NOTES:
Written for the femslash minis lj community.
Prompts: Cordelia/Faith. Shoplifting. Silk. Whiskey.
Chapter One
It flowed like a river over her fingers; a cascading torrent of material that shimmered in the harsh light and transfixed Cordelia as she tested its weight and its texture. It was beautiful, and it had to be hers.
"Can I help you, Miss?" a young shop assistant asked, peering over the top of the clothing rack.
Cordelia dropped the garment, letting it flutter back into place on the rack, and gave the assistant a confident smile.
"I'm just looking," she said, flashing her perfect teeth. "Keeping my options open for prom."
"Well let me know if you need any help, we have a very nice selection of dresses."
With a nod, Cordelia thanked the assistant and turned away from the dress she desperately wished she could afford. Since her allowance had been cut to. . .pretty much nothing recently due to her Daddy's run in with the IRS, Cordelia was trying hard to accept that she just couldn't stretch to buying such a fine dress. Silk was off limits. Everything she'd always wanted in a prom dress was off limits in fact and it was beginning to get her down.
She'd looked high and low in some of the cheaper shops – doing her best not to be spotted by anybody who might recognise her – but she'd found nothing she'd be seen dead in. Her options were running out, and prom was sooner than she dared to think about. If she didn't find something soon she'd be turning up in a dress she'd already worn, and that just wouldn't do. Not for Cordelia Chase.
Walking slowly through various racks of clothing, letting her fingertips trail over clingy materials, frilly monstrosities, skimpy pimp magnets and endless swathes of lace, she turned back and headed for the red silk dress that had pulled her in from the street initially – calling her inside to touch it and dream about how well it would hug her curves. Once again her fingers reached out to covet the beautiful material. The dress itself didn't look all that amazing just hanging there limply, but Cordelia knew, she could see that once she put it on it would have a wow-factor to end all others.
Its Oriental cut would accentuate her long legs and slender frame. She'd look incredible from every angle and she highly doubted there would be a single other girl at the prom with a dress quite like it. This would be a show stealer, if she could afford it.
She had to have it.
Cordelia didn't have a date, or a limo to pull up in, or a party to go to afterwards, so this dress. . .this dress would be her saving grace.
Her heart started to pound and her hands went clammy as she imagined just sliding the dress off its hanger and into her bag. It would be so easy. Wouldn't it? She could have what she wanted if she just. . .
Glancing quickly towards the shop assistant and noticing that she was busy with another customer, Cordelia licked her lips, tasting the salty tang of sweat at what she was about to do. Her mind made up, she took a breath and reached out for the dress, opening her large bag at the same time. Adrenaline was coursing through her body and she almost felt like she was floating, looking down at herself as she crossed a line she'd never even stood close to before.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a hushed voice from behind her.
Cordelia froze, her mind running rampant as it searched for an explanation.
"There's a security tag on that," the girl still behind her said.
Letting go of the breath she'd been holding, Cordelia closed her bag and pushed the dress back onto its rail, her hands visibly shaking as she wished for the ground to open up and swallow her.
"I wasn't. . ." Cordelia began, about to deny that she was doing anything untoward, but a chuckle from whoever had stopped her cut off her blatant lie.
That chuckle reminded her of somebody. Well that and the husky voice and faint scent of leather.
She turned around to come face to face with Faith. Faith: the other vampire slayer. Faith who was now working for a bunch of evil people.
"I can scream really loud," Cordelia warned. "And I have mace."
Shoving her hand into her bag, Cordelia fished around to find the little spray can so she could shove it at Faith as a warning.
"I don't doubt it," Faith said with a leer. "But what exactly is it ya think I'm gonna do to you in the middle of a shop that requires mace?"
"You. . .I. . ." Cordelia stammered, still looking – and failing – to find said mace. "I know your game. You probably want to kidnap me like you did Willow."
"And why would I wanna do that?" Faith asked, sliding her hands into the pockets of her dark jeans. "It's not like any of the scoobie gang are gonna notice if you disappear, right?"
