hey love, that's the name we've long held back from the core of truth
Title: Building Empires
Author: Evangeline
Rating: PG
Pairing: Spencer/Brendon
Summary: Tugging himself away from the tangled mess on the couch, Spencer walked over to the desk and pulled out a pad of post-its and a pen. He wrote, with carefully enunciated letters, I'm going to find Brendon, and he studied it for a moment before he underlined the words to make sure they knew that he meant it.
WC: 818
AN: Prompted by this post from we_are_cities.

Spencer couldn't say how he knew that Brendon was no longer around, but something dragged his eyes up and away from the laughter surrounding him, urging him to stand and survey the room that was dim, smoky, and muted. A few minutes ago everything had been too bright and too crowded, his mind stuttering around the hand brushing against his thigh and the arm pulling him closer for huffed out secrets and insincerities. He startled when he realized he couldn't tell which was which, and he thought I never wonder when it's him.

Tugging himself away from the tangled mess on the couch, Spencer walked over to the desk and pulled out a pad of post-its and a pen. He wrote, with carefully enunciated letters, I'm going to find Brendon, and he studied it for a moment before he underlined the words to make sure they knew that he meant it.

He gently slapped the yellow square onto Ryan's forehead on his way out the door, and didn't listen to the sounds following in his footsteps. It was just noise. He walked down the narrow hall and pressed the button embossed with fake gold, and he smiled thinking, that fits. There was a false shine draped over the entire room he left behind.

The elevator announced its arrival with a bell chime, and Spencer stepped inside. There, he stood not knowing what to do until the door closed and he was left with pressing, anticipating silence. He stabbed at ‘GF' and tapped his foot all the way down. He rarely felt this impatient with anything but halfway through he was convinced that the gods of elevators were tormenting him for wrongdoings in a past life.

He took a deep breath when the door slid open, and suddenly there were too many directions and he was fumbling without a compass. A wave of something sharp and heavy swelled in his chest; he's not used to not knowing where to go. His first step was loaded with a lot of things he hadn't let himself think about until now, but after that there was no retracing his footprints. They were pointing him onwards.

Spencer walked around the ground floor of the hotel, nodding at the people behind the service desk, the security guards, and others who smiled at him as he looked around and found nothing. He walked until he covered the entire floor then did it again to make sure he didn't miss anything. The problem being he was missing everything.

There was a spiraling staircase leading up to the second floor, and Spencer took each step deliberately, mindful of the fact that he was stalling, afraid of the thought of going home with empty arms. There were plaques near the elevators of this floor, detailing the facilities and services offered and which way to go to find them. Spencer felt a grin spread across his face and he barely kept himself from running, before he thought there was nothing wrong with running at all and so he did.

He slowed down to a snail's pace once he rounded the corner and found Brendon with face and hands and most of his body pressed up against a wall of glass, eyes alight and looking out. Spencer walked up slowly, his eyes never leaving Brendon's, wondering if he could ever make Brendon look at him like that, like if Brendon pried his eyes from him he would crumble and fade away.

Brendon's gaze didn't waver from whatever it was he was so transfixed with outside, but he said, "Hey Spence, check this out."

Spencer looked over Brendon's shoulder and took in the trees lining the edges of the pool, lit up with strings of hundreds of tiny white lights. "They're like really intense fireflies."

"Or fairies," Brendon said, leaning back, not missing a beat. "Like lots of little fairies having a ball, and the dress code is white light."

Spencer hummed. He thought that it was now or, well, later, but now was better. His arms went up to wrap around Brendon's waist, both of them still facing the glass divide. "There was a sign saying there was a look out point, and I thought I'd find you here."

Brendon chuckled, leaning his head back to rest on Spencer's shoulder. "I'm kind of predictable, huh."

Spencer shook his head, tightening his arms around Brendon, pressing them closer together. "Not really. I didn't even expect you to leave the room."

Brendon was quiet for a moment. "Maybe I wanted to see if you'd come after me."

Spencer's eyes fluttered closed and he bowed his face into Brendon's hair, breathing in time with him. "I'm sorry it took me so long to find you," and Spencer willed Brendon to understand that it wasn't just about tonight.

Brendon turned in his arms and pressed a smile into Spencer's lips, and Spencer smiled right back.