callmeemily | Can I pay you tomorrow for recovery today? (Dated Monday, 9:45AM) TW: Mentions of Violence/Torture

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Can I pay you tomorrow for recovery today? (Dated Monday, 9:45AM) TW: Mentions of Violence/Torture

Trigger Warning: This thread contains mentions and descriptions of violence and torture. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to tweet @thestarsplay for clarification. Thanks!

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In the end, she'd handled it herself.

Raleigh didn't have family, didn't have an emergency contact. She'd watched Levi be loaded onto the gurney, and she limped to follow him - but one of the EMTs sat her down and took one look at her, and she was on one as well. She's got no phone - and she doesn't know anyone's phone numbers off the back of her hand, so she goes alone.

Concussion, hairline fractures in her left wrist (her fault) and right cheekbone (not her fault), bruised ribs - bruises all over really, and the 7 inch long cut along the bottom of her foot, from her heel to her toes -- had stitches.

Which meant she had crutches.

She knew she had to be at the hospital to get the stitches, but what she didn't know - or didn't expect, really, was that they were expecting to keep her. They were expecting to keep her, and she couldn't do it. She couldn't, not and keep thinking of Les' words. Of Joseph's, of her own. She'd been through it, after she'd fallen into the basement of that rotted old house. Two days, she'd been down there, and half the people who visited her informed her that They didn't even know she was gone.

Raleigh can't live through that again.

That's why she checks herself out once it's all done, the stitches and the lectures and the questions. That's why she heads back into town - the clicking of the crutches something that's entirely old hat to her, given her leg - and she's thinking about tomorrow. About working, and she draws herself up short before she sits heavily on one of the little tables outside the coffeeshop, nevermind that she hasn't bought anything, that she looks like a wreck and that she's wearing scrubs for pants and a cheap flipflop on her good foot because the exceedingly nice nurse realised that they had to cut her jeans off of her, and she had no shoes - her hoodie had blood on the sleeve and the hem, oddly brown now, but she hasn't realised it.

She sits, and she can't help it as she starts to cry, her free hand still holding the crutches so they don't clatter onto the ground.

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"Raleigh," Joel echoes with a nod and it's going to be an adjustment, but it's one he can make. They've traded a secret for a secret and he's still not sure how he feels, everything coming at once, his own reveal having happened only moments before, but he's always needed time to digest his own feelings. Even when it had come to Spencer, those first few times they'd spent together, he'd spent so much of it confused, trying to work out what it is he'd felt.

Now it seems so obvious.

At her question, though, he huffs out a soft laugh. Including her, there are only four people in Siren Cove he's willingly told what he is and that, for Joel, is the biggest leap of faith he can take. "We're friends," he assures her. "No matter what anyone said."

It's like a punch to the gut, the look on Raleigh's face. There's confusion there, like she's not even sure that she should be here right now and Spencer knows that's on him. He knows that he's hardly good at expressing what he's feeling but it stings a little more because he's trying, he wants to make her feel like she's welcome but between the guilt and the memories that keep flashing in his mind of what had happened in the lighthouse--in his own home--he's finding it difficult to do any of this.

"I mean the afternoon if that's as long as you want to say," he says, his tone gentle. He lowers his eyes then makes his way to the dining room because that's where he keeps his pain medication and he'd skipped out on it over the weekend in favor of being able to actually drink some of the wine offered at the wine festival; but he's feeling it now, in his hand and in his head, and he's become much better at popping off the cap of the pill bottle with just one hand. He doesn't look at her as he swallows a tablet dry, letting out a deep exhale as he grips the edge of the table so his knuckles go white.

"If you want to stay until tomorrow, the end of the week, the end of the year, you can." He glances up at her then. "I'm sorry I'm not better at this. I'm not--"

He shakes his head, realizing that she really shouldn't be on her feet so he guides her to the living room instead, extends his hand to help lower her onto the couch. He sits on the wooden coffee table in front of her, too tall for it to be comfortable and his knees come up to his chest but he just wraps his arms around himself and offers her a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He wants to make her understand, wants her to feel like none of this is just courtesy. He wants her to be her if she wants to be, wants her to feel like this could be a safe place.

"You know I didn't really leave the house after what happened last week," he says. "I've never really relied on anybody before, it's hard for me to let myself trust people. To let anyone in, really let them in, but then I met Joel and now... Now things feel different. And you, you didn't blink after I told you about my family. Some of the things people have done and said and-- That doesn't matter anymore but the thing is, it's taken me this long to realize that sometimes, it's better not to be alone."

