Chapter 16 : An Evening With Friends
"Come in, come in," Willow ushered the people in front of her door inside and
flashed them a smile. Cordelia was her old self and Buffy ... The former slayer
seemed to light up from the inside whenever Angel was around. Ever since they had worked out their issues the blonde was radiating with happiness and in the former vampire's eyes there was an expression of contentment and joy that warmed the red-head's heart.
"Is everyone here already," Buffy asked and craned her neck to see who was
sitting in the living-room. She frowned, "No kids?"
"No," Willow shook her head and grinned, "They are with my mom. We have a
children-free evening and night. Even Xander left his little ones with his mom.
Ever since Mark was born, Mrs. Harris has suddenly realised she's got a son," she explained looking at Angel.
"So this is an only-adults night," Cordelia said with a grin. "Too bad Giles is
around, no way we can tell dirty jokes then. We would embarrass him all the
time."
"He certainly blushes easily," the former witch agreed. Tara and Willow had lost
all their witchcraft as soon as the hellmouth had been closed, now the trio was
running a software company with great success. She turned to Buffy, "He doesn't
know about Angel yet," she told her. "I mean of course he knows about Angel being human and all, but I didn't want to tell him about you two on the phone." She gave them a concerned glance, suddenly feeling that she should've told him after all.
"That's okay, Willow," the former vampire put a comforting hand on her arm,
"Until last weekend it wasn't even official. But he does know I'm coming
tonight?"
"Yes," the red-head replied with a smile.
Angel had seen the former watcher only once after he became human. It had
actually been in New York shortly after he'd married Anna. Giles had been staying there for the promotion of his first book and Anna, being a reporter, had to write a review about the book and made an interview with the author. The meeting had been under friendly terms, but Angel always felt a bit uneasy around Giles.
It wasn't that he didn't like him, actually he liked him a lot and admired the
Englishman for his great knowledge about demons, but ever since he'd lost his
soul for a second time and his demon had killed Jenny and tortured the former
watcher he couldn't get over the images in his head. Angel wasn't on his usual
guilt-trip anymore, but it was one thing to let go of past crimes - even if one
hadn't committed them - and another to be confronted with one of your victims, who had also lost someone by the same hands.
So he took a deep breath and ran a nervous hand through his hair, before he
walked after Cordelia and Gunn into the living-room. He felt Buffy squeezing his
hand and flashed her a quick smile.
"Giles?," Willow smiled at the ex-watcher who was chatting with Oz and Tara.
Xander and Anya were sitting near by but seemed to be engaged in a private
discussion.
The former watcher looked up and a warm expression entered his eyes when they
fell on the blonde, "Buffy," he smiled warmly at her, got up and enclosed her in
a strong hug. "It is so good to see you."
"You too," she said when they pulled back. "It has been so long."
"It has," he agreed, then his eyes wandered to the other newly arrived. "Cordelia and this has to be the new husband of yours, right?"
The brunette grinned, "That's Gunn. Gunn that is Giles, he probably knows more
about demons you can ever imagine." Gunn nodded at the Englishman.
"Angel," Giles held out his hand and the former vampire took it at once.
"Giles, so good to see you."
"It's really wonderful to be here," the former watcher smiled. "It's like coming
home." He shook his head and laughed, "Maybe it classifies me as mad that I see
this town as my home. But we went through so much here."
Everyone looked at him and nodded, but a special look passed between former
watcher and vampire. There was no resentment in Giles' eyes, only a certainty
that the past was over and done and that nothing could turn back the years. Angel released a breath he hadn't even realised he was holding and relaxed instantly.
Xander broke the mood, when he suddenly rubbed his hands on his thighs and asked, "Now that everybody's here can we start dinner? I'm famished!"
*
"I can't believe you had a cyber-relationship with a demon," Tara shook her head
and smiled at Willow. They were all sitting around the table in the dining-room
over homemade Pizza and were laughing about old times.
