::Pops out from random place in the audience scaring half of the readers
watching...er..reading.watching.something:: HELLO!!! Major apologies to all
who have been waiting or thought this story was done. No its not done,
never will be done, and you will all bow to my wishes! MUAHA! ::pause:: I
said that outloud didn't I? Oh, well. I'm back and ready to write! So! With
the end of vacation and 4 teeth pulled out let's get started shall we?
Disclaimer: ...Yes. I own them all. Every single one. ::wakes up:: Damn, dreaming again.
A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you all! I'm hoping this chapter uploads with out as many problems like last time, knock on wood! Once again, I'm sorry for the delay, I was sick, and then I had writers block, and then...yeah. Ok.
Onto the fic!~Crystal
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Chapter 9: The Ride Back to Reality
Angel walked up behind Buffy and placed his arms around her shoulders.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Buffy nodded quickly up and down and turned around gazing at Angel in a half crazed, half frantic way.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I mean, I'm going to Sunnydale to tell my friends, who are my family, that they pulled me out of heaven, I left them for a while to go see my vampire ex-boyfriend, who is now human, and now we're engaged. Who wouldn't be nervous?" Angel drew Buffy into a tight hug. At first, she was tense but then she relaxed into him. She sighed in his embrace.
"I'm just scared that they're going to be upset with me and never want to speak with me again. I know that they love me and only want me to be happy but I would be upset with me too." Angel tilted Buffy's chin up to look into her eyes.
"Buffy, I'm sure that they're going to forgive you. Plus it's not as if you're the one with the only fault here too. They're the ones that pulled you out of heaven. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, in fact it's going to be hard and difficult and things are going to be said that are very painful." Buffy punched him lightly in the arm.
"Way to inspire the troops, general." Angel smiled softly and kissed Buffy gently on the forehead.
"You didn't let me finish. Even though things are going to get scary, I will be one hundred percent behind you; Along with the rest of the guys, but they'll be a little farther back." Buffy chuckled slightly and looked over to where Cordy was directing Gunn and Wesley with her luggage.
"No, Wesley! The red bag goes next to the black one with my initials on it! Seriously, can't you do anything right?" Wesley put down the luggage with a huff and glared at Cordelia.
"I hardly think it matters if you have your shoes and the rest of your accessories in the same car. Why are you bringing all this junk anyway?" Cordelia looked at him with a glare that explained why she was called the Ice Queen in high school.
"I'll have you know that this isn't junk! It's all the clothing and accessories that I've gotten since I've been in LA. I need to show a certain ex of mine back in Sunnydale how far I've amounted in status." Gunn looked at Cordelia incredulously.
"The only thing that's amounted is Angel's credited card bill." Fred and Wesley started laughing and quickly tried to cover it up. Angel looked hard at Cordelia.
"Speaking of. Did you ever pay me back for those shoes that you got down at the mall." Cordelia looked at him like a deer caught in headlights.
"C'mon people! We don't have time to dilly-dally! Move it, move it, move it! Hup two three, hup two three!" Everyone got all luggage tucked into the cars and last minute checks were made. Once everyone was all set the got into their cars and set off. Cordelia was in the back of Angel's convertible with Buffy in the passenger seat and, obviously, Angel driving. In Wesley's old car Gunn sat in the passenger's seat and Fred sat in the back.
Back in Angel's car, Buffy was nervously glancing at the outside surroundings. Angel noticed this and slipped his hand in Buffy's. She looked at him almost pleadingly and he smiled at her.
"Don't worry everything's gonna be fine." She smiled at him as best as she could and went back to looking out the window. A voice came out of the back.
"Sure, everything will be fine. Ya know, after you have some huge fight where you say a lot of things that you don't mean and you have to start from scratch with your meaningless friendships." Angel glared at Cordelia in the rearview mirror; Cordelia saw this and put on a glare of her own.
"What? I'm only saying what she already knows!" After more glaring Cordelia gave in to a moment of compassion that seemed to becoming more frequent with her.
"I was just kidding Buffy. You're a great person and Xander and Willow and the rest of the Scooby gang don't realize how hard it is for you. But I will be there for you because I'm a different person then I used to be..We'll I'm trying to be and that's the main point. Don't let whatever that jerk Xander says or anyone else get you down." Buffy turned slightly around to smile softly at Cordelia.
"Thanks a lot Cordelia. It means a lot to me." Cordelia smiled back.
