A/N: Well, this is odd. For some reason, none of the 'thoughts' are showing
up on the site. I don't know why...but for some reason they didn't upload.
They are in brackets, so maybe FF.net skipped over them because of that,
but I don't know. I do know that I'm going to try to upload them all again
and replace the thoughts so that things make more sense and go more
smoothly. But sorry about that!
~
"Wills?" Buffy called as she stepped through the threshold of her best friends apartment.
"I'm in the kitchen, Buff!" A voice called. Buffy laughed.
"Uh-oh. Should I preemptively call the fire department?" Buffy replied.
"Funny-Ha-Ha-Not-So-Much." Willow replied, sticking out her tongue as
Buffy entered the small kitchen. The friends hugged and laughed as Buffy
took a seat.
"So, are you ready to shop til we drop?" Buffy asked, "What is it exactly
that we're looking for?"
"Dresses for my engagement party." Willow explained, "I have to find a
really pretty one for me, and a pretty, but not quite as pretty, one for
you."
"Gee, thanks." Buffy deadpanned. "I didn't know you guys were gonna have
an engagement party."
"Oh, well it will be small. Only about 250 guests." Willow said in all
seriousness. Buffy raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, sounds tiny."
Willow glared at her friend.
"I come from a large Jewish family. 250 * is * tiny."
"Point taken." Buffy replied with a wry smile. As the women continued to
chat, Oz stepped into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Willow's
waist.
"Hey babe." She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
"Hey. What's going on?" He asked, nodding a hello to Buffy.
"We're going shopping. No boys allowed." Buffy said sternly. Oz raised
his eyebrows.
"How disappointing. I was really in the mood for some intense pain." He
deadpanned.
"There's always the Chinese Water Torture. All you need is a sink." Buffy
shot back smoothly.
"I'll think about it." Oz replied before turning his attention to Willow,
"What are you guys shopping for?"
"Our engagement party." Willow said, lightly toying with Oz's fingers.
"Engagement party?" Oz asked, confused.
"Yes. We're having an engagement party." Willow replied with an eyeroll.
"We are?"
"We are." Willow said with her resolve face on. She disentangled herself
from Oz's embrace and gave him a quick kiss.
"We're gonna run. I'll see you tonight."
Oz kissed her again, forcing Buffy to look down, scolding herself
mentally for being jealous of the two of them. She shot her head up again
when Willow grabbed her arm, squealing happily, and practically yanked
her out of the room.
"Bye Oz!" Buffy called, laughing as she was pulled away. The girls
laughed when together when they were out in the hall.
"Are you ready?" Buffy asked, bobbling her head slightly.
"Sure am!" Willow replied perkily, "Let's locamote!"
They laughed again as they headed down the hallway, ready for a thousand minutes of pure fun.
~
"This is not fun." Buffy muttered to herself a few days later as she browsed through plate after plate in the Galleria's kitchen store. "Willow just * had * to decide that she was Anti-Wedding-Registry."
"I know what you mean. Bloody irritating is what it is." Spike picked up a random plate and flipped it around, looking at the writing on the back, "Sides, aren't we supposed to get them something less practical? For the engagement party you don't usual get things like this. That's for the actual wedding or the Bridal shower, for the bints anyway."
Buffy crinkled her nose.
"The 'bints?' British expressions will always be beyond me I think."
"Same with you Americans. What exactly is a 'dawg' anyway?" Spike asked, his eyes gleaming devilishly. Buffy gave Spike a look and just shook her head. He laughed.
"I * was * kidding, pet."
"I know." Buffy smiled at him and Spike noticed that her eyes squinted ever so slightly, crinkling at the edges. He wondered if that happened every time she smiled. He made a mental note to look for it.
"So, O Wedding Guru, what would you suggest I get Willow?" Buffy asked. Spike shrugged.
"Hell if I know." He admitted, "I was just planning on getting them a gift certificate. Some place semi-manly-ish. Remember, it * is * Oz's wedding, too."
Buiffy smiled sheepishly.
"I know. I just forgot for a second." She pouted. Spike felt his heart flutter ever so slightly as she jutted out her lower lip. He shook his head, trying to erase yet another lapse. And that's all they were. Lapses. Lapses of * what * he didn't know.
But he did know that they didn't mean anything. Nothing at all.
The feeling of Buffy's cool hand on his forearm snapped him out of his reverie. He refocused his gaze and found himself staring into Buffy's concerned eyes.
