Part 7
Day 35…
Five missed calls was what she had when she eventually switched her phone back on. Three from her parents and two from him. She had the urge to delete his name and number, but if she did that, then she’d never know which number to ignore. Not just that, but every time she tried to delete it, her finger simply refused to push confirm.
Cordelia finally gave up after the eleventh time and threw the stupid thing to the opposite end of the bed, where it remained for most of the morning. She was too busy to care about something she paid through the nose for. Too busy going over and over last night as she tried to figure out what went on with him.
Sure she should have realised what she was doing, but he was right there with her. Then he’d gone and said things which hurt more than she cared to admit. Maybe she was slightly jealous Buffy got there first, but so what? She was also jealous Colin Firth had a wife with sultry looks and a Phd. That didn’t mean anything.
There was way more to it than that. There was the bet that was slowly destroying her life and what remained of her sanity, which wouldn’t last long if them damn fantasies kept occurring. He might be a figment of her imagination, but he was right. She had no right to be moralistic when she was the one doing the deceiving. Besides, what if the bet hadn’t existed?
She could be lying dead in her bed right now and no-one would know until her rotting, bloodless corpse was found by police responding to complaints of foul odour. Well at least one good thing would have come of it and that’d be she wouldn’t have died a virgin. The thought made her smirk, the bitterness tasting vile.
Cordelia pretended she never looked at her phone shining temptingly at the edge of her bed and walked right on past. It wasn’t there, it didn’t exist, and it would have worked if the tone she assigned to him hadn’t sounded out.
Like she was gonna answer it. “Pfft.”
The damn thing kept ringing until she was forced to decline the caller and switch it back off. “I’m not talking to you,” her voice was weak and soft to her ears, so God only knew what it’d sound like to him. Probably weepy and whiny, and that was so not her.
Her chin remained in her palm for a short while before she forced herself to move. She better lock those balcony doors. She paused before she reached them as she thought about the late night conversations. They weren’t going to be happening again.
Boredom hit fairly quickly after that and she found herself pottering about the house in the hope of finding something to do. Unfortunately, there was less than nothing. Since she had no plans, she may as well take the opportunity and have a day of quality alone time. Maybe hit the mall and treat herself to a nice new dress or new shoes, or even go to Mancini’s for a ridiculously unhealthy dessert.
Cordelia glanced at the kitchen clock and blinked when she saw it was only noon. It seemed much later for some reason, but never mind. At least she had enough time for some decent retail therapy and an ice cream, maybe even a movie. According to the Sunnydale Ledger, the weekend matinee was Bridget Jones Diary and if anyone needed a dose of Mr. Firth, it was her.
****
Chocolate ice cream smeared with hot fudge sauce had never tasted so good and so bland at the same time. It was definitely an unsual experience, she thought and shoved another spoonful into her waiting mouth, letting it melt on her tongue before swallowing. She stared at the empty chair opposite her and her lips tilted down.
Without wasting another second, Cordelia all but shovelled more ice cream into her mouth. This stuff was supposed to make people feel better, not worse. She silently scoffed. Not like she had anything to feel bad about since she hadn’t really done anything wrong. Well, that’s if her attempt to be bitten wasn’t taken as anything wrong.
Suddenly her treat didn’t seem so nice. Maybe she shouldn’t have done that, but then he shouldn’t have said those things. Then there was the bet to consider. Would he have bitten her if that didn’t exist? If so, then what else would he have done? She couldn’t really blame him, not when it was her offering a coffee. He probably wouldn’t anything anyway, not when she couldn’t even keep a human interested.
What must he think of her? Something told her she really didn’t want to know, but she guessed vampire whore would be as good a description as any he could come up with. Cus God knew that’s exactly what she was. A vampire whore.
That fact took what remained of the tasty sauce and turned it into a sickly pile of cold, sticky she mashed her spoon deep into it, then tried to make a smiley face in an effort to cheer herself up. As expected, it didn’t work as the smiley face came out less than smiley. It had two eyes, a nose, and a mouth with a small set of fangs made out of the chocolate flakes.