Giving Faith a cold, hard glare, Cordelia hastily snapped shut her bag and stepped closer to Faith.
"If you came in here to make me feel bad, don't bother," she snarled. "You can say whatever you want to me; at least I'm not a skanky, evil. . ."
"Do you need assistance?" the shop assistant asked as she sidled up beside them, giving Faith a dirty look as she took in her dark and decidedly un-girly attire.
Cordelia opened her mouth to say no so she could just get the hell out of there, away from tempting dresses, and away from a potentially dangerous slayer-with-a-grievance. But Faith gave them both a big grin and nodded.
"I sure do," Faith told the assistant. "I need you to wrap that dress up right there for my friend."
"This one?" the assistant asked as she lifted up the red one that Faith had indicated.
Faith nodded as Cordelia stood by, wide eyed.
"Are you sure? This is the finest silk, with a hefty price tag attached," the assistant pointed out with a lofty expression.
"I'm sure," Faith asserted. She dug deep into her pocket and handed the assistant a credit card, giving Cordelia a wink in the process. "Put it on that; and anything else my friend here wants."
Cordelia's mouth hung open as the assistant walked away towards the counter with the dress and Faith's credit card. She was at a loss for words, but as realisation dawned on her that Faith wasn't even her friend and never had been, she pulled herself together and tried to work out what the hell Faith was up to.
"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked as Faith began to make her way towards the counter. She tugged on Faith's sleeve so she would stop and answer. "Are you about to commit some kind of credit card fraud, hoping to get me into trouble? Or are you just going to go beat her up and. . ."
"Cordy, chill the fuck out," Faith told her as she shook her arm away from Cordelia's grip. "You were just about to steal it."
"I wasn't!" Cordelia protested, glancing behind Faith to make sure nobody had heard.
"I saw the signs, C," Faith pointed out. "You were totally 'lifting it and no way in hell would you have gotten outta here without gettin' caught. I'm doing you a favour here."
"Doing me a favour?" Cordelia asked. "Doing me a favour would be walking away and leaving me alone, not stealing the dress yourself."
Faith rolled her eyes and sighed, leaning in to Cordelia so only she would hear.
"I work for a fucking demon that has the town in his hand, and he's pretty easy with the cash flow he sends my way, so I don't gotta steal shit, C," Faith said under her breath. "I could buy this place and you right along with it, so shut the fuck up and go get the dress I just bought ya so that you can look better than Buffy-fucking-Summers at prom and I can feel smug about it."
Cordelia blinked and tried to find something caustic to say, but the shop assistant was waving her over with the dress all packaged up and ready to go. She moved past Faith in order to go and collect the dress still beckoning her, but before she went too far she stopped and turned back to Faith.
"So you're buying it for me to get at Buffy?" Cordelia asked, narrowing her eyes at Faith.
Faith seemed to think about it for a moment, then she shrugged and fixed Cordelia with an intense gaze that almost had goose pimples sprouting up all over her skin.
"Not just to get at Buffy," Faith replied.
"Then why?"
Cordelia didn't know why she was asking so many questions. She could walk out of there with her new dress without having spent a cent of what little money she had, and without having had committed any crime. Why the hell she wasn't just smiling and nodding and accepting the gift she didn't know. Really, there was no need to spend all this time wondering about Faith's motives. She shouldn't have cared.
"I saw what you were about to do through the window," Faith told her, flicking her gaze to the very window via which Cordelia had been drawn into the shop when seeing the dress. "Couldn't let ya start down that road."
With a confused look, Cordelia tried to believe Faith, but the girl didn't exactly have a very good reputation.
"Why would you care?" Cordelia pressed.
"Why would you care that I care?" Faith asked, switching the focus onto Cordelia.
This was getting them nowhere, and the longer they stood around, the weirder Cordelia began to feel.
"Just go take the fucking dress, C," Faith insisted. "And whatever else you need to go with it."
"Well, I could use some new shoes, and possibly. . ."