"Anytime. Well, not anytime but close to anytime." Buffy just chuckled and turned on some music to drown out Cordelia. Although she meant well, she sometimes spoke before she thought, but she had a good heart. Angel continued staring at Buffy until Cordelia brought herself to his attention.
"Ya know Angel, if you keep staring at Buffy like that we're gonna get into an accident and I, for one, do not feel like dying. Eyes on the road loverboy." Angel shot Cordelia one last mocking glare before turning his eyes to the asphalt. They drove the rest of the way in silence with a few random conservation starters that fell dead. There was an anxiety in the car that could be sensed and each was left to their own thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel pulled up to the curve of the Magic Shop and stopped the car. He sat there in a moment of silence before looking over at Buffy. She was staring at the glove compartment with all of her muscles tense and her hands clenched into fists. Even Cordelia was silent for once, most likely contemplating what was going to happen next. They waited until Wesley's car pulled up behind them and Angel touched Buffy lightly on the shoulder. She jumped a little and looked at him with anxious eyes. Angel gazed back at her with a passive face.
"It's time to go in Buffy." She looked at him a moment longer before nodding and opening the car door. Car doors were slammed and locked. They all grouped up in a V formation, with Buffy and Angel at the front, Cordelia and Wesley on either side of them slightly behind, and Fred and Gunn slightly behind them. Angel heard Buffy inhale a large amount of breath and took her hand. They started towards the door and only paused to open it. The bell jingled lightly and all the inhabitants of the store looked up at the door.
Anya was behind the cash register, counting the money that she had made so far. Xander was on the other side of the counter, his voice trailing off and Buffy saw his gaze harden in shock and then anger. Willow and Tara were sitting at the table levitating a carrot, and Dawn was watching them. Giles was sorting through the merchandise making sure everything was in order. All these tasks were soon forgotten, as they became aware of the group in the doorway. Xander was the first one to regain his bearings and he was not happy when he did.
"What the hell were you thinking Buffy? Running off like that? You scared us half to death, and then you run back to you're little ex lover? What? You couldn't confide in us? No, you had to go running back and go crying to Angel." Buffy would have been able to defend herself if this wasn't exactly what she had been thinking. Angel opened his mouth to speak but Cordelia beat him to it.
"You know what Xander? Shut up." Xander was about to protest but Cordelia would have none of it.
"No. You don't get to speak. You wanna know why? Because you don't deserve to speak. Buffy has been through hell, nearly literally, and you are on your self-righteous high horse and aren't gonna come down. You know absolutely nothing what went on in LA when she was with us and you have no idea what was going on in her head before she even came. So you have no right to speak before you hear everything. So sit down and shut up. That goes for all of you too."
Everyone stared wide-eyed at Cordelia and Xander sat down slowly. Cordelia smirked proudly and straightened to her full height. Buffy seemed to have gained some confidence from Cordelia's speech so she straightened up herself. She motioned for everyone to sit down and she herself took a seat next to Angel. She looked each one of them in the eye before speaking.
"She's absolutely right you know. You never knew what happened when I was..gone, and you still don't. Before I explain what happened, I want you all to promise not to interrupt me before I'm finished. Not a word!" As they each nodded Buffy took a deep breath and then started.
"Ok, the first thing that should probably be said is that I was never in a hell dimension at all." She saw Xander was about to interrupt so she held up her hand for silence.
"Please Xander? You promised." Xander relented and she continued on with her story. She told how she was, or thought she was, in heaven and she told about how she felt when she found out that she was ripped out and was on earth. She explained about what happened up to the point where she couldn't take it and decided to leave for LA, knowing that she couldn't talk to anyone else because they would just get upset. She explained about saving Angel and him turning human. She explained about them being redeemed and how she had faced death yet again. She told about her engagement and deciding to come back home. Tears poured out of everyone's eyes and a multitude of emotions ran through each one. Anger, pity, guilt, and a deep underlying sadness seemed to be the majority of the emotions but there were others. Happiness and joy was a rare emotion to be found but when it was it was extremely precious.
When she was finally finished, everyone sat in a few seconds of silence. This time the first to react was Willow who walked up to Buffy and looked her in the eyes. They just looked at each other until Willow let out a great sob and pulled Buffy into a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry Buffy! I didn't know! I didn't know! I didn't know.." One by one, each of the Sunnydale gang stood up and joined in the group hug. It was during that time that Buffy realized that even though they had a long way to fixing up old scars and new ones, they were definitely heading in the right direction.