"Are you alright? Ya kinda zonked out on me there."
"I'm fine." Spike managed out.
Buffy nodded slowly.
"Well, we should probably get going. The mall's gonna be closing in about, oh, three minutes." Buffy said looking down at her watch. She smiled again, "Time sure flies when you're having fun."
Spike nodded and yawned.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm shattered. I haven't been sleeping much these past few nights. I've had to depend on Tylenol PM to try to get myself knocked out."
"That's not a good idea." Buffy replied, "I mean, not every night. At least, I don't think it would be."
Spike cocked his head to the side.
"Worried about me, Summers?" He asked cheekily.
Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Oh, don't worry. I will." Spike replied, only half-kiddingly. Buffy laughed.
"I'm sure you will. Let's go."
Spike nodded, ignoring the tinge of regret that bit at his skin.
"Right then."
As Buffy walked a few feet ahead of him, Spike took a deep breath and looked around.
"I'm fine." He whispered to himself.
He was always fine.
~
It was Friday night.
The Earth seemed to shake inside the club as techno beats pounded into the bodies, skulls, and hearts of everyone there - Buffy and Angel included.
"Are you having a good time?" Angel asked Buffy, but was drowned out by the screeching computer generated music. Buffy scrunched up her features and held her hand to her ear.
"HUH?" She asked, trying to yell over the music.
Angel took another sip of his beer.
"I SAID, ARE YOU HAVING A GOOD TIME?" He yelled. Buffy smiled and nodded, giving him two thumbs up. Angel smiled widely and took her hand.
"ME TOO!" He screamed.
"GOOD!" Buffy yelled back and laughed, "THIS IS SORT OF WEIRD, THOUGH."
Angel cupped his hand over his ear.
"WHAT?"
Buffy sighed and pointed to the door. Angel nodded and the two of them walked outside.
"This is much better." Buffy stated, "We can actually talk now."
"But we can't sit." Angel complained. Buffy felt a ripple of disappointment go through her.
"But-" She stopped herself. It would selfish of her to not let Angel sit. "Okay, we'll go back in."
This, however, was not meant to be.
Angel's pager began to vibrate. Angel crinkled his brow and pulled out the tiny device, reading the message that flashed across.
"It's from Spike." He explained, "Apparently, there's some sort of emergency at the office."
"The office?" Buffy asked incredulously, "What the hell is Spike doing at the office on a Friday night?"
"Beats me..." Angel answered, honestly befuddled, "It must be important. I should...but I..."
"Shh..." Buffy put her fingers to his lips, "Go. It's okay. I'll just say that you owe me one."
Angel smiled.
"That works for me."
Then, he leaned down and softly pressed his lips on hers. Buffy could've sworn that she had melted into a pile of goo.
"Thank you for the wonderful time." He whispered. "Do you need money for a cab?"
Buffy shook her head, still a little woozy from the kiss.
"I'll be okay." She thought, vaguely aware of the goofy grin on her face.
"Well, goodbye then." Angel kissed her cheek and pulled out his keys. With one last glance to Buffy, he got in his Mercedes and drove off into the night.
~
"O'Connor!" Spike called out as Angel walked through the door. He ran over and clamped his hand down on the photographers shoulder. "Thank God you're here. There's been a problem with the pictures from your past 8 shoots."
Angel's eyes bogged.
"Eight shoots!? That's all of the pieces for this issue! What the hell is wrong with them? Didn't they develop alright? I mean, I did it myself, they seemed fine." He reasoned, running his fingers through his hair frantically. Spike pursed his lips.
"No, no. It wasn't the photo quality, but more the...artistic quality. I just didn't like them."
Angel stared incredulously at his boss.
"You didn't like them?" He asked slowly, truly not believing the words that were coming out of Spike's mouth.
Spike shrugged.
"Hated 'em, to be honest. Bloody horrible. You can do so much better." He explained.
Angel shook his head, breathing deeply, trying to keep his cool as Spike continued...
"So I need you to redo all the shots you took, which means you have to rebook the same models, except for the ones I have marked with a red 'X', which means that I want you to try to find a new girl. I'd do it myself, but I've got too much work as it is, and you're plates pretty clean." Spike smiled widely, "I also need you to do some research on different types of camera equipment. I need to make sure we've got the best."
Angel's facial expressions were now in torture.
