Disclaimer and stuff in the first part.
The Night Remembers - Part 2
By Jill
Three Days Later
"This human custom of joining is pretty stupid you know," Buffy heard Anya say.
The former demon sat in on the sofa in the Summers' house and was flipping
through bridal magazines.
Xander narrowed his eyes at her comment, "You think so?"
"Calm down," she leaned over and patted his thigh. "I'm going to marry you. But
all this ... stuff," she sighed loudly. "And white doesn't favour me. I look fat
in white."
"That's not true, honey," he assured her. "You look lovely ... in everything."
Anya gave him a sweet smile, then focussed her eyes back on the pictures of white brides and - so she had to admit - some nice looking male models dressed in very fitting tuxedos. She loved Xander, she really did, but that was no reason to stop looking.
"How do you feel?"
Buffy's head snapped up while her fingers were still fidgeting with the hem of
her shirt. "Sorry," she gave Willow a sheepish smile. The redhead was looking at
her the way she always did these days. Worried.
Actually, Buffy thought, she had no idea if Willow had ever looked at her in a
different way. Memory loss really sucked. Waking up with absolutely no idea who
you are or what happened ... Well, she did remember things. Personal things, like her favourite colour, her favourite dish and stuff like that, but she hadn't even remembered her name that afternoon when she'd woken up in her bed in this very house.
"So tell me?" Willow's voice again. "How do you feel?"
"Good," Buffy replied, feeling anything but. What on earth did her friends -
assuming they were really her friends - expect, she wondered? They'd told her
lots of weird stuff about demons and vampires, all things that couldn't possibly
be true - and yet they were. After nothing they'd told her had helped, they'd
just dragged Spike into the room and she'd seen with her own eyes how his face
changed.
She had a feeling that the vampire - **Vampires are real. Geez I'm going
insane.** - would be willing to tell her more about her past life, but he'd been
forbidden by penalty of dusting, he'd told her, and so his lips were sealed. Her
friends had dragged her to a shrink but all the lady had said was to be patient
and that her memories would most probably return.
And then there was this thing about The Slayer. She was supposed to be one. And
yes, she had to admit, she was pretty strong, but hunting demons and vampires at
night? **Talk about weird.** And now they even wanted her to start training,
although, that was another things she had to admit, it was fun, and it seemed as
if she hadn't forgotten how to pummel an attacker.
"Did Giles talk to you some more?," Xander asked, getting up and going towards
the kitchen - no doubt in search of food.
**Does he do anything but eating?**
"Yeah," Buffy replied evasively. She didn't want to talk about this. She had
accepted that vampires were real, but the subject still wasn't particularly
favourite to her.
Coming back with a bowl of potato chips, Xander looked at Willow, "And, is Dead
Boy coming tonight, then?"
"Who?," the slayer's head almost audibly snapped around, fixing him with her
eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Uh ...," his face flushed and he met Willow's angry gaze with his apologetic
one. "It's just a nick-name. A friend of ... ours ... he ... uh ... used to win
at pool Billard all the time. He was *deadly* ... hence the nick-name." He
released a breath at the end.
"I see," the blond thought about it for a moment. Then asked, "Was he ... one of
my friends as well?" Dead Boy. Dead Boy. She tried the words in her head, but
nothing stirred.
"Uh ... yes," Willow replied with a small smile. "His real name is Angel. And
he's coming tonight."
"Angel," Buffy closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember. Without success. "Nice name," she said looking back at her friends.
The witch's face lit up a bit, "You said that before."
"Did I?," the slayer asked, but wasn't really interested. There was too much. Too many questions nobody was willing to answer, too many things she didn't
understand and some things she didn't want to. As for example the fact that her
little sister seemed to befriend Spike. A vampire! Go figure!
Talking about her sister. "Where is Dawn?," she asked nobody in particular.
"Gone with Spike," Anya replied, not looking up from the new magazine.
"Do you ...," Buffy cleared her throat and looked at Willow. "Do you think it's
okay to ... encourage her to be with a ... vampire?"
Xander almost choked on his potato chip, "Sorry, it was a little bit hot," he
said when he saw the slayer looking at him. Grabbing his soft drink he tried to
regain his composure. **Buffy of all people talking about vampires that way. I
can hardly wait until Angel steps through that door.** Xander groaned inwardly.
**And did I really just think that? I can't wait until Angel shows up. Just shoot me!**
"Dawn likes him," Willow said, ignoring Xander's reaction. "And he looks out for
her. You ... made him swear he would ... before," she fidgeted with her fingers,
"... you know."