"Then what are ya standin' here for? Go look for shoes and. . .all that other prom stuff," Faith told her, waving her hand dismissively at Cordelia.
Cordelia was beyond wary, but she was being offered everything she needed to make a possibly disastrous night not go quite as dreadfully as she'd imagined it would. Did it really matter why Faith was offering this? Did it really matter if accepting would make Cordelia a bad person for having anything to do with the girl that had hurt her friends? Not that they were really her friends at all now.
She decided that the scoobies were inconsequential. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and she was going to grab onto it with both hands. No more feeling like a poor person or a fraud.
"What's the limit on your card?" Cordelia asked.
Faith chuckled and gave Cordelia one of those smiles of hers that made people swoon for her dimples; or at least, Cordelia imagined that people swooned. She'd never swooned at anything in her life so they certainly didn't have any impact on her, but. . .she could appreciate their potential.
"Don't worry about a limit, C," Faith stated. "Get whatcha need."
Taking another short, almost infinitesimal moment to ponder the morality of the situation again, Cordelia finally shrugged and headed towards the shop assistant.
"I'm gonna need shoes to match," she instructed confidently. "Shoes and a purse, and possibly a whole other outfit in case I change my mind. They're not gonna know what's hit 'em."
Once Cordelia had shopped enough, pulling Faith into at least three more boutiques, and a delicatessen to satisfy a sudden urge for crème covered pastries, they dropped the overflowing bags on the sidewalk as Faith pulled out a cell phone and made a call. She was calling for a lift and Cordelia had stopped feeling the need to ask questions about such things. If Faith had ulterior motives for all this then she was fully prepared to face them. After an afternoon of ferocious shopping, Cordelia was far too happy and satisfied to really care about whatever happened next.
All the heartache of losing everything she had to the tax man had left her feeling less than what she'd once been. She'd felt squashed, boxed in, caged and awkward. It felt good to breathe again, to have that freedom to just be herself, even if Faith was the one facilitating it.
"So, the Mayor is your sugar daddy?" Cordelia asked as they waited for the car.
Faith raised an eyebrow and shook her head no.
"I don't screw him for money if that's what you mean," she answered.
"No, that would make you a prostitute."
"Well I'm not either of those, I just. . .do things he can't trust the others to do."
"By others you mean all the demon-y evil things you're supposed to be slaying?" Cordelia asked sarcastically.
Faith narrowed her eyes in annoyance but the threat of violence that should have followed didn't come.
"Yeah well, turns out the evil things treat me with more respect than Buffy and her crew ever did," she said sullenly. "Can't blame a girl for goin' where she's wanted more."
"I guess," Cordelia said, dropping her gaze to the ground. She'd felt plenty pushed out by the scoobies in her time around them to know how much that stung.
Cordelia had tried to convince herself many times that she didn't care about what they thought, or about whether or not she was part of their little secret society of nerdom, but she did care. Being rejected by the people that everybody else rejected was all kinds of insulting. It hurt.
"That probably gives us something in common huh?" Faith pointed out. "Not that you. . .yunno, went all psycho and killed people."
The pain in Faith's words was obvious. There was sadness there too, even though she hid it well behind the new clothes and the great hair, the better makeup and less skanky look all round.
"Maybe," Cordelia agreed with a sigh.
At this point, she really did feel like she had more in common with Faith than she did with anybody else. The past few hours with her hadn't been awful, and Faith had actually let Cordelia talk and get some things off her chest – mostly about her lack of recent shopping sprees and the fact she no longer even had a car. It had been easy being around Faith. Easy saying things she hadn't said to anybody else. It made Cordelia hate her situation even more, but really. . .there wasn't much she could do about it. Not until she graduated and got the hell out of Sunnydale.
"The car's here," Faith indicated, picking up the bags as a long, black limousine pulled up in front of them. "Hop in."
Cordelia knew she was catching flies, but she couldn't help it. This wasn't a car, it was a cruise liner; a yacht on land. It was. . .perfect.