"Can't you get an intern to do that?" He hissed. Spike shook his head.
"No. You're an expert at all that...you'd be able to tell which sources were full of bullshit or not. I expect an extensive amount of information on my desk in three weeks at the very latest."
"This is insane..." Angel muttered.
"Hey, no one ever said this job was easy." Spike said, wagging a finger menacingly at Angel, "So suck it up, chump."
"You want me to redo * all * that shots. Every last one of them?" Angel asked, pleading subtly with Spike.
Spike pondered this and thought of something.
"You don't have to redo the promotional shot for the 'Fake Blonde' column. That one came out alright."
Angel shot his head up. He turned his neck slowly to Spike, anger dancing in his eyes. He clenched his jaw and his fists before physically holding himself back as he continued to glare at his superior.
"You are so fucking pathetic." He spat out. "You really think that by giving me all this extra work I won't have time to spend with Buffy?"
Spike's eyes widened for a split second, like a kid getting caught stealing a candy bar. But he soon recovered with a snort.
"I haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about." He insisted.
"Oh, come off it. Everyone here sees it. You're little crush on Buffy. I thought it was cute at first, but you're taking it too far, pal. You need to get a fucking life and keep out of mine and Buffy's."
"My * crush * on * Buffy *?" Spike manically laughed, "You are a bloody comedian! And completely out of your mind! I don't have a * crush * on her. She's my friend and if anything I'm just protective of her because I know what a fucking asshole you are and I know how oh-so charming you can be and how I would kill you if you hurt her, but I'd hate myself more for giving you the opportunity. I told you to stay away from her in the beginning." Spike's voice turned to a threat, "And you didn't listen. But now, if you hurt her like you do the others, I will fire you. I will make your professional and personal life a living hell, so help me God."
He and Angel were now standing nose to nose, glaring coldly into each other's eyes.
"But you're not in love with her." Angel mocked. Spike titled his head, his eyes no more than ice blue slits on his face.
"No."
Angel just shook his head and stepped back. He gave Spike another cold glare, but took his portfolio. He stopped in the doorway.
"The only reason I'm doing this is because you control my paycheck." Angel said venomously, "And I don't have any better offers right now."
"Great. I care." Spike jutted his thumb, "Now get the fuck out of my office."
Angel stepped out, still keeping eye contact with his boss.
A silent war was then declared.
~
"Wills?" Buffy called as she stepped through the threshold of her best friends apartment.
"I'm in the kitchen, Buff!" A voice called. Buffy laughed.
"Uh-oh. Should I preemptively call the fire department?" Buffy replied.
"Funny-Ha-Ha-Not-So-Much." Willow replied, sticking out her tongue as
Buffy entered the small kitchen. The friends hugged and laughed as Buffy
took a seat.
"So, are you ready to shop til we drop?" Buffy asked, "What is it exactly
that we're looking for?"
"Dresses for my engagement party." Willow explained, "I have to find a
really pretty one for me, and a pretty, but not quite as pretty, one for
you."
"Gee, thanks." Buffy deadpanned. "I didn't know you guys were gonna have
an engagement party."
"Oh, well it will be small. Only about 250 guests." Willow said in all
seriousness. Buffy raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, sounds tiny."
Willow glared at her friend.
"I come from a large Jewish family. 250 * is * tiny."
"Point taken." Buffy replied with a wry smile. As the women continued to
chat, Oz stepped into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Willow's
waist.
"Hey babe." She said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
"Hey. What's going on?" He asked, nodding a hello to Buffy.
"We're going shopping. No boys allowed." Buffy said sternly. Oz raised
his eyebrows.
"How disappointing. I was really in the mood for some intense pain." He
deadpanned.
"There's always the Chinese Water Torture. All you need is a sink." Buffy
shot back smoothly.
"I'll think about it." Oz replied before turning his attention to Willow,
"What are you guys shopping for?"
"Our engagement party." Willow said, lightly toying with Oz's fingers.
"Engagement party?" Oz asked, confused.
"Yes. We're having an engagement party." Willow replied with an eyeroll.
"We are?"
"We are." Willow said with her resolve face on. She disentangled herself
from Oz's embrace and gave him a quick kiss.
"We're gonna run. I'll see you tonight."
Oz kissed her again, forcing Buffy to look down, scolding herself
mentally for being jealous of the two of them. She shot her head up again
when Willow grabbed her arm, squealing happily, and practically yanked
her out of the room.
