So, this being my first fanfic and all, I'm kinda squeamish about being uber-lemony. I don't even know how good I can even write like that, so here goes nothing. This is what I like to call the experimental chapter. Ahh, enough teasing and more getting into it...Thanks for all the reviews so far. They really encourage me to get the next chapter up sooner for you.
"Owe me what?" I asked as I followed behind him into the kitchen.
I watched as he scanned the kitchen, hands in his pockets. He began to whistle.
The man is totally lost.
"Hey Faye?" he said and turned to face me.
"Yeah?"
"Where's the cereal?" he asked through his trademark smile, melting away any frustration I had from him acting...well, like Spike.
He seems to be pulling that smile out more and more. Like a secret weapon.
"You know, you should really look before you give up. I don't want cereal, anyway." I said and made my way past him to the coffee pot.
"Isn't it kind of late for coffee?" he asked, now leaning against the counter, arms crossed, his head down.
"Never too late." I said and was soon distracted by Ed.
"Ed wants to go a-swimming!" she said a plopped down on the floor.
"Maybe another day, ok?" I said as I grabbed the coffee pot.
"Swimming, huh?" Spike grinned, and as if by magic his head popped back up.
"Spike-person, will you take me swimming?" Ed asked, turning away from me and tugging on Spike's jacket.
"Only if Faye will go." He said, looking at me with the smoothest glance he's thrown at me so far.
"Um, Faye-Faye isn't in the mood to go swimming." I said in Ed language while glaring at Spike for pushing the subject.
"C'mon Faye, it sounds like fun. It might make you feel a little better." He said with a grin that I want to just utterly annihlate.
"A little." I said through clenched teeth. I hate getting dragged into things. Especially by these two mop headed clowns.
It's almost like we're back on the Bebop and all is well.
It's almost like back in high school when my friends would force me to talk to the cute boy. Ok, so I have to admit: I really do enjoy remembering my "past life." And I especially love that it makes my Bebop days seem so scandalous. My life was sadly boring before I came to be known as Faye Valentine...It's so weird to think I was ever the typical teenage girl.
The memory made me smile, and I put the coffee pot down. Spike's staring at me. Ah crap, he must've noticed me dazing off there. I shake my head and return my attention to the bouncing redhead in front of me.
"Oh noes! Spike-person doesn't have a bathing suit!" Ed sad with a frown, as if all her dreams had just crashed down upon her head.
"I'm sure we can stop by a store on the way to this pool, right?" he asked me.
"Sure." I said and went toward my room. "Spike, make she gets ready. We are not staying there all night." I said with a glare at Ed and shut my door.
I got my bikini on and grabbed an oversized button-up shirt to cover up until we got to the pool. My head is still kind of fuzzy from my little episode, but I should be okay to do this.
I still don't want to go. If it'll shut these two up, then my night will be quiet. Hopefully. At least I got the night off of work, but only thanks to my meltdown.
And thanks to Spike.
I walked out to see Ed bouncing around with Ein in tow while Spike stood there, waiting.
"Let's get this over with." I said and led the motley group out of the apartment. We stopped at a store and Spike bought a plain black pair of swimming trunks. How like him to buy the plainest thing in the store. Meh, it suits him.
We walked a few more blocks to the public pool and entered. We were the only ones there. I guess swimming in the early evening isn't too popular around these parts of Mars. It made Ed really happy. She climbed up one of the diving boards and was in the pool before Spike and I had even set our stuff down.
I entered the pool on the opposite end of Ed's diving board antics. Spike escaped to the bathroom to change and Ein sat at the corner of the pool near me to avoid being dragged into the pool by Ed. I moved over from the steps to the corner with Ein and stretched my arms out on the walls to support me so I could let my feet float a little.
All of a sudden, and I really should have seen this coming a mile away, Spike lept over my head with his long legs pinned close to him and jumped into the pool. Considering how damn skinny he is, he sure makes a big splash.
