Spencer sits idly in his seat, lost in his own thoughts. Charlotte was back in Michigan, getting better with every day. Spencer felt, in a odd little sense, happy for her. Sean was doing phenomenal in school, and Spencer had attended his first play, which he admits, Sean was quite the talking pumpkin, even if he forgot a few of his lines, he made it up with his charisma.

The crease in between his brow increases as he thinks about how different his life is from how he imagined it would be a few years back, and he can't decide if this is better then his previous outlook, or worse, really, it was just different. "You're going to get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that," Derek says, coffee mug in hand as he sits across from him.

"Eventually, everyone wrinkles," Spencer replies, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips so tightly, he feels as though they might rip apart, and leave him without a mouth. In a nightmare, Spencer had a similar occurrence once.

Derek's eyes are so dark they reflect everything around them, and Spencer hates to see his face in those marvelous orbs, they're so revealing. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong if you don't want to, but no matter what, I will always ask," he says, and Spencer lowers his head, collecting himself.

A brief set of words could set him free, or damn him forever.

"I was just thinking about...how I imagined what my life would be at this point," he says, licking his lips in a nervous manner he so often does. "And, I use to imagine being alone most of the time, because I was just so...heartbroken, in a sense? I was okay with you being married, and okay with us never happening, and okay with spending my life alone or somewhat halfhearted with someone else," he trails off, not exactly sure where this is going anymore.

"I was complete fine with that, but things got complicated, and this, I'm not sure what this is that we have going on, and I don't do well without structure, Derek," Spencer says, and it comes out more as a plea then anything else.

Derek stares at him, eyes piercing him like a dagger as he tilts his head slightly to the side, eyebrows raised in alarm and a meek sort of concern. "I messed up so badly, Spence. I placed you into a impossible situation, and I don't know, everything I did was wrong, but when we were together, living together, raising Sean, I have never, never felt more happy or right in my life."

Derek shrugs absentmindedly before continuing. "I, after the court hearing, I just wanted you to come home. I needed you so badly, but I pushed you away, and I'm sorry for that, no matter how much I say that, it'll never be enough. I broke your trust, I broke our friendship, and I lost your respect, and it kills me every day when I think about it."

Spencer looks at him, almost fondly as he says, "Can we fix this?"

"I think we can," Derek says, and there is so much force and conviction in his voice that Spencer can't think to doubt him.

"I want to."

"I want you to come home, Sean wants you to come home; it's all he talks about," Derek says, and his hands are palm side up on the table, and Spencer doesn't ignore the urge to reach out and place his hands into Derek's.

"This really isn't work appropriate, but we're on our way home, so...," Spencer trails off, leaning forward to place a soft kiss to Derek's lips, and while the other man definitely wants more, wants to turn that soft kiss into something more, he relents. That could wait, he decides.

The decision to return to Derek's house, his house, is amazingly easy considering. Sean is overjoyed to have him so near again, and he loves having a large house to care for the ever growing boy, watching him grow. Spencer hates moving, he really does, but it is a promise that this is the last time; that both Derek and Spencer were here to stay.

"You are not going for that cookie jar, are you?" Spencer inquires as Sean turns around quickly, caught red-handed.

"No," he lies, glasses slumped on his nose as his hair sticks out wildly, tangled from playing outside all day.

"Sean."

"I'm sorry," he says, and Spencer grins. The child was definitely a charmer, that much was obvious, but he was also a sensitive boy who took everything to heart, and a terrible liar.

"What did you do that's bad?"

"I lied."

"You lied, and you know that's not a nice thing to do. What are you going to do?"

"Not lie."

"That sounds reasonable," Spencer smiles, walking towards the counter before retrieving two cookies. Dinner wasn't ready yet, but one cookie couldn't possibly hurt.

"Thanks, dad," Sean smiles, hands wrapping around his waist as Spencer leans down to place a kiss to the top of his head.

"You need to wash up, and tell Danny to stop splashing mud on your pants!" Spencer calls out as Sean runs out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room, tripping half the way up before screaming he was alright.

"You let him get away with too much," Derek comments, coming in from the garage, traces of oil covering most of his upper body.

Spencer grins, moving towards him, placing a kiss to his lips. "I really wanted a cookie, too," he laughs, and Derek joins in.

Derek moves to wrap his arms around him, but Spencer dodges him. "You're filthy, go shower!" he yells, but Derek is relentless, chasing him around the kitchen. "Stop!"

"What, you don't want me to hug you?" he calls out, trying to corner Spencer in the living room, not expecting the other man to lunge over the couch.

"This is a new shirt!" Spencer screams, and it was, and it was nice, and purple.

"You don't even work this hard when I force you to work out!" Derek laughs, tackling Spencer at the ends of the stairs, making sure to rub his upper half along Spencer's dress shirt.

"You suck," Spencer laughs, face in a half serious scowl.

"I wanted you to take a shower with me," Derek says honestly, placing himself between Spencer's thighs to level off his weight.

"You could have just asked me," Spencer says, making no attempts at moving.

"I thought this way was better," Derek answers.

Spencer rolls his eyes. "I have to watch the chicken."

"It's got, like, another hour."

"If the house burns down, it's on you."

"I will take that risk."

Derek stands, offering Spencer a helping hand that the other man takes. The two make their way upstairs, but as they pass Sean's bathroom door they notices a sea of bubbles pouring out through the opening. "Sean," Derek says, and he knocks on the door once before opening it. Spencer peers in, bubbles filling every nook and cranny.

"Sean," Derek calls out again, and when a small figure lunges from the top of the sink, Spencer yelps as Sean appears in his Captain America costume.

"I'm not Sean, I'm Captain America!" he declares, hands on his hips.

"What are you doing?" both Spencer and Derek ask at the same time.

"I'm working with Namor!"

"Well Namor needs to go back into the ocean, Cap, and Sean needs to get cleaned up, or Sean's going to be grounded, got it?"

"I will tell Sean, it is my duty!" Sean says before disappearing into the bubbles once again.

"And Sean better have this cleaned up," Derek adds, and a muffled okay is what he receives in return.

Derek shakes his head, Spencer behind him with his hand over his mouth to stifle out the laughter. "You sure you're glad to be back?" Derek questions jokingly. Spencer places a arm over his shoulder, bringing his body closer before placing a kiss to his cheek. "Very."