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So! How did it go? Did you like? C'mon! You can tell me! Please! Ok, I hope you like it! And I'm sorry again that it took so long! ~Crystal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: ...Yes. I own them all. Every single one. ::wakes up:: Damn, dreaming again.
A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you all! I'm hoping this chapter uploads with out as many problems like last time, knock on wood! Once again, I'm sorry for the delay, I was sick, and then I had writers block, and then...yeah. Ok.
Onto the fic!~Crystal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 9: The Ride Back to Reality
Angel walked up behind Buffy and placed his arms around her shoulders.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Buffy nodded quickly up and down and turned around gazing at Angel in a half crazed, half frantic way.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I mean, I'm going to Sunnydale to tell my friends, who are my family, that they pulled me out of heaven, I left them for a while to go see my vampire ex-boyfriend, who is now human, and now we're engaged. Who wouldn't be nervous?" Angel drew Buffy into a tight hug. At first, she was tense but then she relaxed into him. She sighed in his embrace.
"I'm just scared that they're going to be upset with me and never want to speak with me again. I know that they love me and only want me to be happy but I would be upset with me too." Angel tilted Buffy's chin up to look into her eyes.
"Buffy, I'm sure that they're going to forgive you. Plus it's not as if you're the one with the only fault here too. They're the ones that pulled you out of heaven. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, in fact it's going to be hard and difficult and things are going to be said that are very painful." Buffy punched him lightly in the arm.
"Way to inspire the troops, general." Angel smiled softly and kissed Buffy gently on the forehead.
"You didn't let me finish. Even though things are going to get scary, I will be one hundred percent behind you; Along with the rest of the guys, but they'll be a little farther back." Buffy chuckled slightly and looked over to where Cordy was directing Gunn and Wesley with her luggage.
"No, Wesley! The red bag goes next to the black one with my initials on it! Seriously, can't you do anything right?" Wesley put down the luggage with a huff and glared at Cordelia.
"I hardly think it matters if you have your shoes and the rest of your accessories in the same car. Why are you bringing all this junk anyway?" Cordelia looked at him with a glare that explained why she was called the Ice Queen in high school.
"I'll have you know that this isn't junk! It's all the clothing and accessories that I've gotten since I've been in LA. I need to show a certain ex of mine back in Sunnydale how far I've amounted in status." Gunn looked at Cordelia incredulously.
"The only thing that's amounted is Angel's credited card bill." Fred and Wesley started laughing and quickly tried to cover it up. Angel looked hard at Cordelia.
"Speaking of. Did you ever pay me back for those shoes that you got down at the mall." Cordelia looked at him like a deer caught in headlights.
"C'mon people! We don't have time to dilly-dally! Move it, move it, move it! Hup two three, hup two three!" Everyone got all luggage tucked into the cars and last minute checks were made. Once everyone was all set the got into their cars and set off. Cordelia was in the back of Angel's convertible with Buffy in the passenger seat and, obviously, Angel driving. In Wesley's old car Gunn sat in the passenger's seat and Fred sat in the back.
Back in Angel's car, Buffy was nervously glancing at the outside surroundings. Angel noticed this and slipped his hand in Buffy's. She looked at him almost pleadingly and he smiled at her.
"Don't worry everything's gonna be fine." She smiled at him as best as she could and went back to looking out the window. A voice came out of the back.
"Sure, everything will be fine. Ya know, after you have some huge fight where you say a lot of things that you don't mean and you have to start from scratch with your meaningless friendships." Angel glared at Cordelia in the rearview mirror; Cordelia saw this and put on a glare of her own.
"What? I'm only saying what she already knows!" After more glaring Cordelia gave in to a moment of compassion that seemed to becoming more frequent with her.
"I was just kidding Buffy. You're a great person and Xander and Willow and the rest of the Scooby gang don't realize how hard it is for you. But I will be there for you because I'm a different person then I used to be..We'll I'm trying to be and that's the main point. Don't let whatever that jerk Xander says or anyone else get you down." Buffy turned slightly around to smile softly at Cordelia.
"Thanks a lot Cordelia. It means a lot to me." Cordelia smiled back.
"Anytime. Well, not anytime but close to anytime." Buffy just chuckled and turned on some music to drown out Cordelia. Although she meant well, she sometimes spoke before she thought, but she had a good heart. Angel continued staring at Buffy until Cordelia brought herself to his attention.
