Fic: Closet: Vibrations
Title: Closet: Vibrations
Pairing: Wordy. Translation for the n00bs: Willow/Cordelia
Setting: AtS S1/BtVS S4 shortly before The Yoko Factor
Rating: PG
Warnings: Closets. Hey, closets can be scary!!!
Word count: 1,530
Summary: Willow and Cordelia see each other in Sunnydale for the first time since their falling out. Things are different now, though...
Image by xlivvielockex
This fic is the fifth part in a series. Check out the series index.
"So tomorrow I was thinking...we could go to the shelter and adopt a cat...together..."
If there were anything sweeter in the world, Willow didn't think she'd seen it. And she doubted it existed anyway. Because this girl, this beautiful, powerful girl, was it. Was everything. And she was changing everything. Things now began with Tara. Things now ended with Tara.
Willow had never felt so wholly a part of someone else.
"Yeah, that'd be fun." Willow smiled. "Oh! Then we could figure out what classes we're taking next semester."
Tara nodded eagerly. Their hands were almost, though not quite, touching. They were at the Bronze, listening to the band play. Somehow, it still seemed too public. Like it would be exposing something too new and fragile and vulnerable in this huge crowd of people.
"I gotta go. I have that final early tomorrow..." Tara said.
"Right. I kinda wanna stay and watch the rest of the set. If that's okay...?"
"Of course." Tara stood up. "I'll...uh...see you tomorrow then."
Willow smiled. Almost touching. "Yeah."
Then she was gone, and the band was playing and Willow was buzzing with happiness and rightness and everything was perfect.
Until she looked at the dance floor and saw her. A sparkly shirt and tight jeans with hair pulled back, and a carefree look on her face. Cordelia. Cordelia who should be in L.A., but was here, instead, for some reason.
Oh, yeah, and Cordelia who had cavalierly punched at her heart while flashing her appealing assets at her in squealing, malevolent glee.
Okay, so maybe there hadn't been squealing. But there had been assets that had been dangled, just without any sort of, you know, emotional invest like Willow had been hoping. Then there had been disappointment and rejection and all-around badness.
Maybe she could slip out of the Bronze without Cordelia even noticing her. She'd miss the rest of the band, but being seen by Cordelia right now would be way, way worse. Especially after the Oz thing had just happened. This was not fair. What next? Xander showing up in formalwear?
Willow stood as the band finished their song. The dancing crowd paused for the brief break in between songs. If Willow didn't look over there, nobody would look at her. It was a perfect plan! Everybody knew that if you couldn't see someone, they couldn't see you! Right?
She had made it halfway to the door when she heard a distinctly Cordelia-like voice call her name.
Obviously, this was a coincidence, and Cordelia was actually yelling, "Hello!" or "Will Hole!" or "Well, no!" or something like that. Cause...invisible, right?
Just as Willow had almost made it to the exit, though, she was grabbed and pulled into the dark janitor's closet. She pushed back against her abductor in the small confines, but she only succeeded in knocking herself off-balance and falling backwards against a shelf of what smelled like cleaning supplies.
"Ow! Geez!" The light clicked on, and there was Cordelia. "What's your problem?"
"My problem," Willow said as she stood upright. "Is you being here instead of in L.A. where you should be! And why are you here anyway? And...you have bruises. Why do you have bruises?"
Okay, getting sidetracked.
"These bruises are why I'm here. That crazy killer, Faith, that you sent our way decided it'd be fun to use me and Wesley to practice her punching skills. For some reason, Angel's letting her live with him. So here I am, cause I am not working upstairs from that psycho girl!"
It's obvious she'd tried to cover the bruise with make-up, but Willow could still see the rough outline of the dark splotch around her eye and cheekbone. The flickering fluorescent light of the closet just made it stand out more. Willow reached a hand, almost touching it. Not quite though. Outside, the music of the club hummed.
"Faith," Willow said. "Yeah, Buffy just went down to L.A. to help with that. But...Angel's living with her?"
"I know. He thinks he can 'reform' her or something. So I took some vacation time and came up here to visit some friends. I'll go back down when he finally wises up and kills her. Or, you know, she kills him. In which case, I'm thinking Bermuda."
