CHAPTER 33: Not Quite A Nervous Wreck

EMILY'S POV:

I woke up feeling cold. I glanced over to see that Spencer was absent from the bed. Panic fled through my body as I shot up, only to see Spencer already dressed, ready to go, sitting by my window. She was twirling the ends of her hair nervously, her face pale.

"Spence…" I groaned, flopping back down. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long." Spencer muttered back.

"How long is not long?" With her, you never would know.

She glanced at my alarm clock next to my bed.

"About three hours." She shrugged. "Not long."

I sighed and rolled out of bed, stretching. I sat down next to Spencer, and cupped her hand with mine.

"Honey, why don't you go back to sleep." I suggested. "You shouldn't have gotten up so early."

"I'm fine Emily." She replied, glancing over at me. "You can go back to sleep if you want." She offered.

"No no, It's fine." I yawned, and she raised her eyebrow. "Really, I'm fine." I smiled.

She rolled her eyes and continued looking out the window.

"What are you looking at?" I followed where she was looking with my eyes, but didn't see anything unusual.

"Nothing." Spencer mumbled. "Just the snow."

I sighed and moved closer to her. I laid my head on her shoulder, and could feel how fast she was breathing.

"Spencer, calm down." I moved my head and looked into her eyes.

"I'm fine." She snapped, a little irritated.

I cupped her face with my hands and rested my forehead against hers.

"I can feel your breath Spencer." I pointed out, as her warm breath coasted my face again.

She frowned, but her breathing didn't cease.

"Breathe…Spence.." I soothed. "It will be okay."

She closed her eyes, and I could tell she was struggling to regain a normal breathing rate. After about five minutes, she finally calmed down, and looked up at me.

"I'm sorry Em." She smiled. "I'm just so nervous."

"I know." I let my hands fall from her face, and I grabbed her hands. "You'll be okay."

"Will I?" She looked down at our intertwined hands.

"Yes." I kissed her softly, and then pulled away to look into her eyes.

She sighed, and stood up off the window seat.

I watched as she ran her hands through her hair, and walked back and forth. Sighing, I got up and walked over to her.

"Spencer…" I muttered quietly, placing my hands on her shoulders only to have her keep moving back and forth.

"Why don't we go downstairs and grab something to eat before-"

"Okay." She cut me off before I could finish my sentence, but she knew what I was going to say. Before she went back home.

I walked with her downstairs, and made coffee while we waited for our toast to cook. However, once everything was ready, Spencer refused to eat anything.

"I'm good." She smiled up at me.

"Spencer come on." I placed a plate in front of her, but she still didn't touch it. After asking her about five times, and after she was getting pretty frustrated, I gave up and finished eating on my own.

I placed the dishes in the sink, and we walked out to my car. The entire ride was silent, and Spencer wouldn't look at me. She knew I was still upset at her for not eating anything.

We stopped by her car, and she was able to get it out of the snow. When we got to her house, she parked her car, and waited as I stepped out of mine.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" I wondered, as she paused outside the door.

She shook her head. "I don't want things to go badly in front of you." She sighed.

"Okay. If you wish. I'm going to go ahead and drive home then, I'll call you later alright?" I made sure she knew I wasn't trying to abandon her. She nodded, and waited until I was walking away to knock on the door.

SPENCER'S POV:

I knocked on the door, cautious. Melissa opened it within seconds, and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Spencer! You're back! Oh gosh we were so worried!" She pulled me in, after waving to Emily, who was pulling out of our driveway.

"Are mom and dad home?" I asked, hesitant.

"Yes, but they're upstairs. They've been arguing and talking for a long time." She mentioned.

"R-really?" I was surprised they cared so much to discuss it for so long.

"Yeah. God Spence, we were so worried. The weather was so bad, and the snow was so thick." She sighed. "I'm just glad you made it to Emily's alright."

"Yeah. It took a while but I made it." I left out the part about me running half the way there, as to not freak her out any more.

"Spencer?" My mom walked downstairs and enveloped me in a hug.

"Honey, I'm so glad you're back." She sighed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah mom, I'm fine." I smiled reassuringly.

"We were so worried." She laughed nervously. I nodded, it was the third time I had heard that. Did these people really care about me that much?

"How's dad?" Melissa asked.

My mom sighed. "He's fine. I think he's trying his best to understand the situation, so that's a good sign."

Melissa nodded. "I'm glad. What did Emily and you do while you hung out Spence?" She smirked at me, and I felt my face heat up, but my mom didn't seem to notice.

"We played some board games, and Aria and Hanna made it out the other day to hang with us." I mentioned, not lying, but not telling everything. They had no reason to know, although I was certain Melissa had figured it out.

"Cool." Melissa grabbed an apple and bit into it. I felt my stomach turn, and I knew I was hungry, but the sound of footsteps walking down the stairs drove out any thought of an appetite.

"Spencer?"

I felt myself tense up, and I turned around.

"Hey Dad."