She slid into the leather seat and sighed in content, watching as Faith bundled the shopping onto the seat facing them as she climbed in beside Cordelia. They were by no means sat close to each other, but Cordelia had the distinct urge to shuffle further away, which she guessed would look really cruel considering what Faith had just done for her. Fighting the urge, she checked to make sure her bags were safe on the seat opposite that she could barely reach, then she relaxed back and enjoyed her luxurious surroundings with a satisfied smile.
"Like it?" Faith asked, grinning at Cordelia.
"It doesn't suck," Cordelia answered, running her hand over the leather interior and tingling all the way inside.
She was born to be rich; her current situation was obviously just a little bump in the road. A glitch. Something she would look back on one day with a certain amount of fondness for how it made her appreciate all the luxury she'd eventually end up living in.
Faith gave a short laugh and shrugged.
"It's not my kinda thing, but the Mayor thinks it makes me look important," she said. "Makes the vamps and demons that work for him know I'm better than them. . .or somethin'."
"I can see how that would work," Cordelia commented, looking over at Faith.
Though Faith seemed less than ecstatic, she certainly had an air of authority about her now. She looked powerful, in more ways than one. Her youth and bad taste wasn't the first thing that Cordelia saw now; she saw more depth, pain, strength, danger, a simmering aura of sexuality that made Cordelia quickly look away and curse her sudden rapid heartbeat.
She wanted to avoid seeing Faith as the attractive girl she was even if it killed her trying. So far, she'd managed to deny the fact that Faith made her look at her in a way that was. . .just wrong for somebody as straight as Cordelia, but sitting next to her right now with Faith looking hotter than ever? Yeah, it was hard to deny. It was hard to convince herself that her thoughts hadn't strayed before about Faith. Of course, she'd hated when they had strayed and done her best to ignore it, but Cordelia wasn't oblivious to the fact that straight girls didn't find other girls sexy. At least they didn't in her world.
"So, are you gonna kill Buffy?" Cordelia asked, hoping to keep reminding herself about how bad Faith was and how very wrong it was to be entertaining thoughts of enjoying her credit card, and her company.
Faith spluttered out a laugh that could be construed as almost scary if it wasn't for the fact it was more goofy than anything.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Cordelia pressed, turning towards Faith, and wondering if it was strange of her to be smiling because of Faith's laughter.
"You ask that now? After we just spent hours spendin' the Mayor's money on you?" Faith continued to laugh. "Talk about a lack of morals. And they say I'm bad."
Cordelia scrunched her brow up in consternation but she still couldn't stop herself from smiling just a little.
"Hey, did I say I minded if you were planning to kill her or not? No, I didn't think so," Cordelia pointed out haughtily.
Faith eventually stopped laughing long enough to answer, "No, I'm not."
She said it quietly, keeping a wary eye on the driver behind his glass partition.
Cordelia narrowed her eyes and had an inkling that maybe Faith wasn't quite as 'bad' as all that after all. She was just trying to get by with what she could, using what she could – her slaying ability. Faith was by no means an angel, but Cordelia highly doubted she was the devil that the scoobies were trying to make out she was.
Just as Cordelia was about to ask more about what she was doing for the Mayor, Faith asked her own question.
"Where do you wanna go, C?"
Cordelia blinked and wondered for a half a second at what Faith actually meant, considering her previous thoughts about Faith's obvious charms. She soon realised what Faith was asking as the girl in question leaned forward and pulled up a little flap in the partition so she could tell the driver.
"Oh," Cordelia said, causing Faith to raise a well groomed eyebrow at her. "You want my address huh?"
"Would help."
"It's. . ." Cordelia wondered how safe it was telling Faith her address, but then she wondered how safe it was turning up at home with bags full of clothes and shoes when she was meant to be broke. Her father wasn't going to be happy.
"Did you have a brain fart, Cor?" Faith asked. "It's normally not that hard for people to remember their address."
