Relationships - January 2005
Chapter Thirty
Buffy was surrounded by a group of four vampires. They were dressed in eighties retro wear, reminding her slightly of that movie 'The Wedding Singer.' She knew she shouldn't find her situation amusing, but it was. They were going to be so dead in about five seconds.
"Come on guys, didn't Flock of Seagulls break up like twenty years ago? I mean, ew, tacky much?"
With that she did a back flip, her feet landing firmly on the chest of the smallest vampire, sending him reeling. She then went and almost immediately staked the next two that came charging at her.
"You guys don't even try anymore." Buffy pouted.
The remark pissed the largest of the group off and he quickly advanced on her. Buffy was preparing herself for a good brawl, and honestly was getting excited by the prospect of beating the holy hell out of something. Just as the vampire was almost on her, an arrow sang through his chest, sending the vampire into a cloud of dust. Behind the cloud of dust stood Angel and Cordelia, who was holding a cross bow.
"Hey Buff, we already took care of the little one that you sent flying." Cordelia said.
"Coulda handled it myself just fine." Buffy responded, not meaning to sound as icy as she came off as.
Buffy swept the vamp dust from her clothes and mentally checked her appearance before she headed toward her former boyfriend and the former cheerleader.
"So, what brings you guys back to the hellmouth?" Buffy asked.
"It's Spike," Angel began.
"Is he OK, did something happen to him? He's not dead is he?" Buffy asked, not even trying to hide her concern.
"No, Buffy. Spike's fine. It's Spike though, he was translating some texts and there was a bit of a prophecy. Not so much a prophecy. There's an alignment of stars that will allow the Hellmouth to open. I know, I'm about sick of them myself. It's really not that big of a deal. There's this ancient order of demons that want to bring their god from an alternate hell dimension to this one. We just have to watch over the Hellmouth for the next forty-eight hours or so. You mind if we camp out at your place?" Angel said.
"Is Spike with you?" Buffy asked, almost hopefully.
"No he's back in LA. We tried to convince him to come with us, but he's working on some paper for the Watchers Council." Cordelia replied.
"You know Will now. He thinks he's a huge wimp and pretty much spends most of his time with a nose stuck in a book. He didn't figure he'd be much use if a fight broke out. He said having Xander to protect was enough, didn't need his shadow coming along for the ride too." Angel said.
Buffy bit her lip. She had wanted to cry at that moment, but she would not cry over Spike anymore. She knew she had blown it, and she knew she had to simply move on from this point.
"Sure guys, I have plenty of room. We'll just move Jules into Dawn's room, and Mom's old room is still empty, so there's plenty of room for both of you."
Angel wasn't sure how to say what he needed to, so he figured it was best to just get it out in the open.
"Cordy and I, well, we only need one room." Angel said.
"Huh?" Was Buffy's reply until reality hit her like a ton of bricks.
"So, huh, when did this happen? I mean how long have you two been together?" Buffy asked.
"It's been about two years now." Cordelia responded uncomfortably.
"Wow, guys - that's great. I'm really happy for both of you. From what Dawn's told me, you're a pretty cool chick now CC. You taking good care of our favorite soulled vampire?" Buffy asked, attempting to be good natured about what she was hearing.
Cordelia knew that Buffy was uncomfortable. But it sounded as if Buffy had given Cordelia her blessing. Cordy ran to hug the slayer and whispered into her ear.
"I'm so glad you're being so good about this, I love him so much." Cordelia whispered into her ear.
Buffy numbly nodded and led Angel and Cordelia to her home. She opened the door and the place felt empty. That's when she remembered that Dawn was gone for the weekend and Julia was at Xander's house. Buffy quickly phoned Xander and he agreed to keep the girl for the night. Buffy then turned toward the beaming couple and put on the best fake smile she could muster.
"So guys, are you hungry?"
"Actually Buffy, I've had a really long day. I think I'm going to turn in, I'll leave you and Angel to catch up on things." Cordelia said.
