That night was hectic, Riley's brothers were tall, handsome, and very
much like Riley himself. Buffy noticed Mr. Finn was very tall, about seven
feet compared to his small wife, Jessie. Hank, Buffy, Dawn, Riley, and
Riley's family sat at the large oval table for dinner, while Willow,
Xander, and Giles sat at a makeshift dinner table, originally a foldable
garage sale table.
"So you're Mr. Summers?" Mr. Finn asked Hank putting out his own hand.
"That's what they call me, but, you can call me Hank." Hank held out his hand joking.
Across the table the two girls got to know each other.
"So you're seventeen?" Lis asked.
"Right." Dawn pointed out.
"Still you look old enough." Lis replied flicking a strand of blonde hair out of her face.
"Old enough for what?"
"Oh, post reception party, planned by my friends, they got this club downtown, Quick Silver reserved, it's awesome, and there are gonna be some hot guys there, very cute, like my friend, Craig." Lis said quietly. "You in?"
"Probably can swing by, I'll get Faith to drive me." Dawn said.
"Who's Faith? Cool name. She our age?"
"Naa, she's like two years older than Buffy."
"And your sis is how old?"
"Oh, twenty three, well, Faith is a mad partier."
"Okay, she can come."
A voice came from the end of the table. "Faith? What about her?" Buffy asked mid-convo with Jessie. Buffy strolled to the end and took Dawn's hand and led her to an empty room.
"What the hell were you doing bringing Faith up to Lis?" Buffy demanded.
"Nothin', we were just talking about your bridesmaids."
"Oh really? Faith is a bridesmaid, but by god, she isn't a friend, you know what she did!"
"Well..."
"You weren't talking about the bridesmaids were you? You were talking about her and him, you should've known better."
"NO! I wasn't, I swear, okay, Lis was just talking about a post reception party her friends were having, and she invited me, I said Faith would probably be able to drive me, damn, get of my case."
"Okay, just nothing supernatural can be brought up here, they're really respectable people and they don't know about, well, The Initiative, me, the slayer, anything."
They heard Riley's voice talking to his family and then him walking to the room door. "Everything all right in there?" Riley asked.
"Come in, Rye." Buffy said. He entered shutting the door behind him.
"Buffy was just chastising me for bringing Faith up." Dawn replied, followed by a hit on the head.
"My parents don't know the monster details, so I'd rather not bring it up." Riley said.
"I just got mad at Dawn, I don't want the F factor to sour the relationship again." Buffy smiled. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
"Buffy, every time I look at you, I check to see it's you looking back, I don't think she can sour it, if she's not in there." He gazed into Buffy's eyes and hugged her.
Dawn left disgusted about that touchy feely moment. "So, who's Faith?" Jessie asked.
"Buffy's opposite twin sister from the middle of nowhere, except she's two years older than Buffy is." Dawn said and Jessie made a soft O with her mouth. Back to the empty room.
"I just feel like I'm in this ocean of emotion, and I'm swimming, and swimming, and I'm lost, so I try to come up for air, but I'm weak, helpless, I just drown. And once I fall to the bottom some hungry little fish eat my insides and skin up, every inch of me, in their teensy little stomachs." Buffy said crying onto Riley's soft blue shirt.
"Honey, darling, sugar, cupcake, relax." Riley said pulling his fingers through her hair.
"Never ever call me cupcake." Buffy looked up at him seriously.
"I won't from here on out."
"We're clear?" Buffy asked, tears streaming down her cheek.
"We're clear." He smiled, picking her up, holding her in his arms, cradling her, like a newborn baby, his baby, his Buffy, his sweet, peculiar, lovely Buffy. He left the room and Xander seeing Buffy limp and teary asked stupidly ", Any action adventure?" He piped up, and then embarrassedly shrunk into his seat.
"More like emotion packed, somebody needs her sleep." Riley raised an eyebrow tenderly and carried her up the stairs. He finally laid her on the bed carefully and gingerly. He covered her with a chenille blanket that had been draped over an easy chair, he left the room. He heard a slight whimper whine and returned to find her silently staring straight at him.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly sitting down putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Can you stay with me awhile?" She asked softly, trying to breathe out the words that brought a frog to his throat.
"Of course." Riley replied. He acted for two hours as a human pillow and sponge, eh absorbed her tears, and she hugged him and kept her forehead to his shoulder. She told him her feelings, she told him her secrets, she told him things he didn't want or need to know. All weakily, of course. They had never just had a simple crying session before, he could even swear he felt hot tears rolling down his own cheeks as well as hers.
"God, I'm such a coward, all this time to think, I've been supposedly fighting pain off, but simply I've just been fighting." Buffy said simply to him, cradled in his arms.
"Buffy, don't say that, you're the bravest soul I've ever known." Riley said seeming appalled.
"After you left, I was angry, full of pain and anger, I took it out on the vamp populace, I even wanted to become a nun, but, I liked fighting so much, I was addicted like a drug, like you were to those vampire whores, not that I still hold it against you, I fought because I wanted to hurt you so much, I wanted to hit you, slap you, but I couldn't, I just couldn't."
"Buffy, when you didn't stop me from leaving, that was a slap in the face, like a giant with super power had slapped me. I was weak, like those sailors found on beaches after a shipwreck, I clung to the nearest woman, and stuck with it, her, Sam, but in my heart I knew NOBODY could be like you, I needed you, hell, I wanted you."
"Really?" Buffy amazed.