He reaches out to grip her hand lightly, and it's not like him and he still feels odd doing this to someone who isn't Joel, but he does it because he thinks maybe they both need it. The contact, the reassurance that somebody is there, he'd craved it when he'd locked himself away. "You're my friend," he tells her, making sure their eyes meet and nodding firmly, squeezing her hand. "You're my friend, and I'd like to help you if I can."

Edited 2014-06-27 22:05 (UTC)

He was holding her close, and she was grateful. She was grateful, and she let time pass; she let time pass because she had found peace for a moment; she didn't hurt, she didn't hurt and she was safe and that's what she knew for now. Finally, she spoke quietly. "There was an old man," she said after a long second. "There was an old man, and he pretended to be hurt so that I'd go help him, and he had somebody, and they grabbed me, and they- they took me." She said it softly.

"He said he chose me because nobody would notice me being gone. No one would miss me, ever. So... So. That's why it matters."

"I think Levi has a friend who's taking care of the birds. We can probably get them for a last goodbye though, right?"

Jason nods his head slowly, listening to her words. Definitely sounded like Wulfric. He hadn't figured out the man's story yet, why he's lived on the streets for so long. He honestly wondered if the man hadn't fallen on hard times at one point and decided to stick around to help the other homeless, those that couldn't take care of themselves, when he easily could have made a life again. He's definitely someone Jason admires. "Sounds like him to the T. He protects everyone." He smiles gently, thinking about Wulfric. He'd be heartbroken to hear about Edbyrd though.

She follows him because that's sort of what's implied by the way he moves through the house, and she doesn't mean to keep making the face she's making - the half-confused, half-wary look that's a little more cornered-animal than she even knows. She's so unsure of herself, of her being here and him. She knows him, she feels like - there's more things to know, but she still knows him, but right now... right now she just doesn't know what she's doing.

He invites her to stay the afternoon, but then- but then to stay here, and she didn't know why, couldn't figure out why, but- Oh, god. She's both terrified and relieved, that somehow she misunderstood, but she's so relieved, deep in her gut. He sits her down in the living room, and Raleigh stares at him, listening to every word and trying so hard not to hope that he means it but she's not going to have to be alone, she's not going to have to be afraid that she'd dreamt all of it, getting out, and Levi coming.

That she's not dead, and she just blocked it out. She knows the nightmares, knows how they work for her. And now she's got a possible- there's a possible solution, if... he really means it. She's not really said anything yet, until she pauses and bites her lip and he's holding her hand. "I know you've been here. That's... why I bought you soup. Because... you can't be eating well." She paused, and then exhaled slowly. "I need to not be alone. I... was afraid, before. I was afraid that I'd be in the boarding house alone, and I have... I have these nightmares," she said quietly. "I don't even know yet how bad it'll be, but- uh. He... the guy who was going to- uhm." She was trying to find the words, without launching into the whole thing. "The guy who was going to sacrifice- He chained me in a bathroom, alone, and then turned the light off and left, and it was- It was a lot like it was before, you know?" Her eyes finally flick to from their hands to his eyes. "I think it was for a day? So- So I don't think I should be alone?"

It's phrased like a question, and her chin wobbles, and she looks away from him, to anywhere but him. "I guess you could say I've done this before."

"Yeah, or just... I don't know. Visit them, or something." She's glad to talk about something that isn't.... it's less about what happened to her, and she's got no idea what she's going to do now.

Deep breath. Deep breath, and then there's the question that she knows she has to ask, and she trusts him. She's asking because she trusts him. Trust is hard, and right now, she doesn't know who else she'd actually ask this of, but... she can at least ask Jason.

"Believe me when I say I don't mean this the way it sounds," she says lowly, "But- But.... I'm-" Raleigh has a hard time coming up with the words, and she bites her lip hard before she finally continues. "Will you maybe- Can you maybe stay? Tonight, with me- I... I don't think I can-" She stops again, and she looks down at her hands. "When I broke my leg, I was... trapped, for a while, and I just- I think I need someone, tonight?" Because she knew how she reacted then, the way she couldn't be alone in the dark.

He's surprised by what she's asking, but no part of him feels uncomfortable by it. Of course she doesn't want to be alone. "Yeah, I can do that," he nods.

