Title: A Sunnydale Tale
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: None.
Summary: In 1998, Angel befriends Cordelia when the going gets tough.
By nine she was satisfied by her appearance. She'd blow dried her hair and curled it so it lay long and loose down her back. She'd painted her eyes dark with makeup and accented her cheekbones but she left her lips pale and glossy.
With a little body shimmer on her shoulders and cheekbones she was ready.
She slipped her dress on over her head and stood back to eye the finished picture in the mirror.
The weight she'd lost in the past few months had made her too skinny, in her opinion, but all her curves were still there, and in the right place.
"Okay, so I look good." She told her appearance. "Maybe I could look better if I didn't have that whole startled rabbit in headlights look in my eyes."
She shook her hair and pulled her dress down around her chest. "Go get 'em Chase."
She opened the bathroom door and went to meet Angel.
"Wow." Was his first word. "You look."
"Perfect? Beautiful? Amazing? Gorgeous?" She suggested, smiling.
"All of the above." He told her. "You look so beautiful."
She smiled wider. "I could say the same for you."
He held out his arm for her. "Your carriage awaits."
She took his arm firmly. "We can't keep it waiting then."
They went into the school gym as Aerosmith's 'Walk this Way' blasted over the speakers.
They posed for photos at the door.
"You do photograph, right?" She whispered in his ear as they found a table and sat down.
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but not too well."
"You're blurry or something?"
"No, I just the seeing myself in photographs." He grinned.
"And here I was thinking that my vampire was completely at ease in his own fangs." She teased.
He took her hand under the table, squeezing her fingers gently. "Did I mention you look really beautiful?"
"Once or twice on the way over here." She told him softly.
"Once or twice what?" A voice asked from behind them.
"Xander, hi." Cordelia smiled. "And Anya, hi."
"I'm having a fabulous time, how about you?" Anya asked.
"Good so far." Angel answered.
She seemed to be practically bouncing on the spot whiles Xander was tugging at his shirt collars awkwardly.
"Well, I can't waste anymore time talking." Anya told them. "This is my one and only prom, as of yet anyway, I need to go enjoy it. Xander, you're going to dance with me again."
"Do you know her?" Angel asked when they'd gone.
"Vaguely. She's new here, she does seem nice. A bit crazy. But who am I to judge?" She shrugged.
"You're not crazy." He told her tolerantly. "And you are going to prove it by dancing with me."
"I thought you didn't dance?" She asked in amazement."
"I'll make an exception." He smiled and stood up.
He held out his hand, which she accepted.
They moved onto the dance floor, where a relatively slow song had just begun to play.
He wrapped one arm around her waist to pull her to him and took her hand in his and pressed it against his chest.
They began to move slowly to the music, which seemed to be moving faster than they were.
Cordelia noticed several people giving her strange looks, mostly curiosity. "Is everyone in the room looking at us?"
"No, just you."
"Really?" She panicked.
"Only because you're so beautiful." He told her.
"You're a charmer." She smiled, relaxing.
She saw Giles stood near the food with the other watcher, Wesley. She waved and smiled.
"Are you picking up guys over my shoulder?" He asked, feeling the movement of her hand on his shoulder.
She laughed. "Only Giles."
"That's okay then."
"You'd share me with Giles?"
"I'd share you with nobody." He told her honestly. "But Giles is old, I don't have to worry."
"Giles is pretty hot."
"What?" He exclaimed, holding her at arms length.
"Well, for an old guy." She shrugged.
He pulled her back to his chest. "That's okay then."
"It is?"
"I'm older." He told her smugly.
"Luckily for me you don't look it." She concluded with a smile.
She felt his hand press into her lower back, drawing her further to him.
She smiled. "This is what prom should be about. Being together with someone you love. Knowing that you've got all your exams behind you so you can relax and enjoy yourself. And also knowing that your about to leave your hell mouth hometown is also a big plus."
He laughed. "I guess it is."
The music stopped as an honours student got up onto the stage.
"What's going on?" Angel whispered.
"Every year people nominate people to win an award." She whispered back. "This is where they announce the winners."
The student on stage began to announce the awards for Class Clown and certain other seemingly useless awards.
"What do they win?" Angel asked her.
"A trophy with their name and award engraved on it." She told him, watching as one of her old friends got up on stage to be awarded Most Popular Student. If she'd never have gone out with Xander.
"The next award is a new category this year." A new voice began.
She looked back to the stage to see Jonathan, one of the audio visual geeks, stood at the microphone.
"This winner has been voted for by several students, by letters put in the voting box suggesting making a new category." He continued. "The Student Council asked me to read this out."
He opened a piece of paper and began to read. "This student has been through hell. She has been through something that no-one should have to but she did it will grace and with strength."
