AN: Thanks Dushku1207, glad you're liking the story so far...and as for longer chapters, well I realized that when starting this I'd want to make them shorter, I'm also in the middle of co-writing something that produces 20-25 pages on average per chapter and it takes forever to update so I figure with shorter chapters I can update quicker. I will try to make them a little longer as I wind down with other projects :D
Chapter 2
Pulling up at the hotel, the driver got out and set about retrieving all except the soiled bags from the trunk and sat them on the curb. Buffy emerged first and waited as Faith got out and retrieved their bags, while Kennedy was trying to wake a sleeping Willow.
As they walked through the courtyard, Faith let out a low approving whistle at the appearance of the swank hotel, the pictures on the Web failing in comparison to the up-close view. Buffy and Faith had already entered the hotel as Kennedy finally emerged with a sluggish Willow, and then went to get hers, Willow's and the remainder of Buffy's bags.
Inside, the slayers stood at the desk, Buffy was leaning back against Faith who stood leaning against the desk with one arm wrapped around Buffy's waist and the other placed on the desk. Faith's thumb was hooked over the top of Buffy's jeans, idly stroking the skin it came in contact with and her chin rested on her shoulder. Buffy took in the scenery of the hotel lobby; it was definitely one of the nicest hotels she'd ever been in.
Buffy leaned back even more into Faith and turned her head so that she could rub her cheek against hers, laying a kiss upon her girl's cheek as she continued to take in the sight of the hotel. Several staff members dressed in white shirts and vest and dark colored slacks could be seen walking around, as well as several of the hotel's guests. Buffy was glad to see that as well as some well-dressed patron's, most of the guest were casually dressed just as her and her friend's were. It still made her happy that she'd packed for any occasion though.
She marveled at the high, floor to ceiling windows that bathed the room with the setting sunlight. From the ceiling, hung several beautiful chandeliers that were dimly lit giving the room a calm, cozy feeling. Buffy wondered if it was real crystal that dangled from them as the sunlight sparkled off them. The décor was elegantly done; the chairs looked posh, but most definitely didn't look like they were there for comfort as they were placed in various places inside of the lobby. There were several paintings that adorned the walls and hung above the two fireplaces that were placed on opposite sides of the room and were crackling with lowly lit fires.
"We're paying enough for the room as is without having to stand around in this fucking lobby all day. Can we get this show on the road already," Faith grumbled as she looked around for someone behind the desk, effectively breaking Buffy out of her assessment of the hotel.
Buffy turned around with a smile on her face and wrapped her arms around Faith's neck, "Aw baby, I didn't know you were in such a hurry to get married," she leaned up and pressed her lips against Faith's for a series of short sweet kisses.
"Oh yeah," Faith responded between kisses and wrapped both arms around Buffy's waist pulling back slightly, "The sooner we're married, the sooner we get to the honeymoon," Faith wiggled her brows and leaned back in for another kiss. This one turned passionate quickly as Faith slipped her tongue past Buffy's parted lips and slowly massaged it against Buffy's own willing tongue. She then ran her hands down and cupped Buffy's jean-clad ass squeezing slightly, receiving an appreciative moan from the blonde.
The public display certainly didn't go unnoticed, but if anyone was bothered by it no one said anything. This was "Sin City' after all, so watching two hot chicks making out was certainly not the worst thing that was going on. In fact, a few of the men loitering about as well as some of the staff could be seen loosening their collars while gawking.
'Ahem', they heard next to them and pulled apart slowly looking in the direction of the interruption. A middle-aged man with a crisp white long-sleeved shirt and black bow tie now stood behind the desk with a huge grin on his face, "Let me guess...newlyweds!" The man exclaimed.
"Um, no...not yet," Buffy told him, "but we will be soon!" She squealed excitedly. Faith kissed the side of Buffy's head and smiled broadly at her fiancé's excitement.
"Yeah, so can we get checked in already so we can get to it?" Faith told the man impatiently.
"Of course!" The clerk told her, clasping his hands together excitedly in front of himself as he moved over to the computer that sat behind the desk. "Name please."
