Fic: The Complex Lives... (Part 4)

["S.M. Cilia" <cilia@xxxxxxx>]

Hi gang!

Update to CLCQ here, hope you enjoy it :) Another cameo or two in this
one ;) Thanks to Howard and Dutch yet again for putting up with me.

Cilia

The Complex Lives of Cheerleaders and Quarterbacks (CLCQ)
Cilia

Chapter 6: After Game Party


Buffy shifted her feet as she rang the doorbell on Willow's house at
eight p.m. sharp. Buffy had, perhaps unknowingly, dressed a bit boyish
for her 'date' with Willow. Her hair was still a bit wild from the
game earlier. She'd run a brush through it but, despite her best
efforts, it just wouldn't obey her commands or curses. She'd forgone
her many short skirts for pants and had finally resigned herself to a
ponytail as the only painless option for her hair. 'I hope her dad
isn't home,' Buffy thought to herself. She straightened her posture
when she heard the door being opened.

Sheila Rosenberg smiled at her and that almost made Buffy go for her
stake. "Hello, Buffy. Why don't you come in? Willow is getting ready,"
Sheila said, then escorted Buffy into the house. "You could go up to
see her if you like," she offered.

Buffy tried not to freak out at how nice Willow's mom was being. "No,
I'll think I'll wait here, if you don't mind," Buffy said with a gulp.
It didn't make any sense. Sheila was acting so out of character, she
had to be a vampire or a demon or something.  Buffy tried not to stare
too hard at Sheila and waited for her spider-sense to kick in, but
nothing pinged. 'This is freaky, beyond freaky,' Buffy thought as
Sheila vanished into the kitchen leaving her alone to wait for Willow.

'Not a date, not a date,' Buffy kept chanting over and over in her
mind. She heard a door open upstairs and she took a depth breath, then
froze as Willow came down the stairs. 'It's a date,' Buffy thought and
she let out the breath she'd been holding. She gulped again when
Willow beamed at her and Buffy felt like she was going to turn into a
puddle on the floor.

"Hi! A bit too much, huh?" Willow greeted and asked at the same time.
She smoothed out her skirt and then straightened up a bit. She
realized that she was about the same height as Buffy, thanks to the
wonderful low slippers and Buffy's shrewd choice of footwear. "Told
the girls the heels were a bit too much," she muttered.

"The girls?" Buffy asked for lack of anything else to say while she
tried not to eat Willow with her eyes.

Willow was stunning in every sense of the word; decked out in a red
skirt that swished as she walked and a golden top that was designed to
enhance and show off. 'The team colors with just a hint of Velma in
it,' she'd called it when the girls put her in it. Her long red hair
was allowed to flow and move freely. Her very own 'ruby slippers',
with just the hint of heels, gave her legs definition and made them
all the more eye-catching to a very distracted quarterback.

'Girl Cute, Slayer--Snap out of it, this is Willow-friend,' Buffy
thought to herself as she tried not to let her eyes roam all over
Willow's form. She failed miserably. 'Glad I wore my heels, else I'd
be like a midget,' her fashionable self added as she looked at the red
shoes adorning Willow's feet. Thankfully Buffy's choice of footwear
brought her almost to eye level with Willow, a feature she took
advantage of by gazing longingly into her eyes. She settled on the
best thing to say, "You look pretty."

Willow giggled and blushed. "Don't be silly, you're still the cute
one," Willow protested. She motioned to Buffy's boyish outfit. "Even
in that you'll make boys drool for sure," she added. 'Did she do that
for me? Why?' Willow thought as she surreptitiously studied Buffy.
'She's being all boyish for me. Well, as boyish as she can be,' her
confused little brain went on.

Buffy did look somewhat boyish, if you stretched the word far enough.
Her high, black and open sandals brought her eye to eye with her
taller friend while her black casual slacks gave her a bit of a more
uniform shape. Her team jacket somewhat concealed her figure but, once
it came off, the red buttoned down shirt and yellow baby-t showing
behind it would kind of ruin the effect.

Buffy offered her arm to her. "Shall we go? The boys said we should be
on time," Buffy said.

A smiling Willow took her arm. "Mom! I'm going out!" Willow called out.

Sheila poked her head out of the kitchen. "You bring her back before
midnight, you hear?" she ordered Buffy. "And you can use the front
door. Ira is out of town," she said and her head vanished again.

'I should open and hold the door for her,' Buffy thought. She tore her
eyes from the cheerleader, just long enough to open the door with a
flourish. She turned, holding the door, to give Willow a jaunty smile.

The redhead gave her a little smile in return. "Picking up some of
those habits from Giles?" Willow asked.

Buffy closed the door behind them and blushed a bit at the comment.
"Trying to be a 'gentle-slayer' for my Wills, that's all," she
explained. She offered Willow her hand and the cheerleader quickly
took it.

After walking towards the bronze in a dazed silence for a few minutes,
Buffy managed to stop sneaking glances at Willow to comment some more
on how great her best friend looked. "You look really pretty, have I
said that yet?" Buffy asked.

