Rating: PG-13
Distribution: Hey sure you can have my fic. So long as you tell me where you're putting it I won't say no!
DISCLAIMERS: All original characters belong to the author. Any characters mentionon in the fic that are characters from the show, belong to Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox, Mutant Enemy, UPN, and anyone else involved in the creation/making of the hit TV series. If there are any concerns please me at BluR_2_U@yahoo.ca.
Thank-you!
[NOTE: Big apology for the lack of spelling and grammer check on the prologue. I kind of sent the wrong part in. Sorry. Hopefully this part will make up for it. Oh! And sorry for the slow update. I'm working on two sites, so yah... Now my excuse for the crapppy descriptions- lack of emotional descriptions... (I know excuses, excuses...), well I kind of intended this fic to be a short fic, but I grew to like it even more. And I think I got better at making it better.... if that made any sense. In fact, I intended it to be all sorts of thing- even shipping wise. But as I wrote more, my intentions changed... That's it! I not gonna spoil you all. So my point is, the writing gets better as the parts increase. Or so I'm told...
Thank you so much for the feedback BTW. You all know who you are.
{part one}
"What?" asked Xander.
"Faith," said Angel as he did a U-turn.
Xander had no idea what he was talking about. Suddenly he spotted a hitchhiker from afar. As they got closer, Xander got a better view of the girl. She was an average height brunette. She looked about 17 years old and definitely looked it! //Boy is she damn fine!// thought Xander. He then shook himself out of his hormonal phase, as he turned to Angel.
"Um, Angel... as much as I enjoy picking up sexy hitchhikers, uh, don't you think that it will be a little distracting?"
"Xander don't worry. I'll tell you later," said Angel as parked near the hitchhiker. "Don't move," said Angel as he got out the car. Xander just reluctantly nodded, as he watched Angel walk over to the girl that he assumed to be Faith.
*~*~*
"Hey Angel-WHOA!" said Faith as Angel gripped Faith's arm and roughly pulled her away from the car. When they were at a far enough distance, Angel finally spoke:
"Faith, what the hell are you doing here?" he barked. His grip on her was hardening every second.
"Angel, Angel. Calm down," the brunette said as she tried to ease her arm away from him. But she could not take her arm away from him. "Now, can you let me go?"
Angel didn't budge.
"Angel that's not fair," said Faith as she looked at Angel with pleading eyes. "You know I can't use my powers since Whistler took them away."
Angel finally let her go.
"Thank-you!" exclaimed Faith as she rubbed her arms.
"Now tell me Faith, why are you here?" asked Angel.
"For a second chance."
"Faith, I know you mean will, but this is suppose to be my mission not yours-"
"And what you're the only one allowed to have a second chance? Don't you think that you're being a little to selfish?"
Angel sighed. "I just... I don't want you getting hurt."
"I know," said Faith. She looked over at the car spotted Xander. "So you brought Xander. Trying your hand at testing out your sexual orientation?" She smirked.
"Faith," Angel sighed.
"I'm just kiddin' Angel," said Faith as she started heading to the car, "You can always give him to me."
"Really," stated Angel sarcastically. As he followed Faith to the car.
"Hey! The essence is to take and use what you've already got," she teased.
"I don't wanna know. I don't wanna know..."
*~*~*
"So Faith," started Xander, "What brings you here to LA?"
Faith was sitting in between Angel and Xander. It was a tight squeeze and both Faith and Xander seemed to be enjoying it. Angel on the other hand was just irritated.
Faith looked over at the younger version of the Xander she knew and just smiled. He was all innocent and cute. He wasn't like the Xander she knew before. I mean sure his hormonal self was still there, but hey, who said things were perfect?
"Well," started Faith, "As you know, Angel has this thing to do in LA."
"Uh-huh," replied Xander with interest.
"And well... I-I kinda have to help him do his thing," thought Faith as she tried to figure out something to say, without revealing anything that Xander shouldn't know. "Plus the fact that I have my own thing to do... and so there. That's it!"
Xander just stared at the two people that he just met within a range of 24 hours. Something fishy was going on. Obviously, but what could he do? He was dumb. He could even admit that. He just sighed and sank into his seat.