"Before I lost my memory, I know," Buffy said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Willow,
you don't have to tiptoe around the subject. I know what happened to me!"
"Yeah, we know too," Anya was slowly losing her patience with the slayer. "So
what? We are planning a wedding you know. It wasn't particularly nice of you to
lose your memory right now. Humans definitely have to work on their timing."
Xander shot her an irritated glance and thought for about the umpteenth time if
she'd ever accept the face she was human now, but then pushed that thought aside
and looked at Buffy. "It's just hard for us," he said with a smile. "We know you
for such a long time." He frowned for a moment, "Actually it hasn't been that
long, but ... Anyways. At least it feels as if I know you forever, while you
...," he trailed off and gave her a pointed look.
The slayer worried her lower lip for a moment. She hadn't really paying attention to all the things her friends had said. She'd been too busy with rolling the name 'Angel' back and forth in her memory and somewhere, in a far corner, only a flutter, it seemed to stir. But as soon as she tried to grab it, it was gone. **Maybe as soon as I meet him**, she thought hopefully.
The same moment the front door opened and Dawn appeared with Spike at her tail.
Buffy felt her gut flutter immediately. Slayer vibes, Giles had explained that
special feeling. She could remember the smile on his lips when he'd added it was
the term she was using. Slayer vibes. That meant a vampire was near by and it
was meant to help to feel and finally kill them.
But not Spike of course. He had a chip, they'd explained to her. For that he was
harmless for people. Buffy couldn't suppress the snicker thinking at that. What a bummer, it was like walking a goat up and down in front of a lion cage.
"Good joke?," Spike raised a brow at her, seeing the glimpse in her eyes.
She gazed at him for a moment, then raised a haughty brow, "Actually, yes," she
informed him. "But you wouldn't understand."
"Hi Buffy," Dawn went over to the sofa to kiss her sister on the cheek. "Did you
have a good day?"
"If you call all day lectures from Giles a good day," the slayer replied annoyed, "then, yeah."
"Oh, fun," her sister rolled her eyes and Buffy couldn't help but grin. Dawn was
the only one who tried to act normal around her, who wasn't tiptoeing around and
who seemed - oddly enough - not to worry. "Spike dusted two vamps," she reported
while burying her hand in Xander's chips and then stuffing them into her mouth.
After exchanging another grin with her sister, she excused herself for the
bathroom.
"Only two tonight," Willow raised a brow at her. "That's less then usual these
days."
The vampire who was just returning from the kitchen with a quarter of blood
shrugged, "The night is still young. I'll have another round later on."
"You don't have to," Xander said without thinking, "Angel can do it."
"Xander!," came Willow's angry shout, while Buffy quirked a brow and asked,
"What?"
"The Poof?," Spike found his favourite spot in front of the telly and began
sipping his blood. "Why didn't anybody tell me?"
"Maybe because it isn't actually any of your business?" That came from Anya who
had never been particularly fond of vampires in her demon days and she wouldn't
start changing her habits now. Besides, Spike was really annoying and Xander
couldn't stand him, and as his fiancée she had to be loyal.
"Hey, he is my bloody grand-sire," the vampire protested. "It's my business more
than anyone's."
"What," Buffy glared at him, "are you talking about? Who is 'The Poof'?," then
her gaze turned to Willow. "Are there any more vampires coming to stay with us?"
Spike felt laughter bubbling up in his stomach, but then he remembered Giles and
his promise to dust the vampire should he mess this up, and with an inward sigh
suppressed this urge.
"I ... uh ...," Willow began but was saved by the arrival of Giles, who stepped
through the door right this moment.
"Hello everyone," he greeted and then motioned behind him.
Buffy watched when first a young woman with dark hair appeared and then a man
behind her. Her heart did a funny little flip-flap the moment she saw him and her guts went into overdrive. She should've been warned, should've thought about the "slayer vibes", but the moment she set eyes on him, she forgot all about it.
Quickly she looked away when she realised she was staring at him.
But, God, he was gorgeous. She risked another glance. All tall, dark and - she
had to swallow hard - all muscles, as far as you could see it under his clothes.
Instantly her mouth went dry and in a fruitless attempt she tried to wet her
lips.
Of course she had no idea how erotic that was to Angel and he took several, deep
breaths to get a hold on himself. And the full impact that she was really alive,
and breathing, hit him. And he swallowed hard too.
"Buffy," Giles smiled at his slayer, "you look very well."