"Sure, the guest sheets are in the linen closet in the hallway. You know where Mom's room is, I mean where it was." Buffy said.
Cordy thanked Buffy and went upstairs to go to sleep. That left Angel and Buffy staring at one another, and it had been the most awkward thirty seconds of their entire existence.
"So Angel, you want something to drink? I don't have any blood, not many vamps come a knocking these days. I'm like a cautionary tale to little vampires. 'Now don't go getting involved with the Slayer, she'll turn you into a miserable, weak human.'"
"Beer will be fine Buffy." Angel replied. He didn't touch her remark at that moment. He figured that they had all night to catch up.
The two sat at the island while sipping their beers. Finally Buffy spoke up to Angel.
"So, you know all about everything, don't you?" Buffy asked sheepishly.
"Actually I have numerous accounts to pick from. Before I say anything though, I want to thank you for being so understanding about Cordelia and me. The way you handled it was really grown up and mature. I wasn't sure how to tell you. But I wanted to be the one to tell you. That's why I asked Dawn not to say anything to you."
"That would explain why Dawn was always gushing about how great Cordelia was now." Buffy said lightly.
"Are you honestly OK with us being together?" Angel asked seriously.
"I admit I was shocked, but I am really happy for both of you, honestly. And I appreciate the fact that you thought of me enough to come here to tell me yourself. Unlike me, who had been sleeping with Spike for almost a year and hiding it from everyone. How did you find out about me and Spike? I figure that you had to have known by now, since Dawn and Spike both live in LA now."
"Spike told me when he got back from Africa. I started to beat the hell out of him because I thought he was lying until a friend of mine, Lorne informed me that dear old Spike had a soul. He told me everything Buffy. I can't help but wonder how things got so bad between the two of you. It's obvious to anyone that knows either one of you that you and Spike love one another very much."
"Angel, as hard as it is to believe this, we pretty much broke up because I was being a stubborn bitch."
Angel laughed at Buffy's description of herself, and Buffy laughed in return.
"So are you going to ever try to smooth things over?"
"Angel, I really don't want to talk about me and Spike. I have Giles drilling me all the time."
"That's fine. There's a little part of me that's jealous, as silly as that sounds and I really don't want to hear the intimate details of your relationship with Will." Angel responded softly."
"That makes two of us. I mean I don't want to here about your relationship with Cordelia either. Man, Xander is going to have a cow when he hears about this. Seems like every girl he ever dated or had feelings for ends up with you in one way or another. Next you'll have Anya."
"Who's Anya?"
"You don't even want to know, not even you'll believe it." Buffy responded, letting a slight giggle at the thought of Angel and Anya being together.
The two sat in comfortable silence, drinking their beers for a few moments. They then caught up over the past few years and made a promise to one another to not let themselves lose touch with each other like this ever again. They both realized that there was still some degree of love and chemistry between them, but they had both moved on years before.
*********************************
The remainder of the Scooby gang was hanging out over the Hellmouth the next night. The high school had been rebuilt years before, and the hellmouth was now underneath the school's swimming pool, which made it difficult to place any kind of barrier spell over it. Xander and Anya had begun to casually date once more, so it was almost like Buffy was the fifth wheel. She felt a little awkward. She really was happy for Angel, but seeing him with Cordelia just reminded her of how much she really did miss Spike. She hadn't been on a date since he left for LA, and she really didn't have any intentions of dating anyone. She knew who she wanted, and she would eventually get him back.
"So dead boy, how's LA treating you? Go to the beach much? Maybe work on your tan?" Xander asked in jest.
"It's fine boy, speaking of beaches, looks like you swallowed a beach ball Xander. Been living of twinkies or something?" Angel responded.
Some things never change Cordelia thought to herself. Oddly enough Anya and Cordelia got along great. Cordy didn't really hold a grudge against Anya that she had been killed in an alternate reality because of her. The two mostly talked about manicure tips and shopping. Shopping lead to talk of Spike.
