"Mind if I pass by tomorrow to see Period?"

"Her name's Dot." Harry deadpanned through the phone with an irritated tone, making me grin as I leaned back in my chair, ruffling my dirty blonde tufts of hair.

"Yeah yeah, well, so can I visit and buy the princess ice cream tomorrow or not." I let out a small, amused chuckle, my gaze suddenly flickering to the macaroni necklace on my table.

"Sure." Harry responded, never seizing to surprise me on how much he's changed ever since him and Malu had Dot.

Half of me wanted to tease the shit out of him but the other half seemed to deflate at the thought of Malu.

My grin faded and I sucked in a sharp, slow inhale, taking the hard shelled, pasta necklace in my grasp, fidgeting with it between my calloused fingers and staring at it in thought.

"You know you can see her too." Harry suddenly spoke in a gruff voice, making me refocus back on our conversation as I blinked with creased brows, shifting in my chair.

"Hm," I said in a distracted tone, still holding onto my trinket before he elaborated.

"Malu, you can see her-"

"I don't know man." I cut him off, sucking a breath between my teeth as I shook my head even though he couldn't see me.

"She's getting better," Harry informed, "She's still there."

I let the necklace slip from my fingers before pinching the space between my closed eyes, trying to rid myself of my head and heart ache.

I couldn't see her.

I just couldn't bring myself to look at her big brown eyes and for the first time find nothing in them.

I wasn't ready to face her again.

"Good to hear, good to hear..." I muttered, nodding.

But I meant it, it was good to hear that Malu was still there.

It was just- the thought that she'd never really be the same as she was before was what really got to me.

"Look, I got some stuff to do so I'll see you tommorrow. Give Malu a big kiss for me yeah?" The teasing lilt on my voice returned despite the sad smile on my face.

I didn't bother to ask him to give Dot a hug from her amazing Uncle Spencer since I'd make sure to give her one tomorrow.

"Sure, but it won't be for you." Was the last thing Harry scoffed into the speaker before the line went dead, making me let out a small laugh of amusement as I stared down at the phone before turning it off and sliding it across the table.

My gaze always seemed to be magnatized to the pasta necklace on my desk, forcing me to tilt my head up and train my eyes on the ceiling above me as I leaned back, the chair creaking under my weight while I situated both of my hands on the back of my head and sighed.

I hadn't realized I closed my eyes when they suddenly snapped open at the sound of commotion from outside my motel room in the hallway.

"Get your crumby paws of me! I'm a stripper, I know my rights!" A female voice that sounded uncannily similar to that of Harley Quinn erupted through the thin, moldy paper walls of my room, making me sit myself up, turning to stare at the chipped door before rising and heading towards the exit when I heard the same voice scream.

"Just you wait bustah, when Maggie and Chris hear about this, oooh, you're gonna be in some deep shit!" The thick, red headed girl wildly flailed around when I opened my door, her wrists captured by one large, buff male while another attempted to stop her chubby legs from kicking out, a third one just simply watching the others struggle.

"Chris and Maggie aren't going to do shit. You owe me money and since I don't see no cash around, I'm afraid you're gonna have to pay your debt in a different way..." The third one who seemed to be in charge of this whole thing sneered at her.

"I ain't no prostitute!" She growled through clenched teeth, trying to grab the corner of the wall as the others attempted to tug at her legs to pry her off it, my eyes going to the cherry tattoo on her arm.

"You're a stripper, no difference." The men laughed.

"Hey!" I called attention to myself with a booming yell, causing all four to stop and freeze as they turned their heads to me.

Even the girl stopped struggling to stare at me with wide eyes while the other two henchmen paused their pulling of her legs to look at me.

I awkwardly stood there at the door.

"Okay I have a better idea for everyone, how about you two," I started, bearing a grin before pointing at the men.

"Let the nice lady go and then I won't have to get violent." I laughed, closing and opening my hands into fists, already preparing by the look of disdain on the men's face.

The cavemen exchanged looks before dropping the girl to the floor, making her let out a small "woop" as she hit the ground with a thud before nearing me.

"Ha, wow. You guys look even more muscular up close. Great, so great." A pained smile morphed over my face as I looked up at the guys towering over me.

"Where do you think you're going." The main guy suddenly laughed, catching my attention when he grabbed the girl's arm forcefully in his tight grip.