"Agh!" I screamed and flailed around, trying to smack him for getting me wet.
He popped up behind me and wrapped his lanky arms around my waist, overpowering me instantly. "Don't fight it Faye, you know you can't win." He said as I squirmed against his chest. How muscular the annoying man is is the only thing that pops up into my head as I fight him. This is so annoying. I open my mouth before I think about what comes out.
"You just want to touch me, that's all. Don't fight it Spike, you know you can't resist." I said angrily, still fighting to free myself from him.
And with that, I felt his arms move from my waist to the top of my head and push me underwater. I resurfaced and he was laughing at me now. Anger rising...
From the other end of the pool I heard Ed inbetween dives, "Oh no! Spike-person's gonna get it!"
Damn straight he is. I made my way over to the chuckling Spike and punched him in the arm.
"Please don't kill me Faye!" He said, still laughing.
Kill him?
All the anger I had for him suddenly vanished when I came to the realization, yet again, that this was Spike. And he was still alive. I just stared at him for a long minute and got lost in the thought of hurting him.
"Faye?" he said, all laughing ceased now. "Is it happening again? Faye?" he said with a hint of worry in his voice.
I shook my head and came back to reality, "No, I'm ok."
"Good." He said and picked me up, lifted me out of the water, and tossed me a few feet away. If he keeps this up my damn bikini is going to become misplaced, and then I'll be really pissed.
I came to the surface and moved the hair out of my eyes. Just as I was clearing my eyes, the green haired monster came back for more. I don't even have time to react when he does the same thing again.
This time, I try to swim away to see if he'll leave me alone. No such luck. I open my eyes to see a dark green blur in front of me. Why is he tormenting me like this?
Well, it's better than no Spike at all. All the thoughts in my head stop, except for the one scary thought: Spike's not dead. He should be dead, but he's not. What the hell are you gonna do about it now, Faye?
Is it possible to cry underwater? I don't know, but I do know that the thought of no Spike brought on a wave of emotion that was bigger than any of the waves Ed was creating at the other end of the pool.
I feel so damn scared right now. Just the thought of him leaving again—dying again—breaks me down. And it breaks me down fast. I stop listening to reason and go with my gut. I should've listened to it from the minute I found out that he was alive.
Shit, I should've listened to my gut when he was about to leave. It wouldn't have done me any good, but I could've tried a little harder.
I reach out to him and grab onto his side, and once I have a good grip on it, I grab the other side. He might be skinny, but he is definitely muscular. I don't have much time left before I need air, so I pull him down to me and go for it. I meet his mis-matched eyes and look at them for a few seconds. He met my stare, but didn't move.
Everything is so quiet underwater.
I closed my eyes and kissed him. It isn't as sexy as it sounds. You can't really feel much passion when you kiss someone underwater...it's too slippery. But I wasn't thinking about that when I did it.
I don't even know if my feelings at the moment are mutual. I don't care at this point. The feelings that washed over me when I imagined him gone again were just so powerful.
Before I knew it, we had surfaced. I know I didn't do it, so it must've been Spike. I open my eyes and wipe the water from them so I could see better. Spike's still in front of me, looking down at me. No facial expression whatsoever. Not even that sexy-annoying smile.
And now I feel completely retarded. It's like when I tried to keep him from leaving the Bebop all over again. I blink hard and look away from him. Time to come up with a distraction from my red face.
"Ed! Time to get out! You don't want to turn into a prune!" I shouted to the hyper redhaired girl doing acrobatics at the other end of the pool. Spike was already heading out of the pool.
Great. I really did it this time. At least he could've cracked a joke or been mean...that would be better than this silence. I feel so damn stupid.
By the time we got Ed out of the pool and made it back home, it was night. The walk back was eerily quiet, except for Ed.
I got Ed in bed and made my way to my room to shower before I went to bed. I passed through the living room and saw Spike already passed out on the couch. Just wonderful.
