The bed was warm and soft as Cordelia stirred into consciousness. The memories of the previous night's events flooded back to her memory and she laid there while revelling in the blissful state of not quite asleep but not quite awake for a moment. Yesterday had been a rather lazy day… though on the contrary their 'activities' hadn't been lacking energy, yet they had hardly moved from Misty's bed for the entire time.
The older woman rolled over, further into the Cajun's embrace. The curly blonde was laid on her back, and one arm around Cordelia's shoulders as the shorter of the two snuggled into her side with their fingers locked softly in between them both. It was Misty who always had the other tight and protectively in her arms, and Miss Goode was not one to object, she enjoyed feeling this safe, this secure, for she hadn't felt that way in God knew how long… she had never slept at ease under the strict authority of her mother, and when she could sleep around her husband, it was most likely exhaustion from silent tears. She had never felt safe… until she had Misty.
The woman glanced up to the Cajun with wide dark eyes, a slight smile tingling upon her semi-parted lips, gazing as if Misty was the most precious being in the whole world, and to Cordelia, she was.
Reaching out to affectionately stroke her long fingers through curly, golden locks, she couldn't help but bite her lower lip softly, feeling her heart accelerate wildly, boy was she in love.
With a wistful smile to herself, Cordelia reluctantly climbed out of the bed, making sure the covers were pulled back into place so that her sweet Cajun Queen didn't get cold. Wriggling her way into a pair of shorts and throwing on one of Misty's flower print blouses, Cordelia cast her gaze back in the direction of her sleeping girlfriend, a smile etched into her features and wandered into the girl's kitchen.
It was barely twenty minutes later when the wild blonde awoke to an empty bed. Cordelia's disappearance was the very first thing that had clicked when Misty had reached over to hopefully cuddle into the back of her lover and press sweet kisses to the back of her neck, a plan that became futile when all her seeking hand found was the cooling bed-sheets.
But then she became aware of the mouth-watering smell in her apartment, and her stomach growled to remind her that she was actually hungry. Wrestling into tracksuit, the Cajun hastily crossed the room, still pulling her clothes on, and tripped on the corner of the carpet on her stumble out.
"Misty, is everything okay?" Cordelia asked in sudden concern hearing a thud that she had gotten used to as her girlfriend's tripping and she was all the more worried when she didn't receive an immediate response. "Misty, sweetheart?" she called, tempted to turn off the stove and make sure she was alright.
"M'okay, I dropped my pants," The wild blonde called from her room, causing the older blonde to smile as she shook her head softly, her girlfriend was adorable… she was clumsy, but adorable.
"That sounded heavier than just your pants!" she responded, still in the process of making breakfast, but she simply couldn't help but feel lucky, that the young girl was all hers.
"I was in them," came her half-enthused reply, making her laugh again.
"Wait you're actually wearing pants?
"Shut up!" After flinging on her matching jacket, the Cajun skidded into her kitchen, catching Cordelia in her arms and fulfilling the task that she had wanted to do when she had woken up. "Morning' Dee, somethin' smells good," Misty acknowledged, resting her chin on the older woman's shoulder.
"Good morning, baby… I'm making breakfast," Cordelia giggled, biting her bottom lip to suppress the enormous smile that was growing on her lips, glancing down momentarily before canting her head as much as she could to get a look at her girlfriend. "No fluffy socks this morning?"
"I can see that, Miss Cordelia and that's very funny, hilarious, ya know ya love my socks," Misty chuckled nuzzling now into the woman's straight, golden tresses, before finally adding, "… Isn't that my blouse?"
Cordelia arched a brow, her gaze unwavering from the frying pan now, and her tone teasingly serious, "You do want breakfast, don't you?"
"Your blouse, your blouse" The Cajun was quick to answer with a big grin, before pulling apart from the woman and setting the table for two, ready for breakfast. "Luke an' the others are comin' over late this afternoon, I rescheduled band practice earlier though so we ain't keeping anyone awake," Misty told her casually, stealing a kiss from the older woman when she turned around.
Cordelia entered the girl's arms kissing her again, standing on her toes for better height, "That sounds like fun, sweetheart, breakfast's ready… and thanks for the shirt…Forget-me-nots are my favourite"
Zoe scanned her phone for the eight-hundredth time. She wasn't a love police or lesbian FBI like Madison was, but she was always willing to contribute if it meant seeing her best friend as happy as she was with her next-door neighbour. The brunette sat in the very middle of Cordelia's couch, her hands wrapped around a bottle of Fanta when she wasn't checking her texts every other second.
