All of these thoughts and many more were flying through her head and after 45 minutes of getting absolutely nowhere, she decided to call it a night. It just so happened that in order to get from the couch in the living room to her bedroom, Spencer had to walk right past the sliding glass door, giving her a clear view of the top of a brown head of hair lying on an old lawn chair, shaking like a leaf and trying to use one hand to rub up and down her arms to warm her up and the other to hold her ice pack onto her ankle which was awkwardly up in the air.

Oh, Ashley.

Spencer’s heart fell for the girl and wanted to help, but her head told her no, that this was not the right time to confront her. They both needed to figure out things before any more moves were made. Always Spencer’s style, she decided to compromise between her vying body parts. She went into the kitchen and stuck a glass of milk in the microwave, heating it until it was hot enough to make the marshmallows melt together when she poured the packet of hot cocoa in. Walking back the way she came, she snatched a blanket off the couch. Sliding the glass door open slowly, she saw Ashley’s head move slightly, although not turning around, indicating that the blonde’s presence was known. Without taking her eyes off of the girl in front of her, she silently set down the mug and blanket, leaned her body back inside and slid the door closed again. She stood there for a moment, waiting to see what the brunette would do, but observing that she continued with her awkwardly positioned system she had going, left the girl in peace.

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Later on that night laying in bed with muscular hairy arms encircling her waist, Spencer couldn’t remember why she had even allowed Patrick to cuddle with her in the first place. Maybe it was his sad smile when he asked or maybe it was this look in his eyes that pleaded, “Let me enjoy what time I have left.” Either way, here she was.

Once again, her attempts at sleeping were marred by the image of a curly-headed spunky brunette which seemed to be painted on the inside of her eyelids and the feeling of hot, sticky breath on her neck. Ugh.