Cordelia felt Angel's arm tighten around her waist and felt her mouth go dry.
"For this award there is no trophy. The actions of the students have prompted the Sunnydale Government to take action. There will be a clinic opening off Main Street to help women who are suffering from abuse, violence and violation. The Student Council would like me to name Cordelia Chase as the Strongest Student in Sunnydale History. The clinic will be named accordingly."
Cordelia felt her eyes tearing up.
The students around her began to clap and smile, until the whole gym was clapping.
She looked around and saw Xander, Willow, Oz, Giles and Anya all smiling at her. Xander had a wistful look on his face. Then she saw Buffy. Cordelia smiled slightly and the slayer smiled back.
The music started playing again and everyone started to dance again.
Angel took her back in his arms.
"Did you have anything to do with that?" She asked his shoulder.
"I might have mentioned it to someone. And then they might have mentioned it to someone." He told her, a smile in his voice.
"So basically you did it?"
He nodded. "I guess you could say that. You're not mad are you?"
She shook her head. "No, other girls are going to benefit from what happened to me, that's really good." She rested her head against his chest. "I never knew that they cared about me that much."
"They might not show it but its there."
She looked up into his eyes and smiled. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
He smiled back. "You were you."
Their eyes locked and she felt the familiar tug of her heart.
His eyes darted down to her lips, quick but not fast enough so that she didn't see.
She licked her lips and they parted slightly. With frustrating slowness he lowered his head until his mouth hovered over hers. "Are you sure?" He whispered.
Her answer was to press her head upwards so their lips joined.
His hand snaked to her lower back while hers slipped around his neck.
It was their first kiss. A kiss of longing and tenderness. Of exploration and love. Passion crept to the surface followed by a feeling of intimacy neither of them had ever felt before.
They broke apart gently. Cordelia was breathless.
Their foreheads rested together, their eyes locked. "Would saying wow be totally inappropriate right now?" She breathed.
"I don't think so."
"Good." She closed her eyes again and instantly felt his lips on hers again.
She met him with equal passion and energy until she was forced to break apart from him for air. Her heart was thudding in her chest and she could hear blood rushing in her ears.
"Are you okay?" He asked, a small smile on his lips.
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He reached out to pull her into a hug.
She stood up on tiptoes so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "I am so happy." She whispered.
"I love you." He whispered back.
Over his shoulder Cordelia saw Buffy staring at them. When she saw Cordelia looking at her she turned and ran out of the gym, leaving a troubled looking Giles behind.
She lowered herself back onto the heels of her feet and they began dancing to the music again.
Graduation loomed.
It seemed that every waking moment for the Scoobies was spent in the library researching and making up battle plans.
Luckily, Faith and the Mayor had kept a low profile, causing no more problems for Buffy to deal with.
Cordelia met Angel, who came in through the sewers, in the library during lunch to help research.
Buffy had chosen to ignore their relationship and kept their conversations limited to ascension talk.
"So." Cordelia asked the lunchtime the day before graduation. "What do you want me to do?"
Buffy looked at her like she'd grown two heads. "Do?"
"Yeah, stake, fire a crossbow, bare hand fight?"
Buffy snorted. "You? Do something useful? Right. Why don't you just run and make it one less corpse I have to be guilty about?"
"She's been training with me." Angel butted in. "She can fight when she has to."
She threw up her hands. "Fine, if you want to get yourself killed you're welcome to but don't come haunting me when you can't put on your make up."
"Buffy." Giles warned.
"What?" She asked. "I'm supposed to be happy that Queen C decides to get herself killed at one of the biggest fights I've ever come up against? Not going to happen." She turned to Cordelia. "Here's a stake, try not to get a splinter, I'd hate you to die with bad nails."
Cordelia an eyebrow but took the stake anyway. "Look Buffy, you have some of the geeks, freaks and rejects in the school fighting for you tomorrow. You'd think that you'd be at least a little grateful for the help of someone who can actually fight." Buffy looked like she was about to interrupt so she held up a finger. "No, you've had your say, now it's mine. I might not be able to fight well but I can fight. And even if I take out one vamp tomorrow that's one less than you have to worry about and one more helpless student that gets to live. Now, if you will excuse Angel and I, we're going to go make out."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair, taking him up the stairs and into the library stacks. He was shaking his head at her.
"What?" She asked, a smirk on her face.
"That was pretty harsh." He reproached.
"Like she didn't deserve it!" She argued and placed one hand on her hip, sticking it out to the side.
He made a so-so motion with his hand.
"And besides, it shows that I'm getting back to my former self and you can't argue with that." She told him smugly.
He smiled. "No, I can't."
"Good." She grinned.
He pulled her towards him. "Did you mention making out?"