"Bye Oz!" Buffy called, laughing as she was pulled away. The girls
laughed when together when they were out in the hall.
"Are you ready?" Buffy asked, bobbling her head slightly.
"Sure am!" Willow replied perkily, "Let's locamote!"
They laughed again as they headed down the hallway, ready for a thousand minutes of pure fun.
~
"This is not fun." Buffy muttered to herself a few days later as she browsed through plate after plate in the Galleria's kitchen store. "Willow just * had * to decide that she was Anti-Wedding-Registry."
"I know what you mean. Bloody irritating is what it is." Spike picked up a random plate and flipped it around, looking at the writing on the back, "Sides, aren't we supposed to get them something less practical? For the engagement party you don't usual get things like this. That's for the actual wedding or the Bridal shower, for the bints anyway."
Buffy crinkled her nose.
"The 'bints?' British expressions will always be beyond me I think."
"Same with you Americans. What exactly is a 'dawg' anyway?" Spike asked, his eyes gleaming devilishly. Buffy gave Spike a look and just shook her head. He laughed.
"I * was * kidding, pet."
"I know." Buffy smiled at him and Spike noticed that her eyes squinted ever so slightly, crinkling at the edges. He wondered if that happened every time she smiled. He made a mental note to look for it.
"So, O Wedding Guru, what would you suggest I get Willow?" Buffy asked. Spike shrugged.
"Hell if I know." He admitted, "I was just planning on getting them a gift certificate. Some place semi-manly-ish. Remember, it * is * Oz's wedding, too."
Buiffy smiled sheepishly.
"I know. I just forgot for a second." She pouted. Spike felt his heart flutter ever so slightly as she jutted out her lower lip. He shook his head, trying to erase yet another lapse. And that's all they were. Lapses. Lapses of * what * he didn't know.
But he did know that they didn't mean anything. Nothing at all.
The feeling of Buffy's cool hand on his forearm snapped him out of his reverie. He refocused his gaze and found himself staring into Buffy's concerned eyes.
"Are you alright? Ya kinda zonked out on me there."
"I'm fine." Spike managed out.
Buffy nodded slowly.
"Well, we should probably get going. The mall's gonna be closing in about, oh, three minutes." Buffy said looking down at her watch. She smiled again, "Time sure flies when you're having fun."
Spike nodded and yawned.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm shattered. I haven't been sleeping much these past few nights. I've had to depend on Tylenol PM to try to get myself knocked out."
"That's not a good idea." Buffy replied, "I mean, not every night. At least, I don't think it would be."
Spike cocked his head to the side.
"Worried about me, Summers?" He asked cheekily.
Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Oh, don't worry. I will." Spike replied, only half-kiddingly. Buffy laughed.
"I'm sure you will. Let's go."
Spike nodded, ignoring the tinge of regret that bit at his skin.
"Right then."
As Buffy walked a few feet ahead of him, Spike took a deep breath and looked around.
"I'm fine." He whispered to himself.
He was always fine.
~
It was Friday night.
The Earth seemed to shake inside the club as techno beats pounded into the bodies, skulls, and hearts of everyone there - Buffy and Angel included.
"Are you having a good time?" Angel asked Buffy, but was drowned out by the screeching computer generated music. Buffy scrunched up her features and held her hand to her ear.
"HUH?" She asked, trying to yell over the music.
Angel took another sip of his beer.
"I SAID, ARE YOU HAVING A GOOD TIME?" He yelled. Buffy smiled and nodded, giving him two thumbs up. Angel smiled widely and took her hand.
"ME TOO!" He screamed.
"GOOD!" Buffy yelled back and laughed, "THIS IS SORT OF WEIRD, THOUGH."
Angel cupped his hand over his ear.
"WHAT?"
Buffy sighed and pointed to the door. Angel nodded and the two of them walked outside.
"This is much better." Buffy stated, "We can actually talk now."
"But we can't sit." Angel complained. Buffy felt a ripple of disappointment go through her.
"But-" She stopped herself. It would selfish of her to not let Angel sit. "Okay, we'll go back in."
This, however, was not meant to be.
Angel's pager began to vibrate. Angel crinkled his brow and pulled out the tiny device, reading the message that flashed across.
"It's from Spike." He explained, "Apparently, there's some sort of emergency at the office."
