Author's Note: And now my lovelies - here it is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! The One! The Only! The LAST CHAPPIE! Woooot! Now, I know this is somewhat shorter than most of the other chapters, but don't let it fool you - it's one of my absolute favorite chapters at all! It's has physical violence! As opposed to non-physical violence. I'm sounding stupid now, no? Anyway! Thank you so much for being here with me and for taking the time to read it and love it the way you all have! I love you right back youse knows :)
He gave her a small wave and she returned it before gassing up and leaving him on the curb, loneliness attacking him and freezing him to the spot for a few moments before he forced his feet into motion and he crossed the lawn and entered the house as quickly he could.
Every movement, no matter how small, made his body scream in pain.
He pushed the door open as soundlessly as he could and closed it just as softly. He crouched to untie his laces when his father entered the hall.
"We're eating in five minutes," he said and Spencer told his heart to calm down as he made sure to keep his back turned to his father, and his face hidden beneath his bangs.
"I already ate. Penelope and I went to the diner." He could almost hear his father nod.
"Was she the one to give you that hickey on your neck?" Spencer's hand flew up to his neck, hiding a mark he hadn't known were there. "Next time you decide to go on a date please tell me so before we start cooking."
"Okay," Spencer said and William left the room again. He stood and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on a hanger in the closet before ascending the stairs and locking himself into his room. He dropped down to his bed the moment after letting the door fall shut and he stared at the wall accusingly.
How could this have happened?
He stayed in the same position on the bed for forty minutes and then a soft knock on his door pulled him from his almost thoughtless daze.
"Spencer?" Emily asked and stuck in her head. "What did your dad mean when he said you ate on a date with Penelope Garcia?" He could hear her smile and didn't answer. "Spencer?" He heard the door close and feet crossing the floor, patting against the plush carpet. "Is that a hickey?"
"No," he said flatly. "It's not." He turned around to his back and watched as his step-sister's eyes widened in horror and filled with tears. She crawled on the bed and spooned him, held him close and petted his hair with her tears running soundlessly as he told her what they had done. She cried for a long time after, her tears catching in his hair and his shirt, leaving big wet markings.
They fell asleep with her arm around his chest, holding him pressed against her and in the morning she helped him dress in a long sleeved-shirt and with a scarf to hide the markings around his neck.
She offered to hide the rest with makeup, but he told her he would keep his head down like he had done back in Vegas.
He never shed a tear.
x
Spencer followed Emily meekly into the classroom and kept his eyes stubbornly at his feet while he let his sister give Mr. Rossi their excuses for being late. The teacher liked Emily and let them settle into their usual seats, Emily in the back and Spencer next to JJ.
"Hey," JJ whispered when Spencer sat next to her and nudged him with her elbow when he didn't reply. The nudge was so painful it nearly took his breath away. "Why are you late?"
He shrugged and pulled his book from his bag while avoiding giving JJ a chance to gaze upon his face. If she had a chance to look at him she would see it immediately and he didn't want her to know.
"Hey," JJ said insistently. "Is something wrong?"
Spencer shook his head when the door burst open.
"I'm so sorry I'm late Mr. Rossi – my car broke down on the way and I ran the rest..." Spencer had looked up to see what was happening by the door, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to keep his face hidden, but Derek's shocked expression made him remember and he looked down on the book quickly, but not fast enough.
Derek was in front of him in three seconds, soft hands lifting his face by the chin.
"Who did this?" he asked and JJ gasped next to him when she eyed the damage done to his face. The black eye, puffed cheeks and the scratches. At least it didn't look so bad anymore. Not after Penelope had helped him wash away the blood.
Spencer looked away and tried to break Derek's grip. It was surprisingly strong considering the almost tender hold.
"Answer me," Derek demanded, a note of desperation in his voice that puzzled Spencer. "Who did this?"
"I walked into a door," he said quietly, hoping Derek would sense his reluctance and let it go. Rossi was staring at him as well, just as every student in the class.
"Bullshit," Derek declared. "Tell me who did this!"
"Who do you think?" Emily asked and when Derek let go of Spencer's chin he looked over his shoulder at his sister who was standing, leaning her weight on the table in front of her. Spencer had never seen her look as furious as she did in that moment.
"What do you mean?" Derek asked, and Spencer stared down at his book. He didn't have the courage to look up.
"Those great friends of yours? From football, George and all his likes. And Alexa," Emily added, probably on JJ's behalf. "They tricked him to the football court, beat him up and tied him to a goal post. Naked!" Spencer felt his face blush and he wanted nothing more than to disappear down into a deep hole. Or maybe to just curl up and die.
His throat burned.
His eyes stung.
Derek made a strangled noise, turned on his heels, and marched out the room, Rossi finally regained his posture as he followed him to the door and demanded him to return to his seat.
Spencer found it amazingly difficult to comprehend what happened during the next hour.
x
Penelope were trying to see if eyes could actually burn holes in the back of someone's head. She was seated right behind George Foyet and if anyone had deserved to have holes burned into the backs of their head it would be that slimey, lying, bastard, who had dared to lay hands on that cute little genius her Derek was so incredibly and secretly in love with.
