Chapter 9: Obvious
Buffy's POV:
Yuck. Green jello.
I despise it but at the same time am undeniably attracted to it. I would never let jello get anywhere near my lips. Never.
Seriously. You know how they make jello? Look it up.
But despite my disdain for jello, I find myself placing it on my tray in the cafeteria at lunch. I've been doing this forever and I always end up throwing away untouched jello. And up until a few months ago, I didn't know why.
As always, I entered the cafeteria for lunch. As always, I picked out a slice of pizza, a salad, a bottle of water and some green jello. As always, I walked over to the Scoobies' usual table. But this time, not as always, we were joined by a loud, foul-mouthed brunette.
There was some conversation going on at the table, though I couldn't possibly remember what it was about. Faith sat across from me, stealing little bits and pieces of everyone's lunch while animatedly talking.
Everyone's lunch but mine.
I couldn't concentrate on what was going on around me. It's like everything shut down and … faded away? No, not faded. You know in those movies? Or those shows like Star Wars where Spock tells that Skywalker guy to put the ship into lightspeed? You know how those dots that represent stars kinda elongate and turn into lines and its all 'oooh', 'aaah'… lightspeed. Do you get what I'm saying at all?
Well it was more like that. Not faded or blurry … more like lightspeedy…-ish. Everything was lightspeedy-ish, except the spot right in front of me; where Faith sat.
I'd look away but then I'd be blind. Everything was lightspeedy-ish and nothing was computing in my brain. So I had to settle for nervously nibbling at my salad while secretly peeking at Faith.
And then at some point she turned to me and said something. I was so surprised and my stupid brain couldn't keep up. I didn't catch what she said. She gestured at me and smiled. Did she ask me something?
I guiltily arranged my hair and nodded vigorously.
And then, as if in slow-motion, she smiled a dazzling dimpled smile, stretched her arm across the table and took my green jello.
At that point, my messed up vision and hearing disappeared and everything became so clear. I could perfectly see and hear everything around me. Faith took a spoon full of jello and smiled again with her cheeks all chubby.
"I love jello, B!" she said, her mouth looking like a…snotty cave.
And at that point it all made sense to me. Everything clicked. The jello… Faith. I guess in a weird kinda screwy way, you might say she's the one I've been waiting for.
But then again…you could not. Because that would be weird and screwy.
So anyway, here I am; pizza, salad, bottle and jello. Having a nice Thursday lunch at school.
As I sit down with Willow, Xander and Oz, I find Will and Xan are in the middle of a discussion.
"I think she'd want the two." Willow shrugs.
Xander shakes his head and quickly chomps down his fish sticks.
"Nuh uh," he says, still swallowing down some fish. "I think she'd hold out for the three."
"Hey, you're the expert." Willow gives in. "But you do realize you'll have to cough up more money, mister cheapskate?"
Xander pauses before taking another greasy fish stick in his mouth. I swear I almost saw him paling a little bit, but he just shrugs.
"That's alright," he manages through his food. "My parents raised my allowance this year, remember?"
I giggle and nod. He was triumphant all day when he found out.
Suddenly, Faith pops up from behind me.
"Hey guys, what's happening?"
She straddles a chair and grins. She grabs a fishstick and pops it in her mouth, raising her eyebrows in appreciation.
Willow suddenly falls deathly silent and Xander protectively slides his tray away from her. She looks offended but quickly lifts two more fishsticks from his tray before he can slide it to safety.
"Uh... Nothing much. School boring. How about you?"
Woah. Go me for sounding so casual! Although...'school boring'? Do I want to sound retarded?
She pauses between chewing on her bounty of fishsticks and suddenly looks very fidgety. She starts chewing again, but faster. Her eyes dart all over the place and her knees bop up and down while her fingers tap some random beat against the table top.
"Er… yeah. About that…" She glances at a piece of paper sticking out of the pocked of her jean jacket. "I passed by Giles this morning…"
I knew it!