Faith took it as a bad sign. She quickly turned to Angel. He too noticed Xander's down demeanor. She whispered to Angel softly:
"Aren't you even gonna tell him anything?"
"I can't," replied Angel, as he saw the five miles sign to Los Angeles.
"But we can't just lead him on. Sooner or later he'll have to know."
"I know," Angel sighed. "That's why, if I have to, I'll tell him."
Faith looked at him skeptically. She then sank into her own seat as she waited for LA to come.
*~*~*
"Can't we just look around for a bit?" asked Xander, as he looked around the streets of LA.
"No," Angel said as they hit a stoplight. He wasn't really paying attention, cuz he was smiling. He hadn't seen what LA looked like in the morning. Well besides the time when he had the Ring of Amara. Or when he was given his humanity back by the demon blood from a while back...
It was amazing for him. All the things that people did in the morning. Suddenly his smile broadened as he remembered something. //I can eat breakfast food!//
"Angel what are you smiling about?" asked Faith as she saw his smile.
"Oh nothing," Angel smirked. "I'll tell you later."
"That's it I can't stand this!" yelled Xander.
"What?" asked Faith and Angel in unison.
"I can't stand all these secrets between the two of you," shouted Xander. He was frustrated. He hated being in the dark...
"Look Xander," Angel said as he drove into a neighborhood. "There's some things we can't tell you-"
"But-"
"And you knew that when you decided to join this party," stated Angel looking over at Xander with a knowing look.
Xander just grunted as he slumped back down into his seat. Faith looked over at Angel:
"Cut him some slack Angel. He just wants to know," she said with some sincerity.
Angel sighed as they drove on. The ride was quiet for a long time. A very long time.
*~*~*
Xander was bored. So far, going with Angel was a bad idea. Sure things started to get better when he met Faith, but it got worst when they kept secrets from him. He was about to drift to sleep when he noticed something.
"Hemrey High? What are we doing here?"
*~*~*
"Xander! Where are you going?" asked Angel, as Xander got up and left the car. Calling him didn't seem to work at all . *Sigh* He looked over at Faith who was checking out the male population of Hemrey high. "Faith."
She didn't seem to hear him as she seemed to be too interested in a certain male highschooler. "FAITH!"
"What?" asked Faith as she finally looked over at Angel.
Angel sighed as he unstrapped his seat belt. He opened the door, and stepped out. "Watch the car!"
"Sure. No problem."
Angel shook his head. Maybe this mission was a total mistake. He raced after Xander, who was walking towards the high school. When he finally caught up to him he finally spoke:
"Xander."
No answer.
"Xander!"
Again no answer.
"XANDER!"
"WHAT?!" Xander yelled stopping in his tracks. There was a mixture of frustration and anxiety written all over his face.
"Where are you going?" Angel asked.
Xander just glared at him. "I'm going to the office to make a phonecall so I can get picked up."
"No," said Angel. "That's not what I mean." He got closer to Xander, and asked Xander again: "*Where are you going?*"
Xander just looked at Angel. He didn't get what Angel was hitting at. Finally, he got it. His gaze softened up as he looked down in shame.
"Exactly," Angel said. "You know only going back now is not gonna save you."
"Then what do I do Angel?" asked Xander as he looked up. "Tell me, cuz all I know is *sigh*, I'm going no where. And the way I see it, it's gonna be like that for a long time. Hell, it might even get worst!"
Angel just gave Xander a comforting smile, "Well that's why you're here. To find out about yourself. Well, that and trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing!"
Xander smiled at Angel's joke getting another smile in return. "Come on," Angel said patting his back. "Let's go back to the car before Faith decides to literally pick up some guys."
As they walked towards the car, Angel felt something in the air. It made him shiver. He quickly turned around. It was Buffy.
*~*~*
Xander stopped walking as he realized that Angel wasn't with him. He turned around and realized that Angel was staring at a girl. A real HOT girl. He walked towards Angel as he shook his head.
"Angel, Angel. Tsk, tsk. I thought you were better than that type." said Xander as he stood next to Angel.
