Winifred "Fred" Burkle (yammerer_fred) wrote in btvsal, @ 2011-01-04 15:35:00 |
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Current mood: | contemplative |
Entry tags: | charles gunn, fred burkle, maddie barnes-gunn, place: la |
Helping Fred Find a Path
Who: Fred, Gunn and later, Maddie
Where: Fred and Maddie's apartment
When: Monday, January 3
Beyond getting her water to make sure she was properly hydrated, Fred didn't know what to do when Maddie came home early Monday morning, drunk off her face and absolutely reeking of alcohol. All she managed to get out of Maddie was "Rachelle" and "let go" before the woman passed out, all cried out.
Sighing, Fred spent the better part of her morning working on a problem in one of Maddie's physics books, starting to think that maybe it was time for her to find a job of her own.
Not realizing just what sort of things Maddie had been up to last night, Gunn was stopping buy to see if she wanted to go out and get an early lunch with him. He drove up in his truck and knocked on her apartment door.
Fred startled a bit at the knock, and then rolled her eyes at scaring so easily. "Vampires, demons and all manner of hell beasties and you still manage to jump at the smallest things..." She muttered as she stood up and smoothed out her floral dress before moving over and opening the door with her glasses slightly askew on her nose. "Oh." She blinked, not sure what to say beyond a stuttering: "H-hi."
"Hey," Gunn said, walking past her when she moved out of the way of the door. "Is Maddie in?" Her car was outside, but usually she was up front unless she was in the shower or something.
"She is," Fred murmured, fidgeting with her hands as soon as she closed the door behind him. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea wakin' her. She didn't get home until late. ... Or early, dependin' on your perspective."
He nodded. "You mind if I wait around for her awhile?" he asked. "See if she gets up on her own any time soon?" That didn't sound good. He hoped nothing had happened.
"'Course you can wait," she replied with a small smile. She rather liked Gunn, in all honesty. And it wasn't just because he had saved her. She wasn't really sure what to tell him about earlier, or even if it was her place to say anything, despite how worried she was. "Shall I get you somethin' to drink?"
He thought on that a second. "If you've got some bottled water, that would be great." He didn't want to worry to much about what Maddie had been up to, but he really couldn't stop himself from worrying about JUST that. "So, what have you been up to, lately? Getting out more?"
She fetched him a bottle of water and, in thinking about it, got herself one as well. "I have been," she told him as she handed him his bottle of water. "It's not as daunting as it used t'be. Now, getting a JOB, on the other hand..." She giggled.
He knew that she had been in school before, and was every bit as ridiculously smart as Maddie is. "Have you thought about going back to school at all?" he asked. "And the girls at Chloe's Sugar Shack are always hiring, I think." It seemed they always had new girls working there, anyway.
"I'm not sure I could go back to school again," she replied with a small, wistful smile. She missed studying, challenging her brain, but... the idea of going back made her hesitate and worry about repeating the past. "And that's somethin' to consider, at least. Thank you."
"No problem," he said to her. "You're incredibly smart. If you wanted a job instead, you can always try teaching at one of the local high schools...as long as teenagers don't scare the hell out of you."
Sweetly enough, she actually thought about that for a minute. "I don't think they frighten me, so that's something. I'll have to look into it... I was always sure you needed a teaching degree for that."
"I think you just have to take a test," Gunn said, scratching his bald head in thought for a moment. "Don't quote me on that, though. You've got enough education, though that they might let you do some 'take classes as you go' thing."
"That's a good idea." Fred beamed at him. It would be nice to do something that wouldn't be sitting on her ass wasting her potential. That, and she always liked to help people when she could, so why not teach? "Thank you!"
"You're welcome," he said to her with a grin, also making a mental note to make sure to get to know Fred more as well. She seemed like a really sweet girl.
She really was the epitome of sugar sweetness. Sitting down, she took off the cap of her water and took a sip. "What about you? What've you been up to?" She giggled. "Saving more damsels?"
He laughed. "Well, I do try to save people," he said with a grin. He took the cap off his own water and took a sip.
"I think that's really noble," she told him. She really did think the world of him, didn't she?
As soon as she stopped talking, Maddie emerged from her room, looking a little worse for wear. She was bleary eyed and her long hair was disheveled, as if she had spent the night tossing and turning in her sleep. Spotting Gunn and Fred, she groaned and went to the kitchen and made herself a coffee. "I am feeling... decidedly unattractive this morning."
He was about to respond to Fred when Maddie came into the room, looking like complete and utter hell. "You're always gorgeous to me," he called out to her as she went into the kitchen. He looked back at Fred. "Well, I try," he said simply about him being noble.
"You have to say that. You're my boyfriend," Maddie pointed out to him, taking a sip of her of her coffee with a wince. "Eugh. I smell like a brewery. I'll be a minute," she added as she plodded to the bathroom, intending on showering.
Fred gave Gunn a bit of an awkward smile then, the look of someone who knew more than they wanted to. "Once she's done I'll get out of your hair for a while." She winced. "You know what I mean."
He gave a nod to Maddie and then chuckled when Fred corrected herself. "I definitely get what you mean," he said to her with a grin.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, Fred excused herself from the apartment. Given that it was still early, she fully intended on following up on what she and Gunn discussed.
Maddie re-entered the living room, looking stunningly better than before. Her hair was still a little wet from the shower, but she appeared brighter. She immediately sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, placing a kiss to his cheek. "There's my Mocha Love."
He smiled up at her when she called him 'Mocha Love,' wrapped his arms around her waist when she sat in his lap. "You doing OK?" he asked simply. If it was something she was willing to talk about, then he'd let her have her say. If not...then he'll go from there.
"Not really, no," she replied honestly. With everything that had happened before with Rachelle, she had promised herself to be honest with him about... that particular aspect of her life, for better or worse. "I've decided that..." she sighed, "Rachelle and I aren't friends anymore."
He couldn't help but be surprised to hear that. He knew that, for better or worse, she adored Rachelle. "You sure about that," he asked, reaching up and stroking her still damp hair.
She nodded slowly. "I think that... she was always going to be a temptation. She could be a leper and I'd probably still want her." Sad, but true.
He nodded. He did understand that you couldn't really control who you were attracted to, and knew that you could be pulled toward more than one person. He was just happy that she had seemingly chosen him. He was going to keep that joy to himself at the moment, since his girl was hurting right now. "I wish you guys could be friends," he said simply. "You know I'll always love you, right?"
"I know that." She smiled weakly and gave his shoulders a good squeeze. "I love you, too." Even if she felt like it wasn't strong enough, but ... they had time for that. She sighed and kissed him tenderly. "God, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."
Love was something that could easily be built in time to something stronger than...well..strong stuff. Brawny stuff. Whatever. In Gunn's mind, the sentiment there meant that it didn't need to be flamingly intense first to still work and be wonderful. "I don't know what I'd do without you, either," he said, kissing her back.
She'd likely be comforted if he'd told her that, although what he did say worked wonders as well. She gave him another squeeze, in far too cuddly of a mood. "Then I'll promise not to go anywhere anytime soon if you do."
Gunn could totally take a cuddly mood right now. At least she wasn't in a 'affection rejection' type of mood. "I promise then that I'll never go anywhere."