Part 4
"…iana? Diana? Diana!"
"Hmm?" Diana jolted to attention when she was firmly prodded in the shoulder. She blinked rapidly before averting her gaze from what she had been staring at to focus on the concerned looking blonde hovering next to her "What?"
"Are you okay?" Cassie asked in concern "You seem really distracted and that's not like you, especially at a meeting."
"I'm fine." Diana muttered.
"Are you sure?" Melissa contributed from her other side "You seem kind of…depressed."
"I said I'm fine." Diana stressed curtly as her gaze shifted back across the room. Faye was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room, her cheek braced against her fist and her eyes fixated miserably on the floor as if she wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else at that moment. Diana longed to go over and ask her if she was okay but she was aware that the attempt would be futile. Despite her best efforts, Faye had refused to talk to her for the past week and seemed intent on avoiding her as much as possible. Diana sighed heavily at the thought, a heavy weight settling upon her chest. She had been surprised when she had started to feel like something was missing as soon as her contact with Faye had ended but the feeling of a massive absence had quickly become normal for her.
"…Is weird." Diana tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Melissa say "It doesn't normally storm this much, even here."
"Maybe it's more supernatural than it is natural." Cassie suggested in a hushed voice that was just barely audible over the howling wind and lashing rain outside "Faye has seemed really upset lately. Maybe she has something to do with it."
"Why do people always jump to the conclusion that Faye is the reason things go wrong?" Diana asked, causing both girls to glance at her in surprise "Maybe instead of accusing her of messing with the weather you should bother to ask her why she's upset instead of just talking about her behind her back."
"Um…" Cassie glanced between Diana and Melissa in surprise at the aggravated outburst "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was just suggesting…because Faye has done this kind of thing before…"
"Well maybe you shouldn't jump to conclusions before you know all of the facts." Diana grumbled moodily.
"Diana?" Melissa asked cautiously as she shifted slightly closer to Diana "Are you sure that you're okay? You're not acting like yourself."
"I'm fine!" Diana snapped irritably. As soon as the words left her mouth she paused at the angry tone that laced them "I'm sorry. I'm just…I haven't been feeling all that great lately." She glanced at Cassie guiltily "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"Don't worry about it." Cassie offered a half smile and a shrug before glancing at Melissa "We're just really worried about you."
"Yeah…" Diana sighed and averted her gaze back to Faye who had begun to mindlessly kick at the carpet under her feet "I know how that feels."
"Cassie's right though…" Melissa said, thoughtfully following Diana's line of sight to Faye across the room "Faye has seemed upset for the past few days or so."
Diana looked up in interest "What do you mean by 'upset'? Angry?"
"No." Melissa shook her head in response "It's weird because that's what I would usually mean. She just seems really sad. She won't even tell me what's wrong with her so I don't know how to help."
Diana sighed and glanced back across the room at Faye. Adam and Jake were talking (probably squabbling) across the room meaning that Faye was sitting by herself on the couch. Diana felt her heart ache slightly at the lonely sight.
"Did something happen between the two of you?" Cassie asked inquisitively.
"What?" Diana's eyes snapped to Cassie in panic "What do you mean by that?"
"I just mean… you and Faye seemed kind of inseparable for a couple of weeks and then last week you started arguing and keeping your distance from each other…You don't talk to each other and there some kind of weird uncomfortable tension between you." Cassie offered meekly "And you keep staring at each other."
Diana's eyes flicked to Faye just in time to see the other girl look away from her "It's nothing."
"Did you get into some kind of fight?" Cassie prodded curiously "Because I've never seen her like this…or you for that matter."
"It's nothing." Diana reiterated purposefully "Just forget about it."
"Are y…"
"So are we done here or what? Because I'm thinking that this is a complete waste of my time."
At the sound of the voice she had been craving for the past week, Diana glanced across the room only to see that Faye had stood up from the couch and taken a couple of steps forward.
"I'll take that as a yes." Faye rolled her eyes when nobody in the room answered her.
"Faye, wait." Diana stood up when Faye turned to walk away. She waited until Faye looked at her before continuing "Can I talk to you in private? Please?"
Faye looked torn for a moment before shaking her head resolutely "No."
Faye strode out of the room and Diana glanced between Melissa who was frowning thoughtfully and Cassie who looked beyond confused by the development. Without missing a beat she rushed out of the room after Faye and stepped out into the pouring rain. She squinted to make Faye out ahead of her and yelled out desperately "Faye!"
Faye stopped and turned around, her stature somewhat defeated "What do you want?"
"Can we talk?" Diana asked pleadingly "Please? I can't keep doing this. Whatever we're doing. I can't."
"I have nothing to talk to you about." Faye stated, a pained expression on her face "I think you've made your feelings clear."
"But I haven't!" Diana exclaimed, even as Faye turned to walk away "Faye!" when the brunette merely ignored her and continued to walk away, Diana tried again at a louder volume "FAYE!"
