Buffy seated herself alone at a table in the Bronze with a scowl on her
face as she viciously stirred her enormous steaming mug of vanilla
flavoured coffee until it slopped onto the table and cursing she had to mop
it up before her trendy pale blue dress got gross brown splatter-marks.
She glared into the mug, at the door and back again. This was her last night in Sunnydale for the whole summer before they were all going to college or work, how could the gang be late like this?
But really she brooded, it was entirely her mom's fault for getting married and disappearing into the sunset for a wonderful honeymoon tour. But put like that she sounded sour and jealous, which she kind of was. How come her mom met the gorgeous (for an old guy), wealthy sweetie and rode off into the sunset. She was the totally boyfriend-less very available teenager here, when was it her turn already?
But technically she could put most of the blame on her dad for the complete ruination of her summer; that made her sound less mean. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her for the summer but instead was disappearing off to Spain to boink his latest secretary, uhrgh; even her dad had more of a love life than her. So she was left to stay with Doyle her older half brother. Both Doyle and her dad lived in LA but the difference was that she knew if she pointed out that she was eighteen and if she bugged her dad enough, he'd let her go home to Sunnydale after about a week but if she tried it with Doyle he would probably just shrug and ignore her and she'd still be stuck in LA with nothing to do but shop and slay.
What was up with the world suddenly? All that parental concern seemed so sudden. Her mom had left her alone before and that was when she was only sixteen. But that had only been for a few days she admitted honestly, she probably hadn't been willing to risk leaving the house in Buffy's hands for months on end just in case Buffy had a wild party, probably with marauding zombies and there was nothing left to come home to. So she was stuck with Doyle and whatever weirdoes he was currently associating with.
She smiled slightly, she hadn't seen much of Doyle for years, he had visited them occasionally and they kept in touch with e-mail and over the phone but she hadn't really visited him for about three years. She wondered if he was still friends with the utterly drool worthy guy he had been hanging out with a few years ago. She closed her eyes and thought of how tasty the dark haired, dark eyed guy had been. Doyle had introduced him as Angel and he had briefly nodded hello before moving away somewhere else but Buffy had hardly been able to peel her eyes off him. "Nah stupid," she muttered, that guy had to have been in his mid twenties then, he'd be at least thirty by now, probably married with kids. But she couldn't resist it and dug into her purse for the photo, supposedly she had wanted it because it was a nice one of her and Doyle (Actually Doyle looked pretty scary in it, with red eyes and a wobbly bluish tinge) but really it was because Angel had also been in the photo looking very yummy. She shook her head sadly; she was a sad case, lusting after a guy she'd met for a couple of hours five years ago and said about two words to.
"Hey there Buffy how are you doing there all by yourself?" drawled a voice.
She glanced up to see Carl McBride smirking down at her, and probably down her cleavage as well. He was the biggest player for miles around and he had been trying it on with her forever. Wonderful.
Then she remembered that it wasn't high school anymore and she didn't need to be even marginally polite to a guy she would probably never see again after tonight. "Hi Carl," she smiled sweetly, "I was very lonely by myself."
At this his smile stretched and he reached for the chair beside her.
But Buffy moved faster, one hand gripped the chair in place and the other raised her coffee mug, "But being by myself still beat your slimy company and if you dare to sit down and harass me I will give you a hot coffee facial!"
Carl fled just as Willow and Xander arrived to prise the mug out of her fingers before she squeezed it to pieces. Xander massaged her shoulders as Willow moved the mug out of reach.
"Wow, very tense over here Buff, I thought you were going to waste good coffee on giving that creep a bath."
"It would've been a public service Xand." Grumbled Buffy motioning for Willow to return her coffee as Anya possessively prised Xander's hands away from her shoulders.
Oz seated himself beside her with a nod and Willow crawled comfortably into his lap, Anya and Xander were enjoying a low voiced argument interspersed with sloppy kisses. Buffy looked from couple to couple. Yep she was definitely green and hairy tonight! On second thoughts maybe LA wasn't such a bad idea for a little while, she'd just have to work out how to get sent home after a week or two.
