My first observation when we walk into the Bronze is that a large percentage of people believe 'Spiderman' is a viable cultural dress-up alternative. And the culture of wearing your football pads and pretending it's a costume? Also popular.

"It's a club?"

"What?" I glance up at Angel, who has a bewildered expression on his face.

"You have your school dances at a club?"

I shake my head. "If only we were so lucky. No, usually we have them in the gym. It's very romantic, what with the barred windows and pungent sweat odor."

"So why is this one here?"

"Because it's special," I explain. "We're trying to impress all the exchange students by making them think that, here in America, all the high schoolers get to have funky soirees at dance clubs. Is it working?"

"Absolutely."

"Well then, mission accomplished." I grab his hand again (wee!) and tug him towards the table Willow, Xander, and I usually meet at when we go Bronzing. It's nice and dark and secluded, which is perfect for conversation.

'Conversation' meaning 'giving each other violent hickies', of course.

"Buffy! Look at you!"

I smile and turn around to greet Willow in her... in her... uh... Walking Pile of Dead Animal Skins costume?

"Wills! Wow! That's quite a... ah..."

"Eskimo costume?" Angel supplies helpfully.

I flash him a grateful smile. "Yeah! That's quite an Eskimo costume!"

She grins. "Thanks! Isn't it neat?"

"Totally. And wow, that's some... pointy stick-thing you have there."

"This is an actual Inuit trout spear!" Willow gushes. "I borrowed it from the Mendocino County Natural History Museum. My Aunt is a curator there."

"That's amazing," Angel compliments, looking genuinely impressed.

Willow seems thrilled. "Do you want to hold it?"

"Uh... alright." Angel gently takes hold of the spear-y thing and makes an expression that clearly says 'What the hell am I supposed to do with this?'. He glances at me quizzically and I grin.

If he were any more adorable, he'd be made out of puppies!

... or something less incredibly creepy sounding!

"So?" Willow asks excitedly. "What do you think?"

"It's... a very nice... spear," Angel answers lamely before handing it back to her.

Willow grins and taps the end of it against the floor. "I know! Isn't it great?"

"Mmm. Great!" I echo.

Willow looks at me pointedly and gestures towards the bar with a nod of her head. "Hey Buffy, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, sure." I turn towards Angel and gesture for him to sit down. "Angel, could you just, um, stay here for a minute? I'll get you something to drink. What would you like?"

"Soda, I guess. Thank you."

I smile and Willow and I start picking our way through the throngs of people to the other end of the room. We stop when we get the the edge of the crowd surrounding the bar.

"So? What's with the secretive?" I ask.

Willow looks a little flustered. "Um, Angel is wearing pants."

"Well, I thought it would have been weird for Zorro to prance around wearing tighty-whities," I reply, raising an eyebrow in question.

She shakes her head. "I think they're made out of LEATHER."

I grin saucily. "I know. You can thank me later."

Willow looks at me with something akin to awe and I laugh.

Of course, because we were talking about girly things, Xander chose this exact moment to walk up between us and drape his arms over our shoulders.

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite ladies! Looking fine, Buffster. And is that GENUINE dead cat you're wearing, Wills?"

Willow winces visibly and I glare up at him before shrugging his arm off. Is he COMPLETELY oblivious? God.

"N-no," she mumbles. "It's an eskimo costume."

"And is that a genuine bath mat YOU'RE wearing?" I ask cattily, looking pointedly at his spaghetti-western pancho.

He frowns and glances down at his costume self-consciously. "What?! This costume is dead-sexy! Clint Eastwood? 'Fistful of Dollars'?"

I stare at him blankly. "Fistful of what?"

He looks shocked. "You've never seen 'Fistful of Dollars'?! Blasphemy!"

I roll my eyes and grab Willow's hand, dragging her with me closer to the bar. Once we're out of earshot, I give her a weak smile but I could tell she was majorly bummed. "Don't worry about him, Wills. He's just actingly like a stupid guy."

She shrugs half-heartedly. "I know. I just wish he would notice me, you know?"

I glance over her shoulder just in time to see Cordelia swoop in at our table and start chatting up MY potential-would-be-sex-god. I sigh and get in line to order the drinks, feeling considerably less teen-movie-ish. "I do know. BELIEVE me, I do."




The first thing I notice when Willow, Xander and I made it back to the table is that Angel looks decidedly uncomfortable. Which makes me smile.

The second thing I notice is that Cordelia, Aura, and Harmony looked a little TOO comfortable. Which makes me want to throw my drinks at them and then jump up and down in a jealous cave-girl way.

But... that would be wrong. Right?

... right?

We stand next to the table awkwardly while Cordelia finishes yapping like a schizophrenic poodle. "So, I said, 'I'm not going to wear something off the rack!' God!"

Angel tilts his head up to look at me and smiles his tiny little Angel smile. I smile back and uncurl a couple fingers from his coke to give him a pseudo-wave. He glances back at Cordelia who is, predictably, glaring at me.

Angel turns back towards her and offers a weak smile. "Thrilling. Would you excuse me?"

She looks like she is going to protest, but he pushes his chair back anyway. He stands up and makes his way over towards me before gently reaching out and grabbing the drinks out of my hands. He turns around to set them on the table and I take the opportunity to grin cheekily at RoboBitch while his back is turned.

When he faces me again, he has an odd half-smile on his face and he almost looks... nervous? Or maybe I've been inhaling plastic-hair fumes for too long and I'm starting to hallucinate...

He reaches down and takes one of my now empty hands and holds it between both of his. His hands are so big, they cover mine completely. It's really... sexy.

I suddenly feel warm all over and I just KNOW what he is going to ask. I don't know how or why but I know. I'm smiling so wide it's almost painful.

"Dance with me?"

"'Kay."

... eat your heart out Molly Ringwald.