"Just what do you think you're doin'?" Angel asked as he made his way back behind the counter.
Buffy met his dark eyes, her lips slightly ticked upward, slowly lowering the menu back down to the wooden bar. "What? I can't even look at it?" she teased. It had just been left laying there and realizing she'd never even looked at one before made her a little curious.
Angel rolled his eyes, quickly setting a glass of ice water before her. "You want lemonade or a milkshake?"
Buffy pondered that for a moment then decided on a lemonade only if it could be a frozen one. Being given her drink and dessert first, it wasn't long before she had a small lunch plate before her as well and she sat on the old spinning stool and took in the lunch rush, making small talk with the other customers and Angel when he was back up this way or just having a free moment.
She was just about to comment on the lack of help he seemed to have at the moment when the door opened and Jesse and Marcie came filtering in, laughing, and throwing out apologies as they headed toward the back to get ready. "Well, when did that happen?"
Angel looked back at where they'd disappeared off to. "Hell if I know. I'm going to start charging a fee for matchmaking services if all my damn employees keep this up though," he joked, shaking his head.
"Remind me to never put this place on any of my short lists for somewhere to rake in some extra cash."
"Ah, but that could be you."
Buffy wrinkled her nose up at that. "No thank you a million times over on that front."
OoOoO
As the weeks ticked on, Buffy found herself enjoying a number of local celebrations and events including the re-opening of the small little pool in town, volunteering over at the elementary school for the kids' final day and kick off to summer, a vow renewal in the park, and a number of just random get togethers with friends and neighbors for bonfires, barbeques in the park, or just having fun at the beach for a couple hours.
And now that the county fairy was getting ready to roll into town, she really had her hands full trying to help get everything in order. It started to seem like every day someone had a new job for her to do, not that she minded, she was sure everyone was acting more out of excitement than anything else... everyone wanting to show her something new, tell her stories about years past, include her in one thing to the next.
It didn't hurt that Angel was often at these little gatherings. Given the phone call she heard Fred making earlier, she was pretty sure him being out here at the ballpark's parking lot helping set things up wasn't exactly coincidence either. Of course Fred tried to play completely innocent as Buffy pointed out they'd already gotten more than enough hands on deck at the moment for setting up the tables.
OoOoO
Buffy quickly realized her little joke had been a mistake. She was pretty sure this had been the hottest day so far and of course she'd been out here almost the entire time, the day was coming to a close and she was hot and exhausted. Angel had swung by to see how things were going, and to bring some easy sandwiches and chips thanks to another one of those calls from Miss Burkle over there, and she gazed across the road to the pool and made an offhanded comment about just going over there and jumping in as is to cool off.
Before she even knew what was happening, his hand was wrapped around hers and she was heading that way. Eyes finally going big, she tried to explain she was really just joking - although it did sound like a good idea no matter which way you spun it, that she in no way was dressed for that... but still, Angel wound up yelling to the teenager working the little booth that he'd get her a second, picked up her like it was nothing and practically held her up on his shoulder, saying that maybe she should cover her eyes before he started walking through the men's side of the bathroom/locker room and on out through the curtain that led outside and to the other side where the pool actually was.
She let out some sort of yelping noise as she felt herself falling, cool water hitting against her skin just seconds later. Rising back above the water, she laughed, wiping water from eyes. "You're crazy, I hope you know that."
Angel shrugged, a playful smile on his lips before he reached into his back pocket, pulled his wallet out and tossed it over to one of the lounge chairs, and then next thing she knew he was jumping in right in front of her.
OoOoO
Buffy was pretty sure that as much as she had been enjoying her time here in Sunnydale and with the lovely citizens roaming these streets, this right here would be the most fun she'd had in years. She was laughing almost non stop, hard enough hat made your chest almost hurt, splashing and teasing, getting thrown off into the water and watching as a group of kids all got in line for Angel to do the same to them.
"Feeling better now?" she heard from behind her.
Spinning around, she found herself floating impossibly close, far too easy to get lost in that signature look he seemed to always have in his eyes when he saw her. "Yep, even that brewing headache seems to have gotten lost."
"Well, not just yet," he smirked. "Though I guess I had better go pay for this little mess and probably get back to the diner before someone sends a search party,"
Before even realizing what she was doing, Buffy inched just a little closer, enough so she could circle her arms loosely around his neck... not ready for him to leave. Between the water, gravity, and her own body betraying any rational way of thinking she soon found her boy pressed up against his, her legs coming to lock around his waist.
