Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Josh Weldon, and the plot is model after Jane Austin's novel Pride and Prejudice

Note: Thank you for everyone who reviewed, Because of your kind words I decided to write out the next chapter now instead of waiting for the summer. I just finished writing this so there might be mistakes or things might not make sense, if so please tell me.

Reopening of the Bronze

Chapter Four

The big unveiling of the new and improved Bronze finally came, and to say the reopening was a success would be an understatement. Being without the club for most of the summer, the townspeople had been anxiously counting the days for the return of their nightlife. From the moment the doors open, the locals were awe struck by the transformation. The building that housed the Bronze had once been a warehouse, when Willy decided to open up a club there he had kept things simple by just adding a bar, some tables and chairs, a few pool tables, a stage, and left most of the area open as a dance floor; now the walls were painted dark red and purple, decorated with African and Asian artwork, the stage had being upgraded with a new sound system, the dance floor refinished, the sitting area was designed like a harem with private rooms being separated by beautiful sheer fabrics, and there was a newly built second floor overlooked the dance floor being used as a dining area and game room. As Oz was making his rounds around the club to see how everyone was enjoying the club, he was met with the Summers clan.

"Congratulations Oz! It looks like you're a success!" said Joyce as she greeted him.

"Thank you Joyce! I'm glad you and Giles made it. Hello Giles," as Oz turned to greet Giles, he couldn't help notice the four girls behind them, especially the beautiful redhead. Not missing the way Oz kept looking at Willow, Joyce smiled and began introducing her daughters.

"Oz, these are our daughters Kendra, Faith, Dawn, and this…" pulling Willow to the forefront, "is my lovely eldest daughter Willow, a schoolteacher." Embarrassed by her mother, Willow just said a soft hello. 'Mom, could you be anymore obvious.'

Not being able to take his eyes off Willow he said, "Hi it's a pleasure to finally met you," then realizing he was staring, "all of you . I've heard so many wonderful things about you girls from your parents that I can't wait for us to be all acquainted." Looking at the girls, "Let me see if I have this right, Willow's the schoolteacher, Kendra is pre-med, Faith and Dawn are undeclared in college, and Buffy is…" finally noticing that one sister was missing, Oz turned to look at Giles and Joyce.

Answering the unspoken question Giles said, "Buffy was held up at work and will be joining us later."

"Oh okay, well I wanted you guys to meet my family and friends, so I'll just radio the doorman to let Buffy know to meet us in the V.I.P room," as Oz talked to the doorman, Faith and Dawn told their parents they were heading to the dance floor having made eye contact with a few cute guys. Once he was done, Oz led them to the back of the club.

Twenty minutes later outside the Bronze door

"What do you mean I can't go in?" asked a frustrated Buffy. She was already running late; her mom would kill her, now the guy wasn't letting her pass the door.

"I'm sorry miss, but you're not properly attired," answered an annoyed Gunn, 'I can't believe I let Oz talk me into door duty, now I have to listen to people whine about not being allowed in.'

"Properly Attired?" echoed a confused Buffy, as she looked at her clothes. 'A white peasant top and Capri pants, a bit casual and not the most stylist outfit I admit, but I don't look bad.' "But I've worn this outfit to the Bronze before?"

"I'm sure you have, but the new management has a new dress code."

"You're kidding?" When Gunn didn't answer her, she realized he wasn't. "Look Mr.…" "Gunn" "Mr. Gunn, I was held up at work and didn't have time to go home to change. I was supposed to meet my family here half an hour ago, could you just let me in this one time please?"

Gunn really wanted to help her, but he couldn't. "I'm sorry, I can't bend the rules especially on the first night or else everyone will be asking me to do them favors."

Dejected Buffy just said, "I understand." 'Rules are rules even if they're stupid'

Trying to cheer the girl up, "Well you can still always go home to change and comeback, I know it's time consuming, but I can't let you in otherwise, the only exception is if you're on the V.I.P list, but since…"

"Wait a second I am on the V.I.P. list!"

Skeptical Gunn just said, "Really?" At Buffy's nod, he continued, "Miss, the only people on the list tonight are family and friends of Mr. Osborne and the Summers' family and since everyone is here…" like a light bulb had been turned on Gunn realized, "except Buffy Summers. You're Buffy Summers."

Smiling, "Yep that's me, the one and only Buffy Summers. So does that mean I get to go in now?"

"Yeah you can, I'm sorry for the hold up. Before you go in, Oz left a message saying you should go directly to the V.I.P room in the back when you go in."

"Thank you. Before I go, I am curious if you know Mr. Osborne well?"

"I've known Oz for a few years now, ever since I started to work for his best friend Angel O'Connor's family. I usually work at Angel's uncle Lorne's club in San Francisco, but I was brought down here to help out for the next few weeks. Why do you ask?"