"Yep, but thanks," Willow said with a perky little smile and she moved
a bit closer to Buffy as they walked.

The quarterback had to remember to breathe and to keep reminding
herself that this was Willow-friend, not Willow-girlfriend.

Eros was, no doubt, busily tearing his hair out and smashing his bow
across his knee because Willow was apparently too stubborn to get the
hint.

The world seemed to take notice of the couple as they moved down the
street. A group of seniors driving to the Bronze passed by them,
honking their horn, blasting War Pigs from the speakers, shouting,
"Way to go, Steel girl!" at them. That last part made Buffy blush.

Sunnydale would never the same again, at least in the football sense.
For the very first time there was pride in something--other than the
Sunnydale High School's swim-team.

~*~*~*~

The Bronze was loud, and looked quite strange decked out in the red
and gold colors of Sunnydale High. A rock band was warming up on
stage; an all-girl group. Buffy walked into the Bronze with Willow on
her arm. She was gathered up in a bear hug by Wild Bill as soon as she
entered, leaving Willow giggling when the receiver picked the slight
quarterback up off the floor.

"You made it!" Wild Bill said with a laugh. Yes, he was happy, no
longer the brunt of jokes, but a hero. That feeling was bound to make
anybody feel a bit happy.

"Bill, breathing...I...need," Buffy got out and Bill lowered her to
the floor and Willow again latched onto her arm.

"You're looking stunning, Ms. Rosenberg," he said when he noticed Willow.

"Cap," Harry called out as he approached the quarterback. On his arm
was a tall and statuesque blonde girl; an exchange student from Norway
named Annika Hansen. She seemed a bit distant and cold, but was
totally focused on Harry.

"Harry," Buffy said as she slapped him on the shoulder. "Still
worrying about that pat?" she asked.

The boy blushed deep red as his girlfriend gave him a questioning
look. "Harry?" she asked in an accented voice.

Poor Harry looked like he wanted to melt through the floor at that
point in time. "I kind of gave her a slap on the butt," he muttered
and then yelped as Buffy gave him a pat on the butt with a grin.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," she said and gave her best smile to his
girlfriend. "Yours only?" she asked and the girl brightened up as she
got the joke and patted poor Harry on the butt too.

"Yes. But if it's part of the tradition for you to pat him, I guess
it's alright," she said.

Harry gulped and looked to Wild Bill and Willow for sympathy, but both
the running back and the cheerleader were too busy trying not to laugh
too loudly.

"Buffy Summers," Buffy said and offered the tall blond girl her hand.

"Annika Hansen," the girl answered as she shook Buffy's hand and then
looked at Willow. "Your girlfriend?" she asked without blinking.

Willow blushed as Buffy started to stammer a response.

"Heads up, ladies," Wild Bill called out when the rest of the team
noticed the arrival of their quarterback. Willow and Annika took a
step back as Buffy was lifted up by a group of boys and carried over
to the football team's table.

'Help me!' Buffy mouthed with a grin to Willow.

She just shrugged and followed the group carrying the quarterback.
Willow found herself flanked and escorted by the Twins. When she
looked up at the huge boys, they just glanced at the group of
cheerleaders watching the proceedings. "Thanks, boys," Willow said,
realizing that the twins had just saved her from being stormed by a
mob of curious cheerleaders. The big twins just smiled their little
smiles and nodded. Willow was, again, at Buffy's side when the boys
put the quarterback down, then she felt a cup of something pressed
into her hand. After sniffing it to confirm it was just a soft drink,
she took a big gulp.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Wild Bill said, jumping up with ease onto one
of the tables. He offered his hand to Buffy and then hauled her up
onto the table. "A toast to the quarterback of Sunnydale High's
Razorbacks and to our first of many victories this season," he said.
He raised his cup in the air, followed by all, save Larry who was
moping around in the shadows.

"Cap, you do the honors?" Harry asked from the group.

Buffy smiled and raised her cup into the air. "What are we?" she asked
the gathered crowed in a loud voice.

She was met by a loud chorus of, "WAR PIGS!" when the crowd roared in
response.

"What are we going to do in the next game?" she asked them.

The crowd, a bit confused, just stared at her and scattered questions
of, "Try not too loose too big?" and "Forfeit!" were called out,
although those voices were quickly glared down by the Quarterback.

Hiding her sigh and reminding herself the school really didn't know
success. She drew herself up to her full height--not much, but the
table helped. "We're going to dominate!" she shouted and thrust her
glass into the air.

'Must thank Giles for suggesting that,' she thought with a grin. She
was helped down from the table by Xander, who had somehow appeared,
and Willow. Around them there were the thunderous shouts of,
"Dominate, dominate!" from the gathered crowd while the band on the
stage fired up.

"Great speech, Buffy," Xander said as he glanced over to Cordelia who
was ignoring him again, since this was in public after all.

"Thanks, Xander," Buffy said and hugged her Xander-shaped friend. "You
were great out there today," she added with a grin.

Xander groaned and buried his head in Willow's shoulder in mock despair.

"He couldn't pee," Willow whispered causing Buffy to almost burst out
laughing, but, being a good friend, she kept it in check for Xander's
sake.