"Shut-up Xander," replied Angel as he continued to stare at Buffy.
Xander just shrugged. He looked over at the girl again. She was a cheerleader hanging out with her other cheerleader friends. She was blond, and quite sexy. She had a cute heart-shaped face, and had those pouty lips that every guy would crave to kiss. And her body...//Let's just say that if her skirt were any shorter I'd die at the spot as of right now.// thought Xander. What got Xander's attention the most were her beautiful green eyes. They were gorgeous. Them alone would make any guy fall for her.
He shook himself out of his thought and looked over at Angel who continued to gawk at her. He smiled.
*~*~*
Angel quickly zoned out of his trance as he realized what Xander was doing. He was going to talk to Buffy.
//God Dammit!// Thought Angel as he went straight for Xander.
*~*~*
"Excuse me," said Xander confidently, as he approached the girl from behind. When she turned around with a grin on her face, all of his confidence drained out of him. //God is show so gorgeous up close.// "H-hello," he stuttered as he reached for her hand. He tried his best to shake it gently without having an orgasm. "M-my name is Ooof!" Angel tackled him.
"Okay," said the girl, as she stared at the two wrestling in front of her.
"Get off me!" shouted Xander as he threw Angel off of him. He stood up and glared at Angel. Angel just stood up and glared at Xander.
"You know as much as I'd like to watch you guys display your gross representation of manhood, I've got... well some place to go," said the girl, as she left with her friends.
Angel sighed, as he watched Xander plead for Buffy to stay. //This is the most stupidest things I've ever done.//
*~*~*
"Ha ha ha, you guys are such a bunch of losers," cried Faith as she laughed at the two as they arrived at the motel they would be staying at. "I can't believe you guys totally messed yourselves up infront of *her!*"
"Speaking of *her,*" stated Xander as he grabbed his large suitcase from the trunk of the car. It was the last one so he slammed the trunk shut. "who is she?"
Faith and Angel just stared at him. "Um, well..." started Angel.
"What Angel was going to say, is that as soon as we get back to Hemery High tomorrow, introductions will to be made." Faith finished.
"What?" asked Xander, "You mean you guys won't even tell me her name?!"
Angel gave her a thoughtful look, "Yeeah... something like that." He then gave Xander a mocking smile.
Xander sighed, "Why the hell did I even bother coming..."
*~*~*
"So what are we gonna do?" yawned Faith from the passenger side. Xander was in a the back of the car sleeping soundly. It was a rough night of sleeping for the three, since their motel neighbors had a case of insomnia, and were loud and restless till morning.
Angel looked over at Faith, she had a slightly dark but barely seen dark circles around her eyes. She looked stressed and yet still full of zest. "Well I did have a great plan at first. But when Xander came I kinda had to blow the idea away. So frankly, I haven't got a clue."
"Well first off, let's head to a fast food joint. And fast. I'm starved!"
Angel smiled. He looked over at Faith, "You know as much as I hate admit it... I'm glad you're here with me."
Faith blushed slightly. Not that she was attracted to Angel. Or he was attracted to her. But, it was kinda nice to have a compliment from him. After all he did have a nice smile.
Angel saw her reaction and took it the wrong way, "I mean, when I saw Buffy. That old feeling that I used to feel when I was with *my* Buffy-"
"Our Buffy."
Angel looked over at her. "Our Buffy." Angel smiled sadly as her continued:
"That old feeling was gone. I didn't feel it." Faith took her hand and placed it over Angel's hand to comfort him.
"It's okay Angel. Things will be a lot different."
The two friends smiled at each other. A sort of comfort that filled them both.
*~*~*
"So, what exactly is the point of reading this book. It is because it's interesting? It's inspirational? Or is it because of its symbolism, and meaning," Mr. Dorrale paused, "Class, tell me... what is your reason for reading it?"
Of course the class was not enthusiastic to jump up and answer him. Although he was the best English teacher of Hemery High, (and pretty cute for his age of 27), his cute face and charm, couldn't even make the girls go into barely halfway "full suck-up mode" that they would usually do.
"I see, no answer," said Mr. Dorrale, with a smile. "Well... it's about time I started my new system of 'E-M-M-M.'"