Great, just freaking great. The rumours about him was true. There really was no escaping Angelus, and at that moment, she truly hated him. Hated him for being a jackass, hated him for being Buffy’s ex, hated him for giving her car a tune up, hated him for not biting her, and hated him for being honest. What he said about her not being able to keep a guy was entirely true and more than once those words had brought tears to her eyes.
She hadn’t asked to be cheated on and publically humiliated, but never mind. It happened, and she had to deal with it. Her friends had taken the chance to dish out a good dose of grief. Cordelia couldn’t blame them. What kind of girl ditches her friends because of a guy? A dumb one. She recalled wondering if she was really a natural blonde and the brunette thing was just artificial intelligence. At least that way she’d have an excuse for being so foolish.
How much of an idiot was she?
“Don’t mind me, pet. You carry on wallowing.”
So miserable she was that she didn’t even bother to be shocked by his presence and nor did she look at him in greeting. “What do you want Spike?” She really wasn’t in the mood to play any of his games.
“A bit chit chat is all,” he replied. “Imagine my surprise when your Angel walks in last night with a fistful of bruises. Gave some poor demon a right old hiding, he did. “Got one in turn, mind you.” He paused and she knew there was a big, giant smirk crawling over his face.
“So much for cosying up at home,” Cordelia mumbled. “Is he okay?”
“Right as bloody rain.”
“I wasn’t worried about Angel.”
Yeah, sure she wasn’t. He let her live in denial for a time and then spoke again. “Wonder why.”
“How should I know? I’m not his keeper.”
At the morose tone, Spike slowly nodded, his lips pursed up as he studied the brunette. “I want the whole story,” he said in a tone she’d never heard. “No fibbing now, pet.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it, now or ever.”
“How’s about I ask nicely? What went on to turn my grandsire into the Terminator?”
“You like the Terminator?” Easily distracted, thy name is Cordelia Chase.
“Arnie sporting a pair of Ray Bans? A classic is that.”
Sometimes she had the strangest conversations with people. “You need help.” She would say the same about herself, but she doubted there was a shrink out there with a long enough life.
He snorted out a laugh that was entirely genuine. “So says the girl who shoved her way to the front of the Bridget Jones queue.” She glared and received a chuckle for the the trouble. “That Mr. Darcy, eh? Quite the bit of totty, ain’t he? Tall, dark, handsome. Like your Angel come to think of it.”
Would he just stop that? “He’s not my Angel.”
“Oh no?” Spike’s head tilted to the side as he continued to look at her. “Then explain to me the reasons for last night’s little tizzy.”
“Ask him.”
His eyebrows rose at the dull, dreary tone. “Come on then, let’s have it shall we? What did he do?”
Cordelia gave the truth of the matter. “Nothing.” That’s what Angel did. Absolutely nothing except throw out a few harshly honest sentences.
“And nothing makes you cry.”
She did look at him then, surprise all over her face. How did know she’d had a few tears?
Spike tapped the side of head. “Vampire.” When she showed no signs of telling him anything, he sighed and shook his head. Encouraging her, “I’m all ears, pet.”
God help her, but she needed someone too talk to and it wasn’t like she could talk about this to anyone she knew, was it? Half of them would laugh her out of town and the other half would have her committed faster than she could blink. She took a deep breath, left her spoon in the ruined sundae, and exhaled with a sigh.
The abject misery on her pretty face had him wondering what the bloody hell went on between them.
“I tried to get him to bite me.”
“Say what love?”
She continued as though he never interrupted. “I don’t want to do this anymore. You can have back the hair you highlighted and the dress and shoes. Find somebody else to do this and leave me out of it from now on.” Deceit had never been a favoured hobby of hers and less so lately. Especially since the person she was deceiving had done nothing to hurt her. Combine that with the fact he would probably do a lot worse than hurt her when he found out.
