Chapter 50: St. Patrick's Day*

The morning of our makeup trip to nyc for our make up valentines trip I'm up and at 'em, finishing up packing for both Spencer and myself. We opted to drive instead of fly because by the time we got to the airport and waited for our flight and boarded and took off and then got off the flight we could've just driven there in more comfortable conditions for both of us. I'm wearing my brooks tennis shoes and an athleisure set from lululemon - sorry not sorry I love their clothes because they're very comfy and I feel confident in them - and Spencer is wearing black sweatpants and a t shirt with a quarter zip and converse. We are dropping Ryder off at the pet lodge on our way out of town so he's watching us walk around the apartment confused but with a wagging tail. Poor thing has no idea we are about to leave him for a few days. Today is Wednesday the 16th and we are leaving and won't be back until the 19th. I've just finished packing up our toiletries in our suitcases and zipped them up. I yell to Spence in the kitchen "suitcases are packed and ready!" I start to make the bed so we will come home to a made bed on Saturday and it makes me feel like I have my life together just a little bit. Spencer walks in and helps me finish making the bed and then we both grab our suitcases and Ryder and head out the door. I feel like I'm tricking Ryder and I think Spencer senses this. He gives me a soft look while still driving to the pet lodge and tells me sweetly "Annie, it's just a few days. He will be fine and he will have a great time with the other dogs and get a lot of energy out." I nod and tell him "I know, Spence, it's just so hard. I've had him for nearly 10 years and I rarely go more than a day or two without seeing him. I love him more than most of my not immediate relatives." Spencer asks "do you love him more than you love me?" My jaw drops and I look at Spencer and say "don't make me answer that." Spencer chuckles and says "sorry sorry I should've known not to come between you and Ryder." I groan and say "I love you both just in different ways. I had Ryder first." Spencer chuckles and says "so it's first come first serve?" I shake my head and say "he says less stupid stuff and listens better than you do." Spencer's eyes grow wide and he responds with "that's because he doesn't talk!" I nod, loving on Ryder in my lap some more "exactly, he's the perfect male companion." Spencer rolls his eyes and says "perfect male companion until you want an orgasm," under his breath. I gasp in shock and hit him on the arm "rude! And I can do that just fine by myself." Spencer scoffs "okay, sure." I scoff and say "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that so that you and I can still have a nice valentines vacation and have sex instead of the silent treatment, sound good?" Spencer gives an apologetic smile and nods "deal." We drop Ryder off at the pet lodge with his stuff, like his food and toys and his favorite blanket from home so he will feel loved and comforted. I hold on tight to him until the last possible second and give him lots of kisses before I hand him to the nice girl who works there and leave with Spencer. Spencer rubs my thigh comfortingly while he drives. It's just a little after 8 am now so he pulls into a drive through for us to get breakfast at the next most convenient place. It ends up being a Starbucks and I opt for a skinny caramel macchiato and a Diet Coke in addition to a turkey bacon, cheddar, and egg white sandwich. Spencer opts for a black coffee with 8 sugars and a bacon, Gouda, and egg sandwich. We eat as Spencer drives towards Philadelphia on I95, listening to music and sitting in silence for a bit while we eat. The drive is fairly uneventful, thank the lord. Our plan is to park the car at the hotel Rossi has set up for us and then not use it again until we have to leave the city. I turn on Taylor Swift and give Spencer his own concert of Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version). There are some songs where I'm actually trying to sing songs and sound good like "Fifteen," "Mr. Perfectly Fine," "Better Man," and "I Bet You Think About Me." Then there are others where I try to scream sing as loud as I can like "All Too Well (the 10 minute version)" and "The Way I Loved You." I think Spencer is the most confused by the last song. He asks me "I don't understand - why is she unhappy in this relationship if it sounds like it's a lot better than the one she was in before?" I shrug and say "sometimes girls just crave dramatics and don't want a safe kind of love." Spencer turns to me with a face contorted with confusion and says "what does that mean? Should I be worried you're going to leave me because this is a 'safe kind of love?'" I giggle and shake my head "Spence, our love isn't a safe kind of love because you are an FBI agent and you're dangerous and sexy." Spencer laughs "I've never been called dangerous and sexy in my entire life." I smile and lean towards him, kissing him on the cheek, then I say "you are to me." He blushes a bit and smiles "thanks, baby." Eventually I get tired of Taylor Swift and move on to some of my favorite songs from musicals, Disney and Broadway. When I'm singing "She Used to Be Mine" from the musical Waitress Spencer kind of looks at me in awe. I start to feel self conscious, worried I was being too loud or obnoxious. Spencer pauses the music and says "I knew you could sing but I don't think I've ever heard you sing like that. Why on earth are you not a singer on a stage every night?" I shrug and tell him "growing up I was forced to sing this