"Who are you talking to?" Cordelia inquired curiously as she sat down in the chair near her best friend with a cup of coffee warming her own hands.
"Why aren't you spending this time with you Lafayette love?" Zoe asked abruptly completely oblivious (or ignorant) of the older womans question, demanding her own answers. The brunette had that crazy smile again, like she did when she had ordered Cordelia to go out and buy flowers.
"It's Wednesday, she's in a band remember?" Cordelia rolled her eyes playfully, despite how much she would have adored to be spending this time with her lover, she enjoyed listening to the music that she heard through the walls. Zoe glanced down when her phone alerted her that Madison Montgomery had (Finally) text her back, as if right on cue.
"Nonsense, Maddison said we can both go over," the brunette looked up at the other woman, her smile growing wider as she jumped to her feet, the Fanta fizzing slightly from the sudden haste.
The older woman seemed half confused half shocked, still seated in the chair. "Since when were you in collaboration with my girlfriends best friend?" Since the two undercover matchmakers had gotten together, Zoe had been even more keen in her relationship than ever before, and Cordelia hadn't even know that it had been possible.
"What does it matter? Why aren't you over there now, shoving your tongue down her throat?" Okay, Zoe had definitely been spending too much time around little miss Crude Montgomery.
"Why are you pestering me? I have everything you asked from last week: age, sexual orientation and phone number," The blonde pursed her lips, liking the excess taste of coffee from her lips as she stared up at her best friend who was just glancing at her with arched brows.
"Cordelia…" her tone was reprimanding as if she was telling the woman off for leaving a fork in the sink, or mixing the light laundry with the dark.
"I'm not asking her for her zodiac sign, Zoe!"
Five minutes later there was a round of repetitive knocking on the Cajuns door and it was Madison that let Zoe and Cordelia into Misty's apartment. It looked more like a party than a band get together. Red plastic cups had been towered into a pyramid, and several bottles lined the counter, mostly fizzy, the alcohol the Hollywood wannabe had provided. There were pillows and cushions almost everywhere and there were snacks going around, several pizza boxes were stacked in one place, crisps filled the bowls and even a load of popcorn had been poured into a saucepan (simply due to the fact all her bowls were either dirty or being used).
"Mist hun, you're gonna have to take role of lead singer today... Maddi is losing her voice," Kaylee announced with a piercing smirk as she glanced over at the Cajun after finishing her warm up on the keyboard. In a state of incredulity, Misty arched a brow towards the diva, not believing the girl, she wasn't that good an actress.
Cordelia sat on one end of the couch next to Zoe who looked mightily pleased with herself, as if getting the older woman into Misty's apartment was a particular achievement. The brunette watched the scene with an honest smile, opening a can of Coke and hoarding the bowl of cheesepuffs before casting a quick glance to her best friend, following her dark gaze… whoever could have guessed that she was staring transfixed at Misty Day.
"You are so lovesick Cordelia Goode," Zoe chided with a girlish giggle, finally getting the blonde's attention whilst Madison was in the middle of proving that her voice was breaking. Cordelia let a graceful smile pull on her lips, before daring to nod.
"Extremely so… I might need a doctor," The two shared a soft chuckle after Zoe had appointed the woman to 'Doctor Day'.
"Fine, alright!" Misty relented gruffly, rather suspicious that she was suddenly lead singer due to Cordelia's presence. "Which song?" The blue-eyed beauty sighed tragically, slipping her guitar onto her shoulder and digging inside her jean pocket for a pick as she took her new position where her drama queen of a best friend usually stood.
"The one that you wrote last week, Jesus Christ!" Madison prompted, forgetting that she was supposed to be losing her voice, following the statement with an annoyingly forced cough. That earned a scornful glare from the Cajun who was right ready to protest before both Luke and Kaylee pitched in their unwanted agreements.
"No way, it's not even finished!" Misty exclaimed with a prolonged whine, trust her friends to put her in that position. She had written a song with Cordelia in mind, and the result had been some love song that she had never ever planned to perform, not in front of the woman herself at least. Oh she was on the verge of kicking Madison's ass for this set-up. Luke thwarted her attempts at getting out of it and shook his head smugly as if he too had been in on the plan.
"Come on, Mist, you have the target audience and everything," he laughed nodding towards Cordelia who finally seemed to catch on and smirked at her girlfriend who turned to her with pleading eyes, begging for her help. And help was the last thing that the older woman was about to do, subjecting the wild blond to her bands torment.
