Staving off a Lonely Heart
'I thought - what with the night being you know - young and all - we could go out. The three of us. For fun,' Angel stuttered. He was trying his hardest to sound like he meant it. Doyle glanced at Cordelia, she smiled at him - and he smiled back - and they took pity on their boss.
'Or - we could go home,' Cordy said, getting to her feet.
'And you can sit in the dark alone,' Doyle said, following her out.
'God yes, Thank you.'
...
Doyle switched the office light out as he walked out of the door - and then trotted a couple of steps to catch up with Cordelia in the hallway. 'Hey - you OK gettin' home by yourself?' he asked her.
'Oh - yeah, like Batman said, it's not really that late. I'll be fine.'
'It's dark though - could be vampires.'
'Are you hoping that I get eaten?' she quirked an eyebrow at him.
'No…' he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. 'I'm - I'm offerin' to walk you home. Make sure you get back safely.'
She looked amused. 'And you're gonna protect me from vampires, are you? No offence, Doyle, but you're not exactly Angel.'
'Well - I was thinkin' maybe they'd be less likely to attack if there were two of us. Safety in numbers. That sort o' thing.'
She shrugged, giving in. 'Fine - I accept. I'm not inviting you in though.'
'The state you keep that place in - I'd turn you down.' He winked at her.
'Tch! Yeah right!' Her voice was annoyed but she was smiling, that giant luminous grin which always seemed to light up her face. They fell in step and walked out into the street, making their way down the sidewalk.
'Y'Know…' Doyle said, they were passing under a street lamp and the light had caught Cordy's hair - making it shine - and suddenly walking her home wasn't quite enough for him. 'Angel's not wrong - the night is young...'
She looked at him, her eyebrow arched, 'what are you saying?' There was definitely an edge to her voice - a warning note, telling him not to try anything. She had a barrier up and he wasn't through it - yet. He would be.
He grinned at her, 'I'm not sayin' much at all - just that it's a long evenin' for you to sit alone in that little apartment, countin' the cockroaches.' She gave him a look, which informed him he was skating on very thin ice. He made his grin more roguish, flashing his dimple at her. 'Look - when I got nothin' to do at home, which includes tonight by the way, I usually head to a bar - not spend my night just starin' at the four walls goin' crazy, y'know?'
'So?' Her tone was still arch.
'So… if I'm headed to a bar... maybe you wanna join me. Just for a drink,' he added quickly, seeing her expression. 'Nothing else - just … two friends, in a bar 'cause they not got anythin' better to do. But, y' know, a bar where there isn't a serial killin', sex switchin', donkey demon tryin' to murder us.'
'In my experience, there's some kind of monster in every bar in the world - and I have an uncanny knack for being kidnapped by them.'
'So is that a no?'
She opened her mouth, and he knew rejection was coming … and then he saw her hesitate. Although he'd kept his tone light and jokey when he had spoken about her apartment, he would be lying if he said it wasn't a seriously depressing place. And she was young - and far from home, and knew very few people here in the big city. Sitting in that horrid apartment, feeling lonely for the whole evening, was not an inviting prospect for her. And though the queen bee she really was was ever ready to smack down a lowlife chancer like him - her new reality, her solitude, and the sadness she was trying to hide made her hesitate. She didn't want to go home any more than he wanted to take her there and leave her - though for very different reasons. And so she was seriously considering his offer. He was getting a chance with her - if only because his company was slightly less offensive than the state of her apartment. He saw all that cross her face - and understood it all.
'Well… I guess one drink can't hurt,' she said.
'Unless we run into a serial killing, sex changing, donkey demon,' he said.
'But what are the chances of that?'
'If we stick to one drink and don't speak to anybody? I think we'll be safe.'
'OK then,' she nodded her head determinedly, her mind made up. 'Where shall we go?'
He grinned broadly, not quite believing this was happening. 'I know one or two places,' he told her.
