See chapter one for disclaimer.
Riley Finn wandered along the beach, looking for his friend. They were supposed to meet at the beach front burger stand called Mo’s, and he couldn’t for the life of him remember where it was. Damn shame too, he thought, they had great milkshakes last time he was there. His cellphone vibrated on his hip, and he jumped and looked around.
D’Oblique served food, and they had a vibrating pager system so the servers didn’t have to be able to see anything or hear anything to tell when their food was coming up. It was rather like Pavlov’s dog; the pager goes off and one heads straight for the kitchen. They often put pagers on the manager as well, which created a moment of confusion (“Where’s the kitchen from here?”) for Riley.
He rolled his eyes at himself as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. “Finn -- um, hello?”
The voice on the other end giggled. “Riley, where are you?”
“I’m on the beach, but I can’t find Mo’s.”
Willow grinned to herself. She’d pulled her hair up under her baseball cap and put on some cat’s eye sunglasses, and she’d been watching him pace back and forth for about fifteen minutes. “Turn around and look behind you.” She waved at him.
“Aw, dammit.” he said. “Why didn’t you say anything before? I walked past you three times.”
“I had my hair up in a baseball cap -- Cordelia says sunlight is bad for your hair.” She smiled and they both hung up their phones as he got within talking distance.
He smiled back and tried to stop himself from staring at her long legs. “Shouldn’t you be wearing sunblock?”
“Believe me, I am.” She stood up. “Actually, it’s about time for me to get out of the sun. I’m going for more of a healthy glow like Buffy’s than a tan like Cordie’s.”
She said the magic name, Riley thought. Now we’re going to talk about Buffy.
They wandered through the umbrella-shaded patio dining area. Willow chose a table near the back, in full shade. The umbrella was printed with marching elephants in full circus gear.
"We’re becoming very LA, aren’t we?” she asked.
He nodded. “You’re tanning, and we both have a cellphone.”
They ordered lunch -- Riley got his milkshake -- and enjoyed the afternoon.
Gunn scratched his head and turned to his girlfriend:
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asked, pointing off into the distance. They were sitting on the beach, enjoying a rare and well-deserved afternoon off.
Cordelia looked off into the distance. “Willow and a guy. I saw that a few minutes ago.”
“Yeah,” he said. “But I thought she was gay.”
“Uhm.” She exhaled. “I noticed.”
“I guess we’ll find out when we get back.” Gunn turned back to the ocean and took her hand. “You saw it and you didn’t say anything?”
She squeezed it and said, “They have to walk past here to get to the parking lot.” Smiling slightly, she continued, “Patience is a virtue, dear.”
They had been meeting every other day since their first chance encounter at D’Oblique. Riley called her, two days afterwards, and asked her to meet him at a bar on the other side of town. He seemed to know the nightlife of the city, and seemed to want his old friend to experience it in all its facets.
In reality, he enjoyed watching Willow see the different rowdy, risqué, and off the wall atmospheres and people he had become accustomed to through the fresh eyes of a small-town girl. He’d found himself admiring her more and more as the weeks flew by. Her face radiated peace to him. It seemed that she always wore the expression of the cat who ate the canary, and was satisfied; as though she were a woman who had experienced her biggest fears and fondest wish, and survived.
And so it was her beautiful, serene emerald eyes, her curly red mop pinned on top of her head, and her slender strong hands that attracted Riley Finn the first time he’d seen her again, but now it was her sharp, engaging mind that kept him coming back for more.
“Riley?” She smiled at him. “Are you in there?”
His attention snapped back to her. “Oh! Wha?”
She leaned back, laughed, and waved her feet in the air like an old maid. “I just realized that neither of us has said anything for almost five minutes.”
“We were enjoying a comfortable silence.” Riley reached for her hand. “Friends do that.”
She took his hand in hers and turned it over and stared at his palm. Willow stared at what she saw. A sharp, spiking line went through the middle of his life line, and then continued all the way around the back of his hand to his thumb.
He red hair swayed as she nodded slowly. “Friends do hold hands.”
“How have you been?” He asked after the moment faded. “I haven’t seen you since Thursday.”
“Thursday night some demons broke into my house and stole my curio cabinet doors.”
“Decorator demons?” He asked, smiling.
She chuckled and shook her head. “That’s what I said. No, these demons are the Sisterhood of Jhe. They like to open Hellmouths, and Sunnydale was a stop on the Evil World Tour a few years ago.”
“The Evil World Tour?” Riley laughed and took a sip of water. Their food came, and Willow’s cola, and they began to eat, continuing their conversation between bites.
“Yes. There is more than one hellmouth, you know. This is just the one we live on. There are three more in the world.” Her sandwich dripped, and she scrambled not to get anything on her slacks.
Riley reached over just in time and put a napkin on her lap. His hand brushed her thigh and their eyes met. He said, “Three more? Where?”
“Well, there’s Boca del Infierno, here in America, one called in Seward’s Folly in the far northeastern tip of Siberia, one called Xian Pu in China, and one in the coral reef in Australia.” Willow smiled. “I spent a lot of time with Giles, studying, after Tara died.”