"But I did. It was the first time a boy seemed to be interested in me," the
red-head shuddered thinking back to Moloch, who'd been trapped in a book for
centuries and then released into the Internet. "And then they took me, but Buffy
and Xander arrived in time and of course in the end we won."
"I still think the funniest thing was when Xander wanted to use a love-spell on
me," Cordelia grinned.
"Oh, oh, I remember," Willow said excitedly, "And then all the girls in school
had the hots for him."
"All the women in Sunnydale," Buffy said dryly. "Even my mom."
Giles swallowed the bit of pizza he'd been chewing, "Excuse me?"
"I obviously never told you," the former slayer chuckled. Then she looked at Gunn who seemed lost as was Anya, "Xander was angry with Cordelia because she was giving him the cold shoulder and so he asked Amy to do a love-spell for him. It backfired and all the women were after him."
"There you see what the men do for you," the black man grinned at his wife.
"You never used a love-spell on me," Anya shot her husband a sharp look, but
didn't comment any further.
Angel chuckled, and Buffy turned to her lover, "What?"
"Not only humans had the hots for him," he said.
"Oh no, you don't," Xander protested.
"What?"
"What?"
"What?" came from all sides.
"Come on, tell us," Buffy begged and grinned at the former vampire.
He grinned as well and leaned back in his chair while Xander blushed in
embarrassment, perfectly aware what was going to come. "Well, Drusilla fell for
him as well."
"Excuse me, please?," the former slayer stared at him as did all the others.
"Drusilla? Loony-tunes Drusilla? Spike's Drusilla?"
Angel took Buffy's hand in his and kissed it, not noticing that Giles raised a
curious brow. They hadn't told him about Buffy and Angel yet and so he watched
them with surprise. "The very same," the former vampire confirmed. "Angelus was
at your house and saw Xander in your bedroom window. He jumped up on the roof and pulled him out there, sending Xander flying down on your lawn. He was about to bit him when suddenly Dru appeared and saved his life."
Buffy had watched Angel telling the story and she wanted to cry in happiness when she heard him talking about it with nothing but a smile in his eyes.
"You can't be serious," Cordelia laughed hard, "you mean Xander owes Drusilla his life?"
"Yeah," the former vampire confirmed. "She was allover him."
"Xander, Xander," Willow shook her head, grinning broadly, "it seems there's
stuff even I don't know about."
"Very funny," he muttered under his breath. Then he suddenly grinned as well,
"And I remember a night when we went to that vampire-wannabe club and Angel was
all unfriendly and then this guy walked towards us dressed all alike."
They all laughed at the memory, when Giles cleared his throat and looked at his
former slayer, "Uhm ... Buffy, you and Angel, is there anything I don't know
about you?"
"Oh," Buffy slapped her own forehead. "We forgot. Sorry Giles," she gave him an
apologetic smile, "Yes. There is," she smiled at the man beside her, "we're back
together."
The Englishman smiled irritated, "But I thought you were married, Angel."
"No, I'm divorced. For more than a year now."
"Ah," Giles nodded. "Well than I say congratulations. Somehow I always felt this
would happen in the end."
"Then you knew more than we," Angel replied.
"But we're sure glad, it worked out that way," Buffy added and leaned her head at
the former vampire's shoulder. In response he planted a kiss on her skull.
"I always thought the way the Initiative-guys were running around, with their
uniforms, masks and teaser-guns was just laughable," Anya said out of the blue.
Buffy quickly glanced up at Angel, but he was relaxed and didn't mind the subject at all. He just looked at her and smiled.
"Talking about the Initiative, does anybody know what happened to Riley?," Tara
asked.
"No," Buffy shook her head. "I only know that he went to South America after he
left."
"I believe," Giles took a sip from his wine and when he saw everyone looking at
him expectantly, he continued, "I heard about a demon hunting team fighting in
Brasil in the last battle, shortly before we closed the hellmouth. Only a few of
them survived, but I can't say if Riley was one of them or if he was even there."
