Author's Notes: I used a line from a past Buffy episode in this part,
although I'm not saying which yet. Don't want to give anything away.
You'll know the line when you read it.
AN2: Thank you to everyone for the feedback on Part 15: Sandra, Becky, Meghan, August528, ryan, Christine, Courtenay, Tariq, briony, clules4eva, Wendy, Alyssa, b/a always, and Emma. You guys are awesome!!!
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Part 16 - Strange Encounters
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
~two weeks later~
Buffy stared into the mirror in her bathroom at her reflection. A soft smile shown on her lips, as it had for the past two weeks, ever since the night she had gone to Angel. Her smile grew as she thought of him. They'd spent the last two weeks getting to know each other once again, which was a little tough considering Buffy's condition.
Their relationship wasn't back to what it has once been, no where near. There were still awkward moments, and the level of trust was still missing, but they were together and they were working their way back to one another. Most of the time they spent together was just used to talk.
Angel had done most of the talking, actually. He told her all about his years in college, his attempts to move on, and his complete failure in doing so. It had hurt her to hear that he'd been with other women, but she was comforted by the knowledge that in the end, he'd come back to her.
So far, the level of intimacy in their renewed relationship was at a minimum. They'd only shared a few innocent kisses. And although Angel had shared her bed more than a few times in the past two weeks, nothing had happened between them. It was a relief to her, in a way.
Her mind was still in too much of a state of confusion to engage in that type of intimacy. It was still a daily struggle dealing with the fact that four years worth of events were missing from her memory. And she still had a great deal of suspicion that the others were hiding things from her, even Angel. But she didn't push. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to know what they were hiding. If it was bad enough to keep from her, then maybe she really didn't want to know.
Having Angel back in her life, though, had made things so much better. He would hold her as she cried and take her anger over stupid things like not remembering where something in the house was. Almost every day he would come to the house straight from work and spent hours with her, sometimes staying through the night. Buffy couldn't help but be glad that she had gone to him that night two weeks ago.
She glanced at herself in the mirror again. Her skin was started to tan nicely from the days spent at the beach recently with the gang, and her face had lost the sallow, gaunt look to it due to Angel's determinedness to get her to take better care of herself. He could be a bit over protective, but she didn't mind all that much.
Grabbing her sweater, Buffy left her bathroom and headed downstairs. Willow had called the gang over, saying she needed to tell them all something. Buffy had no idea what the meeting was about, she just hopped that everything was okay with her best friend.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Fifteen minutes later the entire gang was present in the living room at the Giles' house. Willow and Oz sat together on the loveseat. Angel was seated in a plush chair with Buffy cradled in his lap, and Xander and Cordelia sat side by side on the larger couch in the room.
Willow's gaze landed on Buffy and Angel for a moment. She couldn't have been happier for her two friends. They were meant for each other. When Angel had left like he did five years earlier it hadn't made sense to any of them and she hated Angel for hurting Buffy as he had. She knew his reasons now, and although they weren't the best, she could somewhat understand why he did it. She was just happy that they had found their way back to each other.
Xander's words interrupted her internal thoughts. "So, Willster, what's the big meeting for?"
She didn't answer immediately, instead glancing over to Oz. He nodded his head almost imperceptibly to her. So she focused her attention back onto her friends.
"Umm, Oz and I have something to tell all of you," she spoke nervously.
Both Buffy and Cordelia looked at her curiously while the two men just looked to their friends. Willow fidgeted under their stares as she gathered her thoughts.
"Well, are you going to tell us?" Cordelia asked bluntly.
"Umm, yeah. Well, you know that I haven't been feeling that great lately, and that I've been sleeping a lot..." she trailed off, not able to get the rest out.
"Oh my God! Are you sick?" Buffy shrieked, suddenly worried for Willow.
"Uhh, not exactly," Willow answered. She took a deep breath and clasped one of Oz's hands into hers. "I'm pregnant."
The entire group stared in her in total shock. None of them had been expecting what they had just been told. And it was just a little weird to hear that two of their friends were going to have a baby and be parents.