"E-M-M-M?" asked a student with confusion and curiosity.
"Yes."
"What exactly does it mean?"
"E-M-M-M?" answered Mr. Dorrale with a question, "Oh! Well it simply stands for *einee minni midi moe.* And now that we're on it, let me pick..."
He pointed to the students with an 'einee' to Rachel Sidmers one of Hemery's candidate to 'Sorry I'm blond', a 'minni' to Cody Lanks, Hemery high's local Arnold Swartzenagger, and a 'midi' to a Lewis Lawrence, Hemery's local hot stuff...and sex spot. When he was just about to point to Buffy Summers one of his 'wish he/she were a better student' picks, he saw that she was being tormented by one of her attempting courtiers. The boy was trying so hard at flirting, that he decided to give Buffy some space, and that the latter was a better choice.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have *moe!*" He said as he stood in front of Hemery High's no. 1 choice for Jerk of the year: Jason Chandley. "Jason Chandley."
"Aww sir-"
"Nah-uh-uh! No complaints," said Mr. Dorrales with his genuine smile of his, "If you want to blame someone look at your wallowing classmates that failed to volunteer. So anyway, answer my question: Why are we reading this book?"
"Duh. Because you told us to."
"Oh My Goodness! Class! We have the modern-age Einstein in here," joked Mr. Dorrale as the class laughed at Jason's...*ahem* classic unintelligent answer.
"Well, since that's obviously not the answer, what do you think it is-Miss Summers?"
"Me?" asked Buffy.
Mr. Dorrale smiled again: "Yes please."
Buffy struggled for an answer, she bit her lip. "Well-"
"Is this room 1112?" asked a voice.
"Uh, why yes it is." answered Mr. Dorrale politely.
Buffy sighed. Whoever was at the door saved her life. When she looked up she saw a dark-haired young man. He looked vaguely familiar. He looked over at her position and waved.
"Hey there!" said Xander happily. "How are you?"
"Me?" asked Buffy. "Who are you?"
"Ah, Miss Summers I-" started Mr. Dorrale, but Xander interrupted.
"Don't you remember me?"
"Was he one of you famous *one-night standers?*" half-asked, half-joked Jason.
"Shut-up Jason," said Buffy coldly, with a dark glare. He avoided her gaze. The class started to get restless, with the situation going on.
Buffy turned her attention back to the guy in front of her. "I don't seem to remember you?"
"Look Miss Summers I-" started Mr. Dorrale again. But again Xander interrupted him again.
"Come on. I was the guy from yesterday," said Xander as Buffy still shook her head, "You know," Xander said with added gestures, "the guy that was talking to you yesterday who suddenly got jumped by another guy?"
Suddenly Buffy's eyes lit up, "Oh yes! I remember," Xander smiled triumphantly, that is until she spoke the next few words:
"You're the gay guy that was wrestling with your friend!"
The classroom erupted with laughter. Mr. Dorrale was obviously not pleased.
"Hehe. Now just minute. I-"
"Miss Summers. Please take this outside. Now."
"But I don't even know him!"
Mr. Dorrale's usual understanding attitude was replaced with his strict attitude. "Please Miss Summers."
Buffy quickly huffed as the classroom's laughter continued. She quickly grabbed her source of all her problems and dragged him outside.
*~*~*
As the door closed behind her the gay guy grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke:
"I'm not gay!"
"Calm down!" said Buffy.
"But I'm not gay?!"
"That's okay. I understand your insecurities. Especially being surrounded by a lot of straight guys, who might feel like beating the crap out of you."
"What?"
Buffy took the gay guy's hands off of her and dusted herself off. "Look, I like totally understand."
"But-"
"That's okay," said Buffy as she gestured him to stop, "Besides, I've always wanted a gay friend."
"Friend?"
"Yeah! It'd be totally awesome!"
He sighed. //She so won't believe me.//
"So..." started Buffy. She was getting uncomfortable. Although she knew he was gay, she still didn't like being around someone she didn't even know. "What's your name?"
"Name?"
Buffy smiled sympathetically. "It is something we were all given with."
