Will She Ever Learn?
Author: Nitrowugs
Rating: PG for off-color words
Pairings: B/A, mention of F/W
Feedback: Please. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with BtVS or AtS. (Characters, plots and dialogue from the shows are borrowed with no infringement intent whatsoever.)
Distribution: Please ask and let me know where it's going.
Written: 08/01/2015
Summary: Sequel to 'I Wish You Love'. Angel's shanshu is on the horizon and he is hoping to reconnect with Buffy, however, Cordy has other plans.
A/N1: It has been eight years since the Sunnydale crew headed for Europe. Buffy and Dawn lived in Rome for nearly five years, but have returned to the US. The portion of Sunnydale that was destroyed has been rebuilt.
A/N2: AI team members survived NFA. Cordelia and Fred are alive and AI is in business.
Part 1
Cordelia had been bugging Angel for years to go through his wardrobe and get rid of his old clothes, particularly all of the old black leather that used to be his trademark attire, the jackets, the coats, particularly the long black leather coat that he had worn when he lived in Sunnydale. That coat reminded her too much of his former girlfriend and she had worked long and hard to get him to stop thinking about Buffy Summers.
Cordy did not even allow that name to be spoken anywhere Angel might hear it. She was not taking any chances on seeing his 'Buffy Face' leading up to the engagement party that was being planned for Fred and Wesley. She had him right where she wanted him and there was no doubt in her mind that the two of them would be the next AI couple to get engaged.
True, she and Angel were not officially dating, but she knew from Lorne and Fred that he had been in love with her for years. Then when she was told by Fred that he had purchased a gorgeous three carat diamond engagement ring weeks ago, she knew he was just waiting for the right time to pop the question.
Angel had been informed by the Oracles that his Shanshu would happen soon and he would be completely human before the end of the month. She knew that he was just waiting for that to happen before he officially asked her. She was very excited about the upcoming event and had already well rehearsed her 'surprised reaction' to his proposal.
Part 2
Angel, on the other hand, was nervous. Years ago when he was going thru his wardrobe looking for his favorite leather jacket, he came across the coat that he had been wearing when he left Sunnydale after Buffy's high school graduation. He remembered the note, CD and portable CD player that Buffy had left for him while he was in the shower. The note was still in the inside breast pocket of the coat.
He read and re-read the note and wept as bittersweet memories assaulted his mind. He dug out his old trunk and found the portable CD player and CD that Buffy had left for him. They still worked. The sad, but lovely, lyrics of 'I Wish You Love' brought back details of long buried memories of love so pure and rare and a girl so precious to him that he wept all over again. At that moment he determined to find the girl that he had left behind so long ago and to rekindle the love that he could now feel re-igniting in his heart.
At his last attempt to find her she had been living in Rome. He would start there. To his surprise a male voice that spoke perfect Italian answered the phone. The male turned out to be Andrew whom Angel had met on at least two occasions before. All he would tell Angel about Buffy was that she was well and she left the flat to him when she and Dawn moved out.
Angel did not want to contact her friends, so he started doing research on his own. To his surprise he found that Buffy had returned to the US and was currently living in Sunnydale. Even though her phone number was unlisted, he was able to get it and her address through one of his police contacts that he had developed over the years.
When he called the Summers house, Dawn answered the phone. Her pleasant voice turned cool when she found out who was calling. She would only tell him that Buffy was not in and she would not tell her sister that he had called. Apparently Dawn was still angry at him for leaving her sister the way he did.
Angel wondered if Buffy felt the same way.
Not one to be easily deterred, Angel hounded Dawn every day until she relented and told him that Buffy now taught beginners Italian at UC Sunnydale. He finally got in touch with Buffy and over the next year they gradually renewed their relationship. That was two years ago and still Gunn was the only one of his friends at AI who was aware of the frequent visits that Angel made to Sunnydale. During that time he and Buffy opened up to each other, worked thru hurt feelings and past regrets and fell in love all over again.
When the Oracles told him about his upcoming Shanshu, he knew this was the signal he had been waiting for. He purchased a diamond engagement ring because he planned to propose to Buffy the same day that he became human.
It was when he went back to pick up the ring after it was properly sized that Fred saw him and she couldn't wait to tell Cordy what she had seen. Both of them jumped to the wrong conclusion.
On the day that he became human Angel went to Sunnydale and proposed to Buffy. The next day he announced to his team that he planned to move the business to Sunnydale and turn it into a regular investigations firm since there was very little paranormal activity in LA and none at all in Sunnydale since the hellmouth was closed.
Cordy was the only one who didn't like the idea because she did not want to move back to Sunnydale "and as soon as we are married I'll have an equal say in what we do with the business."
"What?" Angel had no idea what she was talking about.
"Before you say anything, I've already tried on the ring. It's a little snug so you'll have to have it sized correctly. I'll go to the jeweler with you."
When Angel finally spoke, he shocked them all.
"That tears it. Cordelia, I have asked you many times to stay out of my personal space. Now I'm telling you. Do not go near my suite in this hotel again as long as I live here. Thankfully that will not be long because I am moving before the end of the week."
Cordy barreled ahead, undeterred, since she did not seem to get the gist of Angel's words. "Why are you so anxious to move back to that hell-hole? Who do you know that lives in Sunnydale anyway?"
"My fiancée lives there."
That got her attention.
"What? And who the hell is that? It couldn't be that loser, Buffy Summers, because she's somewhere in Europe screwing the Immortal."
"Apparently you're working with out of date information, sweetheart." The sneer on Angel's face showed distinct shades of Angelus as he almost spat the word 'sweetheart'. "Buffy's been back in the US for over three years."
"That's impossible. If that were true, I'd know about it."
"If you're thinking about your friend, Harmony, she's been dust for years."
"That bitch staked Harmony? I'll kill her."
"Harmony was already dust when Buffy came back. Gunn and I patrolled Sunnydale two or three times every week after Giles took the slayers and left for England. Paranormal activity was at a minimum since they closed the hellmouth. I dusted Harmony myself when she and a group of vamps attacked us one night. They were among the last vampires still in Sunnydale."
Angel left the room to return to his suite to finish packing the things he planned to take with him.
"Damn!" Cordelia swore. "All that money I've wasted getting manicures every couple of days just so my nails would be perfect when he gave me the ring. Shit, I just knew that was going to be my ring."
Fred apologized for giving her the wrong idea. "I'm sorry, Cordy, I was so sure that the ring was for you. I should never have told you about it."
"Damn right you shouldn't have."
"Really, Cordelia," Wesley interrupted; "you can't blame Fred because you jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"I can and I do. If she hadn't told me about that stupid ring, I wouldn't have been thinking it was for me. It's not that I want Angel so much, but that is a gorgeous ring, much too classy for the likes of Buffy Summers."
Not wanting to hear any more of Cordy's diatribe, Gunn shook his head and returned to the video that he was watching, thinking to himself, 'Will that girl ever learn?'