The three friends shared a group hug to celebrate and then started to
edge themselves closer to the stage. Well, not edging--the crowd
parted like the Red Sea before Buffy and Willow, then slammed back.

This almost squashed Xander, leaving him firmly pressed between two
very big girls with his hands outstretched. "Hey, Holy Moses, wait
up!" he called out. He was hauled out of the squeeze by the girls who
grabbed his arms and pulled. His sudden release caused the trio to
stumble back and knock down Larry. The group landed in a heap on the
floor with Xander firmly on top of the defensive end. "Just dropping
by, Larry. Great game by the way," Xander quipped as the girls
giggled. The group tried to get up from the floor.

"Get off me," Larry said through gritted death and roughly pushed the
mascot off him. Getting up, he angrily pushed his way through the
crowd, even throwing off the cheerleader that tried to calm him.

"That boy has some issues to work out," Buffy commented, Willow and
Xander just nodded. The first cords of a song started to drift down
from the stage and Larry's anger was soon forgotten. Except by Xander,
who observed the defensive end as Larry made a bee-line for the
defensive team's table.

~*~*~*~

The band threw itself into a catchy little rock tune and Buffy found
herself staring a bit too hard at the guitarist and lead singer of the
group: Josie something or other.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed when she saw what Buffy was looking at. She
was torn between giggling and being huffy. 'She's supposed to be with
me,' she thought, then caught herself. 'Yeah, she's my date,' she
thought a bit firmer.

"Uh?" Buffy said. She looked away from the guitarist and at a mildly
miffed, but very cute, Willow.

"How would you feel if I went all ga-ga over some guy in a band?"
Willow asked.

Understanding dawned on the Slayer. "Sorry, I was just admiring,"
Buffy said and blushed as she scratched the back of her head.

Willow put her hand around Buffy's waist and pulled her close half in
jest and half in all seriousness. "You're with me tonight, so no
naughty slayer," she said.

Buffy looked confused as vampire at noon. "Okay, no looking," Buffy
agreed and started to dance with Willow.

The band kept playing, Willow started swaying along with Buffy, and
the world seemed to shrink down to just the two of them.

~*~*~*~

After much high-five-ing and back slapping goodbyes from the boys,
Buffy walked Willow home in a daze. Willow hung on Buffy's arm,
feeling a bit sleepy.

"You have fun, Willow?" Buffy asked as she supported the sleepy
cheerleader.

"Yes..." Willow said but it trailed off into a stifled yawn and it
made Buffy smile as she felt Willow lean into her a bit more.

Way to soon, Buffy found herself standing outside Willow's house,
almost carrying her. "Willow, you're home," she said.

Willow looked at her with sleepy eyes.

Buffy glanced at her watch. '11:55, five minutes ahead of schedule,'
Buffy thought as she tried not to look at Willow's lips.

"Thanks for taking me out, Buffy," Willow said with a sleepy little
smile and tilted her face closer to Buffy's. Maybe it was lack of
balance from sleepiness or just maybe because it was the thing to do
and she wanted to do it.

"You...you're welcome, Willow," she said and briefly touched her lips
to Willow's.

It seemed to wake up the redheaded cheerleader up. As Willow's eyes
opened wide and then closed slowly, Buffy was trying very hard not to
wrap her arms around the cheerleader, and failing quite miserably.
Pulling apart and just staring at each other, they tried to understand
what had happened when they kissed again. The kisses were small little
kisses, both curious and exploring. Neither girl was thinking much.
'Wow, it's really happening!' was the thought dominating Buffy's mind.
Willow was a variant on a theme thinking mostly, 'Jinkies, is this
really happening?' They lost track of the time as each stole a kiss
and then another while holding each other.

They stayed like that until Buffy's watch bleeped. It was now 11:59
and time to return Willow home.

"We, you, home," Buffy stuttered as Willow licked her own lips.

Willow opened the door and stepped inside a bit dazed. "See you
tomorrow," Willow whispered as she stroked Buffy's cheek.

"Tomorrow," Buffy stammered a bit. Her mind wasn't really thinking
about anything aside from, 'Willow girl...friend," and repeating it
over and over again as she waved goodbye.

Willow closed the door, then turned and breathed heavily. 'Oh my god,
oh my god, did I just...did I just...? Wow!' she thought as she
stumbled towards her room. "Jinkies!" Willow whispered as she touched
her lips and smiled before falling onto her bed.

Buffy walked home in a daze, just barely remembering to go out and
vanquish evil on the way.

When she got home, she threw herself on her bed and hugged her pillow.
'Wow, wow, wow,' she thought and rolled around on the bed. She went to
sleep with a big smile on her face.

Thus ended the first game-day of the season for the Sunnydale High
Razorbacks and it's players and supporters. Everybody came away from
it happier, even if a bit more confused than they had been when it had
started. The Cheerleader and the Quarterback were both happier and
more confused, more than most maybe. But you learn to take the good
with the bad and both would certainly be coming for everybody involved
with the Razorbacks this season.

tbc...



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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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