Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Cordelia, I'm telling you; that's not right!" Buffy interrupted. The brunette glared at her slightly.

"Buffy, I know what I'm doing okay," she fired back. The two of them were in Cordelia's kitchen trying to make dinner, and it had turned into an all out war of the wills.

"Fine, but I'm telling you, you're going to burn that if it stays in there in longer!" Buffy reiterated.

"Oh all right, I'll take it out!" Cordelia groaned. She removed the plastic bowl from her microwave and popped open the lid. The supposed casserole had turned to a soupy mush and most of the moisture had evaporated. "Oh great!"

"I told you!" Buffy said and shook her head.

"Well, this isn't any good so I'll guess that we'll just have to something delivered," Cordelia said regretfully but with a hint of sarcasm. Buffy caught her meaning and grinned.

"Yes, I suppose we'll have to; that's too bad!" the slayer laughed.

"Let me guess…pepperoni, sausage, and green peppers…am I right?" Cordy asked.

"Good memory, girl," Buffy laughed. Cordelia ordered the pizza, and the two young women plopped down on the couch to wait for it.

A half an hour later, the doorbell rang, and Cordelia went to answer it. She checked her peephole, and her eyes widened at who was outside her door. Cordelia opened her front door to see a young man standing there whom looked nothing like a delivery guy.

He had on a dark green sweater and a pair of khaki pants. His hair was dark brown and cut quite short but not buzzed, and he had a pair of deep, dark eyes. A green duffle bag hung on his left shoulder, and Cordelia realized who this was.

"You must be, Cordelia," the young man stated.

"And you must be, Riley," she responded. Cordelia shook his hand and invited him in.

"Is he here yet?" Buffy called from the other room. Cordelia put a finger to her lips to silence her guest, and Riley nodded his head.

Cordelia strolled back into the living room.

"Sorry, it wasn't the delivery guy, but I think you'll like who it was," she stated. Buffy looked at her confused. Cordelia waved her guest into the room, and Buffy nearly fainted.

"It can't be!" the slayer gasped.

"Hello Buffy," Riley said with a smile. Buffy stood up from the couch and just froze in place. Neither of them moved towards each other; it was as if they were feeling one another out! Cordelia crossed her arms and looked at the two of them annoyed.

"Now look, are you two going to kiss and makeup, or am I going to have to turn the hose on you?" she joked. Both Buffy and Riley slowly advanced towards one another and gave each other a gentle hug. Buffy rested her head on his shoulder, and Riley wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

As Buffy lifted her head, their eyes locked, and time froze. She could see straight in Riley's heart, and she saw his love for her radiating like a bright star. Buffy didn't waist time asking, but instead, grabbed Riley by the hair and yanked his mouth onto hers.

The young man was a little taken back by his girlfriend's aggressiveness, but there was something different about the way she was kissing him. Usually when Buffy kissed him, he could feel that she was holding back and not letting herself go. But this time, Riley could feel her passion pouring into his lips, and it almost frightened him at how strong his girl's fire really was.

"Wow!" he gasped, when Buffy let go nearly three minutes later.

"Um Riley, not to sound unappreciative, but what are you doing here?" the slayer asked.

"Ask her?" Riley stated and turned towards Cordelia, who tried to look anywhere else but at them.

"Cordy, what's he talking about?" Buffy asked.

"Well…um…you see…I…sort of…had someone find him and give him something," Cordelia said unsteadily.

"Give him what?" the slayer continued. Now, Cordelia felt her body starting to sweat.

"She gave me this," Riley interrupted and handed Buffy the letter that Cordelia had written him.

As she read the letter, Buffy felt tears welling in her eyes, and as she read the last sentence, one of her tears fell.

"Cordy…I…I don't what to say," she said happily. Cordelia smiled at her friend.

"Buffy, don't say anything, just don't let him go again!" she laughed. Buffy and Riley joined her, and Buffy nodded her head firmly.

"I'll you what. You two take the bedroom tonight okay; I'll take the couch," Cordelia volunteered.

"Cordy, we couldn't…" Buffy protested, but the brunette shook her head.

"It's all right. I'm sure that you two have a lot of catching up to do, and you'd like some privacy so go ahead." Buffy gave her a big hug.

"Thank you, Cordelia," the slayer said with a huge smile.

"Yes, Cordelia, thank you," Riley reiterated as he placed his hands on Buffy's shoulders.

"I'm glad I could help. Just take of each other, and we'll call it even…" she stated as her own eyes clouded over. Cordelia shook her head to clear it. "Enough of this mushy stuff, I'll leave you two be."

Cordelia headed for the front door and left the reunited couple to repair their open wounds and find answers to each other's questions.

The pretty brunette headed towards her convertible; she needed some fresh air to clear her head. Cordelia froze in mid walk when she spotted a familiar long-coated figure standing beside her car.

"Hello Cordelia," Angel said carefully. He didn't want to sound too happy or too upset.

"Angel," she replied flatly and approached him slowly. The vampire ran his hand through his hair and looked around as if something were interesting to him.

"Was that Riley I just saw?" he asked.

"Yes, I had an old contact of my father's track him down for Buffy," Cordelia answered. Angel smiled inwardly; the girl was truly amazing.

"Cordelia, do you mind if we talk…I mean, really talk?" Angel asked with a hint of nervousness. The chestnut-haired woman leaned against the side of her car and crossed her arms.

"It's a free country…so talk," she answered. Angel suddenly felt his mind become empty, and his mouth become dry.

"I…uh…I wanted to apologize for not coming to see you guys," he began. Cordelia looked at him slightly annoyed.

"Hey, it's not like you had to," she retorted. Now, it was Angel's turn to look annoyed.

"Cordelia, don't be mean, you guys are my friends."