"He might have been," the former slayer said, then shrugged, "I never tried to
contact him and he didn't try either. We might have been together for a while,
but we were never really close."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, thinking about the last conversation he'd had with Buffy
when Riley had left Sunnydale. He had to laugh inwardly at his attitude then.
Seeing Angel and Buffy together now it seemed almost ridiculous.
"How's Wesley by the way?," Giles asked taking another piece of pizza.
"He's fine," Angel replied. "I'm sure he would've like to see you, but he isn't
in the States at the moment. He went to England for a short vacation. He planned
it before we heard you were coming to Sunnydale. But he sends his best wishes,
also for the new book."
The former watcher smiled, "Ah, the new book."
"I hear it's a great success already," Xander was happily chewing his pizza.
"That's what I'm told," Giles confirmed. "Now, Willow told me you've planned a
trip with all the children tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it."
"It'll be great," the red-head was all excitement. "We're driving to a nice spot
outside Sunnydale. Mrs. Summers is coming too and we're going to have a picnic.
Like a big family. It's going to be fun."
"Yeah," Xander agreed. "And we'll have lots of junk-food."
"Xander," Buffy warned. "I don't want my children to be sick in the evening only
because of that stuff."
"Where is everyone staying for the night?," Giles asked curiously.
"Cordy and Gunn are staying with us," Xander announced. "Buffy's apartment is too small and they wouldn't be able to sleep there anyway, with all the moaning going on."
"Xander!," Buffy blushed with embarrassment and burried her face in Angel's
chest. The former vampire shot Xander a warning glance.
"What?," he grinned, "Do you want to tell me you can keep your hands off of each
other at night after all the time you were apart and especially after you haven't seen each other for the whole week?"
"Which leads me to another question?," Giles said and smiled fatherly at Buffy
and Angel. "What will happened with the two of you? I mean you say you are
together now, but what do you intent to do with it?"
End of Chapter 16.
"Come in, come in," Willow ushered the people in front of her door inside and
flashed them a smile. Cordelia was her old self and Buffy ... The former slayer
seemed to light up from the inside whenever Angel was around. Ever since they had worked out their issues the blonde was radiating with happiness and in the former vampire's eyes there was an expression of contentment and joy that warmed the red-head's heart.
"Is everyone here already," Buffy asked and craned her neck to see who was
sitting in the living-room. She frowned, "No kids?"
"No," Willow shook her head and grinned, "They are with my mom. We have a
children-free evening and night. Even Xander left his little ones with his mom.
Ever since Mark was born, Mrs. Harris has suddenly realised she's got a son," she explained looking at Angel.
"So this is an only-adults night," Cordelia said with a grin. "Too bad Giles is
around, no way we can tell dirty jokes then. We would embarrass him all the
time."
"He certainly blushes easily," the former witch agreed. Tara and Willow had lost
all their witchcraft as soon as the hellmouth had been closed, now the trio was
running a software company with great success. She turned to Buffy, "He doesn't
know about Angel yet," she told her. "I mean of course he knows about Angel being human and all, but I didn't want to tell him about you two on the phone." She gave them a concerned glance, suddenly feeling that she should've told him after all.
"That's okay, Willow," the former vampire put a comforting hand on her arm,
"Until last weekend it wasn't even official. But he does know I'm coming
tonight?"
"Yes," the red-head replied with a smile.
Angel had seen the former watcher only once after he became human. It had
actually been in New York shortly after he'd married Anna. Giles had been staying there for the promotion of his first book and Anna, being a reporter, had to write a review about the book and made an interview with the author. The meeting had been under friendly terms, but Angel always felt a bit uneasy around Giles.
It wasn't that he didn't like him, actually he liked him a lot and admired the
Englishman for his great knowledge about demons, but ever since he'd lost his
soul for a second time and his demon had killed Jenny and tortured the former
watcher he couldn't get over the images in his head. Angel wasn't on his usual
guilt-trip anymore, but it was one thing to let go of past crimes - even if one
hadn't committed them - and another to be confronted with one of your victims, who had also lost someone by the same hands.
