𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 | spencer agnew

8. just say it

♫ ivy - taylor swift

❝ i can't stop you planting roots in my dreamland ❞

♫  jackie and wilson - hozier

❝ she's gonna save me, call me "baby"

run her hands through my hair ❞

--

it's been a week since gracie's birthday. a week since she felt on top of the world, a week since her and spencer's moment on the curb, a week since something had shifted, but zero days since she last thought about him.

she heads into work, planning to be normal and ignore him as best she can. she didn't want to give him any extra attention so as not to raise any eyebrows. there was something about their exchange last night that felt cosmically significant, as if a divine being was playing chess and that was their ultimate move.

this feeling frightened her. she is accidentally and passively uprooting her own life; a life that has been stagnant for so long, like a backwoods marsh, now finally occupied by a heron who is built to be sustained by it.

--

spencer didn't know what to expect after last night, but it certainly wasn't this.

gracie is usually excited to see him, but she appears spaced out and quiet today. he wonders if he did something wrong, even though she was the one who called him back last night to stare intensely into his eyes or whatever that was about.

he is unsure of the state of her relationship with jamie. he dislikes the guy, quite frankly, but that doesn't give him the go-ahead to romance his girl. even if they do break up at some point, she will most likely need some time to herself, and spencer is not about to take that from her.

for now, he decides, it's best to be normal about this. he doesn't want any weird tension. he just wants to treat her like he treats all of his friends. he can only take so many stolen glances with a girl that he can't have. it's not good for his head to act like they have something between them when there just can't be.

--

at lunch, gracie realizes she left her water bottle in the sound stage, so she treks over from her desk and heads through the double doors. she's scanning the room when she feels her phone start to buzz. she expects it to be jamie, since he usually calls at lunch, and she is correct. she answers the call, hyper aware that this is what her life has been like for the past however many years, and she wouldn't know how to function without her routine. she has no idea who she is outside of her relationship.

"hey gracie bug," jamie singsongs as she answers. "what's going on?"

he sounds more chipper than usual, which is relieving. "hey. not much, i left my water bottle after the shoot we had yesterday so i'm just trying to find it--"

"that's nice. listen, i wanted to talk to you about something." she can hear him smiling through the phone, and she's instantly curious. he must've gotten a promotion or something.

"oh yeah? what about?"

he pauses. "i'm gonna come live with you."

her eyes widen. she is at a complete loss for words. when he decides something, he just does it. he doesn't ask for permission. he's serious about this and she can't believe it.