"don't hate me okay?" penelope says to you as people start shuffling in to her party, one of the ones she hosts many times a year.

"why would i hate you?" you laugh.

"i invited spencer." you look at her, mouth open and dramatically sighing. you'd met spencer only a few times, at pen's parties. you didn't work with him, didn't even really know him that well. but you had a crush so intense on him, you thought you might die. and you had sort of a "mutual-flirty-tendency" with each other at these parties..

and when he came into the party, looking nerdy and sweet as ever, you literally couldn't stop smiling. he approached you and penelope quickly, smiling and waving. ugh.

"hey, you." he nudges your elbow slightly, towering a bit above you.

"hey, spencer." you smile up at him, and tug on your black dress. your tights are ripped below it, and he looks down at your doc martens. pretty. you take in his cute, nerdy outfit. a brown jacket with jeans and nice shoes. he always looks nice.

as the night progresses, it just gets worse. honestly, he stays close to you for the night and nudges you a lot, chats with you a lot, like always. but something feels different. in a good way.

at some point you're drinking a beer on penelope's couch, just thinking, when he sits beside you. almost too close.

"you look pretty tonight." he hushes to you.

"yeah?" you chuckle a bit and fiddle with your beer bottle, not making eye contact.

"yeah." he says it like a promise, smiling to himself.

you look at his hands for a moment as he takes a sip of his cider. they look so soft, and you bet he'd be a good hand-holder. the best.