"…and he had some messed up news." She pauses and gets a faraway look. She looks lost. Oh no… Is this bad news? Oh god. Are they sending her away?
"The Council set me up with some wicked cool digs and a butt-load of money!"
What!
"What!" Xander and Willow voice for me.
"I concur." Oz…concurs.
"Yeah, I swear." Faith takes out the piece of white paper and it turns out to be an envelope. She hands it to Oz who hands it to Willow.
Will quickly takes out an official looking letter and skims through it. She pauses, rereads it and then pauses again, her eyes widening.
"What is it, Will? What does it say, what is it!" I finally burst out.
"Like I said; the Council set me up with an apartment up in Sariza Lane. Imagine me in that fuckin’ neighbourhood!" Faith answers for Willow.
She takes advantage of Xander's preoccupation by finishing his lunch.
"Plus they got me an account; they're sending me money every month. And lemme tell ya, I'm living the good life from now on." She shakes her head, smiling widely.
Xander hands me the letter, his lunch completely forgotten, and turns towards Faith.
"Holy smokes, batman! This is unbelievable news. This is unbelievably good news. Good news!" he splutters out rather rapidly.
"No matter how many times you call me batman, I ain't calling you Robin, okay Xan?" Faith quips, chuckling. "But yeah, this is pretty good fucking news." She agrees.
She looks up at me.
"So what d'you think, B? Me living it up at Sariza Lane… My treat on the ribs next time, huh?" She grins at me.
We haven't gone out to eat after slaying for a long time now… We haven't really been slaying much together either. Is she saying she wants there to be a next time?
After a long pause I return her smile just as broadly. "I'd have to agree with Xander. Wouldn't you agree, Oz?" I say, not looking away from her.
"Yeah, I'm with the good," Oz answers, and I can hear he's smiling too.
Well this is good. We're all smiling.
"What are you all smiling about?" Cordelia manages to break the moment anyhow.
For me anyway; it doesn't seem to affect the others. Weird.
"Faith got herself-"
"-a really bad hairday!" Faith interrupts Willow quickly. "And I thought you could help me with that," she adds.
She quickly stands up and wraps an arm around Cordelia's shoulder, turning away from us.
The rest of us look at each other quizzically. What the...?
"So uh…let's go and take care of that," Faith finishes lamely. She glances around and shrugs apologetically. "Bye guys."
Faith's POV:
Phew. That was close.
Shit, I never catch a break, do I?
…Aw crap. Now that I got this new place, I can't use that phrase anymore. This is my lucky break. Alright fine. But it's still pretty crappy that Cordelia chose that exact moment to come over.
I was actually initially looking for Cordelia. I wanted to tell her first cuz she let me crash at her place for so long. She's taken real good care of me, you know? So I wanted her to be the first to know that I had my own place now.
But no such luck.
I figured she'd be at the cafe around that time but I couldn't see her. I did, however, see the rest of the gang. Xander, Willow, Oz and B. And I just had this big news that I wanted to tell someone. Anyone. And even though I wanted Cordelia to be the first to know, I figured it wouldn't matter as long as she heard it from me.
So I told the others. It felt good sharing it with someone. I couldn't wait to check it out though. But for some reason I keep thinking it'd be way cooler if B was with me the first time I see it. Don't ask me why.
"Bad hairday, Faith?" Cordelia asks suspiciously. "Since when? Don't mean to give you an even bigger head but you have great hair."
"Thanks, Cordy. That means a lot coming from you," I tell her. "But you're right. It's got nothing to do with my hair. I just got something to tell you."
I take a look through a classroom window and find it empty. I open the door and gesture for Cordy to enter. I check the hallway one last time before entering and closing the door behind me.
Cordelia is looking at me, arms crossed, leaning against one of the desks.
"So what is it?" She asks.
I reach into my jacket only to realize I left the letter at the cafeteria with the Scoobs. Shit, my key's in there.
"I uh..." I shake my head and take a few steps closer to Cordy. "I talked to Giles this morning. He had some wicked cool news, Cor, from the Council!"