I walk in my room and quietly close the door. A memory started to make its way into my thoughts as I leaned up against the closed door.
"H-Hello?" I stammered.
"Faye?" a quiet boy said over the receiver.
"What do you want?" I said, still sniffling.
"Just thought I'd apologize..." he started to say when I cut him off.
"No! No need for you to be sorry! I'm the only one who should be apologizing!" I shouted.
"...For what, Faye?"
"For ever meeting you! You're the most horrible guy I've ever met!"
"What?!" he pleaded.
"Because you hurt me just like all the others! No, you hurt me physically...so I guess that it's better to say that you hurt me the most!" I cried out, now collapsing to the ground on my knees.
I gasped and recollected my thoughts, "I don't want to hear from you again! Just leave me alone!" I screamed and hung up the phone with a heavy slam. I felt the hot tears come back again and watched as they fell from my cheek onto the floor. I put a cool hand up against my face, which was still hot from earlier.
Open yourself up, and you open yourself up to total destruction of the heart. Something the Old Faye hadn't learned yet. A vital lesson that I figured out very quickly after waking up in this life.
I touched my face gingerly as if it still stung from all those years ago.
I thought I'd learned that lesson. I guess not, after this evening's events.
I just want to forget it. Nothing I can do about it now.
Mmm...hot shower...that sounds so good right now. I head to the bathroom and start the shower and peel the wet bikini off. I step into the shower and let the hot water run all over my head. The hot water divides my hair into dripping strands. Steam escapes over the top of the shower, I slowly close my eyes and lean against the back wall of the shower.
Kissing Spike runs through my head a thousand times and then I open I my eyes to try and clear it from my thoughts.
No such luck: Spike is standing in front me now. Shit, he's sneaky. I didn't even hear him get in the shower.
"What are you..." I start to say when he placed the tips of his fingers on my mouth, instantly silencing me.
"Shhh...don't want to wake up Ed." He said and leaned his face down to mine. "Sorry." He whispered and brushed his lips against mine. He closed his eyes and exhaled. His breath smelled like wet cigarettes; I guess the humidity from the shower makes everything smell wet.
Now usually, I would have had a fit already. Just knowing that he wants in the bathroom to cut into my shower time would've sent me over the edge into childishness on the Bebop, but I'm not in the mood for that. And this isn't the Bebop.
Not now. Never again.
He stares into my eyes. At least this time I can respond to him. I lift my hand to his lowered face and move a mop of wet locks out of his eyes. He suddenly wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in close. Really close. I can feel all the muscles of his stomach and chest against me.
The shower drowns out the sound of anything. All I can hear is the hissing of the shower and my heartbeat ringing in my ears. Is this really happening? It must be a dream...this would never happen to me.
"No more dreams." He whispered and leaned back down to my face. A cold chill ran down my spine when he spoke, and then he held my face with his hands and kissed me with such emotion that I felt like I could die from it all. So much passion, feeling, and emotion wrapped up in his lips. And so much warmth.
I almost feel like I'm in a soap opera, with how dramatic it all is.
I broke away from his lips and stared at him. His expression screams at me for breaking the kiss. His eyes search mine for an explanation. He's so exposed right now. He must know...he always knows.
I don't want to question it. I don't want to be a typical woman and ruin this perfect moment. For right now, I don't care why he's doing this. I just want to give in and relish in the fact that he's alive and in my shower with me. There's time for talking later.
I give in to my thoughts and lunge up at his lips. They're so warm and soft, and his body...is just perfect. He kisses me back with the same intensity I gave him. It became a tug and war between us. I pushed against him, and he pushed harder back against me. I slide my arms up and around his neck and I feel his arms slip around my waist. The water makes everything so slippery.
More steam rolls over the top of the shower from our combined body heat. Then the shower head blasts us with icy cold water.
"Agh!" he moans into my mouth and breaks away from me for shelter from the shower.
I reach over to the knobs and turn it off. So there we are, cold and hot at the same time, standing naked in my freaking shower.