"My parents have made Oz seem to be a nice young man. And I'm sure he is, but to have a dress code at the local town hangout seems to be an exclusive action to keep certain people away from the club, which can be alienating to members of the community, but I'm probably being too sensitive right now and I'm babbling so I should stop talking now," rambled an embarrassed Buffy.

Laughing Gunn said, "Don't worry I know what you mean, I'm not too fond of the rule myself either. Don't blame Oz for it though, he actually didn't want to have one, but his sisters persuaded him into it. I can vouch for the fact that Oz is a very lad back informal kind of a guy, so you should have no worries about his character." Thanking Gunn again for his help, Buffy was about to go in when Gunn said, "A little warning, when you meet Oz's sisters they will probably be giving you evil looks because of your outfit."

"Wow really? Can you say shallow much? Well thanks for the warning; I guess I can now brass myself against the looks. See you later." With that Buffy entered the Bronze.

It didn't take Buffy long to find the V.I.P room, realizing that no one had notice her coming in, she decided to keep quiet and just observe occupants of the room. 'I guess the man talking to Mom, Dad, and Willow animatedly is Oz, hmm Kendra is off at the corner... reading, I can't believe that girl is reading now, she really has to loosen up.' Buffy turned to the other side of the room and noticed two couples she had never seen before. One couple seemed to be in their own little world just cuddling together, while the other couple was softly talking to one another. Something about the second couple caught Buffy's eye, the woman-a blond, dressed in a barely there designer dress-was stunningly beautiful and by the way she carried herself knew it as a fact; the man dressed in a black tailored suit was one of the most handsomest men Buffy had ever seen. The power and masculinity that radiated off the man intrigued Buffy, especially the controlled and reserved manner in which he talked and moved. 'The man would make the perfect hero in a gothic romance novel…wow lets stop that train of thought Buffy, those thoughts lead to no good, besides he's probably involved with that blond. Oh well.' Deciding it was time for everyone to be aware of her presence Buffy cleared her throat.

A round of "Buffy" could be heard from her family, "Hi everyone, sorry for being late."

"That's alright honey," said Joyce, "Let me introduce you to the new owner of the Bronze, Daniel Osborne but he prefers Oz. Oz this is my second daughter Buffy."

"It's great to finally meet you Buffy," greeted Oz, "your parents have told me so much about you."

"All good I hope," laughed Buffy, "it's great to meet you too. You have done a wonderful job with the club; I have never seen it so alive."

"Thank you. Let me introduce you to my family, this lovely couple over here is my sister Drusilla and her husband Lindsey McDonald, the blond is my sister Darla Osborne, and last but not least my good friend Angel O'Connor." As Buffy turned to greet each person as they were introduced, she could not miss the looks of distain in the women's eyes directed at her outfit. If it hadn't been for Gunn's warning, Buffy might have fidgeted under their glares; luckily she was able to pretend she hadn't notice anything out of the ordinary, which somehow irritated the women further. Lindsey just looked upon the scene with amusement and Angel just seemed to stare at her. 'What is up with these people? It's not like my clothes are dirty or ragged. I'm just glad to see that Oz seems to be as nice as everyone has said.' With that thought, Buffy joined into the conversation Oz was having with her parents and Willow.

Buffy had no idea that across the room Angel O'Connor was continuing to stare at her, and it had nothing to do with her choice of clothing. 'That long silky golden hair, beautiful sun-kissed skin, and those forest-green eyes, she's gorgeous.' Angel was completely enchanted by not only Buffy's physical attributes, but also by her graceful movements, easy-going manner, and her unwavering confidence in the face of Oz's sisters intimidating. Angel was jilted out of his thoughts when he noticed Darla was talking with him.

"I can't believe that woman would wear an outfit like that here!" hissed Darla, "She has no sense of style or class. You can so tell she bought her clothes from a Target, and is her bracelet made out of macaroni? I can't believe Gunn let her in, she is going to ruin the club image and…" Angel began tuning her out and began observing Buffy once more, but this time with a more critical eye. 'Hmm Darla is right that her clothing could have been more appropriate for this event, and they are so plain and subdue. Buffy is pretty, but she doesn't seem to exude of sexuality like most of my past women; She's probably a bit young and naïve about the world around her. And she doesn't exactly fit with the people who are usually in my social circle. I should just forget about her.' Deciding to do just that, Angel excused himself from Darla's ranting, and began talking with Lindsey over some business deals.

A few hours later

Everyone was having a blast dancing the night away; Joyce and Giles had danced a few times before heading off the dining area with some friends, Faith and Dawn had a new dance partner after every song and were never far from the dance floor, Willow and Oz seemed to have hit it off and would only dance with each other, even Kendra was seen dancing a few songs. Buffy had danced a couple of songs before finding Fred, in which time they head off to the dining area to eat and chat.

