After The Fall
by wolfkin
Chapter 4
[reviews]
Chapter 4
Xander glanced at the door as a hesitant knock sounds through his room, but ignored it, returning his gaze to the ceiling. Buffy, Dawn and Willow had all come by earlier to try to 'cheer him up', but he'd soon asked them to leave. A small part of him hated himself for the hurt looks all three girls had given him, but mostly, he really just wanted to be left alone to grieve. Various scenes of his life in Sunnydale just keep replaying through his mind and only a very few of them didn't have Anya in them somewhere. The ones that haunt him, though, are the events after his not-wedding and how long it took the two of them to become friends again. He remembers every little hurtful thing they did to each other in between those two events too.
He sighs deeply, feeling a now familiar wave of sadness sweep over him as he thinks about the way he and Anya parted at the Summers' home the morning of the battle. How she'd hugged him tightly, kissed him hard, but lovingly and said simply yes. When he'd asked what she meant, she reminded him of their first conversation after the aborted wedding, how he'd wanted to go back to just being a couple, maybe try the marriage thing later, when they were better prepared.
"Yeah. Of course I remember," he'd replied. "And you had every right to tell me what an idiot I was."
She had nodded. "You were an idiot, yes, and I was so angry that you just left me there, at the alter. And after spending all that money and if I could've cursed you then, I would've wished that you knew the pain I did, just in the physical sense, you understand. I mean..."
He waved her to silence. "Ahn, is there a point here somewhere? We kinda need to go soon."
"Right. So, anyway, that was then. Now, the answer to your question is yes. I want to be an us again. You and me. Okay?"
Xander stood there dumbfounded for a moment, his jaw sagging open. Slowly, he'd pulled himself together, finally able to ask, "Not that I'm arguing or anything, but what brought this on? I mean, it's only been a few weeks since we actually started talking to each other again instead of just trading insults."
The former demon had nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, that's true, but those weeks have made me think." Seeing that his confused look hasn't gotten any better, she tries again. "Xander, when I was getting ready for our wedding, I told Willow and Tara that I was excited because I was getting to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. Living here, with you in the same house has made me realize I still feel that way. That you're my best friend, I mean, and that I've missed you. And God knows, I *really* miss the daily sex, but mostly, I miss being with you. Okay, I really mostly miss the sex with you, but..."
She stopped herself and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and tried again. "Okay, what I mean is, I still love you and I know you still love me. You said so when Andrew was filming us for his silly movie. So, if you still want to try again, then I do too."
Xander stood there, letting her words soak into himself, turning them over in his mind. On one hand, she's offering something he's wanted for over a year and told himself that it would never happen. A very large part of him wants to sweep her into his arms, tell her an exuberant yes and kiss her breathless to seal the deal.
Another part of him was suspicious of the timing of her offer, since either one or both of them could very well die that day. He wondered if she wasn't just trying to give him a comforting thought before heading into battle. Almost instantly, he'd discarded that thought. Anya had always just said what was on her mind, no matter what. If she said she wanted them to get back together, then that's what she was thinking about and she meant it.
The rest of his mind though, kept reminding him that they were about to go fight the fight of their lives and this was a *really* bad time to make such plans and/or promises. Then he remembered what he'd told her just before they fought Glory, the night he'd proposed to her. That he was doing that to prove that they would live through the battle, that they had a future.
His eyes refocused on her and he smiled softly. "Tell you what. If we both survive this, we'll sit down and talk about it over a cup of coffee or something, okay? I'm not saying no, not by a long shot. I mean, you just agreed to something I've wanted since I realized just what a moron I was, so hell yeah. Cause you're right. I do still love you. I never really stopped."
He'd held up his hand as she started smiling happily. "Hey, we need to make it through today first, okay? But, afterwards, I think we need to kinda start over. Not like first dates or anything, just not move in together again immediately. We've both changed a lot in the last year. We need to talk things over before we make major decisions." He smiled sheepishly. "Does that make sense?"
A sharp nod. "Yes, it does!" She slammed into him, hugging him fiercely, and kissed him hard, their lips moving against each others, tongues caressing and dueling. Finally, she'd pulled back and looked him in the eye, her expression fierce, almost angry. "You better live through this, Xander Harris! I expect at least twenty four hours of celebration sex after we win, since we'll have both lived through the fight and being together again to celebrate, so don't do anything stupid!"
