Previously: She would have to introduce him to Willow and the gang; after she met them of course. But for now, Lorne was her secret.
No, he wasn't a secret. He was a confidante. He was a friend.
Lorne was her friend.
Chapter 21
The moments after Buffy left, were spent watching television, sleeping little and drinking blood. I couldn't really wait around her, I needed her now. I headed towards the door and stepped into the hallway. I tiptoed down to her apartment door. It was about two in the morning and everything behind the door was quiet. I let myself in quietly, so I wouldn't disturb anyone.
I took a look around. It was as though Dawn and the slayer had had a pillow fight or something. There were pillows, cushions and plates of food all over the place. A massive pile of pillows and cushions were heaped up in the middle of the room and on top of them all lay Dawn and Buffy. They didn't look comfortable, so I took it upon myself to carry both women to bed. Dawn was the first to be carried. Bloody hell! She sure was a dead weight when asleep. Dawn wriggled in her sleep as I picked her up. Wonder what the Bit was dreaming about?
I carried her to her room, lay her on her bed and covered her up as best I could. It was kinda hard to cover her, when her legs held the covers in place. I did do an all right job though. If I don't say so myself.
I headed back to claim Buffy's body. She looked peaceful, though uncomfortable. She wasn't much lighter than her sister, but I had no trouble lifting her. She didn't move; she must have been tired. I walked her to her bed and placed her in it. I pulled the covers up on her half of the bed, and contemplated whether or not I should get in. Buffy sighed. It was so cute. How I wanted to hold her again. Listening to my heart and emotions, I pulled off my shirt, shoes and socks and climbed into bed with her.
Buffy had said she was going to buy me pyjamas for my birthday; only thing was she didn't know when it was and I wasn't going to tell her.
As I lay there, Buffy seemed to know I was there and within seconds had found my side and was resting her head on my chest. Her warmth spread to me, and slowly I became warm.
I figured that if I was going to give Rupert a show, I should at least a couple of hours sleep in. I buried my nose in Buffy's hair and inhaled. Her hair smelt so good. Like strawberries.
I closed my eyes and welcomed the sleep that soon took hold of me.
Willow hadn't slept well at all. She had had about four hours of sleep if she was lucky. She was too devastated to sleep. It took every inch of her awake being to stop from losing control. It was easier to do this time round, after losing Tara, but it was difficult nonetheless.
She hadn't moved from the couch, not knowing what to do with herself. She knew she didn't want to eat but her stomach said otherwise. She slowly raised from the couch and headed to the fridge. Upon opening it, she found a tub of ice cream and turned to the draw to find a spoon. Her new best friends: Ben and Jerry.
Willow headed to her room with the tub and spoon and curled up on her bed, piling pillows all around her. The pillows would be her safety circle. Nothing bad could happen to her in her safety circle. If she dropped the ice cream however…
Will was at a loss. No Tara to make her feel human again. No Kennedy to tell her that she was beautiful and a goddess.
'I have to be strong… like an Amazon' Willow recalled something Tara had said to her. How she wished she could talk to someone. Maybe Spike was awake? No it was two thirty in the morning; of course Spike wouldn't be awake.
Willow finished her tub of ice cream, chocolate, which normally she would have enjoyed, but this time it tasted like nothing. She could taste nothing, she could feel nothing. It would probably be a never ending cycle Willow thought. She finds someone she likes, they date for a while, one leaves and then dies. Why couldn't she be the one that left and died for once? Just once?
Willow knew it was unreasonable to think these things, but right now she just didn't care. She just wanted out. Out of this rut she seemed to be in. She could try some sort of spell, but she remembered the last time she did one when she felt like this. It backfired and had Giles going blind, Spike and Buffy getting married, Xander being a demon magnet and other horrible things. It wasn't something she wanted to happen again.
Will set the tub on the ground and hugged a pillow to her chest. She lay down and pretended it was another human body, which did make her feel a little better; it just didn't fill the void inside of her. Once again the tears began to flow and once again she cried herself to sleep. This time though, she never once let go of the pillow.
I awoke to the sound of moving yawning. I could also hear Dawn shuffling around in the other room. I looked at the clock: 9:00am. Why was Dawn at school? Buffy must have seen the look of confusion because she said one word, 'Saturday'.
So it was Saturday. It was exactly two days since I'd spoken to Angel and I hadn't heard another word from him. It was great.
Buffy smiled.
'Good morning'
'Morning pet'
'Sleep well?'
'Like a log love. You?'
'Like a log' Buffy laughed.
She slid out of the bed to change into fresh clothes. No need to shower yet if she was to work out with me later on. She lifted her shirt and revealed a pale bruise on her back.
'That a bruise slayer?'
'What?' Buffy twisted to see her back. 'Oh that's from Dawn. We were mucking around last night. It got a bit rough'
'I saw. You own a lot of pillows'
'We do don't we?'
Buffy was changed and she explained she was starving as she slipped out the door, leaving me to change in peace.
I had just pulled on my shirt when Dawn padded in with a mug of blood.
'Breakfast' she yawned.
'Thanks Niblet. Saw the bruise you gave your sister. Nice shot'
Dawn's eyes widened. 'I bruised her? Woah!'
Dawn left the room to go see for herself and I followed after. It was funny to see Dawn so happy to see she had harmed her sister.
After little discussion and much face stuffing, Dawn explained that her and Carly were going to hang out today. Carly knew where all the good stores were. Dawn reasoned she needed some books and clothes for school.
Buffy said that she was going to go to see the gang before lunch time, before that she was going to do some grocery shopping for both her and myself. I would meet her in the training room after lunch, when the sun wasn't as hot and I could get there by blanket.
Both women bustled about for a while, then went their separate ways. But not without a goodbye hug for me.
God! It was bloody boring to be locked indoors most of the day, but I hadn't had time to become accustomed to the sewers here and I wasn't going to do that today; not when I didn't have the time to fight some great big nasty.
I strode back to my apartment for a shower and some clean, black clothes.