or that and I didn't always enjoy it. When I sang the pop music I loved, even this song is considered pop music, I was berated for it because it wasn't opera or classical. So instead I sing in private in my own time for stress relief and I try to help others regain their voices in part in my career as a speech therapist. I'm very happy in what I do and I do it to help others." Spencer tells me "if money wasn't an obstacle or anything like that, would you drop everything now and pursue a career as a performer?" I laugh quickly and say "God no. I'm very happy with my life right now. I feel very fulfilled. I love singing but I'm constantly afraid I'll be made fun of for my singing. I tend to keep it to myself for the most part. The most I would do is a karaoke night or like a community theater performance. Nothing crazy like American Idol or Broadway, just something fun and for me." Spencer nods "well if you want to sing, whether it be in the shower or on a stage somewhere you have my full support. Why don't you sing around me more often?" I laugh nervously and say "well my family always said I was loud and obnoxious growing up so I tend to sing in private when I can just to avoid that anxiety." Spencer gives me a sad look and says "I never don't want to hear you sing. It's beautiful and I love it. Please continue." I giggle shyly and nod, continuing singing through my musical playlist. Spencer smiles at me the whole time and I've never felt more seen and heard and loved in my life. This is my person, I've found him and I'm never going to let him go.

•••••

We drive into New York City - let me tell you it's not for the faint hearted. I'm just lucky I have Spencer to drive, I think some of the high speed chases he's driven through in FBI cases were easier than driving around New York City. Spencer drives up to the parking guard at the underground parking garage entrance for our hotel and rolls down the window. Spencer shows the guard our receipt for our reservations and he prints out our pass to put on the dashboard of the car so it won't get towed or ticketed during our stay. He tells us the pass is only good through the night our reservation ends, so Saturday night, and we can get towed or ticketed if the car is left longer. We thank the guard for his help and drive down to find a parking spot. It takes about 3 or 4 levels before we find a parking spot and get our suitcases out of the car. I insist on rolling my own and holding my purse, Spencer doesn't even try to fight me on it. We get in the elevator and then I look down and try to make sure we both look semi decent for this nice hotel. Hopefully it's nice enough wear to check in to our reservation without being judged by other guests. I decide not to care because who dresses fancy when they travel anyway? We make our way up to the lobby and I let Spencer handle all the logistics of checking us in, I know we have been granted a huge discount through Rossi's connections and that's the only way we would choose such a nice hotel to stay in for a short trip, or at least I would. Spencer does love to spoil me, which I don't hate but life is expensive so we can't live luxuriously all the time. Spencer checks us in as I explore the lobby a bit, still in sight of Spencer. There's some beautiful art work and a water feature. I find a little nook with a lemon infused water dispenser and some fresh cookies. I grab a couple glasses and a couple cookies for Spencer and I and walk over to the check in desk. Spencer happily takes the little snack I found and takes a bite of the cookie while we wait on some document to print that he has to sign. The concierge smiles at us and makes small talk while we wait. Spencer has warned me not to talk too much to strangers about our trip, even hotel workers. He doesn't want us to be targets of any like scams or anything. All the concierge knows is we are having an extended romantic weekend away together, not that it's our year anniversary or that it's a late valentines trip. He gives us our room keys and wishes us a nice stay, instructing us if we need anything to just call the front desk. We thank him and head to the elevator to find our room. As we wait for our floor Spencer leans his head against the wall and closes his eyes. I ask him quietly "is your head bothering you, baby?" He shakes his head and says "no, the drive was just tiring." I nod and tell him "we could take a nap when we get in to the room or are you hungry?" Spencer shakes his head "I'm not hungry right now. A nap sounds good. Then we can go do something and get something to eat." I smile and nod "sounds like a plan, Stan." He gives me a soft smile and we exit the elevator once it opens on our floor. We find our room and Spencer struggles with the key card. I let him try for a minute before the sight is too painful to watch anymore and I get through on one swipe. He looks at me and grumbles, saying "I loosened it for you." I giggle and nod "you sure did, babes." We get into our room, immediately locking the latch so nobody else can get into our room. We set our suitcases up on the dresser so we can get some of the stuff we need out of them. We quickly change clothes into our usual pajamas, which is really us being half naked. I'm in a t shirt and underwear while Spencer just wears his boxers. I close the curtains and adjust the air conditioning so the room will be cool. I climb into bed with Spencer who is now struggling to keep his eyes open. I smile and kiss him on the cheek, telling him "get some rest, baby. I love you." He hums in response, mouth falling slightly open as he finally falls asleep.

