Paradise

How could they go from being perfectly happy, content, and having a good time to…wherever they were at now, in a period of two minutes?

The whole walk back to the hotel, Willow’s brain scrambled to try and figure out what the hell had just happened. Yet when all she ended up with was a throbbing in her head and an aching in her heart, she resigned for the moment and gave up.

When halfway through the walk she realized she had left Kennedy behind with the body, Willow quickly made it to the front desk and made up some story about how they had been on the beach and heard a scream. “Someone might want to check it out,” Willow suggested to the midnight clerk, feigning a worried expression.

Once back in the hotel room, she tossed her wet clothes into the corner of the bathroom and dried herself off. Part of her wanted Kennedy to hurry up and get back, but another part was still a bit…hurt, by the way she had acted out there.

Sighing in defeat, the witch crawled into bed and faced the wall, her back to the door. When Kennedy came home, she could figure it out then.

***

“What the hell was I thinking?”

That was the question Kennedy had asked herself a million and one times on the walk back to the hotel. She kept replaying her meeting with Layla over and over in her mind, trying to find any loop hole that could clue her in to why she just didn't stake the bitch and be done with it.

But what hurt the most, was the look on Willow's face right after the witch pulled her outta the mindless trance.

Since the first moment she laid eyes on the redhead, Kennedy swore to herself to take away the pain she saw buried deep behind those green eyes, and by some act of God, she managed to do just that. All was right in the world when she held the witch in her arms, breathed in her scent, gazed deep into her sparkling eyes, and saw that smile of true happiness.

It was those moments that Kennedy lived for.

But tonight, she didn't see anything other than pure hurt and betrayal in those soft green eyes. It made Kennedy's heart ache with a pain she'd rarely known.

And now, here she stood at the doorway to their room, soaking wet and shivering, from the cold or the nervousness, she'd yet to decide. Taking in a deep breath, she lifted a shaky hand and placed her key in the lock.

Willow was far from actual sleep, but the sound of the lock clicking open startled her out of her daze. She turned to look over her shoulder, then hesitated and retook her position of facing the wall.

She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing her body to relax enough that she could pretend to be asleep.

Kennedy gripped the door nervously as she stepped inside and quietly closed it after her. She slowly turned to glance around the room, her eyes finally falling on the figure lying on the bed.

The witch's back was to her, and that was never a good sign.

Sighing quietly, Kennedy made her way into the bathroom, pulling off her wet clothes along the way before finally piling them atop the other woman's in the far corner. She took a quick glance at herself in the bathroom mirror before looking away in disgust.

Flicking off the light, Kennedy slowly and cautiously made her way over to the bed. She stopped at the edge and peered down at the form of her lover, noticing the rigid breathing of the witch. Kennedy could only sigh again as she lifted back the covers and climbed in.

The witch felt the bed shift, and soon felt Kennedy’s warm figure crawl up behind her. She swallowed hard, knowing she was terrible at fake-sleeping, and that the slayer probably wasn’t buying it. So, even though she was facing away from Kennedy, she opened her eyes into the darkness and said quietly, “I told the front desk we heard a scream out on the beach. They called the police.” It was the only thing she could think of.

The slayer was a little taken back at the witch's quiet words. “Oh well, that's...good. I was worried about that.” She took in a few cautious breaths before dropping her head down to the pillow. She snuggled in closer to her girlfriend and hesitantly wrapped an arm around her waist.

Willow stiffened slightly at the touch, but soon relaxed back into it. She was silent for a moment, her mind torn between whether she should or shouldn’t say anything. Finally, she spoke quietly once again. “Kenn?”

“Yeah baby?” Kennedy sighed contently as she pulled the woman closer to her own body.

‘What happened out there?’ her mind screamed, but she couldn’t force the words from mouth. Sighing, she shook her head slightly. “Nothing. Nevermind.”

“Hmm,” was all the slayer said in response as she felt the need for sleep slowly pulling her out of consciousness. Kennedy may be a tough, kick ass slayer, but sometimes, she really sucked when it came to the girlfriend stuff.