Yikes! "Hopefully Buffy can talk some sense into him."
"And you're totally ignoring the question I asked, Willow. What's the deal? I call your name, and you try to pull a Houdini."
Suddenly, every part of the closet but Cordelia seemed interesting. Like the toilet brush. Actually, that was kinda ew. Willow made a mental note to never use the bathroom at the Bronze, and to make sure her loved ones never did, either.
"Willow?"
Cordelia's voice forced Willow's attention back to her. Cordelia, blocking the exit, waiting with not-very-patient expectance for an answer.
But why was Cordelia being all demanding? Cause Willow had a right to not want to talk to her! Willow's the wronged one! She just saw the bruises and felt all sympathetic and that gave Cordelia the upper hand, but Willow suddenly remembered the whys and all, and her determination came back to her.
"It shouldn't be that hard to figure out, you know. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms last time."
Cordelia was quiet. Willow wished, not for the first time, that Cordelia would be more expressive. Instead, her face was like a mask. Willow could never figure out what she was thinking.
Though, usually, Cordelia was more than willing to let everybody know exactly what she was thinking.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I guess I was hoping to see you when I came up here. Because we were...close, and I miss that. And especially now because there's been a lot of changes in my life since then, and I've changed. I wanna make things better with you."
No, no, no! Willow wanted to cover her ears to avoid hopping on the "what could've been" merry-go-round.
"I'm seeing someone now," Willow blurted out.
Cordelia looked surprised. "Oh. What's his name?"
"Her name is Tara."
Outside, the band had stopped playing and the house music was on. The vibrations resounded through the dirt-covered confines of the closet.
"Well, there you go!" Cordelia said finally. "I mean, you got it. It. And...that's good…for you. So that makes us in the past, right?"
It felt like someone was sucking the air from her chest. Not just the air. The tissue, the blood, the organs...everything. She was empty, and it ached. "Do you want us to be in the past?"
"Of course not, you dummy! When we were together it was like...special, you know? Like I could be someone that was closer to me than I usually am. I wanted that, but anything more...it's just too much. With the distance and the whole lesbian thing and now with the visions - "
"The what?"
"Oh, I get visions from The Powers. See person in need, send Angel out to save them, yadda yadda yadda. It's kinda like being a 911 dispatch for Good. Just with massive headaches and no benefits."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So I have to be there in L.A. with Angel. I don't have a choice now."
Willow nodded. "So things are better this way."
Cordelia sighed. She grabbed Willow's hand. "Things can be better this way."
Willow's head was all spinny now. She didn't even know what they were arguing about. What did she want anyway? Tara? Cordelia? Hadn't everything been perfect? So why did Cordelia touching her feel like that last part of the jigsaw puzzle being put in place?
"Cordy," she said, looking down at her shoes. "Can't we just..."
"Just...be friends?" Cordelia finished.
Willow looked up at her while nodding. She squeezed Cordy's hand. "Just..I want you in my life somehow. I need you. And now...we can't be with each other like that obviously cause...well, obviously. But we can still..."
"Be there for each other."
"Yeah."
Cordy smiled. "Good."
Then she was kissing Willow. It was unexpected, and Willow hesitated a brief second before melting into it. Swept up by Cordelia's arm around her back, and the soft yet commanding insistences of Cordy's tongue. So Cordelia.
When they pulled apart, Willow's chest was no longer empty. Instead, it tingled. Well, her chest and other areas.
"That was - "
"Don't worry," Cordy said. "Wesley got one, too."
"Oh. Yeah, I'd hate to think I was special."
Cordy laughed. "I'm teasing, silly." She tucked Willow's hair back behind her ear. Her eyes softened. "You're very special to me. My little nerd. That was just...well, I couldn't resist now that we're good again. You don't...mind?"
"Mind? No!" Mind kissing Cordy? What a dumb question. "I'm glad. Um...do you need a place to stay for the night? I mean, I dorm with Buffy but she's out of town, so there's even a free bed if you need..."
"I was gonna stay with Brooke, but she lives with some loser boyfriend who smokes. Which...ew! So...yeah. That sounds good."
Perfect. The night had become perfect again.
