Weeks Later
Thanksgiving Day
Driving down the familiar street to Buffy's townhouse, Angelus noticed a line of cars parked outside the home against the kerb.
His frowned deepened realising that there was no place for him, so he kept driving further down the street until spotting an open space.
He spent the day at the law firm cross-referencing the multimillion-dollar case that would see the courtroom in the coming days. Against his better judgement, he closed the firm for a holiday for the first time in Wolfram & Hart's history. He briefly wondered if being with Buffy and Dawn was making him soft.
Angelus felt bad that he couldn't help Buffy in the holiday preparations, figuring if he closed the firm for everyone someone still had to work. So, Angelus took the hit for the team and stayed at the law firm for a few hours while the rest of his attorney's, including Lindsey, got a head start on the holiday.
Stepping out of the car holding a bottle of expensive wine, Angelus didn't know what to expect for the holiday of thanks. He's never celebrated such a day before.
Throughout the weeks leading up to the holiday, Dawn came home with crafted cutouts of turkey drawings made from the outline of her hand. She enthusiastically told him the entire kid-friendly history of Thanksgiving.
Walking up the short pathway to the front door, Angelus couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Buffy had tried to prepare him for what was to come. He was going to meet her mother and stepfather. He suddenly envied Buffy; she didn't have to go through that with his family, who were all dead.
For the first time ever, Angelus was going to meet the family of his girlfriend. Buffy had also forewarned him that Lindsey was going to be there as well.
Promptly rethinking his choice of a v-neck black sweater, matching trousers, and a long leather jacket, Angelus suddenly understood Buffy's 'creature-of-the-night' reference. For the first time ever, he feared he appeared too menacing for this family gathering.
Do I knock?—Or do I just enter? Angelus inwardly debated. You have a drawer in Buffy's bedroom, you can just enter now, right? But this is a holiday… Does that mean there are special rules like knocking?
The opening of the front door took him by surprise.
Buffy looked up at him wearing a half-smile as soon as her green eyes reached his face. She looked relieved by his arrival. "I had a feeling you were standing out here."
It was curious to Angelus how they shared a mutual bond of 'feeling each other' when they were near. He knew she was near minutes before she entered the room.
"You look nice." He ran his eyes over her. Her hair was straight and half parted with a clip and a red choker necklace around her neck. She wore a beige peasant top that showed off her tanned shoulders and tight, straight leg dark brown trousers with a pair of matching boots.
"You look timely… and also nice." Buffy had the sudden urge to kiss this throat that was exposed from his sweater.
She opened the door wider for him to enter and was thankful when Angelus eased her sexual frustration with a brush of his lips against hers.
"C'mon, there are some people I want you to meet." She took his hand and led him further into the house.
Walking into the kitchen, Angelus was immediately greeted with a thousand eyes. On any given day, he would've never paid it any mind, in fact, he quite enjoyed the attention, but today was not that day.
The eyes that were on him could make or break him. They were the eyes of Buffy's family.
"You must be Angelus." A middle-aged Englishman with kind green eyes and a slight smile. He held out his hand for Angelus to take.
Taking his hand, Angelus masked his fear with a faint professional smile, pretending that these people were just anyone else and not the family of his girlfriend.
"I am, Rupert Giles, Buffy's stepfather." He said.
"Nice to meet you, Mr Giles." Angelus said with a strained voice that was vaguely passable as 'polite'.
With a smile, the man said, "Please, just Giles is fine."
Angelus replied with a silent nod and watched as Giles took a step back and held a gentle hand against a middle-aged woman's back. Without a doubt, Angelus knew that this was Buffy's mother, Joyce. They had similar expressive green eyes, blondish hair, and heart-shaped lips. Buffy had definitely inherited her beauty from her mother.
"Mrs Summers—I mean, Mrs Giles…" Angelus caught Buffy's smirk of amusement as he stuttered his way through the conversation. He swallowed but held himself upright and proudly, "It's nice to finally meet you." He said, deciding to avoid the usage of names at all coast. He then tossed the eldest Summers woman his best charming smile that usually made Buffy weak to her knees.
