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"You see,"
Things flashed through Spencer's mind when Simon's fingers found their way to his arm, things such as punching into his smug face to turn the table, or maybe, just maybe, kissing him for the same sake.
If he punches Simon, it'd cause no more than a heated argument which they've already had plenty of, and it wouldn't hurt enough. But if he kisses him…
"Together we're stronger,"
"We can…"
He rolled over to face Simon, successfully silencing his difficult fan. He didn't let the silence linger too long before taking him by the chin, and pressed their lips together.
Not surprisingly, Simon's eyes widened in disbelief, whatever he was planning to say died on his lips. It actually wasn't a bad feeling if he was being honest, still Spencer pulled away abruptly and sat up, watching Simon blink quietly, processing, mouth slightly open in shock.
"That's the way of seducing people, not, uh, whatever sick shit you did."
"…So you know."
"About your stupid game? Yes."
"When did you know?" Simon sat up as well, looking amusingly disappointed in himself.
"You really think I'd fall for it a second time? Besides, that was fucking creepy." He threw a pillow into Simon's arms and started walking his way out, "You'll probably get yourself smothered with this."
He walked out and saw Gavin in the kitchen sink washing the fake blood on his clothes, making himself right at home. The sight annoyed him more than it should be.
"Sorry about the mess, Mr McGuire." Gavin began, a smile forming on his face, and Spencer frowned impatiently.
"You should be."
The smile froze on Gavin's lips, turning into something close to scrupulousness.
"Mr McGuire… Where is Simon?"
"Crying for your failed little trick probably." He said in a tone of revenge. "Now leave. You can wait for him wherever you want except my fucking house."
After Gavin left, he shut the door and leaned on it with a sigh of relief, and then he saw Simon, already out of the bedroom, looking at him with a wry smile.
"Spencer, is this your way of getting back at me?" As he spoke, however, the smile was gone and replaced by a dull sadness in his large eyes. "At least the killing part was believable, wasn't it? I saw your eyes. You panicked because it was convincing. You can't say it wasn't."
This made him want to argue, but that never ended well. He shouldn't have argued with Simon from the beginning, he tumbled to the realization. That's why he always let him get his manipulative ways.
Simon walked to him slowly, completely oblivious to what was going on inside his head.
"I have no interest in getting back at you, Simon. If any, I already did." He cleared his throat. "What I want you to do is get out and never come back."
"It's just," Simon glanced up, and quickly ducked his head again after their eyes briefly met. "You shouldn't have known, but you did. I don't understand what went wrong. Just yesterday you were talking about cutting the Baron's scene."
"So what?"
"Well, you haven't even read the script. So how did you know that I was, uh, auditioning for that part?"
He went still immediately, but thankfully Simon's eyes were fixed on his own the entire time, and his suddenly stiff arms wouldn't attract attention.
"You've mentioned it in the podcast."
"Once! And only a few words, not even remotely enough to put the whole thing together."
"Well, I managed it."
"Or did you stay up late last night? You… have dark circles under here." Simon said with the tiniest smile on the corner of his lips, finger ghosting over his face, and he nearly jumped.
He nearly jumped, because he was taken aback, or even a bit impressed as he could admit, by the change in Simon's expression, the sparkle in his eyes and the twitch of his mouth. Certainly not by the fingers on his cheek.
"Spencer, there's one thing I don't understand."
"What?"
Simon paused, and Spencer's breath caught in his throat under the thoughtful gaze.
"Why won't you admit that my plot is good, or even that you've read it? I can scarcely believe I'm saying this but, were you waiting to see what I would do with the seduction?"
"No! You fucking self-righteous bastard. I did read it, and it was lame. So don't flatter yourself."
"Oh." Simon said quietly, eyes downcast with hurt.
He didn't expect such a look, like that of a child who has been reviled and taunted in his attempt to please.
"Then you must have been putting up with me all this time." Simon sighed, "Can't believe you did that."
"Well I can't quite believe it either." He said with honesty. "Listen, Simon, I'm going to call my agent and we need to clear this up."
