Chapter 2 - Thinking About You
A/N: Feedback is the love that fuels me. Good or bad as long as it is constructive.
Trina didn't go to the Metro Court, she had gone home instead. She didn't want to argue with Rory, but she could understand why he might be upset. He had every reason to worry about Spencer. Her heart knew that but logically, her brain was the problem. She wasn't expecting a visitor to be waiting for her.
"So, who won?" She asked him bluntly. She didn't appreciate being spoken about as if she weren't standing there awkwardly while the two of them puffed their chests out like Neanderthals. She couldn't help but smile at the memory of Spencer pretending to be just that. That was the thing about him, when they met he seemed so care free. Sure he was a little troubled but he was open. She shook her head.
"Won what?" He asked slowly.
"The who's bigger contest between you and Spencer back there." Caught, he looked down bashfully, scuffing his sneakers on the curb.
"No one wins when you walk away hurt or offended and for that, I apologize. He just gets under my skin a little." He looked at her wanting the awkwardness to go away. He didn't like guys like Spencer; entitled rich brats who thought that they could get away with anything. They had everything and deserved nothing. They were a a blight on society that fueled the imbalance, the inequity that humanity faced. He felt heat rush to his ears as the anger began to stir within him. Spencer was a tool, he used Trina to make himself feel good. Just like a rich snot would. It is why he was sure to call Jordan once he heard the confession. He knew that he would be sent back to Spring Ridge but once he heard Pentonville, he was delighted. The pretty boy needed to learn a lesson and Trina needed time away from him to truly get over him.
What they didn't know, he was once a CO, at Pentonville and still knew a few of them.
"I just… Trina, I have told you how I felt about you. I just don't want to get messed around, ok?" At a loss for what to think or what to tell him she decided to stick to facts. The fact were; Spencer was never hers, he had a girlfriend, and he was just not that into her and she wasn't into him...like that...anymore. You couldn't blur the facts, except, that is exactly what she was attempting to do.
"Rory, you've held me. You've sat down with my parents and had conversations. You've kissed me. I've kissed you, several times." She looked at him through her lashes, a shy smile played at her lips.
"These lips have never touched Spencer's. Spencer and I were friends, I would like—"
"Trina, you admitted under oath that you had feelings for him. I mean, come on." He said heatedly as ge ran his hand through his hair as he recalled the raw emotion on her face as she recalled her time at the cabin. He would not be played for a fool. Especially not by some rich pretty boy who wouldn't be able to survive a day doing hard labor.
"I also said under oath that I no longer have those feelings for him. I meant it. I was arrested in March. It was then that he told me that he didn't believe me. Things can change in five months." He pressed his lips together as processed what she said. Deep down he knew that something was between them, but he also knew that Trina was a good person. She was honest. He wanted to trust her, but sometimes people lied to themselves. He wondered if that were the case for Trina. It didn't matter, she was worthy. She wasn't like Spencer. She deserved better and he would show her better.
"After he risked his freedom for mine, I think we can at least rebuild our friendship. We have the same circle of friends. It would make things easier." Trina knew that there was good in Spencer. She may not have understood why he did what he did, but she was going to find out. Still, he had hurt her. What she felt for him, she had to let it go. She couldn't allow herself to be hurt that way again. Not by him, not by anyone.
"He doesn't want to be your friend, Trina. A man only makes a sacrifice like that for the woman he…" He trailed off not wanting to admit it. She just shook her head.
"Spencer Cassadine has no interest in me outside of friendship. Why can't you get that?" He looked away from her, frustration bubbled to the surface. He had really begun to like Trina.
"I think that you need to think about what you want. I can't be your second choice." He looked down at the ground.
"I can't have this conversation if you refuse to look at me." She took his face in her hands looking up at him.
"Rory, look at me." He looked at her under his lashes, he wanted to trust in her word but he also had a heart that could be broken. "I am into you. I want to see where this goes. I like where it's headed."
"Where it's headed? The way I see it, we've been building this for a bit now. I'm ready for the next step." She looked at him a bit confused and nervous.
"What's the next step?" He chuckled,
"Making it official. The two of us only seeing each other." She smiled at him.
"Official, I like the sound of that." She kissed him. He returned the kiss pulling her into his arms. Trina could feel his heartbeat, but there was something missing. She didn't feel the fluttering in her belly. She didn't feel the passion. She didn't ache for him when they were apart. In that moment, kissing Rory; she felt an ache. A craving for that which she had never tasted. Still, she had missed it. She grabbed his shirt pulling him closer trying to sooth the ache. She tried to satisfy the craving by telling herself those things would come for Rory. She needed to give it time, but she was sure that they would come. Wouldn't they?
Rory was everything her parents would accept. A fellow cop that her father could relate to. One who her mother can see as noble and humble. Considering how the PCPD botched her case those were things that she could never understand but she knew on paper... On paper if she presented the qualities, despite Spencer being more than what the surface showed they would still choose Rory. Maybe that was for a reason. Besides, she was done with the prince.
The more she told herself that she was done with Spencer, the more she gave into the kiss. Breathlessly, they pulled apart.
"Wow. You mean business." She smiled.
"Maybe I just like kissing you…" Then she remembered.
"Are you sure that this is what you want? I'm still waiting for the Jury to come back with a verdict." He kissed her in response.
"The jury will come back with a not guilty verdict. Why don't we go back to my place and watch a movie?" Rory suggested not wanting to let go of the moment, he feared that she would change her mind if he did. If she had the chance to talk to Spencer.
