Cherry (1/1)

Author- Midnight Faith

Spoilers- nothing specific just the basic knowledge that Lilah/Wesley is canon

Distribution- Neurotica, Notorious if Jenny wants it anywhere else just ask :)

Pairing- Wesley/Lilah. (Stop. Go back. Check the author name.)

Rating- R

Summary- A surprise visitor at Christmas makes Lilah re-evaluate her feelings for Wesley.

Disclaimer- They're not mine.

Dedication- To Bobbi. If it wasn't for you so much of my fic this year wouldn't have happened. You're one in a million.

Lilah's skin hummed in anticipation. Sometimes the waiting, wondering if Wesley would show tonight was better than him actually being there, and made her body flush a deep crimson in response.

She paused in her thoughts to pour another scotch from the decanter to her left, eyes momentarily flicking back to Bloomberg. But tonight wasn't going to be about long periods of concentration, be it a CNN lead story, Sex in the City or god damned Lord of the Rings Wesley had made her sit through last Saturday. Tonight was about her, and maybe a little about Wesley. His eyes, his lips, his…

Her heart almost skipped a beat at the ring of the doorbell. Jumping up and displacing her scotch, Lilah checked her reflection in the hallway mirror before opening the door with a purred,

"Wesley…" before she trailed off and asked disbelievingly, "Beth?"

She was greeted with the sight of her fifteen year old, half-sister standing on her doorstep, at least an inch taller than when Lilah had seen her the previous Christmas. She looked a lot like a younger, more washed out version of Lilah. Though the sisters shared the same basic height, build and bone structure, Beth's hair was altogether lighter and mousier than Lilah's deep brunette, worn a little longer, nose snubbed and eyes a faded shade of grey as opposed to Lilah's enthralling mid blue.

"Hello to you too," the younger Morgan smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Lilah asked, noting her sister's hold-all and flight crumpled clothes.

"I'm coming to stay with you for Christmas, remember?" And when Lilah continued to stare at her incredulously, "Dad said he's leave a message and when you didn't reply he assumed it was OK. We figured you wouldn't be doing anything anyway."

"Well you figured wrong." She snapped, "I have someone coming over for Christmas."

"Who?"

"My boyfriend," Lilah said, words slipping from her mouth without thinking.

"This I have to hear," Beth said with widened, glowing eyes, slithering into Lilah's apartment, "So can I stay?"

Lilah sighed.

"You can stay, but I've got nothing… child-friendly."

"I'm not a child."

"Whatever," Lilah said, following Beth back into the living room, "Have a seat."

"God, Li you haven't even got a tree- which planet are you living on?"

"I'm not big on Christmas," Lilah said, sitting opposite her sister in an armchair.

"I do know. At Dad's you turn up midnight Christmas Eve and you're gone by ten Christmas night."

"How come you're not doing the Martha's Vineyard Christmas this year anyway?" Lilah asked.

"You don't know? Dad's divorcing Carol, step mother numero three and is too busy for Christmas. He's representing himself or something. So Evan and Ellie went to Erin's and Callie's raving it up with her yuppies at Harvard."

"Why didn't you go to Erin's?"

"Because I wanted to see you. Erin visits all the time and I haven't seen you all year."

"I know, I've been busy," Lilah said, feeling unexplainably guilty.

"Too busy to pick up a phone or put pen to paper? I really missed you."

"I know- I'm sorry. I guess I should call Wesley, see if he still wants to come."

"I bet he does," Beth said with a devilish smile, which earnt her getting hit abruptly and playfully by a cushion thrown by her elder sister.

*****

Lilah couldn't sleep, wholly displaced by another person in the personal space of her apartment. Not even Wesley had stopped by here, it had always been her going to him and it was only in the past week he'd suggested he finally got a glance inside her apartment.

She glanced frustrated, at the eerie red glow of her digital alarm clock reading 01:59.

Instantly, her senses were alert on hearing banging downstairs in her kitchen.

Sighing, she got out of bed pausing at her closet to pull on a fleece robe rather than the black silk Wesley had bought her a few weeks ago, 'Just because…' and padded down the stairs with a small yawn.

Beth as in the kitchen still fully dressed making two cups of hot chocolate.

"You ruined my surprise," Beth said as Lilah appeared in the doorway, "I couldn't sleep- jet lag so I was gonna bring you up a hot chocolate. I figured you'd be all weird because I'm here and the boyfriend's not. Tell me about him."

Lilah shrugged.

"Not much to tell. His name's Wesley. Maybe one or two years older than me. Tall. Dark hair, Blue eyes. That's pretty much it."