He smiled his trademark goofy smile. "Hey, you know me..."
"Yes, I do," she agreed. "That's why I said that. If you get yourself killed, I'll have Willow resurrect you just so I can kick your ass, you hear me?"
"I hear you, Ahn," he chuckled. He kissed her once more quickly. "Same goes for you. Come on, the others are waiting." She'd nodded and they walked to join the others, hand in hand.
Another knock, a little louder interrupts his memories and he looks at the door hard and angry for a moment, then sighs. "What?!" he calls loudly. [God, it had better not be Andrew!] he thinks with asperity.
The door opens and the top of a dark haired head peeks in. "Xan? Can I come in?"
Xander feels his eye widen a little. Of everyone here, Faith was the last person he expected to seek him out. A small shudder ripples through him as the old, familiar feelings of fear and distrust coil up within him at the sight of her. "Why? Looking for someone to terrify and hurt?" The biting comment slips out before he can censor it and he flushes, dropping his gaze from the Slayer. "I'm sorry, Faith. I didn't mean... Look, I'd rather just be alone, thanks anyway."
The only sign that she even heard the comment is a slight narrowing of the eyes as the dark haired beauty steps into the room, allowing the door to close behind her. She shrugs a little and gives him a little, lopsided grin. "Hey, sorry to bug ya. I just wanted to know if I could kinda borrow your tv, that's all."
He gives the woman a perplexed look before asking, "Uh, Faith, doesn't your room have a tv in it?"
Moving over and leaning on the dresser at the foot of the bed, Faith nods as she eases back against the furniture. "'Course it does, but it's broke and the guy at the desk said it'd be at least tomorrow before they could swap it out. I offered to, y'know, do the lifting and stuff, but he started spoutin' off about 'insurance' and 'liability', so I just told him tomorrow was cool. That leaves me with nothin' to do tonight, though, so I thought I'd see if you minded sharin'."
Xander stared at her for a moment, not truly processing what she was asking, then he frowns a little. "Um, Faith? At the risk of making a Slayer mad, why me? Out of all the rooms our group has, why am I the lucky one?"
Faith bit her tongue, barely managing to stop her initial outburst. Her eyes flashing, she straightened up and leaned slightly toward the man sitting on the bed. "What's your problem, Xander? I ain't askin' you for nothin' 'cept to watch your damned tv! But hey, if that's too much, just tell me and I'll quit buggin' you, alright?"
Xander rocked back from her outburst, feeling remotely guilty, though he's not sure why. Blowing out his breath in a gusty sigh, he said, his tone placating, "Faith, I didn't mean anything by that. I just really wanna know why me? I mean, I understand why you don't ask Giles and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't ask Andrew if he had the last working tv on the planet, but what about the others? Some of the other Slayers, maybe?"
The dark Slayer just stared hotly at him for a few more seconds, then snorted softly and leaned back against the dresser, crossing her arms over her chest. "I make the newbies nervous, thanks to the runt. Fuckhead Andrew told all about how I'd just as soon kill'em as train'em, so they only want me around when I have to be. You're right about G-Man, so that leaves B and Dawn's room, Red and Junior's and you."
She shrugged, carefully hiding a sigh of regret. "Me and B, we're kinda getting along, but sometimes she gets this look like she remembers why she wanted to kill me and now might be a good time, so me and her in a little hotel room? Nope, not gonna go there. 'Sides, I heard her say she wanted to crash a little while ago.
"As for Red and K, well the floor show'd probably be better than what's on the tube, but I think I might cramp Willow's style." She flashed her best suggestive grin and winked at Xander.
He snorted in rough amusement. "Only if you held up score cards or started offering tips," he muttered. He remembered the night before last, him and Anya listening to the sounds of lovemaking from upstairs. Faith and Wood, yes, but just as loud, Willow and Kennedy. He felt another pang ripple through his chest as he remembered locking eyes with Anya, then there were clothes flying and hands moving, touching... He closed his eye and inhaled deeply, willing the memory away.
Faith noticed the haunted look, but played like she hadn't. She chortled at his comment. "Sounds like fun. Wanna come with? Give'em a second opinion?" She laughed a little louder when he looked up suddenly. She knew from the look in his eye that, good guy or not, Xander was like all the others when it came to two hot chicks doin' the nasty. Much more than willing to watch and hope for an invite. Even if one of them was someone he thought of as a sister.
