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Part 4
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~about a month and a half later~
"Doyle!" Buffy screeched as she heard objects inside the refrigerator clanking together. "What are you looking for?"
Doyle pulled his head out of the fridge, a heavy scowl on his face. "Don't ya two have anything ta drink with a li'l kick to it?"
Buffy shook her head at the question. In the two months she'd known the half-demon, it was completely obvious that he fulfilled the stereotype of being a liquor-loving Irishman.
"Well...considering that I'm pregnant, and also the fact that we can't afford booze, you're lucky we have anything at all to drink," she smirked at him, ignoring the loud groan that came from her friend.
Doyle skulked back over to the couch, mumbling under his breath about needing a good shot of whiskey. He plopped himself down next to Buffy and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, only to have them promptly knocked off by the blonde haired Slayer.
"Don't put your feet there!" she yelled at him. "We have to eat on that table."
"Oh! Sorry," he apologized guiltily.
"S'ok," shrugged Buffy, adjusting the plate of cookies resting on her ever-expanding abdomen. She knew that she should hate the fact that she was practically twice the size she used to be, but in all honesty, she loved being pregnant. There was something so magical about it.
"Looks like you got your own table there," Doyle, eyes twinkling mischievously, nodded to the plate that comfortably rested on Buffy's belly.
The cookie Buffy had been about to put in her mouth halted its movement. She mock-glared at Doyle, trying her best not to laugh. It was true. Her pregnant stomach made quite a nice table. And it kept her plate of cookies within reach!
"That wasn't nice," she feigned hurt, then threw the cookie in her hand at his head before bursting into giggles.
Doyle shook his head at the Slayer's attitude. He couldn't help the grin that formed on his face. It was nice to see Buffy smiling and laughing. She'd been doing it more lately, and it made him happy to see that. He'd grown to genuinely like the blonde headed girl during the two months he'd known her. And he wouldn't be ashamed to admit that he admired her. Her life was rough, but she managed to survive every roadblock that tried to stop her.
Seeing her smile and laugh was a bit of a relief to. He worried about her. Knowing about all she'd been through, and being around her the first few weeks after he revealed his presence had allowed him to see the pain and sadness she was enveloped by on a daily basis. She was slowly pulling out of it, though. Each day, her mood was a little lighter, her smile a little brighter. Even so, the sparkle still wasn't in her eyes. The hurt was still there. And he knew from Cordelia that there were still many nights that she cried herself to sleep, but she was getting by and that was all that mattered.
"I was jus' pointing a fact out," smirked Doyle, trying to hold back a chuckle.
Buffy rolled her eyes and reached for the remote to turn on the TV when she heard the door to the apartment open. Moments later, Cordy came trudging into the living room. Both Buffy and Doyle cringed at the expression on the brunette's face. She did not look happy.
"Somebody's in a bad mood," Doyle whispered to Buffy.
"Doyle!" Buffy murmured, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "Bad day?" she asked Cordy.
In response, Cordelia only glared at her before sighing and sitting down on the beanbag chair next to the couch. "Bad day doesn't even begin to describe it. Try horrible, crappy, totally sucky...," she trailed off.
"What happened?" Buffy questioned, feeling concerned for her friend's unease.
"There was this really great dress that came into the boutique. A one-of-a-kind knock out dress, but it was $275! I used to be able to afford clothes like that. Of course, that was before Daddy decided to be a criminal," Cordelia groused, a heavy frown on her face. "So I asked my boss if I could pay for it in installments...ya know, like layaway?"
At Buffy's nod, she went on. "She wouldn't go for it. So I couldn't buy the dress. And then some obnoxious twit comes into the store, treats me like crap, and buys my freakin' dress!" the brunette ranted loudly.
Both Buffy and Doyle were trying to hold back their smiles. Cordy may have changed, but she was still the same in a lot of ways. It was more than a little amusing to see someone get so upset over a dress.
"That suc-" Buffy started to say but was cut off when Cordelia continued her rant.
"And then as if that wasn't bad enough, I come home, and that lousy little leech of a landlord hits on me! Again! That's the third time in the past two weeks! I don't want to be in the same room as him let alone go out with him!" she yelled at no one in particular.
"Ugh! That guy is such a troll!" agreed Buffy. He'd tried to ask her out once, but had backed off when he found out she was pregnant. She'd never expected her pregnancy to come in so handy.