"Buffy, you are the love of my life, I've always known it on some level when I first laid eyes on you, I knew something was good, true, special about you. I'm the sailor and you've wrecked my ship. But now, you've excavated it and replenished it back to it's old flame." She knew by his gaze he meant every word of that, and he had meant anything romantic he had ever said to her. It was nice.
"So you're Mr. Summers?" Mr. Finn asked Hank putting out his own hand.
"That's what they call me, but, you can call me Hank." Hank held out his hand joking.
Across the table the two girls got to know each other.
"So you're seventeen?" Lis asked.
"Right." Dawn pointed out.
"Still you look old enough." Lis replied flicking a strand of blonde hair out of her face.
"Old enough for what?"
"Oh, post reception party, planned by my friends, they got this club downtown, Quick Silver reserved, it's awesome, and there are gonna be some hot guys there, very cute, like my friend, Craig." Lis said quietly. "You in?"
"Probably can swing by, I'll get Faith to drive me." Dawn said.
"Who's Faith? Cool name. She our age?"
"Naa, she's like two years older than Buffy."
"And your sis is how old?"
"Oh, twenty three, well, Faith is a mad partier."
"Okay, she can come."
A voice came from the end of the table. "Faith? What about her?" Buffy asked mid-convo with Jessie. Buffy strolled to the end and took Dawn's hand and led her to an empty room.
"What the hell were you doing bringing Faith up to Lis?" Buffy demanded.
"Nothin', we were just talking about your bridesmaids."
"Oh really? Faith is a bridesmaid, but by god, she isn't a friend, you know what she did!"
"Well..."
"You weren't talking about the bridesmaids were you? You were talking about her and him, you should've known better."
"NO! I wasn't, I swear, okay, Lis was just talking about a post reception party her friends were having, and she invited me, I said Faith would probably be able to drive me, damn, get of my case."
"Okay, just nothing supernatural can be brought up here, they're really respectable people and they don't know about, well, The Initiative, me, the slayer, anything."
They heard Riley's voice talking to his family and then him walking to the room door. "Everything all right in there?" Riley asked.
"Come in, Rye." Buffy said. He entered shutting the door behind him.
"Buffy was just chastising me for bringing Faith up." Dawn replied, followed by a hit on the head.
"My parents don't know the monster details, so I'd rather not bring it up." Riley said.
"I just got mad at Dawn, I don't want the F factor to sour the relationship again." Buffy smiled. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
"Buffy, every time I look at you, I check to see it's you looking back, I don't think she can sour it, if she's not in there." He gazed into Buffy's eyes and hugged her.
Dawn left disgusted about that touchy feely moment. "So, who's Faith?" Jessie asked.
"Buffy's opposite twin sister from the middle of nowhere, except she's two years older than Buffy is." Dawn said and Jessie made a soft O with her mouth. Back to the empty room.
"I just feel like I'm in this ocean of emotion, and I'm swimming, and swimming, and I'm lost, so I try to come up for air, but I'm weak, helpless, I just drown. And once I fall to the bottom some hungry little fish eat my insides and skin up, every inch of me, in their teensy little stomachs." Buffy said crying onto Riley's soft blue shirt.
"Honey, darling, sugar, cupcake, relax." Riley said pulling his fingers through her hair.
"Never ever call me cupcake." Buffy looked up at him seriously.
"I won't from here on out."
"We're clear?" Buffy asked, tears streaming down her cheek.
"We're clear." He smiled, picking her up, holding her in his arms, cradling her, like a newborn baby, his baby, his Buffy, his sweet, peculiar, lovely Buffy. He left the room and Xander seeing Buffy limp and teary asked stupidly ", Any action adventure?" He piped up, and then embarrassedly shrunk into his seat.
"More like emotion packed, somebody needs her sleep." Riley raised an eyebrow tenderly and carried her up the stairs. He finally laid her on the bed carefully and gingerly. He covered her with a chenille blanket that had been draped over an easy chair, he left the room. He heard a slight whimper whine and returned to find her silently staring straight at him.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly sitting down putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Can you stay with me awhile?" She asked softly, trying to breathe out the words that brought a frog to his throat.
"Of course." Riley replied. He acted for two hours as a human pillow and sponge, eh absorbed her tears, and she hugged him and kept her forehead to his shoulder. She told him her feelings, she told him her secrets, she told him things he didn't want or need to know. All weakily, of course. They had never just had a simple crying session before, he could even swear he felt hot tears rolling down his own cheeks as well as hers.
"God, I'm such a coward, all this time to think, I've been supposedly fighting pain off, but simply I've just been fighting." Buffy said simply to him, cradled in his arms.
"Buffy, don't say that, you're the bravest soul I've ever known." Riley said seeming appalled.
"After you left, I was angry, full of pain and anger, I took it out on the vamp populace, I even wanted to become a nun, but, I liked fighting so much, I was addicted like a drug, like you were to those vampire whores, not that I still hold it against you, I fought because I wanted to hurt you so much, I wanted to hit you, slap you, but I couldn't, I just couldn't."
"Buffy, when you didn't stop me from leaving, that was a slap in the face, like a giant with super power had slapped me. I was weak, like those sailors found on beaches after a shipwreck, I clung to the nearest woman, and stuck with it, her, Sam, but in my heart I knew NOBODY could be like you, I needed you, hell, I wanted you."
"Really?" Buffy amazed.
"Buffy, you are the love of my life, I've always known it on some level when I first laid eyes on you, I knew something was good, true, special about you. I'm the sailor and you've wrecked my ship. But now, you've excavated it and replenished it back to it's old flame." She knew by his gaze he meant every word of that, and he had meant anything romantic he had ever said to her. It was nice.
