Chapter Four: Paint it Black

A month had passed since Niles' warning in the hallway and no one had ever seen C.C. so paranoid before. Anytime she heard something fall, she had to turn and look behind her and don't even think about putting a hand on her shoulder, because she'd probably jump about three feet in the air if you did. Niles could not fathom how much he was enjoying this. He still would insult her from time to time, but he knew that soon he would get the chance he was looking for to really nail her.

Maxwell and C.C. were working diligently on a new show they were going to produce when Niles came knocking and C.C. cringed when she saw it was him.

"Sir, I need to ask you a question about something." He asked as he stood in front of the desk with his hands behind his back.

"What is it old man?" Maxwell asked as he looked at him over the rim of his glasses.

"Why is it that I am the one repainting my room? Shouldn't we hire someone who knows what he is doing?" He asked.

"Niles, if you want to hire someone to do your work, that is fine with me, but remember I'm the one who paid for all that paint...why did you choose black anyway?" Maxwell asked.

"So if the vampire were ever to come in my room, she'd never find me." He said pointed at C.C. She gritted her teeth and slammed her hand down on the desk.

"You know something?" She started off, but when she saw that smirk appear on his face, she got worried and just let it go.

"Niles, be nice. Now if you'll excuse us, we have some work that we need to handle." He replied and Niles nodded.

"Yes sir." He turned on his heel and walked out, and she couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"C.C., are you alright? You are a little tense lately around Niles." He said as he signed a slip of paper.

"Yes, I'm just a little concerned about something Niles told me about a month ago." She admitted and he looked up again.

"What did he say?"

"He told me that I'm going to get what's coming to me, and I have no idea what he is talking about."

"Oh don't worry about that, he said that to me all the time when we were children, and I turned out just fine." He smiled. C.C. then looked at the gray streak in his hair and then shifted to where she could look out into the living room where Nanny Fine was sitting on the couch watching her soap opera, yeah, he totally didn't get what was coming to him at all.

There was a loud bang and then a shout. Both looked at the direction of the door and Maxwell rose to his feet.

"That was Niles! I'd better go see if he's alright." Maxwell was about to come out from around his desk when C.C. stopped him.

"I'll go. Wait here." She said and then she proceeded down the hall to his room.

Niles rubbed his foot gently and looked down at his nightstand angrily. Damn thing! How is it that at night he would always miss it when he got out of bed, but during the day, he seemed to hit it every chance that came to it. It was out to get him, he knew it was.

He looked around at his room and saw that it was beginning to look a lot better, he didn't even know why he'd chosen black, it just seemed like the right color he supposed. He shrugged and then looked at his door, all he needed to do was above it and then he could focus on the door itself. The ladder was near the cracked door, where the bucket of paint was on top of it. He nodded and then walked into his closet to get another brush he had because his other one was getting worn out.

Just as he was getting ready to go back into the bedroom, he heard the door squeak open, a bang, and then a scream. He rushed out quickly and covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Before him stood his "arch nemesis" Miss Babcock, but uh, she wasn't exactly normal. Black paint was dripping from all over her onto the floor and she was holding out her right arm while her left hand was on her head where apparently the bucket had hit her. Niles walked over slowly and wiped the black paint away from her eyes and she blinked when she saw him. He smiled at her and then said,

"You look like the creature from the black lagoon." She began to shake in anger and then before he knew it, her fist connected with his cheek and he fell backward. He clutched onto the bed post to keep from falling onto his bed and he frowned when he saw his hand print on the post.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She screamed as she shook her head quickly to get the black paint from her hair, it didn't help much. "YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She screamed louder.

"Why? I didn't do anything wrong!" He shouted back in his defense.

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID! YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE!" She moved her hands to show him. He already saw that she was covered from head to toe in paint.

"You match your suit, you should be happy!" He retorted.

"OH SHUT UP! AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! IF YOU COME NEAR ME AGAIN I WILL SEE YOU THROWN IN JAIL!" She then stormed from the room and didn't even notice that Fran and Maxwell were standing in the hallway. They both looked at each other when she stomped past them. They rushed to Niles room to find him standing there in the middle of his room with his mouth hanging open and a surprised look on his face. Fran was going to walk in the room when Maxwell grabbed her arm. He pointed to the floor and she nodded in response.

"Niles? What happened?" She asked as she stepped over the bucket and paint that was splattered on the floor.

"I-I-I." He stuttered, but the was just too shocked to say anything.

