I woke up groggily, expecting to be uncomfortably covered in sand. But that was not the case. When my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the daytime, I rolled over and saw that I was still on the beach, but I was lying on a blanket.


I sat up, confused and disoriented. Not only was I lying on a soft blanket, but I also had a pillow and a basket of breakfast items.



What the hell?

“Welcome back, Spencer,” I turned abruptly, searching for the source of the speaker. I looked up at the man standing a few feet away, but the sun was blinding, making it difficult to make out the silhouetted person. It must be late in the morning. He knelt down so he was at my level, and I smiled.


“Hi, Vic,” I said quietly. “How did you find me?”


He bit his lip for a moment, and then answered. “Er, Jaime called me. He said that you were probably upset and went in this direction,” he shrugged his shoulders, and then he plopped down onto the sand next to me. “I figured I’d let you stay; you looked happy,” he added.


“I appreciate this,” I said genuinely.


“Yeah, well, I also didn’t want to drag your fat ass back home,” he grinned. I smacked his arm.


“Abuse!” he yelled obnoxiously.

“Vic!” I hissed, giggling.



He laughed for a moment, and then grew serious. “Jaime told me everything. And he apologized. Are you okay?”


I nodded, remembering last night. I had been on an emotional rollercoaster, overwhelmed with memories. I didn’t really want to talk about it.I didn’t want to have to relive it.


“CapriSuns? Really?” I laughed hysterically when I looked into the breakfast basket and discovered two CapriSuns and two plain bagels.


“What?” he asked dramatically, looking appalled with my reaction. “They’re the shit,” he said, reaching over for one.


“Vic, it’s okay if you’re gay. I will support you no matter what,” I grinned evilly.


He made the mock-appalled face again, smacking my arm playfully.


“Assault!” I yelled loudly. Laughing and looking horrified simultaneously, he dropped his CapriSun in his lap and put his hands over my mouth.


“Don’t say that!” he whispered-yelled. I giggled, biting his pinky.


“Abuse!” he yelled again, wrenching his hand back and holding it carefully. He pouted.


“Vic!” I laughed, shaking my head.


We sat for a few minutes, sipping on our CapriSuns and eating our bagels in peace. I had an enormous smile on my face as I let my eyes wander into the vast ocean.


And this smile felt real.


~~

We spent about an hour at the beach together, talking about unimportant things and just enjoying each other’s company. It was a nice distraction from Jaime and everything bad that has happened.


Vic really had a way of making me happy and lightening the mood.


“Aw, don’t make me blush,” he nudged me as we were walking back to his house. At that, I blushed. I accidentally said what I was thinking out loud, again.


“So, when do you guys start playing shows again?” I asked, quickly changing the subject.


“Soon,” he grinned. I could tell how happy music made him; whenever someone brought up the band, a certain spark lit up in his eyes.


He put his hands around his neck. “Once I’m cleared to sing, again,” he added, making a gurgling sound.


“That’s not funny,” I frowned. I was kidding, and he knew that, but I couldn’t help but flash back to when we first saw his mass of injuries. I could almost feel the blood coming from his neck slice in between my fingers again. I shivered.


“Sorry,” he said quietly.


I shivered again. I didn’t like to remember how beat up Vic was… how close to death he was…


Instead of saying anything else, I grabbed his free hand and squeezed it tightly. Sometimes I just needed a little reminder that somebody, that he, was really there.


“Spencer!” Tony squealed when we walked into the house.


“Hey, there,” I chuckled. “Tony, do you ever go home?” I asked, feigning annoyance.


“You are cold-hearted,” he frowned.


I giggled, hugging him lightly. “What’s up?”


“Nothing, I was just welcoming you back. But I see how it is,” he pouted, turning slightly away. I rolled my eyes playfully and ruffled his hair.


“Hey!” he whined. I rolled my eyes again, laughing at his silliness. I loved when the guys were silly. It made me happy. But I also couldn’t help but miss Jaime. He was silly, too.


A hole in my chest started to widen at the thought of him. He needed to be here. He needed to be with his band. I hated to think that they were separated due to my presence.


I groaned, realizing what day it was. “I have work this afternoon, guys,” I said with a sigh.


“Where?” Mike popped out of nowhere.


I laughed at his sudden presence. Mike was so random sometimes. “Hey, Mike,” I started. “Starbucks. I quit the record shop. There’s no way in hell I am ever going to stack CD’s again,” I said.


“When do you work?” Vic asked.


“Er, what time is it?”


“About noon,” Tony said.


“Shit! I have to go in at one until six,” I frowned, jutting out my bottom lip. I hated working, but it was a necessity. Besides, I needed to start apartment shopping again. I couldn’t mooch off of these, although successful, boys forever.


