Buffy bolted out of bed when she checked the clock. She'd forgotten to set the alarm and she had to be at work in less than half an hour.
"Guys! We overslept, I gotta go to work!"-Buffy yelled, trying to get dressed as quick as possible, she almost fell over her pants.
"I don't have to be at work till ten, I'm good."-Faith mumbled,turned over and instantly fell back to sleep.
"I don't have to be at work till tomorrow…"-Cordy whispered, but she decided to get up anyway. It was hard for her to go back to sleep once she was awake.
"I hate you guys."-Buffy said and went to the bathroom to wash up. Cordy stayed in her pajamas, but she went to the kitchen to make coffee, she figured her hungover friend would need more coffee than blood in her organism.
When Buffy got downstairs and smelled coffee, she said: "Ok, Cordy, you're off of the hate list." She poured coffee with milk and a spoonful of sugar into one of her carton Starbuck's coffee cups, kissed Cordy's cheek quickly and ran out of the house, hoping she'd find a cab straight away.
Buffy waved at a cab, but it passed right by her, and she yelled: "Fuck! Fuck, I'll be so late!"
She heard a voice that asked: "Can I help you, miss?" and Buffy had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"ANGEL! What the hell are you doing here?"-she yelled and jumped into his arms. They hugged tightly and he said:
"Saving your ass, as usually."-Angel joked and Buffy got in the car, still confused.
"You really are an angel. It's like you show up whenever I need help! How do you do it? Why are you here? Thought you were in England, drinking tea with milk with Dru!"
"I'm not much of a tea person. Faith texted me yesterday to tell me she moved to Cleveland to be with you and I wanted to see you both and give you something."
"God, I wish I had more time to chat with you, but I'm already late for work. Faith is still asleep, but you should go there when you drop me off and talk to her."
"That's what I'm planning on doing."-Angel said and stopped in front of the police station. Buffy hugged him and kissed his cheek and ran out of the car, yelling "Thanks!"
Angel smiled, it was good to see Buffy happy, Faith must have done something right, finally. He went to Jenny's and knocked on the door. He was surprised to see a very gorgeous brunette open the door, and she looked just as surprised.
"Hellooo, salty goodness…"-Cordy said, and Angel furrowed his brow and asked:
"Is Faith here? I'm Angel, her brother."
"Oh my god, you're Angel. Buffy wasn't joking when she said you were a babe! Come in!"-Cordy said, gave him a cup of coffee and ran upstairs to wake Faith, suddenly realizing she opened the door to a gorgeous man in her pink pajamas.
"Faith! Your brother is here, and he just saw me in my pajamas! I gotta change!"
"Angel's here? I'm just not meant to sleep today, am I?"-Faith tried to sound grumpy, but she was actually glad that Angel got there to see her.
She got dressed quickly and ran downstairs.
"Yo, big bro, didn't think I'd see you that soon!"-Faith said and hugged Angel, glad they were ok now.
"I had to give you something… I'd been acting like an ass, but I wanted you to know I was happy for you and Buffy. You both deserve to be happy."
Angel took off his Claddagh ring and handed it to Faith, who looked stricken. Her brother never took that ring off.
"No,Angel… I can't take it. You love that ring!"
"I love you and Buffy more. I wanted to make sure a part of me would be with you when you two got married. And,this is a perfect ring to propose to someone. It represents love, loyalty and friendship. Three things every marriage should have. Just be happy, Faith."
Faith squeezed the ring in her hand, her eyes teary as she hugged her big brother.
"You have no idea what it means to me…"-Faith said, and placed the ring in her pocket.
Angel smiled and said: "I just drove Buffy to work, and haven't told her about the ring. Just told her I wanted to give you something."
"Thanks, Angel. By the way, Cordy got all flustered when she realized you've seen her in her pajamas. Think she likes you."-Faith teased.
"Cordy? She didn't say her name, just called me a salty goodness."-Angel smiled, a bit entertained by Cordy's reaction.