"Lehane," Faith told him.
"That-that's your last name?" Buffy looked at Faith, puzzlement displayed on her face.
"Uh, yeah...you don't like it," Faith furrowed brows and a hint of disappointment could be heard in her voice.
"No!" Buffy yelped. At seeing Faith's expression deepen and her brows furrow even more, realization hits Buffy, "Oh, no honey, I didn't mean no I don't like it...more like no, that's not what I meant."
"Oh," Faith said lowly, still unsure.
"It's just that we've known each other for a while and we actually get along now, plus we've lived and worked together for over a year. I just think it's funny I never knew what it was," Buffy explained, "I mean, not ha ha funny, just funny in a 'how could I not know' way," the confusion showing on her face again at not knowing something as simple as Faith last name. The look was certainly not putting Faith any more at ease. "But it's perfect," Buffy interrupted her own rambling as a smile suddenly broke out on her face, she cupped Faith's face in her hands while tiptoeing up and planting a reassuring kiss on her lips, "Best last name ever."
"Mmm," Faith moaned forgivingly and finally smiled as she leaned in for another kiss, "Well I'm glad you like it...it'll be yours soon."
"I know!" Buffy wrapped her arms around Faith's neck pulling her in for a tight hug, "I can't wait!"
The clerk was smiling throughout the whole scene, one party not knowing the other's last name was certainly something he'd seen before, this was Las Vegas after all. Maybe the brunette was some Rock Star or something that only went by one name. She did have the whole badass rocker look down with the tight leather pants and the dark red tank top that clung to her fit body. He could vaguely see the black leather studded belt that peeked out as the tank draped slightly over the top and as he peered lower he could see the black boots that completed the ensemble. Her makeup was subtle though, it was light showing that she was a natural beauty and making her look young.
The blonde was young and pretty as well and certainly seemed to be smitten with the other girl, he supposed she could've been a groupie that had gotten lucky. Although, that didn't seem to likely either, seeing as the brunette appeared just as head over heels. He smiled lightly at the couple and tried not to think to negatively about the nature of the relationship.
Some couples were lucky if they even knew each other's first name, so despite the issue with the last name, he couldn't help but think that it was something about the two that stood in front of him that they could be different. Maybe it was the way they really looked at each other. Or it could've been the way one never took their hands off the other for a second that made him think that perhaps they really meant something to one another. After all, the blonde has said they'd known each other for a while. He'd seen many couples come and go but none seemed to be as genuinely happy as the two standing in front of him.
"Can I see some I.D. please," he interrupted once again.
Faith begrudgingly unwrapped her arms from around Buffy as she leaned down and fished around in her bag for her wallet, she took out her license and handed it to the guy. Showing her I.D. was something Faith no longer had to be wary about. After the battle with The First and after covering up the break-out, Angel and his Wolfram and Hart crew had gotten her a new trial. Apparently the confessions of an obviously disturbed minor and the lack of evidence, coupled with the fact that anyone that had anything to do with the previous Sunnydale case was now nowhere to be found, it was enough for the judge to overturn the conviction.
Faith knew that what she'd done was wrong and that she could never fully pay for taking two lives, she could only try to do as much good with this second chance she'd being given. It wasn't until Faith found out that it was actually Buffy who'd pushed Angel into finding a way for her to stay out of prison that she ultimately set her sights first on trying to make things right with the Scooby gang.
The clerk checked the license which confirmed his assessment that the brunette was indeed still young, she was only 24. "Ah here we are, Lehane...double beds," he stated handing the I.D. back.
"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to push them together or something," Faith shrugged as she put her license away and glanced at her fiancé pulling her close once again and giving her a light kiss on the lips.
"Nonsense, we can certainly do better than that," the clerk scoffed and he keyed a few strokes on his keyboard. "The honeymoon suite, on the house," he told them with a wink and a broad smile.
"For real?" Faith asked amused as Buffy's smile grew wider.
"Absolutely," the clerk continued to type, changing the room information for the couple.
"Thanks man," Faith told him, "I owe ya one..." she trailed off looking at his name tag, "Larry."