She had made a plan to hack the school database after school to add some new material to his file.
Some new future-altering material.
He deserved that and so much more, but she would have to settle.
Unless her 'burning eyes'-experiment turned out to be successful. Or if she managed to get the big, porridge-filled head to combust.
The tap-tap-tap of her pen was drowned out by the sound of the door exploding open and connecting with the door with a slam so loud Penelope jumped in her seat.
And then the man she had just thought about – not Spencer, the other one – shouted, "YOU!" and launched himself at George, his hand connecting with George's jaw and sending him out of his chair and rolling on the floor. Derek followed him, his fists landing blow after blow to the other's face and torso.
Mr. Rossi appeared in the door and he and Mr. Gideon forced the two young men apart with quite a bit of trouble.
"What the hell, man?" George yelled at his teammate, as Mr. Rossi and Wallace "The Wall" Lichtenstein pulled Derek towards the hallway. Gideon was strong enough to manage George on his own. "What the hell?"
"If you EVER touch him again," Derek replied, his face a contorted mask of rage. He struggled to come forward again, "I will END YOU!"
The blooming black eye George was sporting was, in addition to her planned shenanigans, still not nearly enough, but it was growing closer.
Penelope smiled to herself.
x
JJ took Spencer's hand and the fingertips of her other hand caressed the bruises shown on his wrist where his shirt rode up. They could hear Derek somewhere down the hall, Mr. Rossi too yelling for him to stop and then a door bursting open and some muffled shouts.
Emily came up and crouched next to him.
"It's going to be alright," she said softly and gave him a smile he didn't return. He found it very unlikely that anything would be alright.
"... EVER touch him again," Spencer suddenly heard someone down the hall was shouting, "I will END YOU!"
His heart stopped beating for a minute then resumed in a pace faster than ever when he realized.
x
"Derek is at the Principal's," Penelope said and positioned herself across from Spencer and JJ at the table. "He came into our classroom and started beating up George Foyet. He'll probably be suspended if he doesn't come up with a good explanation, although word has it Mr. Rossi spoke up for him to the principal." She took a carrot stick from the open bag in front of Emily and bit into it with a serious look at Spencer. "Someone should probably go see if he's okay."
Then she got up and left the trio at the table.
x
Derek was sitting in the chair across from the secretary, who was ignoring him vehemently while writing something on her computer. Her speed left much to be wished for, Spencer observed, as she was hitting every key with her right index finger. The young man was looking at his feet and Spencer watched him from safety across the hall outside.
He was waiting for Ms. Erickson to get up to go to lunch, as he knew she would in less in a minute. Finally she paused the computer and grabbed her purse.
"Stay here until I come back," she instructed Derek sternly as she rose. "Your mother should be here in half an hour's time and until then I won't have you running off somewhere." Derek nodded without looking at her, and she sighed and passed by him, nodding to Spencer when she recognized him in the hall.
When she was out of sight, he walked up to the open door, stepped in and closed the door behind him. Derek didn't look up immediately, but continued staring stubbornly at his feet for a while before finally giving in to the insistent silence.
His eyes widened with surprise when he recognized the other boy in the office.
"Spencer," he started and his mouth moved, but no words came out. He looked heartbroken, Spencer thought, and as if he couldn't find the right words.
Neither could Spencer. His throat burned.
"I'm so, so sorry," Derek finally said, the words soft and caring and something burst inside Spencer, the tears he had been fighting for almost a day, suddenly rushing to his eyes.
"I didn't," he said and sniffed to fight the urge to sob. His eyes stung. "I never cried." The dam broke as the words were spoken, and the tears were running down his cheeks, the sob he was holding back ripping through his body.
Derek was by his side in a second, his hands tenderly cradling his face as he brought his own close enough so their foreheads could rest against each other.
"You were so brave," he muttered and Spencer's sobbing increased. "Braver than I could ever be."
"And it still wasn't enough," Spencer said after several minutes had passed and the sobbing had decreased. He had a faint suspicion that the principal had opened his door at some point only to close it again at the sight of the two boys in the strikingly intimate position.
"Together we will be," Derek said with confidence and pulled back an inch so he could look properly into Spencer's eyes. "Together we'll be enough."
"Yes," Spencer said breathlessly and then Derek pulled him up and pressed their lips together, and it hurt, the rip in his lip reopening, but it still felt so good and the pain only enhanced the feeling of happiness.
Derek pulled away at the taste of iron and his thump ran tenderly across Spencer's bottom lip, wiping the blood away.
"Sorry about that," he muttered and leaned back in to rest their foreheads against each other. Their breaths mingled and Spencer felt deliriously happy.
"It's okay," he replied softly and covered Derek's hand on his cheek with his own.
"I'll kiss you more thoroughly when I can do so without causing you any pain," he said and touched Spencer's black eye with the tips of his fingers.
"Will you take care of my virginity then too?" Spencer asked and Derek laughed, causing him to chuckle too.
"I think we can work something out," Derek said and his eyes promised Spencer all the things he had wished for and dreamed about.
And it felt even better than he had ever imagined it would.