Buffy surveyed her room with satisfaction, everything she might need for the summer was packed away and only in five bags! Well, plus a weapons chest, but it was a new record for her. The promise of LA shops would no doubt add another large bag or two.
"Buffy? Are you all packed?" Joyce's voice echoed in the hallway. When she peered in she noticed the mass of bags and her eyes widened.
"Joyce?" came Buffy's step father Shawn's voice, "Is Buffy packed? Woah. I mean, do you want some help carrying them down?"
Nice save, Buffy thought. "Sure, I can take the chest and a bag, you can take those two, and I'll come back for the rest."
As he bent to get the bags, Buffy thought, I could just do this whole thing by myself in one trip, but nooo, I have to be a normal, weak little girl.
Buffy pretended to struggle a little with her bags so she didn't give anything away. She liked Shawn, he wasn't too bad. Way better than Ted. Shivering slightly Buffy thought, anyone's better than Ted. Psycho Robot.
Shawn came out of the house with the rest of her bags. She tried to help get them in the car, but, well, that's why she was sitting in car and not stuffing. Finally, after much struggle on Shawn's part and amusement on Buffy's, the luggage was squeezed into the car.
Shawn got in and asked, "Everybody buckled up and ready?"
The Summers women nodded and the car sped off. "Buffy, I'm sorry I have to leave you with Cordelia for the next two weeks," Shawn said, sincerity in his voice.
"Hate her that much, huh?" Buffy teased. She ignored the look her mother gave her.
Shawn just smiled knowingly, he liked Buffy, she was such a sweet girl. "I love her, but it's not fair to you to have to stay with someone you haven't met because of me."
"It's ok, I told you before, I used to live in LA, so even if things don't work out, lots of shopping to compensate," Buffy shrugged, it's not like she'd be bored.
"Are you sure? Because the trip to Europe can be postponed…" Shawn started.
"No," Buffy cut him off firmly, "There will be no postponing of any kind. Besides, don't worry about me, have fun, I know I will."
Her mother gave her a grateful smile, pretending not to hear that last part. Buffy smiled back, for the sake of her mother. She hated the idea of an extended stay with her unknown step-sister, but she couldn't crash on Shawn and her mom. Other people deserved to be happy, even if it wasn't her.
Philosophy of The Slayer, Buffy thought before finding a more comfortable position and sleeping for the remainder of the trip. She needed it, she'd be up all night, mapping cemeteries and such. With a yawn, Buffy relaxed in the cool leather seat, and fell into a fitful sleep.
~LA~
Cordelia sped around her apartment, arranging and cleaning everything. Her sister was supposed to be there in an hour and the former prom queen procrastinated for too long.
Glancing at the clock, Cordy jumped when she saw she had just 40 minutes till 7. Going even faster, she flitted between rooms.
35 minutes later a tired, but happy looking Cordelia surveyed her much cleaner apartment. It wasn't so much Buffy she was impressing, as it was her Dad. She wanted to show him she was doing well on her own. Redoing her makeup, Cordelia smoothed the wrinkles out of her clothes just when the intercom buzzed.
"Come on up guys," she said into the speaker. Pushing the button that unlocked the gates, she set out four glasses and got a pitcher of juice out. Mentally checking the backup sodas she had in the fridge, just in case.
"Wow Princess, all this for me?" Doyle called from the doorway.
"Doyle! What are you doing here?! My dad's coming up with my step mom and sister any second!" Cordelia looked as though she could spit acid.
"No, that would be us," Angel said sheepishly over Doyle's shoulder.
"Us?" Cordelia asked before catching the sight of Gunn and Wesley behind him. "Oh, great. They are supposed to be coming any minute though."
"Sorry, Princess, but there's been a problem at the office a-"Doyle was stopped by the buzzing of the intercom.
"Come on up!" Cordelia said before buzzing them in. "Now what was that?"
"As I was saying, we have a small problem at the office," Doyle continued.
"What is it?" Cordelia asked.
"Nothing I can't handle, but there are a few dead demons around agency, so we thought we'd come here to meet your parents and sister," Angel explained.
Cordelia's reply was cut off by her father coming through the door with what appeared to be a cow on his shoulders.