Xander was the first to come out of his daze to speak. "Wow...that's...wow. Congratulations!"
"I'm so happy for you!" Cordelia told them as she gave Willow a hug. "We are going to have tons and tons of shopping to do!"
Everyone laughed at that statement. Cordy was always looking for a reason to shop.
"Congratulations," Buffy spoke softly, lost in thought.
"Yes, to both of you," agreed Angel, his own thoughts drifting to images of Buffy carrying his child.
"So you guys are okay with this?" Willow questioned, looking at the group.
"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Cordy asked with a scowl.
"Well, you know how some people can get when it comes to young people getting pregnant, especially when they aren't married," Willow shrugged. She was just happy that all of her friends seemed to be taking the news well.
"Are you guys okay with it?" Angel posed to both Willow and Oz.
"We weren't expecting or planning it, but we're not unhappy with it," Oz explained with a smile to Willow.
"Yeah, I mean, we always said we wanted children, just later on. But sometimes Fate has other plans," Willow furthered, her hand drifting to her abdomen that would soon be expanding with Oz's child. "So you guys are really okay with this?"
The gang all chimed in and vowed their support for the couple, although there was one member of the group that was quieter than the rest. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything. Instead they all continued to chat for the next half hour.
After Oz and Willow had left to go see Oz's parents, Cordelia and Xander left to return to their apartment that they shared which left Buffy and Angel alone in the living room.
"You okay?" Angel questioned when he saw Buffy looking a little pale.
"Yeah, I just have and upset stomach," she told him. Her stomach was suddenly churning for no apparent reason.
Angel frowned. "We don't have to go out to dinner if you don't want to," he offered, reminding her of their plans to have a quiet dinner for two out at their favorite restaurant.
"No," Buffy smiled weakly. "I still want to go."
Angel watched as she got off the couch and had to steady herself by grabbing its arm. He couldn't help but be worried about her. She had been doing so well the past week and it looked like she was relapsing a little. But if she wanted to still go out, he would take her. He could never say no to her. At least not anymore.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Their dinner was eaten mostly in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. Mostly they were just enjoying their quiet time together at their favorite Italian restaurant. Angel could tell, though, that there was something bothering Buffy. But he wasn't sure if he should ask her about it.
His concern finally got the best of him. "Are you okay Buffy?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I guess so," she shrugged noncommittally.
"Are you sure?" he repeated, knowing that she had something on her mind.
"Yeah....it's....it's just that I have this strange feeling of déjà vu. I don't know about what. I just can't get the feeling out of my head," she explained, trying to figure out herself what was going on.
Angel looked at her, wondering what she meant. What could be giving her déjà vu? Was it possible that her memories were starting to worm their way back into her consciousness? He wanted to press her further, but wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.
"Do you want to go home?" he asked her while taking her small hand into his, stroking his thumb across her palm.
"No," she sighed as she gave up trying to figure out what was bothering her. "This is our night out, I don't want to ruin it."
"Ok, if you insist," he smiled at her. "Should we order some dessert?"
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
A little while later the two were happily sharing a delectable dessert when their peace was interrupted by a seeming stranger.
"Buffy Summers? Is that you?" the new voice questioned as he walked up to the table.
"Umm, yeah, that's me," Buffy answered, wondering who this guy was. He looked strangely familiar.
"Wow, it's been a long time," he stated with a small leer towards Buffy, completely ignoring Angel.
"And you are," Angel gritted out, disgusted by the way this jerk was ogling his girlfriend.
"Parker Abrams," the man stuck out his hand to Angel.
"Angel Malloy," Angel stated, shaking the man's hand firmly.
Buffy nervously fidgeted in her seat. It wasn't lost on her the way he was perusing her body. Who the hell was this guy? She searched her memory but she couldn't remember him or anything about him, but there was a sense that she should know him. Had she been friends with him or something the past four years?
Parker studied Angel for a minute, checking the guy out. "So this is the new guy, huh?" he laughed crudely.
"What's that supposed to mean," Angel narrowed his eyes at the jerk in front of him.
"Nothing, man. Just a question," Parker said simply, not seeing anything wrong with his actions.
