Date Night

Buffy stared at the plaster ceiling and sighed. She shoved the heavy comforter off her legs and torso and looked over at the clock radio on the bedside table. 9:30pm. The early hour seemed to taunt her with its large, red, illuminated numbers.

It was Friday night. Date night. The one night of the week she gave herself the night off (barring apocalypses) so that she and her boyfriend, Preston, could spend at least one uninterrupted evening together. After the fall of Sunnydale, the blonde had worked hard to form a kind of balance between being a slayer and being a twenty-something. The Chosen One hadn't really dated since Riley - if you didn't count Spike - which Buffy didn't. No, she really didn't.

The destruction of the California Hellmouth and the activation of thousands of young slayers allowed Buffy the mental assurance that at least one night a week she could take a break from being Buffy the Vampire Slayer and instead just be Buffy the Girlfriend.

There was just one problem with her plan, however. Her boyfriend was passed out in her bed.

Unable to sleep herself at the early hour, Buffy swung her bare legs out of bed and stood up. The wooden floor creaked noisily as she exited the bedroom, but the blonde slayer didn't worry about waking up her snoring boyfriend. Her unsuspecting partner could sleep through just about anything. Although she hadn't tried the apocalypse thing just yet.

Buffy had taken half the day off at her student counseling job at Cleveland High to spend the afternoon preparing for that evening's Date Night. Although she and her boyfriend of nearly six months generally went out on Fridays, the California native had spent the afternoon preparing dinner - a fancy pasta dish she had seen Giada make on the Food Network. She had gone all out, making the noodles from scratch rather than emptying the contents of a cardboard box into a pot of boiling water.

The slayer grabbed her robe off the back of her desk chair as she left the bedroom. She sighed once again when she pulled the terrycloth belt around her lithe waist. Even her new lingerie was going unappreciated tonight.

Buffy padded down the narrow hallway, picking up discarded pieces of clothing as she went. She tossed the garments into a hamper in the guest bedroom before making her way towards the kitchen. The Californian flipped on the overhead track lighting and groaned. The kitchen sink was filled with dirty dishes from dinner and the burners on the gas range were cluttered with pots and pans.

“Tomorrow
,” Buffy silently promised herself.
“Tomorrow I'll pick all of this up.
”

Two large table bottles of cabernet sauvignon sat on the kitchen island. One was empty while the second bottle appeared half full. Buffy grabbed a clean wine glass from the cabinets and poured herself a generous glass. The slayer stared at the maroon mixture and swirled it around, watching the centrifugal motion slur the liquid around. She took a large swallow and set her glass down on the counter top.

She should have been angry at the wine. It was the wine's fault, after all, that Preston had passed out, and why the blonde was currently feeling neglected.

Buffy took another, smaller, sip of wine and stared out the kitchen window of her Cleveland home. Although she had insisted to Giles that an apartment would have been more than enough room for her and Dawn, the Englishman had insisted she take a single-family house as her new Cleveland residence. The newly-formed Council took care of the mortgage - compensation for the past, Giles had explained - and she was responsible for utilities and her own personal expenses.

The three bedroom, one and a half bath, ranch-style house had felt empty lately. Dawn was spending the summer before her first year of college abroad, visiting Willow and Giles in Scotland, leaving her sister alone most nights if Preston was sleeping at his own apartment in the Heights.

Buffy's former Watcher had pulled some strings to get Dawn into Oxford, but the Former Key ultimately decided to go to school closer to Buffy and would be attending classes in Columbus at Ohio State in the Fall instead.

Buffy glanced at the clock on the coffeemaker - it wasn't yet ten o'clock. The blonde released another disgruntled sigh. Taking her wine glass with her, Buffy left the kitchen and sat down at the dining room table where she had left her laptop. Normally the computer remained in Buffy's bedroom, but she had brought it out so she and Preston could enjoy some ambiance music during the homemade dinner.

The slayer set her half-filled wine glass on the table and opened her laptop. The screen immediately illuminated, filling the dining room with its light. Buffy logged into her email. Dawn had tried to teach her some computer basics, but beyond email, Googling, and Youtube, the Californian's Internet acumen was still limited.

The golden-haired slayer scanned down the short list of new emails. Nothing popped out at her as especially important - discounts for Amazon.com, a Forward from Willow that she imagined was another joke that she wouldn't understand, and something promising to enlarge the size of her penis. She quickly deleted everything in her inbox.

Buffy swallowed another mouthful of wine and thought about the rest of the bottle sitting abandoned in the kitchen. Drinking alone didn't make her an alcoholic, did it? Was she to blame that Preston couldn't handle splitting a table bottle over dinner? The blonde had always considered herself a lightweight when it came to alcohol consumption, but her 6'1” boyfriend's performance tonight had created a new definition to that concept.

The Chosen One was about to close her laptop and admit defeat for the night when a quiet, almost imperceptible `ping' alerted her. A small box popped up on the laptop screen:
“
GoSox03
would like to chat. Do you accept?”

Buffy furrowed her eyebrows together. Dawn had set up a chat account for her on an Instant Message program so the two could chat for free while Dawn was abroad. But with the time difference and their busy schedules, however, the two sisters hadn't been able to connect online yet.

Buffy couldn't imagine why her sister would have chosen `GoSox03' as her screen name, but she didn't think anyone else had her online handle. Buffy didn't even know what her own handle was. The blonde clicked the `Accept' button and the small chat window expanded.