Spike looks over at me from his new niche in the shower and smiles. The sexy smile. It's not annoying right now; it's everything I want. He must have read that from my face because then he lifts me up like I'm a feather and carries me into my room to the bed. There, he gently places me on it and stands in front of me for a minute.
I'm so cold sitting here, being stared at. I look up at him and play on with the staring thing. His hair is dripping all over his body, leaving little trails of water everywhere. I follow a droplet with my eyes from his shoulder all the way to his belly button, where it disappears into his belly button abyss. I reach out and stop a second droplet from following suit, when I feel him shudder from my light touch.
I want to know what he's thinking. He's just staring down at me. It's kind of scary not knowing what he's thinking right now. He grabs my wrist of the hand that's touching his stomach, as if to say "Don't do that."
The staring contest continues and he drops my wrist. He proceeds to crawl over me, laying me down at the same time, and looks down into my face. He pins my wrists on the sides of my head and slides his hands to mine, intertwining his fingers with mine. His face is soft and his eyes look so huge. Like pools of warm cinnamon. Well, like one pool of cinnamon and one of chocolate. Kind of makes me hungry.
I lick my lips at the thought of chocolate, which makes Spike smile.
He leans down a little more and kisses me again. After which, he looks back at me, as if he's asking for permission.
I shake my thoughts of food away and return to him. Time to break up the stare fest. I pull him down on top of me and slide out from under him, rolling him on his back and positioning myself over him. He grunted a little, but I think my take-over went well with him.
"Faye?" he whispered throatily.
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to leave." He practically moaned out.
"I can tell." I said with a smirk, looking down at him, visibly excited now.
He cupped my cheek in the palm of his hand again and leaned up toward me, propping himself up on his elbow. "No. I really don't want to leave." He breathed out in a half-whisper.
So, wait. He does like me after all? This isn't some pity thing?
"I don't want you to leave, either. Ever again." I said quietly and collapsed into his warm chest. His arms wrapped around my body and he held me. Then he rolled me back over and kissed me again.
"Fine. I'll stay. Forever." He whispered into my ear, each word said so delicately, and then kissed my neck. The details aren't even important right now. Just hearing him say that was enough for me to sign away my soul to the devil if it meant staying like this with him. I can't hear anything else but the blood rushing in my ears as I feel him kiss me more. He starts to move all over. Kissing my neck, my shoulder, my collarbone, my arm, and everywhere I don't give a second thought to normally. Each little kiss was like a shot, a shot filled with passion. I could feel it touch my skin and soak into me. When one started to fade, it was replaced with five more.
As he kissed me more, my thoughts started to wander. I tried to bring myself back to him, but I felt the damn fuzz start to spread at the base of my skull. Not now...please go away...just let me have this...
"Spike," I breathed out in a panic to the man who was taking in every last inch of my body with his lips at the moment. He stopped and looked up at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked, breathing heavily.
"I'm...fading again...I'm so...so sorry..." I panted.
"No...Hold on Faye, please don't..." he said in a half moan-half whisper and sat me up.
"I can't stop it..." I whispered. "I'm sorry...please don't...go away..."
"I'll never leave." He said as he held me up by my shoulders. That was the last thing I heard because then everything went black again.
A new memory flooded into my head this time. It came to me slowly.
"You're so nice to me..." I said to him softly.
"Because you're a nice girl." He said and smiled back at me. "And nice, pretty girls like you deserve only the best."
We continued to walk up the hill toward the sunset. He was different from the other guys who I usually was seen with.
"Here's my car. I'll take you home." He said, opening the passenger door for me. A moment later he was in the car, and we were heading down the street to my house.
It was starting to get dark now. He flicked on his lights. Oops, he turned down the wrong street...
"You made the wrong turn, Matt." I said to him, looking back at the road we should have stayed on. He didn't say anything, but turned up his radio. I don't like where this is going.