She waved him off, laughing quietly at his expression. "Don't worry about it. Junior went to the movies with D and a buncha the newbies and Red said somethin' about meditatin', so not gonna be a floor show to watch for a couple hours." She gave him a knowing smile and wriggled her eyebrows. "So," she asked briskly. "Whadda'ya wanna watch? Or do you care?"
Xander watched her for another minute, then sighed and tossed her the remote. He'd already figured out the only way she was leaving was if he threw her out and he knew how *that* would end up. "Whatever you want, just... keep it down, okay?" He turned away, facing away from both Faith and the television.
The brunette watched him turn away and suppressed an irritated noise. Patience just wasn't one of her strong suits, even though she was better at it now. Shaking her head a little, she dragged a chair over beside the bed and turned the tv on. Flipping idly through the channels, she snuck peeks at the quiet man a couple feet away.
Glancing at the clock, she thought about it for a second or two, and decided to let him in on one of her secrets. After a quick check of the channel guide for this town, she turned the tv to her program and laid the remote down to wait for Xander's reaction. Frowning at what she saw on the tv, she glanced at the clock and saw that she had a few minutes until her show started. Remembering that Xander hadn't come down for dinner and feeling her own stomach rumbling after the action she'd seen earlier, she jumped up and went to the phone.
Quietly, she called the front desk and got the number for the nearest pizza place that would deliver to the hotel, then called them up and ordered two larges and a six pack of soda. After getting a total and an ETA for the delivery, she hung up and returned to her chair, right as the teaser for the show she'd grown to love while in prison started.
Glancing at Xander, she checked to see if she was getting a reaction yet, knowing what a sucker for this stuff he was. Nothing yet. Sighing quietly, she wriggled around a little, getting comfortable. She could wait.
* * *
Buffy feels the last of her own energy ebb away, even as the feed from Willow continues in a steady stream. Opening her eyes, she releases her last deep breath, lets her hands drops out of her friend's grasp and slumps back against the head board. "No more. I'm just too pooped," she informs Willow in a haggard voice.
The redhead takes a deep breath, coming out of her trance a little slower. She opens her eyes and smiles at the blonde. "It's okay. I'm kinda tired now myself." She points in the direction of Buffy's side. "How's the stab wound? Still icky?"
Buffy sits up, wincing reflexively, but the wince turned into a thoughtful frown as she realizes her side hurts a lot less. Raising her sleep shirt up, she looks down at her latest war wound, then probes it gently with her finger. Feeling no real pain, she presses a little harder, stopping at the discomfort that the action produces. All in all, the place looks like it would've the next night, so it should be fully healed by tomorrow evening. She moved and twisted a bit, slowly smiling as there's no pain from any of the other wounds.
"It's much better and everything else feels great! Thanks Will!" She turns her smile on her best friend, then looks perplexed. "What's wrong?"
Willow had watched as Buffy pulled her t-shirt up, her breath catching as the blonde inadvertently exposed the lower part of her right breast as well. There was even the tiniest bit of pink nipple showing and Willow suppressed a groan. Between that and the Slayers near perfect abs, she felt herself getting aroused even as she tried to fight it off.
At Buffy's question, she looked up, realizing suddenly she'd been staring. The redhead blushed furiously and looked away quickly. "Sorry! I was just... I didn't mean..."
Her eyebrows drawn down in confusion, Buffy asks, "Will, what are you talking about?" She takes in the blush and where Will was looking and glances down, jerking her shirt back down as soon as she understood Willow's reaction. Her cheeks explode in a deep blush. "Sorry Willow! I didn't know! I wouldn't have..."
"No, Buffy, I'm the one who's sorry. It's not like we've never seen each other naked before, right? I mean, we used to share a dorm room, so I'm sorry for acting so weird." She turned back and sought out Buffy's eyes, finally capturing the Slayer's hazel ones with her own emeralds.
The Slayer let herself peer at the redhead as she listened and accepted what Willow was telling her. Two thoughts, however, surfaced and made her wonder; [Was Willow checking me out? And how do I feel about that?]
