#* noah

It had been a while since Spencer had seen Noah. Honestly, Spence had gotten rather busy with his cooking classes that he kept having to cancel on the other. Their trials were right around the corner, so he had been trying to book as many practice sessions and tutoring as he could to show that he was dedicated and worth keeping in the program. However, Noah Foreman had a comfortable spot occupied in his mind whenever he had time to think about things other than cooking, and Spence felt a little bit guilty for neglecting him. Since they had gone to the zoo, the other had been on a few more small dates, such as dinner at Spence’s place or an outing here and there. Spencer remembered when they had their first dinner together, Noah had been so sweet to bring him a bouquet of flowers, and so Spencer wanted to do a similar gesture for him. 

Pulling up to the boy’s address in his pick-up, Spencer had the windows rolled down and the radio playing loudly. If that wasn’t enough for Noah to hear him from inside, Spencer got out while the car was still running and jogged up to the front desk, buzzing the bell for Noah’s apartment, itching excitedly to take him out for the day. 

It was true and indisputable that Spencer had been avoiding Noah. His cooking classes weren’t getting busier, and in fact were in the regular swing of things, the first cuts having passed and Spencer succeeding in navigating through them. He could only make excuses regarding that aspect of his life so often without lying. So, he had found other ways to occupy his time. Taking shifts at the restaurant was a big one, and his feet were taking the hit. If he wasn’t working or at class, he was at the gym, or even out trying to expand his social circle. 

There was only one reason for this very un-Spencer-like behavior; he was a lot more terrified of meeting Noah’s grandmother than he had originally thought. The idea at first sounded amazing, to get to learn more about the boy’s past and become a significant part of their world, however he began to think of all the things that could go wrong. He didn’t know the woman’s demeanor except for what Noah had told him, so what if she absolutely hated him? Was he ready to face a potential break-up because of Noah’s grandmother’s disapproval? Rather than expressing these feelings in a straight-forward way, Spence had taken the passive route of avoiding responsibility, something that he didn’t do often, not unless the topic at-hand was weighing so heavily on his shoulders that he didn’t know what else to do.

Spencer knocked on the door, not knowing if Timmy was home, but nearly certain that Noah was. His feet were aching, but so was his head. He was ready to apologize for being avoidant, ready to face anger beyond the door.

“Hey,” Spencer eyed the door as it opened and then closed, Noah having entered his apartment. He didn’t get up from his place on the couch, where video game controllers for Xbox and Playstation scattered around him, one of the former currently in his hand. A bottle of Jack Daniels sat on the coffee table, though it was clear that a good dent had been made in its volume. “Bad day at class,” he mumbled as the sole explanation, moving his head back to watch the TV screen as his avatar attempted to fight off aliens in Halo.

[text]: hey boyfriend

Spencer: Hey sugar

“That sounds great, darlin’. I’ll make sure I don’t got anythin’ on my schedule, and I can drive us down there together.”

“What, you mean I’m just s’posed to name one thing? How ‘bout I list ‘em. Noah’s the sweetest, most genuine person I’ve met for a long while. There ain’t a malicious bone in that man’s body, and that’s a fact. He speaks whats on his mind, he loves his grandma, his voice does this cute thing where it cracks now and again when he’s real nervous. He’s passionate ‘bout his photography, and he’s just the cutest. Isn’t that enough for anyone to try and scoop him up?”