"Cordelia, where do I put Buffy's bags?" Shawn stopped when he noticed all the people there. "Hello, I'm Cordelia's father, nice to meet you all." When he tried to shake hands with Wesley, the bag slipped and he pulled his hand back to steady it.
Angel walked forward to grab them both and hauled them to towards Cordelia's guest room. "Thanks," Shawn said breathlessly. "Buffy and her mother are coming up."
"Ok, I'll, uh, wait till they're here before I do introductions." Cordelia said.
Buffy climbed the stairs impatient, she didn't care if it made her look freaky, she was not pretending to be a weak feeble girl; not even for her new sister.
She limited her speed to that of a normal person going up a flight of stairs. One without a locked chest full of weapons and a huge duffel bag full of stuff. But that was as far as she would pull her strength and stamina.
When she got to the right door, she saw it was already open and walked in. Due to the baggage, she didn't noticed all the people and was surprised when someone helped her by taking the bag on top of the weapons trunk as if it was weightless.
She opened her mouth to thank him, but as soon as she saw his face, it just hung uselessly.
"Hi, I'm Angel," said the man with the dark spiked hair and deep brown eyes.
"Buffy," she said, suddenly breathless. Good thing she could chock that up to the stairs. She was about to shift the weight to her left hand so she could shake his, when she realized she was supposed to be weak. Of all the times she didn't want to be perceived as pathetic, now would be the time, but true to her Slayer duties she turned the motion into her shifting the weight of the chest. "I'd shake, but my arms are kind of full."
"Sorry, I'll take it to Cordelia's guest room," Angel offered.
Buffy's heart sunk, he was probably Cordelia's boyfriend, why else would he know her apartment so well? She was beginning to hate the girl already. "No, that's ok. I got it, my mom's coming up and I think she needs more help than me," Buffy said with a small smile.
"Ok…" Angel shifted the duffel bag to his other hand, unsure of what to do.
"I'll take it," Buffy said, lifting the chest slightly.
Angel was at loss, the second his eyes connected with hers, he forgot everything and everyone else except her. He noticed she didn't stagger or sway under the weight of the bags and when he picked one up, he was surprised to find it heavier than the two previous ones. She had seemed to like him too, a thought that left mixed emotions. Angel didn't deserve to be with someone like Buffy, but even though it looked as if she could carry the bags without his help, it would just be rude to let her do so. Yeah, keep thinking that, Angel said to himself, the only reason that you want to carry her bags is so you can be a gentleman.
"It's no trouble really. I'll show you where you'll sleep, "Angel said after only a moment.
The whole room watched as Buffy and Angel both left, a lot of tension between the two. The guys gave each other a knowing look while Cordelia just looked thoughtful.
Shawn had watched the whole exchange and knew only a fool wouldn't have seen the spark between them. This was going to be an interesting summer.
"So, Buffy said, breaking the ice, "how long have you been with Cordelia?"
Angel was puzzled by the wording of the question, but said, "About two years. I met her around the same time as Doyle. Wesley and Gunn I've 'been with' since high school."
"Wait," Buffy said slowly, "so you're not dating Cordelia?"
Angel knew that he shouldn't but he couldn't help but laugh. "Me and Cordelia?" Angel chuckled,"I haven't ever thought of Cordy that way. Besides, she's got her eye on Doyle."
"Oh," Buffy said under her breath. She was so relieved. Maybe I have a shot with him after all. "Then how come you know where everything is?" Buffy asked feeling like a child.
"I'm her boss and one of her best friends, all of us are. I've been here a few times over the years, actually, less than Gunn's. Besides," Angel said with a smile, "Cordy is too high maintenance. Doyle calls her 'Princess' for a reason."
Buffy groaned and plopped on the bed as soon as Angel opened the bedroom door. "Great, I'm staying the summer with Miss Prom Queen."
Glancing around the room, she noted with satisfaction that it wasn't pink or frilly, just slightly girly. I like it, she thought before turning her undivided attention to Angel. He pulled out a chair and sat opposite her.
"I would think you'd be able to relate, not that you're an airhead or anything," Angel added quickly.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, knowing exactly what he meant; she just wanted to hear him say it.
"You just don't see a whole lot of beautiful, athletic people go around unpopular," Angel answered tenderly.
Buffy felt her cheeks flush and was about to answer when she heard her Mom screeching in the living room.
"Duty calls," she said apologetically.