Before Buffy can answer herself, both women turn toward the sound of the door opening, followed immediately by Dawn. Buffy takes in her sister's expression and generally 'down' body language and hazards a guess. "Movie sucked, I take it?"
"Huh?" Dawn looked up quickly. "Oh, no, it wasn't too bad. I mean, Xander's made us sit through worse." She kicked off her shoes and grabbed the package of pajamas she'd bought earlier.
Finally turning to look at Buffy's bed, Dawn's eyes widen as she noticed Willow was in the room. She immediately blushed and looked down, fighting to keep a guilty look off her face. "Oh, uh, hi Willow. Uh, Kennedy went on to your room."
The redhead smiled. "Thanks Dawnie." She suddenly grinned wickedly and asked, teasing. "Did you manage to keep your hands to yourself?"
The teenager's head jerks up, a stricken look on her face. She fights hard to clear it, make her expression neutral. "Of course I did!"
Willow laughed lightly. "Easy, Dawnie. I'm only joking." She looked back at Buffy. "Sorry, Buff, I didn't know it was so late, so I'll go ahead and go now." She scooted to the side of the bed and pulled her shoes back on. Smiling at both Summers sisters, she tossed off a small wave. "Sweet dreams!"
"You too, Will and thanks!" Buffy called automatically. Her attention was on Dawn. She'd caught the guilty look and the blush *and* that her sister looked like she wanted to melt into the floor when Willow asked about keeping her hands to herself. She started to ask about it, but Dawn practically ran into the bathroom, so the blonde settled back to wait.
In the bathroom, Dawn set her sleep clothes on the sink and started the shower, then slumped down on the toilet, dropping her head to her hands with a low moan. She felt a little bit bad about the white lie she told Buffy. In truth, she can't really remember anything about the movie. The whole time she'd sat in the darkened theater, all she had been able to think about was what had happened with Kennedy and how close the older girl was sitting to her.
She sighed. Dawn knew Kennedy had caught her staring a couple times, but she had no idea what to do about it. All she'd been able to think about had been what happened. It had seemed like such an innocent thing to ask her to do, but the teenager wasn't prepared for the emotions that the Slayer's kiss had stirred up. [God, she's got the softest lips,] she thought dreamily.
"Okay, that's enough!" Dawn told her emotions and libido, though quietly so Buffy wouldn't hear. "We have *got* to stop obsessing about this. Yes, it was a great kiss and I *do* think Kenn's really hot, but I thought Molly was too and that Vi's really cute, so just get over it. Besides, she's Willow's and that means she's off-limits, so just back the hell off!"
The teen finally raised her head from her hands and snorted, realizing the absurdity of arguing with herself. She wasn't interested in Kennedy, not like that. The Slayer had only kissed her to help convince the jerk to back off and it hadn't meant anything more for either of them.
She turned her head and stared at her reflection. "It didn't mean anything," she repeated out loud. Smiling at herself, she nodded firmly and stood, stripping for her shower.
* * *
Kennedy waved at Rona and Vi as she opened her hotel room door, watching as the younger Slayers walked toward the part of the hotel where their room was. She smiled to herself and wondered if either of them had started to figure things out yet. [Rona, maybe,] she decided. [But Vi? Maybe after they kiss a few times, but not before then.]
Glancing at the retreating pair, she chuckled and shook her head a little, then entered her room, calling, "Will? I'm back! You here?" She glanced around the room, then checked the bathroom. "Huh." [Oh, well,] the brunette shrugged. [She probably just went to get a soda or something.]
She stripped off her jacket and tossed it onto one of the chairs, kicked her shoes off and scooted up on the bed, her back braced against the headboard. Closing her eyes, she tipped her head back, finally giving way to the internal debate that had been trying to start up for hours.
She was still there ten minutes later when Willow came back. The redhead smiled as she stopped and observed her girlfriend, the way she was sitting so rigidly. Obviously, she was thinking hard about something and Willow wondered briefly if it was something devious, a joke on one of the others. She'd discovered Kennedy had an... interesting sense of humor. She watched the Slayer for another moment, then quietly closed the distance and pressed a soft kiss to her girl's lips.
Kennedy jumped a little as she felt the tender caress, then returned it quickly. "I didn't hear you come in." She smiled.
