A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I just really didn't know what to write because I had originally planned to take this story in a certain direction and ended up changing it because of several requests that I got, so hopefully you guys will like it…
Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, I still own nothing and Joss still owns all… yada yada yada…
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"Sweetheart, I'd like you to meet my sisters, Faith and Cordelia" Angelus introduced, pointing to each figure as he did so.
"I thought you said you only had one sister" Buffy whispered.
"That's because you only have to get through meeting with Cordelia" He whispered back.
Buffy looked both girls over critically. She believed that appearances told you a lot about a person's personality and no matter how good books with ugly covers were that fact would always remain.
Cordelia looked more towards Angelus' age, whereas Faith looked to be closer to Buffy's age
Faith seemed like a wild child, like the type of girl who could stay out and party all night long, seven days a week and still never tire of it, but she also possessed a lot of warmth in her eyes telling Buffy that she was a genuinely caring and kind person. She was also very beautiful, and used that to her advantage, if the barely there clothing was any indication.
Cordelia on the other hand, seemed more like the daddy's little princess type. She was wearing all designer, and her posture just screamed superiority. Although she was very stunning, one thing stood out about her, Cordelia was, no doubt a spoiled, snotty, I-always-get-my-way brat and Buffy was willing to bet everything that she had (which wasn't much) on that one judgment.
"Guys, this is my fiancée, Buffy" Angelus resumed.
"Hello" Buffy greeted.
"Hey B, you mind if I call you B?"
Buffy thought it over; she really didn't like being called "B", but since she was her soon to be sister-in-law then she had no choice but to play nice and that meant enduring the annoyance of being called by a letter, a SINGLE frickin' letter!
"Uh, sure no problem" She smiled faintly.
"YOU? My brother is going to marry YOU!" Cordelia screeched, beyond outraged.
See? Snotty cover, snotty book.
"Um… yes is there a problem?" Buffy asked, quite confused as to why Cordelia had the reaction that she had.
"Well he can't! I'm not having any of it! You're like… you're… SO not good enough for him!" Cordelia had very high expectations of who her brother would marry and although Buffy looked pretty enough, she still didn't think she would be good enough for him. Cordelia couldn't understand why Angelus wouldn't marry one of her friends like Harmony or Fred. God knows she'd tried to set him up with enough of them but no, he had to go find the most random person, who was very possibly just a gold-digger and propose to her! Sometimes she couldn't believe how naïve her little brother was.
"Cordelia!" Angelus and Faith bellowed in harmony.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"How 'bout some manners there Cordy." Faith gave her a pointed look.
"And you've know Buffy for all of five seconds, what makes you such a good judge of character all of the sudden?" Angel looked at her, somewhat angry. But then again this WAS Cordelia we were talking about, his hopelessly tactless sister.
"Humph." Cordy huffed.
"It's okay, really guys it's no big." Buffy smiled and tried to play it off. She really didn't care one way or the other what little miss perfect thought as long as Faith was ok with her and his parents were still in love with her (which they were of course, she had after all FINALLY made their son want to get married… supposedly) then she could surely survive this marriage… right?
But Cordelia resumed as if Buffy hadn't spoken at all "First of all, what kind of a name is 'Buffy'? Second of all what is up with that outfit? Third of all… she's WAY too short for you!"
"What's wrong with my outfit?" Buffy asked, pouting but her question went unanswered. She was wearing simple light blue jeans and a white tank top.
"She's too short for me? THAT'S the best you could come up with?" He asked in disbelief.
"Well yeah, you guys just don't… mesh well." She reasoned.
"That's too bad Cordy, because I love her and I'm going to marry her and if you love me you will do you best and at least TRY to be civil to my fiancée." He said with a challenging look.
Cordy just glared "FINE!"
"No prob." Faith grinned.
Everyone stood there staring at each other awkwardly, until Faith decided to break the silence.
"So Angelus told us we would be taking you shopping today,"
"Oh he did, did he?" She gritted out.
"Yeah and we better get going before what I like to call 'the rush hour' begins" At Buffy's look Faith answered "That's when all of the princess' like Cordy here start to run around the mall like little kiddies in a candy store." She smirked.
"Hey, I resent that!" Cordelia complained.
"Of course you do."
"Excuse us for a minute" Buffy dragged Angelus into the kitchen as Faith and Cordelia continued to argue.
"Are you completely insane!" She whispered harshly "you expect me to run around the mall and act all buddy-buddy with your sisters, who BY THE WAY I don't even know?"
"Well I had some errands to run today and since they wanted to meet you as soon as possible AND you need to get some new stuff I SUGGESTED that the take you shopping" He answered calmly.
"No offense but Cordelia is kind of a bitch" Buffy told him "And I don't really think so wants to be shopping buddies with me." She added sarcastically.
