Purple Hearts

Chapter 20- Spencer

Spencer-

Spencer smelled like smoke. He'd cooked the burgers, the hot dogs, and himself.

He now sat on the bench, a slow breeze cooled him down.

"Hey." A soft voice called from behind him.

"Oh hey Sarah. What's up?"

"Angie wanted me to ask if the hot dogs were done." Sarah leaned on the table. Spencer noticed that Sarah was wearing the three-piece she was talking about yesterday. It looked cute, yes cute he wasn't gonna lie, on her. Spencer noticed she was shivering a little and cut her off mid sentence.

"Do you need a towel or something?" He blurted.

"Oh yeah. If you have one, thanks." She nodded and sat on the bench. Spencer walked quickly to his truck and grabbed the extra towel he'd packed. He thought on the way back why he'd brought an extra towel in the first place.

"Here." He draped it on her shoulders.

"Thanks again." Sarah laughed and he smiled.

"No problem." He shrugged and acted like he was still cooking food on the grill. Spencer pushed the meat around. "Oh yeah, this is almost done. Wanna try?"

"If I get food poisoning, I'll know why." Sarah wrapped the towel tighter around herself and stood. He handed her a plate with a patty.

"We'll split it then. At least they won't think I tried to kill you."

"Go!" They shouted at the same time and ate their slices.

"Well." Sarah finished chewing. "There's nothing that I can see physically wrong with it. We'll see in about an hour."

Colin's words popped into his head. "Just talk to her."

"Hey, have you been hearing about us? As like a ship sort of thing?"

"Oh gosh, I thought I was the only one they were telling this to."

"Were you thinking about that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know how to tell you like, 'Hey there's a boat with our name smashed together on it.'" They laughed at that. Sarah smiled at the ground.

Silence slowly made its way to the space between them.

Maybe. Spencer thought. Just maybe if there was no space between them, there'd be no silence. Spencer took the smallest of steps forward.

Sarah didn't move. Was that a sign to continue or something?

He nudged her hand. "Sarah..."

They stared fondly at each other. It felt like time was slowing down this this exact moment.

"Yes?" Spencer brushed a loose hair. Was he going to do this? It was the most subtle of embraces, but Spencer strangely felt content. Maybe those kids were right.

If he was going to do this, then he should do it now. Spencer tilted Sarah's head, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed and so did his. In that moment there was them, and only them. Any types of noises like the waves of the lake faded away.

It was silent. It was the kind of silence he'd been looking for. One filled with content, purpose, and meaning. They kissed again, but this time they wrapped their arms tighter around each other. It was a kiss. So simple yet so complex that Spencer actually noticed his heart beating rapidly against his chest.

They pulled away, and Spencer admired the small twinkle from the bright sun that reflected in her blue-green eyes. He began to feel awkward again. His muscles began to tighten as he stood up straight. He said the first thing that came to his mind.

"The hot dogs are getting cold."

Sarah's laugh shook him to the core of his very being. "Was that it?"

He pressed his lips softly on her still damp hair. "I was waiting for good timing."

"Oh. I see. Well, I'll go tell the kids." She turned away and headed back. In that moment, Spencer felt different. Though the sunlight shined down, Spencer felt cold and empty.

In the next moment, he accepted everything everyone said. He stopped fighting it. Spencer could see what he couldn't before.

Not as a close friend or co-worker or whatever else he'd seen her as. And that was Sarah.