Author's Note: Yup… another one. It's almost a bit creepy how this whole thing developed a life of its own, but apart from that, I'm still having fun writing this, so I hope you'll have fun reading. :)
Disclaimer: All characters used from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, yadda yadda. Nothing's mine. Same goes for all characters used from Stephen King's The Mist, just borrowing them for a bit.
The Mist
"I'm still not sure if Buffy will be fine with this", Willow mumbled, sounding as if she was close to falling asleep; the reason for this was easily discovered, namely being her girlfriend, whom she halfway laid on, a half-full wine glass in one hand.
"Why not?" Pat now wanted to know, forcing the redhead to stay awake a bit longer and making her shrug, the smaller woman taking the time for another sip of her wine before she replied. "Well, you're right that things have been calm lately, but you know that this often means some kind of Big Bad is just waiting around the corner. What if he comes out while we're gone?"
"Then she'll be able to handle it", the demon shrugged, "and I'm sure she'll agree. Come on Sweetie, when was the last time you left Sunnydale?"
"Shortly after Buffy died", Willow replied at once, "but back then I only went to L.A. to tell Angel."
"So that doesn't count", Pat decided at once, ignoring the way Willow raised an eyebrow at her, "and after we handled that last Big Bad practically alone, I think we deserve it. Also, just think about how much fun it would be! We could rent a car and drive there…"
"Drive there", Willow echoed, "that would take two days! Minimum!"
"Yeah I know", Pat shrugged, clearly not impressed by her partner's outcry, "but come on, that can be fun! We can stay at motels and eat at burger places and everything."
"Clearly, our ideas of fun differ when it comes to road trips", the redhead replied, clearly not all too happy with the thought of sleeping at motels, "but since that place you described sounds so romantic…"
"Oh it is", Pat hurried to reassure her, "right at that cute little lake, the house even has its own dock, and I'm sure we can rent a boat somewhere if you're into that… Or go swimming at night, there's no street lamps or something."
"Which means that you'll try to talk me into skinny dipping", Willow accused, smirking at the look of feigned innocence her girlfriend tried to put on in reply; she giggled and shook her head, then finished her wine before she spoke on, her words making the demon smirk. "But you're right, we really deserve that after dealing with that idiotic flamey guy… and it'd be nice to get out of Sunnydale again…"
"I know", the black haired woman agreed, obviously glad that finally, her girlfriend was accepting her suggestion, "so let's ask Buffy tomorrow if she's okay with it?"
"Yup", Willow agreed, then yawned, grimacing to herself as she forced herself to get up and out of the demon's embrace, "but now let's go get some sleep, I'm really, really tired."
"I can tell", Pat smirked, quickly gulping down her own wine before she got up from the couch; Willow gave her a slightly tired, but still cheerful smile, then the couple made their way into the bedroom together, the apartment soon falling silent as they both drifted off into dreamland and slumbered through the night peacefully.
In the next afternoon, Willow brought up Pat's suggestion to the group after the usual short report Buffy had given about the slaying of the last few nights; to her great relief, she was fine enough to go on patrol on her own again, something Pat had used as another good point for why Willow should agree to her idea, the redhead using it now, as well, even though the smile on Buffy's face showed that she liked the thought anyway and didn't need extra convincing.
"I think that's a great idea", the blonde reassured her best friend as soon as she had finished her small speech about why going on holiday would be a good idea and surely wouldn't bring any trouble at all, "and you're right, you really do deserve it, after basically taking over my job for two weeks when I was down. So when are you leaving and how long will you be gone?"
"Okay, now that sounds as if you want to get rid of us", Pat commented, shrugging when Buffy threw her a dirty look, then looking at the other members of the gang for support. "It does, doesn't it?"
"Yes it does", Anya agreed, "that was not very kind, Buffy!"
"Psh", Buffy let out in reply, "I do not want to get rid of them, I just want them to have that holiday, they really deserve it, as I said. Do you already know where you wanna go?"
"Yup", Willow smiled, dropping the topic of Buffy wanting to get rid of them or not, "to the typical American small town. Bridgton, Maine."
"Maine", Giles echoed, sounding surprised, "why a small town in Maine, of all places?"
"Because I own a house there", Pat informed him, prompting him to give her a surprised look – after all, she never had mentioned this so far, but on the other hand, she hardly ever spoke about her wealth, only when Anya tried to lecture her about the importance of education, so it wasn't really surprising that none of them had known about this so far.
"Just a little summer house thingy", she added at the surprised looks of the others, "at the lake there, really quite the romantic place, but unfortunately not big enough to take all of you along."
"If it's romantic, it's better anyway if you go there without us", Anya helpfully let her know in reply, "because you'll surely have lots of sex, and it would have a similar effect on Xander and me so, we would have lots of sex as well and that would Buffy, Giles and Dawn rather unsatisfied and maybe even envious."
"Ew, no", Dawn protested, shrugging at the look she received from the two couples in question in reply, then Buffy cleared her throat before anyone could come up with a rebuke and spoke up again, hoping that she wouldn't sound like she wanted to get rid of her friends again. "And how long do you plan to stay?"
"Well, we were thinking a week, but then Pat had the brilliant idea to drive there by car, so it'll probably be two weeks", Willow informed her, "because we'll spend four days all in all on the road."