"I didn't forget," Cordelia assured, glowering at Faith. "It's just that. . .my parents are gonna have seizures if I turn up there with all this." She indicated the many bags.
"Does look kinda suspicious," Faith said with a nod. "Can't you sneak in?"
"Not likely," Cordelia huffed.
"Why not? I thought you lived in a house with more entrances than a termite mound."
"Why are you talking to me about termites?" Cordelia dismissed in disgust. "We don't live there anymore, we had to move."
"Smaller place?"
"Much."
Cordelia sighed and tried not to feel embarrassed, but it was difficult. Even though it wasn't her fault that her dad had screwed them over, she still felt guilty and stupid.
"So drop them off at mine," Faith offered after a moment's silence.
"You're inviting me to your den of evilness?"
"Yeah, thought I'd lure you there with shopping, then tie you up and start a fire so I can roast you over it," Faith responded sarcastically. "Are you deficient or just trying to piss me off?"
Faith sounded angry now, but that wasn't all; she was hurt. Obviously Faith didn't like being judged or second guessed, and Cordelia could understand that. Especially now.
"My bad," Cordelia said by way of an apology. "You're being sweet and kind and I don't think you're evil at all."
She hoped she sounded convincing.
"Now I know you're trying to piss me off," Faith said, her eyes looking darker by the second. "Take us to mine, Mike."
Once she'd told the driver where they were headed Faith sat back in the seat heavily, a scowl only accentuating her attractiveness rather than detracting from it.
"You know, you look kinda hot when you're angry," Cordelia blurted as she stared at Faith.
They both went a little wide eyed in shock, and Cordelia really, really hoped that Faith ignored what she'd just said. Of course, this being her life, and Faith being who she was, there was no way it was going to be ignored.
"You think I'm hot?" Faith asked with a chuckle as she gave Cordelia a puzzled, yet somewhat impressed expression.
"I didn't say that exactly," Cordelia insisted, turning away from Faith and looking out of the tinted window.
"You totally did," Faith countered. "You think I'm hot."
"I don't," Cordelia snapped, refusing to look at Faith again.
"I knew it."
Cordelia listened to the little chortle Faith gave and tried her best just to let the subject die a sudden death, but she wanted to know what Faith had meant by that.
"You knew?" she asked. "You knew what exactly? That you're delusional?"
She turned to give Faith a smug look, but Faith appeared even smugger.
"Nope, I knew that you had kinky thoughts about me," she stated with a big smirk.
For a moment Cordelia was stunned and unable to respond or refute the claim. She hadn't had those thoughts, not really. Well, not on purpose anyway.
"I. . .I did not," Cordelia answered after a long pause. "I wouldn't. I'm not. . ."
"You're not thinkin' about pushing me back on these leather seats and straddling me?" Faith interrupted, giving Cordelia an image she wasn't entirely comfortable with, for many reasons.
Once again Cordelia failed to reply right away and Faith was just getting more and more cocky.
"Gotta say, Cordy," Faith began, leaning towards Cordelia and lowering her voice so it sounded even huskier and sexier, "I wouldn't exactly push you off if ya tried it."
She licked her full lips and Cordelia found herself transfixed, licking her own lips in response quite by accident. Hoping that Faith didn't have the freaky kind of hearing that meant she would hear how much her heart was pounding, she snapped her gaze up from Faith's lips, only to find herself pulled into her dark eyes as if Faith was an expert hypnotist.
Fighting for control of her sense, Cordelia dug deep down for her resolve and sat up straighter.
"If you try to kiss me I'll scream," she told Faith assertively.
"Oh I could make ya scream alright, C," Faith said slowly as she leered at Cordelia.
"I didn't mean. . ."
Cordelia was flustered again and desperately trying not to let Faith's words, or the way she was looking at her, or the way she just looked in general, affect her. There wasn't much doubting that Faith had an affect now, however. Cordelia's moistening panties were making it impossible to deny and she currently hated Faith for that.
"Seriously, don't you dare try anything," Cordelia snarled, forcing herself to breathe normally and not as erratically as she had begun to.