"Ya know Angel, if you keep staring at Buffy like that we're gonna get into an accident and I, for one, do not feel like dying. Eyes on the road loverboy." Angel shot Cordelia one last mocking glare before turning his eyes to the asphalt. They drove the rest of the way in silence with a few random conservation starters that fell dead. There was an anxiety in the car that could be sensed and each was left to their own thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angel pulled up to the curve of the Magic Shop and stopped the car. He sat there in a moment of silence before looking over at Buffy. She was staring at the glove compartment with all of her muscles tense and her hands clenched into fists. Even Cordelia was silent for once, most likely contemplating what was going to happen next. They waited until Wesley's car pulled up behind them and Angel touched Buffy lightly on the shoulder. She jumped a little and looked at him with anxious eyes. Angel gazed back at her with a passive face.
"It's time to go in Buffy." She looked at him a moment longer before nodding and opening the car door. Car doors were slammed and locked. They all grouped up in a V formation, with Buffy and Angel at the front, Cordelia and Wesley on either side of them slightly behind, and Fred and Gunn slightly behind them. Angel heard Buffy inhale a large amount of breath and took her hand. They started towards the door and only paused to open it. The bell jingled lightly and all the inhabitants of the store looked up at the door.
Anya was behind the cash register, counting the money that she had made so far. Xander was on the other side of the counter, his voice trailing off and Buffy saw his gaze harden in shock and then anger. Willow and Tara were sitting at the table levitating a carrot, and Dawn was watching them. Giles was sorting through the merchandise making sure everything was in order. All these tasks were soon forgotten, as they became aware of the group in the doorway. Xander was the first one to regain his bearings and he was not happy when he did.
"What the hell were you thinking Buffy? Running off like that? You scared us half to death, and then you run back to you're little ex lover? What? You couldn't confide in us? No, you had to go running back and go crying to Angel." Buffy would have been able to defend herself if this wasn't exactly what she had been thinking. Angel opened his mouth to speak but Cordelia beat him to it.
"You know what Xander? Shut up." Xander was about to protest but Cordelia would have none of it.
"No. You don't get to speak. You wanna know why? Because you don't deserve to speak. Buffy has been through hell, nearly literally, and you are on your self-righteous high horse and aren't gonna come down. You know absolutely nothing what went on in LA when she was with us and you have no idea what was going on in her head before she even came. So you have no right to speak before you hear everything. So sit down and shut up. That goes for all of you too."
Everyone stared wide-eyed at Cordelia and Xander sat down slowly. Cordelia smirked proudly and straightened to her full height. Buffy seemed to have gained some confidence from Cordelia's speech so she straightened up herself. She motioned for everyone to sit down and she herself took a seat next to Angel. She looked each one of them in the eye before speaking.
"She's absolutely right you know. You never knew what happened when I was..gone, and you still don't. Before I explain what happened, I want you all to promise not to interrupt me before I'm finished. Not a word!" As they each nodded Buffy took a deep breath and then started.
"Ok, the first thing that should probably be said is that I was never in a hell dimension at all." She saw Xander was about to interrupt so she held up her hand for silence.
"Please Xander? You promised." Xander relented and she continued on with her story. She told how she was, or thought she was, in heaven and she told about how she felt when she found out that she was ripped out and was on earth. She explained about what happened up to the point where she couldn't take it and decided to leave for LA, knowing that she couldn't talk to anyone else because they would just get upset. She explained about saving Angel and him turning human. She explained about them being redeemed and how she had faced death yet again. She told about her engagement and deciding to come back home. Tears poured out of everyone's eyes and a multitude of emotions ran through each one. Anger, pity, guilt, and a deep underlying sadness seemed to be the majority of the emotions but there were others. Happiness and joy was a rare emotion to be found but when it was it was extremely precious.
When she was finally finished, everyone sat in a few seconds of silence. This time the first to react was Willow who walked up to Buffy and looked her in the eyes. They just looked at each other until Willow let out a great sob and pulled Buffy into a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry Buffy! I didn't know! I didn't know! I didn't know.." One by one, each of the Sunnydale gang stood up and joined in the group hug. It was during that time that Buffy realized that even though they had a long way to fixing up old scars and new ones, they were definitely heading in the right direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So! How did it go? Did you like? C'mon! You can tell me! Please! Ok, I hope you like it! And I'm sorry again that it took so long! ~Crystal
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