"Don't I know it, Angel muttered under his breath and he thought he heard Buffy's muffled laughter.
Swiftly, Buffy picked up the luggage her puffing mother had just abandoned and carried it to her room with a smile to Angel. She raced back and stood next to him as the introductions were made.
"Everyone, this is my dad, Shawn Chase, my step mom, Joyce, and my step sister, Buffy Summers. This is Gunn, Wesley, Doyle and Angel," Cordelia announced in a loud, commanding voice. A tall black man waved, a young British nodded, Doyle put on a grin and winked at Cordelia who ignored it, and Angel gave a half smile.
"I work with them," Cordelia continued, "Angel's the boss of our own private eye and everyone else just helps."
They commenced with the small talk where Angel and Buffy kept sneaking glances at each other. Angel learned that Buffy was almost 17, her birthday would be just before her parents got back. He found that she was popular in her own way, with a group of friends, not the in-crowd.
Buffy couldn't help but be drawn to the mysterious man who wasn't seeing anyone and was only two years older than her 22 year old sister. She hid a smile as she saw Angel was right, Cordelia, or Cordy, really did have a crush on Doyle. It seemed the young Irish liked her as well. Lucky her, Buffy thought now if only I could have that with Angel. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him staring back at her, blushing, she turned back to the conversation.
Angel barely heard anything. He caught choice snippets of the conversation, mainly ones about Buffy. She's only 16 dammit! He told himself fiercely, not only too young for your fake age, she'd hate you and then Cordelia would stake you if she ever found out how old you truly are.
Still, all those reasonable doubts didn't stop him from focusing all his attention on her. Not oblivious to the looks his friends and her parents were giving each other, he just couldn't bring himself to care.
Blinking, he realized that he should go patrol; time sure did fly by. Standing already, he walked to the edge of the room and cleared his throat.
Buffy watched as he walked off, feeling a twinge of sadness. He didn't need to clear his throat, he had her attention, and when she turned to watch him, everyone else did as well. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go. I have a meeting with a client in the morning and I still have some work to finish. The rest of the gang has to help me with this case," Angel said apologetically, "I'm sorry for leaving so soon…"
"It's alright," Shawn said, "We probably should go to dinner as well. It was good meeting you."
The adults shook hands and Buffy and Angel shared a look, as did Cordelia and Doyle before they parted ways.
I don't suppose I'll ever see him again, Buffy thought on the way to the restaurant, maybe I'll go to the agency. They're probably too busy to have a 16 year-old hanging around the office all day, Buffy thought dejectedly. Looking at the clock, she realized that there would be a little time to patrol, but all she really had time to do was make a patrol route based on the vamp hotspots Willow printed for her before she left. "Some summer," she muttered under her breath, trying to get Angel's face out of her mind.
Angel didn't fare much better. He was walking through the closest cemetery, an old Irish love song stuck in his head. Shaking his head viciously, Angel tried to force Buffy out of his mind. "This kind of distraction will get you killed!" he told himself sternly.
"That's right, it's going to get you killed," a vampire drawled.
Angel reacted quickly while cursing himself. How could I not have sensed him before? I must really be out of it.
Ducking a blow, Angel punched the vampire in the face three times before kicking him back onto a broken tree branch. "Obviously not today," Angel said looking at the ash on the wind, "You weren't even enough of a fight to make me vamp."
Three more cemeteries and four piles of dust later, Angel still couldn't think of anything except Buffy. The first vampire only served to increase his awareness for a few minutes. Finally, settling into his study, with only a few bruises, he took out a pencil and pad. Angel softly hummed that same Irish love song as he worked. 16, he kept telling himself, she's 16. She shouldn't be going out with the 24 year or Angel, much less the 240 year old Scourge of Europe.
Still, he continued to draw each stoke with care, slowly pouring the pictures in his mind on to paper. He stayed up until he heard Cordelia coming into the office, he put away the drawings and looking at them, decided that the lack of sleep was worth it. Putting his work on his desk in his apartment stripped down to his boxers and fell asleep, dreaming of a certain blonde.
Well, that about sums up with chapter. I will update soon and have the third chapter coming your way! Thank you so much with all of those reviews, I might have to change my e-mail account just to accommodate them all. I appreciate all those comments and I hope that I don't let you guys down!