With a confident chuckle, Faith sat back again, shaking her head as if she had Cordelia all worked out.
"Whatever, C," Faith said with a shrug. "Sooner or later you'll be beggin' to eat me out in exchange for a nice pair of shoes, or a purse, or. . ."
The slap Cordelia gave Faith rang out in the lavish confines of the limo and both girls took a sharp breath. Cordelia out of shock that she'd struck out so violently, and that it had flown past Faith's slayer instincts. And Faith because – even though she was a slayer – that slap would have hurt like a bitch.
A few seconds of eerie calm descended before Faith reacted, and Cordelia squealed in a mix of fear and excitement as her wrist was grabbed and she was pushed hard into the back of the seat with Faith hovering over her. She was practically straddling Cordelia, and her eyes were black with rage, and. . .yeah, most definitely desire.
"You hit me again, you'll lose an arm," Faith warned, her warm breath spilling over Cordelia's lips.
"If you think I can be bought so easily again you'll. . .I'll tell Buffy you're planning to kill her."
Faith glared at Cordelia but apparently didn't have an immediate response. She shook her head and laughed quietly, still pushing Cordelia into the back of the seat. The brown of her eyes eventually paled so she didn't look as frightening, but in all honesty, Cordelia hadn't really felt threatened. Sure, she should have done; she'd just slapped a slayer. A slayer that had no problem killing people and working for the wrong side. But for some reason Cordelia wasn't afraid of Faith, and she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
"You won't tell Buffy anything," Faith said finally, loosening her grip on Cordelia's wrist slightly and softening her voice. "You can't stand her so you're not gonna go runnin' to her about me."
Cordelia really wanted to refute that, even if just to mock Faith's confidence in the matter, but she couldn't. Faith obviously knew her better than she thought. Maybe she was as transparent and shallow as she'd always been told she was. Which really, in actuality, wasn't a great surprise.
"And I told you, I'm not gonna kill her," Faith continued. "But I am gonna make you scream." Before Cordelia could pull away, Faith quickly leaned in and kissed her.
Cordelia didn't scream. Instead, she went limp and almost passed out as a flock of butterflies took off in her stomach. Faith's lips pressed against hers, moving assertively as Cordelia had no option but to part her own lips a little and flutter her eyes closed. She knew she should have stopped Faith and pushed her off, but her lips were soft and good - oh so damn good. And Faith's body was close, warm, sexy and tempting, and though Cordelia really didn't want to be tempted. . .she was.
A small moan escaped Cordelia when Faith eventually pulled back. She couldn't quite place how she felt, and she didn't know why Faith had just done that, but her mind was incapable of constructive thought with Faith now straddling her and looking into her eyes as they slowly opened.
"See, I totally knew you were into me," Faith said with a grin, sitting back a little.
Though she wanted to tell Faith how wrong she was and how much she was going to call her bluff and have Buffy kick her ass, Cordelia was finding it hard to locate the words to refute the statement. She allowed her eyes to wander over Faith, sliding a hand up onto her thigh as Faith kneeled either side of her. Her hormones were raging inside her and her head was spinning. Maybe it had been all the shopping, spending money, and the lavish limo they were riding in, but Cordelia felt like she was floating.
She licked her lips, tasting Faith's lipgloss and finding it difficult not to lean forward so she could kiss Faith back. But Faith wasn't about to make things easy and she hopped off Cordelia, smirking as if she'd just won a prize.
"We're here," Faith pointed out before Cordelia could ask what the hell had just happened.
Watching as Faith gathered up the bags and slid out of the car, Cordelia wondered if the trauma of the last few weeks had finally driven her mad. It was crazy accepting money from Faith, and it was even crazier following her into her apartment. Obviously she was suffering some kind of post traumatic stress after her family had lost all of their money; it was the only explanation. Whatever the case, Cordelia got out of the limousine and closed the door, keeping her eyes on Faith as she followed.
"Nice place," Cordelia commented as they made their way up the stairs to Faith's apartment.
