Title: The Date (3)
Author: Rachel
Email: rachelfromihj@hotmail.com
Homepages: Rach's Stuff
and Under A Blue Night
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Cordelia doesn't know what to think when Angel suddenly starts dating.
Dedication: To
Angel and Cordelia, and all those C/A shipper fans out there for taking the
long road! It's gonna happen eventually!
Distribute: Take it, please!
Written: On a whim, started September 5, 2001
Takes
place: 2002.
"Hi, Paige. How are you?"
"Fine, thanks for asking."
"Sure."
So far, so good. Cordelia had been openly polite. Angel smiled at her from
behind Paige's head, and Cordelia decided his well-being was well worth it…for
now. The other's came up behind her and offered their greetings.
"So, what movie is it tonight, guys?" Angel asked curiously, nearly wrapping
his arm around Paige's shoulders. Cordelia resisted the urge to purge.
"The Queen Of The Damned," Fred answered. "It just came out. I love Anne
Rice…even though it's fiction."
Angel froze. Paige didn't notice. However, Cordelia did.
"So, do you…like…vampires, Paige?" Cordelia asked, looping her arm through the
other girl's and forcibly pulling her away from Angel and towards the door.
"It's kind of a gothy thing." Paige shrugged with a giggle.
'Gothy thing?' Cordelia turned back and mouthed in amusement to the group. Gunn
and Fred smiled, Wesley looked worried, and Angel looked petrified.
"I guess it's okay." Paige went on. "Really, the modern vampire is a glorified
fabrication of pop culture… But what's not to like? Charming, handsome, eternal
men? With great style and a flair for the sensual," She turned and looked at
Angel in a flirty, dirty-whore way…or so Cordelia thought.
"So, then you do like vampires?"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Oh, so you don't like them?"
"I liked Interview," Paige answered, referring to Interview With A Vampire.
"But if these things were real, we wouldn't be so enamored with them. I think
it's ridiculous to regard anything, even if it's fiction, that is so obviously
evil in such a glorified, tragic, human light."
"Yes…they are tragic. Again, you don't like them?" Cordelia glanced back and
caught the frowns of all four friends behind her. They didn't approve of where
the conversation was going, and Angel stared at her darkly. Apparently he
didn't see how this was helping him…was that a growl? Not helping at all.
Cordelia sighed in apology, shrugging…what could she do? He reluctantly broke
his gaze in acceptance. They made their way out to the car.
"I guess not?" Paige said, making it questionable. "Of course…I've never met
one before!" It was a bad attempt at a lame—and so out of place—joke, but
Cordelia couldn't hold it against her because of the look on Angel's face. He
was looking pretty crushed right about then. And pretty much pissed at her. And
actually, he was coming towards her, very deliberately.
"Oh! Tehe!" Cordelia mused, eyes widening. "That's funny. Clever…really…" Maybe
if she could get in the Plymouth, she'd be safe…out of reach, or something.
Cordelia started to push. "Okay. Paige. So. Get in the car."
Wesley took a deep breath, briefly placing a hand on Angel's shoulder as if to
say "It's just a few hours, it will be over soon" then the England native
turned and headed towards Gunn's truck. Gunn chuckled and followed, and Fred
followed after. They'd only gone a few paces before Cordelia turned around, saw
them and practically shouted out,
"Where are you going!"
"There's not much room," Wesley said, eyeing the classic Plymouth. Angel had
silently gone to hold the passenger's side door open for Paige and Cordelia.
Paige slid in the front seat, and didn't move towards the middle. Cordelia all
but shoved her.
"THERE'S ROOM!" She said quickly. "THERE'S ROOM! Come on! Get in! You know this
car seats six! Remember? Pylea? Lorne?"
"UH, let them take Gunn's truck, Cordy." Angel said very quickly. Cordelia
looked down at Paige and decided as she wore a dumb expression that she was
obviously oblivious. Cordelia looked at Angel.
"It's cool, Angel." She urged, implying so much more than anything having to do
with the seating arrangements. She observed the other three friends again. "Come
on guys! We're taking the same car!"
