Disclaimer (just cause it's been forever and I thought I'd through it out there): I own nothing related to Buffy outside of this plot and the characters I created, if I did I wouldn't be driving my beat up old truck...okay that's a lie...I would still drive Fang (yes my truck has a name, and yes he has fangs). As you can probably tell I'm hyper...makes for quick writing...and pointless drabble.
Buffy woke in her bed, alone. Checking her phone she saw she had no voicemails, no missed calls, no text messages. It was nearly noon, and he still hadn't called. She threw the phone across the room and went to shower. Twenty minutes later she checked her phone again, 1 missed call, from her mother. She decided to wait on calling her back, she didn't feel up to lying at the moment, though over the phone was safer than in person. Heading down stairs she could hear Chris' muffled voice. She walked into the kitchen in time to see him close his phone. "Let me guess, Cordy, and you were setting up a play date?"
He rolled his eyes and gave her a small smile, "No, reservations for me and you to have dinner tonight. You'll be heading back to Sunnydale soon and we have not had our night out yet. So you will be joining me for dinner and maybe a movie, or something. Doesn't matter what we do, just know that you're doing it. You are not going to stay inside and mope over a stupid vampire."
"Fine, but I don't have to enjoy it," She huffed as she turned to go back upstairs and mope. Before she reached the staircase she heard Chris reply, "But you will!" An hour later he told her to be ready by 8 and to wear something fancy. When Buffy insisted that she didn't bring anything fancy he said that he'd have Cordelia fix that little problem. Sure enough at 5 on the dot the former teen queen arrived with a brand new dress, shoes, clutch, and jewelry, along with five more bags she insisted were necessities she needed. As she turned to leave Buffy was sure that three of her bags said Bloomingdales on the side.
At 7:59pm the phone was still silent. Willow had text once to ask when they had to leave for Sunnydale. That had been the only time her phone had gone off. She quickly threw the stupid thing into her clutch, which probably cost more than all of her clothes combined. Checking herself one last time before she went down stairs she had to admire Cordelia's fashion sense. The Dress was a deep blue, almost violet, color with an empire line, and a deep V cut. The silk hug loose on her, flowing with every step, and accentuating every curve, in a very good way. Such a shame to waste something so pretty on Chris. She sighed, slipped into the matching shoes, and marched downstairs.
Chris was waiting for her at the base of the stairs dressing in a black suit and tie. She smiled, "We're not going to McDonald's right?"
"No McDonald's tonight, we are going to Il giardino dell'eden."
At this Buffy squealed, "Oh, a real fancy place. Usually we just dress up and goof off, but you're seriously taking me to a fancy restaurant. Awesome!" She ran to the car and decided that tonight she would not mope, she would enjoy food that was way over priced, and maybe have an incredibly fattening dessert. Not like I won't burn the calories with my job.
The restaurant was beautiful. A romantic color scheme of dark woods, deep reds, and muted golds. The tables were set wide apart, offering a sense of privacy. On each table sat a single rose in a thin vase, with candles by it, antique chandeliers hung throughout the room providing a soft, and very romantic, lighting. As Buffy looked around she started noticing that just about everyone there were couples. Oh, this might get awkward. Chris gave the woman his name and reservation time and she grabbed two menus and started walking them to their table.
Twice Buffy was ready to sit at empty tables but the hostess just kept going, to the back, where the more secluded tables were. Soon enough they were on the patio, it was surrounded by a black iron fence that had ivy growing on it, and the same vines were providing a canopy that was also strewn with soft white tree lights, which gave off a candle-like lighting. It made the whole atmosphere feel magical, in the good way.
There was only one, small table; it was snuggled in a corner. "Are we on a date?" She asked, looking questionably at Chris.
He chuckled, "You and me? Eww, no." The waitress placed the menus on the table and wished them a good time. Chris pulled out her chair like a perfect gentleman, she sat enjoying the view. Once seated she could see that beyond the patio was a garden, complete with pond and a short, rose bush maze. Looking back at Chris who had yet to sit down, she raised her eyebrows. "You gonna sit?"
Chris smiled, said "nope," and turned to walk away.
Buffy reached out and grabbed his arm, "Where are you going?"
Chris rolled his eyes, "Bathroom. Please don't say you want to come with, unlike you girls, men don't need a group to go." Buffy crossed her arms and shooed him away.
She watched him make his way back inside before flipping through her menu. After a few moments she pulled her phone out, just like she vowed she wouldn't do, she started moping over Angel. After briefly considering texting him, then realizing he probably didn't even know how to text, she through it back in her purse and returned to prowling the menu. She heard light footsteps but didn't look up. "You know I think I may just make you get wine, would you be horribly opposed to getting me wasted? I promise I won't puke in your car this time."
"I have nothing against letting you have alcohol, though I think you getting wasted might put a damper on our plans."