"Maybe another night. I'm drained." He smiled.
"Ok, we can make it a celebration." She nodded, she loved how he supported her and that she never had to question or doubt that support.
"See you then." She went inside.
Wyndemere
Spencer walked into the sitting room where his father was waiting. "I think my skin chafed in those prison blues." Nikolas frowned as Spencer exaggeratedly rubbed his arms.
"I imagine the prison orange is much worse." Nikolas stood preparing for the storm that was soon to follow once he told his son the truth. Spencer had some of his mother's qualities but he also had some of his grandfather's just as Nikolas had. That is what scared him the most. However, Nikolas had Stefan to guide him and unfortunately, he had not been Stefan to Spencer. He had in fact been a terrible role model and father. The guilt started to gnaw at his resolve. Maybe it was better if Spencer didn't know.
"Give it a rest Father, my mind is made up. The only thing I'm concerned about is finding Esme." The guilt clawed at him, Nikolas ran his hand through his hair. He needed to tell spencer the truth, he knew it. He just didn't know how to broach the subject so...he reverted to form. Cold, calculating and of course, he had to put Spencer's feelings aside.
"You'll need to sit down for this." Noticing the expression on his father's face Spencer did as ask for a change his mind filled with worry. Had something happened to his Uncle Victor? Did something happen to Esme? He no longer cared for her but he needed her to exonerate Trina.
"Did something happen to Esme?" Nikolas remembers the tumble that Esme took over the parapet.
"I told you what happened. I just didn't tell you why. Esme was blackmailing me." Nikolas couldn't find the words to say to his son so he tried to formulate a believable story on the fly, for how could he tell him that he had bedded his girlfriend. Spencer watched the emotions warred on his father's face. Then it clicked.
He had come home, he and Ava arrived at the same time. There were clothes near the door. They called for Esme and Nikolas but got no answer for quite a while.
"Oh my God! You slept with her?!" Nikolas hung his head, a trait of a Cassadine is intelligence. From a young age they are trained. The best schools, language coaches, tutors, they were to be prepared to take over the world. Of course he would figure it out when Nikolas so was far off his game.
"All these years and you are still led by your…parts." He spat in disgust. He knew that his father had slept with his Uncle Lucky's wife. Port Charles was a small town, people talk. There was lots of talk even at his boarding school about the dark prince and the Cassadine legacy. The saddest part is that he wasn't surprised. He knew that outside of his grandmother, his father only tolerated him. Tolerating him wasn't the same as loving him. It was a fact that he carried but he dealt with it by putting it on a shelf. Compartmentalizing it. It is why it was easy to accept the 90 days. No one would miss him. He was alone. He had friends sure but they weren't really his friends. He had no one but himself. Once upon a time he had Trina but he had ruined that, hadn't he?
Spencer couldn't speak at first. Emotions overwhelmed him but he refused to show them to his father. He refused to continue to beg for crumbs, scraps, anything that resembled some semblance of a father.
"I never wanted to hurt you—"
"Yet you always manage to do things that you know will hurt me." He snorted. "But let me be clear. I don't care who Esme sleeps with. I should be surprised that my own father would bed her but...ironically, I am not." Spencer spat then laughed humorlessly.
"So how was it? There is this little thing that she likes to do. She swears by it. She thinks that it is something unique and outstanding but it is mediocre at best." He laughed. "I don't have much to compare to, though. She probably thought that you were a more experienced version of me." He laughed again.
"Spencer don't be vile-"
"VILE? You ask me not to be vile while cheating on your wife with a teenager?! A teenager? What kind of sicko are you?" Spencer stared at him still in shock.
"ENOUGH!" Victor called as he walked into the room. "We are family-"
"Break out the symbols so that we can harmonize." Spencer laughed. "I am sorry uncle but I have no interest in harmonizing with this man who has only been a half ass father to me my entire life." Spencer said sadly.
"One last thing, Ava found out and ended her, didn't she?" Spencer looked at the patriarchs of his family.
"Why would you automatically go there?!" Nikolas shouted.
"Because Ava isn't the type to take that lying down." He laughed again. "Very convenient, Esme's disappearance, isn't it Father?" Spencer paced as he tried to put the pieces together.
"Ava is going to make your life more miserable than it is. Here I'm going to Pentonville when all I had to do was just wait until you gave into your baser urges. Have you ever been faithful in your life?" He shook his head.
"How tragic." Spencer chuckled at the irony of it all as Nikolas tried to protest. Spencer didn't want to hear it. He walked away hoping to get the visual image out of his head.
What game was Esme playing? He had assumed that she'd gone after Trina because she was jealous but for her to sleep with his father. Something else was at play and he intended to find out what it was.
Court House The Following Day
The verdict had come back and Trina was nervous. That was it, her fate would soon be sealed. She watched as the foreman handed over the envelope that contained the decision they could forever impact her life.
"Your honor these proceedings must stop immediately." Robert Scorpio, the District Attorney stormed into the courtroom.
The judge allowed Oz Haggerty to be questioned as a witness for the defense. He confirmed that Esme did buy the burner phone from him. The ADA had no choice but to drop the charges, she was free!
Freeee. All the accusations, the dirty looks, and more importantly, being expelled from school and she was exonerated. She couldn't wait to tell…
Then she remembered he was there, waiting on pins and needles as though the verdict really had an impact on him. He really confused her sometimes. She was too happy to dwell. She spoke with her parents, friends, Rory, everyone else. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she turned to face the only person she hadn't spoken to…him.