At her insistence, everyone piled into the convertible.
The ride to Mann's Chinese Theater wasn't as uncomfortable as everyone acted
like it was. Cordelia had pressed herself into the front seat next to Paige…unfortunately
pushing Paige farther into Angel, while Wesley, Fred, and Gunn, Fred in
between, sat in the back.
Angel didn't look like he was complaining, and neither did Paige. Cordelia
frowned, not liking it one bit, and decided she'd have to make a little noise.
She reached forward, making sure to elbow the "date" as she did so, and flipped
on the radio. She twisted the dial up so that it was loud, and an old Aerosmith
ballad (which probably only Angel would recognize…and maybe Wes or Fred if
they'd ever turned on a radio in the 80's) came blaring out of the speakers.
Fred barely had enough time to cover her ears before Angel flicked it off and
gave Cordelia a really mean look. Cordelia got the point, and didn't mess with
the car anymore. Instead, she decided to talk it up. She brought up every
invasive topic she could think of until she was sure she saw Paige frowning
herself.
Angel got really upset when Cordelia asked Paige how she felt about Lawyers.
Wolfram and Hart: Still a very sore spot for Angel.
"That's enough Cordy," Angel said.
"Oh look!" Wesley said chipperly from the backseat. "We're here!"
The others looked up as Angel looked over and veered his car into the small
parking lot next to the theater. He stopped at the gate, paid the attendant
eight bucks to park, and then pulled in and settled the Plymouth into a wide
space. Cordelia and Angel opened their doors near simultaneously while Wesley
and Gunn climbed over the sides of the car, and helped Fred do the same.
Cordelia started to hold the door for Paige, but then realized Paige had
slipped out on Angel's side and was busy inspecting some smut that apparently
had worked its way onto his chin. Cordelia watched as Paige licked her finger
and wiped at it—'What is she, his mother?' she thought sarcastically—and…she
couldn't ignore the light that lit up within Angel's face.
Cordelia's gaze fell away, and she slammed the
car door. The others were already on their way to the box office. Angel and
Paige started to walk. Cordelia hung back, and watched Paige slip her delicate,
little hand into Angel's. She supposed they did that often—'what more could
Angel do besides hold hands?' she thought. When she formed a mental image, she
suddenly didn't want to think past hands and so she removed the entire nasty notion
from her mind. She just wouldn't acknowledge the hand holding, and everything
would be okay. Cleared head and not thinking about it! Eh, it still made her
cringe. The "date"… It just wasn't right.
She slowly followed at the back of the group of six. They bought their tickets,
and went inside. The theater wasn't crowded.
"Yo, the usual?" Gunn asked, glancing at his two usual movie companions and
starting towards the refreshment stand.
"Yeah," Wesley called.
"Don't forget the Goobers!" Fred reminded him.
"I wouldn't forget the Goobers!" Gunn exclaimed good-naturedly. He reached the
back of the line and took his place. "English, find us some seats!"
"I'm on it!" Wesley answered, and then led Fred inside.
"Do you want anything?" Angel asked Paige.
"No. I'm fine. Thank you."
"Want to go sit?"
"Don't you want anything?"
'A nice big pint of B negative,' Cordelia
wanted to say. 'Nuked, with a touch of cinnamon.'
"No, I'm good."
"Then let's go sit."
They started to go. No one had asked Cordelia if she'd wanted anything.
Well, if no one asked, then she'd just have to
tell them, now wouldn't she!
"I want a Diet Coke." She stated.
Angel and Paige turned slowly to regard her.
"Then get one." Angel said precisely. Cordelia looked from Angel to Paige—smug,
little…—and back to Angel again. Then she held out her hand, palm up, and
gestured.
With a sigh, he reached back, pulling his wallet from his back pants pocket, and handed her a twenty-dollar bill. Paige looked up at him in confusion but said nothing as he forked over the cash, then fumbled to place the wallet back in his pocket.