"Just one more thing I don't understand, Mr McGuire."
His brows knit at the formal tone and the use of his surname. Simon hadn't called him Mr McGuire in a long time.
"What now?"
"The kiss. What - "
"I was being sarcastic for God's sake."
"No, I mean, what should I do? For a proper audition. Is tongue contact required, or just the touch of lips as you did? Should I just go for it or, maybe set up a conversation first?"
Spencer felt his mouth twitch at those words, which sounded so sincere and yet like a joke for the situation they were in. His eyes dropped to Simon's and there was something meaningful and challenging glinted.
Simon nudged him with his elbow, and then closed the final distance between them. As those ridiculously soft lips pressed themselves to his own, he knew Simon was smiling from the movement of his chin. The man was very tentative at first before he quickly picked up that Spencer wouldn't punch him and became bold. He caught Spencer's lip with his own and nibbled at it, and Spencer let out a mumbled groan. He found himself trapped between the door and Simon's body, two arms on each side to prevent the possibility of going elsewhere. Simon was standing on tiptoe a little, his hands slowly moving to Spencer's hips, but they didn't pull him forward so much as suggest the movement. When he broke the kiss and pulled back just far enough to speak, the challenge from his eyes faded into a smile.
"So, a conversation at first helps."
Taking a deep breath, Spencer said, "Stop."
"How did I do this time? Oh. You enjoyed it."
"No. I didn't. I…"
"Please, Spence, no lies. Even your body is telling me otherwise."
He needed to hold on to the door behind him tightly so he wouldn't fall, but Simon's hands caught him just in time.
"I hated to bring Gavin back from the dead, much less to your house. But I want to kiss you as much as surprise you. It's a risk worth taking." Simon whispered, "And it's my only choice. You are a man of integrity, and I've felt compelled to let you know how I really feel about you. That's why I'm doing it. I'm in love with you."
His eyes widened in shock at each word, his heart thumping under Simon's hands, and he forced himself to speak despite the reluctance to do so.
"This is madness."
"Spence - "
"Let go of me."
"Right." The grip on his waist loosened, and his knees went weak again as Simon brushed their noses together before pulling away completely.
"Can I stay here one last night? I'm going to the guest room, obviously. I don't want to, um… I just need some time to get my stuff together and find a place to stay tomorrow. It's - "
"Yes."
"What?"
"You can stay here tonight." He sighed.
To be honest he had no intention of kicking Simon out immediately. It was late, and his agent could only come to deal with the termination of all this the next day. They had been living together for a ridiculous amount of time now, and it was the first thing he noticed the next morning when he threw all Simon's belongings into a bag. They were everywhere. He even found a notebook under his pillow full of plot and even dialogue analysis of the important episodes. More than half of the pages were used. As Spencer turned them over and really went through it, he found some of the ideas were quite brilliant, and he was actually touched that someone would put so much thought into his work. Thinking of Simon himself, for all his loathsome manipulations, he could not deny the man's capacity for insight. If they had met under other circumstances and Simon was not a fan, he would no doubt have admired him.
He did admire him nonetheless. The sudden realization hit him and almost gave him a shock. Maybe that's why he almost didn't turn him down. He could never let Simon know these thoughts, though for some reason he felt Simon already did.
The key turned and the door opened. He dropped the notebook on the bed and rushed out. Simon was there, just coming in with two bags of vegetables as if doing their normal morning routine. He saw Spencer and greeted him with a smile.
"Morning. Your fridge was empty so I bought groceries. So, when do we start?"
"What? …What are you talking about? Start what?"
"Today's podcast. You know we're going to talk further about the storyline, right?"
"What - " He clenched his teeth and shook his head. "Simon, for God's sake, it's over. There will be no more podcasts. I know this is hard for you… Don't look at me like that. I mean, unless you have no place to go, I could…"
"But," Simon said, his eyes dropping, but not fast enough to hide the sly smile that flickered across them. "I filmed what happened here yesterday. Our conversation and kiss… especially the kiss. I really don't want to put that on my podcast, Spence."