But then he thinks about where she lives and wonders what kind of arrangements they have there."Am I allowed to?" This is the first she's explained her leg. He doesn't need any further explanation. "I'll stay."

"I don't know, and I don't care," she said honestly, shaking her head. "I mean, if it's you staying, and them being mad, or me waking up screaming-" She looked away for a second. "I know what I'd choose."

He says she'll stay, and she exhales in a rush, and it's because the tension's just sort of... come off just a bit. "Thank you," she breathes, her eyes finding his. "Seriously, I... I couldn't do this alone, and I trust you, and.... thank you." She leans up, and very lightly kisses him on the cheek, closing her eyes as her forehead rests against his temple for just a moment. "You're a good guy. Special, like I said before." Before all this happened.

"Thanks," he says, breathing out and relaxing a bit more. He takes her compliment to heart. He's happy to help anyway he can, because he honestly can't imagine what she's been through. He wouldn't really want to be alone either.

Jason smile softly whens he kisses his check. He tries to reassure her that there's nothing to worry about. "I'm very sneaky," he says. "No one will even know I'm around."

"He was wrong," Joel says, his arm tightening around her briefly as he thinks about someone doing that to her, someone using her good nature to trick her like that. Someone taking her and hurting her. He doesn't understand why anyone would do such a thing. Mark had grabbed Spencer because he knew it would hurt Joel, he understands that, but he doesn't understand why anyone would feel the need to hurt Raleigh.

"He was wrong," he repeats. "Okay? People noticed. He took advantage of the fact that the town was fairly empty this weekend because of the Wine Festival, that's all. He paid attention to the movement of the town and he took advantage of something that had nothing to do with you and he was wrong. I would notice if you weren't around. Spencer would notice."

"You, and Spencer, and Jason, maybe? We went on a date, and- I mean, he kissed me, so I think that he'd wonder. It was like- It was like the old man knew," she said softly. "It was like he knew, because then he locked me in the bathroom, he cut my foot open so I couldn't run away, and then he locked me in the dark, and it was like he knew" She said it quietly, and then she shook her head. "I know it'll be- I'll get better. I got better before, you know?" She paused.

"Are you okay? The thing you said not for me to tell anyone - are you okay? If people find out.... Not from me, but are you scared?" She's worried - her tone and face make that clear, that she's just trying to make sure things are alright for him. That he's not in danger.

Spencer hasn't done this before. He's played the role of mourner for his entire family now, but he's never been attacked worse than some moderately aggressive bullying in school. Sometimes it still surprises him when he tries to move the three broken fingers on his left hand and finds that he can't, that it's still just as painful as the last time he'd tried. He hates that Emily has previous experience to draw from; she's so young, not that it would be any easier or fairer if she were older, and right now she looks so small that Spencer is nearly tempted to pull her into a hug if he thought himself more capable of not making it seem awkward.

He doesn't acknowledge the part about not eating well. He's not necessarily eating poorly, not with Joel around to make sure of it, but nothing seems to sit well and when he can't block out the thoughts and images of what had happened long enough, the nausea hits and he has to fight hard to keep from being sick. "I have nightmares, too," he says softly and though he holds onto her hand, he lets his eyes drop down to the floor. He doesn't like to talk about them, though he can't imagine anyone likes to talk about nightmares; but even jolting awake from then while in Joel's arms, he's more likely to insist he's fine, that Joel should go back to sleep, than dwell out it any further--at loud, at least.

"I let him in. I thought it was Joel at the door so I called for him to come in, and he found me in the library. I didn't even-- I turned around and there he was. I had two drinks in my hand, he grabbed one of the glasses and hit me..." He cringes at the memory, at the sound of the shattering glass that he still thinks he hears even when he's doing the most mundane of things like brushing his teeth. "When I woke up, I was in the lighthouse. He'd tied my hands and feet together with zipties, and I'd never felt so helpless before that. He kept asking me all these questions, I wouldn't answer him because-- because I didn't want him to give the satisfaction, and I think a part of me wanted to feel like I at least fought back in my way. He asked me how long I thought it would take for anyone to notice I was gone and the thing is, I knew Joel would know. We had a date, he-- of course he'd know. But anyone else, to be completely honest, I wasn't so sure."