•••••

I wake up to the sound of the door closing. I turn over to look at the door and see Spencer in a robe, wheeling in what looks to be a cart from room service. He gives me a soft smile and says "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I shake my head and smile back "it's okay, Spence. We didn't need to sleep the day away anyway." Spencer chuckles and tells me "actually we kind of did. It's 4:30 pm." I turn and look at the clock on the nightstand by the bed, confirming what he's saying is true. I shake my head and laugh at the situation. Spencer nods "we haven't eaten since breakfast, so I knew I needed to have food ready for when you woke up. Otherwise, you would be very mean. I was a bit worried for my life." I throw a pillow at him and he chuckles, dodging it. He then says "I see I'm going to narrowly miss the deadline as it is." He wheels the cart over to me, revealing it to be a mixed salad and chicken Alfredo with a bottle of wine and also a Diet Coke for me. I smile at him and say "this looks great, thanks, Spence." He smiles warmly as he puts on some slippers and tells me "I'm going to go get some ice to chill the wine and some for your Diet Coke." I smile and nod, saying "thank you, baby." After Spencer leaves the room I get up to go to the bathroom and freshen up a bit. By the time I'm leaving the bathroom, Spencer is returning with the ice. We both sit in the bed and take our plates after Spencer pours two glasses of wine and a glass of Diet Coke. The food is heavenly and I hope it's not just because we are absolutely ravenous at this point. While we are eating, Spencer tells me "so here are our options: we can stay in tonight and rest or we can go somewhere and explore. What do you want to do?" I shrug and swallow the bite I had been chewing. I tell Spencer "I'm okay with either. I think you should pick since you did all the driving this morning." Spencer nods and says "well, do you want to go to the parade tomorrow?" I nod and tell him "absolutely!" Spencer nods and says "then we should probably rest. Neither of us are young enough to go out tonight and then get up early for a parade celebrating a holiday about alcohol." I nod and giggle "good point, Spence. Is the team on a case right now?" He shakes his head "they weren't as of yesterday, but things can change quickly." I nod in understanding. I tell Spencer "why don't we just stay in and watch a movie and just relax tonight?" Spencer smiles and nods "that sounds perfect." We finish up our food and settle back into bed, wine glasses on the nightstands. I cuddle up to Spencer as we flip on the tv and find it has chrome cast. I grab my phone and start flipping through different things we can watch and find one of my favorite movies. I turn to Spencer and gasp "have I shown you My Big Fat Greek Wedding yet?" Spencer chuckles and shakes his head with amusement. I decide that that is our movie for tonight and start casting it to the tv. We snuggle up and start watching. About 20 minutes into the movie Spencer starts trying to slip his hand under my shirt. I quickly put an end to that, gently moving his hand to lay next to him on the bed. He scoffs and asks "seriously?" I nod and tell him "this is one of my favorite movies and you are watching it. I also don't want this to be what I hear in the background as you make me cum, so yes I'm very serious." Spencer rolls his eyes but doesn't argue further, which I appreciate. We continue to watch the movie and Spencer even laughs through it with me, enjoying it immensely. We make comments and inside jokes about different parts. We also discuss different wedding things as the movie inspires us, like how our invitations are not that gaudy, I won't have that many bridesmaids, my bridesmaids will not look that tacky, and more. As the movie ends I smile to myself and Spencer smiles at me in amusement. He says "I think you may like this more than Harry Potter." I smile and nod "it always warms my heart. When I was chronically single in undergrad it always was a comfort to me because she didn't get married until she was in her thirties and things turned out so well for her. I think I was just always in a rush." Spencer nods "well, selfishly, I'm glad you were chronically single. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't have been single when we met and none of this ever would have happened." I nod as I readjust my body to straddle him. He smiles with amusement as I climb into this position and lower my lips to kiss his. He places his hands on my butt and kneads softly as we kiss. Spencer smiles against my lips and says "hey, I have an idea." I pull back enough so I can see his face and give him a skeptical smile. I ask "and what's that, Spence?" He smiles cheekily and says "how about we cash in that bet?" I furrow my brow in confusion. I ask him "what bet?" He laughs and says "the flep bet?" My eyes widen with realization as I say "oh...really? Right now?" Spencer's smile fades a bit and he says "we don't have to do it if you're uncomfortable with it, Annie." I shake my head, telling him "no, Spence, I...I want to...do..that..you just caught me off guard a bit is all." Spencer nods as he gently pushes some hair out of my face and behind my ear. I look at him honestly and ask him "but what if I crush you, Spence?" He smiles softly in understanding, shaking his head, as he says "you won't." I ask him again "but what if I do?" He smirks and says "then I'll die a very happy man, now come sit on my face." My jaw drops and my eyes widen as I laugh nervously, slightly embarrassed. He chuckles and says "what?" I laugh incredulously before I say "I just have never heard you say that before." He chuckles and shrugs as I sit up and lean back a bit. I tell Spencer "I'm actually really nervous." He smiles softly again and says "I understand. Seriously, if you don't want to do this there's no pressure." I shake my head and say "nope, a bet is a bet. Just don't let me crush you." Spencer chuckles "I'll tap out if I have to, I promise." I nod as I shakily get up and off him to remove my shirt and underwear, and Spencer quickly kicks off his boxers. I take a shaky breath as Spencer readjusts, moving down the bed a bit. He looks at me with an evil grin and says "your throne awaits." I laugh out loud at that and shake my head as I move to get into the right position. I swallow my fear and climb on top of him, straddling his face. This feels insane, but Spencer doesn't let me question anything for too long as he places his hands on my hips and pulls me down on top of him with no warning. I gasp in shock at the feeling as he wastes no time exploring my folds with his tongue. I cry out in pleasure at the feeling as I regain my balance. I quickly lean forward, using my hands on the bed to brace myself. I take his growing cock in my hands and pump him a few times, making him groan against me. I shudder at the feeling as I take my mouth down to his tip, swirling my tongue around it. Spencer continues eating me out with ferocity as I start to bob my head up and down on his cock. I use my right hand to play with his balls a bit while still bracing myself with my left hand. I can feel him twitching in my mouth and can tell he isn't going to last much longer. Spencer knows this, too, and in response takes two fingers, thrusting them into my heat, and sucks my clit into his mouth. I moan and gasp in surprise at the added stimulation and last about 5 more seconds before I feel my body give in to the sensations, cumming on his face. Spencer follows suit, his cock twitching before ribbons of cum shoot into my mouth and down my throat. I swallow his cum and remove his tip from my mouth with a loud popping sound. I swing my leg back over his face and sprawl out next to him on the bed, both of us panting and out of breath. After a minute of catching our breaths, Spencer says "that was amazing." I nod and say "yeah it was." He says "we should do that again." I giggle and ask "right now?" He chuckles and says "not right this second, no, but we should definitely do it again at some point." I laugh and nod "okay, yes, agreed." I sit up and move to cuddle up to him, both of us still naked at this point. After a comfortable silence of about 5 minutes I ask Spencer "wanna fuck?" Spencer says "God, yes, I thought you'd never ask." He immediately pins me down and starts kissing down my neck as I giggle at his words and actions. He kisses my sternum and I tell him "Spence, quit teasing me, just put it in." He looks at me with shock and nods, dumbfounded. I giggle at his facial expression as pins my hands above my head and lines up at my entrance. He slams into me and immediately begins with a ruthless pace. As I scream out profanities, Spencer kisses my neck and down to my sternum, as far as he can comfortably reach while he's keeping this intense pace. He takes his other hand down to my clit, rubbing it side to side in fast motions. He says