Happy New Year!
As promised (and only very slightly belated) the next part of Hollywood… previously everyone went out to club and Angel got jealous from afar of Buffy dancing with Lindsey.
Weasy
Part Eight
//Beyond our lives, beyond our own laughs and loves there are always people watching… not gods or heroes, but everyday people on the street that are affected by our attitudes, our styles and behaviour…//
When Buffy finally returned to the bar, Angel immediately stepped down from his bar stool, staggering a little under the influence of the alcohol he kept a careful distance away from her. She smiled nervously, unsure of his reaction to her and how wise her actions had just been. But then if she was going to be with Angel, even on their limited timescale she wasn't going to let him stop her from having friends. Powered by her new confidence, she made her way to Angel's side and carefully helped him away from the bar.
"You really shouldn't drink so much." She told him quietly. Purposefully keeping her attentions away from his soft brown eyes.
"I never used to, before."
"I drive men to drink… yay." She echoed sarcastically, feeling the anger in her voice Angel spun her round to face him.
"That's not true." He pinned her with his gaze and she drowned again, suspecting heavily the she would always act this way around him, she kissed him gently, but instead of melting under her touch, he stiffened and pulled away. Nose crinkling in frustration, Buffy glared at him. "Why are you being like this?"
"Like what?"
"Hot and cold all the time…"
"I assure you, I haven't been anything but hot since I met you."
The temperature raised a notch, "That's not what it feels like." Buffy finally murmured in reply.
"It's a little difficult for me to obey your every whim when you're mating with Lindsey on the dance floor." Buffy shoved him away outraged at his words. Without her support he stumbled heavily and grabbed onto Spike to keep his balance.
"We weren't *mating*."
"That's not what it feels like." He echoed.
Buffy threw her hands up in the air in frustration stalking over to him she jabbed at him with her finger. "Jeez, jealous much? You're the one who said this wasn't a long term thing, I don't see why I should take it seriously." With that she turned on her heel and stalked out of Caritas into the cool night air.
When Buffy sat down at the breakfast table in the morning tension was thick in the air, half the mis-fitted congregation appeared to be nursing severe hangovers and were growling into mugs of thick coffee, the other half were doing their best to make as little noise as possible. Helping herself to the same coffee she heaped in five spoonfuls of sugar to drown the taste of it, and pulled a pancake onto her plate. She whispered "Morning" to Xander who clapped his hands over his ears in response, a stifled moan coming from his lips. Buffy and her mom shared a silent laugh.
Angel came in a moment later he glanced at her before pulling up a stool across the table next to Faith. He appeared none the worse for wear after his night of vodka abuse, but she had expected little else. For someone who claimed to have only recently become a heavy drinker he showed remarkable ease with it. Anymore contemplation on Buffy's part was interrupted by Gunn marching into the room, slamming the door in his wake (which was awarded with another round of whimpers) he passed around the table dropping letters in front of their owners, having deposited most of the pile in front of Giles he crossed back around the table and dropped the final letter… in Buffy's hands. Mystified that anyone would know her present residence Buffy turned it over in her hands before ripping the envelope open. Swiftly unfolding the page she scanned the text before dropping it back onto her plate.
"What does it say?" Willow quietly inquired, when Buffy brought her eyes back up to those around her she realised the attention of everyone in the room was now on her.
"It's uhm, from Gap. They want me to do an ad for them."
"An ad?" Willow echoed.
"Yeah… just uhm dancing and stuff."
"You can't do it." Wes informed her.
"Why not?" Buffy rose indignant.
"The entire purpose of bringing you and your friends here was to keep you out of the hands of the press, by agreeing to this proposition you would be hand delivering yourself straight into the public eye, more so than any other aspiring actress working on adverts, because you're in the public attention anyway… you see why unless you wish to have a future in show business it would simply be lunacy." Wesley finished, stabbing his fork into his pancake as he did so.
"I don't want to be an actress." Buffy agreed.
"Lindsey recommended you?" Angel growled. The letter rapidly crumpled in his fist.
"Way to go B!" Faith laughed, "Using your wily ways to get a job." Buffy and Angel simultaneously glared at her.
"So what if he did?" Buffy shot back, "This is an amazing opportunity I can't just let it pass me by."
Giles reasoned.
"You call this normal?"
The argument had raged for hours but eventually the group split up and headed for opposite corners of the house to cool off. Buffy's mom and Giles had taken Wes downstairs to inspect the hidden door. Gunn had taken Angel, Faith and Spike to work. Willow, Xander, Cordy and Oz had been sent into Los Angeles with some of the security staff to contact their parents. Buffy was grounded. As the clock ticked past twelve and her stomach growled in protest she headed down to the kitchens in search of something to eat.
"I vill not cook dis… dis… vermin!" Yelling echoed across the hallways, Buffy almost turned back but hunger eventually one out and she crept closer to the kitchen. Standing in the doorway Buffy saw that she was not alone in the house, Kat was facing off to Pierre the French cook who's comically red face was bristling in anger. "I 'ave had enough! I vill cook 'ere – no more." With those last words Pierre grabbed a bundle of herbs and marched out the back door.
Kat collapsed at the table in front of a bundle of fabric idly she pocked it. "Leaves his coat… takes the herbs." Dropping her head against the table Kat took in a raged breath tear filled sobs filling the air. Suddenly feeling like an intruder Buffy slipped back into the hallway. "Fine leave. It's what you're good at." Registering that Kat had spoken to her Buffy turned to see her tear swollen eyes boring into her.