Willow looked to the door. "Then...I guess we need to get out of this closet."
Pairing: Wordy. Translation for the n00bs: Willow/Cordelia
Setting: AtS S1/BtVS S4 shortly before The Yoko Factor
Rating: PG
Warnings: Closets. Hey, closets can be scary!!!
Word count: 1,530
Summary: Willow and Cordelia see each other in Sunnydale for the first time since their falling out. Things are different now, though...
Image by xlivvielockex
This fic is the fifth part in a series. Check out the series index.
"So tomorrow I was thinking...we could go to the shelter and adopt a cat...together..."
If there were anything sweeter in the world, Willow didn't think she'd seen it. And she doubted it existed anyway. Because this girl, this beautiful, powerful girl, was it. Was everything. And she was changing everything. Things now began with Tara. Things now ended with Tara.
Willow had never felt so wholly a part of someone else.
"Yeah, that'd be fun." Willow smiled. "Oh! Then we could figure out what classes we're taking next semester."
Tara nodded eagerly. Their hands were almost, though not quite, touching. They were at the Bronze, listening to the band play. Somehow, it still seemed too public. Like it would be exposing something too new and fragile and vulnerable in this huge crowd of people.
"I gotta go. I have that final early tomorrow..." Tara said.
"Right. I kinda wanna stay and watch the rest of the set. If that's okay...?"
"Of course." Tara stood up. "I'll...uh...see you tomorrow then."
Willow smiled. Almost touching. "Yeah."
Then she was gone, and the band was playing and Willow was buzzing with happiness and rightness and everything was perfect.
Until she looked at the dance floor and saw her. A sparkly shirt and tight jeans with hair pulled back, and a carefree look on her face. Cordelia. Cordelia who should be in L.A., but was here, instead, for some reason.
Oh, yeah, and Cordelia who had cavalierly punched at her heart while flashing her appealing assets at her in squealing, malevolent glee.
Okay, so maybe there hadn't been squealing. But there had been assets that had been dangled, just without any sort of, you know, emotional invest like Willow had been hoping. Then there had been disappointment and rejection and all-around badness.
Maybe she could slip out of the Bronze without Cordelia even noticing her. She'd miss the rest of the band, but being seen by Cordelia right now would be way, way worse. Especially after the Oz thing had just happened. This was not fair. What next? Xander showing up in formalwear?
Willow stood as the band finished their song. The dancing crowd paused for the brief break in between songs. If Willow didn't look over there, nobody would look at her. It was a perfect plan! Everybody knew that if you couldn't see someone, they couldn't see you! Right?
She had made it halfway to the door when she heard a distinctly Cordelia-like voice call her name.
Obviously, this was a coincidence, and Cordelia was actually yelling, "Hello!" or "Will Hole!" or "Well, no!" or something like that. Cause...invisible, right?
Just as Willow had almost made it to the exit, though, she was grabbed and pulled into the dark janitor's closet. She pushed back against her abductor in the small confines, but she only succeeded in knocking herself off-balance and falling backwards against a shelf of what smelled like cleaning supplies.
"Ow! Geez!" The light clicked on, and there was Cordelia. "What's your problem?"
"My problem," Willow said as she stood upright. "Is you being here instead of in L.A. where you should be! And why are you here anyway? And...you have bruises. Why do you have bruises?"
Okay, getting sidetracked.
"These bruises are why I'm here. That crazy killer, Faith, that you sent our way decided it'd be fun to use me and Wesley to practice her punching skills. For some reason, Angel's letting her live with him. So here I am, cause I am not working upstairs from that psycho girl!"
It's obvious she'd tried to cover the bruise with make-up, but Willow could still see the rough outline of the dark splotch around her eye and cheekbone. The flickering fluorescent light of the closet just made it stand out more. Willow reached a hand, almost touching it. Not quite though. Outside, the music of the club hummed.
"Faith," Willow said. "Yeah, Buffy just went down to L.A. to help with that. But...Angel's living with her?"
"I know. He thinks he can 'reform' her or something. So I took some vacation time and came up here to visit some friends. I'll go back down when he finally wises up and kills her. Or, you know, she kills him. In which case, I'm thinking Bermuda."