Joyce ran her eyes over him, expertly masking her thoughts as she held a pinched smile on her face. Angelus had never felt so exposed in his life.
"It's nice to finally meet you… Angelus." She said his name with causation, easily sizing up what sort of man she thought he was.
He was very handsome with dark hypnotic features. He was tall broad-shouldered and from the looks of it, well-muscled underneath his black clothing. Joyce could tell he had a fortune to his name which probably came with a very seedy past. She had done a bit of her own research prior to the holiday after Buffy informed her that he was invited.
Joyce couldn't get through most of the articles she found on the computer. Angelus was a known playboy and a cold-hearted figure in his career. He was a man, she did not want for her only daughter.
Buffy felt the tension between the pair and decided to step in when thankfully Dawn ran into the kitchen with Willow and Tara following behind her.
"Angel!!" She shouted with gleeful excitement and jumped into Angelus' arms.
Angelus tore his eyes from the elder Summers woman and hugged the seven-year-old before placing her back down on her feet.
His heart pounded in his chest as he looked down at her. Dawn had been forced into her 'nice' pants and top. Angelus was present for that long argument between the mother and daughter over the Thanksgiving outfit. He was happy and unsurprised that Dawn had gotten her way by wearing her thick belt outside of her pants and shirt and the spy-notebook tucked into place. She also wore her favourite yellow raincoat.
He tossed her a wink as Dawn leaned forward and said, "I did what you told me to do and compromised."
Angelus had pulled the girl aside after unsuccessfully winning the argument with her mother. He told her the secret of winning a losing argument was to compromise.
"Good work, Ceann beag (little one)." He whispered and gently patted her cheek.
The seven-year old's attention shifted with the front door opened again.
"Daddy!" Dawn took off towards Lindsey, leaving Angelus behind.
Angelus stood tall and watched as the girl jumped into Lindsey's arms with the same excitement she showed him. He swallowed feeling a pang of jealousy.
Buffy must've sensed his rising emotions when he felt her hand run down the line of his back underneath his leather coat.
He wiped any trace of jealousy from his expression as he watched Lindsey, carry Dawn to the kitchen with a familiar beautiful face following him in tow.
"Mr O'Connor," Eve said with surprise to see her boss standing in the kitchen with her boyfriend's ex's family.
She had heard rumours that Angelus was involved in a serious relationship that surpassed most of the office's bets. Lindsey had never mentioned that their boss's girlfriend was Buffy.
Angelus regained his former stone-cold self in front of one of his employees. Eve worked as a liaison for the law firm where she fell in love with Lindsey a few years before. She was a good employee, though a bit flirtatious but the clients seemed to take to her.
Angelus had only ever heard Buffy mention the attractive brunette once before. Her voice was filled with annoyance so he decided to not bring up the subject of Eve to Buffy, though he was curious to know the relationship between her and Dawn.
"Eve," Buffy began, biting back her surprise, "I didn't realise you were coming."
Angelus could sense Buffy's immediate annoyance with the dark-haired woman but expertly kept a polite smile on her face as Lindsey and Eve entered the kitchen.
Knowing better, Angelus silently watched as Buffy turned her green eyes to Lindsey, giving him a hardened glare.
Lindsey smirked, "Well since you were obviously inviting your boyfriend, I thought Eve should also join in the family festivities… Since, well, this is partly my family too and all."
Lindsey kept his voice refined and smiling as tossed stringing jabs at his ex, which had been obvious to the room, except for Dawn.
"Of course," Buffy said, determined to keep the peace and get through this Thanksgiving dinner without another fistfight breaking out.
Angelus lifted his eyes to Lindsey wearing a cool smile as he pushed Buffy's hair from her shoulder and kissed her neck, while keeping his eyes on Lindsey, marking his territory.
Ding!
Buffy had never been so excited for the oven to go off. She moved around the group gathered in the kitchen and opened the oven door holding a baster in hand.
"The turkey looks wonderful, honey," Joyce said, standing behind her daughter.
Buffy stood straight, giving her mother a teasing look. "Well, you did make it, I'm just… basting."
"Small steps, sweetie." Joyce patted Buffy's shoulder and faced the glare-off between Buffy's current boyfriend and her ex. "This will be a long dinner if they keep that up." She whispered.
