The rest of the week went by fairly uneventful for Hannah. Although, it saddened her tremendously that neither Eddie nor Tina were talking to her. They also weren't giving her a chance to talk to them. Luckily, she still had Jennifer on her side, and of course, there was Spencer too.

Ever since they kissed at the park, their time together was much more pleasant. While he still continued to help her develop her magic abilities. There was more kissing, hugging, and hand-holding. Spencer even requested to hold Hannah's hand as they walked through the halls at school. At first, it made Hannah feel awkward. Having never really had a boyfriend before, public displays of affection always weirded her out. Even if it was only hand-holding. After a few days, though, it seemed natural.

When Peggy-Sue passed them in the hall, she was instantly jealous, when she saw Spencer move to kiss Hannah on the lips, before he headed to his next class. He was taking all the senior "Slacker" courses. Including History of Pop Culture class, which he loved, as it was his way of catching up on everything that had happened on Earth since 1952.

At first, Peggy-Sue still tried flirting with Spencer every chance she got, but by the end of the week, she realized that her tactics were pointless and gave up. She even congratulated Hannah for snagging the hottest guy in school.

******

It was finally the weekend. Spencer thought it would be fun to take Hannah on a normal "Earthling date" as he put it. Hannah had never been on a date before, so she decided to spend Saturday afternoon with Jennifer at the mall to get tips on dating and buy a new outfit. Hannah had suggested Spencer spend his time checking out the stores in the mall, to give her and Jennifer privacy. He did not object, as he wanted to stop by the Retro Arcade to play the old-fashioned arcade video games. Though they were new to him.

"I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week," Jennifer stated. She and Hannah were hanging out in the food court after they had bought several new outfits, shoes, and accessories to match.

"I know! This month seems to be flying by," Hannah agreed, chewing on a pretzel bite. As she said that, she was overcome with a feeling of sadness. Realizing that Spencer would be leaving soon.

"So, are you excited for your first official date tonight?"

"I'm more nervous than anything. I don't really know what I'm expected to do or not do or say or not say." Hannah hid her face in her hands, feeling embarrassed at how naive she was, to the dating world.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Spencer is the most genuine seventeen-year-old we know. Especially for a guy. Just follow his lead. And if you don't want to do anything he suggests, just tell him. He seems very understanding," Jennifer said with reassurance.

"Thanks, Jen," Hannah smiled. "So, have you talked to Tina much?" Hannah wanted to know.

"Yeah, I texted her this morning, inviting her to come to the mall. She was going to, but when I mentioned you were coming, she changed her mind."

Hannah looked sad, wishing Tina would forgive her already. Whenever they fought, they would never go more than a few days without talking things out. This distance was killing her.

"Don't worry," Jennifer said, placing her hand on Hannah's. "Tina just needs a little time. She'll come back around."

"I'm not too sure about that."

"Well, let's worry about Tina tomorrow. I say we go get a mani-pedi before you head home to get ready for your date," Jennifer suggested. She got up and threw her empty wrappers into the trash, grabbed her shopping bags, and gestured to Hannah to follow her.

*******

That night, Spencer took Hannah to see the latest action movie that was in the theater. The theater had reclining seats where the middle armrest came up. Spencer raised the arm up to open the space between them and had Hannah rest against him. Though he was muscular, with little to no fat, she found him quite comfortable. Their hands were laced together, and their thumbs chased each other as they tried paying attention to the movie. Hannah could feel Spencer breathing in the smell of her shampoo. His breath gave her goosebumps.

After the movie, Hannah let Spencer drive them in her car to a local pizza parlor. They each ordered a giant slice of pizza and soda at the counter, then found a corner booth near the restaurant front window. They chatted about the movie they had just seen while they waited for the food to arrive. Spencer had Hannah in stitches with his impressions of some of the terrible acting scenes from the movie. Hannah couldn't remember the last time she laughed that much. It felt nice.

The server came over and gave Hannah her pepperoni with diced tomatoes pizza slice, and Spencer, his slice of pizza with just mushrooms. "You two are just the sweetest couple I've ever seen," she sighed. She asked them if there was anything else they needed before heading back behind the counter.

Hannah blushed, not commonly seen by many outside of her circle of friends and family. She went quiet as she blotted the grease off the pizza with a napkin before taking her first bite.

"Is everything okay?" Spencer asked, sensing Hannah's mood had shifted. He had agreed to stay out of her thoughts during their date, so he really didn't know what she was thinking.

"It hit me earlier," she began as she finished chewing. "This next week is your last full week here before you go back to Aeon."

"Oh," he responded, his tone changing from upbeat to sad. "That's true."

"I'm so mad at myself for wasting all last week ignoring and arguing with you instead of just telling you how I was feeling."

