Chapter Ten: Alive
Spencer sat up in his bed. After months of recuperation, he finally recovered from the fire. Rehab had been horrible; pure physical torment. He had expected to have a 'blue period' creating horrifying works of art that disgusted people.
Instead, he found himself more in love with life than ever. Colors fascinated Spencer, and he spent his time creating inspirational sculptures.
"Hey Carly!" His little sister bounced in. Well, not exactly. She did not quite have that same girlish spirit. She seemed to have matured. He decided that she had changed at the thought of losing him.
Still… something was new, "Hey… did you get a haircut or something?"
Carly blushed, brushing her hair behind her ear self-consciously, "Um, what do you mean?"
He shrugged, "Maybe it's the drugs, but… you're different now. You have a glow about you."
Her head bowed, "Really? You think I glow?'
"Yeah… you look a lot better. I'm glad you dumped that Griffin kid. I'm really proud of you."
He turned away, whistling happily as he applied grass green paint to a giant hat.
"Spencer, I can talk to you about anything, right?"
He nodded happily, "Yeah, why?"
There were silent. The paintbrush covered the hat sloshing loudly. He stopped, "Oh no…" Spencer turned, "Did you? I mean, were you… and then you…?"
Carly blushed even brighter, "Uh, yeah, I lost my 'V' card."
He glared, "not with…"
"No!" She exclaimed, "Not Griffin! Freddie actually swiped it, believe it or not."
Spencer shrugged doubtfully, "Surprised he could…"
"Spencer!"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot, what did you want to talk about?"
She picked at her skirt, "I just wanted to tell you, okay?"
He nodded, and then pulled her in for a hug, "Okay. And… I don't know if I'm proud, really, but… I want you to know I'm here for you if you need to talk."
Carly squeezed her big brother happily, "Thanks Spencer, and yeah, I know that."
They stayed like that, a momentary respite from the world around them, "You must miss him terribly."
She nodded, "You have no idea. It's like this hole inside of me, and the more I love him, the bigger it gets, and the more I hate him for doing this to me…"
"The worse it gets."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Carly?"
"Yeah, Spencer?"
"I know Freddie, he's one of my best friends. And I know he'll come back for you."
Carly whined into his shoulder. She did not want to wait for him, "No, 'cause I'm going to go to him."