| ********** ********** How do I live without you? I want to know. How do I breathe without you, if you ever go. . . How do I ever, ever survive? How do I., How do I, How do I live? Without you. . .There would be no sun in my sky. There would be no love in my life. There would be no world left for me. . . And I. . Baby I don't know what I would do. I'd be lost if I lost you. If you ever go, baby you would take away everything good in my life. . .And tell me now. . . How do I live without you? ********** ********** A teenage girl blinked away the tears as she lowered the small wrinkled paper to her side. "Oh, Riley. . .You have no idea. . ." She whispered to the tall man's retreating form. The paper made a crunching sound as she squeezed it between her fingers. Taking a calming breath, she sighed to herself and tossed his love for her into the garbage bin. The blonde girl felt a tugging at her side and looked down to meet the green, innocent eyes of Kayla. "Wus da madder Buppy?" The little girl hugged her teddy bear to her chest. It stared back at her with its one button eye as if waiting for an answer itself. Kayla tilted her head to the side, her brown locks falling over her eyes. Buffy sent her a small smile and shook her head, "Nothing's the matter." The little girl squinted at the taller one, then her nose wrinkled. "Well, you don' wook wike you usually do." The blonde laughed, "Oh?" She crouched down, "And what do I usually 'wook wike'?" Kayla continued to squint and put her hand on her hips, "Your eyes aren't a'ways. . ." she explained, thin lips creating a perfect 'o' when she said 'always.' Buffy frowned when she didn't continue, "Always what?" The small girl sighed and brought a hand to Buffy's cheek. "Your eyes. . .Day so sad." Buffy sniffed and blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill over. Brushing some brown locks out of Kayla's face, she commented, "You're a very perceptive girl, you know that?" Her face scrunched up again, "Is dat a good thing?" Buffy laughed and scooped the girl up and into her arms, "Depends." Nuzzling the girls hair, she scolded lightly, "Why are you up so late? You're supposed to be asleep." The tiny bundle threw a sheepish grin, "I saw you walk by my room and then I saw your pro. . .tect. . .errr. . ." Buffy smiled at that as she carried Kayla to her room, "You saw my protector? Riley?" The small girl wrinkled her nose and shook her head, "No, not Wiley. I saw- " "Kayla! Oh, there you are," a chubby, old woman with gray hair wobbled into the room with a clipboard, "It's late. You really should be in sleep, doctors orders." she reached for Kayla who rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be leaded back to her room. Waving goodnight to the blonde teenager, the small girl disappeared with the chubby woman behind the closing elevator doors. Buffy stared silently at the shut doors, memories flashing back to the time when her own mother had been the one to wave goodbye to her. Her mother had loved her so much, but when her family found out, her family was torn apart- Buffy shook her head. Best not to think about those things. They're things of the past. The past doesn't matter because you can't do anything about it. Sighing to herself, she walked over to the front counter and greeted the late-shift employee, with a wave, while the girl ended her call. "Hello, Buffy. How are you doing?" The blonde at the desk asked after setting the phone back into its cradle. Buffy shrugged, "You know. Same ol'. Same ol'." The girl nodded, "Ah, I see. So things aren't going well?" Sighing, she hopped onto the counter and replied, "Yeah. . .You know me too well, Tara." Tara laughed and shook her head, "Well, I do. But it may also have something to do with me just seeing Riley walk out of here a few minutes ago," she paused and waited for Buffy's reaction. Nothing but her face turning away. "He looked upset." Buffy finally looked back at the employee with sad eyes. "Of course he's upset." She pressed her palms to her eyes, "They're all always upset. It's not my fault though." She began to sniff, her breath coming out unevenly. "I- I warn them, t-they all know what they're g-getting into. . .they're a- all just so s-stubborn!" Tara looked at her friend, helpless. This was the third guy who broke up with Buffy and Tara knew, she couldn't do anything about it but hand her tissues and hold her while she cried. Soothing words would do nothing but hurt her best friend even more. . .because they both knew that what she said would mean nothing, do nothing. Buffy's silent sobs subsided and she dabbed her eyes dry. "I'm ok, now. I'm fine." Tara smiled, "That's good." after a beat, the blonde asked, "Hey. Why don't we go out and get something to eat? I'll get someone else to cover for me." Buffy smiled gratefully but frowned. "But it's late," she pointed out. Tara spun in her chair to glance at the clock, "So?" Buffy laughed. "We can get something at Taco Bell-" Sirens cut off her suggestion and flickering lights shone through the automatic sliding doors. An ambulance pulled up and brought in a man bleeding heavily. "Oh my God," Tara gasped, jogging over to the patient. Buffy's eyes widened, "What happened to him?" "Motorcycle accident," a voice answered for her. "Oh God. . ." Buffy whispered as she watched the bloodied man being rolled by. His skin was so pale, such a contrast to the red that surrounded him. His eyes opened a crease and Buffy gasped at the blueness of his eyes. She felt something tug at her at the sight of him. Something that she couldn't quite place her finger on. . . She unconsciously followed them down the hall and into the emergency room. Tara finally noticed her inside the room as well and proceeded to push her out, "Buffy, you can't be in here." Buffy tried to see over Tara's shoulder, "I know, but-" "Buffy, you know this. You can't be in here." "I-" "Buffy!" "Alright!" Buffy finally gave up and slumped into one of the black chairs lining the wall right outside the room. Lost in her thoughts, Buffy failed to notice the male sitting across from her until she heard someone sniff. Pulling her head up, she met the brown, soulful eyes of a brunette man. In pure sincerity, Buffy asked, "Are you alright?" The man stared into her eyes, "That's my brother in there." * * * * * * * |
| ::How do I:: |