"I'm glad I'm a guy," Doyle stated with a frown. How could that prick come on to his Cordelia?...well, not that she was his, but that was a minor detail. At the girls' confused looks, he explained his previous statement. "He can't come on ta me since I'm a guy...err...well, he could, but ya know what I mean."
"Uh huh," nodded Buffy, shuddering slightly as she thought of their gross landlord.
"We *have* to do something about our living situation, Buffy. I don't know how much longer I can deal with this place," Cordy groaned and leaned her head against the arm of the sofa. "Not only do we have to deal with the horny troll, but this morning I found a cockroach in the bathtub!"
"I know, Cordy," conceded Buffy, sighing in frustration. This place had seemed okay for a while, but it just seemed to get worse as time passed. "But what can we do? We can't afford anything better yet with the money we've saved."
"That's another thing!" Cordy shrieked, still wound up from her bad day. "Money! We need more of it!"
"Well, duh!" Buffy rolled her eyes. "I know that, but we don't have a lot of options. Unless you want to be a hooker, which eww, there's not much we can do."
Doyle watched the two friends talk about their financial situation and wished that there was something he could do to help them. This place really wasn't good enough for them, and he really didn't like their landlord. But what could he do? He certainly didn't have any money to give them. He thought for a few minutes when an idea suddenly came to mind. Maybe there was something he could do...
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~a few days later~
"Are you going to tell us where we are going yet?" Cordelia snapped, looking at Doyle with narrowed eyes. The annoying half-demon was being a particular pain in the ass tonight.
"I told yer, we are goin' ta visit a friend of mine," Doyle replied with a sigh. The two had been questioning him non-stop since he'd gone to their apartment earlier that evening.
"Yeah, you already mentioned that," grumbled Cordy, looking mournfully at her now dirty shoes. He hadn't told them they'd be trudging through yucky back alleys!
"Uhh...not that I don't trust you Doyle," Buffy stated cautiously. She'd been quiet for a while, amusing herself by watching her two friends bicker, but she was a little worried about where they were going. "But, you could at least tell us who your friend is, and maybe why we are all going to see him...or her."
"He's just a friend," Doyle shrugged, not looking at either girl. "And just as a warning, he is a demon, so don't got slicin' and dicin'."
"Gee, thanks ever so much for the details!" Cordy muttered under her breath, sharing a look with Buffy. They'd go along with him, for now. He'd never given them a reason not to trust him.
A few minutes later, Doyle's footsteps came to a halt in front of a large, brick building. Not having seen him stop, too busy chatting, both girls walked right into his back. Buffy would have fallen if Doyle hadn't turned and caught her arm at the last minute.
"Next time, tell us you're stopping," scowled Cordy, smoothing down a wrinkle on her shirt.
"Sorry, princess," Doyle smirked, loosening his hold on Buffy's arm. "We're 'ere," he pointed to the building they were standing in front of.
"You're friend lives here?" Buffy asked, studying the building.
"No, he just asked us to meet him here," he told them cryptically before walking up the stone stairs that led to the front door.
The two friends shrugged at each other and followed Doyle up the staircase, but both kept cautious eyes on everything around them. It wasn't dark yet, but that didn't mean there still weren't demons around to cause trouble. So far, they'd not had any trouble, but that could quickly change.
"Whoa!" stated Cordy in awe the second she stepped inside the building. The whole first floor was huge and wide open, and a lot cleaner looking than she would have thought when she first saw the building from the outside.
"Nice place, ain't it?" Doyle smiled at Buffy and Cordy, who were wandering around the open space.
"It's huge," Buffy mumbled, wondering if her voice would echo. They could fit at least five of their apartment in here!
"Doyle! So glad you could make it!" an up-beat voice called out from somewhere to their left.
The three friends turned to face the speaker, two of them finding themselves in shock at the sight. Buffy's eyes were widened in surprise while Cordelia's mouth was hanging wide open. This wasn't quite what they were expecting when Doyle said they were meeting a friend of his. They thought it was someone like him...not a green-skinned, red horned demon wearing the most awful looking electric blue suit they'd ever seen.
Doyle stepped toward his friend and held out his hand, "Of course, we came!"
"Any trouble getting them here?" the demon whispered low enough so that only Doyle could hear.
"What do yer think?' Doyle muttered back with a roll of his eyes.
The tackily dressed demon chuckled and walked toward where Buffy and Cordelia were still standing and staring at him.