"That's it. How long's it been going on for? How did you guys meet? I mean because it's gotta be serious. You're having him here for Christmas."

"OK, if you must know, about seven months. His ex-boss is kind of a… client at the firm."

"Do you love him?"

Lilah paused for a long moment.

"No. Yes. I don't know."

"If it helps, you do. Your eyes light up when you talk about him. You even blush a little."

"Wow, didn't we turn out to be the little psychoanalyst."

"I want to do psychiatry. Of course Dad's pushing for Law. He was really disappointed when Callie did medicine. I owe him."

"Do what you want Beth, not what he wants."

"Did you?"

"I wanted to do Physics believe it or not. But Dad pushed for me to do Law and won out."

"Did it make you happy?"

Lilah shrugged, in response.

"But you found this Wesley guy that way," Beth continued.

"Yeah, I did."

"You look tired," Beth noted.

"I'm OK," Lilah said dismissive, "I got a couple of promotions this year."

"So I guess you'll be going into the office tomorrow?"

"I was planning to but I figured you'd want to go out and get a tree and some decorations tomorrow."

Beth smiled at her.

"OK."

"Do you think you can sleep now?" Lilah asked.

"Will you make fun of me if I leave the light on?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"I always sleep with the light on…"

*****

Wesley kissing her face and neck awakened Lilah early on Christmas morning, familiar hands exploring her body beneath the duvet.

She gave a small moan of pleasure and his mouth instantly descended to hers, soft and strangely passionate all at the same time.

"What are you doing here so early?" She asked him when he broke the kiss.

"It's Christmas," he told her simply.

"So says your shirt," she said, noting it was forest green.

"Well I was going to wear my singing tie but I thought you'd appreciate just the shirt more."

"Is Beth awake yet?" She asked.

"She's not downstairs."

"It's funny. At home she's running round waking the house up at four a.m- help me pick out something to wear?"

Wordlessly he began rummaging through her closet, as she watched him from beneath her duvet feeling remarkably non-threatened.

Finally he emerged holding a red cross- over top in his left hand and white Capri pants in his right.

"I haven't worn that shirt since college," she pointed out with a wry grin, "Do you think it'll still fit?"

He nodded with a sly smile,

"It'll give… lift."

"Aren't you going to pick out any underwear? Top drawer."

He peeled out a light green thong from the top of the pile and handed her the pile of clothes.

"Aren't you going to help me dress?" She asked with a playful pout as he crawled across the bed towards her, unbuttoning her dark blue silk pyjamas, his mouth descending to her skin.

"This is supposed to be dressing," she said, arching into his tongue.

"Like you're complaining," he teased.

At that moment they heard the soft sound of the TV being turned on downstairs.

"To be continued?" She asked, pushing him off her.

He nodded, disappointed, watching her dress quickly.

He followed her down the stairs, a full step behind, resisting the urge to touch her and was shocked to see Lilah smiling and hugging her sister, exchanging a flurry of 'Merry Christmases,' and Lilah acting so… normal, his mind struggling for a better adjective.

"Wesley, this is Beth, my sister, "Lilah said, her arm around the younger Morgan's shoulders.

Wesley smiled a brief, "Hello," feeling suddenly shy. This was a new side to Lilah, one he wasn't used to and it unnerved him more than slightly.

"You're right," Beth shrugged, "He's kinda cute."

Lilah felt herself colour slightly as Beth hurried to the tree to pick up presents for both Wesley and Lilah.

"Kinda cute?" He asked.

"I had to tell her something."

Beth handed two wrapped packages to Lilah and one to Wesley. He seemed surprised, visibly touched.

"Thankyou," he said to Beth, intrigued.

"Lilah helped me pick it out," Beth told him, as he unwrapped the parcel to reveal a navy blue silk tie.

"Thankyou," he repeated, "It's lovely."

"It's a classic," Beth told him, "Blue goes with everything."

"My turn," Lilah said almost restlessly, "I'm fascinated."

"One I bought myself," Beth explained, "The other Dad picked out because apparently my present just isn't you."

"Which one did you pick out?" Lilah asked.

"The lumpy one."

Lilah unwrapped it carefully. A pink and purple flowered plastic frame with 'Best sis,' written on it lay in her lap, a picture of her and Beth contained inside it.

"Oh my God," Lilah said, clearly moved, "I love it."

"Really?" Beth asked.

"Really. Thankyou. What's the other thing? Let me guess something- Law related?"

"A book. British Parliamentary sovereignty. Fascinating."

Lilah rolled her eyes.

"I'll open it later- if I'm really bored."