"I know, and don't worry Cordy will be civil." Angelus assured her as he lead her to the door where both his sisters were waiting for Buffy.
Before they left however he pulled Cordelia aside, "Be nice" he warned her.
"I'm always nice," She answered, smiling sweetly.
"I mean it Cordy, I want you to make Buffy feel welcome, got it?"
"Well I gotta go Angel, your fiancée is waiting," and with that she waved goodbye to her brother and left.
Buffy came home later that night with about fifteen different bags varying from clothing, to toiletries and many other essentials.
Angelus came out of the kitchen to greet her "Hey- whoa! Seems like you had fun..." He stated while inspecting the shopping bags that she was brining in. It was going to put quite the dent in his account, but for some reason, he really didn't seem to mind. He went up to help her but stumbled back at her irritated retort.
"Fun? Fun! You call six hours of being dragged around the mall like some kind of rag doll while your sisters went insane-fashion-diva on me FUN!" She practically yelled out.
"I'm sorry I feel kind of responsible, maybe I should have warned you" He smiled sheepishly.
"Ya think?" She asked sardonically.
"How bad was it?"
"They dressed me up Angel. Th-they made me their little Barbie doll for the day. Hell I'm surprised they didn't carry me around like one!"
He winced "Sorry they have a thing with makeovers-wait, what did you call me?"
"Angel… that's ok right? I mean that's what Cordelia and Faith called you but if it's a family thing-" She was cut off by Angel.
"No, it's ok I was just a little surprised that's all. I mean everyone besides Faith, Cordy and mom call me Angelus but I guess it'd be only natural for my 'fiancée' to do so as well."
"Of course" She smiled "Oh by the way, your sisters mentioned coming here with some of your friends."
"Oh? When?"
"Tommorow" she answered.
"I'm not gonna be here until about 8:00 PM tomorrow night, looks like you're gonna have to plan this thing on your own." He told her.
"What? I can't! I have like… no experience with this whatsoever." She said in alarm.
"Well you're gonna have to, I have a meeting tomorrow that I can't miss."
"Aaaangel!" she whined.
"Yaaaaa?"
"I can't cook! And—and I know nothing about planning dinner parties! You hear me? Nothing!"
"Don't worry Buffy, I'm sure it'll be great." He assured her.
"Sure. You're just saying that because you got out of planning it." She replied, narrowing her eyes at him.
"You know me too well already. Well, I've gotta go sleep for that meeting tomorrow. 'Night Buff!" He said while climbing the stairs.
"Yeah, yeah."
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"Will it kill you to try some of it?" Buffy asked exasperatedly.
"It might" he replied with a frightened look.
"Will you just try!"
"Fine but I want you to have the phone nearby, just in case."
"In case what?" She asked uninterestedly.
"In case you have to call an ambulance" He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The reply he got was a swat to the shoulder.
"Fine! Just don't hit me… you're surprisingly strong for such a little thing you know that?" He asked and was rewarded with a smug smile.
He slowly and very hesitantly brought the spoon to his mouth and let out a loud shout.
"What? What's wrong" Buffy asked frantically.
After drinking about three glasses of water Angelus asked "Buffy, how much pepper exactly did you put in that… thing?"
"Well I put the whole thing in… why, how much was I supposed to put in?"
"Buffy, all you needed was about HALF a teaspoon!"
"Oh… well… did I mention I'm not really big with the cooking?" She asked with a guilty smile.
"Yes I believe so… takeout?" He asked.
"Takeout" She confirmed.
"Well you go get dressed and I'll order" He told her.
"Thanks Angel, you're a lifesaver!" She kissed his cheek and quickly bounded up the stairs to her room to get ready.
"Angel!" Buffy yelled from the top of the staircase,
"YA?" He shouted back.
"Do you know where the black sandals I got yesterday are?"
"I don't think so… what do they look like?" He asked coming to stand at the bottom of the staircase.
"They're black, high heeled sandals… kinda simple-dressy"
"No." He said giving her a confused look. "Simple-dressy?" What was that?
"Ugh! I've looked everywhere and I can't find them!" She complained.
"It's always in the last place you look" He told her while going upstairs to check her room.
"Ya, cuz if you find it you just stop looking" she explained, giving him a 'Duh' look.
"Of course" He smirked "I meant it's in the last place that YOU would look" He informed her while handing her the shoes she was looking for from her bathroom.
"Thanks" She said "how did they get there… no actually how did YOU know they were there?" She asked curiously.
"I have a gift."
"If you wanna call it that" She muttered.
He simply smiled when the door bell rang.
"Is that the food or them?" Buffy asked nervously.
"Them, food got here already" And with that he went to answer the door.
Buffy took a deep breath and went followed Angelus to greet their guests.
