Welcome to LA, City of Angel.
It was unnerving.
I mean it’s not everyday that you wake up in a hotel room with your best friend. And forget about with your male best friend. Needless to say the discovery threw me off a little. Thoughts about what the hell had happened the night before ran through my mind, along with the question of how much alcohol had been consumed. Alcohol and this Slayer never mixed. Mostly it just left me shaken. Like now.
My heart was beating a million miles a moment as I replayed last night’s events in my mind. I’d gotten a phone call from Giles, learned about a third watcher who apparently was activated for some unknown reason, and then Xander had offered to come with me to LA. We’d talked on the ride up here, a little about Willow, a lot more about random things that weren’t so painful and then…
I gave a huge sigh of relief. And then the only room available had one bed and we’d both refused to let the other sleep on the floor or in the car. So I’d slept under the covers and Xander had slept on top. I pulled the covers back and was even more relieved to find myself fully clothed. Talk about a heart attack.
I mean, I loved Xander, but I didn’t love Xander.
Xander shifted slightly beside me and I paused, not wanting to wake him up yet. We’d both been exhausted when we’d gotten here last night and I was pretty sure that this Slayer search was going to take some serious detective work. Judging from the weak light coming in through the hotel window it was pretty early, anyway. I gently got off the bed, trying to move it as little as possible and threw the covers over Xander who looked kind of cold. Poor guy, we should have called and asked for a blanket for him last night. I grabbed my bag by the TV and headed for the bathroom deciding to take a quick shower and get dressed.
Twenty minutes later I was wearing clean clothes and feeling wide awake. I peeked out of the bathroom door only to find Xander had moved towards the middle of the bed somehow in his sleep. I didn’t bother blow drying my hair, pretty sure that would wake Xander up even if he was a hard sleeper. Instead I swept it up into a soggy bun and threw on my jacket. I jotted down a quick note that I was off in search of breakfast before grabbing the room key and letting myself out as quietly as I could.
The hotel wasn’t anything fancy. I wasn’t even sure how many stars it had, if it had any. We’d kind of stopped at the first one we’d come to. I walked down the hall past some maids who looked like they’d rather be anywhere but here before they disappeared inside a room. I opened a door at the end of the hall and suddenly found myself at the pool. It was deserted.
There was something about the stillness of it and the soft sound of the water splashing against its sides that drew me onward. I sat on the edge of a white sunning chair and stared at the calm blueness of it. I wish I felt as calm inside.
The truth was the idea of being here in LA was strange. Sure, there was a time when coming to LA was a welcome relief from time on the Hellmouth. When I would be hitting up all my favorite shoe stores and the chic booths that were mentioned in the magazines I used to read like there was no tomorrow. But it’d been a long time since I was that girl. Not to mention that as much as I knew it was silly for me to feel like this…
I felt like LA was Angel’s territory.
There was a possibility that I could get in and get out without him even knowing that I was here. There was no reason for me to stop in and see him. If I did I’d have to tell him why I was here and then it would seem like I was asking for his help. Which I didn’t want to do. I could track down one slayer on my own. Not to mention that he probably had more important things to do.
I’d gone over the reasons not to a hundred times in my mind last night.
But as much as I didn’t want to go through the awkwardness that would come from seeing him, I did want to. Call it morbid curiosity or whatever, but I wanted to see how he was doing. How often was I in LA anyway? And I still cared for him, even if it wasn’t to the painful degree that I used to. I’d always love Angel. To try to deny that would be like saying that being a Slayer was just a dangerous hobby I could quit at any time.
I sighed, standing up and sticking my hands in my pockets. So it was decided. We’d stop by Angel’s just to let them know we where here. I wouldn’t let him help with the Slayer search though, that was my deal. It should be the Council’s deal, actually, but I guess they have their hands full doing whatever they do over there.
It took me a couple of wrong turns, but I finally was able to locate a vending machine on the second floor. I dropped a couple of quarters in the slot and fished me out some strawberry pop-tarts and Xander a package of Twinkies. I made my way back to the room telling myself that checking in with Angel didn’t have to be a big deal. At least I had Xander with me. I couldn’t think of another person who would be so willing to end things if they started getting out of hand.
I opened the door only to find the bed empty. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, noticing that the bathroom door was closed. I flipped on the TV and began eating my pop tart, quickly realizing that I should have gotten a drink to wash it down with. Oh well, I guess you live and learn.