Lilah reached behind the sofa and presented her with a gold gift bag.

"Here you go," she said, "Merry Christmas. You know I'm incompetent with gift wrap."

Beth looked inside the container and gave a small screech of delight.

"Friends boxset!" She exclaimed, "Thankyou."

"You’re welcome," Lilah told her.

"I got you a little something too," Wesley said, handing her a small box.

She looked at him puzzled before ripping away the paper.

"An MP3 player," she said, "I've been after one of these for a year- thankyou." Then to Lilah, "Do you have a CD burner on your computer?"

"It might have come free with a software package. I've barely gotten past AOL."

"Go," Lilah told her, almost exasperatedly, as Beth raced up the stairs and Lilah cleared away the forgotten videos.

"You didn't have to do that," Lilah told Wesley, annoyed, "Competing with me over *my* sister's presents."

"I'm not competing."

"Whatever."

"I'm not," he said, getting up to rest his hands on her hips. She found herself melting a little under his comforting touch and turned to face him as he caught her lips in a gentle kiss. It was different to anything she'd experience before. No holds barred, completely genuine, not burning exactly something… more, and it didn't end for quite some time. When it did, Lilah was shocked as Wesley simply held her- the first time he ever had aside from the occasional fleeting moment post-sex. She enjoyed the feeling of him leading her over to the sofa, the people she cared about surrounding her and feeling entirely safe for the first time in years.

He wordlessly handed her a rectangular, immaculately wrapped box, as she gave him a square-shaped package.

"You first," she gestured.

"No… you."

"OK, together," she said, curiosity getting the better of her, ripping away the paper to reveal a jewellery box containing a silver chain with a genuine diamond carved into the shape of a teardrop.

"Oh my God," she said, as he unwrapped his presents to expose two ancient books. "They're originals this time," she explained, "If not *the* originals. Purgatory and heaven, Dante again."

"Thankyou," he told her, embracing her nervously, awkwardly, "I don't really know what to say."

"If you don't know what to stay you don't have to. If you have… other people you want to see."

"Why would I want to be anywhere else?" He asked her.

She could only smile in response.

*****

The day had been long and exhausting.

Beth was curled up in the armchair asleep, hyped up excitement finally taking its toll, as Lilah and Wesley curled up drowsily together on the sofa.

It had to begun to feel more natural to them during the day. After Beth had pointed out 'You two are not remotely couple-y. Actually it's like being at home pre slutty secretary fiasco.'

For Beth's sake they'd made more of an attempt to be more affectionate. It had been forced at first. Hands awkwardly held and grasped above the table. But soon it had become instinctive and Lilah had chosen to remain cuddled up to Wesley even after Beth had fallen asleep.

"She wants to stay," Lilah said in hushed tones, "She's supposed to go home tomorrow but wants to stay on into the New Year."

"Are you going to let her?"

"No. She might want to stay permanently and it's just not safe here. And I just can't look after her."

"I'd say you were doing just fine," Wesley told her.

"And that's another thing. She wants to know everything about us."

"She's your sister, she's curious and she idolises you."

"She asked me if I loved you," Lilah blurted, shifting against him.

"Oh," he said lips dry, nervous.

"I told her I do."

"She asked me the same thing. I told her I do too." He said, feeling Lilah melt against him a little, "You realise they'll be hell to pay. They'll be consequences."

"I'm past caring, Wes."

"Me too."

"So what now?" She asked, nails tensely digging into his arm a little.

"I don't know," he told her honestly.

"We could go to bed," she shrugged.

"You're OK with that? Me staying the night?"

"I guess so."

"Be sure. After tonight there's no going back."

"I'm sure," she cut in, "When you're with me you make me feel…" she trailed off embarrassed, tugging roughly on his hand, "Fuck it, let's go to bed."

She led him, slowly and deliberately to her bedroom, sitting him down on the edge of her bed and flicking on the bedside lamp.

"It's nice," he told her, "Very you."

"What did you expect? Black walls, fairy lights and a furry Buddha?"

"Not exactly. Fire and brimstone would be more like it." He said, before his face turned serious, hand tangling in her hair, "What were you going to say before?"

"When?"

"'When you're with me I feel…'"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, nothing."

"Not something?" He asked.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Safe. Protected… loved even."

"What exactly have you been reading since you joined the unemployment line?" She joked.

"Would it unnerve you if I told you what I told Beth?" She asked.

"Yes."

He took the notepad and pen she kept beside her bed and flicked to a clean sheet and wrote 'I love you.'

She looked shocked, took the pen from him and wrote 'I love you too,' underneath.