"I've never seen the Bronze so lively and energetic; Mr. Osborne has done a great job in revamping it, I really like the artworks on the walls," stated Fred as she looked out into the dance floor.

Buffy replied, "I know, the change was so startling when I first entered. He made some great picks from the gallery; one of my favorite paintings is over on that wall."

"Is Mr. Osborne a pleasant man? Because he seems to have taking a liking to Willow," asked Fred as she watched the couple in question decided to take a break and sit.

"Yeah Oz is a great guy, I had some worries about him when I nearly didn't get in because of some new dress code, but it turns out that it was his sisters' idea," said Buffy, "so you've noticed how much attention Oz is giving to Willow too?" At Fred's nod, "Good, so I'm not imagining it. I really think Willow likes him, I haven't seen that look in Willow's eyes since…" a soft "yeah" was heard from Fred before Buffy continued, "anyway I'm probably getting ahead of myself, they did just meet."

"Still it's nice to see that they are connecting. The few dates that Willow has gone on since… the accident… haven't developed into anything special," said Fred.

"I know," Buffy said softly, "umm… getting off the topic of Willow's love life, has Dr. Morgan allowed you back into the labs?"

"Urg… no," stated a frustrated Fred, "my suspension last for another two weeks. I'm going stir-crazy over not being able to do my experiments, but that does mean I'm still free to do chaperoning duties for field trips at the youth center."

"Well I guess I gain from your misfortune," laughed Buffy, "there are still one or two trips coming up…" Buffy and Fred continued to talk until Buffy noticed the time. "Oh it's getting late and I still have work tomorrow, I think I'm going to leave now. Fred do you mind telling my family that I left early?"

"No, not at all."

"Okay, thanks Fred. I'm just going to head to the V.I.P room to pick up my purse. I'll be seeing you tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, me and Willow are having a dress rehearsal with the kids at the center."

"Okay, talk to you tomorrow bye."

"Bye."

As Buffy got near the room, she couldn't help but overhear a conversation between Oz and Angel.

"Come on Angel you can't hide in here for the whole night," said Oz.

"I'm not hiding," at Oz's look, "I'm not; I just had a few business calls to make."

"Well now that your done with your calls, you can turn off your cell phone and go out and join everyone else on the dance floor. This is my night, and how would it look if my own friend wasn't dancing." Said Oz trying to guilt him.

"Oz come on, it's not like I haven't been out there. I've danced a few times with both of your sisters, and since now they are both occupied, and I don't like to dance with strangers, I am without a partner." Angel said very matter-of-fact.

"Angel your too picky, and by the way that's not an excuse, since you could always ask one of the Summers' sisters to dance. I know that Buffy, who is a lovely dancer, isn't dancing right now, so you should ask her."

Trying to steer clear of his first few thoughts about Buffy Summers, Angel responded, "I admit Buffy is pretty, but she doesn't meet my requirements in a dance partner."

"You're Kidding?" said a surprised Oz, echoing what Buffy was thinking. 'You're Kidding? I should be very offended right now, but I can't help laughing at the absurdity of that statement. It's not like he would have to marry me if we dance, and 'requirements in a dance partner' it's not like we are professionals in a contest, the only requirements should be that your partner won't step on your toes. Well it's no lost for me if I don't meet Mr. O'Connor's requirements. I'm glad I didn't let my first thoughts about the man run wild, the man is totally stuck-up and rigidly serious.'

Buffy walked into the room, surprising the two men who suddenly had caught like deer eyes.

"Buffy!!!"

"Hi Oz, Angel. I just came in here to get my purse," said Buffy as she walked pass them to reach her purse.

"You're leaving?" asked a tense Oz.

"Yeah I have work in the morning, so I should go home now," answered Buffy as she turned to look at him, "But I had a great time Oz. You have done an amazing job with the place; I can't wait to come back for a visit."

"Thanks Buffy, I've really enjoyed talking with you and hope to do it again soon. And I'll call you about that tour around the youth center when you have time. After hearing so much about it from your family, I can't wait to see it for myself." Said Oz.

Coming up with a plan to bring Willow and Oz together, "Why don't you come by tomorrow Oz?"

"Are you sure, cause I know how busy you are?"

"Yes I'm sure, plus if you go tomorrow you will have a pre-screening of the play that the kids are going to perform on fundraiser night, Willow and Fred are having a dressed rehearsal." At hearing that Willow would be there, Oz agreed to go, "Great," and then as if remembering Buffy said, "and of course Angel you are welcome to come too, and your other friends and family Oz." With that, the three said their good-byes, and Buffy left for home.