***
For the first time since the Hellmouth closed, Willow didn’t sleep soundly. She kept awaking periodically at night, rolling over to watch Kennedy sleep for a few minutes, before drifting back off herself.

By the time morning rolled around, the witch was purely exhausted. The incident from the night before was driving her crazy, and for once she wished her brain would just stop thinking so much.

Sitting up, Willow swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stifled a groan, her muscles feeling as if she slept not like a rock, but *on* one.

The witch glanced back at the sleeping slayer once more, noting the fact that Kennedy hadn’t bothered with fresh pajamas the night before, and had just crawled into bed with nothing on. It wasn’t like they had needed clothes these last few evenings, anyway…

The smile that had just started to form quickly faded however, and the wicca abruptly turned and started for the bathroom.

Kennedy could feel the pull of morning ripping through her hazy slumber. She let out a long yawn as she stretched her arms over her head, trying to rid her body of the night's sleep.

Her eyes slowly open and she peers over at the empty spot in bed next to her. She just lay there for a moment, staring at the neat white sheet. She reaches out and runs her hand over the material, sighing in relief when she can still feel the warmth upon them.

The slayer turns her head towards the bathroom when the sound of the shower running finally reaches her ears. She unconsciously lets out another sigh of relief as she tosses the cover back. Her toes curl at the sudden cold they meet when her feet hits the carpet, but she shrugs it off as the pounding in her head gets louder.

The slayer slowly stalks her way over to the bathroom door and reaches up to lightly knock.

Absorbed in her own thoughts, the knock caught Willow off guard. Through the foggy shower door, she looked towards the bathroom one. “Y-yeah?”

Kennedy feels her heart jump into her throat. “Umm, I ah, I left my boots in there...last night.” Since when did words become so hard to put together?

“I just wanted to know i-if I could come in and...and get them?” There. That wasn't so hard.

The witch felt her heart sink ever so slightly. “Oh, yeah, o-of course…the door’s open.” She quickly sticks her head back under the spray of near-scalding water and rinses the shampoo from her hair.

Kennedy lets out a breath at the muffled permission from the other side of the door. “Thanks,” she mumbles to herself as she turns the knob and opens the door.

She tries not to, but she can't help it. Her eyes are instantly glued to the blurred figure behind the shower door. She finds herself entranced with the familiar outline behind it.

Before she realizes, Kennedy finds herself making her way over to the shower and just as she reaches her hand out to pull back the door, the events of last night come flooding back to her. She suddenly jerks her hand away as if it was scalded. She remembers the coldness and unusually detached demeanor of her lover. She might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but even Kennedy can recognize when Willow's less than happy with her.

Granted, last night the haze of sleep clouded her judgment, but in the clear light of day...

Her thoughts come to an abrupt halt when the shower door suddenly swings open to reveal newly showered and breathtaking sight of her lover.

Kennedy freezes.

Willow stands still for a moment and stares back at Kennedy. Her brain, however, quickly snaps her back to reality. “Um… showers’ yours, if you want…I’m done…” The last part is said rather quietly, and for once Willow isn’t able to hold Kennedy’s gaze for more than a few seconds. It falters, and slips down to the floor. She went to step by the slayer and back towards the main room of their suite.

Kennedy's arm quickly shot out and grabbed Willow's hand gently. Her ears picked up the sound of the witch's sudden intake of breath, but the pounding of her heart quickly drowned it out.

Kennedy ran her tongue over her bottom lip, twirling her tongue ring along the way. She trailed her eyes up her lover's body, her every nerve cell jumping to life with the recognition. Her eyes finally met the wide, almost fearful stare of the redhead and her mind started screaming at her to come to her senses.

Kennedy released Willow's hand instantly and took a step back, dropping her own gaze to the floor. “I'm...sorry.”

Whether Kennedy meant for the previous night, or for having instant thoughts of ravaging her immediately after something like that had happened, Willow wasn’t sure. The witch found herself at a loss for what to say back. She remained silent for a moment, before coming to a mental decision.