"Hey, let her go!" I suddenly snapped in anger, a memory of Malu being handled just like that as a little girl flashing in my mind making me roughly push past the two other bodyguards, causing them to stumble out of my way in surprise of my outburt before I approached him with a tight jaw.

"Oh yeah," The man roared with laughter.

"What are you gonna do about it pretty boy-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off when my fist made contact with his face, causing him to release the girl and fumble back in shock, blood sputtering out of his mouth.

The girl gawked as my brown eyes met hers.

"Well gee slick, you're like one of those knight in shining armors aren't you?" She gaped with wide, surprised eyes, making us share quick smiles before I was punched in the jaw by one of the other men.

"Hey! Don't touch my knight in armor! I don't get a lotta those!" She snapped, punching the man who punched me.

After that, everything spiralled into complete and utter hell.

I was kneeing one of the men in the gut while holding another in a choke hold as the fiesty red head tackled the last guy, crawling onto his back and hitting his head repeatedly with her small bag, gripping the straps of it in her fist.

At the end we were all panting, my hand raised up in time out as we were all hunched over in the damaged hallway, trying to catch our breaths.

"Don't think- you're not gonna get away from me this easily Cherry." The main boss heaved, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand as sweat trickled down his skin while I glared at him through hanks of hair that flopped over my eyes before glancing at the panting, flushed girl besides me.

Feeling my gaze on her she shifted her hazel eyes to look at me, causing us to both make eye contact briefly before I quickly looked away.

"I'll take her."

All four of them looked at me in shock.

My mind had gradually filled in the blanks and I assumed she was being forced into some type of prostitution.

"How much for her." I repeated in a firmer voice, grabbing and yanking Cherry to me making her gasp, her jaw slack in offense.

"Slick I thought you were on my side!" She fidgeted, trying to push at my chest as I kept her to me, not struggling as roughly as she was with the other men but still struggling nonetheless under my firm hold as her pimp of a boss grinned.

"Six hundred." He claimed as I blinked.

"Six- six hundred you gotta be kidding me. For her?" I couldn't help but blurt out, shocked and a bit perplexed, never having to buy someone before as she shot her head to me with an upset expression.

"Hey there, whatta you take me for. I sure as hell cost more than six hundred- I should be seven hundred!" She argued as my eyes darted to her.

"She's right, it should be seven hundred boss." One of the henchmen commented.

"Fine, seven hundred." The main guy decided.

"Come on she's got a mouth on her, lower it back to six hundred." I tried to bargain, just wanting to get the hell out of that hallway as the pimp pondered this for a moment.

"Alright, then six hundred."

"Now wait a sec, I bend like a pretzel and I've got cushion for a' pushin', I should be eight hundred!" Cherry protested.

"Seven hundred." The man began to raise as I tried to hold her back while they glared at one another.

"Nine hundred!" She snapped as I continuously chanted for her to shut up in my head.

"Eight hundred."

"One gran- mph!" I quickly slapped my palm over her big mouth, holding both of her small wrists behind her back with my other hand as she jerked in protest, ready to fight the large man in front of her at any given moment.

"Right, eight hundred. We've got a deal." I quickly intervened with a smile, deciding to keep her wrists restrained as I slipped my hand away from her mouth, making her narrow her eyes at me before I shot her a look that shut her up altogether as I took my wallet from the back pocket of my jeans, offering him the folded money.

"She's all yours." The man said as he counted the cash in his hand with a creepy grin, his bodyguards chuckling as I dragged Cherry who continued to kick and snap at them in irritation back into my room.

"You're lucky I just got my nails did you son of a guns! Just wait till I get my period, I'll be your worst nightmares buddy- you're worst nightmares!" She cursed in frustration before I quickly closed the door behind us, pushing her down on my musty, small hotel bed as she bounced on the rickety mattress.

We were quiet, pausing when we heard the evident footsteps outside leaving the hallway before we both released small breaths of relief.

She sat herself on my bad, her legs hung on the side before she gave me a guarded stare.

"Look here slick, I don't care how much you payed, you ain't gettin' nothin from me." Cherry humphed in a slightly less violent tone, looking away with a pout and crossing her arms over her chest like a child, her crop top raising slightly as I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, taking a seat on the floor.

"I don't want sex." I said, smiling when I saw the surprised look on her face as she blinked at me, trying to compose herself.

"You... don't?" She questioned like a cautious child, squinting her eyes at me as I simply nodded.

