livejournal fics//joncer

Part Three

*

"You went to the World's Largest Ball of Twine and didn't call me?" Brendon sounds indignant, and for once, Spencer can't tell if he's serious or not. "How do you call yourself my friend, Spencer Smith? Huh? How?!"

Sighing, Spencer switches ears and glances over at Jon, who is peering out the window curiously. He's trying to concentrate on not crashing the car as he navigates traffic. "You're gonna be more upset when you find out where I am right now."

"Disneyworld?" Brendon asks immediately, and Spencer scoffs.

"Ryan would never want to go to Disneyworld."

Brendon sighs. "I know. I tried before."

Laughing, Spencer shakes his head and Jon glances over.

"No, I'm at home."

"Home like California?" Brendon's voice perks up immediately, and Spencer realizes that Brendon has probably been lonely without him, especially so soon after all this happened.

"Home like Summerlin," Spencer replies, and Brendon makes a noise.

"Why are you in Vegas?" he asks curiously. "You're not doing something with Ryan's parents, are you?" He sounds worried and Spencer doesn't blame him.

"No, nothing like that," he assures him, ignoring the look Jon throws him as they take a turn off the freeway. "It's just something Ryan always wanted to do."


"Only you would use a word like 'vandalize'," Spencer says, handing back the list. Ryan sits in his desk chair and scribbles something else onto the list.

"Well, they deserve it. That school is awful."

"You never even go," Spencer points out, flopping down on the bed and staring up at the poster of Britney Spears on Ryan's ceiling. He swears he likes her for her music.

"For a reason," Ryan replies. "You can't tell me you don't want to do it. We'll be partners in crime!"

"Sorry, Hardy boy, but I'm not playing."

"You suck." Ryan throws a pillow and him and Spencer throws it right back.

"You blow."

And Ryan laughs, adding something else to the list.


Brendon makes another noise and Spencer takes a familiar turn into a housing development.

"Okay. Tell Jon hi for me!"

Brendon hangs up before Spencer can argue. Frowning, he flips the phone shut and dumps it in the cup holder of yet another rental car.

"Where are we going?" Jon asks as they take turns at thirty-five miles per hour, past identical beige houses with cacti-filled yard.

"Shortcut," Spencer replies and Jon gives him a look. "What? I lived here for twenty years."

Jon just laughs, sitting back and staring out at the sun-soaked Nevada desert, if it could be considered desert, filled with saguaro cacti, palo verde trees, and yucca sprouting in the rock-filled lawns of the stucco'd houses.

It feels strange, being home when he hasn't been for a while. He's usually too busy at work to get time off, and when he does, he doesn't usually come home. His parents are going to be surprised, to say the least.

"So, where are we going this time?" Jon asks. "Meet the parents?"

"No," Spencer replies seriously, rounding a corner without stopping and exiting the development, coming up along a stucco wall. "You don't want to meet George Ross, trust me."

Jon sends him a strange look but doesn't ask anymore questions as they glide along. It's like second-nature to Spencer, the turns and the shortcuts, the way the wall ends after a hundred feet and a gated parking lot appears. There are cars in the lot and Spencer slows the car, peering in.

"What is it?" Jon asks, looking as well.

"Palo Verde High School," Spencer says simply, the car inching to a crawl as they round the front. "The bane of all of Summerlin's teenagers."

"So that was your school?" Jon asks and Spencer nods, eyes sweeping over the buildings that have hardly changed in seven years.

"And Ryan and Brendon's."

"Is this why we're here?" Jon asks. "An apology to a long-lost teacher?"

"Not quite," Spencer says. "I'll explain later... after dark."

Jon's expression perks and he looks more curious now. "I'm intrigued, Spencer Smith," he says, and Spencer bites his lip to stop his grin as he turns the car away from the school and into yet another housing development.

"Keep that in mind. As for now... you don't mind staying with my parents, do you?"

Jon just grins, and Spencer turns to take another shortcut.

*

Spencer's mother is... ecstatic might be a bit of an understatement. She hugs him so long Spencer is pretty sure she breaks a rib, and when he finally stumbles back, the first thing she asks is, "Is this your boyfriend?"

Spencer's eyes widen and he splutters for a second. "No, Mom, this is Jon, just a friend."

Jon doesn't say anything about Spencer's reaction, just holds out a hand to Mrs. Smith. "Jon Walker. Spencer and I met in New York."

Mrs. Smith nods understandingly, shaking his hand with a smile. "Well, Jon Walker, welcome to Las Vegas. How long are you staying for?"

"Just a few days," Spencer says. "I have to get back to work, you know."

"Yes, I know," she says with a sigh, turning and speaking to Jon instead. "He's always working. Never has time to hang out with his old mother."

"Mom," Spencer says, rolling his eyes, but she sends him a look.

"Where were you for Christmas?"

"Brendon and I went to Aspen," he says and she nods.

"See?" she asks Jon, and Spencer sighs.

"I'm here now," he reminds her. "And we need somewhere to stay. Do you mind?"

Mrs. Smith shakes her head. "Silly, of course you can stay here. Now that your sisters have moved out, we have plenty of guest bedrooms." She smiles and Spencer shakes his head hopelessly. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, you know about Ryan, right?" Spencer says reluctantly. He hates having to explain it, which was sort of why he hadn't called his parents in the first place. He knows they'd know exactly what it meant.

Her expression changes immediately, and he knows she knows.

"Spencer," she says softly and Spencer shakes his head.

"I'm fine, Mom, really." He hates the pity even from his own mother who only means well. She gives him a look as if to say she knows full well that he's not okay, but he ignores her. "Anyway, Jon can stay in Jackie's old room?"

