“I hate you! I hate…you…!” Her fists, so tiny, beat feebly against his chest. He stared down at her, his eyes expressionless voids and his fists like stones by his sides. He did not touch her.
It was never his place to say anything, not to her, not to anyone. So many things he’d wanted to say, to whisper, to tell her, but he left still unspoken, in his balled up fists, in his gut and in his heart.
Spencer took a step back from her accusing hands. He could not take this anymore, all this tears and anger without bursting, himself. Yes, he could hold her when she got tired, he could love her still, and he could pretend nothing had happened.
But to take this with his stoic expressions, to see her like this without touching her. He could not do it.
Janice pitched forward when he moved, as if she had been leaning on him for strength. Her fists stopped pounding and instead, she sank to the ground at his feet, sobbing into herself, oblivious to his concerned eyes, oblivious to the whole world.
Spencer turned his eyes from her, trying not to blink or he knew; now he would fall asleep. His arms folded around himself, scared that if they did not, he would fall apart, Spencer closed his eyes. The adrenaline was still rushing in his veins, its movement like a swift river.
He felt it when she fell, caught her when she barely slumped against his legs. He lifted her up, her weight and warmth so familiar. Spencer felt his breathing slowing now that he was touching her and knowing she was safe in his arms.
Then he pressed her deeper into his arms, as if to protect her from the world. He knew where to bring her, just like one of those times in the past when nothing yet had happened. He knew what and where would bring her comfort when she awoke. He knew so much about her, that he scared himself sometimes.
Spencer bowed his head over her and started his long walk in the cooling night air that seemed to reach right deep into his lungs. The stars twinkling like diamonds above them, it was one of those times again.
The one-too-many-times.