"Well, then to answer your question, yes I am the new, or I guess you could say, old guy," Angel answered sharply wondering how this guy knew Buffy.
Buffy watched the scene before her. Her head was started to spin, making her feel incredibly dizzy. She reached up and placed a hand on her head, hoping to quell the throbbing ache beginning to form.
"Some advice, buddy, on sweet little Buffy, here," smirked Parker with a glance to Buffy. "The word is stamina. I mean, definitely a bunny in the sack, but later on, well. You know the difference between a freshman girl and a toilet seat? A toilet seat doesn't follow you around after you use it," he finished with a chuckle.
Angel shot out of his seat the second the words left the jerk's mouth. His fist pulled back to punch the asshole when he realized they were in the middle of a restaurant. He quickly stopped himself. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Buffy any more than this guy, Parker, already had.
"Leave, now," Angel gritted out angrily, standing up to his full height in front of Parker.
"Hey, chill out, man. Just giving some friendly advice between us guys," Parker stated, taking a step away from the glaring man.
"Leave!" Angel ordered. To his relief, the Parker guy turned and walked away. When he looked back to Buffy he was shocked at what he saw.
Buffy was still seated at the table, but every ounce of color had drained from her face and tears steadily streamed down her cheeks. Angel stared in alarm He knew what the guy had said was awful but he hadn't thought she would take it that badly.
"Buffy?" he stated worriedly.
But she didn't hear him. Her hands began to shake uncontrollably. The fork she'd been tightly grasping in her left hand suddenly dropped and clanked onto the plate in front of her.
"Oh my God," she whispered to herself hoarsely as images plagued her mind.
Angel began to move to her side. "Buffy, baby, what's wrong?"
Her eyes shot up as she heard him this time. Instead of responding, she leapt out of her chair, knocking it over in the process. She stumbled slightly, and looked at Angel for a second before turning and dashing out of the restaurant, her sobs resonating to everyone present.
"Buffy!" Angel shouted, but she was already out the door.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
TBC!...feedback happily welcomed :)
AN3: The line quoted was from the season 4 ep 'The Initiative'.
AN2: Thank you to everyone for the feedback on Part 15: Sandra, Becky, Meghan, August528, ryan, Christine, Courtenay, Tariq, briony, clules4eva, Wendy, Alyssa, b/a always, and Emma. You guys are awesome!!!
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Part 16 - Strange Encounters
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
~two weeks later~
Buffy stared into the mirror in her bathroom at her reflection. A soft smile shown on her lips, as it had for the past two weeks, ever since the night she had gone to Angel. Her smile grew as she thought of him. They'd spent the last two weeks getting to know each other once again, which was a little tough considering Buffy's condition.
Their relationship wasn't back to what it has once been, no where near. There were still awkward moments, and the level of trust was still missing, but they were together and they were working their way back to one another. Most of the time they spent together was just used to talk.
Angel had done most of the talking, actually. He told her all about his years in college, his attempts to move on, and his complete failure in doing so. It had hurt her to hear that he'd been with other women, but she was comforted by the knowledge that in the end, he'd come back to her.
So far, the level of intimacy in their renewed relationship was at a minimum. They'd only shared a few innocent kisses. And although Angel had shared her bed more than a few times in the past two weeks, nothing had happened between them. It was a relief to her, in a way.
Her mind was still in too much of a state of confusion to engage in that type of intimacy. It was still a daily struggle dealing with the fact that four years worth of events were missing from her memory. And she still had a great deal of suspicion that the others were hiding things from her, even Angel. But she didn't push. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to know what they were hiding. If it was bad enough to keep from her, then maybe she really didn't want to know.
Having Angel back in her life, though, had made things so much better. He would hold her as she cried and take her anger over stupid things like not remembering where something in the house was. Almost every day he would come to the house straight from work and spent hours with her, sometimes staying through the night. Buffy couldn't help but be glad that she had gone to him that night two weeks ago.
She glanced at herself in the mirror again. Her skin was started to tan nicely from the days spent at the beach recently with the gang, and her face had lost the sallow, gaunt look to it due to Angel's determinedness to get her to take better care of herself. He could be a bit over protective, but she didn't mind all that much.