"Friends!" she gasped and stepped up into his face. "We're your friends! Let me tell you something, Angel, the minute you fired us, you ceased being our friend." Cordelia was trying to control her anger, but it just kept boiling hotter and hotter. She didn't want to be angry with Angel, but her frustrations got the better of her.

Angel felt like a stake had been driven into his heart. He was hoping that she might be a little more understanding, but he knew that fury he saw in her brown eyes was justified.

"Look Cordelia, I don't expect you to forgive me, okay; I just wanted to talk to you, that's all," Angel stated.

"And if all your planning on doing is apologizing to me, you're a little late," she retorted.

"I slept with Darla last night," Angel suddenly blurted out. Cordelia's heart stop in mid beat, and the cold vice closed firmly around its target. He may as well have staked her himself!

Angel saw his words nail Cordelia like a bulldozer, and he could see the betrayal in her eyes. It almost made him cry.

Cordelia wiped her eyes before her tears could fall and moved to pass him. She didn't need to hear anymore of this, but Angel got in her way.

"I'm not done yet," he interjected. Cordelia looked at him with fiery eyes.

"Angel, I don't want to hear about your sex life, all right. Just leave me be and go play with your blonde bitch!" she hissed and pushed him away. Angel grabbed her arms and pressed her against the trunk of her car.

"Cordelia, shut-up and listen. After I slept with her, I realized that everything I've been doing lately has been because of her. My problems with Wolfram and Heart, Lindsey, and everything else has been in Darla's defense." Cordelia felt like she was going to be sick; the last thing she needed to hear was Angel explaining how he saved Darla over and over again.

"But, when I woke this morning, and I saw her next to me, would you like to know what I felt?" he asked. Cordelia glared at him.

"Let me guess…complete happiness!" she sneered.

"Disgust," Angel corrected. Cordelia looked at him in pleasant shock. "Yes, Cordelia, I was disgusted by finding her next to me like that. I realized that everything that I've put myself through has been for the simple fact that I might be able to save her. But the cold truth is that Darla doesn't want to be saved. I realized that and finally let the torch that I've been carrying go. She won't be haunting me anymore."

When Angel finished, Cordelia almost had a smile on her face, but she wasn't convinced that this change was permanent.

"So, Angel, what did you expect- just come down here, apologize, and everything would go back to normal?" she asked.

"No, Cordelia, I know that you're upset with me, and I don't blame you. I just wanted you to know the truth," he replied.

"Thanks, Angel, but what do you take me for? A fool? Do you think that I'll trust you again just because you had a revelation? I know you, Angel, I know that you have habit of saying one thing and doing another. What guarantees can you give me that you won't throw us out again?" Cordelia nearly demanded. Angel leaned closer to her, and he could feel her heartbeat accelerate and blood begin to boil.

"Cordelia, I know that I've made some mistakes, but I can't change the past. I don't want to play the redemption game anymore; my life no longer revolves around having humanity forgive me because they never know what I'm doing half the time anyway!" the vampire stated.

Cordelia smiled inwardly as she gazed up into his dark eyes. She could see a peaceful and almost joyful glow in his brown eyes.

"Cordy, I don't want you, Wesley, and Gunn to come work for me again. I want to work with you not order you around." Angel stopped to look directly into Cordelia's eyes; damn, he could drown in their gorgeous depths. "I want to start fresh and do what I should've done from the beginning- help people. The rest of the prophecy and apocalypse crap can come in its own time."

Now, Cordelia felt a grin tugging at her lips, but she still felt a little uneasy from Angel pinning to the trunk of her car. A thought ran through her mind of Angel pushing her down on the trunk and ravaging her until she was breathless.

'Wow girl, easy, he's your friend; that's how he thinks of you,' her mind told her.

Angel heard Cordelia's heart accelerate; she was either excited or extremely nervous.

"Angel…do you know how much it hurt to see you turn into an uncaring person?" Cordelia blurted out. She couldn't help the question from popping out and turned her head away slightly. She felt a hand cup her chin and turn her head back; it was Angel's!

"No Cordelia, I don't, I can only guess, but I'll make you a promise. I promise that I will never hurt you again!" he said firmly. Cordelia was startled that Angel had said 'her' and not the others. Apparently, he didn't even realize what he'd just said.

"What about Wesley and Gunn?" Cordelia asked with a slight grin. Angel suddenly realized what he'd admitted, and his face turned a little red. (As red as a vampire can get anyway.)

"I'm going to try and not hurt any of you, but I felt that I owed you more, Cordelia," he said softly. Now, she felt her palms starting to sweat. She reached up and patted him on the cheek like a little child.

"You just see that it never happens again, young man," she teased. Angel gave her a small smile; he'd missed Cordelia's sense of humor.

"Now then, are you going to let me up or keep me pinned to my trunk all night?" she asked. Angel's eyes narrowed at her, and a sly grin tugged at his lips.

"Oh I don't know, you're not such a bad thing to look at all night," he retorted. Cordelia's face flushed bright crimson; Angel had never given her such a personal compliment before. The vampire noticed her feeling of insecurity and released her arms. He bent down and laid a single kiss on her forehead. Cordelia was floored!

"So, where were you headed off to?" Angel asked nonchalantly. Cordelia fought to get her voice back.

"Well, I was going to go for a drive to clear my head, but I guess since you've had an epiphany, I could drive you to go see Wesley and Gunn," she stated with her trademark smile.

"Sure, why not," Angel retorted. He let Cordelia up, and they climbed into her convertible. "I just hope that you've learned how to drive, Cordy, I've seen snails that could move faster than you drive."

"Hey!" his seer gasped and smacked him on the thigh. "All right, pal, you asked for it!" Angel was pulled back into his seat as Cordelia peeled out of her parking space.