Faith chuckled, poured herself a cup of coffee and said: "I wish you didn't have to go to England. You could stay here and maybe have something with Cordy. I want you around as long as you keep ya paws off of my girl."
"I killed a man, Faith. And accidentally shot a cop, I can't just walk around here like I own the place. I like England, and Dru is really nice to me. I'm not here to find a new love, but to spend a bit of time with you and Buffy."
"That Spike dude was a piece of shit. I woulda killed him myself if you hadn't done it. And you ACCIDENTALLY shot the cop,I'm sure you could get away with murder in this case, you've always been a great cop."-Faith said, finally admitting that she didn't think his job was pathetic and useless. She always used to tell him he was way cooler while he was a bad guy with Darla.
"Faith… come on. You know I can't stay. Hell, I'm not even sure I should stay long enough to see Buffy when she gets back."
"But you just said you came to spend a bit of time with both of us…"
"It was my intention, but I don't wanna make things awkward. Faith, I still love her. It's a good thing I realized I loved you more."
"Angel… we finally seem to get along, after a long time, I don't want you to go. You're the only family I have."-Faith looked at the floor, she wasn't used to spilling her heart out like that.
"You've got Buffy. She'll make you happy, I know she will. She's the most selfless girl I've ever met and I'm so sorry I ever caused her pain. She's family to you, Faith. Family, lover, friend."
"What about you? You're alone. You have to find someone to be with. Cordy's available!"-Faith grinned when she saw Cordy walking down the stairs.
"Faith!"-Angel waved his head and Faith playfully punched his arm.
Angel didn't want to give Cordy any hope, and as much as he wanted to see Buffy and spend some time with her, he didn't think he could act good enough not to show her that he still loved her more than anything, so he kissed Faith and said:
"Sis, I gotta go. I was thinking about taking an evening plane, but maybe I should head back with the earlier plane."-Angel said and gently cupped Faith's face when he saw disappointment on it. "I love you. I'll be in touch."
"Love you too, Angel."-Faith said and hugged her brother tightly. He greeted Cordy politely and left.
"Thought he'd stay longer. Faith, your brother is so damn hot!"-Cordy was disappointed, but she wasn't one to cry over something or someone.
"I thought he'd stay longer too. He hasn't even finished his coffee. Look what he gave me."-Faith showed Cordy the ring.
"It's beautiful…"-Cordy admired it, thinking it looked a bit familiar.
"It's called Claddagh. Our grandpa, who was Irish, gave it to Angel when he was a kid. He never took it off, and now he gave it to me… to propose to Buffy when it was time."
Faith sounded nervous while saying the last part of the sentence and Cordy asked:
"Is it time yet?"
"I… I don't know. Could be too soon. I don't wanna scare her away somehow. Besides, I'm not sure how I feel about marriage. I wanna be with Buffy forever, but what if something goes wrong? What if I mess something up? I'm really good at that!"
Faith always seemed so confident, but at that moment she looked just nervous and scared. Cordy gently caught her hand and said:
"You're not gonna mess anything up. It's obvious you two love each other more than anything. The song you sang for her last night was beautiful, and when Buffy ran towards you to kiss you, I felt like I was watching a movie with a happy ending. I could tell you two would definitely have a happy ending. I'm sure you know it too, deep inside, so you have nothing to be afraid of."
"Thanks, C."-Faith said and put the ring back in her pocket, trying to decide when to give it to Buffy and how.
"No problemo. Wanna go out for breakfast?"
"I'd love to."-Faith said and her stomach rumbled.
"I can read your mind!"-Cordy teased and Faith pulled her hand and said:
"I like you, Chase."
"I like you too, Lehane. Otherwise your ass would have already been kicked all the way to Australia."
"I'm a kickboxing trainer, C., you know that, right?"-Faith reminded her new friend.
"And I wear high and sharp heels. Not to be messed with, honey."-Cordy shot back and they laughed while walking to the closest café to eat.