The Whale - 16. Part II, chapter 8

- VIII -

I was almost done with all my pancakes when my phone finally rang. I knew immediately that it was Faith. I spat the rest of the pancake out on the plate and flipped the phone open.

"Hey," I breathed.

"Hey," she said, and I closed my eyes. It was almost bizarre how good her voice made me feel.

"Luke," she said, and she sounded so excited that my hands started to shake from insane hope that flooded me. "Luke! I am not staying in Minnesota much longer! My Uncle is fine... He had a pretty bad asthma attack and my cousin started freaking out... She thought it was a stroke or something."

"When are you coming back?" I muttered and my heart was about to jump out of my mouth by this point.

"Monday night," she said.

"Ugh," I closed my eyes. "Today is only Tuesday..."

"I know," Faith sighed. "But I'll be back before the holidays."

"That is awesome," I breathed. "I seriously can't function without you, Faith..."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I have horrible withdrawals too..."

"What time on Monday night?"

"Seven, I think."

"God... You should go back right now, you hear me?"

That got her laughter.

"I wish," she said finally. "You have no idea!"

"Oh, believe me," I said darkly. "I do."

We talked for two hours, and then my phone started to make whining beeping noises.

"Crap," I said. "My phone is about to die..."

"I gotta go anyway," Faith said with regret. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"No," I said. "You'll talk to me tonight..."

"Okay. I'll talk to you tonight then..."

"Jesus, Faith, I miss you..."

"I miss you too, bully."

I sighed and was about to say something when my phone died.

"Dammit," I growled and threw it on the bed.

I was looking for my charger for almost forty minutes, and finally, found it buried under some stuff on my desk. I plugged it in, connected my phone to it, and felt like I was about to dance with joy and to howl in despair at the same time. Faith was coming back on Monday, a whole week earlier that she thought she would. That was great. Today was only Tuesday, which meant that I had almost an entire empty week ahead of me. It sucked big time.

Next morning I dragged my ass out of bed and decided not to skip school any more this week. School will keep me busy, I thought gloomily all morning. It'll keep me occupied and it will make time go faster. I parked my car, and when I was climbing out, it hit me. Oh, son of a bitch... Math is the first class today, isn't it? Dammit!!

I walked into the classroom and felt like I was about to uncork on someone with frightening force. I slammed the math book on my desk and dropped my ass in the chair. Great, I thought bitterly. This is just great. It's only Wednesday ,and Monday is, like, five hundred years away. I sighed, and then the door opened and this guy walked in.

"Blah, blah, blah..." I heard him say. "Blah... My name is Steve McKay... Blah, blah..."

I tuned him out, but then I heard the words 'family emergency,' and looked up.

"Yeah," someone said. "Her Uncle is really sick."

I gritted my teeth. I wanted to punch someone.

"And right before the holidays," Steve What's-His-Name said. "I hope I won't be much worse than her..."

You kidding me? Jesus! It's bad enough that I had a Faith-less week ahead of me, and now this clown is going to stand here and run his stupid mouth, reminding me of that constantly?! I felt like exploding, and then there was a gunshot-like sound. What the hell was that? I looked around and realized that everybody was staring at me. Huh? I looked at my hands. I was grasping the book so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Oh, God... I just slammed it on my desk, didn't I? Oops. I grinned and said with a shrug, "Spider. I hate spiders."

Steve What's-His-Name blinked and slowly said, "Right..." and then he was blabbing about something else.

I tuned him out more successfully this time, and when it was almost the end of the damn class, my phone rang. I knew that I was supposed to turn it off while I was at school, but I didn't care. Turn it off and maybe miss a call from Faith? No way in hell! So I ignored the sub's glares and pulled my phone out.

"Hello," I muttered.

"Luke!!" it was Faith.

The sub said something, and I just waved at him, trying to tell him to shut the hell up.

"Luke," she sounded beyond excited. "I know I should've waited until your day was over, but I am as selfish as you are... I am..."

The sub quacked something again and I didn't hear what she said. Oh dear God, why won't he just shut up?! I glared at him and pressed the phone harder against my ear.