Riley choked. “Tara died?”
“Remember Glory?” Willow said quietly.
“Oh. I’m sorry.” He meant it.
“It was a long time ago. It still makes me sad, but now it’s sort of....bittersweet.
She changed the subject. “Well, the Jhe are a sect of warty blue demon chicks, who are trying to open a permanent passage to Hell from this plane. They go around and open Hellmouths, and they’re going to try again. We just don’t see why they need stained glass pieces from my apartment.
“We called Giles, and he agreed to fax us some information about them. He’s still getting things together, but he’s sent up some stuff.” Willow sat back. “So I’ve been staying with Angel, in his apartment. Thank goodness for a good landlord.”
“You’ve been staying with Angel?” He said, confused. “You and Angel?”
Willow threw her head back and laughed. “No...he sleeps on the couch. I sleep in the bed. And it’s only until tonight. I’m glad you have the afternoon free, though. I’ve been doing some thinking.”
“About what?”
“I thought you might be interested in.... helping us out every now and then.” Willow leaned her chin on her palm and pushed her plate away. “We could always use more help, and you have all that experience.”
Riley shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a very good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” Riley asked. “Willow, I used to go out with his ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh. Right.” She said. “So what are you doing spending so much time with her best friend?”
“I’m not sure.” Riley said evenly. “I know I like you.”
“And I like you, Riley Finn, I want you to know that.” Willow took his hand again. “And I don’t want to stop seeing you.”
“But you want ground rules.” He said, gripping her hand. “Such as?”
“We don’t tell Buffy, or anyone in Sunnydale. We should really keep this casual, given my line of work/” She felt at a loss.
He nodded. “Agreed. But we’re not going to be able to avoid the LA family. Look.”
Willow saw Cordelia and Gunn, sitting across the patio, pretending not to see them, but positioned so she and Riley would have to walk past them to leave the dining area. “That girl is seriously everywhere, isn’t she?”
“If you say so. I never really met her.” Riley said. “Has she always been like that?”
“Now that you mention it....” Willow collected her bag and hat, and stood up. “I’ll get lunch if you meet me by that palm tree over there.”
Riley looked in the direction she was pointing, and saw a gap in the fence that led to the bathrooms. He smiled and nodded. “But I’ll get it.”
“Have it your way.” Her eyes twinkled as she wandered over to the palm trees to wait.
Riley dropped his money on the table and followed her. They walked up to the port-a-potties and Willow pointed up the path further. “Rear exit.”
“Avoiding your friends?” He asked.
“I thwart Cordelia every chance I get. Just wait until I see her. She’ll be so pissed.”
“Want to go somewhere else?” He asked as they reached the parking lot. “I’ve got all night.”
“Unless, my pager goes off, so do I.”
“Cocktails?”
“Let’s. I could go for a martini.”
At eleven o’clock, Willow downed her last drink. “I don’t think I need another one. I can’t feel my knees.”
Riley nodded. “I’ve had my hand on your knee for ten minutes.”
“I thought that was my purse.”
“You really can’t feel your knees.”
“But apparently you can.”
“An excellent observation.”
She smiled and stood up, then wobbled and fell back into her seat. “You’ll have to give me a piggyback ride.”
“Why?” He asked. “Because you want one?”
“Yep.” Willow wrinkled her nose at him. “And because you want to give me a ride.”
“Keep asking for it, missy, and I will.” He smiled and stood up, not wavering a bit. “You’re just lucky I have a high tolerance.”
He knelt in front of her chair and she wrapped her arms and legs loosely around his neck. He stood, and began to walk out the door. It swung shut, behind them, whacking Willow in the ass and sending them flying across the dimly lit alley into a wall.
“Oof!” Riley hit, chest first, and it knocked the wind out of him. His head snapped forward and collided with the brick, creating a small gash in his cheek. He fell back, landing on, and crushing, his very drunken friend.
They lay there for a moment, and then Riley rolled over. “Now that I have you here, what am I going to do with you?”
Her green eyes glittered in the orange alley light, and copper highlights beamed in her hair. Riley thought she looked like a modern-day Venus, laying on her back. He bent his head and slowly kissed her.
She responded coyly, then broke off the kiss and laughed again, eyes twinkling. “I think you should get up, and we should take this conversation elsewhere.”
“It’s amazing -- you can’t walk at all but your words don’t slur.” He stood, and pulled her up. Riley put his hands on her waist and heaved her up to sling her over his shoulder. “And you don’t weigh anything.”
“Sure I do. You probably can’t feel your arms, is all.” She felt ridiculous, slung over facing his rear end, and talking up to him.
They reached the street, and Riley set her down, and waved his arm to hail a passing taxi. They got in, and Riley said an address. The engine roared as the driver sped up the street.
“Where are we going?” Willow asked.
“My place.” Riley said. “And the inevitable end of our conversation.”
“And what’s that?”
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, and her slow, canary eating smile returned.
The cab raced on, not fast enough for either.