Breaking Barriers - S.R.

16

Spencer had been home for a couple of days now and I still hadn't gotten the chance to spend any time with him. I knew getting his mother settled ended up being a harder task than he had anticipated, and he assured me that he was working diligently to find a suitable nurse to take care of her. I couldn't help but wonder how his team felt about all the time he had taken off work and everything that was going on with him. They'd known him much longer than I had, and I was heartbroken for him. Every time I had the chance to talk to him on the phone when his mother would take a nap, he sounded like he was constantly on edge waiting for something terrible to happen. Most of our conversations over the last couple of days consisted of sporadic text messages, so I was thrilled when he called me after work tonight, telling me his mother was asleep and that I could come by if I wanted to. I headed straight to his apartment and he let me in quickly, closing the door quietly behind me. He spun around and without a word, wrapped his arms around me.

"Hi." I finally whispered, after a few moments of our silent embrace.

"Hi." He breathed out, finally letting go long enough to take my hand and lead me to the couch. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

I leaned forward and crashed my lips against his while I knew I had the chance. "I missed you so much."

He rested his forehead against mine, his breath coming out in short pants now. "I think I found a nurse. Mom seems to like her. I should have more time for us now."

I forced a smile but I didn't respond. I knew those words, I'd heard them before. I couldn't be too mad at him, I knew how busy he was when we started dating, but it was usually because of his job. His mother's health had to come first now, and when he wasn't tending to her, he would be at work. I just had to continue holding out hope that things would get better once he had more of a routine down.

"That's great." I finally replied, my hand still playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. It was getting longer and shaggier now.

"I love you. And I'm going to make this up to you." He promised.

"Good, because I could really use a night alone with you." I whispered, pulling him to me and kissing him deeply again.

He groaned as my tongue slipped into his mouth and his grip on my hair tightened. It felt different this time. He was here with me, but I could feel the tension in his body and sense how his mind was elsewhere. I knew he was probably thinking about his mom being in the other room, even if she was asleep. Oddly enough, his fear of her waking up seemed to come true.

"Spencer?" Her voice called out, the bedroom door opening almost immediately after.

He pulled away quickly, putting enough distance between us to make it look like an innocent encounter. He stood up, walking around the couch to face her. "Mom, what's wrong?"

I kept my seat on the couch, staying quiet until I could gauge how Spencer wanted to handle the situation. His hands were fidgeting and he became even more visibly nervous as Diana peered around him, her eyes falling on me.

"Who is this?" She asked, her attention pulling back to Spencer.

"This is Olivia. She lives down the hall." He said simply. It was easy enough to tell that he was treading lightly until he knew what headspace she was in.

She looked back at me, a soft smile gracing her lips. "Olivia. It's nice to meet you. I'm Diana." She stepped around Spencer and made her way to the couch, sitting down beside me.

"It's so nice to meet you. I've heard a lot of great things about you." I replied.

"Spencer is so secretive, he didn't mention he had a girlfriend."