The doctors said she'd made the most amazing recovery that they'd ever seen. Angel thought Cordelia was more right. Someone a little higher up on the food chain just really liked her. Doyle had been walking around in a trance since she'd kissed him, not quite sure what to think. At first glance, the kiss had been to return the visions. But then again, she'd been unconscious for three weeks. How did she know that she'd even received the visions? Let alone how she'd gotten them and how to return them?
That led to the conclusion that she had meant to kiss him. Which was the conclusion that put Doyle in his trance. He'd been head over heels from the second he'd laid eyes on her. Declared her a 'real stiffener', and asked Angel to put in a good word, which he hadn't done. Turned out he hadn't needed to put in a good word if the show in the hospital room was any indication of how she felt for him.
Her doctor had said that Cordelia would have to remain in the hospital for another week or so. She'd blatantly refused. Was in the process of proving herself fit enough to check out right at that very moment. Seemed to be doing a rather good job as well. Angel hovered anxiously, making sure that she didn't do anything too strenuous, or hurt herself. Despite the fact that she was healing nicely, and didn't seem to be experiencing any neurological effects from the coma, he was still a little wary to let her do anything on her own.
"You'll stay with me until you're better." Angel told Cordelia as he pushed her out of the hospital into the dark night.
"Like hell I will." Cordelia retorted. "I'll stay at my apartment. Dennis'll take care of me."
"Dennis is a ghost. Good as he may be for some things, he can't call 911 if you fall and hurt yourself, or if something happens."
"I am not staying in that broody place that you call an apartment. End of story. There isn't any light, not one single mirror, and besides, I'm fine."
"You aren't staying by yourself."
"Last time I checked, I was an adult and I didn't need your permission to do anything. I'm staying at my apartment."
"Fine. But one of us is staying with you."
"Right. Like you're going to abandon your brooding to stay with me and help me paint my toenails or something. You like the dark too much, Angel. You wouldn't last ten minutes in my apartments. Too many windows not enough curtains."
"All right, if you won't let me stay, then Doyle will stay."
Doyle's head snapped up at the sound of his name. "I will?"
"Yes, you will. I'll drop you at your apartment and you can pack a bag."
"But what if Dennis doesn't like him?"
"I'll exorcise Dennis." Angel said firmly, letting her know it wasn't open for debate. She'd pushed him as far as she was going to get him to go.
"Fine, but he sleeps on the couch."
"Last time I checked you a had spare bedroom, Princess." Doyle said, opening the car door for her. She shot him a glare.
"Whatever. Let's just go. I'm exhausted, and I want my own bed."
Angel shook his head. He'd probably be lucky if they didn't kill one another before the next morning. He knew she'd talk him in to letting her go to work, and they'd fight the entire way there and they'd fight that night about who did what and which show they watched on television. They always fought over everything with neither willing to compromise. Doyle normally lost. Mainly because he always gave up.
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Angel dropped Cordelia and Doyle off at eight that night. He didn't bother to go in. The sooner he let them fight, the sooner there would be peace, because hopefully, they'd discovered a new way to end the battle. Angel was hoping the kiss wasn't a one-time thing and that Doyle would figure out that the best way to shut Cordelia up was to kiss her.
Doyle opened the door for her, and, despite her objections, took her arm and helped her to the elevator. She was still weak, and he wasn't too confident in her balance. She didn't quite shoot daggers at him, but it was close. After the whole thing with both of them nearly dying, she seemed to be willing to tolerate him more.
"Are ya doin' all right, darlin'?" Doyle asked, taking the keys to her apartment when she offered them to him.
"I'm tired." Cordelia admitted. "And I want the longest bubble bath in recorded history, but other than that, I'm fine."
Doyle placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her down the hall. "Well, there's nothin' you have to do tonight but relax and rest. So, let's see what we can do about that bath, shall we?"
"I knew there was a reason that I tolerate you." Cordelia said, suddenly plastering on a fake smile, and cinching her arm around his waist. "Not a word. Notorious man stealer straight ahead."
The woman coming down the hall was tall and curvy, more striking than even Cordelia, but not nearly as beautiful. She smiled brightly when she saw Cordelia, but Doyle could see her do a mental inventory of how tired and sick Cordelia looked.
"Well, Cordelia Chase. Where have you been and why have you been there?"
"I've been in the hospital." Cordelia said noncommittally, edging past the woman. "I'll see you later Darlene."
"Who's your friend?"
"Darlene, Allan Doyle. Doyle, Darlene Carpenter."
"It's a pleasure." Doyle said, following Cordelia. He'd noticed her grip on him tightening and wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't feeling well or because she just didn't like her neighbor.
Once they were in her apartment, Cordelia headed straight for the couch, and Doyle could feel Dennis trailing along worriedly. "I'm all right Dennis." She said tiredly, sinking onto the sofa. "Turn on the light, would ya?"
Doyle wasn't sure if she was talking to him or the ghost. The question was answered when the lights came on and the stereo switched on to her favorite station. She smiled a little, and there was a breeze in the apartment for a minute.
"Doyle, could you go into the kitchen and get us a couple sodas?"
"Sure thing, darlin'. Are you hungry?"