“Hold your horses.” Spike was still stuck on her previous statement. “You tried to get my grandsire to bite you?”
Cordelia casually shrugged in an effort to downplay the situation. “He didn’t, so it’s not really that big a deal. He didn’t touch or kiss me, either. You still have a game to win.”
He fell silent for a moment or two and sat forward in his chair, blinked once or twice, and then sat back. “You pal around with a slayer, yes?”
“Used too.” Off his look, “I got made redundant.”
“Did you learn bugger all about vampires?”
Her chin lifted up in defiance. “I know about vampires and their penchant to be evil.” She also knew their penchant for being horrible to girls who offered their throats from them to drink from. Angel was right. She was nuts.
“Back in the day,” Spike said after a few minutes of silence. “Your Angel didn’t drain his victims straight away. He’d bite them and leave a mark, just so people would know he’d been there. He took the property of others you see. Caused all sorts of problems he did.”
There was a pause as his eyes strayed to her dessert. “You eating that?”
“Be my guest,” Cordelia pushed the bowl towards him.
He dipped a finger in and licked it off with an mmm of appreciation. “Anyway,” he continued after a large mouthful. “Biting was his signiture piece. God knows why. Every vampire could bite. Wasn’t like he was the only one with a set of fangs and a lust for blood, but Angelus? He made it an art form. Matching sets and all that. Neck, breast, thigh… You get my meaning, I’m sure.”
“You’ve heard all this and that courtesy of the watcher. Angelus is an infamous little bugger, ain’t he?” Spike watched as a tiny smile broke through her wall of misery. “He weren’t the only big bad to walk the face of the Earth. Plenty of others who could take him down a peg or two, believe me. There was this chit. Bonny little thing, she was. Titian red curls, big green eyes, freckles. Belonged to a vampire named Alexander.”
“Your Angel was like a bitch in heat when she was around. So were a few other men, I can tell you. Not me of course. My Dru is more than enough.” He paused long enough to sigh as images of his little princess floated through his brain. “Anyway. Angelus brought out the big guns one night and when he snuck into the chit’s bedroom, Alexander was there.”
This time when he stopped talking, it was to watch intrigue flash in hazel eyes and Cordelia kept silent until the waiting got too much. “Well?”
Spike let out a low whistle. “So there was Angelus, drunk as a skunk and muttering about how he’d give her the world and all its glory. What a bleeding hiding he got. He barely managed to come home before day break. Blood and bruises everywhere.”
“What about that girl? What happened with her? Did she want Angel?”
Was it him or was she getting into the story? He shook his head. “Not in the least. Been in love with Alex since he bought her at the cattle market.”
“Cattle market?”
“Slaves,” Spike explained much to her disgust. “It was different in them days, pet. Vampires and lifers, what we call…”
“Hearts and pulses, I know. Angel told me.”
“Did he now?” Wasn’t that interesting? “Vampires and humans had an understanding of sorts. We got em away from traders and off the streets, gave em homes and jobs and protection, they provided blood and day care.”
Cordelia took into account the times he spoke of and nodded. “Sounds like a pretty good deal. So this girl loved Alexander because he saved her or something?”
“Textbook case of hero worship. Not that old Alex was bothered, of course. He had a piece of pretty to warm his bed. Angelus was angry to say the least. Not only did he get a foot up his sorry arse, but the bit never gave him a second glance. Sulked for weeks, he did. The point of my story is if your Angel couldn’t have what he wanted, he’d get a tad irritated. Like last night for instance. Not that I know the details, of course, because the little birdie hasn’t told me yet.”
That got her attention. “What?”
Spike smirked. “You offered up your throat and he couldn’t take it.” His smirk widened into a chilling grin. “Makes you wonder, don’t it? What would have happened if it hadn’t been for his pride. This chat of ours wouldn’t be happening because those pins of yours would still be wrapped round his waist. Congratulations pet, welcome to the first stage of infatuation. Lucky you.”