Buffy turned to see Angelus and Lindsey had not flinched from their glaring positions.
"Yeah, tell me about it… Dawn's birthday was… tense."
Joyce frowned, tearing her eyes from the men and back to Buffy. "You mean, this isn't the first family gathering Angelus has been to?"
"No," Buffy said as she washed the bowl of peeled potatoes. "He was at Dawn's birthday party."
"Buffy, do you think you might be involving this... Angelus just a little bit too much into this family?"
Buffy stood straight holding a peeled potato in her hand, "How do you mean?"
Joyce tried to find a way to explain herself without getting Buffy angry. "It's just… your relationship is… still very new and Dawn is fragile and…"
"Dawn wants him here and so do I," Buffy said and placed the potato back into the bowl with the rest. "We need to boil these and then put them through a ricer."
"Honey, I don't think you have a ricer," Joyce said.
"I don't have a ricer? How can that be? How could somebody not have a ricer?"
"Did you check the cabinets?" Joyce asked.
Buffy's expression fell, "Good idea—Wait, what's a ricer?"
Giles stepped between his girls and pulled out a fork from a drawer and said, "We'll mash them with forks, much like the pilgrims must have." He tossed a smile at his stepdaughter. "Besides, I think you should, um, distract either one of them before history repeats itself," Buffy knew he was referring to the barbecue a two years ago. "Bloody Americans." He muttered.
"Irish."
Giles frowned, "Sorry?"
"Angel is Irish."
With an eye roll, Giles began to mash the potatoes in the bowl, "Yes, right, that explains everything."
Buffy looked at the older man with a confused frown.
1 Hour Later
Four more guests arrived at the townhouse.
Faith and Anya entered first while Xander and Spike trailed behind arguing about the meaning of Thanksgiving after getting into a lively argument as they walked up to the house.
"Hey, B," Faith said with an easy smile on her face.
"Hey! Peas?"
Faith tossed a bag of frozen peas to the blonde.
Buffy looked down the bag then to Faith, "One bag? One bag?—Faith!"
"Hey, you never said how many you wanted." Faith held up her hands in defence.
With a scowl, Buffy reached for her cell phone and searched for the text message she sent prior to Faith's arrival. "I clearly wrote, three. See?" She pointed at the text message, "Three."
"Whatever," Faith said with an eye roll and watched Buffy scowl back into the kitchen.
Faith stepped beside Willow and Tara with her eyes glued on to Angelus and Lindsey now glaring at each other in the living room.
"Whoa, someone slices the tension with a knife." Faith whispered.
"They've been like this for an hour. And looks who's also here…" Willow tossed her eyes over Eve, sitting behind Lindsey, rubbing his shoulders, pretending that her boyfriend wasn't jealousy over Buffy's new boyfriend.
Faith's eyes went wide, "Yikes."
"Not to mention, Joyce already doesn't like Angelus." Tara quietly added.
"Lotta of things stacked against his guy… Well, this is gonna be entertaining to watch." Faith said, blowing out a breath.
"… Well, take the Chumash Indians," Xander continued the conversation as he stepped into the house with Spike.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Bloody hell, again with the bloody Chumash Indians?"
"They were peaceful until we came along," Xander argued, oblivious to the rooms turning attention to him.
"Faith, these are are gonna be mushy peas," Buffy said, poking her head out from the kitchen.
Spike shifted his gaze to the blonde and said, "I like mushy peas."
Buffy glared at her best friends boyfriend, "You're why there had to be pilgrims in the first place." She scowled and stepped back into the kitchen where her mother awaited her.
"Those bloody Indians had it coming," Spike said without empathy.
Willow turned to the platinum blonde haired man with a deepening frown, "How? Because we imprisoned them? Forced them into labour? Herded them like animals into a mission full of bad European diseases?"
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Joyce stood beside Buffy helping her dry the used dishes from cooking as her daughter washed them.
"He's older than you," Joyce said, failing to keep the judgement from her voice.
"I'm not exactly seventeen anymore, Mom. I can date whoever I want. And besides, Angel isn't that much older than me." Buffy said, forcing herself to keep her emotions neutral and unargumentative.