OoOoO
Angel didn't know what in the hell was happening but he wasn't going to dwell on that fact for too long. Having slowly made their way over to a wall of the pool, he leaned his back up against a corner, his hands resting on either side of Buffy's hips, helping hold her in place. It felt as though ever other thought was him telling himself not to tangle a hand in the back of her hair and pull her down to him, kissing the hell out of this tiny girl until they were both breathless... the need to do just that well beyond overwhelming in the situation he'd landed himself into here.
"I bet it looks beautiful."
Angel snapped out of his latest little daydream fantasy and blinked hard. "Hmm?"
"When everything's all set up," she clarified. "It's so open right there so I'm sure all the rides and games, lights and signs and all of that look beautiful at night."
Angel looked over to where she was gazing an nodded. "It's nothing huge that comes rolling in but yeah, it lights up the place. You have all that, people just in a better mood with something different to do, kids laughing, people screaming in either fear or excitement...whichever," he chuckled.
"I can't even remember the last time I went to anything like that, it's making me a little nervous to be honest. Which sounds silly I know."
"Eh, excitement and nerves are cousins pretty much right. I think there's a little bit of that floating in everyone for their own reasons... but then you get here and everything sweeps you up I think. You should get one of those passes that cover each night and get the whole experience huh. Drink it in as much as you can before that roll back out on to the next town."
Buffy looked back his way, her bottom lip getting hung up on some pearly teeth in the process. "A-are you going to come?" she finally asked.
The way she'd sounded just then made it feel like someone had just come up to him and gave him a roundhouse kick to the middle of his chest. "Yeah," he answered then cleared his throat. "I usually make some sort of an appearance during the fair."
Buffy chewed on her bottom lip again but whatever she had in her head never made it into word form. At least not before Fred's dad, Roger, came over playfully asking just what he thought he was doing bum rushing in here like he had.
Angel smiled brightly up at him and explained it had been an emergency.
"Uh uh," Roger drawled.
"My wallet's over there, I was going to pay on my way out."
"Was?"
"Am," Angel corrected with a laugh. "I am going to."
OoOoO
It took just about everything he had in himself to finally pull his drenched body out of the pool and away from the pretty blonde knowing he'd been fully happy to just stay like that for as long as she'd allow. Grabbing the discarded leather, he grabbed enough to cover their entrance fees and handed it over to Roger.
Trying to ring some of the excess of water out of his clothes, he walked back over and knelt closer to Buffy for a moment. "You look made for this, you know that?"
"What?"
"Clear water and sunshine."
"Like a mermaid?"
He shrugged and she laughed, rolling her eyes. "You get hungry after all this you know where to find me. There's even a strawberry shortcake back there with your name on it."
OoOoO
"Are you new here?" Willow muttered, an annoyed look on her face as she turned back around.
Angel tried not to laugh as her eyes met his then he looked back over to where Buffy stood just about another foot away looking like a deer in headlights as she tried to figure out a way to politely turn down Owen Thurman's date offer he'd just sprung on her.
Buffy's face was red when she finally got away, climbing up into the stool beside Willow, she left her head fall down to the counter.
"Here's you some ice water for you ice cold heart," Angel laughed, earning a quick glare. "Isn't that like the third time he's asked you out now?"
"You don't need to remind me," she grumbled.
"What are you even doing here, shouldn't you be off enjoying rides and fair food, taking advantage of opening day?"
"Well, probably... but then Willow suggested we meet up here before we head out that way so you got graced with my lovely presence."
Angel glanced over again. "You haven't been out there yet?"
Buffy shook her head. "I was working this afternoon and actually wound up going out of town for a bit with Mrs. French for one of her bigger deliveries so..."
"Gotcha. Well do you want me to actually get you something to eat or are you good?"
"It seems a little rude to just come and get water." Shaking his head, soon he produced a small plate with pie on it and one for Willow as well.
"Are you going to be going out there tonight, Angel?" Willow asked, taking a bite.
"I thought I might make an appearance here in a bit."
Before Willow even had a chance, Buffy found herself inviting him to tag along with their small group. He tried explaining he was scheduled to stay on for about another hour but Gunn who had apparently overheard pointed out they already had everyone in who were staying til close and was happy to push him out the door, not that she really would have minded waited if it'd come to that either.
OoOoO
When Angel returned to the diner after running home to get cleaned up a little and change, Oz had joined the girls and had just been filled in on their new addition. Deciding he'd go ahead and drive over there too in case somebody wanted to leave early, he was surprised when Buffy pipped up asking to ride with him. "You sure?"