"Ladies, nice to meet both of you. My name's Lorne," he smiled widely at them.
Buffy shook herself out of her daze, "Umm, hi?"
"Hello, Sunshine! You must be Buffy," he held out his hand, which Buffy reluctantly shook. She wasn't getting any evil vibes from him, but she was still wary, especially considering Doyle's crypticness about the whole situation.
"Yeah, that's me," Buffy smiled slightly. She'd never before met such a perky demon. It was a little unsettling.
"And you," the green-skinned man turned to Cordy, "must be Cordelia. I've heard a lot about you two."
"Wish I could say the same. Does he know how horrendous that suit is?!?" Cordy muttered under her breath to Buffy.
The blonde stifled a chuckle. She'd wondered the same thing. It truly was an ugly suit, even more so when matched with his green skin.
"So, uh, you're a good demon," the Slayer spoke, trying to break the awkward tension in the room.
"Completely non-violent," Lorne held up his hands in his defense. He could understand their concern. Doyle had told him quite a bit about what the two friends had been through.
"That's, uh, good," Buffy mumbled, feeling uncomfortable, and also glad that she wouldn't have to fight. In her six months pregnant condition, she really didn't think she'd be capable of kicking an eighty-year-old woman's ass, let alone this demon.
"So...I don't suppose," started Cordy, looking at both Doyle and the freaky Lorne-demon, "that either of you want to tell us what we're doing here?"
Lorne turned to look at Doyle, "You didn't tell them?"
"Naw, thought I'd give yer the pleasure," Doyle nodded to him.
"Oh...ok," Lorne shrugged indifferently. "Well, Ladies, I'm here with a...business... opportunity for the both, well three, of you."
"Business opp-...huh?" Cordy stuttered in confusion, while Buffy looked on with curious eyes.
"Yes, a business opportunity. I've been told about your...situation...," Lorne explained carefully. "And I think I have just the thing you need!"
Cordy and Buffy looked at each other in surprise and bewilderment, but there was also a hint of something akin to excitement in their eyes. They had no idea what the demon was proposing, but something inside them was telling them that this was going to be a good thing. Suddenly, they were feeling hope that maybe things were about to get a lot better.
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TBC!
Part 4
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~about a month and a half later~
"Doyle!" Buffy screeched as she heard objects inside the refrigerator clanking together. "What are you looking for?"
Doyle pulled his head out of the fridge, a heavy scowl on his face. "Don't ya two have anything ta drink with a li'l kick to it?"
Buffy shook her head at the question. In the two months she'd known the half-demon, it was completely obvious that he fulfilled the stereotype of being a liquor-loving Irishman.
"Well...considering that I'm pregnant, and also the fact that we can't afford booze, you're lucky we have anything at all to drink," she smirked at him, ignoring the loud groan that came from her friend.
Doyle skulked back over to the couch, mumbling under his breath about needing a good shot of whiskey. He plopped himself down next to Buffy and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, only to have them promptly knocked off by the blonde haired Slayer.
"Don't put your feet there!" she yelled at him. "We have to eat on that table."
"Oh! Sorry," he apologized guiltily.
"S'ok," shrugged Buffy, adjusting the plate of cookies resting on her ever-expanding abdomen. She knew that she should hate the fact that she was practically twice the size she used to be, but in all honesty, she loved being pregnant. There was something so magical about it.
"Looks like you got your own table there," Doyle, eyes twinkling mischievously, nodded to the plate that comfortably rested on Buffy's belly.
The cookie Buffy had been about to put in her mouth halted its movement. She mock-glared at Doyle, trying her best not to laugh. It was true. Her pregnant stomach made quite a nice table. And it kept her plate of cookies within reach!
"That wasn't nice," she feigned hurt, then threw the cookie in her hand at his head before bursting into giggles.
Doyle shook his head at the Slayer's attitude. He couldn't help the grin that formed on his face. It was nice to see Buffy smiling and laughing. She'd been doing it more lately, and it made him happy to see that. He'd grown to genuinely like the blonde headed girl during the two months he'd known her. And he wouldn't be ashamed to admit that he admired her. Her life was rough, but she managed to survive every roadblock that tried to stop her.