in my ear "cum for me, baby, cum on my cock." At the added stimulation and his encouragement, I feel my orgasm hit me like a train. Spencer follows suit a few seconds later, finally slowing down his pace. I moan as he pulls out of me and immediately goes to get something to clean me up. He returns and gently cleans up the mess he's made of me, like he always does. He puts the towel in the dirty laundry and smiles sweetly at me, laying next to me as I look at him in my blissed out state. We lay there together, comfortable and happy. Spencer asks me after a bit "want to take a bath now, love?" I smile and nod as I move to follow him to the bathroom. As we watch the bathtub fill I tell Spencer "Happy late Valentines Day." He smiles and tells me "Happy late Valentines Day, baby."

•••••

I wake up at 9 am the next morning to get ready for the parade. I am doing my hair half up, half down with space buns and I have a headband with four leaf clovers on springs attached. I'm wearing an emerald green oversized sweater with jeans, my Ugg boots, and my black leather jacket. It's pretty chilly in New York right now, it snowed heavily last week and there's still snow on some of the sidewalks. Spencer walks out of the bathroom in black pants and a green button up with his converse. I ask him "babe, do you own any clothes that aren't sweats but also aren't dressy work clothes?" He shrugs and says "I do have a pair of jeans somewhere but I rarely wear them." I nod, thinking I have seen them somewhere at some point. I ask Spencer "so what's the plan?" He smiles and says "so we are going to eat an early lunch at the Perfect Pint on Fifth Avenue and watch the parade from the rooftop there. I've already made the reservations. Then after that we can go see St. Patrick's cathedral or we can go see the Empire State Building lit up green for St. Patrick's Day. Or we could do something else like go to Times Square if that isn't what you want to do?" I smile and nod "that all sounds really great, Spence!" He beams in response, proud that he had planned well. We get ready to go and leave around 10 to walk to the restaurant Spencer mentioned. It's about a 20 minute walk from our hotel and would likely be even longer if we took a cab or an Uber with all the traffic. We walk hand in hand, watching the crazy drunk people - yes, drunk people at 10 in the morning - dance down the sidewalks. We laugh through it all, but Spencer still holds me tight. I love that he's protective, but sometimes I wish he wasn't so protective. We arrive at the pub and Spencer talks to the host while I look around at the decorations hung up and displayed for St. Patrick's Day. The place is lively and more drunk people are living their best lives in here. Spencer and I laugh and smile at the antics and wait patiently for the hostess to seat us. She gathers the menus and motions for us to follow her up a spiral staircase. We do so happily and find ourselves on the rooftop as she leads us to a table in the corner. She smiles and tells me "your server will be with you soon. Enjoy the parade!" I smile and thank her. When we sit down, I tell Spencer "we need to tip her on the way out." Spencer furrows his brow and asks "why?" I say "she was nice and friendly and she also didn't hit on you or ogle you with her eyes. 10/10." Spencer chuckles and says "I don't even notice if that does or doesn't happen." I giggle at him and say "you're a real head turner, Spence. Even when you were half dead in the hospital I thought you were very attractive. When I saw you for the first time not in pajamas or a hospital gown with all that color back in your face my jaw dropped." Spencer chuckles "I thought you were just shocked to see me there." I smile and nod "that, too." The waitress for our table comes over with two glasses of water and says "hey there guys, I'm Tanya and I'll be your waitress this fine St. Patrick's Day! Can I start you guys off with some drinks?" Spencer says "well I think I'll stick with tradition and get a pint of Guinness." The woman nods and writes it down, without looking up from her notepad she asks "green or regular?" Spencer is shocked and speechless. He sputters for a minute and says "uhh..I guess...green?" She smiles and nods. He says "when in Rome, I guess." She laughs once and says "actually we are in New York, sweetie." Spencer and I laugh when we realize she was being 100% serious. She looks at me and asks "what would you like, love?" I respond "Um, I