A/N - Same title, same author, same rating.
A/N2 - Pairings in this chapter - well, B/A, obviously..with serious C/D,
W/O and William/Tara.also a brief thing on Faith/Gunn.
Feedback is always welcome.
Thankfully, I don't own these characters.
Buffy came home about two hours later, closed the door, and leaned against it, obviously angry. Angel came out of the living room, leaned up against the wall, and watched her for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. She opened her eyes, reached out and lightly caressed his face. "Riley was having issues against us breaking up." He closed his eyes and leaned his face into her hand. "Like what?" he asked, trying to suppress the jealousy under his voice. But she heard it anyway. She smiled and closed the distance between them, snuggling into his strong, warm arms. "He just.threw a fit. Told me I was delusional. Told me he loved me, he could make me happy. Then he cried." Angel made a quiet noise. Buffy nodded against his chest. "Yeah, I know. He was so pathetic.and he just couldn't take it, so I bailed." She raised her head so she could see his face. "What about you?" Angel grinned. "I started to babble, telling her we shouldn't see each other anymore, and she started to laugh." Buffy looked shocked. "*Laugh?*" she demanded. He nodded. "Yeah, laugh." He shrugged. "Dru's a little loopy, and nobody thinks she's observant because of it. But she's smarter than she looks. Or acts." Buffy snuggled back into his arms and he kissed her hair. "I need to get some dinner," he said quietly. Buffy sighed and pulled him down for a kiss. "Hmmm.." He pulled her closer and slid his hands over her waist. When he pulled away, it was reluctant. "I need to food. C'mon, I'll take you out to dinner." She grinned. "Yay!"
*
Tara finished off the last line on her paper and clicked print as she heard the knock on the door behind her. So, naturally, she got up to answer it. It was Will, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She somehow managed a smile. "H-Hi." He grinned at her, flashing a row of neat white teeth. "Hey." He ran a hand through his mussed blonde curls. "I was just wonderin' if you were busy or anything tonight." He caught her look, and moved on quickly. "You know, maybe catch a movie or something? Everybody else is busy, so I was just wonderin' if you wanted to do somethin', y'know, friendly-like." He rolled his eyes. "Did I just make an ass of myself?" Tara giggled. "No, no ass-ness." He smiled, and Tara noticed that his eyes crinkled at the corners, and his whole face lit up. He seemed so happy to see her. "Well, I'm glad, 'cause I just couldn't sit in that dorm anymore.my roommate's a pig." He looked at her. "I figured maybe you wanted to hang out, or somethin'." Tara smiled, and stepped back, gesturing for him to come in. "Yeah, no problem." She closed the door behind him and went over to the printer. "What did you have in mind?" Will swallowed hard. He hadn't really expected her to agree. "A movie, maybe?" She looked up and smiled, and her smile had the same affect on him as his had on her. His knees momentarily went week. "That sounds like fun." She stapled her paper together and began to search for her coat. "Do you know what's playing?" Will shook his head and looked around her dorm room. "Nice place." She turned from her closet, coat in hand. "Thanks. Willow likes it to." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Where is Willow?" Tara shrugged and pulled on her coat. "I don't know. Probably in the library or her room." She looked down at her blue velvet dress. "Is this ok for going out?" Will looked her up and down, admiring her curves through the dress. "You look beautiful." She blushed, smiled, then curtsied. "Thank you, kind sir." He grinned at her and offered her his arm. "Quite welcome, beautiful lady. Shall we?" She took it. "We shall."
*
Cordelia smoothed her brown hair, straightened her skirt, reached out, and knocked on Doyle's door. There was some cursing, and a call of "just a minute!" before the door opened. She smiled nervously at the tousled Irishman. "Hi." Doyle swallowed hard, smiled back. "Hi." She gestured past him, into his apartment. "Can I come in?" He looked startled, but nodded and stepped out of her way. "Yeah, course, Princess." Cordelia walked in slowly, glancing around the living room as she did. "You have a nice place," she said softly. Doyle shrugged. "It's alright. Fairly cheap, so I can keep up the rent." She nodded, kept looking around, before turning to face him. "Would you like to go out to dinner tonight? With me?" He stared at her in shock. "Are you serious? You're kidding, right?" "No, I'm not kidding. Do you wanna go out to dinner with me or not?" "Of course I do," he said softly. "You know that, though." She nodded. "Yes, I do know. So, why don't you get a coat so we can go?" Doyle smiled at her. "Alright, I'll do that."