"I want to hear the one you wrote last week babe," Cordelia prompted unhelpfully and the Cajun could only roll her eyes, swearing and cursing under her breath.
"Ya the wors', Delia, I mean it," Misty grumbled, but she had already accepted her fate, fiddling stubbornly with the clamp on the neck of her guitar.
"This one'ss called 'Pretty Lady' Written by our own Misty Day! Written for… well, three guesses who," Luke snickered teasingly whilst Zoe quietly fangirled, making the Cajun pout, but she didn't have long to dwell on her unfair predicament as Luke opened with a two bar drumbeat and the intro began. Misty took one last second to feel sorry for herself before her eyes caught Cordelia's and suddenly… everything was okay. This was for her, this was always for her.
"Hey pretty lady with the brown eyes,
can you see yourself the same way that I do?
Hey pretty lady it's no disguise,
you are beautiful, and I know that it's true.
You're the only face that I can see in this crowd.
Your smile's the only smile I care to see.
Come on pretty lady, let me say it out loud,
you're the only one that means that much to me.
So hey pretty lady with the brown eyes,
Will you look my way so I can see your face?
Let me see the radiance like that of the moonlit skies.
You're the beauty in this warzone of a place.
So come on won't you love me under a new sun rise?
Yes, you pretty lady with the brown eyes,"
Through the whole thing, Cordelia couldn't take her eyes off her girlfriend's, the breath had caught in the back of her throat, as if her love for the girl was choking her because it was so thick and so heavy. She was mildly aware of Zoe silently fidgeting beside her, as if she was about to parade around with paper cut out hearts and love badges, waving pink flags that had been painted I Heart CG&MD and start a fan club.
But Cordelia was speechless, her heart was melting yet racing and flying and… God she didn't even know!
The woman stood from the couch, oblivious to the thick silence that surrounded them, (Zoe had even paused crunching on a cheesepuff), and Cordelia slid her hands up softly caressing Misty's cheeks with pure adoration, dark eyes locking on sky-blue. And she kissed her, right there, with such intensity and passion that the Cajun's eyes fluttered closed and her hands rest softly on the womans hips.
Even Madison was too impressed to ruin the moment with some snarky comment. Her girl had done good, and she was… dare she admit, proud?
The two broke apart, only a centimetre, and Cordelia brushed her lips softly against the girl's chin. "Damn, I love you Misty Day," The curly blonde wiped away a tear before she smiled brightly at the older woman.
"I love ya too, Miss Cordelia… ta the damn moon an' back," that was all it took to set Zoe off in a squealing triumph and even Luke cheered, the remaining three people of the band, (including Madison who had made a miraculous recovery), played one of their usual whilst Misty kissed Cordelia for all she was worth.
It was cold outside now. Even though he was sheltered in his car, his breath escaped in pale pearly clouds of vapour with every shallow, shaky exhale. His firm hands wring together in a vain attempt to squeeze some feeling back into his numb fingers as he sat in the drivers seat, the ignition switched off and waiting. Just waiting.
The rain was hammering off the windshield like pounding golf balls, almost deafening the likes of anyone sitting in a silent car. But still the weather was relentless, like the whole atmosphere was crying over the situation, and still his eyes remained focused on the entrance, watching as three people finally left; hauling equipment into the van and one of the girls holding her coat above her head, preventing her hair from getting wet.
Once the white van had driven off, then he finally got out of the car, standing there a moment and taking in what was happening. The rain made his dark hair heavier and droplets of water dribbled from his fringe, trickling down his forehead, down his face and he didn't even seem to care.
It had gotten dark outside, a fleece of grey wool coating the sky thanks to the angry storm clouds that roamed along in herds. His hands resided in his pockets as he stood stationary for a while longer in the shadows before walking across the parking lot, and into the reception.
He had dark circles around his eyes and a determined tightness around his jaw as he headed straight for the stairs like he had a purpose.
"Yo, I haven't seen your face around here, hey, you can't just walk through here!" Queenie yelled abruptly, calling the stranger back to the desk, where he stood impatiently, the rain still dripping from his coat. "Business, pleasure, or drunk and think this is some shit stall selling chicken wings?" The woman asked distastefully, as she took a bite from a sandwich.
"I'm here to see my wife" he spoke finally, tapping his fingers on the desk with a short sigh.
"Name?"
"Hank. Hank Foxx"