He pulls off into a deserted lot. I can feel an icy javelin plunge into my stomach accompanying the thoughts of where this heading. Damnit...this is pissing me off. No reason to be afraid, no, not anymore. I'm taking care of this right here and now.
He locks the doors with the flick of a finger and turns off his car. He doesn't even talk, just stares at me with stupid eyes. They're filled with the ugliest look of desperation and lust. I hate his eyes. I want to tear them out and burn them. Just seeing him stare at me like that sends me over the edge. I'm sick of this happening. I snapped.
His breathing becomes more labored, and he wets his lips, still staring at me. "C'mere." He drooled out.
"How about you let me out and we call it even?" I said, my anger heating up my face. I felt heat run through all of my body. It felt like it was coursing through my bloodstream. I can't see anything but his stupid eyes and the color of crimson red.
His hands came out of nowhere and wrapped around my throat. My anger subsided momentarily, because now I'm just in shock. Ok, so plenty of guys have tried to make a move on me like this, but none have resorted to this. Now I'm scared.
"You can't leave. I have to have you first...then you can leave." He said like a neanderthal. My hands claw at his hands, firmly wrapped around my throat. I gasp for air and beat on his face with any strength I can gather. His grip loosens and I stare at him, gasping for air. I can't speak just yet, all I can do is stare at him. He sits there and starts to unzip his pants. I reach for the lock, but I can't unlock it. He must have that damn childproof shit on it.
"I told you, you're not going anywhere, Faye." He hissed and slapped me.
I've caught my breath, but now I have to deal with the slap across the face. I'm not shocked anymore, but the anger is back.
"You asshole!" I screamed and planted my tiny fist on his nose. He stopped fidgeting in his pants and grabbed his face. While he was distracted with that, I grabbed a heavy duty flashlight off of his backseat. I smacked him upside the head with it, knocking him unconcious, and then leaned over and unlocked the doors.
I tore out of his car and ran down the street, crying vehemently. It started to rain out of nowhere. Great, so now I'm running home in the dark, and it's raining now. I see a payphone and run to it for shelter. I dig in my wallet for change and call one of my friends. I can stay with her tonight and go home tomorrow morning. I'm not in the mood to be at home right now. After I call her, I make a call home and tell my mom that I'll be out that night.
I leave the booth and walk to my friend's house in the rain.
My eyes open, and I have to blink for a minute to adjust my eyes. I'm in my bed, under all my sheets and wait...yes, I'm wearing Spike's yellow shirt, I figure as I pull my arm up from under the sheets. But where's Spike?
I sit myself up slowly and look around for him. He's not in this room, that's for sure. I glance over to the window and see that it's cracked open partially. I can smell cigarette smoke drifting in my room from the patio, and I know that he's outside. I roll out of my bed slowly and make my way to the window, sliding it open more to let me out.
"Faye, you should go back in and lay down. I made some calls while you were out." He said, staring off into the distance.
"What? Who...?" I stuttered.
"Doctors, you know, people that can help." He said, putting out his cigarette. He turned to me, still standing in the window.
"But it's nothing...I mean, it's just my memories coming back still. That's all." I pleaded with him.
"That may be, but it's more than just your memories, Faye." He said.
"What the hell do you know that you're not telling me?!" I shouted.
"Just go lay back down. You need your rest."
"Not until you tell me what it is, Spike!" I said, tears welling up in my eyes. Just thinking that something might be seriously wrong with me isn't comforting in the least.
Especially not after last night. Wait, what time is it? Can I even call it last night anymore??
"Listen, Faye. I'm going to make everything better, just go lay down." He said with a serious tone I'd never heard from him before. It reverberated in my head and I nodded at him.
I walked back into my room and crawled back into bed. I don't know how long I layed there before I got sleepy again, but as my head was packing up shop, I felt a warm presence next to me and it breathed into my ear, "If you want to finish what we started, you'll have to trust me." And with that, I felt a smile creep across my face and I fell to sleep.