She froze at hearing his deep voice. She slowly lowered her menu to look at him. "Oh so you are alive." She averted her eyes back to the menu. Just play it cool Buff, just play it cool, she kept chanting in her head.
He sighed and sat down. "It hasn't even been 24 hours." She didn't respond, she just kept looking at her menu. After watching her stare at the same spot he grabbed the menu away from her.
"HEY! I was reading that." She huffed, giving him the best angry face she could muster.
"No you were staring straight through it." She sighed, leaned back in her chair, and looked down letting the anger fade. He smiled, "I'm sorry I didn't call."
"Why didn't you?" She said without looking up. She hated this, hated that this one, stupid, old, dumb vampire could make her act like a jealous girlfriend without even trying. Hated that she could be secure with almost every aspect of her life but him, she hated that when it came to him, she was scared and insecure. Scared because this one man could hurt her more than any other being ever could, and she hated that. She hated that he made her weak, hated that she needed constant reassuring with him, and for a brief moment, she wondered if there would ever be a day when she didn't.
He grabbed her hand, glad that she didn't resist, though she didn't look up either. "I needed to think."
Now she looked at him, her face a neutral mask that she was proud of, "About what?"
"Us, where we go from here, what we do next."
She stared down at their hands, "And what did you conclude?"
He smiled, "That we should have dinner, and a nice night out. So here we are." Before she could reply the waitress came out to take their orders. Angel gave their orders without even looking through the menu, and he ordered her a glass of wine as well.
After the waitress left their drinks she smirked at him, "You know the wine will not make it all better right?"
He laughed, "I promise we will talk about everything, but for right now can we just have a nice dinner?"
She smiled, "Fine, but how did you know I would go for the chicken alfredo?"
He smiled at her, love shining clearly in his eyes, "Because I know you."
An hour later their plates were taken away. They had spent the time talking about trivial things. Angel questioned her about school, Buffy explained she was going to move into her mom's place, and why. They discussed old stories from Buffy's past, including the ones where Chris got her wasted. They had a great time, and that scared Buffy. She had this fear that this wonderful dinner would have a disastrous end. She could already see him trying to back out of everything he said before. What was it people always say? Relationships formed during dire situations don't last long. That had been true for her before. So she sat there a smile on her face, fear in her head, and hope in her heart.
After a quick dessert of the best cheesecake Buffy had ever tasted, Angel asked her if she wanted to walk the garden. She smiled, and the fear was back with a new ferocity as she took his hand. He led her down the path towards the fountain. No one else was outside, just them, standing by a little pond, under a big willow tree, in the center of a rose maze. Buffy watched a small turtle swim lazily through the water, envying the carefree life he led.
He stood by the tree watching her. Letting her set the pace for this conversation. He wouldn't rush her. He would let her lead the way. She looked at him and smiled, "So why the big fancy dinner?"
He pushed off the tree and wrapped his arms around her, the first real affection he showed her all night, and kissed her slow. "Tonight's special," he said with a smile.
Her fear started melting away, "Why's that?"
He laughed, "You can't tell? Fancy dinner, expensive clothes, elaborate plot with your family."
She looked up at him as he pulled away, still smiling. "You do know you already proposed right? Cause there's no way we're eloping my mother would kill us, and I don't mean figuratively."
He took a step back, "I know. It's just I never got the chance to do it properly, and with our lives being what they are, when it comes to this, I think we should have a chance to do it the normal way. I would have gone and asked for your mother's permission but, I already know what she'd say."
Buffy just stared at him as he kneeled in front of her. Even though they were already engaged she couldn't stop the mantra of Oh, My God. OH MY GOD! OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD! From running threw her head a million miles a minute. There was something about that moment, not just him proposing, but a completely normal moment, something every normal person was capable of, something only he could give her. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a little blue box, and she realized that this was her one perfect night.
"Since the moment I first laid eyes on you, you changed my life. You were the sun in my eternal darkness. You brought me to life. You saved my soul in a thousand different ways. You've seen me laugh, cry, yell. You've seen the darkest side of me and yet here you stand. You are the most beautiful creature in this world, inside and out. You are kind, sweet, passionate, fiery, brave, strong, impulsive, loving, and incredibly loyal. I think about you when you're around me, I obsess over you when you're not. I've never felt so much, so strongly for a single being in my entire existence. I love you so much it hurts. I'm not going to promise we'll never fight, because I know we will, and I know you'll win every one of them. I'm not going to say everyday will be wonderful, you and I both know there's a fair amount of gloom and doom in the world. But I will promise to love you, cherish you, care for you, spoil you, support you, and protect you in everyway I can. I promise that you will go to sleep each night knowing how much I love you, and that you'll wake up in my arms knowing I will always be there. You have my body, my heart, and my soul. Buffy Anne Summers, will you marry me?"
So what did we think? Seriously I want to know, cause that little speech was not easy to write, so go review, go on, it won't bite I promise.
P.S. if anyone gets bit... not my fault.
