Ashley did return the favor, tenfold. Her voice, raspy with lust interlaced rolled R’s in Spanish with the dirtiest lines in English that made Spencer’s world shatter into a million pieces with one of the most powerful orgasms she had ever experienced.

After regaining some semblance of sanity, they bathed in the afterglow together. Comfortable silences over the phone mixed with “That was incredible” or “You’re so sexy.” For Spencer, it was the next best thing to actually having Ashley the way she wanted her. It could have been her teenage hormones going nuts but every time she was around the brunette, she immediately felt flush, as if her skin was coming alive just from being in a close proximity to her. She just wanted to reach out and touch the brunette the way that lovers do in public. Express her complete adoration in chaste kisses, lingering looks, and gentle touches. It could be so damn beautiful… but life wasn’t that easy.

Spencer wasn’t out and she sure as hell wasn’t ready to come out right now. Although her mother was currently staying at a co-workers house for a while in order to get her priorities straight, she still came home for dinners when she could. An attempt to still hold a place as matriarch of the family. Still, even with her absence, coming out would not make the situation better. In fact, it could only make it worse. Perhaps Paula would see her daughter as a lost cause and leave all together, ripping her family apart even more than it already was. ‘God, why the hell are you doing this to my family? We’ve been so good and all of sudden everything has gone so fucking wrong.’ she heaved an exasperated sigh.

Being well aware that her parents split was not her fault entirely, she knew that recent assertion of independence or ‘rebelliousness’ as her mother would put it, definitely played a factor. Her father, so accepting and warm and wise, understood what she was going through and gave her the freedom she needed to figure it all out but was still able to pull the reigns back if she was venturing too far. His religious upbringing never influenced the way he saw people but he still stayed true to his Catholic roots. He had the perfect balance and now he was in shambles because of this separation. Although he never drank in front of the kids, Spencer knew well enough where he went when he left at night. She even found a bottle of Jack Daniels hidden under the sink.