Seeing her smile and laugh was a bit of a relief to. He worried about her. Knowing about all she'd been through, and being around her the first few weeks after he revealed his presence had allowed him to see the pain and sadness she was enveloped by on a daily basis. She was slowly pulling out of it, though. Each day, her mood was a little lighter, her smile a little brighter. Even so, the sparkle still wasn't in her eyes. The hurt was still there. And he knew from Cordelia that there were still many nights that she cried herself to sleep, but she was getting by and that was all that mattered.
"I was jus' pointing a fact out," smirked Doyle, trying to hold back a chuckle.
Buffy rolled her eyes and reached for the remote to turn on the TV when she heard the door to the apartment open. Moments later, Cordy came trudging into the living room. Both Buffy and Doyle cringed at the expression on the brunette's face. She did not look happy.
"Somebody's in a bad mood," Doyle whispered to Buffy.
"Doyle!" Buffy murmured, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "Bad day?" she asked Cordy.
In response, Cordelia only glared at her before sighing and sitting down on the beanbag chair next to the couch. "Bad day doesn't even begin to describe it. Try horrible, crappy, totally sucky...," she trailed off.
"What happened?" Buffy questioned, feeling concerned for her friend's unease.
"There was this really great dress that came into the boutique. A one-of-a-kind knock out dress, but it was $275! I used to be able to afford clothes like that. Of course, that was before Daddy decided to be a criminal," Cordelia groused, a heavy frown on her face. "So I asked my boss if I could pay for it in installments...ya know, like layaway?"
At Buffy's nod, she went on. "She wouldn't go for it. So I couldn't buy the dress. And then some obnoxious twit comes into the store, treats me like crap, and buys my freakin' dress!" the brunette ranted loudly.
Both Buffy and Doyle were trying to hold back their smiles. Cordy may have changed, but she was still the same in a lot of ways. It was more than a little amusing to see someone get so upset over a dress.
"That suc-" Buffy started to say but was cut off when Cordelia continued her rant.
"And then as if that wasn't bad enough, I come home, and that lousy little leech of a landlord hits on me! Again! That's the third time in the past two weeks! I don't want to be in the same room as him let alone go out with him!" she yelled at no one in particular.
"Ugh! That guy is such a troll!" agreed Buffy. He'd tried to ask her out once, but had backed off when he found out she was pregnant. She'd never expected her pregnancy to come in so handy.
"I'm glad I'm a guy," Doyle stated with a frown. How could that prick come on to his Cordelia?...well, not that she was his, but that was a minor detail. At the girls' confused looks, he explained his previous statement. "He can't come on ta me since I'm a guy...err...well, he could, but ya know what I mean."
"Uh huh," nodded Buffy, shuddering slightly as she thought of their gross landlord.
"We *have* to do something about our living situation, Buffy. I don't know how much longer I can deal with this place," Cordy groaned and leaned her head against the arm of the sofa. "Not only do we have to deal with the horny troll, but this morning I found a cockroach in the bathtub!"
"I know, Cordy," conceded Buffy, sighing in frustration. This place had seemed okay for a while, but it just seemed to get worse as time passed. "But what can we do? We can't afford anything better yet with the money we've saved."
"That's another thing!" Cordy shrieked, still wound up from her bad day. "Money! We need more of it!"
"Well, duh!" Buffy rolled her eyes. "I know that, but we don't have a lot of options. Unless you want to be a hooker, which eww, there's not much we can do."
Doyle watched the two friends talk about their financial situation and wished that there was something he could do to help them. This place really wasn't good enough for them, and he really didn't like their landlord. But what could he do? He certainly didn't have any money to give them. He thought for a few minutes when an idea suddenly came to mind. Maybe there was something he could do...
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~a few days later~
"Are you going to tell us where we are going yet?" Cordelia snapped, looking at Doyle with narrowed eyes. The annoying half-demon was being a particular pain in the ass tonight.
"I told yer, we are goin' ta visit a friend of mine," Doyle replied with a sigh. The two had been questioning him non-stop since he'd gone to their apartment earlier that evening.
"Yeah, you already mentioned that," grumbled Cordy, looking mournfully at her now dirty shoes. He hadn't told them they'd be trudging through yucky back alleys!
"Uhh...not that I don't trust you Doyle," Buffy stated cautiously. She'd been quiet for a while, amusing herself by watching her two friends bicker, but she was a little worried about where they were going. "But, you could at least tell us who your friend is, and maybe why we are all going to see him...or her."
"He's just a friend," Doyle shrugged, not looking at either girl. "And just as a warning, he is a demon, so don't got slicin' and dicin'."