I groaned when I came to another realization. “I don’t have clothes,” I sighed, closing my eyes.


“Jaime’s?” Vic asked. I nodded.


“I’ll just go now,” I said, turning for the door. Yet another realization hit me. I had no method of transportation to get to Starbucks.


“Do you need a ride?” Vic asked, sensing my problem. I turned and gave him a guilty grin. “I’ll grab my keys,” he said.


“Bye, Mike! Bye, Tony!” I waved, and then I left the house.


The ride to Jaime’s was nearly silent. I felt nervous for some reason. “Do you want me to grab you something?” Vic asked. It was like he could detect my emotions. I shook my head, though.


“That’s okay. I’ll be quick,” I said, hopping out of the car and jogging up to the apartment.


“Uh, hey?” Jaime greeted me at the door.


“I, uh, gotta get some clothes,” I stuttered. He nodded, letting me in.


After I changed into clothes suitable for work and as I stuffed a bag with the remainder of my clothes, I decided to talk to Jaime for a minute. “Himes, you can’t seclude yourself from the guys, you know,” I said seriously. “I know you are having problems, but they can help you, okay?”


“Yeah, I know. Thanks, Spence,” he smiled as I turned to leave. Somewhere in his smile I could see the old Jaime in there. “Everything will be okay, soon. We are writing a lot of new stuff, and I can’t wait to show you!” he grinned. Just like Vic, his eyes lit up as he talked about their music.


“I can’t wait to hear,” I said, giving him a small hug. This was good. We needed to be friends. This was right.


Keep telling yourself that, Spence.


“How’d it go?” Vic asked when I breathlessly entered the car.


“It was fine,” I said truthfully. “Now to go torture myself with obnoxious customers and fancy coffee,” I groaned.


“What? I thought being a barista was your dream?” he furrowed his eyebrows sarcastically.


“Oh, you bet it is,” I played along.


“Have fun,” he grinned, dropping me off.


“I will, don’t you worry,” I sighed, exiting the car.


“I’ll pick you up later, okay?”


“Thanks a lot, Vic,” I smiled before he drove away. Damn, I owed so much to that man.


“Hi, Spencer! Expect a slow night, tonight,” my boss, Carlos, welcomed me. I sighed. Yay.



“I’m very ready for it,” I fake smiled, trying my hardest to be nice. I laughed at myself as I thought about all of the attitude I gave to the record shop manager. Hell, I didn’t even know her name! Although giving attitude to people I despised was fun, I decided to start out nicer to Carlos. He hasn’t done anything to make me hate him. Yet.


Besides, I was happier, now. Back in the record shop days, before I even met the guys, I was depressed and lonely. I was tortured by Drew Sanders. I isolated myself because of him. I was miserable.


I laughed, and then I frowned when another memory floated up in my mind… Damn memories…


“Someone’s a charmer,” a voice said behind me. I nearly jumped out of my own skin.


“Jesus fucking Christ, you need to stop doing that,” I sighed; it was only Jaime. I thought it was somebody else…


“No offense, but can I revoke my statement from yesterday? You kind of are a bitch,” he said with mock-seriousness in his voice. I rolled my eyes, not particularly phased by his words, whether he was joking or not.


“I’m kidding,” he added, I guess just in case I thought otherwise.


“I’m only a bitch to that woman,” I muttered under my breath, referring to my boss.


Jaime stared at me for a little while. “You look like shit,” he said truthfully.


“Gee, thanks!” I said in a fake, peppy voice. “As if I didn’t already know that,” I tilted my head.


"In a cute way," he flashed a crooked smile at me, and I couldn't stop my insides from churning. I looked like shit, it was true, but he thought I looked like shit in a cute way. I guess that was a compliment, and I didn't receive those often.


He shrugged his shoulders. “I couldn’t figure anything else out about you, by the way,” he said.


“Then why are you here?” I asked, probably a little sharper than I intended.


“Well, I wanted to invite you to lunch. I need more time with you if you want me to actually learn something,” he said.


“What if I don’t want you to learn anything about me?” I challenged.


He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I’d like to take you out anyway,” he replied. Jaime had a certain twinkle in his eyes, and I couldn’t help but feel a little happier with his presence. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up into a smile. I wanted very much to accept his request…


“That’s probably not a good idea,” I said lowly. I needed to listen to my brain, not my heart, if I even had one.



“Aw, come on,” he rolled back and forth on his heels in anticipation, smiling broadly. It was like he knew his smile was irresistible.


But, somehow, I was able to resist. “No, I can’t, I’m sorry.”

