He gets the text and he does his best not to panic, but by the time he's run upstairs and asked Charlotte to close up the store for him, Raleigh still hasn't answered and he doesn't know what that means except that something bad has happened, something she considers an emergency, and for some reason she can't tell him what. That causes his throat to tighten and his heart to beat faster as he throws his belongings into his bag. It only takes him a few minutes to collect his things and once Charlotte is down in the store, he heads for the door, telling himself not to run, he doesn't need to run, but he breaks into a brisk jog within thirty seconds and by the time he reaches the end of the block, he's running.
By the time he reaches Spencer's house -- their house, he has to remind himself -- he's breathing hard and his hands are shaking as he frantically pats down his pockets in search of his keys. They're in his hand a second later and he can't even remember which pocket they came out of, only that he has them now, and he unlocks the door, dropping his back, dropping his keys and closing the door with his foot. The protective spell is still in place, the one he put on for Spencer, the one that prevents people from coming inside unless they're invited, so he doesn't bother to lock the door. He just stands in the entrance for a moment, listening and over the rapid beating of his own heart he can hear them.
Spencer is in the library and he's crying.
He crosses the distance to the library in what he knows is a split second, but feels like much longer, like he's moving through water or having one of those dreams where no matter how hard he tries to run, he doesn't get any closer to his destination. But then he's there and he takes in the books on the floor, the broken glass, Raleigh and Spencer all with a sort of detached awareness before he crosses the room and drops down beside them, terrified and bewildered.
"What happened?" he asks, glancing from Raleigh's face to Spencer's ducked head. "Spencer, please, what happened?" All he wants to do is make this better, whatever it is, but he feel suddenly helpless. He can put protective spells on the house and he showed up at the lighthouse and he can hold Spencer when he wakes up from nightmares, but he can't just makes everything right no matter how badly he wants to.
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By the time he reaches Spencer's house -- their house, he has to remind himself -- he's breathing hard and his hands are shaking as he frantically pats down his pockets in search of his keys. They're in his hand a second later and he can't even remember which pocket they came out of, only that he has them now, and he unlocks the door, dropping his back, dropping his keys and closing the door with his foot. The protective spell is still in place, the one he put on for Spencer, the one that prevents people from coming inside unless they're invited, so he doesn't bother to lock the door. He just stands in the entrance for a moment, listening and over the rapid beating of his own heart he can hear them.
Spencer is in the library and he's crying.
He crosses the distance to the library in what he knows is a split second, but feels like much longer, like he's moving through water or having one of those dreams where no matter how hard he tries to run, he doesn't get any closer to his destination. But then he's there and he takes in the books on the floor, the broken glass, Raleigh and Spencer all with a sort of detached awareness before he crosses the room and drops down beside them, terrified and bewildered.
"What happened?" he asks, glancing from Raleigh's face to Spencer's ducked head. "Spencer, please, what happened?" All he wants to do is make this better, whatever it is, but he feel suddenly helpless. He can put protective spells on the house and he showed up at the lighthouse and he can hold Spencer when he wakes up from nightmares, but he can't just makes everything right no matter how badly he wants to.