Spencer put his pizza down and scooted himself over to her. He took her head in the cup of his hands and stared his piercing, blue eyes into her saddened, light brown eyes. "I knew how you felt, Hannah. I didn't want to push you because I was battling with my own feelings."

"You were?"

He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before releasing her face and moving back to his pizza. "Of course. Like I said at the park. My work revolves around me, going to many dimensions. I've met so many witches from so many different worlds, including my own. But never once have I met anyone that made me feel the way you do."

Hannah blushed. Then thought out loud, "What about your connection to Madam Nova?"

"She and I were close," Spencer admitted. "And I knew she started having feelings for me that were more than platonic. Not to sound arrogant, but the way she felt is not uncommon for me. But I never felt the same for any of them. To me, they were just my assignment and partner in whatever task was needed for the time I was in their world."

Spencer and Hannah ate for a moment in silence. Hannah was hating that she felt like she was ruining their date, but she had to know. "What makes me so special?"

Spencer smiled, "It's because —"

"I mean, after all, I'm not even a real witch," she continued, without letting him finish his sentence. "I'm just a girl who enjoys the art of magic. And a silly girl who thought it'd be fun to impress her friends with a spell or two. I didn't even really believe that stuff worked until you showed up."

"It's because you are that silly girl who isn't really a witch, that makes you special. The whole time I've been here, you never pretended to be anyone other than you. The fact that you didn't even need me while I've been here meant that you gave me the freedom to just enjoy where I was, for once." Spencer smiled and reached out his hand across the table to Hannah. She rested hers on his and smiled back.

Hannah thanked Spencer for his words and shifted the topic to something lighter, to make sure their date ended on a good note.

******

When they arrived back to Hannah's home, Spencer requested to walk Hannah to her door, to end the date properly. She thought it was a funny idea since Spencer wouldn't really be leaving afterward, but she couldn't say no to his request.

As they stepped up to her front door, Spencer wrapped his arms around her waist, and she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. He leaned in partway, and she leaned in the rest until their lips locked. Hannah felt like fireworks were shooting off all around them. She didn't want the date to end.

"Hannah?" A soft voice said in the distance. It startled Hannah, causing her to disconnect from Spencer, as she thought it was her mother. She looked in the direction from where the sound came, and saw Tina, standing in the shadows of her walkway.

"Tina! What are you doing here?" Hannah looked at Spencer apologetically before stepping down to meet her friend.

"I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your date with Spencer."

Hannah threw her arms around Tina and hugged her tight. Tina hugged her back.

Spencer interrupted briefly, saying he had to get home. Tina apologized to him again. He insisted that there wasn't anything to be sorry for and walked off into the distance, vanishing out of sight down the road.

"Come to my room. We can talk there," Hannah suggested.

"I can't really stay long. I told my parents I'd be home by eleven. Can we just sit here?" Tina pointed to Hannah's front step. Hannah nodded, and they both sat down.

"Tina—"

"No. Let me go first," Tina held up her hand to stop Hannah from speaking. "I'm sorry I got upset with you about breaking the love spell. While it still kills me that I am not with Eddie anymore, I know I wasn't really his, to begin with. Even if the spell lasted until the end, he'd probably still be mad at me, if not more so, for having him under a spell at all. This was all my fault, and I just felt like it was better to blame you than own up to the decisions I made."

"I'm sorry I ever let you talk me into doing that stupid spell!" Hannah cried, "If I hadn't, then Eddie would have asked you out on his own, and none of us would be where we are now."

Tina shook her head. "No, you know me. I wouldn't have given up until we did it. Either way," she said, "what's done is done. I enjoyed what brief time I got with Eddie. Even if he was getting too possessive. And yes, I noticed, but I didn't really care at the time. But looking back on it now, it probably wouldn't have ended very well.

"I swear the number of fights he almost got into with other boys who just talked to me was crazy. He even wanted to fight Vice-Principal Roku when he caught us kissing in the janitor's closet." Tina laughed, moving a braid behind her ear that had fallen in front of her eyes.

Hannah laughed along and added, "Wow, that doesn't sound like the Eddie I know at all."

"Exactly!" Tina exclaimed and turned serious again. "Which is why I now realize, what I did to him, was the wrong way to go about it."

"Maybe you can get him back?"

"Maybe," Tina nodded. "But it's going to be a long road to get there. I'm more concerned now about even regaining his friendship, let alone wanting him to be my boyfriend."

"Well, luckily, we have all the rest of this year and senior year to get you there," Hannah pointed out. "And if there's anything I can do to help, just know I'm there for you."

"Just no more spells, okay?"

"Definitely no more spells!" Hannah held up her girl scouts promise hand sign.

They hugged once more before standing. As Hannah walked Tina to her car, Tina asked, "Did Spencer walk all the way home?"

_________________________________________

Author Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you continue reading further. I would be ever so grateful for feedback/comments on anything that stood out to you.

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