"Oh Cordelia, you have to go shopping with Spike some time. It's amazing. I got this fabulous Prada purse for practically nothing when he was with me this one time. He practically charmed the sales woman out of her panties and she gave me this super discount in exchange for Spike's phone number." Anya said.
"Really! Spike is going to so wish I hadn't spoke to you when I get back to LA." Cordelia responded laughingly.
Buffy was slightly hurt that she couldn't discuss Spike in such a light tone. Most of her conversations about Spike involved lots of angst and tears. That and a pang of jealousy hit her when she though of Spike flirting with anyone except for her. Her mind began to wander when three thickly robed demons walked into the room. The gang sprang into action and totally kicked some serious ass, per usual.
Buffy and Angel took on most of the grunt work, leaving Xander, Anya, and Cordelia to hold up the barrier over the Hellmouth. Angel swung his sword around and easily beheaded the first of the trio. The second evil monk came swinging at Buffy. Buffy quickly impaled an ax into it's side, sending the demon squealing into the pool. The third one was heading toward Cordelia before anyone could stop it. The demon swung his claws at vision girl and left three gaping claw marks on Cordelia's stomach. Angel let out an angry growl and decapitated the demon with his bare hands. He dropped to Cordelia's side and picked her up to hold her.
"Cordelia, sweetie, are you OK? How bad is it?" Angel asked his voice filling with more and more concern for every second she didn't respond.
"Honey, just move back and let me work." Cordelia finally responded.
Angel knew what she meant. Cordelia then worked to heal herself. A light pink light came from her hands as she pressed them to her stomach. She was soon healed, but she felt weak. Angel rushed back to her side and gently stroked her hair.
"God, I get so worried about you. I love you so much." Angel gushed.
"It's OK baby, I'll never leave you. I promise." Cordelia responded.
The two shared an affectionate embrace as Buffy looked on. A few tears slid down her cheeks when she looked upon the couple and realized what she was truly missing. She didn't care if she had to go crawling back to Spike. She knew she couldn't survive much longer without him.
Buffy was surrounded by a group of four vampires. They were dressed in eighties retro wear, reminding her slightly of that movie 'The Wedding Singer.' She knew she shouldn't find her situation amusing, but it was. They were going to be so dead in about five seconds.
"Come on guys, didn't Flock of Seagulls break up like twenty years ago? I mean, ew, tacky much?"
With that she did a back flip, her feet landing firmly on the chest of the smallest vampire, sending him reeling. She then went and almost immediately staked the next two that came charging at her.
"You guys don't even try anymore." Buffy pouted.
The remark pissed the largest of the group off and he quickly advanced on her. Buffy was preparing herself for a good brawl, and honestly was getting excited by the prospect of beating the holy hell out of something. Just as the vampire was almost on her, an arrow sang through his chest, sending the vampire into a cloud of dust. Behind the cloud of dust stood Angel and Cordelia, who was holding a cross bow.
"Hey Buff, we already took care of the little one that you sent flying." Cordelia said.
"Coulda handled it myself just fine." Buffy responded, not meaning to sound as icy as she came off as.
Buffy swept the vamp dust from her clothes and mentally checked her appearance before she headed toward her former boyfriend and the former cheerleader.
"So, what brings you guys back to the hellmouth?" Buffy asked.
"It's Spike," Angel began.
"Is he OK, did something happen to him? He's not dead is he?" Buffy asked, not even trying to hide her concern.
"No, Buffy. Spike's fine. It's Spike though, he was translating some texts and there was a bit of a prophecy. Not so much a prophecy. There's an alignment of stars that will allow the Hellmouth to open. I know, I'm about sick of them myself. It's really not that big of a deal. There's this ancient order of demons that want to bring their god from an alternate hell dimension to this one. We just have to watch over the Hellmouth for the next forty-eight hours or so. You mind if we camp out at your place?" Angel said.
"Is Spike with you?" Buffy asked, almost hopefully.