Faye's form disappeared into the fog and Diana sighed heavily, a defeated feeling settling upon her "Damn it." She stood in the rain for a couple of long moments before her expression turned determined "I have to do something."
XXX
Diana's gaze flicked this way and that as she passed the boathouse, making her way down to the pier and the docks. Cassie had called her about ten minutes ago, saying that she had seen a tearful and shaky looking Faye running off towards the pier. Needless to say Diana had all but sprinted to her car in her haste to find the girl, regardless of the storm that was raging overhead. She had even forgotten to pick up a jacket in her haste so she was wandering through the rain in a mostly see through shirt. Finally she spotted the girl up ahead and breathed a sigh of relief that no harm had come to her. Her relief was short lived however when she acknowledged that fact that Faye was far too far off the ground…she was standing on the edge of the pier.
"Faye?" Diana yelled in terror over the sound of the rain, picking up her pace to reach the girl in question. She slowed to a stop when she got to within a metre or so of Faye, not wanting to startle her into falling from the wet ledge she was precariously balancing on "Faye, what are you doing? Get down from there."
Faye glanced over her shoulder and scowled when she saw Diana standing behind her "What are you doing here?"
"Cassie called me." Diana answered, taking a cautious step forward "She saw that you were upset and she was worried about you."
"Well as you can see, I'm perfectly okay. Not upset at all." Faye stated coldly "So you can leave now. I'm sure you would rather be chasing after Adam anyway."
Diana chose to ignore the implication and instead focused on the worrisome matter at hand "Faye, you're standing on the edge of the pier in the middle of a storm. You're obviously not okay."
"I would be if you would leave me alone." Faye responded angrily.
"Would you just get down from there?" Diana asked desperately, clenching her hands into fists at her sides to stop herself from reaching out. Every cell in her body was tingling with the desire to reach out and drag Faye away from the ledge, to the extent that she could feel her muscles involuntarily jerking with the need to move. She forced herself to remain still however, unwilling to startle Faye into taking a step too far "Please?"
"No."
"I'll leave you alone if you get down." Diana bargained reluctantly. She obviously wouldn't but she was willing to try anything, including blatant lying to get Faye away from the dangerous ledge.
Faye fell silent for a moment, thoughtfully mulling over the offer "No." she finally stated, turning back to stare out at the vast water in front of her "I'm sick of you thinking you can make me do whatever the hell you want me to do."
"I don't…I don't think that." Diana stated loudly as the wind picked up, causing a slight whistling sound.
"Of course you don't." Faye called sarcastically over her shoulder "It's not like you use me for whatever the hell you want, assuming that I'm some kind of freaking robot with the emotional range of a teaspoon. No. Not at all."
"Faye…" Diana started, only to be cut off when Faye began to speak again.
"And it's not like you're rejecting me for some stupid guy, even though he likes someone else and you like me. No, because Diana Meade is too freaking perfect to have feelings for a girl. She just has to have the guy she's expected to have and she has to be completely happy with him even though she's making someone else miserable and he wants to screw someone else, regardless of the fact that he already has a girlfriend."
"Are you drunk?" Diana asked, concerned by Faye's random tangent.
"What's it to you?"
"You're standing on the edge of the pier!" Diana practically yelled, the fear that was niggling at her coming out as anger "You could fall."
"Please." Faye rolled her eyes at the worried statement and spread her arms wide, angling her face up to the sky. She closed her eyes as raindrops hit her face and slowly inhaled the cool air before finishing her sentence "I'm not going to fall."
"Could you just…come down?"
"Nah, I like it up here." Faye flexed her fingers in mid-air "It's…freeing."
"Please?" Diana implored desperately "It would make me feel better if you were standing on firm land instead of hovering over the pier like that."
"I'm done with caring about how you feel." Faye stated irritably "Why should I care about you when all you care about is Adam and the stupid fucking circle?"
"Faye, you know that I care about yo…"
"Bullshit." Faye exclaimed angrily as she snapped her head around to face Diana. Her eyes widened as her right foot slipped off the wet wood she was standing on and she threw out her arms to balance herself.
"Faye!" Diana yelled in panic as she darted forward.
Faye flailed frantically for a moment before she managed to set both feet on the ledge, just as Diana grabbed onto her "Chill. I'm fine."
Diana stared up at Faye with wide eyes, her heart thudding loudly against her rib cage "Faye, would you please just get down so that we can talk about this? Please?"
Faye was inclined to say no to the request but the desperate pleading tone of Diana's voice made that impossible. Plus she was slightly freaked out by the fact that she had been seconds away from tumbling into the rocky waters below.
"Fine." She huffed, carefully turning round on the ledge "But I'm not getting down because you asked me to…I was going to do it anyway."
"Okay." Diana answered in relief as she offered up her hands to help Faye down.
Faye hesitated unsurely, before grasping Diana's hands and stepping off the ledge. She stumbled forward when her feet hit the floor and for a brief second she melded into Diana's warm body, their eyes meeting intently. Just as quickly as the contact had been initiated it ended as Faye let go of Diana's hands and stepped away from her.