"Oh don't mention it," he waved them off, "and really...don't mention it, I'd probably get fired if the boss knew I was comp'ing the honeymoon suite, the kid from the last shift left himself logged in so this is under his sign-in," Larry finished with a another wink.
Faith laughed as she disentangled herself from Buffy but not before stealing another kiss as she reached down to get their bags. Buffy looked horrified at receiving not so free freebies, the last thing she wanted was landing up in a Las Vegas jail cell when she was supposed to be getting married.
"Oh, I'm kidding," he laughed heartily at the look on the blonde's face, "I'm the shift manager; we're allowed to comp every now and then. It keeps the guest happy and the rooms booked." Buffy looked at the man's tag and when she saw that the small print under his name read 'manager', she allowed herself to smile. Larry handed the programmed key cards to Buffy with a return smile, "I'm on until six a.m. so if you two need anything at all feel free to call the front desk and ask for me."
"Thanks," both girls answered in unison.
Buffy was about to ask Larry about any wedding arrangements the hotel may offer, or if he had any other suggestions but Kennedy finally emerged inside the hotel and struggled to make her way up to the desk. She was weighed down with bags and her red-headed girlfriend's dead-weight. "Thanks for the help guys," she told them in a huff as she dropped the bags in front of her as she finally approached the desk and propped Willow against it with a sigh.
"C'mon Junior, you're all grrr and super strong now," a grinning Faith told her mocking Willow's words from earlier, "That should be a piece of cake." Kennedy watched as Buffy ran a finger along one of Faith's dimpled cheeks.
"Yeah Faith," Kennedy started, still sensing nothing out of the ordinary with the two, she knew that Buffy always seemed enamored whenever Faith put her dimples on display, they were extremely cute and Faith was even more gorgeous when she smiled...even Kennedy could admit that, if only to herself. But the two were always finding ways to touch each other, especially when they thought no one was looking, "But I still only have two hands."
"Well you better use them to hold up ya girl there," Faith's motioned with her head towards Willow and her grin grew wider as she watched her begin to slump down the front of the desk, Kennedy hurriedly grabbed onto her and rolled her eyes. "Rosenberg, checking in...now please," she told Larry.
Willow perked up and grabbed Kennedy's sleeve, "Ooh and make sure we get a room with one of those little mini bars. I'm sure Giles won't look at the bill so he won't know we've taken anything, oh but just in case he does I can glamour it so only the room's billing will show." Kennedy only sighed at her girlfriend's babbled request for more for more alcohol.
"Yo, you can do that?" Faith's eyes lit up, Willow nodded her head enthusiastically. "So I can order all the porn I want and you can make it disappear, yeah?" Willow nodded again and Kennedy laughed and shook her head at her friend.
Buffy however, was not amused. She poked Faith in the side, "You so won't be needing that," she told her as grabbed onto the front of her tank top and led her towards the elevator.
"Yeah?" Faith questioned with a grin as she stumbled slightly from the sudden movement, Buffy shook her head in the negative, "Ya know, Ken brought her camcorder, we could always..."
"Don't even think about it," Buffy interrupted her as she stopped in front of the elevator and turned towards the grinning brunette.
Kennedy and Willow were left at the desk still waiting to be checked in, Larry smiled in amusement at the coupled pair as he typed, "So are you two looking to tie the knot as well?"
Kennedy's eyes widen, "What? No! There won't be any knots tied here, we're just here to have a good time."
Larry snickered as he looked over at the swaying red-head, "Well, it looks like your friend there has already gotten started." Kennedy fixed him with a pointed glare and snatched the key cards from him as she gathered the bags in one hand as best she could and pulled Willow against her with the other and walked towards and entered the waiting elevator.
Willow sighed as she laid her head against Kennedy's shoulder. Kennedy smiled as she looked down and placed a kiss on top of her girlfriends red head and then looked over at the two slayers with keen interest. Then she looked down at the bags that littered the elevator floor and couldn't help the deep sigh that escaped and the overwhelming thoughts that she had to go out and shop for Buffy's new designer luggage...with wheels.
