Spencer turned to look at his boyfriend, sighing softly as he heard his door click shut, showing that his best friend had exited the room. It was a lot to handle at once. He knew he would forgive her in a heartbeat, but speaking for Elle and Penelope… that was a different story. He wasn't sure where they resided on the topic, except for the brief talk about it the previous night.
After Spencer left their room, he immediately went to Derek's room, who accepted him with wide arms. The two rested in his bed for a moment, silent, as Spencer laid in his arms. He, of course, had cuddled Emily multiple times before as they were fairly affectionate (she was one of the few he allowed himself to be with), but this was different. Feeling Derek's strong arms wrapped tightly around his fragile body, his hands gently swirling Spencer's hair around his fingertips, hearing his heartbeat, their bodies pressed together. It was intimate in a way he had never achieved before.
After a little bit of cuddling and talking, Spencer let out a lot. He discussed his anger about Emily, his frustration about the entire situation. Derek listened with an open ear, which Spencer was a bit alarmed about. Of course, Emily normally listened like a good friend, but always talked about something with herself immediately afterwards. Instead, Derek let him speak for as long as he wanted, and only aided him with advice instead of his own issues.
At one point, Spencer rolled over in their position to face Derek. The two of them stared at one another, silent. Spencer wanted to press their lips together, but refused to initiate it. He still wasn't sure where they stood- he knew they were together, but he was unsure of their boundaries as they hadn't discussed it. Would he be able to kiss him whenever he wanted to, hold his hand whenever? Eventually, Derek leaned in and consumed Spencer's mouth for a couple minutes, the two of them laying there as they made out. Spencer wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, shifting so he was laying ontop of them, straddling his waist.
Somewhere along the way, Spencer decided it needed to end because he wasn't quite so sure he was ready for anything like that yet, which Derek respected and ended their session with a peck on the lips. They ended up inviting people over, which is how Emily was brought up.
They sat on the surfaces throughout the room, Elle residing on the roommate's bed. Her face was a bit more red than normal, not bothering to cover it up. She knew that nobody there would judge her and that everyone there understood why she was so upset. Especially Penelope and Tara, who's room she had spent the last two nights in. They helped her so much- even though she hadn't been with Emily long, it was still so painful as it ended up being her best friend she truly felt for. Either way, she decided to go to their gathering that night to help get her mind off it. They seemed like a fun group of people, and she knew neither of the people she didn't want to see would be there.
Spencer felt sick seeing her obvious sadness knowing it was a result of his best friend and tried to help her get her mind off it, leaving his boyfriend and going to reside next to her- he talked about his special interests with her, making her laugh. He let her speak about painting and music, listening intently. It was a good evening, even when Derek finally told Penelope.
"So, honeybuns, when are we hooking up?" The blonde girl flirted playfully, leaning forward to lean her face on his knees as he sat above her. The boy blushed slightly, looking up across the room at his boyfriend who watched the scene break out in front of them. He wasn't sure how it would go. Derek could flirt back and pretend nothing was happening between them, or he could out himself.
Derek smiled down at the girl, placing his hand on her head as he ruffled her hair slightly. "Sorry, babygirl, but I'm actually dating someone now." His words drew the attention of everyone in the room- Penelope, Elle, Spencer, and Tara. The brunette boy tried to fight his smile as he bit down on his lip, gazing at his boyfriend from across the room. Penelope broke through, looking up at him with a pout.
"Thought you were saving yourself for me, sugar?" Derek chuckled slightly, rising from his position and making his way across the room, stopping in front of the younger boy. Hesitantly, he pulled the boy into a kiss and tried to fight a smile as their lips connected. Every time they kissed now he couldn't help but smile as nerves broke out into a fire all over his body. It was pure joy every time they connected.
Everyone else in the room clapped as they kissed, a whistle even coming from Elle who was sitting next to the two of them as they kissed. Derek quickly pulled away and made his way back to his seat, watching everyone's facial expressions. Tara was smiling just slightly, looking between the two boys. Penelope was in slight shock, not that she wasn't expecting it after the diner, but she wasn't expecting anything to truly occur between the two of them. Elle was simply happy for them, but couldn't bring herself to be genuinely happy as she thought of Emily.
Derek noted this, and looked at her from his position. The two of them made eye contact and he titled his head before nodding at her, telling her to speak. "Listen, guys-" Elle began, "I know we are all going through shock right now but I… I… need to talk about what happened. You guys are my friends, and I just…" She buried her face in her hands, sighing softly. "I know Pen and Tara already know, but…well, everyone knows," she grimaced. "But I need to … vent, I guess?" She looked up from her position, to ensure everyone was ok with it. Nobody spoke, so she took that as a memo to continue.
