Nothing Important Happened Today
by Snoe
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, Faith, the Scoobs or pretty much anyone else.
Author's Notes: ANGST WARNING!!! Like…majorly. Once again I am making my
name by writing totally depressive fic…I'm sorry. I stole the title from an
X-Files ep and I needed a story to go with it…so here it is.
Dedication: Liv, cause I love ya babe! :) oh and my buddy Slimey the Dork ;)
Buffy made her way past the numerous graves hastily and looked up into the sky. She hoped it wouldn't rain, she had to hurry. Riley had called her not ten minutes ago, asking her to come over to his place. He'd said it was urgent and by the tone in his voice it had been evident he was very distraught. He needed to tell her something. Not that this statement alone didn't cause a horrible feeling to rise in the pit of her stomach, the fact that Riley was usually very calm made it even worse. Checking her watch, the blonde crossed the street and forced herself to walk a little faster. She also had plans for later with her friends and didn't want to be late for those; the sooner she got to Riley's, the faster she could leave. It wasn't that she didn't like Riley, but there was that whole issue of trust ever since that Initiative thing. Not to mention that he'd tried to flirt with her on numerous occasions, no matter how many times she told him she was taken. Maybe she really should've let Faith go after the guy.
Sighing at the absurdity of that thought, Buffy stopped in front of Lowell House and took a deep breath. But before she even had a chance to knock, the door was opened and a very stoic looking Riley faced her. She looked at him for a few seconds, not sure what she was supposed to say or whether she was even expected to, when he pulled her inside the house and ran a shaky hand through his hair.
"Riley, what's going on? You look horrible," she stated matter-of-factly, realizing that it had sounded more like an insult than anything else. But apparently he didn't notice, or care, for the blonde boy just rested a hand on her shoulder and took a deep breath.
"Buffy…there's…something you need to know."
"Okay…what is it Riley?" she asked again, hoping he'd finally just stop with the mysteriousness and tell her what the hell had him so distraught.
"Just a few hours ago we had a briefing…and…we were informed that uh…Buffy…the world is going to end and we can't do anything about it," he mumbled, nervousness seeping through the words.
"What?"
"There's a…uh…meteor, something…it's heading towards earth and no one can stop it. I just found out…they're letting military know so they can go home to be with their families. Civilians aren't supposed to find out 'cause…they…the government doesn't want a general panic. Nothing can be done Buffy," he trailed off, shaking his head as if he were angry at something and pulled his hand away from her.
Buffy stood, looking at him, feeling the color practically drain from her face. This couldn't be happening, she hadn't saved the world so many damn times from demons and vampires just to have a goddamn piece of rock kill them all. It just wasn't fair. Riley had to be wrong, maybe it was a joke, a prank.
"No Riley! I can't accept this…there…there's gotta be a way! Like rockets o-or space ships! Like in that movie with heroes and everyone cheering and…," she eventually trailed off, realizing how stupid this sounded. The military had probably already thought about all of that, they'd most likely known and just kept it a secret. "How long have they known?"
He looked away quickly, but returned his gaze, "About three weeks. They tried Buffy, they really did. But all calculations showed that even if we blow this thing up, it'll just impact in more places. They didn't want anyone to panic, there's nothing that can be done. This is no demon or vampire Buffy, you can't fight this either."
"Wh…when?" she croaked out, feeling the all too familiar tears rise in the back of her throat, but forcing them down.
"Tomorrow…morning. The scientists calculated impact to be at exactly 4:11 AM. It's supposed to hit somewhere off the coast of California, but you know the…the tidal waves and…," he started to explain, but Buffy stopped him with her hand and looked away. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening as far as she was concerned. Just a few minutes ago she'd been worried he'd be upset over something trivial, and now the whole world was going to fucking end. What was she supposed to tell her friends? She scoffed and blinked the tears away that were threatening an appearance very soon, then turned her head away from him. Why did he have to tell her this?
"Buffy, I…I figured you deserved to know…Spend some time with your family and friends…I'm…flying back home in about an hour, so…," once again he trailed off, not wanting to say what they both knew was obvious. They wouldn't see each other again. They'd both probably die tomorrow morning and Buffy closed her eyes for a split-second. He smiled wearily at her and she was actually afraid he'd want to hug her, but instead Riley held out his hand and she shook it, surprised.
