"We could cut through the park, it would be faster that way." Lilith suggested as the pair stepped out of the convenience store.

"Yeah, you're right. Aren't you a bit scared though? It's quite dark out here."

"Not with you around, Prince Charming." She joked, a dramatic tone and the back of her hand on her forehead.

Spencer laughed. "For real, though."

"Yeah, I'm a little scared, but you're here so it's okay. It's more the cold that I'm not enjoying." Lilith shivered a little.

"That's something we can fix." Spencer said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her a little closer to him.

Lilith stared down at the shopping bags as she wondered. Spencer was always more confident around her; did he think a lot about the actions he took around her? The way he placed his arm around her, as if it was completely normal. But this wasn't normal for Spencer.

The two made their way through the dark alleys of the park.

"So, how's it been going with Jeanine?" Lilith asked after a bit.

"Hm...I'd say it's going okay. She's a nice person."

"Yeah, she is. She really helped me a lot through my hard times. So has Ezra. Especially after Angie's death..."

Spencer squeezed a little tighter. Lilith smiled. He always seemed to know what to do, what to say.

"I just had a thought." Lilith paused for a bit.

"Hm..?"

"We should totally make friendship bracelets when we get back."

Spencer laughed.

***

"No! Don't mess it up! I'm the one who's going to have to wear it after!" Lilith protested as she tried to grab Spencer's bracelet.

"It's a very nice color! I don't understand what you're against." He tried to pull it away from her as he laughed.

"I prefer this shade." She picked out a royal blue thread.

"Fine! But you have to make my bracelet with this shade." He handed over a burgundy thread.

"Hmm... okay...deal."

The two were sat on the floor, a bunch of colourful thread in front of them. They had looked up tutorials online to make each other bracelets, and were using their legs as their working surface.

"Wow... you're going way too fast! Hold up!"

"Make me. Handcrafting is my thing." He teased, focusing on making his own pattern, his hands criss crossing in a nearly competitive way.

"Ugh, if I rush it it will look bad. I want you to have a nice bracelet."

"I'm sure you'll make something nice." He smiled at her. "Talking about it, I'm already done."

"What?!" Lilith was barely halfway done.

"Give me your wrist." Spencer asked gently, as he pinched on the ends of the bracelet.

She extended her arm in front of Spencer's face, as he wrapped around the blue threads.

"Thank you. It's very nice, actually."

"What do you mean actually? You thought I'd flop this?" Spencer asked, pretending to be offended.

Lilith laughed. "Of course not. I really do like it. Thank you Spencer." She smiled. "Now I have to finish yours."

Lilith's bracelet for Spencer was a bit more wonky, but it didn't keep him from loving it. He found it charming. A memento of his best friend, wherever he went. Miles and miles away, he'd just have to look at his wrist to remember what was waiting for him back home.

Spencer snapped out of his thoughts.

"Hey, have you seen my scarf? I can't see it anywhere..." Lilith asked, looking around.

"Huh... now that I think about it, I don't remember you coming back from the store with one. Do you think you might have left it at the shop?"

Lilith slapped her forehead. "Oh god... yeah."

***

"You're lucky we were able to find the cart easily. Someone could have taken it." Spencer shoved his hands in his pockets. The two walked back from the convenience store.

"Yeah... thank you so much for coming with me, I thought I'd nearly lost it." Lilith was relieved, as she squeezed the scarf against her. "My mom gave it to me, I really like it."

Spencer understood. He looked over at her, her nose a little red from the cold. The streetlights  occasionally shone on her black hair.

"What you looking at?" She joked.

"I think you've got something on your cheek." Spencer smiled.

"Remove it!"

Spencer held out his hand, and instead of brushing her cheek, he pinched it.

"Hey!"

"Sorry! It was really tempting..."

They laughed together. As they fell silent, their eyes crossed.

They held each other's gaze for a little while. Under the dim lighting, Spencer saw her in a new way. As if under gauze, an unveiled mystery, perhaps. Lilith stayed silent. For a split second, it felt like they had only just met, all over again. An inexplicable force. She looked into his dark hazel eyes, that left so many things unsaid.

They realised they'd stopped walking.

Still looking at each other... not awkward, yet not comfortable. As if there had been a rupture in their cozy balance. A tear in their routine.

They couldn't tell. Is he... getting closer?
As if he was about to say something, Spencer slightly opened his mouth. Lilith stayed still, giving her full attention to his foreseeable words. In this exact moment, there was only one thing that she truly wanted...

Riiing. Riiing. Riiing.

Spencer suddenly widened his eyes, as if woken up. He turned around, clumsily reaching for his phone, tucked in his back pocket. He was frowning.

Lilith stood awkwardly, looking around, trying to look somewhat normal, unshaken. What even was that? She thought. She tried to erase the last minute from her memory, in vain. Spencer was whispering in the phone, still frowning, not mad, just annoyed. He gave a last sigh, before finishing,

"Sure. Yeah. Goodnight, Jeanine."

Lilith practically froze at the mention of her name. Why was she calling him so late at night?

"It was Jeanine."

"I heard." Lilith said, no particular emotion in her voice.

"She asked me to go to Garcia's Halloween party with her, as her date. You're coming, right?"

"Well, I was invited, so yeah, I'll probably go." She shrugged.

"I told Jeanine yes, that doesn't bother you, right..?"

Lilith laughed as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. She gave him a weak smile.

"Hey, why should I weigh in? Of course you should take her. I'm not your girlfriend, she is."