“So what should we do first?” Lexy asks as we all sit on her bed. “Watch a movie, make s'mores, Ooooh.” She says, clapping her hands together, practically flying off the bed. “Maybe we could--”

“Maybe you should calm down.” Ashley suggests to her girlfriend, chuckling a bit.

“I second that motion.” I say raising my hand with a smile. “It's late Lex, I just wanna go to sleep.” I plead to my friend. I've literally been up for more than seventeen hours.

“Yeah, Lexy bear.” Ashley says. My head immediately shoots to her. Really? She glances at me from the corner of her eye. “I was on a plane for like six hours and then spent the rest of the night preparing for the show. I'm pretty wiped, plus I’ve got interviews pretty much all day with different photographers for the band tomorrow.”

I watch as Lexy quirks her brow at her girlfriend. Uh-oh, I know that look. Please don’t do what I know you're about to do.

“You should totally hire Spencer.” Falls from her lips. I inwardly sigh.

And she did it.

Of course she did it.

Say no, say no, say no…

I watch as Ashley looks at me with intrigue.

“You take pictures?”

Why is she asking me that, did we not talk about this on the plane?

“She takes amazing pictures! She practically took every photo in our high school year book.”

Apparently I’m not needed for this discussion about me.

“Maybe we should let her answer babe.” Ashley suggests with a small laugh.

“Nonsense she’ll do it won’t you Spence?”

No.

“Sure.”

I try my best to answer without cringing. No good can come from this. None.

“Only if you’re sure Spencer.”

I smile at how soft her features are right now. Her eyebrows slightly up, her brown eyes soft, it makes me want to sigh and I do. I only nod while we share a lingering gaze. She just whispers a soft okay and her mouth widens into a smile.

“See! Problem solved so now we can hang out.”

“No I still need sleep.” I shoot out quickly, knowing Lexy she won’t last long anyway. I look over to Ashley and she nods in agreement.

“Well you both suck.” Lexy pouts, sitting back down on her bed.

“Don't you have work in the morning anyways?” Ashley questions with a raised brow.

“So.” Lexy shrugs. “I was planning on calling out anyways.” She adds as she gets up and walks to her closet.

“Uh no. You know that prick of a boss of yours is already looking for a reason to let you go Lexy, don't give him one.”

“But Spencer's in town.” She whines as she pulls two comforters from her closet shelf. She drops them on the floor next to the bed and lays her head down on my lap. I stroke her hair and giggle at my best friend.

“I'll be here tomorrow when you get off, Lex. It's not like I'm going back to New York next week or something. We have the entire summer. Don't get fired and lose this awesomely amazing apartment because of me.” I tell her, causing her to tilt her head up at me and smile sleepily.

“When did you become the responsible one in this relationship?”

“When I went off to New York and had to fend for myself for nine months.” I chuckle at her as she lays her head back on my lap.

“I'm tired anyways.” She replies, barely enunciating her words. Yup, she's about to be out cold. That's one thing you should know about Lexy; when she gets sleepy, like really sleepy, there's nothing you can do to wake her up. She's like a corpse when she's tired. “Spence you can take the spare bedroom downstairs.” She mumbles as she gets under the covers.

“Okay.” I say getting up and heading out the room.

“I'll be right back baby.” Ashley tells her girlfriend, giving her a kiss on the cheek. I close my eyes and pray that she's not following behind me. I can not deal with her right now. “Spencer wait up.” She calls to me once I'm half way down the stairs. I sigh and stop. “Are you really going to sleep right now?” She questions with a raised brow and smile. Damn her right now!

“No.” I shake my head. “I just didn't want to me make smores.” I say and she chuckles. I laugh along with her.

“Me either.” She says when she stops laughing. Her hands shoot inside her pockets as she drops her head, suddenly finding something interesting in the stairs carpet. “Did you wanna um... go watch TV or something?” She asks after a moment. Is she nervous right now?

“Um...” I clear my throat and pretend to think it over. The answer was always gonna be yes. “Sure.” I nod nonchalantly.

–

“How dare you be a fan of this show, it's complete garbage and it teaches teens that it's okay to be become pregnant at sixteen.” Ashley finishes her rant, complete with hand gestures and all. We started watching TV a few hours ago and can't seem to agree on a show to watch.

“I didn't say it was a good show.” I counter with a smile. Hardly able to keep my composure after that cute rant she just went off on. “I simply said it's my guilty pleasure.” I shrug. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

“It's a horrible guilty pleasure.” She smiles and sits back against the couch as I change the channel.

“What's your favorite show?”

“Easy?” She turns back to me. “Grey's Anatomy.”

“And what does that teach us? It says it's okay to have sex when you're supposed to be working.” I retort and she burst into laughter.

“That's so true though.” She chuckles out.

“What's your favorite show?” She questions me once she's able to contain her laughter.

“Scandal.” I answer quickly.

“And what does that teach us exactly?” She questions with a raised brow.

“That it's okay to have an affair with the president.” I reply with a shrug causing her to laugh. “But only if you're Kerri Washington of course.” I add quickly, chuckling along with her.

“Confession.” She says, sighing out of her laughter. I motion for her to continue. “I'm probably falling in love,” She pauses and clears her throat. “With Scandal. It's taking over the number one spot in my heart.” Oh my God! She totally did that on purpose.