"Good-bye, Buffy Summers," he said softly, squeezing her hand and nodded at her with that sad smile on his lips.
"Bye Riley," she mumbled, not sure whether she could choke out much more than that and watched him retreat with the realization that nothing was going to be the same.
How was she gonna explain this to Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and Faith? Buffy had been contemplating over the horrible news ever since leaving Riley's and she had almost reached her destination, without an answer. She knew that they deserved to know, had a right to realize that this would be their last time with the people they loved and spend it accordingly. However, she knew how she was feeling right now, how much despair, anger and pain cursed through her body and she wished Riley had never told her. She wished she could go on pretending, but it just wasn't that easy.
She stuffed her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket and tried to take a deep breath. Sunnydale's streets were rather busy and she had to dodge people on the sidewalk left and right. Little kids whining to their parents about wanting ice cream, which they would of course never end up getting no matter how many promises the mother gave about 'tomorrow'. Happy couples walking hand in hand, thinking they had the rest of their lives left to spend together. And then there were people fighting, yelling at each other, throwing around hurtful words as if they could be forgotten the next day and Buffy had to keep herself from yelling out to them that there wouldn't be another day. That they'd never get another chance to make up.
Stopping, she glanced absent-mindedly at the Espresso Pump and sighed. A perfectly fine day had just turned into one of the worst of her life, and considering her life that was a pretty hard task. Buffy closed her eyes for a second, trying to gather the courage to step in there and pretend everything was fine, when two arms circled around her waist and pulled her into a warm body. Just that simple gesture made her want to break down and cry. But instead she swallowed the lump in her throat and turned around in the arms with a smile that wasn't completely fake. She was happy to see her friends, her girlfriend, but the knowledge in the back of her mind kept nagging her, telling her this was the last time for everything. And knowing how much pain that caused her, how much she wished she could completely enjoy this last day with the people she loved, Buffy chose not to share the information about doomsday with anyone.
"Hey babe," she smiled softly, hoping that the other girl wouldn't be able to see the defeated look in her eyes, so she leaned up and pressed her lips to Faith's.
"Hey yourself," the other girl mumbled, pulling away with a smile and Buffy vowed that there was no way she'd tell the other girl, no way she'd take that brilliant smile away, "come on, the others are waiting."
Buffy followed the brunette into the Espresso Pump, never letting go of the other girl's hand and eventually sat down in a booth across from Willow, Tara and Anya. She managed to smile at them as well, a smile that was as much sad as it was happy that she was here with them. Faith sat down next to her, their bodies close enough to touch and the blonde had to remind herself that she wouldn't, couldn't tell her girlfriend about this. It'd taken Faith long enough to find some kind of happiness, for her to find true love. How exactly do you explain to the person you love the most that it's all going to be ripped away? That you can't protect them from getting hurt.
"Hey B…what's wrong?" came the gentle voice from the side and Buffy took another deep breath. She had to stop thinking about it, maybe then she'd be able to at least enjoy her last day on earth.
"Uh nothing…just spacing I guess. So, where's Xander?" she asked, trying to change the subject away from what she was thinking.
"Right here, bringing food for the ladies." Buffy looked up at her friend and smiled, then scooted over some more to make space for him. She watched intently as her girlfriend grinned at the cheeseburger in front of her, almost as if she was telling it 'I'm gonna eat you now' and couldn't help but smile. Reaching over, she stole a couple of fries off the plate and even managed to laugh at the look she received from Faith.
"Buffy! Get your own food," the girl growled and pulled the plate closer to her, making everyone else at the table giggle in response.
"Nah, I'm really not that hungry. And anyway…they taste better when I steal them from you," the blonde smiled at her girlfriend, who only rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Buffy leaned back, watching her friends interact, the way they joked easily with one another, teased each other and how there seemed to be nothing but good air between all of them. There was so much she wanted to tell them, yet didn't want to risk letting them know what was going on. There was no way she'd do that to them, no way she'd ruin their last day on this damn planet by telling them what lay ahead.
They all stood on the sidewalk, watching as the clouds got even darker overhead and Buffy wondered how she had completely missed the entire dinner. She'd been sitting there for almost an hour without saying a thing and not even realized it, too caught up in her thinking about the goddamn end of the world. And she couldn't help but curse herself for it. Wasting another hour of a day she wished to god would never end.
