The Only Exception

Thirty Two

~Lainey~

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Spencer smiled, lowering my foot back into the water. I feel like if I breathe I'm going to wake up and all of this is going to be some fucked up mind game. Every movement I take is like I'm stood right on the edge and I'm terrified of falling over it but I so badly need to soak in every second. 

"I just can't believe you're here." I moved slowly, lifting myself out of the water to press myself against him, kissing him like it was the last time I'd ever get to. I don't know what time it is outside of this room. I don't know what's going on out there with anyone and I honestly don't care. 18 months I've been praying that some kind of miracle meant Spencer was still out there somewhere, untouched by my mistakes, moving on and breathing and living despite me. Now he's here and he's made it perfectly clear that as much as he was physically breathing for the past 18 months, he might as well have been dead without me. "I'm just waiting to wake up and to go back to everything being wrong and I know it's going to hurt so much when I do because this feels so fucking real." 

Spencer pulls me to sit on him, hands running over my naked, wet rose petal covered body and I let my fingers trace over scars on his otherwise flawless skin. 3 to the chest and two smaller, straighter ones from the surgeries he'd had that kept him here, waiting for me. These are the only things keeping my feet firmly stuck in the present. Confirmation that he is indeed alive and this is happening. 

The candle light causes the new engagement ring on my finger to glitter, sending reflections up to the ceiling. It's a beautiful mix of stones I don't know the name of but the oval in the middle is Moss Agate. I remember mentioning them to him back in Italy as we wandered around one of the many jewellery stores. That I wasn't a fan of diamonds and if I had to choose, I wanted something more unique. A sapphire or moonstone or moss agate because I love how the green looks in the stone like a snowy day with evergreen trees making it feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. 

"You're awake." He tucks some hair behind my ear. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be here in the morning and in 10 years time and forever. I'm not going through that again." 

"We're gonna have to die in a super dramatic way together you know? So neither of us has to." 

"Yep. In 70s years though. Don't you even think about it yet." 

"I wasn't." I say. "I missed you enough for a lifetime." I shifted, sitting up a little straighter. "Speaking of missing you, Mr. Escaped death and came out with some sexy scars, a year and a half is a lot of time planning. Care to tell me what the plan is?" 

"I'd rather us not talk about it right now Lanes. I just got you back. I want us to stay in this bubble right now. I don't want you worrying it's all going to come crumbling down again."

"None of it matters." Spencer's eyebrow twitches, lowering in curiosity. "It's like the past 18 months have been a nightmare. None of it feels real. You know when you watch a film and you feel like a 3rd person just kind of on the edge of everything. You feel there but you know it's not real?" 

"Mhm." 

"That's what it feels like. I'd rather die than let her make me go through that again and I know you and Noah and everyone else isn't going to let that happen. I know that my friends alone have the skills of the best agents the country has to offer. I know you don't want any of this to fail so you've thought out every single possibility and put in enough precautions for it to not be possible. I know everyone involved wants to wipe anyone involved from the face of the planet and I know you have put everything in place so that happens. I'm not worrying about it." 

"You aren't?" 

"No. I don't need to. Do I?" 

"God no." Spencer pressed a hand into my back slowly lifting us both out of the bath. "You don't need to worry about anything ever again." 

"Right. So tell me what the plan is." 

"With us?" 

"With us." I nod, wrapping my legs tight around his waist as he carries me over to the bed, laying me down on the pillows and quickly pulling the bed sheets over us both so we can keep warm. 

"Well that's up to you. If you want, we could make one wedding this weekend real." I narrowed my eyes slightly before widening them. 

"Wait. The wedding wasn't real?" Spencer laughed loudly, kissing my collar bone before resting his forehead onto me for a second. "Oh thank GOD! I don't even know the woman!" 

"No it was all a ruse for your mother but we thought she'd have someone watching so it had to be believable. Fake vicar and everything." I have never been so relieved. "But, we could go to city hall in the morning. Grab a license and get married. For us. Have a whole thing some other time." 

"You're serious?" 

"Deadly." Spencer nods. "I told you I was going to marry you before all this Lainey. Seeing some other guys ring on your finger was just the icing on the cake. If we're married, you can't get stolen from me and married off to someone else ever again." 

"Okay." He looked at me in shock, probably thinking I was going to call him insane but for 18 months I was thoroughly under the impression this man was dead and I have never been so miserable. I couldn't see myself being as happy as I am with Spencer with a single other person in the world and I know no matter what he's going to be the one person to fight for me like I'd fight for him. He's the one person who will show up and love me, trauma and baggage included and won't make it a big deal. He never has and even now with the extra heavy stuff he cares even less. I agreed to marry him. I wanted to put the ring Spence bought on my finger. I wasn't forced to this time. Didn't feel like something bad was going to happen if I didn't say yes. I had the choice and I said yes because I can not imagine a life where it's not him by my side. So why wait? Why risk something else going wrong when we can just jump and do it and he can be mine and whatever the future holds, we'll tackle it together. "Let's get married tomorrow Spence. You're right. I don't want to wait." 

"Are you sure? We don't have to-" I grabbed for his face, holding it tight before kissing him long and hard until I feel him relax in my hands. 

"Just us." I whisper. "No one else. Just me and you and we can deal with them another time. I don't need to think about it. I don't want anyone else. Ever."