Buffy shrugged. "We're all going to the same place, might as well," she replied, settling it.
As they drove over to where the rides and everything were set up Buffy went ahead and pulled out her bracelet for tonight to put on after checking which colors went to which day as she filled him in a little more on the day she'd had. As they got closer, she perked up in the seat, taking everything in.
As they found a parking spot, he got out and opened the door for Buffy, grabbing his pass from the glove box as well. Buffy quickly took it from him though to help put it on. "Mmm, and now we match."
OoOoO
"So, where to first?" Angel asked the group as they made their way past the gate.
"Well," Oz said, looking around. "Do we want to start off with some of the easier, smaller rides and make our way up? Do we want to just go to random ones we see and want to try? Pick a an area to head to and just make our way across the park from there until we reach back around or what?"
After a few moments of debating the best course of action, they went with the latter option and started with some carnival games before they reached their first ride. Going in, Buffy didn't seem so sure this was the right one to be dipping her feet into but after all was said and done she seemed to be singing a completely different tune, just as he would have expected. She was basically a kid in a candy shop after that, nearly bouncing up and down as they waited in the next line then the next, laughing with Willow and announcing each time there would be only a two-seater that she wanted to go on with him.
OoOoO
Halfway through, they reached the bigger food area, Buffy teasing Angel that since he had failed to properly feed them before they came out here they should probably go find something to eat.
"Hey, I offered!"
Buffy shot him a wink, pulling on his hand so he'd follow her and help decide which stand to go to as they scanned over the various menus at a couple of them. "Are you going to order for me here too?" Buffy laughed as they got in line.
"I wasn't planning on it but I'm not opposed to it either I suppose."
OoOoO
Making their way toward the closest open picnic table, Buffy grumbled about him not needing to pay for all of them but it fell on deaf ears as per usual. As everyone got settled in, Buffy found she really enjoyed sitting back and listening to the three of them swap stories about various things... fairs of the past, some memories they'd had here and there, just randomly talking about people in town and just random things as they came up. Not just with them either, she really had found it fun just getting to know everyone and hearing history and gossip and all the things that made this place go round.
While she had been around Angel now plenty of times, she was fairly certain this was the most she'd heard him talk at one time, too, so that was a nice change also.
OoOoO
With the fair being one of the bigger events for any of the smaller towns out this way, Sunnydale of course had a lot more traffic right now than usual, and a lot of unfamiliar faces... including the tall, long-haired brunette she found propped up on the edge of their table rather obviously flirting with Angel she spotted as her and Willow made their way back after excusing themselves in order to go find a bathroom.
She cursed the rush of jealousy that came rushing through her, and how she couldn't seem to help herself as she questioned Willow on if she had any idea who the girl was.
Willow seemed to silently weigh her options about what to say before finally explaining that the girl over there was named Cordelia Chase, until a couple years ago she'd lived in one of the neighboring towns before taking off to LA in hopes of becoming an actress or singer or something along those lines. Willow paused for a moment then added the little fact that while no one would say Cordelia and Angel had exactly dated, it was known they had at least "hooked up" a couple times in the past.
"Oh," was all Buffy could manage to say to that and Willow shot her one of those knowing looks.
Moving forward, she felt a little tightening in her stomach as they got closer, this Cordelia woman giving her a number of looks as she returned to the table and her seat next to Angel. "Hey," he greeted softly. "You about ready to get back out there?"
"Who's your friend?"
Angel looked a little annoyed as he turned back toward the dark-haired beauty. "Cordelia Chase, Buffy Summers. Buffy moved into town a couple months ago," he tried to come up with what to say about Miss Chase but all he really wound up with was basically what Willow had led with.
Buffy did her best to be polite, smile, and say "Nice to meet you" but the other girl wasn't really having it so she soon just dropped it and was just grateful when she finally decided to shoo away and the rest of them got back up and headed toward another line of various carnival type games.
"She seemed nice," Buffy lied.
"She's not," Angel shot back then sighed. "I mean, she's not a terrible person... all the time... to everyone. I don't know, I think she could be if she grew up a little maybe but that's not really the case at the moment. I hadn't even seen her or spoken to her in years and quite honestly would have been okay for that to continue from that point on but... what can you do?"
Buffy nervously worked her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched Angel take his next turn at winning another prize. "You know if you wanted to skip out and go spend some time with someone else it'd be okay," she lied. "You don't have to spend your whole evening with me - us."