When Cordelia didn’t respond with a heart felt protest or screaming for the slayer’s help, and so he took a good, hard look at her. He didn’t need her to reply as the answer was written all over her pretty face, and God was it ever priceless. She was falling, actually falling for the ponce.
His lips curled up into the largest smile she’d ever seen on a man. “The Prom Queen and the Vampire. Bloody rich this is. He win you over with his charming personality and animal magnetism? Or was it the angelic smile and big brown eyes that did it?”
She remained quiet, letting him think and say what he wanted. “Was it the goodnight kiss? Or the goodnight kiss you never got.”
When emotion flashed through her eyes, Spike knew what exactly what happened. It took less than two seconds for him to explode into delighted laughter and clapped his hands. “You made a play for him and his pride got in the way. Tell me the rest and don’t leave sod all out.”
Cordelia had absolutely no intention whatsoever of telling him anything, but seeing his fingers curl round the wrist of a waitress made her think twice. “Finished Cor?” Lucy asked, her cheeks flushed with a light blush caused by Spike’s show of deceptive affection. She tried to pull back, but he tightened his grip.
“Yeah,” the cheerleader replied as she held the vampire’s gaze. “That’s all, thanks. Can I have the cheque, please?”
“Sure.”
Spike spoke up when he let Lucy’s wrist go. “It’s on me.” His attention returned to the brunette. “Where were we? Oh yeah, you offering yourself up as a midnight snack. Remember now, details.”
She waited until Lucy left until she said anything, and even then she only said what she was comfortable with. Everything else was private. “We went shopping the night before last for phones and yesterday I showed him how to use it. He took me home and I made myself the dish of the day.” Real intelligent considering Angel wanted nothing from her.
“What did he do?” He flashed a cheeky smirk. “Or what he didn’t do as the case maybe.”
“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing at all.” The more she realised Angel wasn’t into her, the angrier she got at Spike for forcing her into this. “And you know what? I’m sick of you shoving him down my throat, so why don’t you go find someone more his type because it’s not fair.” Not fair on her or Angel.
“Tell you what, pet. How’s about I make you his type? Easy done. Turn up in a set of stockings and suspenders, killer heels and a sign saying take me, I’m yours. You’d be set for eternity.”
Cordelia truly didn’t care if he slaughtered the Sunnydale population and made her watch. Her pride and dignity wouldn’t allow her to sit there, and basically take every joke he could think of. “Do what you want, Spike. I’m going home. A place you’re not invited.”
He let her get all the way to the store exit before he spoke up. “Your Angel coming round, I take it. No other reason why I’m not welcome.”
She paused and slowly turned to face him, and she was visibly shaken to the core. “Excuse me?”
“You invited him in for a coffee, right?”
“I didn’t say come…” She caught herself just before she finished that sentence and quickly amended, much to his amusement. “Those words. I said he could have one if he wanted.”
Spike mused over this for a second, wondering how he could spin this in his favour. “Therefore, he could come in if he wanted. You gave an invite and left the ball in his court.” She didn’t quite give an invite, but she didn’t need to know that. Mind games always were a favourite past time of Angelus.
Cordelia was visibly startled. “I didn’t say the words.”
“Offering a coffee and leaving it to his discretion? It’s as good as, love.”
The worry on her face was better than a movie and he was oh so pleased to be the one to put it there. He just wondered if she worried because Angelus might be in her house, or because Angelus might not be in her house.
She had one more question before she ran home to make sure her house was as empty as she left it. “How did you know I was here?”
Spike shrugged casually. “A filly with a healthy credit limit? Don’t take a genius really, does it?”
Whatever. Cordelia shook her head at his reasoning, but didn’t argue in favour of getting away pronto.