He hadn't had too much time to dwell on that before Mark had broken another finger, and Spencer shakes his head to bring himself out of the memory before he can get too far into it. "Anyway. The point is, it's not that you just shouldn't be alone, it's that you don't have to be. You have friends who care about you. I care about you so if you're going to have nightmares in my house, I'm going to make sure I'm there when you wake up as much as I can." He pauses, narrowing his eyes. "If that's okay, I mean. Whatever you want to do is okay by me."

"I know," Joel says, because although he hadn't seen her through the last thing she'd had to get over, he knows her enough now to know she's strong. And she will get better. Time passes and wounds might not heal entirely, but they hurt less. He knows that applies to the physical as well as the emotional, that everything will fade and she'll recover, but it might never go away entirely and he doesn't think there's anything entirely wrong with that. It's just how people deal.

He doesn't expect her question and he pauses, thinking about it. "Yes," he answers finally. "To some extent. Someone... found out recently, someone I hadn't intended on telling. I didn't tell her and she reacted... she thought I was dangerous. That's the very thing I'm trying to avoid, so yes, it makes me a little nervous."

She listens to him as it just falls in this waterfall of words. All the things that had happened to him - there's this point where you've been through a traumatic event, and you just sort of word-vomiting the experience to anyone who will listen, even though it's unintentional, even though you know that maybe you shouldn't for both your own sanity and theres. Talking about it is something that happens because it's reaffirming that you didn't imagine it, that you survived it.

Raleigh's acutely aware of how it all works. She's been through it, and she slowly rubs the side of his fingers with her thumb without even thinking as he's so obviously in the memory, because she doesn't want to interrupt that sort of pressure release but she wants to give him an anchor in reality if he needs it.

He offers to be there when she wakes up, and she smiles - it's small, and her eyes are shiny with unshed tears, but she nods. "I... I'd be grateful?" Shrugging her shoulders up, she bites her lip hard before she exhales in a rush. "There's this part- there's this part," she starts again, once she takes a deep breath. "Where you just sort of... let it happen, because you just... you know you're... done. You know that it's done. That you're just... you're not-" She has to catch a tear with her thumb, and she sees the blood on her sleeve and closes her eyes and shakes her head. "You're not going to make it out alive, and you just sort of... give up, and... there's no fighting anymore. That's when Levi walked in, and.... I mean, I don't think I'll be okay for a while, you know? Because that does something to you, I think." It was like that, before. When they got her out of that basement, she'd just sort of... decided she was done fighting, and then a few hours later there'd been men with flashlights, who'd found her.

The way she looks at him - it's clear that it's in disbelief of a sort, that it's in judgement of the person he's talking to.

"She thinks you're dangerous? To her? Did you... like.. threaten her or something?" The potion thing he gave her - it's relaxing, but the lack of pain in her leg.... it's made her feel almost high, and she's got no filter to speak of. "Everyone in this town has magic. Everyone. Except me, and like... two other people, but everybody else. Did you know people turn into cats? And like, there was this hydra thing, and the old guy had this guy he had bewitched, and he was going to like... sacrifice me. Because of magic."

She made a face. "So it's obviously just the people and what they do with it, not like... magic is evil." She says it like it's a statement of fact. "But I won't tell anybody. I promise, okay?"

He knows exactly what she means and god, he hates that. He hates that they both know, that they've both gone through the kind of trauma people don't just get over in a week or two. It's not as if Raleigh had simply twisted her ankle or that he'd fractured a few fingers in an accident; they'd been attacked with purpose even though they'd both been entirely innocent, and Spencer tightens his grip on Raleigh's had as he lets out a shuddering breath because even though Joel has been the best support system he could have asked for, he knows he still hasn't let what had happened with Mark go.

"I--" It's not a smooth movement, but he brings his injured hand to his throat where the bruises that Mark had left are no longer visible but Spencer can feel them all the same. "He had his hands around my throat and he wouldn't stop squeezing. Joel was there but I couldn't see him, and I thought, I really thought, the last thing I was going to see was that face. He was so happy, he wanted me dead, he wanted to make Joel suffer." He looks up at Raleigh and there's pain in his eyes, pain and confusion that he can't hide. "I've tried to make sense of it but I can't. I guess that's probably for the best."

He's getting better, though. He's gotten better, thanks to Joel and friends who haven't left him to suffer alone, and that's what he wants to help Raleigh do. She's a strong woman, one of the strongest he's met which he thinks is really saying something in a town like this, and he hopes he can succeed where he's failed so many time--in being there for someone, the way he hadn't had the chance to be there for his mom or his brother.