“I totally have a crush on Shonda Rhimes's brain.” I tell her with a shrug.

“You don't?” She questions, amusement in her tone.

“Yep. And I told her that.”

“You didn't?”

“I wrote her a fan letter asking her if I could marry her brain.” I pause and put on my best serious face. “I never got a reply so... I'm assuming her brain turned down my proposal.” I finish. Ashley tries but fails to hold in her laughter.

“That's hilarious.” She gets out through chuckles.

“My pain of rejection is hilarious to you?” I question in a high pitched voice, laughing along with her. “I'm so glad I amuse you.” I add. We both sigh out of our laughter as she turns and her eyes meet mine. A moment of silence over takes us. Don't get drawn in Spencer...look away. Look away!

“What's your favorite color?” She asks as I drop my head.

“Black.” I say softly, keeping my eyes toward the floor.

“Mine too.” She replies just as softly causing me to go against my better judgment and look up at her. She's staring at me. Begging me with her eyes to tell her I'm not having the same feeling she is. The overwhelming urge to be near her. A practical stranger.

Have you ever felt that?

The need to be close to someone. Someone you may barely even know. Someone you know you shouldn't want to be around in this way.

“Ashley,” I start, shaking my head. “I can't--”

“I wrote a new song earlier.” She cuts me off. “You wanna hear it?”

“It's two-thirty in the morning.” I shake my head and smile at her.

“So.” She shrugs, getting up from the couch. She walks into the other room and comes back with her guitar. “We both know that once Lexy's out, she sleeps like a bear in hibernation.” She adds and I can't help but laugh. I laugh so hard that a snort escapes and I immediately feel embarrassed. My hand shoots up to my face.

“It's okay.” Ashley chuckles. “It's cute.” She adds after a moment. I drop my hands as our eyes meet. Neither of us are saying anything, we can't. There's this awkwardly amazing thing going on right now and words just won't form. I sigh and shake my head clear.

“You sure you want to do the shoot for us? I mean I know Lex put you on the spot…”

I raise a hand to cut her off because one, the idea of spending more time with her is appealing and trying to back out of a plan Lexy conjured up…let’s just say it’s easier to be a survivor on the Titanic.

“It’s fine really, I’m not doing much this summer anyways and well I breathe photography.

We sit in silence again. These awkward moments are getting old really quickly. I notice her lick her lips as she thinks of how to get out of our uncomfortable situation. It’s still the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

She's your best friends girlfriend Spencer. I remind myself. “So, you gonna play that song for me or what?” I ask, breaking our staring match.

“Right.” She nods, dropping her head disappointingly to her guitar. She strums the first cord and I'm already in love with the song. But when she starts singing, when the words actually leave her lips, mixed with the sound of her guitar I know, I know that I'm in trouble. That this isn't gonna end well.“What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive. I can't keep up and I can't back down. I've been losing so much time. 'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do. Nothing to lose. And it's you and me and all other people. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.” She glances up at me from her guitar, telling me everything I want...need to hear, with her eyes. “One of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right. I'm tripping on words You've got my head spinning. I don't know where to go from here. 'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do. Nothing to prove. And it's you and me and all other people. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.”

Much like the first time I saw her perform in New York, I can't turn away. I can't force myself to not listen. To just get up and leave. I know that this is wrong.

“There's something about you now. I can't quite figure out. Everything she does is beautiful. Everything she does is right.”

I know that I shouldn't want to. That every part of me shouldn't be longing to just kiss her. To take the guitar from her hands and kiss her.

“Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do. Nothing to lose. And it's you and me and all other people. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you and me and all other people with nothing to do. Nothing to prove. And it's you and me and all other people. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.”

She licks her lips and glances at me. I can't tell if she's thinking the same thing as me. If she wants what I want.

“What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive.” She strums the final chord with eyes fixed on mine. I should tell her that this shouldn't happen. That it will never happen. But the words won't leave my lips. Partly because I know they wouldn't be true.

Instead, “That was amazing Ashley,” comes out and the smile that appeared at her lips told me everything I needed to know.

“I'm glad you like it.” She replies softly, her eyes boring holes in mine. She unconsciously licked her lips before starting again, “I wrote it about--”

“Baby you coming to bed?” We both turn and see Lexy standing at the top of the stairs. “What are you guys still doing up, it's like three in the morning.” She adds, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I um... I add the urge to play.” Ashley says, getting up from the couch. She puts her guitar back in it case. “Spencer here was nice enough to stay up and listen.” She adds, giving me a small smile.

“Yeah. That's my best friend for you.” Lexy nods. “Come to bed baby.” She waves her arms, motioning for Ashley to follow behind her, before turning and heading back up the stairs.

“I should go.” Ashley nods in Lexy's direction.

“Right.” I nod, standing up from the couch.

“Goodnight Spencer.” She says softly. The look on her face tells me that she wants to hug me but she thinks better of it.

“Goodnight.” I match her tone as she turns and walks around the couch and up the stairs. I drop my head in my hands, wanting to scream at how fucked up this whole situation is.

I shake my head and make my way into the spare bedroom. Maybe a goodnight's sleep will fix this.

….

Who the hell am I kidding?

–

Song used- Lifehouse- You and Me