*
Willow looked up quickly when a stack of books were set down next to hers, and met the blue eyes of Daniel Osbourne, guitarist. She smiled. "Hey." He gave her a small half-smile. "Hi." He nodded towards her books. "What're you working on?" "Psyche. You?" He nodded. "Same." He sat down and opened his book. He was quiet, and Willow didn't know what to say. About twenty minutes later, she closed her book and leaned back in her chair. Oz looked up. "You done?" She nodded, and he closed his book too. "Do you wanna go get something to drink?" he asked. "Maybe talk some?" Willow smiled. "I'd like that."
*
Faith ran her hands through her hair. "No way. Huh uh. Nope. Tara is definitely hot for Will." Gunn shook his head. "No way. I mean, come on. She's a lesbian. A lesbian with a *girlfriend*, might I add." His date sighed and took a bite out of her whopper. "That doesn't mean anything," she told him around a mouthful of burger. "She digs him." Gunn looked thoughtful. "Well, her girl was mackin' on Oz.so maybe." Faith shook her head. "No maybe, baby. There's was *serious* crushin' goin' on." He reached across the table and wiped some sauce from the corner of her mouth. "Maybe," he admitted, "but I was too busy lookin' at this gorgeous chick to notice anybody else." She smiled. "Gorgeous chick? Should I be jealous?" He laughed. "Probably not."
*
Buffy leaned back into Angel's hands as he massaged her shoulders. "Mmm.this is nice." Angel leaned down and kissed her neck. "Yeah, it is." They were at the beach, watching the sunset, a romantic cliché, but Buffy loved it. Dinner had been wonderful, even the debate over who was going to pay. Angel had, in the end. She snuggled back into his arms and smiled. It was perfect.
*
Tara was laughing as they left the theater. "That was great!" she said. Will was staring at her. "I don't think it was meant to be funny, love," he told her, as calmly as possible. She grinned at him. "Oh, I know. It really wasn't. But it was *great*." He shook his head. "Tara MaClay though that Jason X was great. Ruinin' yer image, love." Tara laughed again and shrugged. "Maybe my image needs to be shaken up some. I mean, everybody thinks they know what I would and wouldn't do." "I could help you with that," he offered. "How?" He kissed her. He thought she'd resist, but she just melted against him, and responded. She tasted like honey and peppermint tea, warm and soft and - A shocked voice penetrated the haze that surrounded both of them. "*Tara?*" The stunned young woman pulled back with a gasp at the sound of her girlfriend's voice, seeing the redhead standing on the sidewalk with Oz. "Willow," she murmured, "oh, Willow." Will practically collapsed. She was so in love with that girl. "Ummm, this is the part where you apologize, right?" Willow said, sounding afraid. Tara nodded slowly. "I'm sorry you saw that." She straightened. "But I'm not sorry I did it. We need to talk, Willow, very soon." Willow nodded. "How about now?" Tara glanced at Will. "Is that alright with you, Will?" He nodded slowly. "'Course, love." Willow looked at Oz. "I'll see you later, ok?" He nodded, without saying a word, but then, it was Oz. He rarely spoke. The two women hurried away. "My car's over here," Willow said softly. Tara just nodded. They stood beside her car for a long moment before either one of them spoke. "Do you really like him, Tara?" Willow asked softly. Tara nodded mutely. "I really do." she murmured. Then she looked inquiringly at her girlfriend. "Do you like Oz?" Willow blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." Tara smiled radiantly. "That's all that matters, right?" she asked. She sighed, then. "I love you, Willow. I always will. I just think.." "That maybe we weren't meant to be?" She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, like that..like maybe..we should just.go with it." The redhead smiled. "Maybe we should." The looked over to the sidewalk. Will was walking towards his dorm, and Oz was going the other way, towards the house he shared with his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby. The two girls grinned at each other. "Wanna?" Willow asked. Tara nodded and hugged her, and the two of them headed after their respective dates.
