miss americana | gilmore girls

028

Harley sat in the living room of the Patterson household, her leg shaking ferociously as her hands fiddled with the fraying of her jean shorts.

"Honey, I'm home," Cece called out as she and Spencer entered the house. Harley was quick to jump up, her eyes landing on the boy as soon as he entered the living room. He looked exactly the same and yet completely different all at the same time.

He was still slim and lanky, but his arms were now toned and defined. His dyed brown hair had faded and his natural dirty blonde color was beginning to peak through. His feet were sneaker-clad like always but he wore a plain white shirt, with no accessories other than the guitar pick hanging from his neck.

"Hey." The girl spoke barely above a whisper once his eyes finally landed on her. Harley watched as Spencer broke into a large smile before holding his arms open for his best friend, the girl immediately rushing to his embrace.

Cece gave the girl a smile from behind her son before exiting off into the laundry room with one of Spencer's bags. "Welcome home." Harley pointed out as she removed herself from the hug. "Thanks." He smiled.

"Well, uh. I should probably let you get settled in, spend some time with Cece and all that." Harley spoke, glancing down nervously. "I have plenty of time to get settled back in." Spencer shook his head. "Let's go on a walk?"

Harley nodded after a moment. "Yeah, okay. Sure." The two exited the house after informing Cece of their plans and made their way straight towards their place.

"So, how was it?" Harley questioned after a few minutes of awkward silence. She had forgotten how to talk to him for the first time since she was able to talk.

"It sucked ass at first, being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of douche bag guys and my prick of a dad, but after a while, it got better." Spencer shrugged before looking down at his hands. "You're gonna have to repaint my nails though."

Harley let out a small chuckle as they approached the edge of town. "And football? Can you play yet?" She snickered, causing a scoff to leave the boy's mouth. "Yeah, yeah. I can finally play. Apparently, It's not that hard when you actually put in effort."

"Well, it sounds like you had a good time." Harley picked at her nails as she walked. "I did, and I thought a lot about the last couple of years, and everything you've said and everything I've said," Spencer revealed as they finally arrived at the carousel.

Harley glanced over at Spencer, who was staring down at her. "Yeah, me too." She mumbled as she sat down on the edge of the rusted metal structure.

"And, I'm really sorry. I've treated you like crap and it isn't fair at all." Spencer spoke, causing Harley to frown.

"Yeah." She whispered. "I meant it when I said I love you, but you were right. About so many things. About everything. We're best friends and I shouldn't have tried to change that. I shouldn't have crossed so many lines." Spencer kicked at the ground lightly.

"We both crossed lines that shouldn't have been crossed." Harley admitted. She had started this. She was the one who had fallen in love with him first. "We're just not meant to be together."

"No, we're not." Harley laughed. She was happy he was home, and she definitely liked the subtle changes in him. He seemed different, more mature.