It's Sunday! Again, thank you all so so much for sticking with me and this fic despite the fact that it's taking forever for me to get anywhere with it! I'll see you all next Sunday!
Note: I think my updates are going to start coming later in the morning rather than afternoon/evening because football season is starting and...really.
Annie shifts through some of her old boxes, looking heatedly for a specific book. She doesn't know what compelled her to wake up at three thirty in the morning and find it, but whatever it was it was strong. She tosses another box to the side, cringing when it collides with a stack of stuff.
"I'm gonna have hell cleaning that in the morning," she says to herself. She opens another box, finally finding what she's been looking for and cheering. "Eureka!" she says out loud. Her puppy barks a little in surprise and scampers over to her. She flips through, her photo album, finally coming up to a coded section and finding the picture she's looking for. She looks at it, her breath catching and bringing another hand to her mouth.
"Oh god," she whispers. "Faith…" she trails off. The girl from the articles; that was Faith. She didn't know what to think.
"Alright, we need to get the kid some clothes, shoes, supplies," Faith ticks off, holding her notebook up as she goes over it.
"I'll handle the clothes and shoes! You and Andrew get the school supplies." Cordelia perks up. Faith frowns,
"I don't even have a list of what to ge-"
"Just wing it. Get the things you know she'll need and then we'll handle the rest when the year starts." Cordelia cuts her off.
"Can we get me enrolled first?" Amanda asks coming from her bedroom.
"Oh! Let me handle that! Can I?" Andrew asks from his spot by the television. Faith raises an eyebrow at him,
"Well, I dunno…" she trails off. His eyes widen as he silently begs; he hadn't hacked into anything in so long it was driving him crazy. "Fine." She says finally.
"Good!" he practically squeals. "I'm go-"
"Oh no, Tinkerbell, you're comin' with me before you even think of getting your geek on." Faith says firmly.
"Which means you are coming with me," Cordelia smirks at Amanda.
"Faith, I need clothes money." Amanda looks at Faith sweetly.
"Yes, we need clothes money so that she can look fabulous!" Cordelia seemed genuinely excited. Faith rolls her eyes, going back to her bedroom to grab them some money.
"This is going to be amazing!" Amanda squeals.
"I know! And since you're a slayer, you can carry all the bags!" Cordelia squeals back, turning on her heel and exiting when Faith returns with the money.
"Wait…what? No!" Amanda whines, chasing behind the older woman. Faith watches them go and looks to Andrew.
"Ready?" he nods and they exit.
"So, how are things going with your GED?" Andrew asks as they go through the store. Faith shrugs, not really having an answer.
"They actually aren't." she admits. "I kinda stopped so I could focus on really bein' the kid's watcher." She adds. Andrew smiles.
"But, isn't that something you wanted?" he asks. She nods, feeling almost comfortable talking to him about this. He was one of the only people who knew and so far, had never judged her for it.
"Yeah, it is." She says plainly. "But I really don't have much time for it right now. Maybe when Amanda's in school I can study but…." She trails off. He looks thoughtful.
"You know," he begins. "I am pretty bright and my GPA in high school wasn't half bad." He says somewhat proudly. Faith raises an eyebrow.
"That's good and all." She starts. "But what's that got to do with my time problem?" she asks. He rolls his eyes in offense.
"I could help you study!" he huffs. Faith frowns.
"You mean…" she begins, grabbing a pack of pencils. "Spendin' more time with you than absolutely necessary?" she asks. He nods, not in the least bit offended by that.
"Yes! It could really help to have someone there with study skills. That way you don't end up in over your head." He reasons. She thinks it over.
"I'll think about it." she says finally.
"It's all I ask." He says airily. Faith couldn't resist a joke.
"Really? That's it? I thought all you used to ask for was for Spike to walk around naked." She tries. He grins a little.
"Well, you have a point." He says raising his eyebrows and strutting away whistling. Maybe he isn't so bad. She thought.
"Patrick, if you don't pick up this phone right now I'm go- Patrick! I've been calling you all morning!" Annie huffs into the phone. The voice on the other end grunts.
"Yeah? What d'ya want?" he asks gruffly.
"Where was Faith the last time you heard from her?" she asks, skipping any form of polite conversation. Patrick pauses.
"In Boston, why?" he asks. "And why are ya callin' me? Won't your new husband get angry?" he sneers. Annie rolls her eyes.
"Minor details for a minor story." She says. "I think Faith was in the hospital with me." She says quietly, as if someone was listening in.
"What? Why was she in the hospital? Why were you in the hospital? What hospital?" Patrick fires off. Annie sighs. This was going to be a long phone call.