"That'll be fun", Pat tried to convince her once more that this had been a good idea indeed, "and I promise I won't insist on playing my music in the car all the time!"
"You can play it as long as it's the nice, melodic stuff I like", Willow smiled at her, "but nothing with those grunts and growls, okay?"
"Agreed", the demon agreed at once, making the witch smile; they grinned at each other, prompting the rest to roll their eyes at their once more almost sickening sweetness, the two of them not noticing though.
"And when are you going to leave?" Dawn demanded to know, making them both shrug before Pat was the one to speak up, the demon throwing a loving glance at her girlfriend as she did so. "Next week on Monday, if I can convince Willow that it'll be okay to miss those two weeks of college."
"Oh, of course that'll be okay", Buffy clearly decided to help with that convincing job, "come on Willow, you know there's not much going on there at the moment, and you're so far ahead anyway, you won't even notice that you weren't there for two weeks."
"I know that", the redhead reassured her, "but it still feels weird to just skip for two weeks."
"That's because you're so dutiful", Pat helpfully told her what she already knew anyway, "I'm sure even your professors would tell you to go for it if you asked them if it's okay, and they'd tell you that you should take it easy for once."
"Monday it is then", Willow decided in reply, after thinking about the words of the two for a few moments, making her girlfriend smile, "then we'll also have time to get everything we'll need."
"Sounds like a plan", Pat agreed, then bent closer for a quick kiss; afterwards, the topic changed to how things were at college, then moved on as conversation took its course, neither Willow, nor Pat able to fully focus on the talking though, both suddenly too excited about their upcoming holiday to concentrate on the topics the other members of the gang were bringing up.
"Are you sure we got everything?" Willow asked for the sixth time, clearly to the exasperation of her girlfriend since this time, she didn't even reply verbally anymore, but just let out a grunt around the cigarette dangling from her lips while she slammed the lid of the car's trunk shut, keeping the redhead from opening the bags and going through what they had packed once more.
"It's all there", Buffy now took over the useless tries to calm her down, "I helped you check two times, remember?"
"And we got everything we need for the drive in the backseat?" Willow asked in reply, peeking at said backseat through the window, satisfied when she saw the bag with fruit she had packed and the bottles of water, the Slayer smirking next to her when Pat let out another grunt, then removed the cigarette from her mouth and spoke up. "Even if we forgot something, there'll be like, a million stores where we can buy stuff. Let's just hop into that car and go, alright?"
"Alright", Willow agreed after another look at the backseat, then turned towards Buffy to hug her; returning the embrace, the Slayer told her to enjoy the holiday and to be careful, Xander repeating those words when she moved on to him afterwards.
"And send us a card", Dawn demanded, "and take lots of pictures!"
"We will", Willow promised, smiling slightly when Giles was the next one to speak up, not surprising her with his words. "Please be careful with the car, you know I got it not all too long ago."
"I know", Willow reassured him, holding back the urge to giggle at him, "you know Pat's been driving for quite some time…"
"Several decades", the demon threw in, already twirling the car key around her index finger in a vain gesture of trying to speed up the good-byes, "and I'm keen on doing it again, so…?"
"Drive carefully", Buffy instructed her, "I want Willow back in one piece. And no flames once you're there!"
"Of course not", Pat gave back, raising an eyebrow, "what do you think I am, stupid? I'll be so flameless there, Willow will think I've turned to ice."
This made the redhead giggle, and she playfully nudged the taller woman's ribs; then, she waved at her friends once more before she finally got into the car, making herself comfortable on the passenger street.
"You got the map?" Pat asked her while she entered the vehicle as well and started the engine; with a short glance at Giles, she smirked and let the engine roar a few times, chuckling when the Watcher grimaced, then Willow gave her a strict look and made her stop.
"The map's right here", she then informed the black haired woman, holding the map up for emphasis before she placed it on her lap, then twisted in the seat to grab the bag of CDs Pat had brought along, quickly flipping through them as she tried to figure out which one wouldn't have any grunts and growls.
"I didn't bring any of those you don't like", the demon now made that decision even harder; the redhead took the time to smile at her, then focused on the CDs again, finally settling on one with a naked, red-haired lady on the cover, kneeling in some sort of forest and holding an apple, Pat giving her a brief smirk when she saw her choice.
"I hope you didn't just choose that one because there's a naked woman", she then stated, clearing her throat audibly at her girlfriend's response.
"I hope you didn't just pack it because of the naked woman", Willow shot back, the tone of her voice showing though that she wasn't fully serious, a smile forming on her face again when the taller woman replied. "Nope, of course not, she's got a good voice."
"So the naked lady is singing?" the redhead demanded to know while she put the CD into the player, "is she dressed while she does that?"
"I figure she is, or the other band members wouldn't get anything done", Pat chuckled, making the witch giggle as well; nodding, she leaned back into the seat while the music started, smiling at her girlfriend before she reached over to place one hand on her upper leg, making the demon smirk back at her before she focused on the road again, the only sound in the car being the music coming from the player as they left town and headed for their holiday destination.
Author's Note 2: Well, those of you who have seen or read The Mist will already know where this is going. Bonus points for anyone who can guess which album they are talking about in the car ;)