think I'll have the luck of the Irish martini." She smiles and nods "good choice. I'll get those right out for you." She winks at us and then leaves the table. Spencer and I look at each other in shock before busting out laughing together. I tell him through laughter "I thought it was a joke, but she was 100% serious." Spencer laughs and nods "we need to tip her well, too. She needs it." Spencer and I laugh together until we both get distracted by the people lining up for the parade. It doesn't start for another 10-20 minutes but it's already absolute chaos down there. The waitress, Tanya, returns with our drinks, not spilling a drop in the hustle and bustle of the busy floor. She sets our drinks down and asks "are you two ready to order?" I smile and nod at Spence, he smiles and nods as well. I tell her "I would like to try the corned beef with all the fixin's. I want to try it as authentic as possible." The girl smiles and nods, writing down my order. She then looks at Spencer and says "well you definitely have yourself a real southern girl. I don't think I've heard the word fixings since the last time I watched Fried Green Tomatoes." I nod shyly and say "yes, you're right." Spencer nods and winks at me "she's really adorable like that." He then orders his shepherds pie. The woman nods and is off once again to fulfill our order. Spencer smiles and says "your accent gets more southern when you get nervous. It's cute." I blush and look away. I tell him "I don't even know I'm doing it." Spencer chuckles "that's why it's cute." I laugh and nod, then our attention gets turned to the parade starting. We don't cheer from the rooftop, but Spencer and I point out things we find cool or funny and talk about them. It's actually really impressive. This must be what a drunk Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is like. When the parade is halfway over, our food arrives. It was actually perfect timing because we weren't even getting impatient, we were completely distracted and enthralled with the parade. We eat our food and watch the parade as Spencer has two beers and I down about 4 cocktails in quick succession. Spencer gives me a serious face and says "you need to drink more water now. There is a lot going on and I don't want to lose you in this chaos. You're a runner when you're drunk." I giggle and hiccup as I say "she's a runner, she's a track star." Spencer looks confused and shakes his head, pushing the water towards me. I nod and slowly drink my water between my hiccups. I've only eaten half my food and Spencer says "you need to eat more, too. Absorb the alcohol." I nod and slowly eat more of my corned beef, which is absolutely melt in your mouth amazing. We watch the parade continue and the crowd is still roaring. I've sobered up slightly as Spencer pays the bill, not letting me see. I ask him "if I guess it correctly will you tell me?" Spencer chuckles and says "if you guess it correctly down to the penny I will tell you if you are correct." I smile and nod, drunk me thinking I've won something here when I really haven't. I tell Spencer as we stand up to leave "oop I have to pee. Like really bad." Spencer chuckles and nods, leading me over to the bathroom for the inside area of the restaurant. He tells me "I'll stand out here and wait for you. Be quick. No fights." I giggle and nod as I go into the bathroom. I'm singing nonsense to myself as I do my business. Halfway through the process I realize I'm reminding myself of Boo from Monsters Inc when she's in the bathroom with Sully. I start giggling as I pull up my pants and leave the stall, washing and drying my hands before leaving the bathroom. I'm still giggling all the while. Spencer asks me through his own laughter "what's so funny." I giggle some more and say "I was like Boo." Spencer doesn't get what I'm saying and just laughs and shakes his head, leading us down the stairs and to the front door. I watch as Spencer slips the hostess a $20 bill and says "Happy St. Patrick's Day." She smiles and thanks him. I blurt out at her "thanks for not hitting on my fiancé!" The girl laughs and says "well I play for the other team, so if you weren't wearing a ring I might would have hit on you instead." My jaw drops in shock. I ask her "no, really?!" The hostess laughs and says "you're totally hot." I hit Spencer on the arm without looking at him and say "give her another $20." Spencer scoffs and says "no, we have to get going." He then turns to the hostess and