She raises an eyebrow and I nod.
"I know! But it's true. I'd show you the letter but I left it somewhere. Anyway, they set me up with my own place. I'm moving uptown, with my own account, which they'll fund every month starting this one," I finish.
She just blinks at first but then smiles.
"Oh my god, that's great news!" She jumps up and hugs me excitedly. "Oh, honey, now I won't have your smelly socks lying around," she whispers playfully in my ear.
"Hey!" I protest, "They're not that bad!"
She turns her head towards me; her arms still wrapped around my neck, and raises both eyebrows.
Well okay… They were that bad. But it was just that one time. And I had sewer duty that night!
"Whatever, at least I won't have you nagging at me for eating a little snack at night," I mumble.
She puts her head on my shoulder again and chuckles.
"I don't call six burgers with extra fries and a milkshake a little snack, Faith," she argues. "Besides… You know you'll miss me."
She playfully knocks against me with her hips and oh god she smells good. And her skin is soft and her voice is really nice and that hip thing… I will miss her.
"Maybe just a little bit. You'll miss my smelly ass way more," I joke. To lighten the moment you know? This is a dangerously nice vibe.
She leans back a little again and looks me in the eye.
"You know I will," she says seriously.
Suddenly I feel someone else in the room. I whip around and see Buffy standing in the doorway, holding the letter from the Council.
"Sorry…I…" She stretches out her arm, holding out the envelope. "You forgot this."
"Oh, right." I nod even though she's not looking at me. As I take the envelope my fingers graze hers. It only lasts a fraction of a second because she pulls away.
"Okay." She steps back. "Well I'll leave you with uh… I'll just go. Bye." She ends in almost a whisper and exits, silently closing the door behind her.
"Well that's an awkward vibe. Anyways, have you checked it out yet?" Cordy dismisses the weird Buffy incident completely and stays on the subject of my new apartment.
"Nah… Not yet. I thought…" I glance at the closed door one more time before turning back to Cordelia. I notice one of her arms is still around my waist and it feels good. "I wanted you to be with me."
Her eyes widen and she actually blushes. She's so fucking beautiful like this. I push a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her skin is so soft and she smells intoxicating.
"Pick you up after school?"
She leans into my hand, still cupping her cheek. I finally drop my hand and take a step back. I take hold of her hand around my waist and hold it between us, stepping away even further.
She nods, looking at our hands. I let go and turn around, walking towards the door. But then I remember how good it felt with her skin against mine, warm and soft and smelling so sweet…
I stop, turn back around and walk towards her. I push her towards one of the desks and pin her there with my hips, grabbing the edge of the desk with my hands. She looks up at me alluringly, almost daring me. I breathe in deeply, enjoying her scent. And then I kiss her. I enjoy her lips just for a couple of seconds before I demand entrance in her mouth with my tongue. She teases me for just one second before letting me in and hungrily kissing me back.
Warm champagne.
And this… feels so… fucking good. I… have to…
Stop.
I pull away and take two steps back. I lick my lips and bite my lower one just a little. Holy fuck that felt good. I grin at her and wink. And then turn around and walk away.
And might I add… Feeling pretty much like the badest fucking bad-ass around.
Buffy's POV:
That was not good in so many ways.
"Oh, Faith. You know you'll miss me." I mimic Cordelia almost to perfection.
"Well, I don't know, C. Maybe just a little." I don't have the husky Faith sound down yet.
"You know I'll miss you." In the sluttiest way ever!
And what was with the hug? Did ya see that hug? That was one hell of a hug! That was what a Texas preacher would call a sinful hug, people. And I for one, would agree with him for once.
I look down at my English homework and sigh. I doubt I'll pass if I hand in all this doodling. I scrunch up the paper and throw it with the others on the floor.
I lean my head on my hand and nibble on my pencil.
"Buffy?"
I turn around to find Angel leaning in through my window.
"Angel…"
I love this name establishing routine.