"I'm not cooking." She said, "And you don't cook."
"I'll call for pizza."
"Pepperoni and pineapple."
Doyle handed her a coke. "My favorite."
"Really? Or are you lying to me?"
"Really. But it'll probably be an hour or so before it gets here. Do you want to go get in the tub while we wait on it?"
Cordelia sighed. "That requires movement."
The next thing Cordelia knew, she was swept into Doyle's arms and he was carrying her toward her bathroom. "There. You get your bath, and you don't have to move." He said, setting her down on her feet. 'Do you want me to get you pajamas?"
"Third drawer, dresser by the window. The flannel gray ones." Cordelia murmured, turning on the water. She could easily get used to the getting taken care of thing. By the time he returned, she was neck deep in bubbles. "You can come in." Cordelia called, when she saw him pass by the door. Doyle slowly walked in and laid her clothes on the counter.
"I'm gonna go order the pizza. Do you need anything?"
"Come keep me company when you do that."
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Doyle returned in five minutes. "They're booked up. It'll be about an hour and forty five minutes or so."
"That's LA on a Friday night for ya." Cordelia said from the bathtub. She was rather enjoying massive amounts of hot water and lots of fragrant bubbles. "That's all right. I don't think we'll starve. Sit down. There's a chair there for a reason." She said, gesturing to the vanity chair. Reluctantly, he sat. "Thanks for doing this Doyle. You didn't have to, and I appreciate it. I love Angel to death, but he gets a little intense really quick. I don't think I could've taken the hovering."
Doyle shrugged. "No problem, Princess. We almost lost you. I'm not in any hurry to let you outta my sight, truth be told."
Cordelia bent one knee, braced her foot on the side of the tub, exposing one leg to his view. "I'm just glad I was able to stop you from being all self- sacrificing. We kinda need you around here, buddy."
"I'm good for visions, and disappointing people, darlin'. You pulled Angel back from the edge of a very dark place. You saved his life. Saved my life. We need you more than anyone will ever need me."
"I don't think that's all your good for. Nearly dyin' makes a girl grow up a little bit. After that, I realize what exactly you do around here. How much you've helped. You make me laugh. I don't think I've laughed since Xander."
"Xander?"
"Sunnydale boyfriend. He was a Scooby, and we had a make out in the closet and deny it ever happened relationship for a while before we came out of the closet so to speak. Then Spike kidnapped him and Willow, Buffy's best friend. Oz, a werewolf, you remember Oz, and I went looking for them, and he could smell them. I fell through a ceiling or the floor or something and impaled myself on an iron bar. Just in time to see Willow and Xander making out on some slab of rock."
Doyle was floored. "Someone cheated on you?"
"Yeah. Go figure. And after all I did for him. I gave up everything. All my old friends, popularity, all of it. I started slaying vampires for God sakes. And when he was going to turn into a fish demon, I was still willing to stay with him. Even let him see other fish. I was even going to take him little bath toys. And where did it get me? Nearly dead and heartbroken."
The rant left Cordelia exhausted. She sank back into the bath, and turned her face away from him so she could compose herself. When she finally had herself back under control, she turned back to him, fake smile firmly in place. Doyle didn't buy it for one second, and she knew it.
"Sorry about that. It's the past and I'm totally over it."
Doyle looked at her carefully for a minute, scrutinizing her face. "Whatever you say."
Cordelia sighed. "I think I'll get out now." She said softly, reaching for a towel. Before Doyle could rise and turn his back, she'd stood up and wrapped herself in the towel. She pulled the plug and stepped out of the tub. "I meant to do it, y'know." She told him, pulling him to his feet.
"What?"
"Kiss you. At the hospital. I meant to do it. And not just to give back the visions. I was so afraid I was going to lose you. I never realized how much you mean to me."
Gently, so as to not hurt her, Doyle buried his hands in her long hair. "Tell me not to." He said hoarsely, and she swallowed hard.
"Tell you not to do what?"
"Kiss you."
"I can't. I want you to."
So he did. He crushed her small body to his larger one, laved her mouth with his tongue. Felt her melt in his arms. She wrapped her arms around him, held him just as tightly, tangling her tongue with his. He angled her head back, giving him better access to her mouth, she ran her hands through his curly hair, fingers splayed on the back of his skull.
Doyle bent, lifted her in his arms once again. She burrowed into his embrace as he carried her toward the couch. What he really wanted to do was carry her off to bed and make love to her all night long, but she was in no physical condition for that, nor was he even sure she'd be open to the idea. So he'd settle to kissing her senseless. Which he did.
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Cordelia woke up the next morning in bed with Doyle. She sighed in contentment, her flannel pajamas insuring that she was warm and comfortable. She definitely liked this dimension better. There were definite possibilities to explore. A new relationship with a wonderful man. A chance to be truly happy, free from visions of terror and death, free from the mistakes that she'd made before. She wanted nothing more than to forget her old life and concentrate on her future. Her second chance. And in the early morning hours of the first good morning Cordelia Chase had ever had, wrapped securely in the arms of a man who loved her and whom she could very well love, she felt that there was nothing standing in the way of her storybook ending.