"No he's back in LA. We tried to convince him to come with us, but he's working on some paper for the Watchers Council." Cordelia replied.
"You know Will now. He thinks he's a huge wimp and pretty much spends most of his time with a nose stuck in a book. He didn't figure he'd be much use if a fight broke out. He said having Xander to protect was enough, didn't need his shadow coming along for the ride too." Angel said.
Buffy bit her lip. She had wanted to cry at that moment, but she would not cry over Spike anymore. She knew she had blown it, and she knew she had to simply move on from this point.
"Sure guys, I have plenty of room. We'll just move Jules into Dawn's room, and Mom's old room is still empty, so there's plenty of room for both of you."
Angel wasn't sure how to say what he needed to, so he figured it was best to just get it out in the open.
"Cordy and I, well, we only need one room." Angel said.
"Huh?" Was Buffy's reply until reality hit her like a ton of bricks.
"So, huh, when did this happen? I mean how long have you two been together?" Buffy asked.
"It's been about two years now." Cordelia responded uncomfortably.
"Wow, guys - that's great. I'm really happy for both of you. From what Dawn's told me, you're a pretty cool chick now CC. You taking good care of our favorite soulled vampire?" Buffy asked, attempting to be good natured about what she was hearing.
Cordelia knew that Buffy was uncomfortable. But it sounded as if Buffy had given Cordelia her blessing. Cordy ran to hug the slayer and whispered into her ear.
"I'm so glad you're being so good about this, I love him so much." Cordelia whispered into her ear.
Buffy numbly nodded and led Angel and Cordelia to her home. She opened the door and the place felt empty. That's when she remembered that Dawn was gone for the weekend and Julia was at Xander's house. Buffy quickly phoned Xander and he agreed to keep the girl for the night. Buffy then turned toward the beaming couple and put on the best fake smile she could muster.
"So guys, are you hungry?"
"Actually Buffy, I've had a really long day. I think I'm going to turn in, I'll leave you and Angel to catch up on things." Cordelia said.
"Sure, the guest sheets are in the linen closet in the hallway. You know where Mom's room is, I mean where it was." Buffy said.
Cordy thanked Buffy and went upstairs to go to sleep. That left Angel and Buffy staring at one another, and it had been the most awkward thirty seconds of their entire existence.
"So Angel, you want something to drink? I don't have any blood, not many vamps come a knocking these days. I'm like a cautionary tale to little vampires. 'Now don't go getting involved with the Slayer, she'll turn you into a miserable, weak human.'"
"Beer will be fine Buffy." Angel replied. He didn't touch her remark at that moment. He figured that they had all night to catch up.
The two sat at the island while sipping their beers. Finally Buffy spoke up to Angel.
"So, you know all about everything, don't you?" Buffy asked sheepishly.
"Actually I have numerous accounts to pick from. Before I say anything though, I want to thank you for being so understanding about Cordelia and me. The way you handled it was really grown up and mature. I wasn't sure how to tell you. But I wanted to be the one to tell you. That's why I asked Dawn not to say anything to you."
"That would explain why Dawn was always gushing about how great Cordelia was now." Buffy said lightly.
"Are you honestly OK with us being together?" Angel asked seriously.
"I admit I was shocked, but I am really happy for both of you, honestly. And I appreciate the fact that you thought of me enough to come here to tell me yourself. Unlike me, who had been sleeping with Spike for almost a year and hiding it from everyone. How did you find out about me and Spike? I figure that you had to have known by now, since Dawn and Spike both live in LA now."
"Spike told me when he got back from Africa. I started to beat the hell out of him because I thought he was lying until a friend of mine, Lorne informed me that dear old Spike had a soul. He told me everything Buffy. I can't help but wonder how things got so bad between the two of you. It's obvious to anyone that knows either one of you that you and Spike love one another very much."
"Angel, as hard as it is to believe this, we pretty much broke up because I was being a stubborn bitch."
Angel laughed at Buffy's description of herself, and Buffy laughed in return.