"I noticed," Willow teased. She stroked the brunette's cheek gently, then turned to the dresser holding her sparse extra clothing. "What were you thinking about so hard? Or do I really wanna know?"
Kennedy laughed at her playfully added comment. "You, mostly," she admitted, then sighed and stood. Reaching out, she took Willow's arm and gently steered her to the bed. "Willow, something happened at the theater and I want you to know what, okay?"
The redhead frowned a little, but moved to sit down on the bed. Kennedy drew her legs up to give Willow room. "That sounds fairly ominous."
"Um... Not really. Well, maybe a little, but it's not bad, so don't worry..." She stopped, not really believing she was babbling. She didn't babble. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "See, there was this muscle bound freak at the theater and he kept giving Dawn this look like he was gonna eat her alive, and I'm not sure in the fun way. He kinda scared her and she grabbed my hand and asked me to pretend we were together to keep him away and I didn't think I could refuse, especially after I saw him, and somewhere in between agreeing and him leaving, I kinda kissed her." By the time she finished, Kennedy was looking down at her lap, not wanting to see Willow's eyes.
Willow smiled a little at Kennedy's initial babble, though she felt a little uneasy when she understood that whatever it was was potentially bad. As her girl further explained, she fought another smile at first, then felt it dim as the Slayer mentioned the kiss. "Okay, see, I didn't hear that right, 'cause I coulda sworn I heard you say you kissed Dawnie!"
Kennedy grimaced and glanced up, catching Willow's eyes for a second. She blushed a little. "Um, that is what I said," she confirmed.
Willow stared at her for another few seconds, then abruptly stood and walked across the room to stare out the window. Kennedy watched her through unsettled eyes, part of her wanting to ask her if she was okay, but most of her knowing she should wait until Willow was ready to speak again.
The redhead knew that Kennedy wouldn't say anything or even move until she indicated it was alright to do so, that she was giving her time to think. The witch's first thoughts weren't happy ones as she remembers that awful morning when she'd bounced into a crypt and found Oz and that skanky she-wolf in his cage together, naked. All that had happened after that, him saving her life, then leaving with scant word or explanation or a chance for her to talk him out of it.
She remembers how she felt seeing Tara and the blonde that was flirting with her at UC Sunnydale. Even though they were officially broken up, it had still hurt immensely seeing someone else kissing *her* girl. Now this.
The redhead stares out the window, not really seeing anything as she thinks over what Kennedy told her, spending precious minutes calming herself. Reminding herself that Kennedy didn't try to sneak around or lie. She'd told her the minute she and Willow were together again. The wicca goes over her Slayer's account of what happened word for word, thinking about what she'd have done in Kennedy's place.
Willow quickly accepts that it wasn't planned, that it just happened and only to chase off a low-life. That neither Kennedy or Dawn were trying to hurt her or get together. It was just a one time thing to save Dawnie.
What troubles her is, after that initial, brief flare of feeling betrayed, she *has* quickly accepted what happened. It took her *weeks* to even start to get passed what happened with Oz and the only thing that made her forget the thing with Tara was the blonde witch coming to her that evening and them making love all night. Her mind sheers violently away from the thoughts of what happened next, though.
Willow takes a deep breath, nodding minutely to herself, but not turning around. "Tell me again what happened. This guy was a real creep?" She requests softly, her voice almost a whisper. She frowns when Kennedy doesn't answer, but seems to be lost in thought.
Kennedy stares at the bed's comforter, keeping Willow in her peripheral vision, quietly waiting on the redhead's decision. She hopes that they'll be okay, but the longer Willow's quiet, the more nervous she becomes. The Slayer isn't really sure what she'll do if Willow doesn't accept that none of it meant anything other than helping a friend. [And that's all it was,] she thinks.
[Oh really?] A snide voice in her head growls. [If it didn't mean anything, then why did you enjoy it? Why did you spend half the movie watching Dawn. Why did you want to kiss her again?]
The young Slayer shook her and head and told the traitorous inner voice to fuck off. She hadn't wanted to kiss Dawn again. That would've been wrong, since the brain dead jerk was gone by then.
[Liar. Just admit it.]