Yikes! "Hopefully Buffy can talk some sense into him."
"And you're totally ignoring the question I asked, Willow. What's the deal? I call your name, and you try to pull a Houdini."
Suddenly, every part of the closet but Cordelia seemed interesting. Like the toilet brush. Actually, that was kinda ew. Willow made a mental note to never use the bathroom at the Bronze, and to make sure her loved ones never did, either.
"Willow?"
Cordelia's voice forced Willow's attention back to her. Cordelia, blocking the exit, waiting with not-very-patient expectance for an answer.
But why was Cordelia being all demanding? Cause Willow had a right to not want to talk to her! Willow's the wronged one! She just saw the bruises and felt all sympathetic and that gave Cordelia the upper hand, but Willow suddenly remembered the whys and all, and her determination came back to her.
"It shouldn't be that hard to figure out, you know. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms last time."
Cordelia was quiet. Willow wished, not for the first time, that Cordelia would be more expressive. Instead, her face was like a mask. Willow could never figure out what she was thinking.
Though, usually, Cordelia was more than willing to let everybody know exactly what she was thinking.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I guess I was hoping to see you when I came up here. Because we were...close, and I miss that. And especially now because there's been a lot of changes in my life since then, and I've changed. I wanna make things better with you."
No, no, no! Willow wanted to cover her ears to avoid hopping on the "what could've been" merry-go-round.
"I'm seeing someone now," Willow blurted out.
Cordelia looked surprised. "Oh. What's his name?"
"Her name is Tara."
Outside, the band had stopped playing and the house music was on. The vibrations resounded through the dirt-covered confines of the closet.
"Well, there you go!" Cordelia said finally. "I mean, you got it. It. And...that's good…for you. So that makes us in the past, right?"
It felt like someone was sucking the air from her chest. Not just the air. The tissue, the blood, the organs...everything. She was empty, and it ached. "Do you want us to be in the past?"
"Of course not, you dummy! When we were together it was like...special, you know? Like I could be someone that was closer to me than I usually am. I wanted that, but anything more...it's just too much. With the distance and the whole lesbian thing and now with the visions - "
"The what?"
"Oh, I get visions from The Powers. See person in need, send Angel out to save them, yadda yadda yadda. It's kinda like being a 911 dispatch for Good. Just with massive headaches and no benefits."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So I have to be there in L.A. with Angel. I don't have a choice now."
Willow nodded. "So things are better this way."
Cordelia sighed. She grabbed Willow's hand. "Things can be better this way."
Willow's head was all spinny now. She didn't even know what they were arguing about. What did she want anyway? Tara? Cordelia? Hadn't everything been perfect? So why did Cordelia touching her feel like that last part of the jigsaw puzzle being put in place?
"Cordy," she said, looking down at her shoes. "Can't we just..."
"Just...be friends?" Cordelia finished.
Willow looked up at her while nodding. She squeezed Cordy's hand. "Just..I want you in my life somehow. I need you. And now...we can't be with each other like that obviously cause...well, obviously. But we can still..."
"Be there for each other."
"Yeah."
Cordy smiled. "Good."
Then she was kissing Willow. It was unexpected, and Willow hesitated a brief second before melting into it. Swept up by Cordelia's arm around her back, and the soft yet commanding insistences of Cordy's tongue. So Cordelia.
When they pulled apart, Willow's chest was no longer empty. Instead, it tingled. Well, her chest and other areas.
"That was - "
"Don't worry," Cordy said. "Wesley got one, too."
"Oh. Yeah, I'd hate to think I was special."
Cordy laughed. "I'm teasing, silly." She tucked Willow's hair back behind her ear. Her eyes softened. "You're very special to me. My little nerd. That was just...well, I couldn't resist now that we're good again. You don't...mind?"
"Mind? No!" Mind kissing Cordy? What a dumb question. "I'm glad. Um...do you need a place to stay for the night? I mean, I dorm with Buffy but she's out of town, so there's even a free bed if you need..."
"I was gonna stay with Brooke, but she lives with some loser boyfriend who smokes. Which...ew! So...yeah. That sounds good."
Perfect. The night had become perfect again.
Willow looked to the door. "Then...I guess we need to get out of this closet."