"So, are we Bronzing it tonight?" Xander asked, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his jacket with Anya on his arm. General agreements were uttered and the gang started walking in direction of the club, when Buffy stopped them.
"Uh guys?" she interrupted, knowing that if they went to the Bronze they'd be there well into the early hours of the morning and she'd never get a chance to really be with them.
"What is it, Buffy?" someone questioned her, walking up in front of her as she turned her head to look at Faith, who was standing next to her, their hands tightly clasped together.
"I'm really not in the mood for the Bronze. Would you guys mind if we just rented some movies and went back to my place?" She sighed in relief as they shrugged, either option fine with them and everyone turned around to walk into the other direction.
"Sooo…can we can lots of junk food and pig out? Oh and ice cream…and bad horror movies!" Faith exclaimed and Buffy smiled sweetly at the brunette, while everyone else rolled their eyes, knowing exactly what answer the girl would receive. Every time they chose to do a movie-night, Faith would beg Buffy for junk food and generally the blonde would decline, they knew the brunette only asked because she liked to tease Buffy.
"Sure baby…anything you want," Buffy replied and for a moment everyone thought they'd started hearing voices or something. Xander turned his head to look at his friend walking behind him and raised an eyebrow.
"What'd you do to our Buff?" he asked jokingly and the blonde only shrugged, knowing she couldn't give them the real answer.
"Hey, I figure it's her choice if she wants to get fat and have nightmares…right baby?"
Faith stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend, causing general laughter in the group and the three couples walked hand-in-hand towards the video store.
Buffy yawned and shifted on the couch so Faith's sleeping form slid easily down her side and was only half-draped across the blonde. She was definitely glad for having suggested a movie-night; they'd rented some bad horror movie due to Faith's pleading, but the movie had turned out more like a comedy. They'd spent their time making fun of the actors and bad plot, while eating a good gallon of ice cream each. Buffy glanced at the clock on the wall and felt fear enter her body as she realized how late it had gotten. It was nearly 2 AM, everyone was either asleep or very close to it and Buffy sat up reluctantly. Sure, she could just stay here, pretend nothing was going on and very likely die with her friends around her. But deep inside she also knew that they should, needed to, be with their significant others, fall asleep with each other utterly and totally in love. And it was just really hard to do that on somebody else's living room floor.
"I think we oughta head home," Xander announced, picking himself off the floor and helped up his girlfriend. Willow and Tara followed quickly and Buffy smiled at them sadly, nodding.
"Yeah, it's getting late…we'll see you tomorrow right?" Willow said, walking towards the door and luckily not noticing the pained look that flashed across the blonde's face.
"Yeah…tomorrow," Buffy managed to choke out, following her friends to the door. She had the urge to hug them, to not let them go, but she feared they might suspect something. Nevertheless, the blonde pulled the redheaded witch into her arms, then doing the same to her other three friends who were a little dumbfounded. "I love you guys, just wanted to let ya know."
Xander smiled and nodded, opening the door to let the cold night air enter the house, "We love ya too, Buff. Good night."
She watched sadly as her friends left the house, as they vanished into the darkness and she shut the door quietly. Silence was all that hung over the house as she slowly made her way back over to the sofa. Faith was sleeping peacefully and Buffy didn't want to disturb her. But she couldn't just die and not have spent every last minute with the person she loved the most. So she gently shook the younger girl awake, who stared at her confused for a few seconds and then sat up.
"Where'd everyone go?" the brunette asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the dark room.
"They left, it's 2 AM. Come on, let's go to bed babe," Buffy whispered, her hand unconsciously brushing strands of dark hair behind her lover's ear. Faith nodded and yawned, then held out her arms to the blonde, who could only chuckle at the gesture. Buffy wrapped her arms around the younger girl and picked her up easily, carrying her girlfriend upstairs.
"Do you want me to change you, too?" the blonde asked jokingly and scoffed as the other girl nodded. Buffy picked up Faith's pajamas from the floor and threw them at her, practically telling the younger girl to dress herself. Changing quickly, the blonde climbed onto the bed next to her girlfriend who'd actually managed to change as well. Buffy was sitting Indian-style across from the brunette and watched her intently, reveling in the beauty that was Faith. She leaned forward, her hand reaching out to cup the brunette's cheek and kissed her softly. The kiss deepened, Buffy eventually falling on top of Faith and they lay there, their bodies entwined until the younger girl pulled away.