*
"Will! Wait!" Will stopped, turned, and very nearly jumped for joy. Tara was running after him, her honey colored hair streaming out behind her. She stopped in front of him, smiling. "Where's Willow?" he asked softly. She pointed down the sidewalk. "She went after Oz." "Oh." He looked uncomfortably at the ground. "Do you wanna get a cup of coffee?" Tara asked. "'Cause I really like talking to you, Will." She nervously shuffled her feet. "And if you don't like me, could you please just say so?" He grinned. "I like you, Tara. I think you're.a lot of things. Why don't we get that coffee?"
*
It was the next morning. Buffy and Angel had fallen asleep cuddled up in his bed, like usual, and Buffy didn't want to move just yet. It was too.nice and comfortable where she was, cuddle up to Angel. Except the phone was ringing. She reached out, groping for it, completely forgetting that it was Angel's line, and wasn't it kind of strange for her to be answering his phone? "Hello?" "Boy, Angel, you sure have changed." She yawned. "Good morning. Who is this?" "It's me, Doyle. Is Angel there?" He paused. "Just hand the phone to him. For you to be answerin' his phone, you must be in the same bed." "Do you have a problem with that?" "Not particularly." Buffy poked him in the side with the cordless, then yawned and got up. She heard him groggily mutter "hello? Hi, Doyle." There was a pause, and some laughter. "Say hi to Cordi for me." Buffy turned to look at him, her look inquisitive. He grinned at her. "Yeah, what do you need? No, no. Ask Will. Alright. Bye." He hung up and yawned. Buffy went back and climbed into bed with him. "What's up with him?" Angel wrapped his arms around her and laid back down. "Wanted to know a good place to take Cordelia. She spent the night last night. I'm not good at that. I told him to call Will." She yawned and snuggled up to his chest. She heard the phone in her bedroom ring and swore. "This sucks." Angel gave her a gentle little shove. "Go answer it. It's probably your mother." She was laughing when she came back into his room ten minutes later. He was half dressed, searching for a shirt in his closet. He glanced up at her. "Who was it?" Buffy went over to him and gave him a kiss. "Willow. She broke up with Tara last night. She's now dating Oz as of three o'clock this morning. They talked all night." Angel laughed and kissed her again. "I'm not surprised." He yawned and ran a quick hand through his hair. "Will and Tara, then?" She nodded and watched as he pulled on his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. "More than likely." She leaned in for a kiss and lightly scratched her nails across his chest. "Maybe everything will work out for the best."
Buffy came home about two hours later, closed the door, and leaned against it, obviously angry. Angel came out of the living room, leaned up against the wall, and watched her for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. She opened her eyes, reached out and lightly caressed his face. "Riley was having issues against us breaking up." He closed his eyes and leaned his face into her hand. "Like what?" he asked, trying to suppress the jealousy under his voice. But she heard it anyway. She smiled and closed the distance between them, snuggling into his strong, warm arms. "He just.threw a fit. Told me I was delusional. Told me he loved me, he could make me happy. Then he cried." Angel made a quiet noise. Buffy nodded against his chest. "Yeah, I know. He was so pathetic.and he just couldn't take it, so I bailed." She raised her head so she could see his face. "What about you?" Angel grinned. "I started to babble, telling her we shouldn't see each other anymore, and she started to laugh." Buffy looked shocked. "*Laugh?*" she demanded. He nodded. "Yeah, laugh." He shrugged. "Dru's a little loopy, and nobody thinks she's observant because of it. But she's smarter than she looks. Or acts." Buffy snuggled back into his arms and he kissed her hair. "I need to get some dinner," he said quietly. Buffy sighed and pulled him down for a kiss. "Hmmm.." He pulled her closer and slid his hands over her waist. When he pulled away, it was reluctant. "I need to food. C'mon, I'll take you out to dinner." She grinned. "Yay!"