"Oh, yeah," he said, "Xander."
Buffy smiled, "Xander huh. Seems kinda... //gay// ...nice. After all, you are gay."
Xander sighed again. "What's your name? From what I can tell, it ends with Summers?"
Buffy smiled. "Buffy."
//Buffy huh? I wonder what Angel would want with you... //
"Buffy huh? Cool."
When it seemed that the conversation would end there, a voice fortunately interrupted their silent thoughts.
"Xander!"
The two 'new friends', turned to the voice. It was Angel. He seemed to have been running. //Probably because he ran here as soon as he found out I took the car... //
"Hey Angel," said Xander happily.
"Angel huh?" said Buffy mischievously, but not enough for the two men to notice.
"Xander, *pant*, what the hell are you, *pant*, doing here?"
"Well," started Xander with a wide smirk on his face, "I thought that I should, oh I don't know, introduce myself to uh... Buffy here," her turned to Buffy, "isn't that right?"
She shrugged as she answered him, "I guess... "
Angel gave Xander a look, before he looked over at Buffy.
"Excuse me miss, but... do you mind if I talk to him privately about this?"
Buffy smiled as she continued to figure out what was going on, "Sure... In fact, you can have him, after all, I do still have a class," she turned to Xander, "Well, it was... nice?"
"Uh... yeah," said Xander, "Hey, do you wanna talk more later?"
"Sure," said Buffy with her classic smile, that all of the guys in her school fell for. Suddenly she thought of and idea, "Hey, you can even pick me up after school?"
"Great!"
They all stood there silently, until Buffy spoke again:
"Uh... yeah... so, bye!" And with that she went back into her classroom.
Xander smiled. When he faced Angel though, his face turned into a frown.
"What?"
"Don't say anything." said Angel, as he dragged Xander off.
*~*~*
"So is he really... gay?"
Buffy gave her friend Rachel the same look she'd been giving her since first period.
"Rachel! Will you get over that topic!"
"Sorry," said her friend as they headed off to fourth period. They had almost every single class together, except third. As they entered history, and sat down in their seats, she turned to Buffy again.
"So is he?"
Buffy gave her friend a stern look, and smiled, "Yes."
*~*~*
History was seriously boring right now. Not only was Mr. Bouchard droning on about the latest topic of the day: Current Events, but everyone else in the class weren't even a making effort to make class fun by doing their usual deal of torturing Mr. Bouchard- giving him hell.
//Well at least someone will be happy today.//
A note was placed on her desk.
//Let me guess, I know what this one's about...//
She picked it up and opened it up.
//Yup! Another note of "Buffy Summers has a gay friend!"//
All day she was basically harassed by everyone-even teachers, about her new *gay* friend. It was sort of expected since the school had no history of having any gay students. It was pretty big. After all, people are curious about the...unknown(?).
She didn't bother writing back, for she knew it was a waste of time. Instead she crumpled it in her hand and threw it on the ground.
"Ugh! Buffy," said her friend Rachel in disgust. "Don't litter!"
"Why, it's just the same trash I've been reading all day."
"Come on Buffy. People are just-"
"Obsessed?"
"Well no. Just curious. Besides, I thought he was kinda cute!"
"Rach, remember he's gay."
"I know. I mean, I don't find him attractive you know. I just find him cute in a best guy friend kind of way, except that he's gay."
"I guess," said Buffy. "Although, he does have some bad taste in clothes. And his hair... "
"Oh come on. Cut the guy some slack. He's probably like that to prove how he's not gay. If he actually dressed good, and actually cared about how he looks, then everyone's sure to think that he's gay. He's just trying to prove that he's a guy."
Buffy gave a smirk to her 'smart friend'. Although Rachel was often on the 'air-head' side, even more so than Buffy herself, she was still a sweetie and a nice friend.
"I know!" said Rachel with excitement. "You invited him to join us after school right?"
"Yeah... " Buffy hesitated wondering where her friend was going at.
"Well," said Rachel as loud as she could without Mr. Bouchard freakin' on her, "we could help him get in touch with his gay self!"
Buffy gave her a strange look. "Meaning...?"
"Shopping!"