So he took a deep breath and ran a nervous hand through his hair, before he
walked after Cordelia and Gunn into the living-room. He felt Buffy squeezing his
hand and flashed her a quick smile.
"Giles?," Willow smiled at the ex-watcher who was chatting with Oz and Tara.
Xander and Anya were sitting near by but seemed to be engaged in a private
discussion.
The former watcher looked up and a warm expression entered his eyes when they
fell on the blonde, "Buffy," he smiled warmly at her, got up and enclosed her in
a strong hug. "It is so good to see you."
"You too," she said when they pulled back. "It has been so long."
"It has," he agreed, then his eyes wandered to the other newly arrived. "Cordelia and this has to be the new husband of yours, right?"
The brunette grinned, "That's Gunn. Gunn that is Giles, he probably knows more
about demons you can ever imagine." Gunn nodded at the Englishman.
"Angel," Giles held out his hand and the former vampire took it at once.
"Giles, so good to see you."
"It's really wonderful to be here," the former watcher smiled. "It's like coming
home." He shook his head and laughed, "Maybe it classifies me as mad that I see
this town as my home. But we went through so much here."
Everyone looked at him and nodded, but a special look passed between former
watcher and vampire. There was no resentment in Giles' eyes, only a certainty
that the past was over and done and that nothing could turn back the years. Angel released a breath he hadn't even realised he was holding and relaxed instantly.
Xander broke the mood, when he suddenly rubbed his hands on his thighs and asked, "Now that everybody's here can we start dinner? I'm famished!"
*
"I can't believe you had a cyber-relationship with a demon," Tara shook her head
and smiled at Willow. They were all sitting around the table in the dining-room
over homemade Pizza and were laughing about old times.
"But I did. It was the first time a boy seemed to be interested in me," the
red-head shuddered thinking back to Moloch, who'd been trapped in a book for
centuries and then released into the Internet. "And then they took me, but Buffy
and Xander arrived in time and of course in the end we won."
"I still think the funniest thing was when Xander wanted to use a love-spell on
me," Cordelia grinned.
"Oh, oh, I remember," Willow said excitedly, "And then all the girls in school
had the hots for him."
"All the women in Sunnydale," Buffy said dryly. "Even my mom."
Giles swallowed the bit of pizza he'd been chewing, "Excuse me?"
"I obviously never told you," the former slayer chuckled. Then she looked at Gunn who seemed lost as was Anya, "Xander was angry with Cordelia because she was giving him the cold shoulder and so he asked Amy to do a love-spell for him. It backfired and all the women were after him."
"There you see what the men do for you," the black man grinned at his wife.
"You never used a love-spell on me," Anya shot her husband a sharp look, but
didn't comment any further.
Angel chuckled, and Buffy turned to her lover, "What?"
"Not only humans had the hots for him," he said.
"Oh no, you don't," Xander protested.
"What?"
"What?"
"What?" came from all sides.
"Come on, tell us," Buffy begged and grinned at the former vampire.
He grinned as well and leaned back in his chair while Xander blushed in
embarrassment, perfectly aware what was going to come. "Well, Drusilla fell for
him as well."
"Excuse me, please?," the former slayer stared at him as did all the others.
"Drusilla? Loony-tunes Drusilla? Spike's Drusilla?"
Angel took Buffy's hand in his and kissed it, not noticing that Giles raised a
curious brow. They hadn't told him about Buffy and Angel yet and so he watched
them with surprise. "The very same," the former vampire confirmed. "Angelus was
at your house and saw Xander in your bedroom window. He jumped up on the roof and pulled him out there, sending Xander flying down on your lawn. He was about to bit him when suddenly Dru appeared and saved his life."