"Gee, thanks ever so much for the details!" Cordy muttered under her breath, sharing a look with Buffy. They'd go along with him, for now. He'd never given them a reason not to trust him.
A few minutes later, Doyle's footsteps came to a halt in front of a large, brick building. Not having seen him stop, too busy chatting, both girls walked right into his back. Buffy would have fallen if Doyle hadn't turned and caught her arm at the last minute.
"Next time, tell us you're stopping," scowled Cordy, smoothing down a wrinkle on her shirt.
"Sorry, princess," Doyle smirked, loosening his hold on Buffy's arm. "We're 'ere," he pointed to the building they were standing in front of.
"You're friend lives here?" Buffy asked, studying the building.
"No, he just asked us to meet him here," he told them cryptically before walking up the stone stairs that led to the front door.
The two friends shrugged at each other and followed Doyle up the staircase, but both kept cautious eyes on everything around them. It wasn't dark yet, but that didn't mean there still weren't demons around to cause trouble. So far, they'd not had any trouble, but that could quickly change.
"Whoa!" stated Cordy in awe the second she stepped inside the building. The whole first floor was huge and wide open, and a lot cleaner looking than she would have thought when she first saw the building from the outside.
"Nice place, ain't it?" Doyle smiled at Buffy and Cordy, who were wandering around the open space.
"It's huge," Buffy mumbled, wondering if her voice would echo. They could fit at least five of their apartment in here!
"Doyle! So glad you could make it!" an up-beat voice called out from somewhere to their left.
The three friends turned to face the speaker, two of them finding themselves in shock at the sight. Buffy's eyes were widened in surprise while Cordelia's mouth was hanging wide open. This wasn't quite what they were expecting when Doyle said they were meeting a friend of his. They thought it was someone like him...not a green-skinned, red horned demon wearing the most awful looking electric blue suit they'd ever seen.
Doyle stepped toward his friend and held out his hand, "Of course, we came!"
"Any trouble getting them here?" the demon whispered low enough so that only Doyle could hear.
"What do yer think?' Doyle muttered back with a roll of his eyes.
The tackily dressed demon chuckled and walked toward where Buffy and Cordelia were still standing and staring at him.
"Ladies, nice to meet both of you. My name's Lorne," he smiled widely at them.
Buffy shook herself out of her daze, "Umm, hi?"
"Hello, Sunshine! You must be Buffy," he held out his hand, which Buffy reluctantly shook. She wasn't getting any evil vibes from him, but she was still wary, especially considering Doyle's crypticness about the whole situation.
"Yeah, that's me," Buffy smiled slightly. She'd never before met such a perky demon. It was a little unsettling.
"And you," the green-skinned man turned to Cordy, "must be Cordelia. I've heard a lot about you two."
"Wish I could say the same. Does he know how horrendous that suit is?!?" Cordy muttered under her breath to Buffy.
The blonde stifled a chuckle. She'd wondered the same thing. It truly was an ugly suit, even more so when matched with his green skin.
"So, uh, you're a good demon," the Slayer spoke, trying to break the awkward tension in the room.
"Completely non-violent," Lorne held up his hands in his defense. He could understand their concern. Doyle had told him quite a bit about what the two friends had been through.
"That's, uh, good," Buffy mumbled, feeling uncomfortable, and also glad that she wouldn't have to fight. In her six months pregnant condition, she really didn't think she'd be capable of kicking an eighty-year-old woman's ass, let alone this demon.
"So...I don't suppose," started Cordy, looking at both Doyle and the freaky Lorne-demon, "that either of you want to tell us what we're doing here?"
Lorne turned to look at Doyle, "You didn't tell them?"
"Naw, thought I'd give yer the pleasure," Doyle nodded to him.
"Oh...ok," Lorne shrugged indifferently. "Well, Ladies, I'm here with a...business... opportunity for the both, well three, of you."
"Business opp-...huh?" Cordy stuttered in confusion, while Buffy looked on with curious eyes.
"Yes, a business opportunity. I've been told about your...situation...," Lorne explained carefully. "And I think I have just the thing you need!"
Cordy and Buffy looked at each other in surprise and bewilderment, but there was also a hint of something akin to excitement in their eyes. They had no idea what the demon was proposing, but something inside them was telling them that this was going to be a good thing. Suddenly, they were feeling hope that maybe things were about to get a lot better.
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TBC!