Title: Five by Five
Summary: Faith's long lost twin sister Hope has come to Rome in search of her sister. When two sisters meet everything seems to brighten but does something supernatural threaten to end this new reunion of sisters? And the question of whether Hope is a Potential is overpowering but will she bow down to the ways of the slayer?
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Hope. I do not own Mario either or his songs. If I owned Mario what would I do…. I'm sure I have cuffs in my room somewhere….. And just as a reassurance, I don't own Like Me Real Hard, sweet song tho.
Author Notes: And so my own obsession continues and is made to seem as if it is actually Hope's obsession. PS: Shout out to Freezyboncoolipants!
Chapter 16: Like Me Real Hard
"Whassat?" Spike asked, looking like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Faith chuckled and grinned evilly.
"You like Hope." She shook her head, "I should've spotted it earlier." Then she chuckled again to herself. Looking as if she was going through all the instances that Hope and Spike had been together in her mind, replaying them and confirming her thought. Her smirk widened and Spike's stomach sank as he realised that Faith had all she needed to now torture him incessantly. May as well surrender now. Huh, I'm giving up so much easier these days, he thought before confessing.
"Alright, fine. I admit. I… like her." He said, still a bit hesitant about the whole confession but he did admit it. Faith crowed and her smirk was intensified by the victorious look on her face.
"I knew it!" She crowed and Spike winced.
"You wanna say that any louder love?" He asked and Faith looked at him.
"She doesn't know." She said and Spike agreed with her, shaking his head at the statement that Hope hadn't realised that he liked her. Faith continued muttering under breath, "Damn she's like a freaking psychic with everything else but when it comes to something right in front of her she's fuckin' clueless." Spike caught her muttering and his lips pulled back into a bitter sweet smile.
"Do you really like her Spike?" Faith asked, looking as if something suddenly occurred to her. Spike nodded, his mouth had gone dry from the topic of conversation and he wasn't able to really speak at the moment. Pleased by his response she continued, "Okay then, come with me." She said suddenly and Spike followed her into the bedroom where Hope had left her leather jacket strewn on the bed before herding Angel into the bathroom.
She reached into one of the pockets and grimaced slightly before finding what she was looking for. A square plastic thing that can otherwise be described as MARIO'S ALBUM. She glanced towards the bathroom before hurriedly pressing it in Spike's hands. Then she herded him back to the foyer, as far away from Hope as possible.
"She loves that artist. For some reason his songs speak to her." She whispered to Spike and then shrugged, "Maybe you can use it to speak to her." Spike looked down at her, his gratefulness present in his eyes, making them shine.
"Thanks love." He said hoarsely, only recently being able to find and use his voice again. Faith smirked at him.
"Anytime Railroad." She said and he just ignored her dig.
"How do I…?" Spike trailed off and Faith sighed heavily before directing him to another room in the hotel suite and inserting it in the CD player that had come with the suite and then giving him some headphones which, luckily, came with the set. She saw his nose screw up slightly in the beginning, knowing that he was also a heavy metal lover she grimaced for him and watched his face as he listened intensely. Faith rolled her eyes and left him to it.
The things people would do for the ones they loved, or liked intensely in this case.
Hope walked out of the bathroom to find Faith lying on the bed. She fell onto the bed herself and sighed heavily. The sounds of a shower came from the bathroom attached to the bathroom and the twins just lay there. Silence falling like a blanket over the two of them.
"Angel gonna be alright?' Faith finally asked and Hope grunted.
"Yeah, it was a hard task but I finally got him into the shower." She replied and then asked Faith, studying the roof, "You take care of what you wanted to?" Faith grunted.
"Yeah." But she didn't bother to expand and hope was too tired to press on.
"So how come you're not with that guy who bought you a drink?" Hope asked and Faith shrugged.
"Dunno, he seemed alright I guess but since… Since what happened with Wood I'm kinda off guys. Especially the ones that act nice." Hope grimaced, she knew what Faith meant by 'what happened with Wood', then Faith asked, "Why aren't you with the guy who bought you a drink?" Faith looked across at her for the first time. Hope shrugged.
"Dunno, I mean he seemed alright too. I guess, I just feel… Like I'm waiting for the right thing," She looked at Faith, "You know?" Faith started out nodding but then realised what she was doing and then changed it into shaking her head. Hope laughed at this and they both turned back to the fascinating ceiling.
"So this guy you're waiting for…" Faith began and Hope groaned, interrupting her.
"Don't even start." She groaned.