Buffy had watched Angel telling the story and she wanted to cry in happiness when she heard him talking about it with nothing but a smile in his eyes.
"You can't be serious," Cordelia laughed hard, "you mean Xander owes Drusilla his life?"
"Yeah," the former vampire confirmed. "She was allover him."
"Xander, Xander," Willow shook her head, grinning broadly, "it seems there's
stuff even I don't know about."
"Very funny," he muttered under his breath. Then he suddenly grinned as well,
"And I remember a night when we went to that vampire-wannabe club and Angel was
all unfriendly and then this guy walked towards us dressed all alike."
They all laughed at the memory, when Giles cleared his throat and looked at his
former slayer, "Uhm ... Buffy, you and Angel, is there anything I don't know
about you?"
"Oh," Buffy slapped her own forehead. "We forgot. Sorry Giles," she gave him an
apologetic smile, "Yes. There is," she smiled at the man beside her, "we're back
together."
The Englishman smiled irritated, "But I thought you were married, Angel."
"No, I'm divorced. For more than a year now."
"Ah," Giles nodded. "Well than I say congratulations. Somehow I always felt this
would happen in the end."
"Then you knew more than we," Angel replied.
"But we're sure glad, it worked out that way," Buffy added and leaned her head at
the former vampire's shoulder. In response he planted a kiss on her skull.
"I always thought the way the Initiative-guys were running around, with their
uniforms, masks and teaser-guns was just laughable," Anya said out of the blue.
Buffy quickly glanced up at Angel, but he was relaxed and didn't mind the subject at all. He just looked at her and smiled.
"Talking about the Initiative, does anybody know what happened to Riley?," Tara
asked.
"No," Buffy shook her head. "I only know that he went to South America after he
left."
"I believe," Giles took a sip from his wine and when he saw everyone looking at
him expectantly, he continued, "I heard about a demon hunting team fighting in
Brasil in the last battle, shortly before we closed the hellmouth. Only a few of
them survived, but I can't say if Riley was one of them or if he was even there."
"He might have been," the former slayer said, then shrugged, "I never tried to
contact him and he didn't try either. We might have been together for a while,
but we were never really close."
"Yeah," Xander nodded, thinking about the last conversation he'd had with Buffy
when Riley had left Sunnydale. He had to laugh inwardly at his attitude then.
Seeing Angel and Buffy together now it seemed almost ridiculous.
"How's Wesley by the way?," Giles asked taking another piece of pizza.
"He's fine," Angel replied. "I'm sure he would've like to see you, but he isn't
in the States at the moment. He went to England for a short vacation. He planned
it before we heard you were coming to Sunnydale. But he sends his best wishes,
also for the new book."
The former watcher smiled, "Ah, the new book."
"I hear it's a great success already," Xander was happily chewing his pizza.
"That's what I'm told," Giles confirmed. "Now, Willow told me you've planned a
trip with all the children tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it."
"It'll be great," the red-head was all excitement. "We're driving to a nice spot
outside Sunnydale. Mrs. Summers is coming too and we're going to have a picnic.
Like a big family. It's going to be fun."
"Yeah," Xander agreed. "And we'll have lots of junk-food."
"Xander," Buffy warned. "I don't want my children to be sick in the evening only
because of that stuff."
"Where is everyone staying for the night?," Giles asked curiously.
"Cordy and Gunn are staying with us," Xander announced. "Buffy's apartment is too small and they wouldn't be able to sleep there anyway, with all the moaning going on."
"Xander!," Buffy blushed with embarrassment and burried her face in Angel's
chest. The former vampire shot Xander a warning glance.
"What?," he grinned, "Do you want to tell me you can keep your hands off of each
other at night after all the time you were apart and especially after you haven't seen each other for the whole week?"
"Which leads me to another question?," Giles said and smiled fatherly at Buffy
and Angel. "What will happened with the two of you? I mean you say you are
together now, but what do you intent to do with it?"
End of Chapter 16.