Kennedy grumbled subvocally for a few seconds at the provocative voice, then reluctantly thought, [Fine! I admit it, I wanted to kiss her again. So what? She's hot! So are Faith and Buffy and most of the other girls for that matter! Well, Buffy until you get to know her.] The brunette shook her head again to reset her thoughts, a small part of her not truly believing she was having this argument with herself. [Anyway, it doesn't matter if I think Dawn is a hottie or if I want to kiss her again. I'm with Willow. I love *Willow*!!]
[Yeah, but you're not *in* love with Willow, are you?]
[I...] Kennedy's mental argument faltered in the face of that calmly delivered statement. [I love Willow. I do.]
[Yeah, you said that,] the subconscious voice replied neutrally.
Kennedy's lips peeled back in a snarl. [Fuck off!] She growled at the infuriating voice. {You don't know anything about this, so just shut the fuck up!]
Kennedy sat stock still for several seconds, eyes closed, breathing heavily and getting her anger back under control. She jumped a little when a warm hand touched her arm.
"Kennedy?"
Turning startled eyes up to her girlfriend, Kennedy can't believe she didn't notice Willow had moved. "Sorry. I was thinking about something. What did you say again?" She blushes a little at having to ask the witch to repeat herself.
Willow cocks her head to one side, wondering what the brunette had been thinking about so hard. Giving herself a mental shake, she said, "I asked you to tell me what happened again. About this guy who was 'threatening' Dawnie."
The Slayer frowns. "Well, 'threatening' is probably the wrong word, but we could both tell the jerk had decided she was going to be his toy for the night, no matter what she thought about it. She grabbed my hand and asked me to pretend we were together so he'd leave her alone. I kinda made a joke, asking her how she could ask me that, knowing we were together, but then I really looked at the guy."
She pauses, thinking back to the look in the man's eyes. The woman in her reacts with a shiver of fear at what she remembers, but the Slayer in her snarls defiance. "I could tell, just by looking at him, this asshole had already planned how he was gonna use her and just wasn't really worried she might say no. He wasn't gonna let the fact we were holding hands slow him down at all, so I decided to, uh... Well, kinda 'claim' Dawn as mine." She blushes a little at the description, looking away from Willow for a moment.
"Anyway, I kissed her, then stared him down and he backed off. We got our snacks and sodas and stuff and headed for the movie. Oh, I made some comment about ignoring the movie as we went past him and that's about it. We *did* sit together during the movie, but that's really all. We both just watched the movie. Nothing else really happened." She smiles apologetically. "I wanted to find you and tell you what happened as soon as I got back, so here we are." She sits quietly, her hands in her lap as she waits for Willow's decision, forcing herself to not wring her hands nervously.
For her part, Willow sits calmly opposite the Slayer, listening to her words and the greater detail she goes into this time. After a few minutes thought, she comes to the conclusion that her decision at the window was right. Kennedy wasn't trying to cheat on her or hurt her. Dawn wasn't trying to steal her girlfriend. This wasn't at all like what happened with Oz, and trying to make it into something similar was ludicrous.
Deliberately, her eyes locking with Kennedy's, the redhead reaches over and takes her girl's hand in her own, smiling a little at Kennedy's suddenly released breath and smile. "I hope you're not waiting for me to say I forgive you, cause that's not gonna happen." She frowns at Kennedy's sudden lack of expression. "No, no! I mean, there's nothing to forgive. Slayer's protect people and that's what you did, protected Dawnie."
The redhead chuckles a little at the look on comprehension, then relief that crosses the Slayer's face and gives her hand a little squeeze. "Let's just forget about it, okay?"
Kennedy smiled broadly. "Works for me!" She leans forward and punctuates the sentiment with a kiss. "Mmmm. *Much* better!" She says teasingly.
Willow smiles, then abruptly laughs. At Kennedy's wondering look, she shakes her head. "Oh, it's nothing! I was in Buffy's room when Dawnie got back and I asked her if she managed to keep her hands to herself. Now I understand why she looked ready to die when I asked her that."
The Slayer laughs as well, easily picturing the younger brunette's face as Willow had asked her question. She ignores her subconscious when it tries to add herself to that image and the two brunettes kissing again.
The witch leans forward and kisses her girl again, slowly, but softly, then scoots a little closer. Moving to kiss Kennedy again, she suddenly yawns, blushing a little. "Guess it's bedtime," she jokes.