"Can I come in?" he asks.
I spin my chair around and shrug.
"Sure."
He manoeuvres in and pats down his black duster. He looks around my room like he hasn't seen it a million times already. I cross my arms and lean forward a little.
"So… What's up?" I ask.
He walks over to the wall with all the pictures and holds the edge of one picture. I know which one he's looking at. I look at it every time I go through the door. Sometimes I stop, and look at it again.
It was this one time when Sunnydale got infested with Zombies and we had to hide Mom and Dawn at the library. We had to evacuate them from the house and Dawn insisted she needed to bring her Polaroid. Anyway, we had to camp out at the library because the only way to get rid of the zombies was with a spell. Problem was the spell could only be done during daylight. So all we could do was wait it out.
The picture was taken around… I don't even know. It must've been somewhere between three and six AM.
Everyone had fallen asleep except me and Faith. We couldn't. We both felt useless just sitting around doing nothing. We were supposed to slay them! But we couldn't. We had to stay here, protect the others and just wait it out. There were too many of them anyway.
I felt really bad that night. Mom and Dawn could've gotten killed! I was honestly scared to death and I felt like I almost lost them. Faith was probably feeling bad herself, having nothing to do. She usually goes out and slays, she really wanted to kick some zombie ass. But she had to stay here, with us. And I guess I wasn't sure at that the time with us was somewhere she wanted to be.
But she was being really nice; making silly jokes and trying to make me laugh. Saying the most absurd things just to get a rise out of me. It worked though. It got my mind off everything that went wrong. Anyway, I must've laughed too hard or something because Dawn woke up. She saw us, sitting on top of the stairs, connected from shoulder to toe.
'So we could whisper and not wake the others.'
Although we both knew she could be standing at the other side of the room whispering something and I'd hear her perfectly.
Anyway, Dawn saw us. And I don't know why, she won't say, but she took a picture. It's not a spectacularly beautiful picture. It's a cheap Polaroid picture in bad lighting. But I love it. Faith is looking straight in the lens, noticing Dawn but not quite realising it yet. I'm looking at Faith, laughing about something she said. I love it because her eyes come out beautifully in the picture. I love it because it reminds me of that night. No matter how bad the rest of it went, I will always remember that night fondly.
Angel opens his mouth, as if he's about to say something, but he doesn't. He lets go of the picture and turns to me, his hands by his side.
"I just wanted to know how you are," he says. "I haven't heard from you in…"
He looks at my English homework on my desk behind me.
"A while," he finishes.
I pad over to my bed and grab my baggy sweater. I pull it on and sit on my bed.
"Yeah, it's been kinda…hectic," I answer.
In my head at least.
"School or slaying?" he asks, gesturing towards my desk.
I sigh, pushing my hair behind my ears.
"Just…stuff," I say lamely. I don't mean to sound mysterious, I just don't want to lie to him.
"Oh." He looks at me. I look at him almost apologetically. "Well yeah… I understand."
"How've you been, Angel?" I ask.
He looks away and walks back towards the window.
"I'm alright. I miss you, but I'm alright." He sighs and leans against the windowpane. "I think I'll just go."
I stand up and hug myself, suddenly feeling cold.
"Okay… I'll stop by later, we'll talk more," I promise him.
He smiles a little and climbs out my window. Before he jumps down completely, he looks at me one more time and smiles softly.
"Goodnight, Buffy."
"Goodnight, Angel." I smile back and then he's gone.
I sigh and look at the clock. Almost eleven. It's Faith's night but maybe I should… I glance at the picture of us and sigh.
Never mind; I think I need some sleep.
Faith's POV:
I look at the clock. Two AM. Wow. Early night tonight. I did a quick sweep around eight but I called it quits at ten; it was a quiet night anyway.
Man, you should see my new place!