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: None.
Summary: In 1998, Angel befriends Cordelia when the going gets tough.
By nine she was satisfied by her appearance. She'd blow dried her hair and curled it so it lay long and loose down her back. She'd painted her eyes dark with makeup and accented her cheekbones but she left her lips pale and glossy.
With a little body shimmer on her shoulders and cheekbones she was ready.
She slipped her dress on over her head and stood back to eye the finished picture in the mirror.
The weight she'd lost in the past few months had made her too skinny, in her opinion, but all her curves were still there, and in the right place.
"Okay, so I look good." She told her appearance. "Maybe I could look better if I didn't have that whole startled rabbit in headlights look in my eyes."
She shook her hair and pulled her dress down around her chest. "Go get 'em Chase."
She opened the bathroom door and went to meet Angel.
"Wow." Was his first word. "You look."
"Perfect? Beautiful? Amazing? Gorgeous?" She suggested, smiling.
"All of the above." He told her. "You look so beautiful."
She smiled wider. "I could say the same for you."
He held out his arm for her. "Your carriage awaits."
She took his arm firmly. "We can't keep it waiting then."
They went into the school gym as Aerosmith's 'Walk this Way' blasted over the speakers.
They posed for photos at the door.
"You do photograph, right?" She whispered in his ear as they found a table and sat down.
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but not too well."
"You're blurry or something?"
"No, I just the seeing myself in photographs." He grinned.
"And here I was thinking that my vampire was completely at ease in his own fangs." She teased.
He took her hand under the table, squeezing her fingers gently. "Did I mention you look really beautiful?"
"Once or twice on the way over here." She told him softly.
"Once or twice what?" A voice asked from behind them.
"Xander, hi." Cordelia smiled. "And Anya, hi."
"I'm having a fabulous time, how about you?" Anya asked.
"Good so far." Angel answered.
She seemed to be practically bouncing on the spot whiles Xander was tugging at his shirt collars awkwardly.
"Well, I can't waste anymore time talking." Anya told them. "This is my one and only prom, as of yet anyway, I need to go enjoy it. Xander, you're going to dance with me again."
"Do you know her?" Angel asked when they'd gone.
"Vaguely. She's new here, she does seem nice. A bit crazy. But who am I to judge?" She shrugged.
"You're not crazy." He told her tolerantly. "And you are going to prove it by dancing with me."
"I thought you didn't dance?" She asked in amazement."
"I'll make an exception." He smiled and stood up.
He held out his hand, which she accepted.
They moved onto the dance floor, where a relatively slow song had just begun to play.
He wrapped one arm around her waist to pull her to him and took her hand in his and pressed it against his chest.
They began to move slowly to the music, which seemed to be moving faster than they were.
Cordelia noticed several people giving her strange looks, mostly curiosity. "Is everyone in the room looking at us?"
"No, just you."
"Really?" She panicked.
"Only because you're so beautiful." He told her.
"You're a charmer." She smiled, relaxing.
She saw Giles stood near the food with the other watcher, Wesley. She waved and smiled.
"Are you picking up guys over my shoulder?" He asked, feeling the movement of her hand on his shoulder.
She laughed. "Only Giles."
"That's okay then."
"You'd share me with Giles?"
"I'd share you with nobody." He told her honestly. "But Giles is old, I don't have to worry."
"Giles is pretty hot."
"What?" He exclaimed, holding her at arms length.
"Well, for an old guy." She shrugged.
He pulled her back to his chest. "That's okay then."
"It is?"
"I'm older." He told her smugly.
"Luckily for me you don't look it." She concluded with a smile.
She felt his hand press into her lower back, drawing her further to him.
She smiled. "This is what prom should be about. Being together with someone you love. Knowing that you've got all your exams behind you so you can relax and enjoy yourself. And also knowing that your about to leave your hell mouth hometown is also a big plus."
He laughed. "I guess it is."
The music stopped as an honours student got up onto the stage.
"What's going on?" Angel whispered.
"Every year people nominate people to win an award." She whispered back. "This is where they announce the winners."
The student on stage began to announce the awards for Class Clown and certain other seemingly useless awards.
"What do they win?" Angel asked her.
"A trophy with their name and award engraved on it." She told him, watching as one of her old friends got up on stage to be awarded Most Popular Student. If she'd never have gone out with Xander.
"The next award is a new category this year." A new voice began.
She looked back to the stage to see Jonathan, one of the audio visual geeks, stood at the microphone.
"This winner has been voted for by several students, by letters put in the voting box suggesting making a new category." He continued. "The Student Council asked me to read this out."
He opened a piece of paper and began to read. "This student has been through hell. She has been through something that no-one should have to but she did it will grace and with strength."