"Speak up," I said. "I can't hear you."

"I said I am at the airport!" she laughed. "I am back, Luke! I told my Uncle that if he was fine, then there was no need for me to stick around and he agreed! Luke, I flew in, like, ten minutes ago!!"

Oh my God...

"What?!" I thought I was dreaming, but then I saw the sub's twitching eyelid and realized that it wasn't a dream. "Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, I am serious," she laughed. "I am at the freaking airport!"

"Oh my God, that's awesome!! Yeah, I'll be right there!"

I shut my phone and got up. This was amazing. I grabbed my book and grinned at the sub. He looked like he would be the happiest man in the world if only he could get his fingers around my throat. I didn't give a damn. Faith was back and nothing else mattered.

"Gotta go," I said lightly and threw my backpack over my shoulder. "Have fun subbing, Steve!"

I walked out without even bothering to wait for his reaction. Who cares! He would probably start spitting acid anyway. I didn't care if I ran into Williamson or an entire SWAT team. I was getting the hell out of here and nobody would be able to stop me.

*****

I got to the airport in less than fifteen minutes, and almost double-parked. But then I realized that if I did that, then it might delay the moment of Faith and me finally getting some privacy. So I found the parking spot, and five minutes later, I was racing to the sliding glass doors.

She was standing by the vending machine, absent-mindedly swinging her bag. I ran to her, and when she saw me, she dropped the bag on the floor. I almost slammed into her full speed, and at the last moment, I managed to come to a screeching halt. I hugged her so tight that I am pretty sure she couldn't breathe for several seconds. I didn't care that people were staring, I didn't care that someone might recognize us; I didn't give a damn that Williamson might be around here somewhere for some idiotic reason. Faith started kissing my mouth, and I realized that she didn't give a flying shit either. Both of us were shaking pretty soon.

"Jesus," I muttered without letting her go. "Connor, do you have any idea what it was like here without you...? I missed you so freaking much... Oh, God..."

"I know," she muttered back, her lips all over my face. "I know... I was going crazy... God, Luke, this is so crazy..."

"Yeah... Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

...Almost five hours later, we looked like victims of a hurricane. We couldn't breathe, we couldn't talk, we just lay there, gasping for air. I was surprised that we even made it to the bed. I mean, we walked all that way from the front door, and that never seemed like a long journey, but today it was almost the same as crossing Sahara Desert. 'Walked' is not the right word though. We stumbled. I think we almost ended up on the living room floor, right next to the couch, but then we just kept moving, and eventually, we got to the bedroom. I had my hands and mouth all over her, and her body was almost embedded in mine by that point.

I glanced around the bedroom and laughed when I saw our clothes scattered all over the bed, chair, and desk. I looked up and blinked. Dear God! My shirt was hanging off the ceiling fan.

"How the hell did it get up there?" I muttered, and Faith followed my gaze.

When she saw the shirt, she immediately started cracking up.

"I don't even remember taking it off you," she said. "Jesus, Russell... It was, like, we haven't seen each other for a year and not just several days..."

"When you are not here, a day counts for a year," I grumbled and pulled her closer.

"Oye," she sighed. "You know, there is something I need to tell you..."

I looked at her with suspicion.

"You are pregnant," I said, and she snorted.

"Would that freak you out?"

"No," I rolled my eyes. "But it would make me find the damn job sooner..."

Faith hemmed and kissed my chest.

"No," she said finally. "I am not pregnant. There is just this thing... It'll happen in March... Right before the spring break..." she sighed.

I propped myself up on one elbow.

"What thing?" I frowned. "Now I am freaking out, Faith!"

"Well," she looked at me and bit her lower lip. "Luke, I will have to go to Denver for a week."

"Jesus..." I growled. "Why?!"

"I have to take this class," she sniffled guiltily. "Williamson told me before I left for Minnesota."

"Damn him," I grumbled. "He is doing it on purpose!"

"No," Faith sighed. "It's the teaching thing... Certification and whatnot. And no, you can't come with me," she finished and I winced.

"Whatever..."