"Nor, does he seem very stable. I've been reading about his… affairs."
Buffy continued to wash the dish.
"I thought you would show more judgement, especially when Dawn is concerned." Joyce finished.
"He's a good man, Mom." Buffy kept her voice low. "And he's good to Dawn. She loves him."
Joyce ran her eyes over her daughter feeling her heartbreak at the mere thought of Buffy left heartbroken by a man like Angelus. "Are you in love with him?"
Buffy froze. She was in love but felt afraid to say it aloud, not wanting her mother's judgement to take that loving feeling away from her.
"Buffy," Joyce knew her reply, though she was silent. "I don't trust him. I'm sorry, I don't. I think that man will hurt you and he'll hurt your daughter. Perhaps not now but… men like him—like your father… Their primal instincts for their own need of power, control, and women won't stop. I can't help but wish that you and Lindsey could just—"
"—Mom, we've been through this." Buffy looked at her mother, holding the edge of the sink. "Lindsey and I are never getting back together. We tried—"
"—But he's Dawn's father. You should at least try to—"
"—Try to what, Mom? Be with him? Love him? Or did you forget those three years altogether? Or how you wanted to kill him for impregnating me? Or those fun times he left me to raise Dawn by myself because he wasn't ready to be the man I needed him to be? I waited long enough for him."
"And you think this… Angelus could be that man?—To be a father to Dawn or a husband to you?"
Buffy was silent for a moment coming to a decision and pushed away any linger doubts about the man she was in love with when she looked at her mother, "Yes, I do."
In the living room, the heated debate fuelled on.
"Boy," Anya began as she fell back on the couch beside Giles and Dawn, "I normally love a good death and carnage conversation but this is getting tired." She said with an eye roll, tired of the never-ending debate.
"And don't forget the few Chumash that tried to rebel were hanged," Xander said pointedly.
"Oh," Willow brightened, "or when a group was accused of stealing cattle, they were all killed. Men, women, and children for proof to bring back to their accusers…"
Giles held his hands over Dawn's ears, blocking out any of the violent talks.
Meanwhile, for the first time, Angelus and Lindsey shifted their gaze to the conversation.
Angelus interjected much to the rooms surprise, "I think your sympathy for the Indians has blinded you to the truth."
"And what truth is that?" Lindsey challenged with a glare, immediately taking any side opposed to Angelus.
Shifting his dark eyes back to Lindsey, Angelus' jaw tightened, "That all of this crying over the Indians is a waste of time."
"'Cause it's just so easy to invade a place where you don't belong," Lindsey sneered.
Angelus smirked, "What you seem to forget that is how battles are won. You come in, you take out the weaker man, and you take their land." He used the heated debate to drive home his place in Buffy and Dawn's life. "That's what a conquering nation does. The history of the world is not of people being friends. It's about having a better weapon." The smug smile lingering across Angelus' lips tugged wider.
The room was silent for a moment when Spike suddenly broke it. "See? Listen to Captain Forehead over there." He said breaking the thick silence and looked at Xander, "That's what Caesar did, he's not going around saying, 'I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it!'"
Lindsey cocked his chin up higher, enraged by Angelus. He felt his jealousy boiling up this chest.
In a month Angelus seemed to weasel his way into not just Buffy's heart but into Dawn's heart. It was abundantly clear that his girls were in love with the menacing man.
Lindsey made a feeble attempt to stir a bit of jealousy back into Buffy by bringing Eve to the holiday dinner, clearly underestimating her relationship with Angelus. Using Eve to trigger Buffy's jealousy had worked the last time they were all together. During the barbeque two years ago, Buffy pulled him into a vacant room and kissed him senselessly but she quickly came to her right mind and ran out.
He wanted to rekindle that emotion again but besides her usual apparent annoyance to the attractive brunette, Buffy showed no signs of crazed jealousy like the time before. She barely looked in his direction, her entire focus was either on Angelus or the dinner she was preparing.
"Angel," Buffy called his name from the kitchen, "can you come in here, please?"
Exuding his intimidating confidence, Angelus stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets wearing a triumphant smirk on his face he moved across the way towards the kitchen.