Cordelia felt Angel's arm tighten around her waist and felt her mouth go dry.
"For this award there is no trophy. The actions of the students have prompted the Sunnydale Government to take action. There will be a clinic opening off Main Street to help women who are suffering from abuse, violence and violation. The Student Council would like me to name Cordelia Chase as the Strongest Student in Sunnydale History. The clinic will be named accordingly."
Cordelia felt her eyes tearing up.
The students around her began to clap and smile, until the whole gym was clapping.
She looked around and saw Xander, Willow, Oz, Giles and Anya all smiling at her. Xander had a wistful look on his face. Then she saw Buffy. Cordelia smiled slightly and the slayer smiled back.
The music started playing again and everyone started to dance again.
Angel took her back in his arms.
"Did you have anything to do with that?" She asked his shoulder.
"I might have mentioned it to someone. And then they might have mentioned it to someone." He told her, a smile in his voice.
"So basically you did it?"
He nodded. "I guess you could say that. You're not mad are you?"
She shook her head. "No, other girls are going to benefit from what happened to me, that's really good." She rested her head against his chest. "I never knew that they cared about me that much."
"They might not show it but its there."
She looked up into his eyes and smiled. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
He smiled back. "You were you."
Their eyes locked and she felt the familiar tug of her heart.
His eyes darted down to her lips, quick but not fast enough so that she didn't see.
She licked her lips and they parted slightly. With frustrating slowness he lowered his head until his mouth hovered over hers. "Are you sure?" He whispered.
Her answer was to press her head upwards so their lips joined.
His hand snaked to her lower back while hers slipped around his neck.
It was their first kiss. A kiss of longing and tenderness. Of exploration and love. Passion crept to the surface followed by a feeling of intimacy neither of them had ever felt before.
They broke apart gently. Cordelia was breathless.
Their foreheads rested together, their eyes locked. "Would saying wow be totally inappropriate right now?" She breathed.
"I don't think so."
"Good." She closed her eyes again and instantly felt his lips on hers again.
She met him with equal passion and energy until she was forced to break apart from him for air. Her heart was thudding in her chest and she could hear blood rushing in her ears.
"Are you okay?" He asked, a small smile on his lips.
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He reached out to pull her into a hug.
She stood up on tiptoes so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "I am so happy." She whispered.
"I love you." He whispered back.
Over his shoulder Cordelia saw Buffy staring at them. When she saw Cordelia looking at her she turned and ran out of the gym, leaving a troubled looking Giles behind.
She lowered herself back onto the heels of her feet and they began dancing to the music again.
Graduation loomed.
It seemed that every waking moment for the Scoobies was spent in the library researching and making up battle plans.
Luckily, Faith and the Mayor had kept a low profile, causing no more problems for Buffy to deal with.
Cordelia met Angel, who came in through the sewers, in the library during lunch to help research.
Buffy had chosen to ignore their relationship and kept their conversations limited to ascension talk.
"So." Cordelia asked the lunchtime the day before graduation. "What do you want me to do?"
Buffy looked at her like she'd grown two heads. "Do?"
"Yeah, stake, fire a crossbow, bare hand fight?"
Buffy snorted. "You? Do something useful? Right. Why don't you just run and make it one less corpse I have to be guilty about?"
"She's been training with me." Angel butted in. "She can fight when she has to."
She threw up her hands. "Fine, if you want to get yourself killed you're welcome to but don't come haunting me when you can't put on your make up."
"Buffy." Giles warned.
"What?" She asked. "I'm supposed to be happy that Queen C decides to get herself killed at one of the biggest fights I've ever come up against? Not going to happen." She turned to Cordelia. "Here's a stake, try not to get a splinter, I'd hate you to die with bad nails."
Cordelia an eyebrow but took the stake anyway. "Look Buffy, you have some of the geeks, freaks and rejects in the school fighting for you tomorrow. You'd think that you'd be at least a little grateful for the help of someone who can actually fight." Buffy looked like she was about to interrupt so she held up a finger. "No, you've had your say, now it's mine. I might not be able to fight well but I can fight. And even if I take out one vamp tomorrow that's one less than you have to worry about and one more helpless student that gets to live. Now, if you will excuse Angel and I, we're going to go make out."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair, taking him up the stairs and into the library stacks. He was shaking his head at her.
"What?" She asked, a smirk on her face.
"That was pretty harsh." He reproached.
"Like she didn't deserve it!" She argued and placed one hand on her hip, sticking it out to the side.
He made a so-so motion with his hand.
"And besides, it shows that I'm getting back to my former self and you can't argue with that." She told him smugly.
He smiled. "No, I can't."
"Good." She grinned.
He pulled her towards him. "Did you mention making out?"