Whatever happened the night before, probably neither of them knew. For the time being, the redhead was willing to put it behind her. They were on vacation, and they were supposed to be happy.

She could only hope that the blonde vampire didn’t pop up again any time soon, unless it was on the receiving end of a stake.

Sighing softly, Willow stepped closer to Kennedy, slowly placing both arms around the slayer’s neck. “I know you are…” she replied quietly with a soft smile.

It took all the willpower Kennedy could muster in that moment not to reach up and flip Willow around, press her against the bathroom wall, drop to her knees...

“Ah, Will?” She started, her voice cracking. “I...I'm really sorry about last night. With the...vamp and all.” Kennedy kept her hands clenched tightly at her sides, her knuckles ghostly white. “I don't know what happened, but I know I hurt you. I'll never forgive myself for that.”

Kennedy slowly lifted her eyes to the witch's. “And neither should you.”

Willow shrugged slightly, letting out a breath. “Well, I won’t deny that you may be in the dog house for just a little bit longer…” She allowed a small grin to form across her lips. “Let’s just…try and forget about what happened, okay? Please? Chalk it up to a random moment of vampire heebee geebees?”

She didn’t know why she was so eager to get the subject behind them without talking through it further…maybe it was just the whole ‘vacation’ factor, and that Kennedy seemed genuinely sorry for whatever it was that happened.

Kennedy studied the other woman, a perplexed look across her face. “You sure? I mean, last night, you weren't so much with the forgiving.” Kennedy's eyes suddenly widened. “NOT that I blame you. I mean, if I were you, I'da made me sleep on the floor or in the bathtub or...something.” Kennedy's eyes darted around nervously. “M-maybe I should just go? Give you some space?”

Sighing in exasperation, Willow dropped her hands from around her slayer’s neck. “Do you *not* want me to forgive you or something? Fork out some mystical punishment that’ll have you paying forever, or with your life, or something dramatic like that?”

Before Kennedy could exit the bathroom, Willow reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. “Kenn, I’m not going to do that, alright? Last night, I was still confused, and this morning… well, I’m still *really* confused, but…I don’t want it ruining our plans for a nice, normal vacation. So just except my excepting your damn apology already!” She gave her girlfriend a rather… fierce resolve face.

Kennedy's stunned expression quickly turned to a knowing smirk. “Have I ever told you how hot it makes me when you get all demanding?” Her hand reached out and trailed a path up the witch's silky thigh. She leaned in and buried her face into the fresh smelling red tresses. She sucked in a deep breath as her fingertips traced absent circles on her lover's thigh.

“Mmm, strawberries and cream,” she turned her head and placed a kiss just under the witch's ear. “My favorite.”

The words sent a shiver down Willow’s spine, and she fought a losing battle to keep her composure. “Well, you were the one that packed it…” she replied with a knowing grin into the slayer’s neck.

“Hmm,” Kennedy moaned into the older woman's neck. “Only cause I knew it'd smell so good on you.” She raised her head from Willow's neck and smiled softly. “Just...*how* forgiven am I?”

Willow leaned in again to place a love bite on Kennedy’s pulse point, her fingers tracing light patterns on the slayer’s taunt stomach…

Then she pulled back, smiling wanly. “Not that forgiven.” Giving the brunette a quick pat on the arm, Willow quickly exited the bathroom.

Kennedy's jaw nearly hit the floor. She turned quickly just in time to meet the back of the bathroom door as Willow shut it behind her.

The slayer stood, shell-shocked as she stared at the back of the plain white door. It took her a moment to realize what just happened. After a minute or two of stunned silence, she was finally able to shake herself out of Willow's sudden and all too abrupt halt on her libido.

“Well, that's new.”

Since her relationship with the redhead was taken to that first night of endless passion and heartfelt lovemaking, Kennedy couldn't remember a single time when the witch had shot her down.

Until now.

“Damn,” she sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, physically forcing her body to retreat from it's raging desire. “I shoulda known it wasn't gonna be *that* easy.”

