Two chapters in one day, don't get spoiled. Thanks for the reviews! Reviews make a happy author.
School was back in session for Buffy. She was determined to become a studious Slayer. And with Willow as her example, she could do no wrong.
At nightly patrol, as they waited for vamps to rise, Buffy and Willow sat on a picnic blanket of sorts and studied.
Buffy's inner-scholar had blossomed. And she reaped the benefits.
Joyce and Giles were both equally stunned with her turn around. They often asked her about her whereabouts and even pooled together to purchase a cell phone for her. Buffy named it Fluffy.
She walked into the door on a rare occasion-less day. Sunnydale was blessedly free of nasties and she didn't have a test or quiz for the rest of the week.
"Hello?" Buffy called.
"Hey." Angel replied as he turned the corner. His health was much improved due to many rehabilitating sessions.
"Training?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Ready if you are." He smiled.
And they trained. At a break, Buffy pulled a box of sweets from her tote bag.
"Chocolate?" She asked. "Do you even eat chocolate?"
"On a sunny day." He commented. "Which means once in a rare while."
"It's band candy. We have to sell it. I'm not even in the band." She shrugged.
"School spirit?" He asked.
Buffy snorted.
"Okay. I guess I could buy some." He offered.
"My mom bought twenty bars and squirreled them away to a hidden cavern presumably in her underwear drawer. But I'm not prying." She laughed.
"Can I just buy two? The sugar would just give me jitters."
"Oh, yeah, kinda forgot about blood being the usual sustenance." She bit her lip.
"Every once in awhile I go crazy." He cracked a small grin.
"That's Angel: Party Guy." She pulled two chocolate bars from the shoddy cardboard box that housed them. "Here they are. Two dollars?"
He stuck his hand into his back pocket and withdrew a classic leather wallet. Angel removed two dollars surprisingly quickly. "Here." He handed her the bills.
"The never-ending supply of moolah is always surprising me." She tucked the money into a manilla envelope with cheap metal brads.
"Two-hundred and fifty years of collecting." He shrugged.
"Plus interest." She added.
"Yep."
"I always liked 'em tall, handsome and rich. It's like having my own Prince William." She blushed.
He smiled.
"Hey, I gotta go. Patrol. Told Willow I'd meet her at Restfield." Buffy groaned with a slight sigh.
"Way to sell and run." He looked to his feet.
"Totally not my objective. But thanks for buying band candy. If it makes you feel better, I always did want to play clarinet." She winked.
"Go on." He whispered.
"Leaving as we speak." She gave him a kiss on the forehead and started to walk away.
"So Angel kissage?" Willow asked as she successfully dusted a vampire.
"Once-sided, moi. Kind of a bad idea on my part." Buffy pinned one to the ground.
"Didn't want to be all reprimand-y and disappointed, but yeah. Kissing and other things is what started the whole barrel of not fun." Willow bunched her eyebrows. She was worried.
"It's just so hard, Wills." Buffy sighed and staked the vamp under her feet. "Can you imagine what it would be like not kissing and hugging our resident wolfy?"
Willow gulped "I'd rather not. But, getting your point, it'd get me going crazy. When you get that intimate with someone and have to drop them like a hot potato…pretending to be friends would just be the uber-hard."
"Totally." Buffy plopped onto the grass and yawned. "Tired. Can we just skip the studying tonight. The stress is amounting and I'm about to suffocate."
"Okay. Tomorrow's a pretty tame school day. I'll let you off the hook, but just this once." Willow waggled her finger at her sleepy best friend.
"You wanna crash at my place?" Buffy asked, barely able to form the words, she was that sleepy.
"Yep. Mom and Dad asking questions about me getting home late would make me spazz and babble. Not a good thing. I'll just call them from your place." She shrugged.
"Say we studied too late. Always a great plan. Works every time." Buffy grinned.