"It's the week before the spring break, Russell," she said gloomily. "Tests... Exams... Quizzes..."

"I know," I sighed. "I know. You'll be back for spring break though, right?"

"Oh, yeah," she smiled slowly. "You bet your ass I will!"

"Excellent," I murmured and started kissing her again. I was amazed at how soft her mouth was and how insistent it could get.

***** 

I had to go to the damn school the next morning, and I was about to start beating my head on the wall.

"Go," Faith all but kicked me out of bed. "Go, so I can get some sleep!"

"Right," I snorted and started looking for my jeans. "Have you seen my pants?"

"Not after I took them off you," she muttered and yawned.

"Stop that," I winced. "I had less sleep than you, by the way. Stop yawning!"

"Look under the bed," she said, burying her head in the pillow. "You don't need much sleep, you are a guy..."

"Whatever," I laughed and looked under the bed. Yup, there were my jeans. I pulled them from underneath the bed.

"I am serious," she looked at me solemnly. "I need my sleep much more than you do, Russell. It's called beauty sleep."

I sighed.

"Right. Get your sleep, Connor because after I come back from that damn school, you are not dozing off!"

"Come here," she murmured and I leaned towards her.

She pulled me closer and planted a very long and slow kiss on my mouth. I shivered when her tongue started tracing my lips slowly and gently.

"That's it," I said. "I am not going anywhere..."

"Yeah, you are," she laughed and pushed me away. "Don't tell anyone that I am back..."

"Faith," I sighed. "Do you even know me?"

"Just saying," she winced. "Shut up!"

I laughed and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Right. Okay, later, crazy!"

"Have fun," she muttered, and I was pretty sure that she was out before I closed the door.

*****

My mood was so much better today that even I couldn't believe it. I was actually smiling at people without planning anything evil. Hell, I was even somewhat decent to the whale. I realized that Faith was right -- the whale did lose a lot of weight. She looked like she was around 180 pounds right now, more or less. Good for her, I thought. Wow, this cheerfulness and goodness felt really alien to me, but it felt great. I saw Steve the Sub in the hallway and walked up to him. He winced when he saw me as if he expected me to spit on his shoes or something.

"Hey," I said uncomfortably. "Sorry about yesterday, I was a dick."

"Yeah, you were," he muttered with suspicion. "What turned you into a human?"

I laughed at that. Steve the Sub had a sense of humor, who would've thought...

"Not what," I said pointedly. "Who."

"Ah," he nodded finally. "I see. Well, whoever it was, say thanks to... her. It's a her, right?"

I wanted to thump him on the head.

"Uh huh," I said. "Her."

He smiled, more at ease now.

"Right. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. In class."

"Yeah, you will," I sighed. "Later."

I walked down the hallway and realized that I was whistling. Then I imagined Faith's face when I tell her that she would have to meet my mother, and I just started laughing.

"What's with you?" I heard someone say with great surprise, and I turned my head.

"Hey, Kelly. Just in a good mood, that's all."

She blinked.

"Huh... You are in a good mood... That is, like, impossible... But then again," she shrugged. "You are really weird lately, making plans with people and all... What happened yesterday? That poor guy looked like he was about to drop dead after you walked out..."

"Oh yeah..." I hemmed. "Nothing. Just got a really exciting phone call."

"What, the new Hustler came out or something?" she squinted her eyes.

"Yeah," I laughed. "Something like that."

"Luke..." she shook her head. "This is too weird. You are, like, totally different!"

"Taking charge of my life," I nodded energetically. "Changing my wicked ways... Thinking outside the box...!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said with annoyance.

"Later, Kelly!" I laughed and walked away.

I walked into the classroom and thought that life was pretty damn good now. When I finally graduate, it'll be even better. I sat down and pulled my book out of the backpack. Before going home today, I'll need to stop by Mike's shop and talk to him about that job. I blinked when I realized that I just thought of Faith's place as my home. Well, it's true, I guess. My home is where she is, and it didn't matter if she would have to move to Alaska -- I would just follow her. Hell, I'll follow her to the end of the freaking world! I grinned and opened my book.