****
Being told someone could be in your house was usually enough to push the brain into overdrive. Every little noise, every shadow that crossed the window had her jumping. It got to the point where she was pacing restlessly and checking locks more than twice. Not that a simple lock would keep Angelus out if he wanted to get in, but they gave an extra sense of security.
The TV and radio was off, lights were switched on in the kitchen, living room and the upper landing, but she was still nervous. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing outside at random intervals, and if she didn’t know better, she would say she wanted him to come round. She didn’t want him to visit, because that would be stupid. More stupid than thinking they were something they clearly weren’t.
It wasn’t like Angelus would visit anyway, not after her idiotic display of desperation. God, even thinking about that made her hang her head in shame.
What was that? It sounded like someone was in the back yard. Cordelia was quick to peek out the window and she scoured what she could see, but there was nothing. She nibbled her lip and was about to sit back down when she heard it again. Again, she glanced out, and again saw nothing.
“It’s just your imagination, Cor,” she said to herself as her heart started to race. “Nothing there.” Nothing, nothing, nothing. She had to focus on something other than her crazy brain. There had to be something good on TV and if not, she’d just grab some popcorn and throw in a DVD.
Before she went for the popcorn, she checked the phone and sighed when there was no sign of a text or call since earlier. She wasn’t popular today. Oh well. Right, popcorn and DVD…
There it was again. The noise from outside. On closer inspection of the noise, she figured it sounded like feet crunching grass, and frowned. She was all alone and feet crunching grass wasn’t what an all alone girl wanted to hear. Especially when said feet could belong to a vampire who had an open invite to her place.
She paused before she overreacted. The last time there was footsteps outside had been when Xander tried too get her to forgive him by badly reciting the many reasons why he was an ass and why she shouldn’t forgive him. If that was Xander out there, she was gonna freaking kill him.
Cordelia marched to the back door, unlocked it and triggered the burglar lights as she flung the door wide open. “You may as well give it up, Harris.” She shook her head when she got no reply. “It’s not gonna work.”
The lack of response was beginning to creep her out. “Go home, Xander.” She got a reply this time and it was in the form of something being thrown into her pool, the splash echoed through her ears and she quickly slammed the door shut, locking it a split second later. If she wasn’t nervous before, she certainly was now.
Wait a minute. The security lights weren’t on until she opened the door, so that meant no-one was out there, right? Right. The pool thing was probably a frog or some other animal. It really was just in her imagination and God was the thought ever comforting. Now that was sorted, she could get on with fixing popcorn and choosing the DVD.
Cordelia was halfway to the microwave when a stone hit the window, and she swallowed. Just her imagination, nothing more. She was fine with that until another stone hit, then another and another. She out of the kitchen faster than lightening and into the living the room, cell phone in hand and finger ready to dial.
Minutes ticked by and there were no more noises, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She figured going straight to bed was better than staying up and watching movie, so she set about turning off the lights and triple checking the locks, only fully relaxing when silence continued.
She was at the top of the stairs when another stone hit the window. This time the window in question was the front room, which was a hell of lot closer to the front, and consequently her. Without waiting, Cordelia flipped her phone open and called.
“Angel?”
“Thought you weren’t talking to me,” came his silky smooth voice.
“I think there’s someone at my house. I’m scared.”
“On my way.”
Shaking, she sat down on the top step with no choice but to listen and watch as the front door handle twisted and rattled. She was eighteen, nineteen in a few months, and all she wanted to do was act five and go pull the duvet over her head. Five minutes passed before the handle went still and five became ten when the stones finally stopped.
In total, fifteen long horrible minutes went by until there was a proper knock on her door, bringing with it a familiar and welcome voice. “Cordelia? It’s me.”
Just to be sure, “Angel?”
“Yep.”
The front door was clicked open in seconds and she stood there, staring up at the vampire through big doe eyes. She figured he saw she was shaking like a leaf and so didn’t bother making an effort to hide it. Cordelia had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
He leaned against the frame, arms crossed over his chest. “You okay?”