"You can leave whenever you want, just make sure those guys are gone." I advised her, deciding to move over to the chair near the isolated desk against the window as I tucked my hands in my pockets and met her gaze with my own, watching her give me a quick once over wondering whether I was serious or not.

"Gee," She said to herself when she saw that I had no hidden motive behind my actions, nodding her head and rubbing her arms.

"There really are chivalrous fellas out there." Cherry spoke under her breath with a tone of disbelief, sending me one last smile before she stood up to leave, hooking her long red bag over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

Maybe it was because I actually did want company.

Or maybe because I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts, whatever the reason, I found that the words escaped my lips before I could stop them.

"I have Chinese." I sputtered out, rising from my chair as she stopped, turning to stare at me with her hand hovering over the door knob.

"I mean- what I mean is- well I've got left over Chinese. I'm not like, hiding Chinese people I meant food like- like the dumplings and stuff." I breathed out, cringing as every word rushed out of my mouth with no control as I brought one hand to my blonde hair, casually tugging on the roots trying to maintain a smile.

She blinked at me for a moment with wide observant eyes before smiling.

"Sounds fancy, I'd love a taste." Cherry accepted my offer, surprising me as she went back to the bed, sitting on the ground besides it as I grinned and grabbed the chinese take out from the table, bringing it over between us as I sat across from her.

She watched me open each box with a smile, my attention focused on her when a sudden shiver raked her plump figure.

"You cold?" I asked with a teasing grin, making her scrunch her face as she hugged herself and rubbed her arms.

"Don't sweat it Slick, your girl's got blubber to last her a whole month." She snickered, making me laugh before I took in her attire, her short shorts exposing her net covered thighs and her tight crop top that was much too small for her.

I took off my flannel, leaving me in one of my muscle tanks before I brought it out to her.

She stared at the item of clothing with a hesitant look before gazing back up at me.

"Really?" Cherry tilted her head with a smile.

"Really." I insisted, motioning her to take the flannel before she grinned and grabbed it, staring down at the material as if it was made out of the finest silk before slipping it on.

"You're a real fella you know that. Like those prince charmings I used to read in fairy tale books." She complimented, making me laugh as I handed her her own food.

"Hey looky there, I know that necklace." She suddenly said, slurping her noodles with a pair of chopsticks when she spotted the macaroni pasta momentum on the desk as I looked over at it before glancing back at her.

"Really?" I asked with furrowed brows, stuffing a pot sticker into my mouth.

"Yeah, hey I knew you looked familiar. You're friends with Little Lamb!" She snapped her fingers, pointing at me as I gave her a look.

"Little what." I repeated, licking soysauce from my lips.

"Little Lamb. Malu. Small, cheery, latina, real cute. Always got a smile on her face." Cherry perked up, bringing her hand a bit lower than her head as if that was an accurate representation of Malu's height as my amused expression dimmed at her description.

Always had a smile on my face, I wanted to correct.

Something in my features must have changed because Cherry's smile fell as she leaned forward.

"Hey, hey you okay there?" She asked in concern as I swallowed, putting my take out down as I shifted on the floor before hiding and rubbing my face with my hands, feeling my throat tighten up.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." I shook my head, imagining Malu's smile before I lifted my head, eyes watering as I took in a deep breath, trying to collect myself and sniffing.

"Oh hey now, don't cry." Cherry frowned, coming over to my side and wrapping one arm around my broad shoulder as I pressed my clasped hands to my lips, shaking my head.

"I- god I just. I need someone to talk to." I pathetically said in a quivering voice, clearing my throat to stable it although I saw no hint of ridicule over Cherry's round face.

"Well, you technically do have me all night." She attempted to smile, grabbing my hand in her soft one before bringing me to my feet with her and leading me to the bed where we both lay, side to side facing the ceiling.

"I'm all ears Slick." She then told me, making a show of cupping her ears as I closed my eyes and grinned, suppressing a chuckle as I shook my head at her.

"Spencer." I said, the both of our gazes glued to the ceiling above before I felt her turn her head to look at me.

"My name's Spencer." I clarified, turning my own head to meet her eyes as she smiled.

"Whatever you say Slick." She simply responded, an understanding expression over her face as I studied her soft features.

"Whatever you say."

AN: Truth be told I actually forgot about Spencer's irrelevant ass until people started to ask "what happened to Spencer?" and I was just sittin there like

My bad.