Lindsey's nostrils flared, holding back his desire to punch that smug smile straight off Angelus' face.
"Angel, wait up!" Dawn hopped off of the couch and ran into the kitchen after him.
That was Lindsey's final straw. He stepped out from Eve's hands touching his back and marched into the kitchen seeing only red.
Angelus' back faced Lindsey as he reached up to the top shelf to get a jar for Buffy.
"Lindsey, what are you doing?" Buffy's fear of a repeat fight from the barbecue a few years ago flashed in her mind.
Lindsey grabbed Angelus by his shoulder, turning his attention.
Calmly, Angelus faced the jealous man and cocked a snobbish brow.
His words about conquering nations replayed in Lindsey's mind. He's taking over. He's stealing your family. Lindsey told himself over and over again, which only fuelled the rage inside. "You need to leave." His voice was low and strained.
Angelus tilted his head to the side and smirked a truly wicked smile, "I'm not going anywhere. Take a step back, Mr McDonald, this isn't the time or place."
His patronising tone did nothing but further Lindsey's anger, clouding his mind with blind rage. He knew that this was Angelus' tactic, he's seen him use on his opponents. Lindsey never realised that he'd be on the other side of it one day.
"Do not embarrass yourself in front of your daughter," Angelus said, keeping his voice low.
Lindsey angrily scowled but begrudgingly knew that Angelus was right. If he started a fight here and now, Buffy no doubt take Angelus' side and she would throw him out.
Angelus took a beer that was placed on the counter island and twisted the cap off then passed the bottle into Lindsey's hand.
Taking a sip of the beer, Lindsey lifted his eyes to see Angelus run his fingers gently through Buffy's hair and she seemingly hadn't noticed the gesture. Angelus turned his eyes from Buffy to Lindsey and smiled triumphantly.
Lindsey placed the beer bottle on the counter then threw his fist aimed at Angelus' handsome face.
Angelus saw the punch coming and blocked his arm, and jabbed his fist across Lindsey's face.
Lindsey staggered back landing against the wall. Joyce held Dawn back and Buffy furiously glared at the two men.
Angelus released a breath and shifted his gaze to Buffy catching her angered glare that was now focused on him.
Shit. Angelus had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today. He knew it would probably involve Lindsey, but somehow, Buffy knew Angelus was partly to blame because he went of his way to press her ex's buttons.
Night
Sitting alone on the couch, Angelus waited for Buffy to return from tucking Dawn into bed.
The rest of the Thanksgiving dinner went off without any more fights breaking out. Lindsey and Angelus were kept far, far away from one another. Dawn helped ease the tension with Lindsey by staying close to him while Angelus felt the brunt of Buffy's anger.
The day felt long, longer than most. Angelus failed at winning Joyce over, he was sure Buffy's stepfather also didn't like him, and he punched Lindsey in the face.
It was not how he wanted his first holiday with Buffy's family to be.
His ears flinched hearing Buffy stepping down the steps. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder to see her walk over to him with her arms folded across her chest.
Angelus stood, holding his hands in his pockets and a nervous expression on his face. For the first time, Angelus finally knew what it was like to receive a withering glare.
Neither of them spoke.
Buffy replayed the day in her mind. She tried so hard to convince her mother that Angelus was a good man but his violent reaction to Lindsey did nothing to ease her mother's concerns.
"What was that?" Buffy broke the silence. "I'd really like to know: What the hell were you trying to do tonight?"
"I didn't want to punch him!" Angelus argued. "Not to get all schoolyard but he started it. He threw the first punch. What did you want me to do, Buffy?—Did you want me to take the hit. I will not."
Buffy took in his words but her anger was still evident. "This only happened because you kept provoking him!"
Angelus glared, "That's bull."
"Is it? You were marking your territory all night. You don't think I didn't notice your little game, Angelus?"
Angelus felt a sting when she said his full name, which she had never used before. He didn't like it.
"Please," she rolled her eyes, "I know you better than you think."
He took a deep breath and said, "I was trying to make things better."
"Yeah, well, that really worked out, didn't it?" She raised her voice at him.
