-fights, I promise."

At that, Spencer smiled weakly and Caleb smiled back, leading her to an unknown destination.

Picking up two bottles of Sangria along the way to their destination, Spencer wondered where Caleb was taking her. As they were walking to their destination, Spencer glanced at Caleb every couple of minutes. She had never thought that she would meet him of all people in Madrid. Since their initial interaction two weeks ago, they have been spending all of their time together. As much as Spencer enjoyed their time together, there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind which she wasn't sure if she was ready to address.

Is it okay for me to be feeling this way about him? Especially considering our complicated past? And Hanna…

Spencer didn't get too much time to mull over her reservations because they had arrived at their destination.

Retiro Park

"Caleb…" Spencer said while simultaneously holding her breath because of her genuine surprise at where Caleb Rivers had brought her.

Laughing gently, Caleb helped Spencer over the gates before hopping over himself. They had made their way to the Monument of Alfonso XII, which had steps one could sit on with a small body of water in front of it. Sitting down with their bottles of Sangria, Caleb and Spencer had just sat and overlooked the park in a comfortable silence as the sun started to rise.

The way the sun's fluorescent rays gently cascaded on the still water was a sight in itself. Spencer was touched that Caleb had thought to bring her here. Spencer mentioned it briefly to Caleb that she wanted to come to Retiro Park, but never had the opportunity due to being so busy with school.

But, one thing was still nagging at Spencer's mind.

"Caleb… I have a question for you."

Taking his eyes off the beautiful sunset, Caleb looked at Spencer with nothing but sincerity in his eyes. Spencer's heart flipped and she almost faltered due to the look Caleb gave her, but she pushed through her feelings because she needed to know the answer to her question.

"Caleb… what happened with you and Hanna? You haven't really talked about her much and every time I mention her name you either stutter or change the topic completely…" Spencer asked carefully.

Sighing sadly, Caleb turned away from Spencer and looked back out at the park. Caleb had been avoiding talking about Hanna the entire time he was with Spencer. He didn't want to be bogged down by the past… and he was still hurting from their break-up.

Noticing Caleb's hesitation, Spencer grabbed his hand and rubbed it gently.

"Caleb, its okay if you don't want to tell me. But, just know that you can always trust me."

"Thanks Spence. It isn't that I don't want to tell you. I just figured you'd feel weird about it, with Hanna being your best friend and all." Caleb responded.

Shaking her head, Spencer reassured Caleb that she wouldn't judge him for anything that he says about Hanna.

"Caleb. I trust you. And I hope that you will learn to trust me too. I won't feel weird about you talking about Hanna. You guys spent so many years together. It's okay to be hurt about what happened."

"Hmm. Thank you, Spencer. I'm sure you already know that Hanna and I had broken up."

"Broke up?! I just thought you guys were on a break or something. But, broke up? I'm so sorry, Caleb." Spencer said as she let go of Caleb's hand. Spencer felt even more conflicted than before. She didn't want to have feelings for her best friend's ex, nor did she want to come between them. But, feelings can be a powerful influencer.

"It's okay, Spence. It was bound to happen. We were having issues ever since we moved to New York. She had been dragging me to these unbearable fashion shows and I wanted to travel. Every time we made plans she ended up backing out of them and I felt like I wasn't a priority in her life anymore. So I gave her an ultimatum – either come with me to Europe, or we're done. And she chose her work. So I left everything behind and came here. To start fresh. But, I was avoiding my feelings because it was still so vivid in my mind. I-I feel better talking about it and getting it out there though. Thank you, Spencer."

Smiling tenderly, Spencer was happy that she finally understood Caleb's feelings about his relationship with Hanna. However, she also felt conflicted due to her own feelings for Caleb which she didn't fully understand yet. Spencer opted to just enjoy the Sangria and watch the rest of the sunrise with Caleb.

Her feelings could wait for another day.

So, in my last story I said I was going to make a Spencer and Caleb chapter for the Spaleb fans. After thinking about it, I would much rather just make a full blown story for them. My last story followed the plot much more closely than this one will. Anyways, I hope you enjoy J