She glared into the mug, at the door and back again. This was her last night in Sunnydale for the whole summer before they were all going to college or work, how could the gang be late like this?
But really she brooded, it was entirely her mom's fault for getting married and disappearing into the sunset for a wonderful honeymoon tour. But put like that she sounded sour and jealous, which she kind of was. How come her mom met the gorgeous (for an old guy), wealthy sweetie and rode off into the sunset. She was the totally boyfriend-less very available teenager here, when was it her turn already?
But technically she could put most of the blame on her dad for the complete ruination of her summer; that made her sound less mean. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her for the summer but instead was disappearing off to Spain to boink his latest secretary, uhrgh; even her dad had more of a love life than her. So she was left to stay with Doyle her older half brother. Both Doyle and her dad lived in LA but the difference was that she knew if she pointed out that she was eighteen and if she bugged her dad enough, he'd let her go home to Sunnydale after about a week but if she tried it with Doyle he would probably just shrug and ignore her and she'd still be stuck in LA with nothing to do but shop and slay.
What was up with the world suddenly? All that parental concern seemed so sudden. Her mom had left her alone before and that was when she was only sixteen. But that had only been for a few days she admitted honestly, she probably hadn't been willing to risk leaving the house in Buffy's hands for months on end just in case Buffy had a wild party, probably with marauding zombies and there was nothing left to come home to. So she was stuck with Doyle and whatever weirdoes he was currently associating with.
She smiled slightly, she hadn't seen much of Doyle for years, he had visited them occasionally and they kept in touch with e-mail and over the phone but she hadn't really visited him for about three years. She wondered if he was still friends with the utterly drool worthy guy he had been hanging out with a few years ago. She closed her eyes and thought of how tasty the dark haired, dark eyed guy had been. Doyle had introduced him as Angel and he had briefly nodded hello before moving away somewhere else but Buffy had hardly been able to peel her eyes off him. "Nah stupid," she muttered, that guy had to have been in his mid twenties then, he'd be at least thirty by now, probably married with kids. But she couldn't resist it and dug into her purse for the photo, supposedly she had wanted it because it was a nice one of her and Doyle (Actually Doyle looked pretty scary in it, with red eyes and a wobbly bluish tinge) but really it was because Angel had also been in the photo looking very yummy. She shook her head sadly; she was a sad case, lusting after a guy she'd met for a couple of hours five years ago and said about two words to.
"Hey there Buffy how are you doing there all by yourself?" drawled a voice.
She glanced up to see Carl McBride smirking down at her, and probably down her cleavage as well. He was the biggest player for miles around and he had been trying it on with her forever. Wonderful.
Then she remembered that it wasn't high school anymore and she didn't need to be even marginally polite to a guy she would probably never see again after tonight. "Hi Carl," she smiled sweetly, "I was very lonely by myself."
At this his smile stretched and he reached for the chair beside her.
But Buffy moved faster, one hand gripped the chair in place and the other raised her coffee mug, "But being by myself still beat your slimy company and if you dare to sit down and harass me I will give you a hot coffee facial!"
Carl fled just as Willow and Xander arrived to prise the mug out of her fingers before she squeezed it to pieces. Xander massaged her shoulders as Willow moved the mug out of reach.
"Wow, very tense over here Buff, I thought you were going to waste good coffee on giving that creep a bath."
"It would've been a public service Xand." Grumbled Buffy motioning for Willow to return her coffee as Anya possessively prised Xander's hands away from her shoulders.
Oz seated himself beside her with a nod and Willow crawled comfortably into his lap, Anya and Xander were enjoying a low voiced argument interspersed with sloppy kisses. Buffy looked from couple to couple. Yep she was definitely green and hairy tonight! On second thoughts maybe LA wasn't such a bad idea for a little while, she'd just have to work out how to get sent home after a week or two.