Angelus shook his realising that he was not going to win this fight. He started searching for the throw blanket.
Holding her hands on her hips, Buffy looked at him with confusion. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a blanket, is that okay?" He sniped.
"Why?" Buffy frowned.
Angelus searched the small basket filled with other pillows and blankets near the television. "'Cause I'm tired. It's too late to drive back to the apartment, so I figured I'd sleep on the couch and leave in the morning."
Buffy hard expression softened as her brows lifted high up her forehead, "Why would you sleep on the couch?"
"Because we're fighting! We're broken up now! I screwed up, we yelled, and that's it. I know how this works, Buf."
She let his words settle for a moment then released a laugh at his absurdity. "You really are clueless sometimes." She said, shaking her head.
Angelus' frown deepened, hating that she was laughing at him and he had no idea why.
"Yeah, we're fighting. That's what couple do. We sometimes fight. I call you an arrogant bastard and you tell me I'm being a pain in the ass. But this argument isn't 'breakup with you' worthy, nor is it sleep on the couch worthy—You'll know when that argument happens. Besides, I have a hard time sleeping without you next to me."
"So… we're not broken up?"
Letting out a soft smile, Buffy shook her head, "No, we're not broken up. It would take a lot more for that to ever happen—And I don't want that to ever happen. I'm too much in love with you to let you go…" Buffy hadn't realised what she had said aloud. The words stumbled out of her mouth like word-vomit.
Angelus looked at her wide-eyed unsure if he heard her correctly.
But before he could question her, she looked at him and wrapped and wrapped her arms around her body, "Let's just… go to bed."
Angelus hung back watching her climb up the stairs. He dropped the folded throw blanket in the basket and followed her.
Master Bedroom
Angelus sat against the backboard of the bed in a pair of his black boxers. His legs were extended and his ankles crossed but his mind was lost in his rapid thoughts. Buffy would call his expression, 'brooding face'.
He didn't even realise Buffy stepped out from the bathroom, flicking off the light standing at the foot of the bed wearing only his shirt.
"I messed up today," he said, lifting his eyes to her.
Sympathetically, Buffy looked at him and crawled up the bed until reaching his legs and then straddled his lap. She cupped her hands around his neck, forcing him to look at her. She shook her head, "It wasn't entirely your fault. Lindsey messed up too."
Angelus swallowed and fixed the flap of the shirt collar was that was tucked inside. "I still shouldn't've punched him."
"Probably not, but I didn't want you to take the hit either. But despite all of that, you've survived a family holiday." She gave him a small smile.
"Are they all like this?"
"No…" Buffy shook her head but caught Angelus' knowing look, "… Okay, sometimes… Christmas is better, there's eggnog. All the holidays will get better over time."
Angelus ran his fingers through her hair and lifted his eyes to her, cupping her cheek. "What you said before…"
"… Angel, I, uh, didn't mean—"
"—You didn't?" Angelus frowned, feeling his heart drop into the pit of his stomach.
Buffy felt her heart beating faster in her chest, afraid she finally reached the point where he'd tell her, loving her was never going to happen and to just be okay with whatever they were right now. Not wanting to give her a false sense of hope that there was a future for them.
"I mean, I did… but I don't want you to think that that means I want more from you. I mean, I'm happy for what we are and I know that you hate having the pressure on you—Which I'm definitely not doing but I—"
Angelus silenced her with a kiss.
Buffy immediately responded to his kiss and began to slid her fingers into his dark hair when he pulled back.
His eyes opened focusing on her. "You never gave me a chance to say that I love you, too."
Staring at him with wide disbelieving eyes, Buffy swallowed, "You do?"
"I've tried so hard not to, but I can't stop." He finally admitted after months of holding it in.
"Me too. I can't stop either."
Angelus pulled her face closer to his and tenderly brushed his mouth over hers. Their kiss instantly deepened, proving to each other of their love, they've kept hidden for so long. It felt good to finally get it out. It felt real.
Smiling against her mouth, feeling perfect happiness for the first time, Angelus continued to kiss the first woman he's ever loved. Holding his arms around her body, he turned her, gently placing her on her back. Their kiss never lets up as it grew more passionate and uncontrollable.
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