"The office?" Buffy asked incredulously, "What the hell is Spike doing at the office on a Friday night?"
"Beats me..." Angel answered, honestly befuddled, "It must be important. I should...but I..."
"Shh..." Buffy put her fingers to his lips, "Go. It's okay. I'll just say that you owe me one."
Angel smiled.
"That works for me."
Then, he leaned down and softly pressed his lips on hers. Buffy could've sworn that she had melted into a pile of goo.
"Thank you for the wonderful time." He whispered. "Do you need money for a cab?"
Buffy shook her head, still a little woozy from the kiss.
"I'll be okay." She thought, vaguely aware of the goofy grin on her face.
"Well, goodbye then." Angel kissed her cheek and pulled out his keys. With one last glance to Buffy, he got in his Mercedes and drove off into the night.
~
"O'Connor!" Spike called out as Angel walked through the door. He ran over and clamped his hand down on the photographers shoulder. "Thank God you're here. There's been a problem with the pictures from your past 8 shoots."
Angel's eyes bogged.
"Eight shoots!? That's all of the pieces for this issue! What the hell is wrong with them? Didn't they develop alright? I mean, I did it myself, they seemed fine." He reasoned, running his fingers through his hair frantically. Spike pursed his lips.
"No, no. It wasn't the photo quality, but more the...artistic quality. I just didn't like them."
Angel stared incredulously at his boss.
"You didn't like them?" He asked slowly, truly not believing the words that were coming out of Spike's mouth.
Spike shrugged.
"Hated 'em, to be honest. Bloody horrible. You can do so much better." He explained.
Angel shook his head, breathing deeply, trying to keep his cool as Spike continued...
"So I need you to redo all the shots you took, which means you have to rebook the same models, except for the ones I have marked with a red 'X', which means that I want you to try to find a new girl. I'd do it myself, but I've got too much work as it is, and you're plates pretty clean." Spike smiled widely, "I also need you to do some research on different types of camera equipment. I need to make sure we've got the best."
Angel's facial expressions were now in torture.
"Can't you get an intern to do that?" He hissed. Spike shook his head.
"No. You're an expert at all that...you'd be able to tell which sources were full of bullshit or not. I expect an extensive amount of information on my desk in three weeks at the very latest."
"This is insane..." Angel muttered.
"Hey, no one ever said this job was easy." Spike said, wagging a finger menacingly at Angel, "So suck it up, chump."
"You want me to redo * all * that shots. Every last one of them?" Angel asked, pleading subtly with Spike.
Spike pondered this and thought of something.
"You don't have to redo the promotional shot for the 'Fake Blonde' column. That one came out alright."
Angel shot his head up. He turned his neck slowly to Spike, anger dancing in his eyes. He clenched his jaw and his fists before physically holding himself back as he continued to glare at his superior.
"You are so fucking pathetic." He spat out. "You really think that by giving me all this extra work I won't have time to spend with Buffy?"
Spike's eyes widened for a split second, like a kid getting caught stealing a candy bar. But he soon recovered with a snort.
"I haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about." He insisted.
"Oh, come off it. Everyone here sees it. You're little crush on Buffy. I thought it was cute at first, but you're taking it too far, pal. You need to get a fucking life and keep out of mine and Buffy's."
"My * crush * on * Buffy *?" Spike manically laughed, "You are a bloody comedian! And completely out of your mind! I don't have a * crush * on her. She's my friend and if anything I'm just protective of her because I know what a fucking asshole you are and I know how oh-so charming you can be and how I would kill you if you hurt her, but I'd hate myself more for giving you the opportunity. I told you to stay away from her in the beginning." Spike's voice turned to a threat, "And you didn't listen. But now, if you hurt her like you do the others, I will fire you. I will make your professional and personal life a living hell, so help me God."
He and Angel were now standing nose to nose, glaring coldly into each other's eyes.
"But you're not in love with her." Angel mocked. Spike titled his head, his eyes no more than ice blue slits on his face.
"No."
Angel just shook his head and stepped back. He gave Spike another cold glare, but took his portfolio. He stopped in the doorway.
"The only reason I'm doing this is because you control my paycheck." Angel said venomously, "And I don't have any better offers right now."
"Great. I care." Spike jutted his thumb, "Now get the fuck out of my office."
Angel stepped out, still keeping eye contact with his boss.
A silent war was then declared.
~