Chapter 7

Sunday…

Buffy woke that mooing with a knot in her stomach. She was nervous about seeing Alaric. She lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Dawn cleared her throat from the doorway. Buffy looked over at her.

"There is no way you are getting out of this." she said and walked down the hall to the kitchen. Buffy flung the covers off of her and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. She walked into the kitchen and Dawn handed her a cup of coffee.

"So what are you going to wear?" asked Dawn as she sipped from her own coffee mug.

"Shut up." said Buffy and laughed.

After breakfast Buffy jumped in the shower and got herself ready for her day. She walked back in her bedroom and stood in her pale blue robe in front of her open closet. She pulled out shirt after shirt not sure what she wanted to wear. She huffed in annoyance. She couldn't believe that she was actually stressing over this. She finally picked a thin white sweater and a pair of dark blue jean. She put on her clothes then looked in her full length mirror. She sighed and turned to sit on her bed and put on a pair of low heeled black boots. She walked back over to the mirror and smeared a sheer nude lipstick across her lips. She walked out of her room and grabbed a jacket. She looked up and saw Dawn.

"Is this outfit good?" she asked.

"Oh my God really? Yeah you are fine." Dawn said and walked out the front door and towards the car. Buffy grabbed her bag and keys and locked the door. She walked to the car and got in. Buffy pulled her oversized sunglasses out of her bag and put them on. Then they were off.

They drove downtown and parked in a lot designated for them. The girls got out of the car and walked towards the middle of town. The breeze was nice and cool and the sun was out. It was a really beautiful morning. They turned the corner and saw the tables being set-up for the street fair.

Buffy saw Alaric right away. He was setting up some more tables. His brown hair was a bit rumpled as it normally was and she smiled. He wore a dark blue thermal henley shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. He had on a pair of sunglasses.

"Oh look Buffy. There's Alaric." Dawn said as she leaned closer to her sister.

"Shut up." she said and pushed her. Alaric looked up and saw them walking towards him. He stood up straight and brushed some specks of dirt off of his clothes. He was even cuter when he fidgeted. She couldn't help but noticed his cheeks were flushed and he was hiding the same smile she was. "Cute" she thought again.

"Buffy, Dawn nice to see you bright and early." He said and smiled at them. "Ok are we ready?" he said still smiling.

"Sure." said Buffy a little over enthusiastic. "Tell me what I can do?" she toned it down a bit this time.

"Ok can you guys handle the tables while I go get the trucks unloaded." He tried his hardest not to look at Buffy.

"Yeah sure. You tell me where you want them and I'll get it done." she said. Alaric gave Buffy a basic layout for the tables and she and Dawn set them up.

"Seriously Buffy."

"Shut up Dawn. If you wouldn't make such a big deal about ti I would be fine. Suddenly I don't know how to act around him."

"Next time he sakes you to do something why don't you do a cartwheel. Maybe he will get the idea of how excited you are."

"Not funny." Buffy said as she saw Alaric back a truck close to the curb. He got out and yelled at the girls to come help. Some more parents started to arrive and set up their tables. Alaric walked back over to Buffy carrying a load of boxes.

"OK what else can I do?"

"Now its set up time." he said and set the boxes on a table. She reached to open the box just as Alaric did. Their hands touch and she pulled back quickly.

"Sorry." She said

"Its cool." he said and stepped back a bit. "Umm do you think you can handle this. I have to check on some other stuff." He seemed to want to get away from her quickly.

"Yeah sure." Do what you have to. I've got this."

Alaric walked away. He turned his head back and watched as Buffy unpack one of the boxes and placed the items on the table.

"What the hell are you thinking Ric?" He almost yelled at himself in his mind.

He walked back to a far corner of the parking lot and sat by himself for a while. He needed to get away from her for a while. He wasn't sure what he was more annoyed at… the fact that he had "that feeling" in the pit of his stomach for Buffy or the fact that he was angry at himself for feeling this way. It was too soon for this. After Isobel it took him a long time to like someone again. He really didn't tell Jenna how he really felt about her. And then she ….. And now he was having feelings for Buffy. This was all crazy. It was better for the both of them that he stay as far away from her as he could but something deep down inside didn't want to stay away from her. When he was near Buffy and they were talking, just talking he felt better. He felt like it would be ok again.

He got up and walked across to the coffee shop and purchased 2 cups of coffee. He walked back across the lot and towards the table and Buffy. She had her hair in a quick messy bun now, some of the strands were falling in her face. He watched her as she tried to blow them out of her face. Then she got annoyed and ran her fingers through her hair and tucked the unruly little buggers behind her ear. She looked up and saw him coming. She stood up and lifted her sunglasses form her eyes. She pushed them back on her head. Her eyes were really blue that day.

"I guessed." he said and handed her a cup of coffee. "Just milk." he said. Buffy opened the lid and took a long sip.

"Perfect." she said and fought a smile. She raised the cup and took another long sip. "OK so how am I doing here?" she asked.

"Looks good." he said and looked back up at her. He smiled and laughed.

"What? I am not the craftiest person. Give me a little credit."

"No everything is fine. You get a gold star for today." She looked up into his eyes. They stood for a few seconds and then he broken eye contact first. Buffy turned and sipped her coffee again. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She reached in and pulled it out. A text from Dawn. "DS & EG heading u'r way."

Buffy looked up and saw Damon walking towards their table with a beautiful young girl.

"Hey Ric." she said as she approached. She turned her attention to Buffy. "Hi I'm Elena Gilbert." she reached her hand out to Buffy. "You must be Buffy. I have heard about you, not a lot but I have heard." she smiled genuinely. She was clearly human.

"I hope it was all good." Buffy said smiling at the girl. They laughed.

"I have met your sister Dawn. She is a great kid." said Elena. Buffy thought this was funny. This girl couldn't be more than 17 years old and she was calling Dawn a kid. She had no idea. Buffy looked up and caught Damon's eyes. He was staring at her. Buffy found it a little eerie.

"Hello Damon. " Buffy said. "How are you?"

"I am very well Thank you." It seemed as if he were annoyed but there was something else, like he knew something. This made Buffy uncomfortable.

They stood for a few minutes and talked. Buffy watched Damon. He put his arm around Elena's shoulder. She saw how uncomfortable it made her. She tried to shrug it off but he kept in there. Then Buffy noticed an old looking ring on his hand. She made mental note of the ring. She wanted to get a picture of it to send to Willow but how would she do that.

"Buffy." said Alaric. "You ok?" he asked. She suddenly realized that she was staring at Damon's hand. She snapped herself out of her stupor. The three of them were looking at her.

"Sorry."

"You ok/" said Alaric again. He reached out the touched her arm. She looked down at his hand then up into his eyes.

"Yeah I am fine. My brain just working a mile a minute." Buffy shifted uneasily. There was an awkward silence between them all. Elena looked up and saw Bonnie walking across the grass with Jeremy.

"Oh Bonnie and Jeremy. I will see you guys later." She said to Alaric and Damon. "Buffy it was really nice to meet you." she said to Buffy them walked away.

Buffy was left with Damon and Alaric. There was another awkward silence.

"I need to go to the ladies room." she said. She walked away, towards the coffee shop.

Damon turned to Alaric. "We need to talk about your girlfriend."

Alaric looked at Damon. He saw the twinge of pain in Alaric's eyes.

"What?" said Alaric.

"She is not what she seems. She knows too much." said Damon