"Sure, honey," she agrees, quirking a small smiling and rubbing his arm as she moves past. "I'll get some clean sheets."

As she disappears up the stairs, Spencer sighs, leaning against the couch. The house is exactly the same as the last time he was there.

"How many sisters do you have?" Jon asks, thankfully not talking about what just happened.

"Two," Spencer answers. He doesn't really feel like talking. He isn't there to dig up old memories. He's trying to move forward with his life and thinking about Ryan and all their past isn't going to help.

"Did you go to UNLV?" Jon asks, continuing the mindless questions, and Spencer is glad. He's answered these questions his whole life. He can do it with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, for a couple years and then I transferred to USC, got my masters there too."

"Where'd Ryan live when you were in California?"

Spencer picks at the blanket over the back of the couch, the same ugly southwestern-patterned they've has since he was six. "He moved around a lot; Arizona, Nevada, California. Then he moved to New York."

Jon nods and doesn't say anything as Mrs. Smith appears at the bottom of the stairs. "Jon, I've set up the guest bedroom all for you. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thanks, Mrs. Smith," he says, and she waves him away.

"Call me Ginger," she says with a sweet smile and Jon nods. "It's just up the stairs and the second door on the left."

Jon nods and after glancing at Spencer, turns and heads up the stairs.

Alone with his mother, Spencer sighs. "What?"

"Nothing," Ginger replies simply, but it's never nothing. "How long have you known Jon?"

"I don't know." Spencer shrugs, forcing his hand away from the blanket. "A month, maybe."

He knows it's coming before it does and he should have expected it; she does work in the medical field after all.

"Honey, I know things like this are hard, but running off with some guy you barely know... it's dangerous and not just because you don't know him. Emotional upsets always force you to reevaluate your life, but that doesn't mean doing something crazy like quitting your job or getting married."

"I didn't quit my job, and I'm not getting married," Spencer says, annoyed. "I just traveled a little and did some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" she asks in that tone that means she knows it wasn't just picking up dry cleaning and eating out at sushi restaurants.

"Nothing," Spencer insists, feeling like he's sixteen all over again and he's trying to convince her that the cigarettes she found in his room aren't his. "And it's not because of Ryan." Except that it completely is, but not in the way she thinks.

She's giving him a skeptical look and he wants to roll his eyes again, but his mother never really tolerated that.

"I know you and Ryan had some difficulties in the past few years," she says and Spencer wishes she wouldn't talk about it. "But you were best friends for a long time, and I know it hurts, but you have to remember that you still have time and a life to live, and doing crazy, reckless things because you feel like you need to is not the answer to how you're feeling."

"Thanks, Mom," he cuts her off slightly. "But like I said, I'm fine."

He turns and heads up the stairs without waiting for a response, pausing at the top to collect himself before shaking his head and vanishing into his old room.

*

After dinner, which his mother insisted they stay for, Spencer drags Jon out to the garage, ignoring his mother's warning about going out after dark like he still is just a teenager and he's sneaking out to Ryan's house.

"Come on," he whispers even though he really doesn't need to.

The garage is an unorganized mess of shelves, dusty boxes sitting on crooked shelves. His childhood bike is still sitting in one corner, the back wheel missing, and Spencer thinks his parents really need to go through everything.

"What are we doing?" Jon asks as Spencer navigates through the clutter, around his parent's car parked inside, squished along with everything else.

"Looking for... ahah!" Spencer says as he spots what he wants perched on a tall shelf in the back.

Jon watches curiously as Spencer turns around the cans of spray paint, searching for the right colors. He finds two and tucks them away.

"Close enough," he mutters and turns to Jon. "What?"

Jon smiles slowly. "I'm beginning to think that whatever's on the list might get us into trouble."

Spencer shrugs, slipping out the garage and to the rental car. He tosses the paint in the back and climbs in the driver's seat. Jon gets in the passenger side, still waiting for an answer.

"It was Ryan's idea," Spencer says as he starts the car and they pull out of the driveway. The streetlights are on, an orange glow over the pavement. "I think he hated high school more than anyone. It wasn't really a good time for him, for any of us."

"So we're going to do something with spray paint?" Jon asks curiously as they take another shortcut. Spencer knows these developments like the back of his hand and he can get anywhere five minutes faster than everyone else.

"Yeah," Spencer replies simply, and Jon falls silent.

As they drive through the quiet streets, Spencer thinks back on his mother's words. He isn't doing something insane or life-changing. He's just crossing off things on a list in hopes that maybe it will make him feel better about the past.

Palo Verde High School looms out of the darkness before them, parking lots gated and shut, the campus empty, the lights on the football field turned off.

Spencer pulls the car up behind the back trashcans, climbing out quietly, and Jon follows. Everything is silent, and it makes Spencer a little nervous.

"Come on," he says, grabbing the paint and gesturing Jon forward.

He leads the way to the football field and up to the locked gate. After a second's pause, he tosses the paint over to the other side and hoists himself up on the wire fence.

"You're gonna ruin your clothes," Jon points out in a whisper, but Spencer looks back down at him, still on the ground.

"We have to do it. Can you make it?"

"Can I make it?" Jon scoffs but grins, grabbing into the chain link and pulling himself up. "I'm not that old yet."

Smiling to himself, Spencer climbs up, and it's a lot harder now than when he was younger, but he makes it to the top. Jon is right and his jeans catch on the wire on the way down, tearing a hole near the knee, but it doesn't matter. He has other jeans. This is something he and Ryan had used to plan long before any of this happened.


"We'll go over the back fence," Ryan says easily, lying on his back and talking to the ceiling while Spencer sits on the floor with his laptop. "It isn't that high, plus the ground is higher on the other side so if we fall, it won't hurt as much."