"I don't want to go anywhere," he promised, his voice dipping just a smidge lower, softer.
OoOoO
"Okay, I may not be able to remember the last time I was at a fair or whatever... but I can say I remember being on a ferris wheel and it seemed to have been moving a lot slower than this," Buffy mentioned as they continued to spin around, seemingly at a quickened pace. Images of this thing breaking apart and just starting to roll on its own taking over her brain as she held on to Angel not that she knew what the heck good that was supposed to do if this thing got out of control.
Deciding that was not her favorite ride, she was thankful when it came time to hop off and go to the next area.
By the time they rounded their way back around to the front it was almost time for things to shut down for the night anyway. She and Willow got on one of the extras off to the side you paid to get strapped into then could jump and do tricks and such on, then once they were done grabbed one more drink and bag of cotton candy before ushering out with the crowd.
"I'm glad you came, I doubt I would have had nearly as much fun without you."
"Happy to help," he smirked as he opened the door for her to climb in behind Willow. Once settled, she watched as he walked the short distance over to his truck and got in, one last wave their way before he drove off.
"I think that would count as a pretty good first double date for us all," Willow joked and Buffy told her to shut up before hitting her on top of her head with one of the stuffed animals she'd managed to be in charge of tonight.
OoOoO
Proving what she'd said completely right, Buffy had stopped by the fair the following afternoon on her own and while it was still fun, it wasn't quite the same. Even that night when she and Willow went on their own it still felt like something was missing.
Having mentioned that the next time she saw Angel, she'd managed to luck out and every other time she took advantage of the little show in town he'd gone along with her. And when they started tearing things back down and packing up, she couldn't help but feel a little bummed it had come to an end already.
But it wouldn't be long before they had the next thing come along, the next gathering set up for everyone to hang out doing this or that, and summer to continue rolling on. A bigger group of them had rented the pool out one evening for a private party setting, she and Willow had wound up staying out of town one weekend and enjoying a full day at the zoo there, with The Bronze finally re-opening she'd enjoyed going dancing and a couple times now seeing Oz and his band play.
OoOoO
"You look festive," Buffy heard from behind her, turning around she smiled at Angel as she smoothed out invisible wrinkles on her dress.
"I could say the same about you," she commented, taking in his collection of red, white and blue all over him.
"Yeah, I didn't start my day off with more than half of this. Somehow along the way stickers, necklaces, bandanas, glitter... and the works made its way to me," he grumbled.
Buffy laughed, placing her drink and gum on the counter as the line moved forward. "I was just about to head out that way and see if there was anything I could do to help... and I guess make sure I get a good seat for when the show starts."
"Well, if you want a ride... I just came to get more ice," he told her, and hadn't been kidding soon finding about half the truck bed filled with bags by the time they pulled out and started for the park.
"Will said it'd be about another hour until she'd even get home so I figured I'd just go ahead and see what I'm missing out on... and apparently that was a lot," she told him as she climbed back out of the passenger side and took in the madness taking over the small park. She had seen things getting set up the past couple of days but it sure had come a long way from that point to now.
Once everything was unloaded, Angel started checking around their little station as he began explaining some highlights and told her she should go explore.
OoOoO
"Here, I got an extra for you," Buffy announced when she swung back by.
Angel reached a hand out, taking the balloon animal from her and gave a few guesses at to what it was supposed to be before she rolled her eyes and explained it was a fox.
"I also somehow got roped into painting faces for awhile up at the petting farm and realized that was one thing you were missing," she beamed. Waiting until his line was a little less hectic, she brought him over to a free table and sat him down, doodling on the left hand side of his face until she finished the little masterpiece.
"Alright, my turn."
OoOoO
Despite his protests, Buffy came back by again not long before they announced everyone should start getting to their seats, handing out the last of what food he'd had to offer as people rushed over to grab something on their way over.
The final band was soon clearing off the make shift stage and she sent a text to Willow asking her where she was. Angel and his small crew rushed around to clean up a little before splitting off. Angel hopped up on a table to see if he could spot Willow but it seemed like an impossible task to spot anyone in the large crowd.
"Come on," he told her as he jumped back down, taking her hand they hurried back to where the truck was and he helped her climb up on the hood before joining up next to her. She'd just sent another message to Willow telling her where she was when the booms started filling up the sky.
Leaning back more comfortably against the windshield, she tried her best to ignore the fact Angel seemed a lot more interested in watching her than the colorful bursts above them.