I laughed irrationally to myself. I had flat out denied Jaime at first. I wondered what my life would be now if I had denied him again? If I had just allowed Drew Sanders to dictate my life forever…


“Yo! Spencer!” I looked up to see Carlos in my face, looking at me funny.


“Oops, sorry! I zoned out,” I admitted.


“It’s all good. I am leaving, though. Rebecca will take over once your shift is over, okay?”


I nodded. “Good,” he said. “See you, Spence,” he waved, and then he left.


Carlos was right; the night was slow. Only a few customers came here and there, which left me alone with my thoughts. I hated being alone because I hated to think. It was painful. I wish I had the ability to daydream about my future, as opposed to dwelling on the past.


“Excusay me,” a man with an obnoxious mustache, dark shades, and a horrific Mexican accent walked in.


“Hi, sir. How may I help you?”


“Ee, yes, I would, uh, please like a, uh, short half soy half milk with cream mocha vanilla latte with splenda and decaf skim extra hot wet caramel latte with whip—”


“Holy shit,” I muttered in horror at the complex order. I leaned in closely to look at the man. “Nice try, Vic,” I smirked.


“What is a Vic?”


“You are a complete shithead,” I laughed. Vic laughed, taking off his sunglasses and dropping the terrible accent, but leaving the mustache on.


“I can’t take you seriously with that thing on,” I raised my eyebrows at him.


“Don’t disrespect the customer,” he said seriously. I rolled my eyes.


“What would you like?”


“Caramel Frapp, pwease,” he grinned, talking like a baby. Sometimes I questioned his true age.


“Coming right up, sir,” I winked. “Name, please?” I asked, whipping out a sharpie to label his cup, just the way I was trained.


“Mr. Bieber,” he said with a straight face.


“Oh, hell, no—”


“You have to learn how to deal with ridiculous orders, Spence, otherwise you won’t last here,” he said sternly.


I sighed, writing down ‘Mr. Bieber’ on his cup, shaking my head as I prepared his drink.


“Four-twenty-five, please,” I said. He handed me a five.


“Keep the change, pretty lady,” he said.


“Oh, my Goodness! Thank you! You are so generous!” I said sarcastically.


I smirked to myself as I put his cup into a holder, writing my number on the cardboard, along with my name, a winky smiley face, and the words “call me.”


“Mr. Bieber!” I announced to the entire store like we were supposed to, despite us being the only ones in at the moment.


“That’s me!” Vic skipped over and took the cup.


“Mm, that’s good,” he grinned.


“Vic, you have whipped cream on your mustache,” I laughed.


“I need to get myself one of these,” he murmured to himself, looking down at his now whipped cream mess of a mustache.


I threw my hands up in the air at his remarks. I couldn’t handle his silliness. He laughed, sitting down at a small table. I joined him, seeing that my shift was over, and this ‘Rebecca’ should be here any second.


“Thanks for picking me up,” I said.


“Anytime,” he grinned, sipping his drink.


“You make one hell of a caramel frap, my friend,” he stated.


“It’s my calling, what can I say?” I grinned.


Just then a girl walked in, announcing, “My name is Rebecca and I’m here for my shift,” all in one breath, without looking at me once.


“We are going to be the bestest of friends, I can tell already,” I smirked at Vic. He laughed.


“Rude bitches,” he scoffed.


“Language, Mr. Bieber,” I said seriously. He hooked his arm in mine, leading me to his car.


I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked. I really enjoyed the lighthearted mood that his company created. I really just enjoyed his company, altogether.


“And I will be the only light, I’ll be the only light…” I heard him softly hum.


“What was that?” I asked as I buckled my seat belt.


“Oh, just a song,” he said, looking rather flustered. “It’s new. Just something I am working on. It’s stuck in my head,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.


“Oh, I like it,” I smiled. “I can’t wait to hear all of your new stuff, soon,” I added enthusiastically.


“Me too,” he grinned. “Me too.”


“No girl is ever going to kiss you with that caterpillar on your face, Fuentes,” I laughed, still unable to get over the fact that he had on a fake mustache.

“What a shame,” he sighed dramatically, and then he ripped the mustache off, winking at me. “That actually really hurt, but I’m just playing it really cool right now,” he said, his nose scrunching up.


“Eyes on the rode, Mister,” I said.


“Yes, ma’am,” he grinned.


We drove the rest of the way back to his house in peaceful silence, his hand subconsciously on my forearm that was resting on the middle console. And, honestly, I didn’t really mind at all.

Notes

I smiled while I wrote this. Idk, I just think it is pretty happy.

I think we are a tad overdue for a lighter chapter, don't you think?

Sort of a filler, but, as you should expect, the drama will soon continue... :)