Something Beautiful
Chapter Nine: There Have Been Saner Moments

Wes shut the door of his apartment and wandered into the kitchen as though in a dream. He opened the cupboards and groaned, turning away, since practically everything in there had been recently bought by Harmony who had insisted he worked too hard to do a proper shop.

He went into the living room and sank onto the couch, grabbing a cushion to hug to his middle. Only there was a sprinkle of glitter on the cushion from the time Harmony had come round to play Rayman 3 on his Playstation.

The bedroom was out of bounds, given that his closet was stocked up on shirts and suits on her orders. The only safe place was the bathroom and Wesley didn't think that perching on the cold edge of the bathtub was going to improve his mood.

It wasn't that he was in a bad mood; it was just that he was ever so slightly stunned. Well, maybe a lot stunned. Or possibly downright staggered by this revelation.

And then Angel, in his wisdom, had decided that the only possible way around was this situation was either for him to tell Harmony that nothing was ever going to happen or fire her. Which was typical of Angel, really, he was always jumping in feet first with no thought to another option. Not that there was another option. Well, there was, but that really wasn't an option.

Honestly, Wesley really didn't understand women.

He had never been entirely sure of what Virginia had seen in him, though he had the suspicion that she had been caught up in the romance of the situation.

Cordelia had been, and Fred continued to be, a source of puzzlement, not because they didn't get on or he didn't understand them – he thought that he got them quite well – it was just that he wondered what on earth went on in their heads at times.

Lilah had been, from lustful start to painful finish, something that was hardly a liaison to brag about, despite how he had felt about her.

Then there was Buffy and Faith, who, for a time, had been the main women in his life. Given the absolute failure of that period of his life, they were hardly an argument for his prowess with the opposite sex.

All in all, Wesley wasn't exactly renowned for doing well were women were concerned – they either hated him, died, dumped him or said he was just a good friend. Which was why the third option was such a non-starter.

His third option being that he could give into Harmony's desires. That instead of being friends, they became... Boyfriend and girlfriend – something which, although accurate, to Wesley's mind sounded hopelessly childish. Or lovers, the mere thought of which made Wesley – who was by no means a prude – blush, because it was like lusting after a best friend.

And yet… Well, Wes wasn't about to lie and say he wasn't lonely. No, that wasn't the right word. Lately, he had been anything but lonely. What with the revival of his friendship with Gunn and Angel, the companionship of mornings spent in Fred's lab and Harmony's presence, he could hardly say that he was lonely.

But it had been a long time since Lilah. And he didn't just miss the sex, he missed the banter, the feeling they established between them that was warm and filling. He missed greeting someone with a kiss, waking up with someone, looking at someone you know is remembering the night before in as much detail as you. He wasn't going to lie to himself and say that he didn't miss it.

But he didn't think that Harmony was the sanest choice of girlfriend. It wasn't that she was a vampire, he didn't mind that, in fact, it never registered with him that she was a vampire when they start talking.

It was who she was that was the problem. They were so different, some might say too different, to ever be able to have a relationship beyond friendship. They had completely opposing personalities. Yes, they had gotten this far as friends quite happily, but that was different, wasn't it? Being friends and being lovers were two completely different scenarios.

Though, that wasn't true according to Fred, who had just that morning said: "What I like best about being with Knox is that we were friends first. And we're still friends, but with extra slushiness, y'know?"

He sighed. The problem was that Fred was far too often right about things.

"Harmony's looking pretty today," she had said a little while before he left her lab, giving him a sly look as he nodded in agreement.

Yes. Fred was far, far too often right about things.

Angel was staring broodily out of his office at Harmony's desk where she was happily chattering away on the phone. He was waiting for Wesley's appearance, since Wes had told him only an hour ago that he had come to a decision concerning Harmony.

Finally, Wesley strode into the lobby and leaned over Harmony's desk, face stern. Angel watched, morbidly fascinated. This would be where he broke the news gently, but firmly.

Harmony was staring at him, eyes wide. She would be hurt, of course, but in situations such as this, someone always gets hurt. She stood up slowly – now here was the part where she lost her temper, yelled at him. That would be a natural reaction, Angel had seen it before.

She reached over the desk to grab Wesley's upper arms. Oh, aggression, Angel had been afraid of that. Then there was kissing, which of course was what Angel had expect-

Kissing?

Harmony was clinging to Wesley, who had caught hold of her arms and both were currently engaged in what Angel dimly remembered was referred to as tonsil hockey.

He blinked, once, twice, and still it didn't waver. His eyes were not deceiving him. Wesley and Harmony were kissing. He stood up, strode out of his office and froze, unable to speak, too stunned to make the connection of brain to mouth.

Fred and Gunn were deep in conversation as they walked down the corridor towards the lobby and stopped in front of Angel. Gunn glanced at Angel then followed his gaze to where Wes and Harmony remained lip-locked.

"Am I… Are they kissing in public?" Gunn asked.

"Hey!" Spike said, running down the corridor towards them, with an eager Lorne trailing after him. "I just heard that Wes and Harm are engaged in serious – oh," he stopped, seeing the couple. "Right. Forgot how fast that grapevine works. Well, go Wes."

"And go Harmony," Lorne added. "The man's a catch since the suits came into play."

"Angel, are you all right?" Fred asked.

"They're kissing," Angel replied distantly. "With lips."

"S'what generally happens," Spike replied with a smirk. "Though I have to say that when it comes to kissing, Harm can be rather imaginative."

"I think it's sweet," Fred declared. "They're good together. I was talking to Wesley about it this morning and I told him if this is what he wanted, he should go for it."

"He wanted to date Harmony?" Spike asked, raising incredulous eyebrows.

"Well," Fred smiled. "He said it went against all his saner instincts, but he does like her. She's honest, talking to her about what happened with his dad helped him, knowing she understood because of what happened that time with her and the dead guy in her bed. It's Harmony he's got to thank for giving his dress sense an overhaul; she got him a new PA, ended the gay rumours about him, and has hung out with him when the rest of us have been too busy. She's funny, honest, as stubborn as he is and, guys, I think all four of you should admit that she's hot."

Gunn shuffled, Angel looked too stunned to have heard, Spike was nodding in reluctant consent and Lorne was giving Harmony an appraisal.

"You've got a point, Freddikins," Lorne said. "The girl's quite the little beauty."

"'Til she opens her mouth," Spike muttered, receiving a glare from Fred.

"But they…" Angel turned off. "Have we slipped into a parallel universe or something? Aren't you guys worried about this?"

"Personally, I'd say she was a step up from Lilah," Gunn replied. "Yeah, she might kill him, but she won't sign him over to the devil as well."

"Ah, Angel."

Angel turned to face Wesley, who was grinning like a loon, with Harmony's arm tucked through his.

"I'd like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Harmony Kendall," Wes continued. "I'm sure you're very happy for us."

"I'm happy…?" Angel stared, then gave them a curt nod. "Happy, yeah. It's… great. I, uh, have to go… work…" Angel blurted, grabbing hold of the door of his office and practically throwing himself through it.

Harmony giggled, Wes chuckled and the others began to laugh along.

"You two are evil," Gunn said, putting his arm chummily around Wes's shoulder. "You could've warned the poor guy that you went on your first date last night."

"Oh yeah," Harmony nodded. "But then we wouldn't have seen that expression on his face!"