"What?' Faith asked innocently and that just deserved an eye rolling.
"Don't." She warned and Faith dropped it. Hope muttered under her breath, "God, you're turning into Aunt Choni." This caused Faith to look at her, shocked.
"What was that? I didn't hear you properly." Faith said and Hope played the innocent.
"Me? Nah, I didn't say anything." She said and Faith raised her eyebrows.
"I think you mentioned something about Aunt Choni…" She said and Hope's eyes widened.
"Why would I do that? Of course I didn't." Hope said, brushing it off.
"Did you mention your favourite aunt, Hope? Come on, you can tell me." Faith said and Hope made a noise halfway between a sarcastic snort and a 'huh'.
"Not my favourite aunt, I think last time you were the on who was all 'Oooh Aunt Choni! I love you! I love you so much!'" Accompanying her mock of Faith she made 'kissy' noises and moved to attempt to shower Faith with them. Faith just pushed her away with a hand on her face., laughing uncontrollably.
Two hours later Faith had left the hotel room to go and walk around Rome, something that Hope had recommended strongly and Angel was fast asleep in the bedroom, his snores could be heard throughout the suite and every so often Hope would snicker at the sounds pf the snores. Hope was finishing the food that she'd ordered from room service when Spike emerged from the other room. She smiled widely at him.
"Hey Railroad." She greeted him brightly and she indicated to the empty plate in front of her, "Hotel food is better than restaurant food I reckon." She set down the fork and got up and walked over to him.
"Hope." Spike said and Hope smiled up at him.
"Railroad." She said, mock formal. He looked like he was reaching into his mind and then he started to speak, all the time looking down into her eyes with a rare serious expression on his face.
"We've
had such a great time
In these past two months
I never
laughed so much
In my life
It's been all about us
Since
that time we had
That intimate talk
Suddenly your actin'
strange
Plus your conversation
Just upped and changed
Is
it because your afraid
What you feelin' for me
Is the
beginning of a
New heart break?
Hear me when I say
You
ain't gotta
Give me your love
You ain't gotta
Say I'm
your one
You ain't gotta
Tell me where you be
'Cause you
ain't
Obligated to me
I'm not sayin' that
You should
just
Rush and give me
Your heart
I'm just askin' that you
Like me real hard
Just like me real hard
You know
just like I know
We've been broken by love
We both need time
to heal
That's why
In this short amount of time
We've
grown so close
'Cause you relate to
Everything I feel
So
let's not complicate things
By placing titles on you and I
But
what we can do
Before we make the next move
We gotta find the
perfect
Reason why
So believe me when I say
You ain't
gotta
Give me your love
You ain't gotta
Say I'm your one
You ain't gotta
Tell me where you be
'Cause you ain't
Obligated to me
I'm not sayin' that
You should just
Rush and give me
Your heart
I'm just askin' that you
Like me real hard
Just like me real hard
You ain't
ready
To fall in love
And I ready to
Care so much
We
ain't ready for commitment
Right now
But together we can
Work something out
When the time is right
Cause we
will feel it in our hearts
It will be written in the stars
But
for now
Just like me real hard." Spike finished, only pausing a
few times during the whole thing. Hope expression changed from
playful to serious and at the end she had a poker face on. Spike
looked down at her and then swallowed hard and quickly made his way
to the door. He had suddenly adopted a shy and nervous persona.
"I'll just go now, hey pet. Sorry about that." He said, his eyes set firmly on the floor. Then he quickly walked past Hope and headed for the door. That seemed to make her wake up and she turned, calling out.
"Wait, Railroad." She said and Spike stopped and paused before turning to her. She closed the few steps space between them and looked up at him. He grimaced.
"Not sweet enough right?" He asked and Hope shook her head. He though for a second, not really looking at Hope at any point in time, as if he was really, really embarrassed. He then asked again, "Too sweet then?" Hope shook her head again as she looked up at Spike and put a hand on his chest. Spike looked down at her, fire passing between their eyes and Spike's eyes showed he was being affected as he felt the body heat from Hope's hand seep through his shirt.
"Just sweet enough." Hope said and she reached up to brush a surprised Spike's lips with her own.
TBC
Spike's so sweet! I wish I had a boyfriend like that! Now I'm jealous. I believe my weirdness has just been upped. Okay, hey Chonz if you're reading this. Might go into description of Aunt Choni later… hehe. Haven't eaten for 24 hrs, you think that's bad for me? Okay, gonna go downstairs to eat now. Cya guys.
JB