"Yeah. Yeah, it might take awhile. Good days and bad days, right? But you take those bad days and turn them on their heads, you call me or Joel or whoever you want to call and make the rest of it good because the man who took you can't take that away from you. He can't take your friends away because we're all still here, and we're here for you. Try not to lose sight of that, even if it's easier said than done."

"There's no making sense of it," she tells him lowly, her eyes searching his. "And that's okay. It's something- It's human, I think? Just- Just that people do horrible things, horrible things happen, and if we can, we... survive. You survived that, I survived the basement, and I'll survive this, too." They all will. "I think... accepting that... it does something to a person, but... but that doesn't mean it's a bad something, in the end?" She paused, and then very quietly, almost out of the blue. "Do... you have a t-shirt I could maybe- I just- there's b-blood on my shirt, and I can't-"

She just stops then. He knows. She knows that he knows and understands, and somehow, she maybe thinks this will be good for both of them, and there's- there's something she'll never say out loud, but there is something with what happened to Spencer and happened to her, that Joel won't ever get, and she thinks maybe.... maybe it's good, that Spencer will have someone who understands.

He startles at the question, guilt washing over him all over again because he'd seen the blood but he'd gotten so wrapped up in-- He doesn't even want to think about it anymore, even though it's not that easy; he doesn't want to let it get in the way of helping Raleigh when he should be trying to be here for you at full capacity because she deserves that, she deserves feeling like she's being taken care of after what she's just been through.

He untangles his hand from hers and rubs at his forehead before standing up from his spot on the table and nodding absently. "Yes, yes, of course. I'm so-- Yes, stay right here, okay, I'll be back in a minute."

He takes the stairs to his room twice at a time so he can rifle through his pajama drawer until he finds the sweater his mother had bought for him a couple years before her death. He remembers thanking her profusely before it and wearing it on a family outing then burying it in his closet soon after because he'd known the next one was coming soon anyway--this is how he'd ended up with such a large collection that his brother would constantly mock, but Spencer wishes now that he'd worn them all a hundred times over for his mother to see and he uses most of the remaining supply for when he goes to visit their graves.

It's small enough that Raleigh won't be swimming in it, though, so he takes it back downstairs and holds it out for her. "I'll trade you," he says, gesturing at her hoodie. "I can wash it for you. Or burn it. Whichever you prefer."

It's the most ridiculous sweater on the planet, and she's oddly comforted by that. It takes her a second to get herself out of the hoodie, and she didn't realise just how much damage it had been hiding. She's got bandages on her wrists, and she's covered in bruises - and wearing a sports bra, which is why she's not really concerned about modesty. Getting out of the sports bra later is going to be a challenge, but she's grateful for the sweater, and she'd already fished her meds out of the hoodie's pockets before she passes it to him. "Just- you can throw it out? You don't need to burn it." She's pulled the sweater over her head - it's a little big, but not enormous, and that suits her just fine.

"If you're not a Sagittarius, I've got to ask if you're an archery fan," she said with a half smile, and that's when she finally exhales slowly. "Did you guys have a good weekend at the wine thing? It seems sort of a stupid question, but... it'd be nice to hear?"

"A Pisces," he says, far more glumly than he'd intended, and he looks away after Raleigh hands him her hoodie. It's not even for modesty's sake, he just remembers how self-conscious he'd been stepping out after he'd gotten his haircut, giving everyone a good look at the bruises on his face and neck. The pitying stares hadn't gone unnoticed and he doesn't want to do that to Raleigh. He's more than willing to help her re-dress any wounds or anything else she asks him to do but the house is supposed to be a safe place for her and staring at her like she's a victim isn't going to make her feel safe.

He tries not to cringe at the reminder of the fact that he and Joel had been having their good time while Raleigh had been suffering; but she's making an effort to smile and if that's what she wants to hear from him right now, he'll give it to her. So he nods and closes his eyes for a moment as the images spill into his mind, the ones of them in bed together and Raleigh doesn't need to know how far they'd gone or hadn't gone, but a smile plays at the corners of his lips as he answers.

"Yes, we had a good weekend. You know, it was technically our first official date? Joel was-- He's amazing."

"No, I've- I've never threatened anyone." He pauses, then shakes his head, because that isn't entirely true and if she knows about what he can do, then he wants to be completely honest with her. There's no reason to life, because he expects she'll understand why he'd done the things he's done. "Except the man who hurt Spencer. I... I hurt him, but he's the only person."