It's fucking sweet, I kid you not. It's got two bedrooms. One will most likely be transformed into a small training area. I have a kick-ass kitchen with a counter! I'm counter-girl, it's perfect. The fridge is huge with an ice-machine and everything. My living room has the greatest couch my ass has ever felt and I even have a balcony. I can do dramatic poses while I think now!
I've got it made. Shit, now I really don't wanna die, you know?
Sariza Lane is way more boring than my old neighbourhood but fuck is it clean. Plus it's really quiet. Like all the time. It creeped me out the first hour but I got used to it.
I silently walk towards my very own kitchen and open the fridge. I take out a carton of milk and drink straight out of it. I lean against the counter and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.
I look at the stuff I dumped in the living room. I take another gulp from the milk and walk towards the messy pile of stuff. A scrunched up note B passed me once at a Scooby meeting; a lucky gem Willow gave me; a few coins; a few movie ticket stubs; a swirly straw; and a picture I took of B once. The brat was packing it one night Zombies took over Sunnydale. I borrowed it and snapped a shot of B when she wasn't looking.
She looks good in it. I look at it for a while and then shove it between one of my comics. Out of sight out of mind, right?
I walk back to the kitchen and replace the milk in the fridge. Making sure not to make too much noise, I pad back towards the biggest bedroom and slowly open the door.
Shit.
The door bumps against something on the floor.
Fuck. I forgot about Cordy's shoes.
I wait a little then slip inside and close the door silently. I walk back to the bed and climb under the tangled sheets. I soon feel two warm hands around my waist, pulling closer to me. I smile and breathe in, loving her warm touch.
"I hope you didn't go out for burgers…" she whispers huskily as she nestles her head in my neck under my chin.
I smile and chuckle softly. "Just had a drink, babe. You want me to get you something?"
She hugs me a little tighter and wraps a leg around one of mine. "Are you always this chivalrous after you've fucked someone, Faith?"
Ooh, I love it when she talks dirty. "No, Cordy. I thought I'd do something different this time." I smirk.
"Oh, really?" she says sceptically. "And what brought upon this change of mind?"
I look at my hand on her waist and slide it lower. "I dunno. But it might have something to do with your great ass."
Buffy's POV:
Sixty-two Sariza Lane...
I hold on a little tighter to the box of fresh donuts I brought and look around the neighborhood.
Nice.
It'll probably need some getting used to. For Faith. I presume. I brought the donuts as some sort of peace offering. And I came by this morning hoping we could walk to school together. For the early meeting. I brought some coffee too. She likes hers black with lots of sugar. I just brought lots of extra sugar because she likes to dose the sugar herself.
Am I obsessing again?
I hold my breath as I see the building.
"Buffy?"
I keep holding my breath. I just keep looking at the building.
"Buffy?"
I keep holding my breath as I hear stiletto heals on the pavement behind me. And there she is. Cordelia Chase in her morning glory. Except not very glorious. Her hair is not quite as perfect as it usually is and...Oh god. Is she wearing the same she was wearing yesterday? With the gall to actually look surprised, holding coffee and a box of donuts.
"Shit."
She curses as something slips through her fingers. She picks up a dozen or so of extra sugar packs. Of course. Faith likes to dose the sugar herself.
"What are you...?” Cordelia looks at my own hands and what I'm holding. Or to be more precise...clutching to my chest. I bet I smushed the donuts. "What are you doing here?"
I drop everything. The two large coffee cups clatter open and spill over the previously clean pavement. The box of donuts falls and rolls into the gutter.
"I..."
She knows what I'm doing here. She can't possibly expect me to still answer the question. I think it's pretty fucking obvious what I'm doing here, in Sariza Lane, at seven in the morning with a box of donuts, two large coffees and a dozen or so of extra sugar packs.
It's pretty fucking obvious, isn't it? And pretty pathetic. I'm about to walk away. I'm right in the middle of turning away and escaping from this horrible nightmare. But I have to be sure.
I turn back to Cordelia, my eyes burning with tears I refuse to cry in front of her.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
She blushes and looks away.
I guess it's pretty fucking obvious what she's doing here too.