"I'm sorry." Buffy whispered.
"Yeah there seems to be a lot of that going around." Kat replied hostility apparent in her voice.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Why are you doing this to my brother?" Kat echoed.
"Angel made his own decisions he can live with them." Buffy shot back stiffly.
Kat's eyes narrowed. "He shouldn't have to live with you using him, there's been enough of that."
Buffy almost laughed in relief, "Is that what you think? Because I assure you I'm not. While I am 'normal' and he is not there is no way for us to ever have anything… real… he said as much himself." Kat's brow crinkled in confusion a gesture so like her brother Buffy was struck speechless for a moment.
"What do you want from him?" She finally asked.
"I want him… but only so much as he would freely give himself…" Buffy sighed and tried again to explain herself better. "I love Angel… and if the only way to be with him is to except all parts of him including the parts where he's famous, then I will."
"If he's famous… and you're famous, then there's nothing to stop you being together." Kat surmised. "This isn't all part of some crazy scheme is it, where it was really you who told the press of Giles' whereabouts all along, is it?"
"Trust me when I say *no*."
"And if all of this happens and you break up anyway…"
"Then that's it. I promise, no crazy stalker like tendencies on my part."
Kat paused then smiled slightly. "That's okay by me then."
Buffy smiled in response, there were no hugs or handshakes and there was certainly a way to go… but it was nice to have someone on her side. "So what's all this with Pierre the French cook?"
"Pierre the not-French cook." Kat corrected. Buffy glanced at her in confusion. "He's not French. He's from Arizona. He thinks the accent and attitude make him more… uhm…"
"Likely to get laid?" Buffy suggested.
Kat laughed shortly. "Yes perhaps. But he was a great chef, and I have no idea how to cook." She added somewhat helplessly.
"Well I can't cook much past toast. But, if you'd like some help I'd love to give it a go. Well, as long as the 'vermin' isn't really rats."
"Are you okay with rabbit?" Buffy nodded in consent, and Kat continued. "Well I'd love the help then… I think there's some cookbooks over there, we could try a… stew?" She hazarded.
"Rabbit stew sounds vaguely familiar."
Having dragged a few of the heavy texts over to the table Buffy and Kat poured over them, occasionally laughing at the strange combinations of food, and at their own inability to understand even the instructions. After a while silence settled over the pair and they began searching more carefully, without realising it Buffy had drifted off into her own thoughts. "Kat." She finally said, breaking the peace. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Kat looked up from her book and smiled reassuringly. "Go ahead."
"I was just wondering, how it was exactly, that no one ever found out about you… before now."
Kat shrugged. "I don't know really… Angel and my mother, Darla… well she was a pretty famous actress and when she got married to Angel's dad it was a big deal, I think somewhere there's a scrapbook with the articles and things in. I remember her saying it was the only time she loved the attention. But after she got married, she only made one more film between all the things that happened family wise, I mean, Angel to start and then being widowed… she lost her interest in it, and so the press lost interest too. There are maybe a few about Angel when he was a baby, but not anything really… intrusive. The attention had disappeared entirely by the time I arrived.
Angel didn't start getting 'big' parts until maybe two years ago, before then he was just… eyecandy mostly, so no one really cared about us until then, at the time I wasn't even here, I went to boarding school in England for a year, I suspect Angel and Giles thought it all would have blown over by the time I came back. But it hadn't."
"Wasn't that horrible? Being in a foreign country on your own?"
"It wasn't so bad really, and it really isn't nearly as strict and scary as books make it out to be, and my friends were all remarkably adept at getting away with anything." Kat smiled to herself as though remembering some incident, and Buffy wondered what it was that had happened.
Instead of asking about it she turned her attention back to the original question. "What about Hemery? Why hasn't someone there said anything?"
"Angel went to Hemery too, you know and he was a 'star-pupil'." Kat rolled her eyes. "He asked if they wouldn't say anything and they agreed. Giles always comes to my parents evenings so none of the other parents know."
"But what about your friends? Do you never invite them round?"
Kat nodded her head. "Except when he's not here, there are a few who know about Angel, but there the people I've known forever, family friends and such. Oh and a few of my ex's…"
"Why didn't they tell? Seems like a perfect opportunity for spitefulness between ex's." Buffy argued.
"I don't know many guys that are going to admit to newspapers that they were beaten up."
"Ah good point…" Buffy raked her brain for any other loophole. "Uhm, what about your neighbours?"
"It's a good neighbourhood, Angel went round and asked them all, perfectly politely, not to say anything when I came back from England and they all agreed. All the housewives are head over for him, so I don't think it took much convincing but maybe the odd check here and there. The gates are too far away from the house for anyone to take even long-range photographs and the security staff and very good at their jobs. Everything from the window panes to the cars are designed to make us all invisible, and it worked, for a while at least."
"Doesn't that bother you?" Buffy finally broached. "If I had a brother I wouldn't want to always be in his shadow… it just seems kinda trippy."
"Yes. It does bother me." Kat replied honestly. "Truthfully I'm not so very upset that the truth is out."
//an artist will capture each moment with perfect symmetry, a circle of reaction and opposite reaction… though in truth it is equally often true that the reaction is more parallel than opposite, because the rules are well… more like guidelines really.//