GoSox03:
Hey there, stranger. What you doin at home so early on a Friday nite? Things dead on your end?

Buffy frowned. Apparently this person knew her, but she didn't want to let on that she had no idea who was on the other end.

Buf_E_99:
hey there
,
yourself.

she responded noncommitally. Buffy took another sip of wine.

GoSox03:
didn't expect to see you online. Didn't think u were the type.

One of Buffy's eyebrows rose. Wasn't `the type'? What was that supposed to mean? That she wasn't smart enough to use Chat? She snorted through her nose and rapidly typed a reply.

Buf_E_99:
guess I'm full of surprises.

GoSox03: *
laughs*
you do have a way of always surprising me, it's true.

Buffy looked perplexed. Her? Surprising? Maybe she didn't even know this person. Maybe it was one of those Spam Robots that Dawn had warned her about. Seriously, why would robots be sponsored by a meat-alternative? Technology was seriously evil.

She looked down the darkened hallway and suddenly remembered that her boyfriend was in her bed. Passed out, yes. But still in her bed. And yet here she was - awake, drinking wine, and chatting online with a stranger.

“Oh fuck it,” she murmured to herself as her fingers moved over the white keyboard.

Buf_E_99:
So. How are things?

GoSox03:
Oh, you know. Same `ol crap, justa different city.

Buf_E_99:
You're in a different city?

Buffy prodded, trying to garner more clues as to whom she was talking.

GoSox03
:
naw, I'm still in Boston. Just feels different `cause I'm not camped out in Southie anymore. The Council's got me camped out in some swank digs. I should really call Giles to thank him.

Buffy nearly tipped over her wine glass. She suddenly realized who the stranger was.

Buf_E_99:
Faith?

GoSox03:
Yeah?

The Californian felt her skin momentarily flush. She hadn't talked to the brunette in nearly half a year. After Sunnydale fell, the younger slayer had stuck around Cleveland for a short while, but when the original Scoobies split up to take care of different parts of the globe, the Boston-native had returned to her hometown to help oversee the Northeast with Robin Wood. Although Buffy was always up-to-date with how their cell-operations were going, since she was still the Number One Slayer, she hadn't actually
talked
with Faith since she'd left.

Buf_E_99:
How did you get my online name?

GoSox03:
Willow sent out an email with everyone's screen name, Blondie. She thought it might be handy if we ever had to web conference or something. Didn't you get her message?

A tiny light bulb illuminated above the blonde's head. That must have been the Forward from her redheaded friend that she had deleted without reading. Willow must have gotten her handle from Dawn, she guessed.

Now that she knew it was Faith, and not a random stranger on the other end of the computer connection, the blonde suddenly was at a loss for conversation. She could make small-chat with a random person, but not her sister-Slayer. Buffy stared, intimidated by the screen and the blinking cursor awaiting her next words.

GoSox03:
you still there, B?

Buf_E_99:
uh, yeah. Just went to the kitchen to get some more wine

she lied.

GoSox03:
*grins*
nice work, Blondie. Now I won't feel like I'm an alcoholic, drinking this beer by myself. We can be drinking buddies.

Buf_E_99:
I've gotta warn you. I'm a bit of a lightweight. You might drink me under the table.

GoSox03:
I promise to behave myself if you get too trashed. Scouts honor. I'll keep my hands to myself and everything.
*wiggles eyebrows*

Buf_E_99:
Sure this is really Faith? `Cause the Faith I know wouldn't promise something like that.

GoSox03:
Maybe we should get re-acquainted then…

Buffy paused before responding. She re-read the brunette's words carefully. Was Faith flirting with her? Was she flirting back? And was she actually having
fun
doing so?

GoSox03:
Still there? Or, getting more wine?

Buf_E_99:
Here. Still here. What are you doing tonight?

GoSox03:
Honestly? Just came in from an early patrol. Now I'm looking at porn.

Buf_E_99:
You so are not.

GoSox03:
I so am too. Want me to send ya some links to keep you warm
?

The blonde slayer's eyes flipped wide open. If she had been drowsy before, she was wide awake now. She furiously typed a response so Faith didn't think she was actually considering her offer.

Buf_E_99:
Ohmygod. Don't you dare.

GoSox03:
You sure? I bet it's chilly in Cleveland tonight.

Buf_E_99:
Thanks for the offer, but I'm okay. Besides, I'm sure my boyfriend wouldn't appreciate me looking at porn.

GoSox03:
Oooooh. Boyfriend?! Lookit you, Blondie getting yourself some. So where's your boy-toy tonight? Must not be that good of a guy to leave you all by yourself on this chilly Friday night ;)

Buffy bristled. Sure Preston might have passed out after a few glasses of wine, but that didn't give Faith the right to make fun of him. That was her job, not the Boston slayer's.

Buf_E_99:
Preston is a great guy. In fact
, he's coming over soon. Friday
s are our date nights. He just had to work late tonight
.

GoSox03:
Working
late, eh? Isn't that code for “
I'm cheating on
you with someone in the office?”

Buf_E_99:
He's not cheating on me. That's not what that means. Don't forget that WE `work late' all the time.

GoSox03:
True, but something tells me Preston isn't a Slayer. Unless you found yourself another demon-hunter? Or wait, he's not a vampire is he? That must be it.
Some things never change, do they B?