“Did you see anyone?”
“Yep.”
Cordelia attempted to look behind him, but he blocked her line of sight. “They gone?”
Angelus grinned. “Yep. You might know them. One tall, kinda scrawny with dark hair, and a couple of blondes, all wearing Razorbacks shirts.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I know them. They were probably looking for a party since my folks are away. Harmony and the others were probably with them and undoubtedly laughing at me. Nice friends I have, huh?”
“Not all nice, I hope.”
There was something in his voice that made her start to smile. Looking up at him with the other night in mind and saying with complete honesty, “Not all nice.”
An awkward silence fell and she shuffled waiting for him to speak, but he didn’t. He simply kept on looking at her with an expression she couldn’t read. It remained quiet for quite a while and it got on her nerves, forcing her mouth to open but she didn’t have the guts to actually speak, so he got there first.
“Done my job,” he said at length. “I’ll see ya around.”
It took the time for him to open his car door for her to gather enough courage to say something. “My feet hurt.” Cordelia blurted out and wanted to smack herself. Something didn’t mean anything. “I’ve been on them all day and they hurt. My feelings hurt, too.”
“And?”
“And I can either let you go or I can get over it, and we can watch a movie.”
Angelus narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What movie?”
Cordelia was gonna say Flashdance, but figured he’d run a mile. “Poltergeist or Psycho maybe. Not sure.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Haven’t you had enough scares tonight?”
“I wasn’t scared.” Terrified yes, but not scared.
“Sure about that?”
“Not much, anyway. So you coming in or not?”
****
Poltergeist was paused while she made a sandwich under the vampire’s careful supervision, and he watched in amazement at the amount of stuff she put in it. She was an oddball when it came to food. Not only did she eat it in a meticulous way, but also making it. He wasn’t complaining, of course, it was too much fun watching her.
Two jars containing yellow and white substances were dumped next to her plate, then came tomato slices, a packet of honeyed ham, and lettuce. Following the fridge raid came the cupboard raid, and she brought out bags of salted chips and roasted nuts. Good God, where the hell did she put it all?
“Mmm,” Cordelia munched on a slice of simple bread and butter, the crumbs going everywhere possible. “There’s nothing better than real butter.” She told him matter of fact. “You hardly get that anymore. Normally it’s low fat margarine that lowers cholesterol. Or supposed to lower cholesterol. That’s not margarine. That’s gross. Like low fat mayonnaise.”
Angelus went to say something, but a raised hand prevented him. “I don’t care what people say. That is not mayonnaise.” Her little snack was finished and she set about doing the actual sandwich.
Firstly, a good layer of mayonnaise was smeared from edge to edge, then ham was placed in there, followed by lettuce and some tomato, and another slice of ham, and she finished with a bit of mustard. Secondly, she buttered another two pieces of bread and repeated until she had two sandwiches big enough to feed five hundred.
“Hungry are you?” He asked, his lips twitching up at the corners.
Cordelia took a moment to get past the moment, which wasn’t hard as his question brought up a refreshing wave of confusion that chased away remnants of arousal. “What’s wrong with my sandwich?”
“You have half your fridge in there.”
“I like my food,” she explained as she began to put things away. “Besides, I need a good diet cus of my activities.”
“Like?”
She seemed a bit taken aback that he wanted to know about her activities, but answered him nonetheless. “Tennis, swimming, cheerleading, dancing, and running from scary hell beasts.”
Angelus chuckled at the last one. “I used to be quite the hunter when I was human.”
It was irresistible. “Nothing new there, then.” She glanced at him and they shared a smile. “What did you hunt?” Normally when someone told her they hunted, she’d tear their heads off for hurting poor little animals, but it was different in those days. He probably hunted to feed his family or something.
“Birds, rabbits. Basically general game. I’d sell the meat at market, or give it to ma for cooking.”