Diana was slightly disappointed by the way Faye had backed away from her but nevertheless she pressed on, conscious of the fact that Faye could and most likely would run off at any second "You've been avoiding me."
"Obviously." Faye responded coldly "Because I don't want to talk to you. And I certainly don't want to watch you making pathetically sad puppy dog eyes at him."
"I don't…" Diana started to protest but paused midsentence, deciding that following that line of conversation wouldn't be at all beneficial to the situation at hand "Why don't you want to talk to me?"
"Gee, I don't know!" Faye exclaimed sarcastically "Maybe because you used me as some kind of cheap sex toy that you can use whenever you want and throw away when you're finished with it?"
Diana swallowed heavily at the accusation, fully aware that everything Faye had said was true to some extent. Even if she hadn't treated her like she was a 'sex toy' to the degree that Faye was insinuating, she had certainly failed to take her feelings into account "You know it wasn't like that. We agreed to keep our rel…" she paused for a moment, wondering whether or not what she'd had going with Faye could be described as a relationship "Our relations casual so neither of us got hurt. You said you were okay with it."
"Of course I said that!" Faye practically yelled "You basically said it was sex or nothing. What did you think I was going to say? No?" Diana stared at her silently and Faye scoffed "Whatever. I don't even know why you bothered coming here…" she tried to shove her way past but Diana grabbed her arm, effectively stopping her in her path "Hey!"
"I miss you." Diana confessed softly.
"What?" a brief flash of hope crossed Faye's face but she quickly reinforced her previous stoic look "You mean you miss the sex, right?"
"I miss you." Diana repeated firmly, her grip on Faye's arm tightening ever so slightly "I miss the sex, I miss talking to you, I miss that one time when we watched a movie together and we kind of held hands even though I don't remember who initiated it, I miss…not feeling like crap all of the time because of how much I miss you."
Faye stared at her blankly, trying in vain not to get her hopes up "Are you messing with my head again?"
"I'm sorry." Diana apologised guiltily. She released her grip on Faye's wrist in favour of brushing her own damp hair out of her face, even as the rain continued to pour around them "You're right…I haven't been treating you very well and I should have realised that even though you're bitchy and rude and really obnoxious sometimes, you have feelings like everyone else. I shouldn't treat you like you don't."
"Right."
"I miss you." Diana said again, though there was more conviction in her voice than before "I told myself that I would just have sex with you as some kind of replacement for Adam." She noticed Faye flinch slightly at the statement and quickly continued "But that's not what you were."
"So…" Faye licked her lips nervously "What was I? Because I certainly felt like a replacement when you were throwing me out of your bed and telling me that I'm not allowed to feel anything more than sexual urges towards you."
"I'm sorry." Diana apologised again, the guilt she was feeling clear on her expression "I didn't mean to hurt you Faye. I'm just…confused."
"Great." Faye muttered sullenly "Well have fun with that."
"But I know that want to be with you!" Diana quickly added as Faye made a move to brush past her.
Faye faltered at the statement and took a step back, her expression hopeful if somewhat pensive at the same time "You want to what?"
"I-I think…I mean…maybe we could try." Diana fumbled, blushing ever so slightly "You feel something and…and I feel something and I don't want to keep going like this so maybe we should try to...be together."
"Are you…asking me to be your girlfriend?" Faye asked cautiously "What happened to…'I don't feel anything for you and this is just sex to me'?"
"Yes…I'm asking you to be my girlfriend." Diana answered, choosing to ignore the second question and the guilt that came with it. She waited for a moment but Faye merely stared at her in sceptical silence "Faye? Say something?"
"Are you fucking with me?" Faye finally asked "Is this some kind of sick trick to get me to stay so that I don't break up your precious circle because there's no fucki…"
In one fluid movement and without any real conscious thought, Diana surged forward and grabbed Faye's face in her hands, kissing her roughly. Faye squeaked in surprise at the sudden contact but nevertheless she was quick to respond. Her hands settled instinctively at Diana's waist and she pulled her as close as possible, revelling in the light contact she had missed for the past week or so.
"Does it seem like I'm fucking with you?" Diana breathed out when she pulled back and leaned her forehead against Faye's.
Faye shook her head, though she still looked unsure.
"I like you." Diana said, noticing Faye didn't entirely believe her "And I want to be with you…nobody else."
"Yeah?" Faye smiled softly.
"Yes." Diana confirmed before she clutched the lapels of Faye's jacket and pulled her close for another kiss. They completely ignored the way the rain lashed down upon them and the way the storm churned around them, far too focused on each other to pay attention to something as simple as the weather. Diana hummed softly when Faye deepened the kiss and her hands averted to the back of the taller girls neck to tug her closer. She shivered against the cold and barely recognised the fact that Faye was shifting before a familiarly scented leather jacket was being wrapped around her shoulders mid-kiss, causing a warm smile to grace her lips.
TBC (In next part)