Chapter Four

And amusing it was. Cordelia and Doyle sat patiently at the booth to one of the restaurants inside the mall they were in as they waited for Eve to bring them back their drinks, a milkshake for Cordelia and a root beer float for Doyle. The evil liaison had gotten lucky with that one, saying that it contained real beer inside of it and would make him seem more grown up.

"Hey," Doyle whispered as he tapped Cordelia's shoulder lightly as a way of getting her attention. The young girl had insisted that she would be put into real clothes before going anywhere and now she was dressed in a light pink T-shirt with a white poodle on it, light blue jeans, and white sneakers on her feet.

"Hmm?" Cordelia asked as she met Doyle's gaze. She smiled in spite of herself. She was well aware of the fact that this boy was not someone her father would necessarily approve of but she liked him nonetheless. Plus, he was older and he would be able to drive before she could.

"What do you think about sneaking off and leaving the wicked witch behind?" he asked curiously as his hand slipped down and joined with hers under the table.

"Ok," Cordelia agreed as she carefully stood up, watching to make sure Eve was not looking their way, which fortunately she was not. "Ok, here's our chance," she said as the two of them began making their way out of the place.

"Success!" Doyle said happily as they left the place and rushed around to the corner to avoid Eve catching sight of them.

"Wait," Cordelia began as she looked at the massive group of people parading up and down the mall. "What if someone sees us?" she asked.

"Well of course people will see us," Doyle said. "We’re not wearing any invisibility cloaks," he pointed out. "Did you have someone in mind who might see us?" he asked.

Cordelia shrugged. "Not really. But I don't want everyone to know that I like a loser. At least not yet," she said.

"You still think I'm a loser!" Doyle exclaimed as he let go of Cordelia's hand.

"In a good way!" Cordelia protested. "But you're still a loser, sorry."

"Well what can I do about that?" Doyle asked her.

"Change your hair," Cordelia suggested. "Maybe wash it a little better."

"Hey!" Doyle protested.

"Sorry," Cordelia apologized as the two of them neared one of the fountains for throwing coins into. "Really," she said as she rushed up to the fountain with excitement and anticipation. "I love these," she told Doyle as he approached her from behind.

Doyle smiled as the two of them sat down on the fountain's side. The two of them were once again joined hand-in-hand. They turned and faced each other sweetly and Doyle placed his hand on Cordelia's shoulder. "Would you mind if I kissed you?" he asked. "I've never done it before."

Cordelia thought the motion over in her head, picturing it to be perfect, just like in the movies. The boy meets the girl and they fall in love. They stand on the beach near sunset and share one long kiss. It was an experience Cordelia imagined she would love. "Ok," she agreed as she moved in closer to Doyle.

Doyle's whole body filled with joy and happiness as he placed his other hand on Cordelia's other shoulder. He closed his eyes and moved in towards where he presumed her mouth would be. He felt something smooth and soft touching up against his lips and he smiled as he brought his lips together and tenderly caressed Cordelia's lips. Even though there was no tongue touching in the process, there was the faintest hint of a blue light passing between them from Cordelia to Doyle.

Cordelia tried to move the two of them to a standing position since she felt it would be more appropriate and it was what a girl should do. Unfortunately, she lost her balance during the process and felt herself moving backwards towards the fountain. Not knowing what she should do, Cordelia clung to Doyle, causing the two of them to land in the fountain with a splash.

"Everyone will see us now," Doyle mumbled softly to Cordelia as he saw the various people gathered around starting to stare at them. Small sounds of laughter began echoing through the room.

A woman in her mid to late forties turned around and offered a hand out to Doyle while her daughter offered a hand to Cordelia. "You two kids ok?" she asked as the two of them were out of the fountain.

"C-cold," Cordelia whispered as the cold air brushing against her wet clothes began causing her to start shivering slightly.

"Me too," Doyle announced as he once again reached for Cordelia's hand. Unfortunately the woman interceded by taking hold of each of their hands. She motioned for her daughter to pick up the Macy's shopping bag while she began walking with Cordelia and Doyle.

"W-where are we g-going?" Cordelia asked between shivers as she moved closer to the woman for warmth.

"The closest customer service outlet," the woman answered. "Does your mother know you two are here?" she asked curiously as she glanced back and forth between Cordelia and Doyle.

"Our mother?" Doyle asked. "We're not related, lady," he began as he looked at the passing stores and restaurants. "Her mother's in Sunnydale and mine's in Ireland."

"Psst," he whispered, tilting his head as they passed the restaurant from which they had left Eve. "Think she's looking for us?"

Before Cordelia had a chance to answer, she heard her name being announced over the loudspeaker along with Doyle's. The message asked for them to be delivered to customer service on the lower floor.

"Is that you two?" the woman asked after the announcement had ended.

Cordelia nodded gravely and Doyle did the same. "Yes," he mumbled miserably.

"H-he made me run off," Cordelia quickly put in. "This was all his idea!"

"Hey, if you want to be trapped with that Eve girl, then fine by me!" Doyle shot back at her.

Cordelia smiled as she glanced at Doyle behind the woman's back. "I never said it was a bad idea," she pointed out. "Just that it was yours."

As the two of them started following the woman downstairs, Cordelia knelt over on the floor. Both hands went to her head, and she started moaning pained expressions. Although her eyes were not closed, she could not see Doyle or the woman. She could not see anything around her. Instead, she saw that man from back at the weird building. He and some other guy were fighting. Then she saw a tombstone with her name engraved into it. She shuddered violently. "What the heck was that?" she exclaimed.