A/N: Yay, Fanged Four moment! But not really Fanged Four, since Drusilla was sleeping in the basement xD Sorry, but I kind of hate her. Besides that, I'm playing her in an RP right now, so, since I hate her, I can't take having to personify random inanimate objects in more than one forum, no pun intended. Haha. Roleplay. More than one forum. RPs are in forums. Ha. Yeah. Anyway, sorry about the whole "Angel-and-Darla-leave-Buffy" thing. I know that there were a ton of different things I could have done if I kept them there, but I wanted to have a typical "Angel/Buffy-ex-fight." And, if that happened, he couldn't still be living with the Summers'. Besides, I, personally, would rather have pre-soul Spike and Angel bickering, since that tends to me more awesomesauce.

INSIDE JOKES ALERT!: Since my buddy sugarless5 is the only one reviewing, I'm going to go ahead and have a bazillion inside jokes. So, all you people that are just subscribing, review. Reviewing makes the world go round.

Nice Normal Semi-Holiday

Chapter Six

Buffy woke up at five the next morning.

She rolled over onto her side, hoping to fall asleep again. Once she found that she couldn't, she groaned and climbed out of bed. If she couldn't sleep in, she may as well be the first one up.

Angel had probably left. Buffy knew that. Despite Angel being as antisocial as he was, he still had some social skills. He knew that he wasn't wanted. Besides, that big fight they had? Awkward. If he stuck around, it would just bad. Pure stupidness.

Yawning, Buffy stretched. She pulled off her pajamas and replaced them with some purple sweats and a yellow tank top. She walked downstairs and out the front door, into the darkness of the early morning.

It was indistinguishable from midnight. The sun hadn't even begun to rise, and there was still no dew on the grass beneath her feet as she crossed the front yard. Buffy could hear a door opening a few houses down - probably someone commuting to Los Angeles. Where Angel should be right now, if it weren't for the stupid children's game he was partaking in.

Buffy continued across her yard. When she reached the sidewalk, she quickly deliberated where she wanted to go before making the firm decision to go to the right. She'd never been to the Bronze past two A.M., and she wanted to see where it was still open.

She strode quickly down the street, not really wanting to fight any vampires or demons this early in the morning. Tired Sunnydale citizens were not fun - Buffy knew from years of experience dealing with the people bordering the cemeteries. By now, Buffy had a sort of unspoken deal with them - as long as she kept the fight off of their property, she could do whatever she wanted earlier than midnight.

Buffy entered the Bad Part of Town. Whenever she'd ever seen someone write it out, they always capitalized it, so she did as well. Bad Part of Town. Like a little townwide inside joke. Everyone knew that the Bad Part of Town wasn't really the bad part of town. They knew to stay clear of the cemeteries past dusk; to always use the buddy system.

But, since she didn't particularly want any mugger trouble, either, Buffy hid her wallet in the sweatpants' deep left front pocket. Anyone could see the bulge, but at least she knew that no one would try to pickpocket her. People did that all the time in L.A., and it got really annoying.

Fortunately, Buffy reached the Bronze without any real trouble.

The Bronze's sign still glowed, a little dimmer than at night, but it was clear that it was still open. Probably just for the sake of the drunks that passed out there the night before, but it was still open.

Buffy entered the club, pausing momentarily where the line normally was. She would have to come back here later tonight, she realized. For Xander's birthday party. She sighed. Frankly, Buffy wanted to just stay home and watch movies with Mom and Dawn.

She was right about the crowd that would be there. Sitting at the bar was a small group, sleeping with drool coming out of their mouths. They were all wearing Halloween costumes.

Ah, yes. Last night was the Bronze's big Halloween bash that they held every year. Buffy had never been - she'd always been either busy or incapacitated in some way the week of the party - but everyone that went said it was fun. Besides Buffy, though, that was pretty much everyone. Cordelia was the only other person Buffy knew that didn't go. Cordelia thought that the Bronze's parties were always just "a cheap scam to make extra money by selling candy filled with fat and yuckiness," so in the years beforehand, Cordelia and Buffy would often hang out and have a spa evening and then not tell Xander and Willow about it.

But Buffy had come to establish a sense of purpose. To remember exactly why she was here. What she'd done all her life. In her first few years in Sunnydale, the Bronze was always where they would all regroup. Talk about their days; discuss that night's slays.

Still, though, she felt what she'd always felt.

Absolutely nothing.

*.*_-_*.*

"Hey, Buffy!" Willow exclaimed, spotting Buffy entering the crowded club. "Xander's over there arguing with Anya."

"Mmm. Must be Tuesday. What's it about this time?"

"Anya says that Xander cares more about his getting older than he does about hers."

"Nice. Didn't Anya say that she didn't want to have a birthday party last year?"

"Yup. But you know Anya - she just argues for arguments' sake."

Buffy nodded. "That she does. Hey, do you know what band is playing tonight? I thought it was supposed to be Cibo Matto, but I heard they changed the lineup."

"Cibo Matto is still playing, but the remnants of Dingoes are gonna be up, too."

"Oh, welcome to memory lane," Buffy said, shaking her head slightly. "Isn't Cibo Matto the band that was playing that time when I was being all wiggy after I killed the Master?"

"The very same."

"Did they get a new guitarist for Dingoes yet?"

"I guess so. I mean, wouldn't they have to? Oz was totally amazing, yeah, but they can't just get rid of the band because he's not there anymore."

Buffy placed her hand on top of Willow's. "You still miss him, don't you?"

"Every minute of every day."

"Do you wish you hadn't made the choice you did?"

Willow looked at her. "Well, you know, yeah. He's Oz. But at the same time, Tara is Tara. And I love them both equally, but in different ways and at different times. At the time - when Oz came back when he said he'd found a cure - Tara was what I needed. She was the one that made getting over Oz feel like... I wasn't just trying to get over an ex that done me wrong."

Buffy nodded slowly. "So who do you need now?"

"Honestly?" Willow said, ducking as a Converse sneaker flew over my head. "Oz."

"Hey, guys," Tara said, putting her bag down on the table. "Sorry I'm late. I was looking up this new spell and I kind of lost track of time."

Willow gave Buffy a "don't-you-dare-tell-anyone-not-even-Xander-what-I-told-you" look.

"I'll take it to the grave," Buffy said, glancing over at Xander and Anya again. "Well, if they're not coming back here any time soon, I'm just going to leave. Tell Xander I said happy birthday."

"See you, Buffy," Willow and Tara called.

Buffy pushed her chair back and walked out the door.

She didn't look back.