*
Tara finished off the last line on her paper and clicked print as she heard the knock on the door behind her. So, naturally, she got up to answer it. It was Will, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She somehow managed a smile. "H-Hi." He grinned at her, flashing a row of neat white teeth. "Hey." He ran a hand through his mussed blonde curls. "I was just wonderin' if you were busy or anything tonight." He caught her look, and moved on quickly. "You know, maybe catch a movie or something? Everybody else is busy, so I was just wonderin' if you wanted to do somethin', y'know, friendly-like." He rolled his eyes. "Did I just make an ass of myself?" Tara giggled. "No, no ass-ness." He smiled, and Tara noticed that his eyes crinkled at the corners, and his whole face lit up. He seemed so happy to see her. "Well, I'm glad, 'cause I just couldn't sit in that dorm anymore.my roommate's a pig." He looked at her. "I figured maybe you wanted to hang out, or somethin'." Tara smiled, and stepped back, gesturing for him to come in. "Yeah, no problem." She closed the door behind him and went over to the printer. "What did you have in mind?" Will swallowed hard. He hadn't really expected her to agree. "A movie, maybe?" She looked up and smiled, and her smile had the same affect on him as his had on her. His knees momentarily went week. "That sounds like fun." She stapled her paper together and began to search for her coat. "Do you know what's playing?" Will shook his head and looked around her dorm room. "Nice place." She turned from her closet, coat in hand. "Thanks. Willow likes it to." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Where is Willow?" Tara shrugged and pulled on her coat. "I don't know. Probably in the library or her room." She looked down at her blue velvet dress. "Is this ok for going out?" Will looked her up and down, admiring her curves through the dress. "You look beautiful." She blushed, smiled, then curtsied. "Thank you, kind sir." He grinned at her and offered her his arm. "Quite welcome, beautiful lady. Shall we?" She took it. "We shall."
*
Cordelia smoothed her brown hair, straightened her skirt, reached out, and knocked on Doyle's door. There was some cursing, and a call of "just a minute!" before the door opened. She smiled nervously at the tousled Irishman. "Hi." Doyle swallowed hard, smiled back. "Hi." She gestured past him, into his apartment. "Can I come in?" He looked startled, but nodded and stepped out of her way. "Yeah, course, Princess." Cordelia walked in slowly, glancing around the living room as she did. "You have a nice place," she said softly. Doyle shrugged. "It's alright. Fairly cheap, so I can keep up the rent." She nodded, kept looking around, before turning to face him. "Would you like to go out to dinner tonight? With me?" He stared at her in shock. "Are you serious? You're kidding, right?" "No, I'm not kidding. Do you wanna go out to dinner with me or not?" "Of course I do," he said softly. "You know that, though." She nodded. "Yes, I do know. So, why don't you get a coat so we can go?" Doyle smiled at her. "Alright, I'll do that."
*
Willow looked up quickly when a stack of books were set down next to hers, and met the blue eyes of Daniel Osbourne, guitarist. She smiled. "Hey." He gave her a small half-smile. "Hi." He nodded towards her books. "What're you working on?" "Psyche. You?" He nodded. "Same." He sat down and opened his book. He was quiet, and Willow didn't know what to say. About twenty minutes later, she closed her book and leaned back in her chair. Oz looked up. "You done?" She nodded, and he closed his book too. "Do you wanna go get something to drink?" he asked. "Maybe talk some?" Willow smiled. "I'd like that."
*
Faith ran her hands through her hair. "No way. Huh uh. Nope. Tara is definitely hot for Will." Gunn shook his head. "No way. I mean, come on. She's a lesbian. A lesbian with a *girlfriend*, might I add." His date sighed and took a bite out of her whopper. "That doesn't mean anything," she told him around a mouthful of burger. "She digs him." Gunn looked thoughtful. "Well, her girl was mackin' on Oz.so maybe." Faith shook her head. "No maybe, baby. There's was *serious* crushin' goin' on." He reached across the table and wiped some sauce from the corner of her mouth. "Maybe," he admitted, "but I was too busy lookin' at this gorgeous chick to notice anybody else." She smiled. "Gorgeous chick? Should I be jealous?" He laughed. "Probably not."
*
Buffy leaned back into Angel's hands as he massaged her shoulders. "Mmm.this is nice." Angel leaned down and kissed her neck. "Yeah, it is." They were at the beach, watching the sunset, a romantic cliché, but Buffy loved it. Dinner had been wonderful, even the debate over who was going to pay. Angel had, in the end. She snuggled back into his arms and smiled. It was perfect.