"Gee, thanks," she rolled her eyes, avoiding to look at Angel. **If you do,
you're only going to embarrass yourself, because there'd be blushing and ...
stuff.** So she just cleared her throat, not trusting her voice at the moment and added, "You only left three hours ago, so I assume I haven't changed that much since then."
"Yes, er, Buffy, meet some more of your old friends," he said, emphasising the
last word. "This is Cordelia," he explained, nodding towards the tall brunette.
"You and she were in Highschool together. After that she went to L.A. and works
with Angel now. And that," he turned towards the vampire, "is Angel. He also used to live in Sunnydale, until about two years ago."
"Hi," the slayer greeted them. "Cordelia," she gave the former cheerleader a
smile and then her gaze momentarily flickered to the vampire. "Angel," she said,
happy she hadn't choked on the word. She wouldn't have been surprised if anybody
told her, the whole Sahara had been transported into her mouth.
"Hi Buffy," Cordelia nodded at her, then walked over to Anya and took a seat
beside her, her eyes almost bulging out of her head when she realised what
exactly the former demon was reading. She glanced irritated at Xander, but he was too busy staring at Angel to notice her.
"Buffy," Angel gave the blonde a warm smile and she felt all her insides flutter. Cold and hot showers were racing down her spine and the goose-bumps were fighting for a free spot on her skin. Willow had said this man had been a friend, but Buffy honestly doubted it. How could she have been friends with a man who was awakening feelings like that in her. **No way!*
"It's so good to see you," he continued. Unlike Cordelia he didn't come closer,
but leaned his shoulder at the doorframe instead.
"Uh ...," Buffy felt herself blushing and cursed inwardly, "I'd say the same,"
she admitted shyly, "but," she shrugged helplessly, "I don't really remember
you."
Spike felt another bubble of laughter coming up, but one look into Giles' face
instantly shut him up. And soon frustration began to settle inside of him when he caught his grand-sire's amused gaze. "Hello... Angel," he said sweetly.
"Spike," the dark-haired vampire acknowledged his grand-childe and then started
when suddenly Dawn came flying down the stairs and flung her arms around his
neck.
"Angel," she cried. "I'm so happy you came."
"Dawn," Angel embraced her as well and then slightly pulled back to look at her.
"You've grown again," he stated with a wink. "And each time I see you you're more beautiful. You'll see, soon all the young men will grovel at your feet for a date."
"Oh, Angel," she slapped his shoulder, but smiled in delight and turned her gaze
at her sister. "Isn't it great he came?," she asked, only to realise her own
fault, "But of course you don't remember him, right?" When she saw the look on
Buffy's face, she asked hopefully, "Or do you?"
"What?" The slayer looked irritated for a moment, then had to wet her dry lips
again. "Oh, sorry. No, I don't remember him." **But, oh Boy, I wish I could.**
She felt another blush creep up her face and quickly looked away.
"Buffy," Giles tried to get her attention again. "Angel came to help with
patroling and to train you," he explained with a smile.
"Train me?," the slayer raised her brows, then couldn't help but grin at the
vampire, "Do you like to get your ass kicked?," she asked. "Because that's what
happens, just ask Xander or Giles. They refuse to spar with me."
"I think, I'll manage," Angel replied with a smile that reached his eyes and
Buffy wanted to die on the spot. He was handsome, all tall, dark and gorgeous,
but when he smiled... **That sort of killer smile should be forbidden by law.**
"You should know," Giles' voice interrupted her thoughts, "that Angel is a
vampire."
"A WHAT?," Buffy almost shouted and was out of her seat in a flash, staring at
all her friends. Her eyes were darting from Giles to Angel, to Willow, Xander,
and to Spike, who was grinning broadly. "A vampire," she said finally, her voice
sounding weak. "What is it with him?," she demanded looking at her watcher. "Does he have another chip or what? And how is he going to spar with me then? Because Spike can't - 'cuz of the chip, you already told me that."
"No," Willow said softly. "Angel doesn't have a chip, Buffy. Angel's got a soul."
"A ... a soul?," the slayer asked.
"Yes," Angel replied with a nod. "It's a bit complicated, but I'm going to
explain all this to you."
"Just know he is one of the good guys," Cordelia said from her spot beside Anya.
"Uh-huh," Buffy smiled weakly and fell back on the sofa. Then she looked back at
Angel, "Just out of curiosity," she said. "Can you even play pool billard?"
... to be continued
Tell me if you like it! That's all for the moment. I'm going to write more soon, if you want! So, send feedback.