"Even nicer inside," Faith responded.
"Better than a crappy motel."
Faith didn't need to agree, it was obvious, and Cordelia understood more and more about why exactly Faith had switched sides. With a choice of either being seen as a nuisance and being left to rot in a stinking motel room, to being given an apartment, money, and a purpose. . .the choice seemed easy. Cordelia didn't like the whole idea of killing people and being on the side of evil, but there was no doubt that she could see the appeal of everything else. And if the stories of Faith's past were anything to go on, she definitely understood why Faith wanted a little slice of the good life.
When they entered the apartment, Cordelia looked around as Faith put the bags near her bed. She loved the open plan feel and the minimalism. It was a nice set up, and seemed to suit Faith down to the ground.
"Well, at least evil has good taste," Cordelia quipped.
Faith rolled her eyes but gave a quiet chuckle, taking off her jacket and making her way into the kitchen area. She pulled out two glasses from a cupboard and set them on the side.
"It also has food, booze, and an Xbox," Faith said. "Totally worth becoming a murderer for."
She mumbled the last part and Cordelia almost asked if she really meant it, but it was fairly obvious she was being sarcastic. Cordelia didn't know quite how to respond so she kept quiet instead, moving over towards the bed as she noticed the black sheets. The black, silk sheets.
Given the way Faith had just kissed her and the way Cordelia had failed to ignore the way in which Faith made her feel, silk sheets were a dangerous sign. Dangerous because she just knew at any moment she'd start thinking about what they would feel like to have sex on. She couldn't have those thoughts, especially not around Faith, or more importantly, not about Faith.
But Cordelia had never had sex on silk before – not that she'd had a great deal of sex at all. In fact, there had only been those two times, and she wasn't sure if one of those could be counted as the guy she'd been with had finished a little early, leaving Cordelia wiping herself down by the lockers in the boy's gym. For a football player he'd been a little too adept at fumbling, and it'd left Cordelia less than impressed.
She imagined Faith would be good at it – all kinds of good at it in fact. But she had to stop herself from imagining because going down that road was wrong, and scary, and really, really crazy.
"Drink?" Faith asked as she poured herself one.
Cordelia could see right away that it was an alcoholic drink, and she wasn't much of a fan of alcohol – never having really drank before. She was about to say it was a little early, but as she glanced out of the large window to her left she realised it was getting dark already.
"What is it?" Cordelia asked, moving towards the kitchen.
"Just a little something to make the bad guys tolerable."
Faith downed her drink in one gulp and proceeded to pour another, filling a glass for Cordelia beside it. As Cordelia got close enough to smell the alcohol she could tell that it was whiskey. Her dad was a fan of it, especially recently.
"Whiskey, Faith? Aren't you a little young for that?"
"Never stopped me before. My age never stopped anyone else either," Faith said cryptically as she shoved a glass towards Cordelia.
Cordelia didn't think she wanted to know exactly what Faith meant. Sometimes ignorance really was bliss.
"I don't think I should," she said as she looked down at the full glass.
"Suit yourself," Faith said with a shrug. "But this is the good stuff; Glenmorangie. It's like your dress in liquid form; pure silky goodness."
She swallowed down another big mouthful and gave Cordelia a wink.
"Glen's what?" Cordelia asked, pulling a face.
Faith just chuckled and walked over to the plush sofa that sat between the kitchen and bedroom area, taking her drink with her.
"So this helps you?" Cordelia asked, picking up the glass and sniffing at it. "Makes you forget you're supposed to be on the side where people don't wanna turn the world into an all you can eat demon buffet?"
Another shrug from Faith clearly indicated that she was no longer in the talking mood. That was ok with Cordelia; the less Faith talked, the less likely she was going to keep going on about how into her Cordelia was.
Putting the drink down and following Faith to the sofa, Cordelia took a seat next to her and momentarily wondered why she had chosen to sit so close. It was a three person sofa and she'd sat right next to Faith. Getting up and moving further away would probably make her look really weird, but staying there made her look really obvious. She couldn't win, so she just relaxed back into the plump cushions and hoped that Faith hadn't noticed the obviousness of the situation.