Grabbing her sweater, Buffy left her bathroom and headed downstairs. Willow had called the gang over, saying she needed to tell them all something. Buffy had no idea what the meeting was about, she just hopped that everything was okay with her best friend.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Fifteen minutes later the entire gang was present in the living room at the Giles' house. Willow and Oz sat together on the loveseat. Angel was seated in a plush chair with Buffy cradled in his lap, and Xander and Cordelia sat side by side on the larger couch in the room.
Willow's gaze landed on Buffy and Angel for a moment. She couldn't have been happier for her two friends. They were meant for each other. When Angel had left like he did five years earlier it hadn't made sense to any of them and she hated Angel for hurting Buffy as he had. She knew his reasons now, and although they weren't the best, she could somewhat understand why he did it. She was just happy that they had found their way back to each other.
Xander's words interrupted her internal thoughts. "So, Willster, what's the big meeting for?"
She didn't answer immediately, instead glancing over to Oz. He nodded his head almost imperceptibly to her. So she focused her attention back onto her friends.
"Umm, Oz and I have something to tell all of you," she spoke nervously.
Both Buffy and Cordelia looked at her curiously while the two men just looked to their friends. Willow fidgeted under their stares as she gathered her thoughts.
"Well, are you going to tell us?" Cordelia asked bluntly.
"Umm, yeah. Well, you know that I haven't been feeling that great lately, and that I've been sleeping a lot..." she trailed off, not able to get the rest out.
"Oh my God! Are you sick?" Buffy shrieked, suddenly worried for Willow.
"Uhh, not exactly," Willow answered. She took a deep breath and clasped one of Oz's hands into hers. "I'm pregnant."
The entire group stared in her in total shock. None of them had been expecting what they had just been told. And it was just a little weird to hear that two of their friends were going to have a baby and be parents.
Xander was the first to come out of his daze to speak. "Wow...that's...wow. Congratulations!"
"I'm so happy for you!" Cordelia told them as she gave Willow a hug. "We are going to have tons and tons of shopping to do!"
Everyone laughed at that statement. Cordy was always looking for a reason to shop.
"Congratulations," Buffy spoke softly, lost in thought.
"Yes, to both of you," agreed Angel, his own thoughts drifting to images of Buffy carrying his child.
"So you guys are okay with this?" Willow questioned, looking at the group.
"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Cordy asked with a scowl.
"Well, you know how some people can get when it comes to young people getting pregnant, especially when they aren't married," Willow shrugged. She was just happy that all of her friends seemed to be taking the news well.
"Are you guys okay with it?" Angel posed to both Willow and Oz.
"We weren't expecting or planning it, but we're not unhappy with it," Oz explained with a smile to Willow.
"Yeah, I mean, we always said we wanted children, just later on. But sometimes Fate has other plans," Willow furthered, her hand drifting to her abdomen that would soon be expanding with Oz's child. "So you guys are really okay with this?"
The gang all chimed in and vowed their support for the couple, although there was one member of the group that was quieter than the rest. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything. Instead they all continued to chat for the next half hour.
After Oz and Willow had left to go see Oz's parents, Cordelia and Xander left to return to their apartment that they shared which left Buffy and Angel alone in the living room.
"You okay?" Angel questioned when he saw Buffy looking a little pale.
"Yeah, I just have and upset stomach," she told him. Her stomach was suddenly churning for no apparent reason.
Angel frowned. "We don't have to go out to dinner if you don't want to," he offered, reminding her of their plans to have a quiet dinner for two out at their favorite restaurant.
"No," Buffy smiled weakly. "I still want to go."
Angel watched as she got off the couch and had to steady herself by grabbing its arm. He couldn't help but be worried about her. She had been doing so well the past week and it looked like she was relapsing a little. But if she wanted to still go out, he would take her. He could never say no to her. At least not anymore.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Their dinner was eaten mostly in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. Mostly they were just enjoying their quiet time together at their favorite Italian restaurant. Angel could tell, though, that there was something bothering Buffy. But he wasn't sure if he should ask her about it.