"What is it old man?" He asked as he repeated Fran's movements to get around the paint.

"I had the paint on the door and it fell on her when she came in." He pointed to the door that was now open and then the paint.

"What was she screaming about? We couldn't make out her words, she was way too loud." Maxwell asked.

"She said she was going to have me thrown in jail sir if I came near her again." He replied as he looked at the floor. Fran then noticed what was wrong with him. He really hadn't meant for that to happen to her, but it had and she'd reacted in the worse possible way and her intuition was right, he didn't hate her as much as everyone thought.

"Niles, give her time to calm down. I'm sure she didn't mean what she said at all. She just has a horrible temper that's all." He explained.

"Yes sir, now if you don't mind, I'd really like to clean this up." He said and then he more or less pushed them out the door and then shut it sadly.

"Mr. Sheffield, I feel really bad about what happened to Miss Babcock, but, my heart goes out more to Niles. I think...I think he likes her." She stated and Maxwell raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure Miss Fine, I'm not sure." He then walked back to his office and Fran went back to the living room, but she couldn't watch her show, she just wanted to think for a while.

She must have washed her hair a grand total of five times before all of the black came out. She definitely knew for sure now that black was just not her color. C.C. brushed the tangles out of her hair as she sat in the bathroom facing the mirror. She looked at her reflection and saw that the redness she'd had from scrubbing so hard was subsiding, as well as the red in the anger she'd acquired earlier. God how she wished she'd beat the living hell out of him, why hadn't she? She still couldn't believe he'd done that, but the way he looked at her when she screamed at him looked as if it had shaken him to the very core, which is exactly what she'd been going for. She smiled her infamous smile and blow dried her hair.

When she was finished, she flipped her hair over and ran her fingers through it, trying to straighten the best way she could. She was startled by a knock at the door and she made a face towards her bedroom.

"What in hell?" She asked as she tied the tie on her robe. All she had on was that and her underwear, she hadn't had time to get in her pajamas yet.

She walked into the living room and peeked through the eye hole on the door and she let out a groan when she saw who it was. It was Niles.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I want to tell you that I am sorry and explain something to you." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"What could you possibly have to say to me? What did I tell you earlier? Hm?" She asked.

"I know you didn't mean what you said Miss Babcock, but please, give me a chance to at least redeem myself." He pleaded.

"Why should I?" She asked.

"Because you know you want to hear it." He said and then she looked at the floor. She really did want to hear what he had to say, urgh. Damn her luck.

She unlocked the door and opened it, turning her back to him and walking to the kitchen area. "You have five minutes, make it good." She said and he walked in and shut the door behind him.

Her back was to him as she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and he grinned his teeth. He saw that all she was wearing was that robe and oh my God, he had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. She wasn't even wearing make up and she still looked good. He never realized how skinny she was until he saw how the robe was tied around her waist.

"You ever gonna get going there Butler boy?" She asked as she took a sip from the bottle.

"Um yes, I just wanted to say first off that I am sorry for the paint bucket falling on you and I swear, I had no idea that you were going to walk in there at that time." He started.

"Ok, anything else?" She asked as she sat down on the stool and motioned for him to come to the counter. She propped her elbow on the counter and rested her chin in her palm.

"And that I'm glad all the paint came off..." He added because he couldn't think of anything other than how pretty she looked.

"Yeah, me too, black is just not my color." She said.

"Then why do you wear it so much?" He asked sincerely, but she didn't take it that way.

"Because that's just who I am, and I meant my hair dumbass. You know it's cracks like that that make me hate you so much, why do you throw them at me constantly? I'd never done anything wrong to you when we first met and you started doing that to me, why?"

"Oh don't you get it yet? You're supposed to be smart! Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you?" He placed his hands on the table and then wished he hadn't started this because she was now looking at him with those dark blue eyes with anger again.

"What? What are you trying to tell me? To commit suicide?" She asked as she placed her hands in the same position he had his, but not too close to his.

"I'm trying to tell you...to tell you..." He couldn't finish and she let out an aggravated sigh. She went to turn away, but he grabbed her hand and held it. She turned her head and looked at him with a perplexed look. "I'm trying to tell you that I love you."

Sorry for the cliffie, but I had to do it because I adore them so. Well, he finally told her, how do you think she'll react? Think she'll be mad or not? You'll just have to wait and see! Ha! ReviewReviewReview because I love feedback. I really and truly do. Oh! And Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year from Southeast Georgia! (:

Ashton