*
Tara was laughing as they left the theater. "That was great!" she said. Will was staring at her. "I don't think it was meant to be funny, love," he told her, as calmly as possible. She grinned at him. "Oh, I know. It really wasn't. But it was *great*." He shook his head. "Tara MaClay though that Jason X was great. Ruinin' yer image, love." Tara laughed again and shrugged. "Maybe my image needs to be shaken up some. I mean, everybody thinks they know what I would and wouldn't do." "I could help you with that," he offered. "How?" He kissed her. He thought she'd resist, but she just melted against him, and responded. She tasted like honey and peppermint tea, warm and soft and - A shocked voice penetrated the haze that surrounded both of them. "*Tara?*" The stunned young woman pulled back with a gasp at the sound of her girlfriend's voice, seeing the redhead standing on the sidewalk with Oz. "Willow," she murmured, "oh, Willow." Will practically collapsed. She was so in love with that girl. "Ummm, this is the part where you apologize, right?" Willow said, sounding afraid. Tara nodded slowly. "I'm sorry you saw that." She straightened. "But I'm not sorry I did it. We need to talk, Willow, very soon." Willow nodded. "How about now?" Tara glanced at Will. "Is that alright with you, Will?" He nodded slowly. "'Course, love." Willow looked at Oz. "I'll see you later, ok?" He nodded, without saying a word, but then, it was Oz. He rarely spoke. The two women hurried away. "My car's over here," Willow said softly. Tara just nodded. They stood beside her car for a long moment before either one of them spoke. "Do you really like him, Tara?" Willow asked softly. Tara nodded mutely. "I really do." she murmured. Then she looked inquiringly at her girlfriend. "Do you like Oz?" Willow blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." Tara smiled radiantly. "That's all that matters, right?" she asked. She sighed, then. "I love you, Willow. I always will. I just think.." "That maybe we weren't meant to be?" She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, like that..like maybe..we should just.go with it." The redhead smiled. "Maybe we should." The looked over to the sidewalk. Will was walking towards his dorm, and Oz was going the other way, towards the house he shared with his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby. The two girls grinned at each other. "Wanna?" Willow asked. Tara nodded and hugged her, and the two of them headed after their respective dates.
*
"Will! Wait!" Will stopped, turned, and very nearly jumped for joy. Tara was running after him, her honey colored hair streaming out behind her. She stopped in front of him, smiling. "Where's Willow?" he asked softly. She pointed down the sidewalk. "She went after Oz." "Oh." He looked uncomfortably at the ground. "Do you wanna get a cup of coffee?" Tara asked. "'Cause I really like talking to you, Will." She nervously shuffled her feet. "And if you don't like me, could you please just say so?" He grinned. "I like you, Tara. I think you're.a lot of things. Why don't we get that coffee?"
*
It was the next morning. Buffy and Angel had fallen asleep cuddled up in his bed, like usual, and Buffy didn't want to move just yet. It was too.nice and comfortable where she was, cuddle up to Angel. Except the phone was ringing. She reached out, groping for it, completely forgetting that it was Angel's line, and wasn't it kind of strange for her to be answering his phone? "Hello?" "Boy, Angel, you sure have changed." She yawned. "Good morning. Who is this?" "It's me, Doyle. Is Angel there?" He paused. "Just hand the phone to him. For you to be answerin' his phone, you must be in the same bed." "Do you have a problem with that?" "Not particularly." Buffy poked him in the side with the cordless, then yawned and got up. She heard him groggily mutter "hello? Hi, Doyle." There was a pause, and some laughter. "Say hi to Cordi for me." Buffy turned to look at him, her look inquisitive. He grinned at her. "Yeah, what do you need? No, no. Ask Will. Alright. Bye." He hung up and yawned. Buffy went back and climbed into bed with him. "What's up with him?" Angel wrapped his arms around her and laid back down. "Wanted to know a good place to take Cordelia. She spent the night last night. I'm not good at that. I told him to call Will." She yawned and snuggled up to his chest. She heard the phone in her bedroom ring and swore. "This sucks." Angel gave her a gentle little shove. "Go answer it. It's probably your mother." She was laughing when she came back into his room ten minutes later. He was half dressed, searching for a shirt in his closet. He glanced up at her. "Who was it?" Buffy went over to him and gave him a kiss. "Willow. She broke up with Tara last night. She's now dating Oz as of three o'clock this morning. They talked all night." Angel laughed and kissed her again. "I'm not surprised." He yawned and ran a quick hand through his hair. "Will and Tara, then?" She nodded and watched as he pulled on his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. "More than likely." She leaned in for a kiss and lightly scratched her nails across his chest. "Maybe everything will work out for the best."