"I just… I'm a good person, and I don't know… I know we weren't together long, but I really liked her," she began, shrugging. "I just. Should I forgive her? She… we ran into each other today, and she apologized to me. Like a lot. In a way, she made herself the victim. Should I still forgive her though? She… she's not a bad person. She just made a mistake. I… I called her a bad person, and I feel awful, because deep down- I know she's not. I know you guys know it too, she just… something is going on with her. She's just… trying to figure things out, you know?" Everyone in the room looked at her softly as she spoke, allowing for her to speak as long as she needed to. They waited until a moment after she stopped speaking, ensuring that she was done. Penelope was the first to speak up, reaching over to grab her hand. "You know I love my baby girl Emily, but she fucked up. Big time. She's not making things easier for herself either, and the way you were destroyed last night… that physically hurt me. However, I think… If you want to forgive her, you can. If you don't want to, no one is expecting you to. We're here for you more than her." She nodded, flashing her a smile.
Elle let her hair fall in her face to prevent her tears from falling from her eyes. "I just… I don't understand. What was the point? What was the point? Was I an experiment?" She looked up, no longer caring if the tears poured down her face. "We literally dated for such a short period of time but…. There was no mistaking the way I felt about her. She was the first girl I slept with, how do you just erase that?" Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, her fists clenching the blanket below her. "So what? Now she's just going to move on and forget about that? How do you fucking forget!" She was a bit alarmed at her own anger, swallowing the rest of her words. "Don't even get me started on fucking JJ.." She leaned across the floor to grab an unopened seltzer, clicking it open and letting it pour down the back of her throat.
The others in the room watched, a bit nervous at her behavior. They were unsure how to respond. Did they reciprocate the anger, let her continue ranting, try to calm her down? Sighing softly, Spencer leaned across the bed and grabbed her hand, squeezing it slightly. Elle turned to look at him and instantly softened, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, that was…n't okay of me," she looked at her friends, smiling slightly.
Derek grinned at her. "You should have heard Spencer earlier." The brunette boy instantly turned to look at him, his eyes wide. He winked at him slightly. "He's just as angry as you, Elle. We all understand your anger. It's not an OK situation, and JJ isn't any better. However, JJ is your best friend. And as I told Spence, Emily is his best friend. They are good people who made poor decisions, you have to open yourselves up to them otherwise they will never change. I know they know what they did is wrong, but if they aren't given the chance to grow and change, will they ever really know how wrong it is?"
Spencer stared at him in awe, pulling his legs up to fold them across one another. Hearing his boyfriend speak in such an eloquent, mature manner did things Spencer never expected to happen to him. A soft blush crawled up on his cheeks as he noticed his boyfriend's directed stare and turned to look at the ceiling.
Elle however, pondered Derek's words heavily. She knew he was right, she wanted them to be able to move on, and whatever they decided to… was their choice. She missed her best friend. She missed Emily as a friend- even if they weren't together, they had a good connection, they were meant to know each other in some way- they were too similar. Maybe that was the issue, they were basically the same person just with different issues.
At the end of the night, they all left in good moods- Elle left in a curious, yet happy mood. She knew what she had to do and planned on immediately heading back to her and JJ's shared apartment the next day. She followed Penelope and Tara back to their dorm, their laughs echoing down the hall.
Spencer decided to spend the rest of the night at Derek's, despite having already forgiven Emily. He figured she would be swallowing in her own pity.
Or at least, that's what he thought until he got a phone call shortly after Emily left the room from Elle- sobs immediately breaking out from the other side of the phone. "Elle? Hey? What's going on with you?" Derek froze in his position near his closet, turning to look at his boyfriend who had turned the speaker to his phone on, glancing over at the bigger boy.
"I thought I could do it, Spence, I did. I really did." Another sob broke out. "I went to the apartment to try and fix things with at least JJ, come to find out they… they fucked last night. They didn't say it, but I saw it. It was very obvious." Spencer heard her grimace behind the phone, sniffling as she took another breath. "Emily was fucking sitting at our table. OUR table. Our table, Spence. Drinking the coffee that I bought," She cried out, blowing her nose into a tissue. "What the hell is wrong with them?"
The brunette boy stared at his boyfriend with wide eyes, unsure if he should respond to the crying girl or continue letting her cry out. Derek shrugged slightly, biting his lip. "I told them I wanted them to be happy. I do.. Just seeing them together was so much harder than I expected. So much harder. I'm sitting in my room right now, I waited for JJ to leave till I called you. " She took another shaky breath. "Sorry, I just.. I had to get it out. I'm gonna call Pen now. Thanks, Spence." The phone clicked, signaling the end of the call. Spencer grimaced at his boyfriend before breaking out into a smile and walking over and pulling him into a hug. Seeing his boyfriend shirtless brought something out in him. Despite all of the drama surrounding him at the moment, calling Derek his boyfriend brought a sense of euphoria.
And god damn, was it great to have his arms wrapped around a pair of strong abs.