'That's right,' Cordelia said to herself. She'd have given anything to be able
to say it out loud. 'I need, he gives. Learn it, live it, fear it.' Instead she
watched them retreat, and then dejectedly went to stand in line with Gunn.
"You're acting crazy." He said when they were alone. Frowning, she glared up at
him. "I'm just tellin' you for your own good. Angel's gonna kick your ass when
we get home if you don't knock it off."
"I'm not doing anything!"
"'I'm not doing anything'," He mocked, and when she looked like she was about
to slug him, he offered her a genuine smile. "I'm jus' teasin'. You know that."
"Huh?" Trademark wrinkled nose-look of disgust. "What??? OH. I don't care about
that,"
"Ah, thanks." He snipped. "Then what is it? What's ruffled your feathers? Or
should I say who?"
"P—" Scowl. "Angel's "date"."
"Could that look on your face have been any more green?"
"I don't like her, Gunn. I just don't like her."
"I don't think she likes you either, and I can't say that I don't blame her."
"Really?" Surprisingly…or not…Cordelia brightened at that.
"Nope."
They stepped forward as the short line moved up. Gunn looked at his watch, growing impatient. There was now only one couple ahead of them. How long does it take to make a bucket of corn and a couple of sodas?
"Like I said," Gunn restated, wanting to douse
any bad ideas from the start; for he knew how Cordelia thought, and he wasn't
foolish enough to put anything past her…even if Angel would. "Chill out." He
warned. "Angel's gonna get pissed at you if you keep antagonizing it. I know
how tempting it is…being so easy and all…"
"So it's not just me, she's dumb."
"She's not dumb." Gunn laughed. Cordelia frowned even more. "She's just
ignorant of what we are. Give her a break. She's just a normal girl."
"Yeah, well…" She had no way to counter that. "I guess."
"Can I help you?" The pimply adolescent cashier said from behind the counter.
"Yo, man, three large cokes, extra large corn with butter…Oh. And a package of
Goobers."
"Can't forget those Goobers." Cordelia said glumly.
"You want anything?" He asked, removing his wallet.
"Nah." She held up her twenty. "Angel's paying."
The previews had already started by the time Cordelia had gotten her Diet Coke.
Gunn waited for her at the theater entrance with his arms full, and Cordelia
elected to help him by carrying one of their spare drinks. She followed him in,
carefully, as they went down the darkened aisles. After their eyes had adjusted
to the dark, they spotted Fred, Wes, Angel, and…her…in the center aisle
about fifteen rows down. Gunn walked quickly, and Cordelia kept right behind
him. She didn't realize it until she'd already followed him into Fred and
Wesley's row that Angel and his "date" were sitting one row back. And now as
Gunn sat down, she was stuck in this row too. She passed the spare Coke to Gunn
and had just started to sink into a chair when suddenly she up and decided to
climb over the seat. Angel stared at her blankly and Paige looked more than
surprised…maybe a little tiffed?
"So what did I miss?" Cordelia asked, leaning
over into Paige's personal space and directing the question more to Angel.
"A preview." He said simply.
"Duh. Which one."
"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention."
"Leave it to the social retard," It came out too fast to stop, and she noticed
Paige tense up…offensively.
"It was for an art film," Paige said shortly. "You probably wouldn't have cared
for it."
Cordelia processed that twice before deciding to take it as an insult.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
And then she noticed Angel had his arm around the little...
"You've got mine!" Gunn said, turning back and switching their Cokes. "This
one's diet!"
Cordelia went through the motions of handing
his back but wasn't paying attention and almost spilled it.
"The movie's starting!" Fred scolded, spinning in her chair to regard the
escalating tension behind her. Cordelia was about to say something more, but
Wesley also turned around, and catching sight of her, shook his head ever so
slightly.
'Bad idea, Cordy. BAAD idea.'
Cordelia clammed up. She leaned back in her seat, and watched the movie over
the top of Gunn's bald head. Lucky for her, he slouched through most of it…
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to watch all the Angel, Spike and
Drusilla wanna-bes on screen.
It was a long, long movie.