says "thank you so much for boosting her ego a bit." I giggle and shout out "I'm hot," as I pump my fist into the air like in The Breakfast Club. Spencer jogs to catch up to me and laughs saying "what's gotten into you?" I shrug and say "I'm hot and I'm drunk. This is the best day of my life!" Spencer laughs and says "what have I gotten myself into with you? I should've brought a leash." I gasp and turn, wiggling my eyebrows at him. I say with a sly grin "kinky, Spence." He scoffs and says "that's not what I meant and you know it." I giggle and nod as we walk along the sidewalk. It's about a 20 minute walk to Times Square from our restaurant, luckily we are on the right side of the road and not cut off by the parade barricades. We walk to Times Square and explore together, like the tourists we are. We take pictures and get personalized m&ms at the m&m store. We go to the small vendors who sell paintings and other trinkets. We buy a lot of stuff, I think Spencer is just humoring me with the cheap trinkets, but drunk me is so excited for the little pieces of New York. Eventually I get tired and we get dinner from a couple of street vendors. It's actually some really good food and we sit on a bench eating it quickly. I'm fully sober now as we sip our bottles of water. Spencer smiles at me and asks "have you had a good day?" I smile warmly and nod, watching the sun slowly go down between the buildings. Spencer smiles and says "you up for one more thing?" I yawn and nod as Spencer calls an Uber. We walk towards an uber pick up point by time square and hop in after a few minutes when ours arrives. The car drives through the city and I look at all the different decorations and the flashing lights of the theaters and stores. Spencer reaches over and squeezes my hand. He smiles softly and asks "you good?" I smile softly back and nod "it's all so pretty, Spence." He smiles and nods, looking out his own window. We arrive at the Empire State Building. The sun is now fully set and it's illuminated in green for the holiday. I gasp and get excited as I put two and two together. We make our way into the crowd and wait in line to buy our tickets. It takes about twenty minutes for us to get our tickets and then about 20 minutes for us to get up to the top, but it was totally worth it. We make it to the top and I walk around, hand in hand with Spencer, looking at all the different views. A man who works for the building points out to us all the different states you can see from up here. Then Spencer starts spouting off more facts, accidentally intimidating and, I think, boring the man. The man eventually grumbles and walks away defeatedly. I giggle and tell Spencer "I love all of your facts, Spence. Keep telling me them." Spencer blushes and nods, continuing with his rambling that I listen to intently. The last thing we do before we leave is get a picture. A nice mom takes it for us and it turns out gorgeous, especially with the green haze around from the lights of the Empire State Building. She hands me back my phone and Spencer and I slowly make our way to the exit to head back to the hotel. Spencer squeezes my hand as we ride the elevator down to the ground level. Spencer calls an Uber on his phone and it's waiting for us by the time we get through the crowd to get back to the hotel. I sit in the middle seat and lean on Spencer as we drive back through the city for the last time tonight. I fight to keep my eyelids open, but eventually lose the battle. It feels like 5 seconds passes and Spencer is gently shaking me and telling me we made it back to the hotel. I yawn and nod, moving to follow him out of the car. I thank the uber driver and take Spencer's hand as we go up to our room silently. Once we get in our room, we quickly get ready for bed, both of us exhausted. I'm hungover a bit and exhausted. I fall into bed, Spencer not far behind me. He crawls into bed, wrapping his arms around me from behind. I hum and tell him "this was the best day. Thank you, Spence. I love you." I can feel him smile against my head and says "I'm glad you had such a good day. You're welcome, baby, I love you, too. Sweet dreams." I hum a response and slowly drift off to sleep in his arms.

AN: sorry I've been MIA. I'm in a summer semester for school that's brutal and I also currently have strep throat. At least it's not flep lol. I can't decide if I'm going to do another New York chapter or move on with the story. If y'all have any preferences lmk! 😊