The brunette smiles and kisses her quickly, then stands. "Yeah. I'm kinda tired myself." She stretches, going up on her toes, bending backwards a little. "You want the bathroom first?" She croaks out, then looks at Willow, grinning at what she sees.
The redhead watches mesmerized as her girl stretches her muscles, her shirt riding up, exposing her stomach and tightening across her chest, molding itself to her breasts. She feels a wave of desire course through her, even though she knows she's too tired to do anything about it. "Huh?" She looks up at the Slayer when her question registers, then grins at being 'caught'. "Yeah, sure."
She stands herself and gets her sleep clothes, then heads to change. "Just be a minute," she calls as she leaves the room.
Kennedy's eyes follow her as she moves, a smile on her face. When the bathroom door closes, the brunette's smile falters a little as she what could have happened tonight. How Willow could have *not* understood and dumped her. She'd half expected that anyway, but had been very pleasantly surprised instead.
She frowns a bit and growls a bit at the scoffing laugh at the back of her mind. Dismissing the mocking voice, she absently changes into the tank top and shorts she prefers to sleep in. Looking into the far too empty drawers on the dresser, she decides she and Willow are going shopping tomorrow so they can have more than two changes of clothes.
Kennedy turns at the sound of the door opening and smiles at Willow as she returns wearing an oversized tshirt. "Feel up to some serious shopping tomorrow? I'm figuring ten days to two weeks worth of clothes and a new laptop for you, if we find one you like."
The redhead smiled at the thought of new clothes, then frowned at the mention of the computer. "Kennedy, that'll be expensive. I can wait until we get to LA and I can get to a bank."
"Oh, come on! Admit it, you miss your laptop and I don't mind replacing it. I mean, it's not like money's a problem." As soon as she said that, the Slayer had winced. "Seriously," she adds, seeing Willow about to protest again. "My step-mom spends more than this'll cost in a weekend's worth of power shopping, so it'll be okay, promise."
Willow closed her mouth, not voicing her denial. She could see that her girlfriend really wanted to do this for her, but she was still talking about a couple thousand dollars.
"Oh, come on! What about that project Giles wants you to do? Shouldn't you start that as soon as possible?"
The hacker/witch feels her resolve crumbling in the face of Kennedy's wheedling, the Slayer's comment touching on her sense of responsibility. "Okay, we'll look," she reluctantly concedes. "I doubt they'll have what I would prefer here, but if they do, you can get it. And I reserve the right to pay you back when we get to LA!" She grinned as she laid out her terms.
Smiling mysterily, Kennedy replies, "We'll see." The brunette walks toward the bathroom, saying "Be right back," over her shoulder. Quickly brushing her teeth and the other little things she usually does at the end of her day, she returns to the main room to find the lights out and Willow already in bed. She smiled and slipped in beside her girl.
As soon as she was settled, Willow snuggled up to her side, laying her head on the Slayer's shoulder. Kennedy turned her head a little and pressed a soft kiss to the witch's lips, then frowned as the kiss ended. "Are you okay?"
"Sure," she yawned. "Just really tired is all."
Kennedy chuckled a bit at that. "It was a busy day, that's for sure." She presses a kiss to Willow's forehead. "How about we crash and talk and stuff in the morning?"
"Sounds good to me," the redhead responded softly, sleep already tugging her down. "Ni' sweetie," she managed to say before surrendering.
"Night baby." Kennedy took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then released in a sleepy groan as she felt her body getting heavier. Willow a warm, comfortable weight against her, she smiled a little as she faded, her mind imagining the long chestnut hair spread out on the pillow a she held her girl close.
Then she frowned. [Chestnut?] Her exhausted mind finally managing the thought. [Will's hair is red. Why would I think it was brown?]
[Dawn's hair is brown.] The annoying little voice was back.
[Go away,] the Slayer growled in her mind. Her last thought was to wonder why the stupid voice kept tossing the image of Dawn at her. It seemed somehow wrong for one of her last thoughts for the day to be of a girl other than Willow. Then her mind surrendered and allowed her drop of into a deep sleep.
Little did she know, Willow's last thoughts were of a different girl as well. And she felt just as faintly guilty as the Slayer.
Author's Note: Continued thanks to Willowfan, my friend, beta reader and co-writer. Wouldn't still be doing this without you, B! :) As always, if you like it, lemme know, please.