Through the disappointment of rejection, the hilarity of the situation suddenly dawned on Kennedy. “So I'm officially in the dog house,” she laughed to herself as she reached into the shower and turned on the hot water. She thought about it for a moment before turning it back off and reaching over to turn on the cold.

Kennedy sighed to herself as she pulled the door back to step in. “Well, this should be fun.”

***

Thirty minutes later, Kennedy emerged from the bathroom. After two cold showers and a thorough 'You can do this Kennedy. You're a slayer, you can do this' pep talk, she was finally ready to face her lover.

Kennedy was just sliding her belt through the last loop as she stepped into the room. She let out a long breath and looked up, only for her eyes to fall on an empty room.

“Huh,” she absently sighed. “Where'd she go?”

***

For once, Willow was quite pleased with herself.

As she sat in the downstairs coffee shop, awaiting her and Kennedy’s breakfast order to be fulfilled, a smug grin didn’t quite seem to want to leave her face.

After grabbing the coffee tray and bag of goodies, Willow made her way back to their room. One elevator ride later, she was struggling to juggle breakfast and stick the key in the lock at the same time.

Kennedy was lying on the bed watching some early morning cartoons. Surprisingly, she was able to find a few stations in English, and after flipping through boring news and a few early morning talk shows, she finally decided on Looney Tunes.

Kennedy was watching the coyote chasing, and as always, failing to catch the roadrunner, with apt fascination. She found herself oddly identifying with the poor creature.

But any internal musings were cut short when the smell of fresh bacon drifted through the door. Her stomach growled in anticipation, and her mouth watered. In a flash, she was leaping over the bed and in two quick steps, she swung open the door.

Willow stood there, her key set to be right where the doorknob was mere moments before. She smirked at her girlfriend. “Anxious much?” She walked into the room and placed their meal on the table next to the television.

As she was setting up the food, her back turned to the slayer, a smirk grazed across her face. “Have a nice shower, sweetie?” she inquired in a perfectly normal and not at all gloating tone.

Kennedy stood behind the witch, watching her set up the food anxiously. She looked up abruptly at the sound of the her teasing words. “The best,” she answered absently. “All three of them,” she added in a quiet mumble.

“Good. Got a big day of city-touring ahead of us.” Willow turned back around to her girlfriend and held out her coffee cup. “Double double, as always...” She held up a piece of bacon in the other hand and quickly stuffed it into Kennedy’s mouth as soon as she opened it to say something. “Enjoy!”

Returning to the table, Willow plunked herself down in one of the chairs. Of course she had gotten the brunette more than a strip of bacon, but for now she was having fun playing with the slayer. She dug into her own eggs and danish.

Kennedy nearly choked. She reached up and just as quickly pulled the scanty piece of bacon from her mouth. She looked down at it in her hand with a raised brow. “You're joking, right?”

Willow looked over her shoulder, trying to put on a convincingly bewildered face. “Well, you never mentioned that you were hungry, should’ve said something before I went down…”

Kennedy's hopeless expression turned to a sudden grin. “Oh, you're going down alright.” Before the witch could react, Kennedy was already across the room and lifting her straight up from her chair. Her grin grew at the sudden look of surprise on her lover's face. “I'll teach you to mess with a slayer, baby.”

Kennedy smiled at the sudden squeal she elicited from the redhead as she lifted her straight into the air before nearly throwing her across the room and onto the bed. Before the older woman had time to react, Kennedy was on top of her, holding her down on the mattress.

Giggling profusely, Willow forced herself to bite her lower lip. “You know, using your super chick powers to your advantage is considered cheating by most people…” She grinned upwards smugly. “Including myself. And that’s not gonna help you get your breakfast.”

Kennedy's stomach chose that exact moment to growl. She dropped her head onto the bed by the witch's and groaned. She released Willow's hands and looked down at her pleadingly. “Then please tell me what will. I'd do anything right now.”