Buffy rolled her eyes, as she shook her head.
*~*~*
"I can't believe your grounding me!" Xander complained, as he sat down on his bed in his motel room. Ever since they got back from the school, Xander whined and complained about Faith and Angel's punishment for almost blowing their cover.
"Well you deserve it Xander," said Faith as she jumped onto the bed spot next to him. "You made me run all the way from inner city to Blonde's school!"
"Excuse me, I didn't," said Xander, "Angel did!"
"Hey," said Angel. "You've already screwed up all of our plans you know. So I wouldn't want to complain about you punishment."
"Excuse me, but if you actually told me a lit bit more about Buffy, I probably wouldn't have found out by myself ya know."
"He's kinda right Angel," said Faith as she turned to Angel.
Angel sighed. He was seriously confused. He moved towards the bed and sat down next to the two teens.
"Look," he started, "I'm gonna tell you soon. I just need everything to be perfect, before I reveal anything. Meaning- when I get Buffy into all of this."
"And what exactly is this?" asked Xander.
"You'll see," said Angel with another teasing smile that bugged Xander. "Besides, I think I've already developed another plan."
"What's that Angel?" asked Faith.
"Well, since Xander already 'befriended' our friend-"
"Hey, I said I was sorry." Xander defended himself but Angel continued to ignore him.
"Anyway," said Angel, "Since he 'befriended' her, I think..." he paused as he looked over at Faith with a smile, "We have ourselves a spy."
"A spy?" asked Xander.
"Yeah. While me and Faith figure out what we're going to do, you will be our little watch dog."
Xander smiled. Angel was actually letting him hang out with the hot girl. He then frowned.
"Aw man!"
"What?" asked Faith.
"Hanging out with Buffy's gonna suck."
Angel's eyebrows creased, "Why's that? I thought you'd be happy."
Xander threw his hands up in the air, "Well... yeah... but there's just one thing."
"And what's that?" asked Faith with a smirk.
"She... " started Xander with some frustration, "She," he repeated again. //Oh boy this is so gonna hurt... //
"She thinks I'm gay."
The motel room filled with laughter as Xander sulked and moped, and awaited the Buffy-filled afternoon.
*~*~*
The sun shone down on her face. It was nice and warm. She enjoyed days like these, were she could just sit under the sun and enjoy its pleasures.
Buffy sat on an outside bench, infront of the school parking lot. She had originally tried hiding out in the back parking lot to avoid the likes of her usual pursuers, Jason Chadley and his lemmings, and Lewis Lawrence with his followers. Although, she did kind of thought Lewis was a great guy, compared to Jason, she didn't feel like getting 'worshipped', and flirted with. Anyway, her plan was changed because she decided she liked the quiet and warm sun.
"There you are!"
Buffy turned to see Rachel.
"Hey Rachel."
Rachel sat down next to her friend, "What are you doing back here? Jason and Lewis are looking for you."
"What else is new," replied Buffy behind her dark sunglasses.
"Ugh!" started Rachel as she snatched Buffy's shades away from her face, "Excuse me girlfriend? If I was you, I'd soooo take advantage of the situation!"
"Well," said Buffy as she grabbed her sunglasses back from Rachel, while she gave her friend a dirty look, "you're not! Deal with it... "
Rachel stuck her tongue out at Buffy, as Buffy smiled back.
"Bitch!"
"Rachel?!"
As they were about to argue, a blue convertible pulled up into the driveway. A dark haired girl was driving it while a dark haired man sat next to her.
Buffy suddenly recognized the guy. As did Rachel.
"Well, it seems out gay friend has brought a friend," said Rachel. When they got closer and got a better view of Faith, Rachel added, "... who also happens to be sleazy."
"Rachel! Shhh," said Buffy with a grin.
As Faith pulled up next to them, she put her smile on and spoke: "Hey girlfriends. I'm a 'close' friend of Xander's. Mind if I join ya and make a it foursome?"
"Uh... sure," said Buffy.
"All right then ladies," said an excited Xander, "hop right in!"
Buffy smiled as she got into the car. Rachel hesitated for a while then quickly got in.
to be continued...
*~*~*