Part Three - Final Chapter
Chapter Sixteen
Faith smiled as she felt Wesley’s warm arm wrap around her waist, pulling her towards him. Her hand moved down to his, holding it close to her chest. Last night had been the first night in a long while that Faith had actually been able to sleep peacefully, and having Wesley there beside her as she woke made it all the better.
Once the three of them had returned to the hotel, she and Wes had made their excuses to Angel and retreated up to their room, leaving the vampire to ice his face alone. It wasn’t that they couldn’t control themselves-even though it might have looked that way to Angel during the car ride home. It was just that, after everything that had happened since that first night when Wesley pulled her out of the police station, they had simply wanted some time together, without the fate of the world or the balance of each other’s lives on their shoulders.
Slowly, Faith turned around to face Wesley, and nuzzled her face into his chest. Her eyes remained closed as she lay there, not wanting to disturb the comfortable silence that hung sleepily over the bed. As she lay there, she thought over everything that had happened. She thought about how she’d found something in this man lying beside that she had been unable to find anywhere else, and in turn found something within herself which was just as unexpected… if not more.
Faith had found hope.
Hope that her mere existence in a sea of slayers still meant something-that she, the bad seed, had found someone that actually cared about her, for her. And not just as a substitute for someone or something else. And that felt good, really good in fact.
A light tap on the door drew Faith out of her thoughts. She carefully slid out of the bed, so as not to wake Wesley, and made her way to the door. Keeping her body behind the door, the slayer opened it a crack and peered around to see Angel standing there, awkwardly averting his eyes from her.
“Lemme guess. There’s evil afoot?”
“Isn’t there always? But in this case, it‘s demon bagels… and bewitching coffee…if you and Wesley are hungry that is.”
“We’ll be right down.” Faith smiled as she closed the door and made her way back into her Wesley-shaped nook. Her lips lightly grazed his neck, leaving gentle kisses upon it as she slowly eased his sleeping self into the light of day.
“Good morning… Mmm…time to wake up, Wes… There are bagels downstairs to contend with, they may seem normal, but who knows…” Faith grinned up at him as his eyes slowly opened, “normalcy may be our biggest challenge yet.”
“Who cares about normalcy when the most beautiful woman in the world is lying next to me,” Wesley grinned back down at Faith sleepily. He dipped his head down to brush the edge of his nose against hers, and then kissed her softly. “In fact, who cares about breakfast?” He deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him, but the stubborn look on her face made him chuckle.
“Alright, we’ll investigate those demon bagels Angel was speaking of,” he grinned at her look of surprise.
“Yes, I was awake,” he admitted sheepishly. “I was just enjoying…well, this.” His striking blue eyes caught her deep brown ones as he kissed her hand. “And you wake me up so pleasantly,” he added light-heartedly, before the moment became too intense. Someday he would tell her how much she really meant to him, but they still needed time.
He knew that it wouldn’t be easy. It was true that their lives would never be normal. But as long as she was at his side, he knew he would be happy. He felt that she’d given him a sense a purpose again…and for the first time since he couldn’t remember when, he felt that he had a future to look forward to.
“We’d better get dressed and get downstairs,” he sighed, regretting that the moment must end. But it comforted him to know that there were more in store. He leaned in and whispered in her ear:
“Shower first, though.”
Faith smirked as he led the way.
†
“Good of you two to finally join me,” Angel grinned at Wesley and Faith as they made their way into the kitchen area.
Wesley held out a chair for Faith before sitting down himself.
“I made tea,” Angel added anxiously-obviously trying to make up for his behavior earlier in the week.
“Thank you, Angel, that was most thoughtful,” Wesley smiled sincerely as Faith quickly grabbed a bagel from the bag on the table.
“And coffee, for Faith of course.” Angel grinned, knowing the slayer’s dislike for Wes’ beverage choices. He set the carafe down on the table while Wesley got up to fix his tea to his liking. When they were all finally seated at the table, Angel looked contentedly at Wesley and Faith. The watcher smiled back as a clueless Faith ravenously devoured her breakfast. Both he and Angel tried to suppress a laugh.
Seeing Wesley and Faith so happy made Angel happy, and moreover, Wes could tell that the vampire had worked past his doubts about his relationship with the slayer.
Tomorrow they would no doubt have to deal with a new crisis-be it demons, vampires, or perhaps even another apocalypse. But right now, in this moment in time, they were just a normal family, enjoying breakfast together, and looking forward to a brand new day.
The End...For Now...