Pushing her slayer to the side and watching her crash against the mattress, Willow sat up and jumped off of the bed. Grabbing the paper bag from the table and the coffee Kennedy had set aside, she sat cross-legged next to the ailing slayer. “Here,” she replied in a softer tone, offering out the bag. “Don’t want you *completely* wasting away. You’re still useful for some things,” the redhead grinned cheekily.

“Oh thank God,” Kennedy let out in a rush as she tore into the bag. She barely took a breath through the bites, swallowing it as soon as it was in her mouth. “For a minute there,” she started before taking a few sips of her coffee, “I was starting to think I was gonna have to kiss your feet or something.”

“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea, actually…” the witch pondered with a smug look to her slayer. “A nice foot massage before lunch…”

This was just starting to get fun.

Willow was still a little…annoyed, with Kennedy, but they were on better terms than the night before, that was for sure. This wasn’t going to ruin their vacation together. She wasn’t going to go out of her way to think up punishments to dish out on Kennedy or anything to that extreme.

Unless she thought of something really, really good. That thought made the witch chuckle lightly as she watched Kennedy inhale her food.

“Baby,” Kennedy mumbled as she chewed, “If rubbing your feet will make you happy, I'm all for it.” She downed some more coffee as she finished off her last bagel. She balled up the bag and threw it across the room. It bounced off the wall and into the can.

Kennedy smiled to herself before falling back against the comforter to finish watching her morning cartoons.

Finishing off her own breakfast, Willow grabbed one of the travel magazines she had picked up in the lobby and then flopped down next to Kennedy. Resting her head on the slayer’s shoulder, she idly flipped through it. “There’s so much to do here…”

Kennedy's breathing suddenly felt labored as the smell of strawberries and cream once again overwhelmed her senses. She closed her eyes and groaned softly as the weight against her side shifted. She slowly opened her eyes as she felt the soft tips of Willow's fingers tracing her abdomen through the thin material of her tank top.

“I'm thinking of something right now,” she groaned to herself as she felt the muscles in her stomach twitch with each delicate touch.

Glancing up from the magazine, Willow rolled her eyes playfully. “Again, Kenn? When did you suddenly start to get so horny all of the time?” A sly smirk crossed her face, and she snuggled deeper into her slayer’s side, returning her eyes to the picture of Sao Paulo. “Oh, right, that *isn’t* much of a change from normal…”

Kennedy looked over at her lover currently resting against her side. “Ah, hello?” She raised her hand to motion between them. “Who's the one that's always so touchy feely all the time? Hence, our current position.” When the redhead looked up at her with a raised, and clearly not at all amused brow, the slayer thought it better to back track. “Then again, can you really blame me? I mean, if you weren't so drop dead gorgeous and unbelievably, irresistibly hot, maybe I just might be able to control myself.” She finished with a soft smile.

“Uh-huh,” Willow answered in a deadpan voice. “Well, if you’d prefer I refrained from touching you completely unless sex is on the menu…” She extracted herself from the brunette, lying back on the opposite side of the bed. “Then you should’ve just said so in the first place.”

Kennedy watched the witch's reaction with a confused expression.

Okay. She knew Willow was still pissed about that whole vampire thing last night, but she said she'd forgiven her, right? So why the Ice Queen all of a sudden?

Kennedy sighed and fell back against the bed. She stared up at the ceiling for a long, tense moment before reaching a decision. “I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later.” She got off the bed and stopped to grab her jacket from the back of a nearby chair. “Don't wait up.” She called over her shoulder as she opened the door and walked out, slamming it behind her.

The wiccan watched in disbelief as Kennedy stormed out. Willow stared at the door for a moment, before tossing the magazine aside and gritting her teeth.

“Geez, over react much?” she grumbled under her breath, feeling her own temper flaring. She had only been kidding… hadn’t she? Well, mostly…

With a heavy sigh, the witch got up. She wasn’t going to stick around a hotel room for several hours waiting for Kennedy’s tantrum to run its course. She might as well go back to the scene of the murder last night and, surprise, surprise, work.

Grabbing her room key from the bedside table, she shot a glance at the clock. ‘Don’t wait up’?

It was only 8am.

TBC...