Chapter Text
When Spencer looked out the airplane window, she saw the disappearing lights of Spain, the darkness of night enveloping the place she had come to love so much. Sighing heavily, she rested her head against the window, the glass cool against her forehead. With every passing minute, the ground was harder to see and they were amongst the clouds now. She closed her eyes only to see visions of her worst memory abroad -- which happened to be only a few hours earlier. It was one thing to say goodbye to the cities she had called home for a short amount of time, but it was something totally different to say goodbye to the person who had also become like a home for her.
Of course over the time she spent in Europe, she made friends and had acquaintances, but none of them even rivalled the connection she had made with someone else. Someone from her past that she never expected to see while on another continent.
Caleb Rivers.
She hadn't seen him since graduation. In fact, she hadn't really seen anybody except Toby since graduation. They were all in a pretty big hurry to get out of the town that haunted them, and everybody had been so focused on having an actual life that they'd barely even spoken since they all started college. So when Caleb called out her name in a train station, she was pleasantly surprised. From that moment, they spent every waking hour together exploring Madrid, taking in the culture and living like locals.
He was her best friend and she was his.
They would talk about art, music, books, and movies until the sun came up, reminding them of the time. When Spencer woke up screaming from a nightmare, which was often, Caleb was there holding her, smoothing his hand over her hair. When Caleb talked about his life in New York and how it deteriorated, she held his hand and listened. There was nothing they kept from each other, except maybe their true feelings, but even that should have been obvious. One look at them and you knew, you just knew they were in love. But that was the one thing they never talked about. It was too complicated.
Spencer shook herself out of her daydream and opened up the camera roll on her phone, smiling at the pictures they had taken together. In font of funny signs. In front of beautiful paintings, and buildings, the kind you didn't see in America. Her favourite was the pictures they took at a bullfight. It was the most awful thing she had ever watched but Caleb made it okay. He laughed hysterically when she yelled "SAVAGES!", but held her hand. Soon, he joined in. There were photos of Spencer red in the face with rage, and photos of Caleb laughing so hard that he was nothing but a blur.
A tear managed to escape from her eye and roll down her cheek. Quietly, she sniffled and wiped the tear away with the back of her hand, steeling herself. She refused to sob on an airplane full of people. Spencer clicked the 'home' button and felt a twinge of pain in her heart. She found their playlist, the one they made for long train rides, or just looking at the stars, and hit 'shuffle' as she fastened her earbuds into her ears. It was painful to listen to but it also made it feel like Caleb was in the seat next to her.
Spencer checked the time and did some quick mental math.
Only nine hours and thirty two minutes left until she landed in Washington. Where nobody would be waiting for her.