He takes a moment to gaze at Joel, the affection clearly evident in his eyes, and presses a soft kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. The hermit and the purported murderer, he thinks to himself as his mouth turns up in a wry smile. It's quite a pair they are and adding Raleigh to the mix can only make things all the more confusing to anyone who doesn't quite understand their dynamic. Spencer is fine with that, he's learned to let what other people think of him fade in importance a long time ago, and his smile becomes more genuine as he rests his head on Joel's shoulder.

"Family," he repeats, and it's more to himself at first than either of them because up until a couple months ago, his boss at the library had been the closet thing to family, to a father figure, that he'd had after his mother and brother had died. It's not just blood, he's read that and heard it countless times, but he'd never had anyone show him what that really means. He wants to shake his head when Raleigh thanks him, tell her that it's Spencer that should be thanking her and Joel for making him feel for the first time in years like he's valued, like maybe there would be more than one person in the world who mourned if he were to ever disappear.

He doesn't even know how to begin to thank either of them, though. Somewhere along the line, they'd gotten under his skin and he wouldn't have it any other way. "I feel the same way," he eventually settles on saying, and he knows that isn't enough but it's all he can come up with right now.