"Don't get me wrong B, but…why are you doing this? Aren't you tired?"
Buffy propped herself up on her elbows and stared into chocolate brown eyes, "Just a little bit. I wanna be with you Faith, I don't want to go to sleep just yet."
The brunette wrapped her arms around her lover's waist and sighed, "B…I've gotta be at work in…like 5 hours. Can't we just continue this tomorrow, please?"
Sucking in her breath Buffy had to avert her eyes to not start breaking down and crying. Of course they couldn't, they had about two more hours to live and Buffy didn't want to waste them by sleeping.
"Faith I…can't we just stay awake, please? You can call in sick tomorrow," the blonde pleaded, looking deep into her girlfriend's eyes, hoping that Faith would understand. But how could she? If she had only Faith's knowledge she'd be doing the same thing, the sensible thing. But Buffy knew that Faith wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow, she knew that there'd be no classes tomorrow, no anything tomorrow. There was just now and she didn't want to miss it.
"Buffy, you know I can't do that."
"Faith…" she breathed out, praying that the tears wouldn't spill, hoping that she wouldn't ruin this last moment they had together.
"What's wrong, Buffy?" Faith asked, concern showing through her voice and she pushed the blonde up, sitting next to her on the bed.
"I'm scared," Buffy admitted, reaching down to clasp their hands together, running her fingers gently across the younger girl's skin.
"Of what babe?"
"I don't want to lose you," Buffy choked out, looking up at the other girl, her eyes glistening with tears.
"You're not gonna lose me," the brunette responded, squeezing the blonde's hand as she pulled her girlfriend closer to her.
"How can you be so sure?"
"'Cause," Faith shifted slightly so she was facing the other girl, then pressed a swift kiss onto her lips while leaning past her, "Buffy…I" The brunette looked at her with big eyes holding nothing but love and Buffy held her breath, not ever wanting the moment of complete love to end. "Buffy…will you marry me?" the other girl finally whispered, her hand shakily holding out a silver ring to the blonde that glittered in the soft light of the room.
The blonde stared at the ring for a few seconds then closed her eyes tightly, the tears finally trailing down her cheeks to drop into her lap. This just wasn't fair, this couldn't be happening. Why did she find love only to have it ripped away from her hands?
"You don't…have to say anything…I mean…you can tell me tomorrow what you want?" Faith interrupted her thoughts and Buffy realized she hadn't actually answered. Tomorrow…she couldn't even remember how many times that damn word had come up tonight and how much she despised it. "O-or…you can tell me later…like…a week…you know…not definite…we've got time, right…I don't wanna push you…a-and…"
Buffy firmly pressed a finger to her lover's lips and smiled through her tears at the girl, "Of course I'll marry you, Faith." Taking the ring with shaky hands she slipped it onto her finger, staring at it for a few seconds as if that would make everything okay again. The blonde leaned up and kissed her girlfriend softly, realizing that they now were both crying. Pulling back slightly, she wiped the tears off the other girl's face with a concerned look.
"Why are you crying, baby?" she whispered, hoping that she hadn't ruined this perfect moment between them somehow.
"I…love you so much, Buffy. And I never, ever want to let you go, for the rest of my life. I don't think I could live without you…I need you…I'll love you as long as I live, forever."
One single sob racked the blonde's body at the statement, before she pushed them down and leaned her forehead against the brunette's to hide the tears, "I love you too baby. With all my heart…And I'll always and forever love you, you hear me?"
Faith smiled, nodding softly and the blonde pulled back slightly to look into her lover's eyes. She lay back down on the bed, wrapping her arms around the younger girl in the process to pull her on top of her. Faith rested her head on Buffy's shoulder, wrapping an arm around the blonde's waist and sighed happily. Running a hand through the girl's hair, the blonde kissed the top of her head and pulled her a little closer.
Faith fell asleep quickly after that and Buffy watched her for at least another half hour, thinking about how much she loved the girl in her arms, before she, too, fell asleep. The tears, however, never stopped.