"Ya get any closer you're gonna be sitting on my lap, C," Faith indicated with a grin. "And you're totally invited to."
"If I wanted to sit on your lap I would have done with or without an invitation," Cordelia pointed out without thinking.
She'd said it on instinct; keen not to let Faith have the upper hand or seem like she was in anyway in control of her. Cordelia was always in control. Well maybe not always, but she tried to be. She was finding it harder with Faith than was fair.
"I like the way you think," Faith told her, letting her dimples come out to play. "Of course, I'd like the way you feel even better."
"Ok, what is this?" Cordelia snapped, sitting forward and glaring at Faith accusingly. "Why are suddenly like this with me? Buying me stuff? Coming onto me? We hardly ever spoke before. Are you hoping to pump me for information?"
"Whoa, C," Faith interrupted with her hands up in defence. "Way to give me a headache. And just so you know, if I'm gonna 'pump' you in any way. . .it won't be for information."
"Ugh," Cordelia groaned in exasperation. "You're like. . .clearly insane."
"That's me," Faith mumbled, taking another sip of her drink.
"I didn't. . .I didn't mean that you're really insane," Cordelia offered, trying not to sound like a complete bitch. "I'm sure you have your reasons for all the stabbing and killing; in fact, I can totally understand why you'd rather be here than begging for Buffy and her little tag-along friends to notice you."
She watched as Faith clenched her jaw and gripped the armrest tighter, her muscles twitching. That's when Cordelia noticed just how tight Faith's rather small top was. She looked away in a hurry and cursed her teenage hormones and current confused state, but the abrupt silence was already becoming awkward, and Cordelia didn't want Faith to suddenly get psychotic and violent.
"Look, I get it ok," Cordelia said after digging deep to find her humanity. "I get that you want to feel part of something. And important."
Faith didn't say anything but she seemed to relax just a little so Cordelia continued.
"And I get that you're trying not to disappear altogether, so you're reaching out to me because you think we might have something in common – I mean, we both dislike Buffy, and her friends have been total idiots to us – and you're hoping it won't look as bad if you can at least be civil with. . ."
"Jesus, Cordelia," Faith cut in, turning to her. "I'm really not that complex. I just think you're hot and wanna bang ya."
Cordelia's mouth hung open for several seconds, her brain trying to catch up and find a response. Maybe she had looked a little too deep, but she doubted Faith had really gone through the trouble of helping her out, and then bringing her back to her apartment just to 'bang' her. She'd taken too much of a risk for that; Cordelia now knew where Faith lived, and it would have been easy to disclose that to Buffy and her watcher. No, there definitely had to be more to it. Something Faith wasn't comfortable talking about.
"I don't believe you," Cordelia stated.
Shuffling even closer on the couch, Faith leaned towards Cordelia, once again oozing a tempting flavour of sexuality that had Cordelia revaluating her own.
"No, I really do wanna just fuck you, Cor," Faith purred huskily.
Though her heart rate had increased and her stomach was flipping and flopping for reasons of its own, Cordelia tried to stay focused.
"Well aren't you just full of wit and charm," she quipped, a little breathless.
Tilting her head to the side as she studied Cordelia, Faith gave her a stunning smile. It soon turned into more of a leer as Cordelia grew more and more uncomfortable.
"It's not my charm you're here for."
Frowning and attempting to work out if Faith was just trying to make her mad, or if she really was quite insane, Cordelia looked deep into her eyes for what felt like the first time. Though Faith was trying to remain tough, detached and cocky, there was vulnerability there. She could see sadness in her eyes and it made Cordelia take a mental step back.
As much as her body was telling her to maybe, possibly, most definitely take what Faith was offering her – from the money to the sex – Cordelia was dealing with a young woman in a perilous emotional state, and she didn't want to make things worse.
TBC…