I mean it’s not everyday that you wake up in a hotel room with your best friend. And forget about with your male best friend. Needless to say the discovery threw me off a little. Thoughts about what the hell had happened the night before ran through my mind, along with the question of how much alcohol had been consumed. Alcohol and this Slayer never mixed. Mostly it just left me shaken. Like now.
My heart was beating a million miles a moment as I replayed last night’s events in my mind. I’d gotten a phone call from Giles, learned about a third watcher who apparently was activated for some unknown reason, and then Xander had offered to come with me to LA. We’d talked on the ride up here, a little about Willow, a lot more about random things that weren’t so painful and then…
I gave a huge sigh of relief. And then the only room available had one bed and we’d both refused to let the other sleep on the floor or in the car. So I’d slept under the covers and Xander had slept on top. I pulled the covers back and was even more relieved to find myself fully clothed. Talk about a heart attack.
I mean, I loved Xander, but I didn’t love Xander.
Xander shifted slightly beside me and I paused, not wanting to wake him up yet. We’d both been exhausted when we’d gotten here last night and I was pretty sure that this Slayer search was going to take some serious detective work. Judging from the weak light coming in through the hotel window it was pretty early, anyway. I gently got off the bed, trying to move it as little as possible and threw the covers over Xander who looked kind of cold. Poor guy, we should have called and asked for a blanket for him last night. I grabbed my bag by the TV and headed for the bathroom deciding to take a quick shower and get dressed.
Twenty minutes later I was wearing clean clothes and feeling wide awake. I peeked out of the bathroom door only to find Xander had moved towards the middle of the bed somehow in his sleep. I didn’t bother blow drying my hair, pretty sure that would wake Xander up even if he was a hard sleeper. Instead I swept it up into a soggy bun and threw on my jacket. I jotted down a quick note that I was off in search of breakfast before grabbing the room key and letting myself out as quietly as I could.
The hotel wasn’t anything fancy. I wasn’t even sure how many stars it had, if it had any. We’d kind of stopped at the first one we’d come to. I walked down the hall past some maids who looked like they’d rather be anywhere but here before they disappeared inside a room. I opened a door at the end of the hall and suddenly found myself at the pool. It was deserted.
There was something about the stillness of it and the soft sound of the water splashing against its sides that drew me onward. I sat on the edge of a white sunning chair and stared at the calm blueness of it. I wish I felt as calm inside.
The truth was the idea of being here in LA was strange. Sure, there was a time when coming to LA was a welcome relief from time on the Hellmouth. When I would be hitting up all my favorite shoe stores and the chic booths that were mentioned in the magazines I used to read like there was no tomorrow. But it’d been a long time since I was that girl. Not to mention that as much as I knew it was silly for me to feel like this…
I felt like LA was Angel’s territory.
There was a possibility that I could get in and get out without him even knowing that I was here. There was no reason for me to stop in and see him. If I did I’d have to tell him why I was here and then it would seem like I was asking for his help. Which I didn’t want to do. I could track down one slayer on my own. Not to mention that he probably had more important things to do.
I’d gone over the reasons not to a hundred times in my mind last night.
But as much as I didn’t want to go through the awkwardness that would come from seeing him, I did want to. Call it morbid curiosity or whatever, but I wanted to see how he was doing. How often was I in LA anyway? And I still cared for him, even if it wasn’t to the painful degree that I used to. I’d always love Angel. To try to deny that would be like saying that being a Slayer was just a dangerous hobby I could quit at any time.
I sighed, standing up and sticking my hands in my pockets. So it was decided. We’d stop by Angel’s just to let them know we where here. I wouldn’t let him help with the Slayer search though, that was my deal. It should be the Council’s deal, actually, but I guess they have their hands full doing whatever they do over there.
It took me a couple of wrong turns, but I finally was able to locate a vending machine on the second floor. I dropped a couple of quarters in the slot and fished me out some strawberry pop-tarts and Xander a package of Twinkies. I made my way back to the room telling myself that checking in with Angel didn’t have to be a big deal. At least I had Xander with me. I couldn’t think of another person who would be so willing to end things if they started getting out of hand.
I opened the door only to find the bed empty. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, noticing that the bathroom door was closed. I flipped on the TV and began eating my pop tart, quickly realizing that I should have gotten a drink to wash it down with. Oh well, I guess you live and learn.