His concern finally got the best of him. "Are you okay Buffy?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I guess so," she shrugged noncommittally.
"Are you sure?" he repeated, knowing that she had something on her mind.
"Yeah....it's....it's just that I have this strange feeling of déjà vu. I don't know about what. I just can't get the feeling out of my head," she explained, trying to figure out herself what was going on.
Angel looked at her, wondering what she meant. What could be giving her déjà vu? Was it possible that her memories were starting to worm their way back into her consciousness? He wanted to press her further, but wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.
"Do you want to go home?" he asked her while taking her small hand into his, stroking his thumb across her palm.
"No," she sighed as she gave up trying to figure out what was bothering her. "This is our night out, I don't want to ruin it."
"Ok, if you insist," he smiled at her. "Should we order some dessert?"
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
A little while later the two were happily sharing a delectable dessert when their peace was interrupted by a seeming stranger.
"Buffy Summers? Is that you?" the new voice questioned as he walked up to the table.
"Umm, yeah, that's me," Buffy answered, wondering who this guy was. He looked strangely familiar.
"Wow, it's been a long time," he stated with a small leer towards Buffy, completely ignoring Angel.
"And you are," Angel gritted out, disgusted by the way this jerk was ogling his girlfriend.
"Parker Abrams," the man stuck out his hand to Angel.
"Angel Malloy," Angel stated, shaking the man's hand firmly.
Buffy nervously fidgeted in her seat. It wasn't lost on her the way he was perusing her body. Who the hell was this guy? She searched her memory but she couldn't remember him or anything about him, but there was a sense that she should know him. Had she been friends with him or something the past four years?
Parker studied Angel for a minute, checking the guy out. "So this is the new guy, huh?" he laughed crudely.
"What's that supposed to mean," Angel narrowed his eyes at the jerk in front of him.
"Nothing, man. Just a question," Parker said simply, not seeing anything wrong with his actions.
"Well, then to answer your question, yes I am the new, or I guess you could say, old guy," Angel answered sharply wondering how this guy knew Buffy.
Buffy watched the scene before her. Her head was started to spin, making her feel incredibly dizzy. She reached up and placed a hand on her head, hoping to quell the throbbing ache beginning to form.
"Some advice, buddy, on sweet little Buffy, here," smirked Parker with a glance to Buffy. "The word is stamina. I mean, definitely a bunny in the sack, but later on, well. You know the difference between a freshman girl and a toilet seat? A toilet seat doesn't follow you around after you use it," he finished with a chuckle.
Angel shot out of his seat the second the words left the jerk's mouth. His fist pulled back to punch the asshole when he realized they were in the middle of a restaurant. He quickly stopped himself. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Buffy any more than this guy, Parker, already had.
"Leave, now," Angel gritted out angrily, standing up to his full height in front of Parker.
"Hey, chill out, man. Just giving some friendly advice between us guys," Parker stated, taking a step away from the glaring man.
"Leave!" Angel ordered. To his relief, the Parker guy turned and walked away. When he looked back to Buffy he was shocked at what he saw.
Buffy was still seated at the table, but every ounce of color had drained from her face and tears steadily streamed down her cheeks. Angel stared in alarm He knew what the guy had said was awful but he hadn't thought she would take it that badly.
"Buffy?" he stated worriedly.
But she didn't hear him. Her hands began to shake uncontrollably. The fork she'd been tightly grasping in her left hand suddenly dropped and clanked onto the plate in front of her.
"Oh my God," she whispered to herself hoarsely as images plagued her mind.
Angel began to move to her side. "Buffy, baby, what's wrong?"
Her eyes shot up as she heard him this time. Instead of responding, she leapt out of her chair, knocking it over in the process. She stumbled slightly, and looked at Angel for a second before turning and dashing out of the restaurant, her sobs resonating to everyone present.
"Buffy!" Angel shouted, but she was already out the door.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
TBC!...feedback happily welcomed :)
AN3: The line quoted was from the season 4 ep 'The Initiative'.