He'd never once threatened Lou and the reason he doesn't mention her name now is because they've worked it out, he believes, and he doesn't want Raleigh to think poorly of her.

She's right, though, it is the people, he's known that since that night in Shediac when Amy had died. It's the reason he's made his focus protection and healing, refusing to engage in any other types of magic that might border too closely on the dark side of things. "Thank you," he says, passing a hand gently over her head. "Thank you."

"But there's a reason for that," she says lowly, and she sighs, slow and quiet when he smoothes his hand over her hair.

She's needed this, it seems like, since she was fourteen. Since she's been in pain, and alone, and she trusts Joel. They both have secrets, they both have a lot of secrets, but there's a form of doing good that she is grateful for, that makes this okay, and after today - after everything that's happened...

"You're a good person," she says it low and quiet, a statement of fact. Something she thinks he needs to hear more often, and something she believes deep in her soul.

"Fish," and that's all she really knows about it, but she pulls on the sweater, and she's glad she feels... safer, in it. In something of his. It's ridiculous, but for all that he's her friend, she knows he is, the fact that she's got something of his makes her stick that much more in his memory, she thinks.

You could forget her, but you couldn't forget the sweater. That's her logic, and she knows it's messed up and not sound but it does make her feel better. That and him smiling, him talking about the weekend, and she tries not to think about the fact that she'd considered going. She'd considered, but she had to work and what does she know about wine, and now her life would have changed if she'd have just gone.

But then again, someone else might have been dead.

"I didn't know that, that's great." She's sincere when she says it, and she wants to curl up into a tiny ball on his sofa, but she can't get herself small so she just sits, curled in on herself a little. "Joel.... is one of my favourite people," she admits with a small shrug. It's likely no surprise to Joel, should it get back to him - and she felt a similar way about Spencer, really.

He's never paid much attention to zodiac signs, though he knows them all along with each corresponding element, symbol, and ruling planet. He nods when she mentions the fish but it doesn't mean much to him, he's never taken stock in it or read a daily horoscope for anything other than curiosity in the moment. "Fish and the element is water, which I suppose is fitting. I'm also supposedly possessive of erratic energy levels, which I'm sure my mother was always glad did not manifest. My brother had enough energy for all three of us, I'm not sure she could have handled both her sons getting to that level."

The corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement at what she says about Joel. "Mine, too," he tell her, and he suspects he doesn't have to say it out loud for Raleigh to understand that he means Joel is his favorite person. Joel has opened his eyes in so many ways and given him more than Spencer would have even thought to ask for in the past month and a half that they've been spending time together. Joel is, Spencer knows, a big part of the reason why he'd felt comfortable enough to invite Raleigh back here in the first place, and it's not that he doesn't consider her a friend or doesn't trust her. It's just that he's more willing than he's ever been to let people in, to let them get closer, because now it's not just the potential for loss that he sees; it's the potential for a happier future and he doesn't even know how where to begin in thanking Joel for that.

He shakes out of the thoughts, focusing his attention back on Raleigh, and he thinks he can see the discomfort in her face and the way she's sitting on the couch--well, of course she's uncomfortable, she's in more pain than anyone like her deserves to be. He grimaces, twisting the hem of his shirt in the fingers of his good hand before nodding toward the staircase. "I can help you to one of the empty bedrooms," he tells her and his tone is apologetic, as if he's personally affronted on her behalf that she has to get to the second story of his own house just to lie in a bed. "If you're not up for it, I can bring bring some blankets down here and you can rest on the couch for as long as you'd like."

It's not something he hears often and although Joel doesn't think of himself as a bad person necessarily, he also doesn't think all that highly of himself most of the time. But between Cosette and Lara, between Spencer and Raleigh, he thinks he has more than his fair share of people to say kind things about him.

"So are you," he says. "Not someone who's forgettable by any means, no matter what was said." She was lied to and it's not that simple, he knows it isn't, the words inside her head will echo for a long time to come, but he'll be there to tell her they're wrong whenever she needs him to.

"Have you seen Spencer? I- I don't have a lot of room at my place, but you shouldn't be alone. I can go with you to his house, I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."

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Can I pay you tomorrow for recovery today? (Dated Monday, 9:45AM) TW: Mentions of Violence/Torture

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