Show Me That I'm Better | Post Malone

XVI

He wasn't fighting fair.

She was pissed off, her pride was hurt, but she wasn't a monster, as soon as he played that hand he knew she'd be sucked in.

She turned and opened the door, collecting her dog as he jumped into her arms before turning back to face him and letting out a deep sigh.

She wanted to tell him to leave, to go find someone else to follow home, she was sure Miss VIP would happily oblige. She knew she was getting in too deep and she needed to put some space between them. She needed to take a step back, give herself some time and some distance so she could rebuild her walls taller, stronger.

"Who's this?" His voice was soft as he slowly moved forward putting the back of his hand out towards her, introducing himself to her dog.

"Don't do that." She snapped back a little harsher than she'd intended.

"Do what?"

"Don't play the cancer card and then try and make good with my dog. That's not fucking fair." She watched as Spencer initially held back, cuddled into her further before cautiously leaning forward to smell this stranger's hand.

He kept his eyes on Spencer as he began smelling and licking his fingers. "Del I won't stay, and I know I have no right asking but..."

"... But that's not gonna stop you?" Her words obviously had the desired effect as she watched his eyes snap to hers, watched his chest rise and fall through the heavy breath he took. She had to fight herself from caving as soon as she saw the defeat on his face.

She turned and walked through the door, stopping when she didn't hear his footsteps behind her, not trusting herself to speak and hoping that her waiting was indication enough for him to follow. Within a few moments she heard his feet, movements painfully slow behind her before hearing her door latch. She placed Spencer back down, taking the seconds to try and gather herself again before they spoke.

She reminded herself how many times they'd spent together, and how many of those times had been the result of him chasing after her and apologising for something he'd done. She had kept her end of this deal, she had been his sounding board, had listened to him when he wanted to talk, had helped him when he'd been sick, had checked in on him daily. She had gone above and beyond what she had initially planned, what she had anticipated her role in this being.
She owed him nothing at this point.

"What's this say? Spencer. Nice to meet you Spencer, I'm Austin." His soft whispering interrupted her thoughts, as she turned around to see him crouched on the floor, Spencer jumping up to lick at his face.

Her guard was beginning to slip again, slowly but surely, as she watched their interaction. Spencer was standing on his hind legs, noisily sniffing his hands before moving on to his jeans, then bouncing up to try and get to his face, Austin crouching all the while, watching his movements with a soft smile.

"He's not usually too great with people he doesn't know." The pointed look he gave back to her making her roll her eyes. "Yeah okay."

She made her way back over to where he had now taken a seat, leaning back against the front door. She sat beside him, Spencer jumping into her lap as she did.

"He's my accidental child." She spoke quietly while gently patting him, brushing his ears back against his head.
"I hadn't wanted to get a pet with being away so much. And I hate little dogs."

He looked at her confused with a small chuckle. "And what's he? 4 pounds?"

"If that..." a smile forming in her face as she looked over to him, meeting his gaze for the first time.
"I found him in my yard one day, there were birds hanging around him and he looked like he wasn't gonna last much longer. So I scooped him up, took him to the vets who said the kindest thing to do would be to put him down. They said they thought his mom probably abandoned him because he was so weak. I knew all he needed was some love and some safety and he'd heal."
She felt his eyes on her the whole time she was speaking, felt him slide slightly closer to her, inch by inch until their legs were touching.