“What about now? What does a vampire do for fun during sunny hours of the day?” He didn’t answer right away and she wondered whether or not she’d crossed a line, and so she went to apologise. “I don’t mean to pry… Okay, I do mean to pry. But you don’t have to tell me.”
“Not much to tell, to be honest.” Off her surprised look, “Really. I mean it’s not like I can go for a romantic stroll along a beach, is it?”
He had a point. Cordelia’s face scrunched up for a moment. “I doubt that’d be your thing even if you could. You’re not that kind of guy, I think. A romantic stroll would make you wanna puke, or bore you to tears.”
Angelus was inclined to agree. “Are you one for holding hands on a loved up stroll?”
She thought for a moment. “I will admit to being a sucker for the occasional show of romance, but anything OTT will have me running for the hills. Give me a competitive bowling game over sharing straws any day. Back to your daytime hobbies. Don’t you play cards or something?”
“I do, but it’s usually to take money off Wimple. I tend to favour art if I’m bored. Drawing, painting. My current preference is charcoal.” He noticed her looking at him with a strange expression on her face. “What?”
“Nothing,” Cordelia shook herself out of the daze his reply put her in. “It’s just I never really pictured you having a creative flair. What kind of stuff do you draw?”
Wasn’t she just full of surprises? “Whatever is on my mind,” he replied and got warm, sweet smile for it. Pretty.
“Ahh. The free spirit of an artist. Is it true all artists border on insanity?”
Angelus made a show of touching his ears, a move which had her smile growing into a full blown grin. “Completely. I gave the slayer a gift once. Wasn’t appreciated.”
Cordelia fell quiet at the mention of the slayer, not wanting to acknowledge the small surge of envy. “I heard, and I got a by-play of what you did with Miss. Calendar.” Suddenly, his artistic abilities didn’t seem so fetching. She tried to change the subject, but found her brain took on a morbid fascination with his talent. “Do you…Never mind.” What kind of sick person was she?
“Ask me.”
Alright. She’d ask. “Do you draw what you’re going to do first, or do you wait till after you’ve killed them?” Sick, sick, sickedy, sick.
He wasn’t sure what surprised him more. The fact she thought about it, or the fact she actually asked. “I confess to liking still life portraits.”
“Oh.” She had nothing to say to that. “I guess it’d be hard making things look exactly like a picture.” Huh. Guess she did have something to say after all. She really shouldn’t be talking like this, or getting it either. Agent Starling she was not.
“There is that, I suppose.” Angelus struggled hard to keep the smirk off his face. He’d never known anyone like her. It was refreshing. She was refreshing. “There’s also no complaints about sitting still for hours on end.”
He watched her lips purse inward as she valiantly tried not to chuckle at the morbid joke. “Bonus,” Cordelia managed.
“Dancing is a form of art. What’s your preference?” He could see her decked out in a tutu and pink slippers performing Giselle for an awe-inspired crowd.
Though she reluctantly found his humour appealing, Cordelia was thankful for the subject change. “I don’t have any set style. My favourite as a child was tap, mainly cus I could make a lot of noise without being told off by my folks. I moved on to gymnastics when I was about nine or ten, and from there to summer school where we studied everything about dancing.”
She went to stop there, but Angelus encouraged her to continue purely so he could watch the way her eyes lit up and her hands make gestures. “How to portray emotion through body language and facial expressions, how to make the audience feel like they’re the ones performing, what muscle each step used, how to correct mistakes. We got eight hours of theory a week covering all that, and the rest was the physical aspect. I loved the choreography classes, not that I was any good at coming up with dance routines, but I loved it just the same.”
“You’re head cheerleader, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
Pointing out, “Who choreographs the routines?”
Cordelia felt her face grow hot at the obvious compliment. This was better than getting a drawing any day. “I do. Well, Harmony and I work together. As dumb as she is, she’s good at what she does.”
