AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am writing this as a request from BellaVision. It's completely different from my other piece "Hope", which I hope you'll also read. If you have any suggestions, feel free to pm me or just comment! I love reading reviews so don't be shy! :-) Enjoy.
BTW, I don't own any of this… yada yada. I AM using some lines from the original episode (S2e6 Halloween). Joss Whedon did it first so some of the lines are his, not mine.
It was the day before Halloween, and Buffy still didn't have a costume. Willow, Xander, and she had come to Ethan's in hope of finding one for each of them. She couldn't help but obsess over the girl she saw Angel with. A girl she now knew to be Drusilla. And she was completely insistent on finding a costume that matched the era he was originally from. She didn't want to dress up. She wanted to sit at home eating Ben and Jerry's and some stolen Halloween candy from the giant bowl her mom had; however, she had been coerced into signing up to help kids Trick or Treat. Stupid rat-faced principal of hers. Snyder…
Willow walked up to her with a huge grin. "What'd ya get?" Buffy asked.
"A time honored classic!" Willow exclaimed as she held up a ghost costume.
"Okay, well can I give you a little friendly advice?"
"It's not spooky enough?"
"It's just, you're never going to get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween."
"Free candy?"
"It's come as you aren't night. The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions."
"Oh, I don't get wild," Willow shook her head, embarrassed at the thought of being sexy. "Wild on me equals spaz."
"Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you." Xander approached, gathering the attention of the two girls. Buffy apologized for "helping" Xander out with Larry, who had threatened to pummel him after Xander tried to stick up for Buffy's honor.
Buffy's gazed and thoughts strayed as she saw it. Hanging up in the back of the room. It was gorgeous. The red gown was everything she was looking for to impress Angel. Why do you need to impress him? a thought rang out. Because he's a vampire that's over 200 years old, and he's the hottest thing I've ever seen. Not true, her brain corrected. She immediately thought of the new blonde vampire in town. Though she didn't want to admit it, he was a nice specimen of the male entity. Something about his piercing blue eyes made her forget Angel.
"Buffy?" Willow said attempting to regain her friend's attention. "It's beautiful." She said in awe. Buffy looked again at what she was starring and decided she didn't want to be a noble woman anymore.
"Yeah it is, but I don't think I want it anymore. Let's keep looking."
"Don't you want to dress up for Angel?" Willow asked, suddenly confused by the quick change of opinion.
"Not so much anymore. I dunno. It's just, I don't feel like I need to impress him anymore."
"I'm all for that!" Xander said with a hardy laugh.
"I know you don't like him, but come on Xander. He's better than Larry," Willow said, annoyed by her friend.
"Very true."
"I can hear you," Buffy said to her friends. She walked aimlessly around the shop, not really interested in anything she saw.
"Can I help you find something?" a strong, male, British voice said from behind Buffy. She spun, registering that the man sounded like Giles for a half instant.
"Sure. I'm looking for something very not me," Buffy replied.
"Well, what is you?" he asked with fervor.
"Peppy, responsible," Willow chirped.
"Gorgeous, obviously. Funny, smart. Overall good girl," Xander confirmed.
"Well, I certainly don't think you want to be opposite of that, but how about something a little on the dark side?" the man said, leading her to the back, reverse side of the store from the dress. He led her to an outfit that screamed to Buffy.
…
"Don't worry. Everything's switching," the small feminine voice said. "Outside to inside. It makes her… different."
"Really? Did my pet have a vision?" the platinum blonde's said, turning to face his lover. "Come on. Talk to daddy," he said trying to get Drusilla to stay focused. "This thing that makes the Slayer different, when is it?"
"Tomorrow," she said quietly.
"Tomorrow's Halloween. Nothing happens on Halloween."
"Someone's come to change it all. Someone new."
…..
Buffy was absolutely enticed with the number she bought from Ethan's. He made her an excellent deal, too. He allowed her to only take parts of the ensemble she actually needed, rather than the entire thing, so he only charged her for those items.
She sat at her vanity and put on her makeup delicately. She darkened the make up around her eyes with eyeliner. She slowly applied the eye shadow, making each stroke of her brush careful. A deep purple—the name on the compact said it was called 'grappa'—started along her eyelid and faded as it reached her brow. She had studied magazines trying to figure out how to do the "smoky eye" look with perfection. She applied a deep red lipstick to her lips, knowing that it fit her look extremely well. It was the udder opposite of what she originally wanted Angel to see her. The more she thought about her costume, the less she cared about Angel and the more she wanted to see a little newer vampire.
Buffy didn't know why she thought more about the vampire known as Spike kept interfering her thoughts. She only met him once and he tried to kill her. He was a good fighter. Strong, intuitive, quick. He was somehow able to read her like a book. She knew there was something about him, but she couldn't quite place it. There was something about the way he moved and fought that made Buffy want to see what else he could do. Although she was terrified whenever Spike and his posse had locked down the school on Parent-Teacher day, she wasn't now. She was anxious to see more of him, but he never seemed to show himself whenever she patrolled.
She looked at herself in the mirror and marveled at the difference some makeup did. She proceeded to fix her hair. She had curled her hair, and it hit her shoulders in fantastic waves. She pulled on the black lace and red leather top she had gotten from Ethan's. It fit her form like it was made for her. It was like a corset, but covered just a tad more. It was modest, but still incredibly sexy. She already had a pair of red leather pants and black calf high boots that matched wonderfully. She snapped in the fake teeth that she had purchased and called to Willow, excited to see what the red-head had come up with.
"Will! You can't hide in there forever! Come let me see!"
"Okay, okay…" she said as she walked from the other room. Willow was wearing a small red top, showing a large amount of midriff and a leather skirt that came just above her knee. Her hair was up with sprigs framing her face.
"Oh, you look great!"
"You do too. Wow. That's an interesting costume," Willow said, still unsure of her friend's choice in costume.
Diiiiiiiiiiiing- dong. The doorbell rang signaling Xander's arrival.
"That's Xander! I'm going to go down, and let him in," Buffy said as she strode away.
"Okay, I'll be down in a minute," Willow said shakily.
"Private Harris reporting for… wow. WOW!" Xander said as he assessed Buffy. "I always said I liked my women in spandex."
"Ha ha! Just wait until you see…" Willow began walking down the stairs, "Casper." She had donned the ghost costume Buffy had tried to talk her out of wearing.
"Nice BOO you got there, Will."
The trio proceeded to the school where their forced destiny was waiting.