"So are you going to ever try to smooth things over?"
"Angel, I really don't want to talk about me and Spike. I have Giles drilling me all the time."
"That's fine. There's a little part of me that's jealous, as silly as that sounds and I really don't want to hear the intimate details of your relationship with Will." Angel responded softly."
"That makes two of us. I mean I don't want to here about your relationship with Cordelia either. Man, Xander is going to have a cow when he hears about this. Seems like every girl he ever dated or had feelings for ends up with you in one way or another. Next you'll have Anya."
"Who's Anya?"
"You don't even want to know, not even you'll believe it." Buffy responded, letting a slight giggle at the thought of Angel and Anya being together.
The two sat in comfortable silence, drinking their beers for a few moments. They then caught up over the past few years and made a promise to one another to not let themselves lose touch with each other like this ever again. They both realized that there was still some degree of love and chemistry between them, but they had both moved on years before.
*********************************
The remainder of the Scooby gang was hanging out over the Hellmouth the next night. The high school had been rebuilt years before, and the hellmouth was now underneath the school's swimming pool, which made it difficult to place any kind of barrier spell over it. Xander and Anya had begun to casually date once more, so it was almost like Buffy was the fifth wheel. She felt a little awkward. She really was happy for Angel, but seeing him with Cordelia just reminded her of how much she really did miss Spike. She hadn't been on a date since he left for LA, and she really didn't have any intentions of dating anyone. She knew who she wanted, and she would eventually get him back.
"So dead boy, how's LA treating you? Go to the beach much? Maybe work on your tan?" Xander asked in jest.
"It's fine boy, speaking of beaches, looks like you swallowed a beach ball Xander. Been living of twinkies or something?" Angel responded.
Some things never change Cordelia thought to herself. Oddly enough Anya and Cordelia got along great. Cordy didn't really hold a grudge against Anya that she had been killed in an alternate reality because of her. The two mostly talked about manicure tips and shopping. Shopping lead to talk of Spike.
"Oh Cordelia, you have to go shopping with Spike some time. It's amazing. I got this fabulous Prada purse for practically nothing when he was with me this one time. He practically charmed the sales woman out of her panties and she gave me this super discount in exchange for Spike's phone number." Anya said.
"Really! Spike is going to so wish I hadn't spoke to you when I get back to LA." Cordelia responded laughingly.
Buffy was slightly hurt that she couldn't discuss Spike in such a light tone. Most of her conversations about Spike involved lots of angst and tears. That and a pang of jealousy hit her when she though of Spike flirting with anyone except for her. Her mind began to wander when three thickly robed demons walked into the room. The gang sprang into action and totally kicked some serious ass, per usual.
Buffy and Angel took on most of the grunt work, leaving Xander, Anya, and Cordelia to hold up the barrier over the Hellmouth. Angel swung his sword around and easily beheaded the first of the trio. The second evil monk came swinging at Buffy. Buffy quickly impaled an ax into it's side, sending the demon squealing into the pool. The third one was heading toward Cordelia before anyone could stop it. The demon swung his claws at vision girl and left three gaping claw marks on Cordelia's stomach. Angel let out an angry growl and decapitated the demon with his bare hands. He dropped to Cordelia's side and picked her up to hold her.
"Cordelia, sweetie, are you OK? How bad is it?" Angel asked his voice filling with more and more concern for every second she didn't respond.
"Honey, just move back and let me work." Cordelia finally responded.
Angel knew what she meant. Cordelia then worked to heal herself. A light pink light came from her hands as she pressed them to her stomach. She was soon healed, but she felt weak. Angel rushed back to her side and gently stroked her hair.
"God, I get so worried about you. I love you so much." Angel gushed.
"It's OK baby, I'll never leave you. I promise." Cordelia responded.
The two shared an affectionate embrace as Buffy looked on. A few tears slid down her cheeks when she looked upon the couple and realized what she was truly missing. She didn't care if she had to go crawling back to Spike. She knew she couldn't survive much longer without him.