Angelus grinned at the blushing brunette. “You seemed pretty good to me the other night.”
“Glad you enjoyed it. Now, lemme cut my sandwich so we can finish the movie before I lose my nerve. That clown is out to get me, I just know it.”
He had to give her credit. She knew how to defuse a situation admirably. “Sure he is,” Angelus solmenly agreed.
“Ass.” Cordelia slid a knife from it’s holder and he frowned when he saw her start sawing through the doorstopper on her plate. He snatched it out of her hand before they ended up in the emergency room, stating a missing finger as cause for concern.
Hey!” she exclaimed. “You could have chopped my arm off snatching like that.”
“Not before you did,” Angelus said simply. “This is bread you’re cutting, not wood.” She blinked and he gathered she knew next to nothing about cooking or sandwich making whatsoever. “C’mere, gimme your hands.” One was placed on the top of the sandwich and the other was given the knife.
It came to something when he had to invent excuses in order to touch a woman.
When Cordelia made no move to give him her hand, he rolled his eyes and took it himself. The metal was slightly warm from her palm, and when he curled her fingers round the handle, she felt it had cooled some where his had momentarily been. She edged closer to him so it’d be easier and less dangerous to learn, and when he moved behind her, she wished she hadn’t.
How much torture could one person do to themselves? Huh. That sounded like something he would know.
Angelus leaned down, smirking when he heard her heart start to race. “Move your hand like this…” He tightened his hold a bit and smoothly slid the knife down. “See how we don’t need too much pressure for the blade to do the work?”
“Uh-huh.” See how she didn’t need to pay too much attention to learn?
He repeated the move slower this time, squeezing her hand a little harder. A tiny step forward had his chest so close to her back and his cock brushing up against her ass so lightly, she thought she imagined it. “Just like that, Cordelia. Nice and smooth. There’s my good girl.” The entendre worked like a charm.
She gripped the knife as her skin rippled with goosebumps as praise was whispered breathlessly in her ear. Her bra felt rough on her hardening, sensitive nipples, and closed her eyes tight in an attempt to shut down.
“Concentrate, Cordelia. Can’t have you injured.”
“Right,” she swallowed. “Concentrating.” Yes she was concentrating. Concentrating on not taking his attentions as anything more than intended. He was only showing her how to cut bread, nothing more.
The sandwich was now cut in two perfect halves and Angelus nodded in approval, then moved to stand beside her, the smile on his face going unseen.
“Are we gonna watch the rest of the movie?”
He nodded and then paused before helping her with the food. “Are you really gonna eat all that?”
She glanced at him. “What?”
“You have two pieces of fruit, chips and peanuts, two sodas, plus a sandwich that could fill a hippo.”
“Oh,” Cordelia averted her eyes from his and cleared her throat as she got a little uncomfortable. “I, uh, don’t have any blood so half is for you. In case you got hungry.” The last word came out on a timid whisper as last night once again ran through her head.
“Look at me.” She did and got treated to an intense black gaze that both chilled and burned. “A ten course wouldn’t stop the hunger.” That gaze of his honed in on her throat, and he smirked when her heart once again picked up speed. “And you have plenty of blood, but don’t worry your pretty little head. I’m not one for junk food.”
It a good few seconds for it to sink in that he’d just insulted not only her food, but also her entire being. The cheek of him. She insulted the one thing she could think of. “What’s the average fang size these days? Half inch?” Not the greatest of comebacks, but it would have to suffice since she was still offended on behalf of her cells. “
Angelus didn’t look at all impressed. “It’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it.”
Blunt white teeth pinched her tongue. “Yeah, but you’ve gotta have something to use.”
His mouth opened and and closed a few times, giving her time to leave him standing to think about the insult to his vampiric manliness. She was such a fucking minx, and God, was it a serious turn on. Seconds passed before he trailed after her, his arms and hands full of her food. “I could show you how much fang I’ve got. Pick a vein Cordelia, I dare you.”