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"Look on the bright side, you can write a book!" He suggested enthusiastically "and you can title it 'dinner parties gone wrong'" he continued and gave a second look to his surroundings "horribly, horribly wrong"
Buffy gave him a look of annoyance which, for a few minutes actually had him scared but her features slowly started to soften and with a defeted cry she ran upstairs to the safety of her room. Angelus went after her to try to calm her.
"Buffy!" He called "please come out" he pleaded, "It wasn't that bad! Really! I mean Lindsey and Gunn told me that they personally had a really good time and Doyle and Faith, well they couldn't stop laughing long enough to say anything but I know for a fact that they had a good time too!" He tried to sound comforting, really he did but he just couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his mouth.
"Oh thanks! Now I feel a lot better! Your sister hates me and now she has an ally! I can't do this Angelus!" She shouted, using his full name instead of the pet name she had called him by all night as a sign of her complete annoyance, "I can't marry you!"
"Why not? You can't let a bad dinner party deter you from your decision." He reasoned.
"Bad dinner party? BAD DINNER PARTY!" She practically screamed, storming out of the room to poke a slim finger at his chest. "Bad does not begin to describe what took place here tonight, she's going to kill me Angelus, and as much as I hate going back on my promise I'm not going to risk my life by marrying you!"
"You're overreacting," He informed her.
"Oh but see I don't think so. I believe I'm being totally reasonable, in fact I'm being reasonable beyond belief considering you did not lift a finger to help me all night!" She shot him an accusing glare while trying to wipe the mascara currently running down her face.
"Ya uh... sorry about that" He apologized, although he didn't sound very apologetic and ended up cracking a huge grin as he remembered the nights events.
Everything had been going okay when everyone had arrived. Buffy had learned that Cordelia was also engaged, to a very charming Irish fellow named Allan Doyle, and that Faith had recently started dating Charles Gunn who worked with Angelus and Lindsey who was Darla's boyfriend, Cordelia's best friend. It had been a little confusing at the beginning but she had gotten the hang of it soon enough.
Apparently Cordelia was holding off her own wedding until Lindsey proposed to Darla, so they could have a double wedding. Buffy found the whole thing ridiculous; I mean why would you want your best friend to be right there with you on your wedding day, literally, doing the exact thing you were doing? The idea was absolutely the worst one anyone could come up with. Every bride wanted everyone's attention to be on her when they got married and another bride's presence might take away some of that attention. It would just make it less special somehow, because two other people would be sharing the day that's supposed to be for you and your love. Although she was one to talk, she was marrying a guy because of a deal! A hot one but still…
Well, as I was saying everything was going pretty smoothly… at first. It started when, while serving the food and drinks Buffy had accidentally spilt some wine on Cordelia's new, one of a kind designer dress which had cost her a fortune and was brand new, and things had only proceeded to go downhill from there.
Buffy just didn't understand why she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Not only had she made stupid comments all night, and by the disapproving looks Darla and Cordelia kept giving her throughout the evening, repeatedly said the wrong thing she had also spoken her mind concerning Cordelia and Darla's double-wedding plans.
She had seen that Lindsey had been quite uncomfortable with where the conversation was going and decided to change the direction of their discussion. Bad idea. The plan had ended up backfiring and Darla and Cordelia had been furious with her. Apparently they didn't like someone bursting their perfect little bubble and had gotten in an argument.
The others, seeing that it was not going to end well suggested that they go into the living room for some coffee. Buffy had eagerly agreed and stayed close to Angelus for the rest of the evening. She tried to make light conversation with everyone. Next thing she knew Darla was going crazy accusing Buffy of flirting with her boyfriend and almost attacking her right there. It was then that they had decided to call it a night and everyone had left, but not before Darla had a chance to threaten Buffy about staying away from her man.
All in all it hadn't been a good night for her, and although she wasn't the type of person who needed everyone's approval to feel good about herself, it bothered her that Cordelia seemed to have this pre-conceived notion of her and did not seem to be even trying to like her.
"Buffy, just sleep tonight alright love? I promise that I won't let Cordelia OR Darla do or say anything to you and hey, look on the bright side, everyone else loved you!" He tried to sound enthusiastic, but it just ended up coming out sounding kind of pitying. Having Darla and Cordelia for enemies was definitely of the bad, but for some reason Angelus felt the need to protect Buffy so come morning he was going to have a chat with the two of them about how they treated his fiancée.
"Well isn't that just peachy keen" She murmured sarcastically, it seemed to be her "thing", to mutter sarcastic comments under her breath while people just stared at her curiously.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing" she answered giving him a sugary sweet smile.
"Ok. All I'm saying is try to forget about tonight and just sleep on it okay?"
"Ugh, fine!"
"Good because tomorrow my mother's going to be here tomorrow, she insists on helping you plan the wedding and since you two got along I told her to pick you up tomorrow around 10 AM" He told her, waiting for the explosion, which never came.
"Okay" She agreed. Buffy was looking forward to a day with Jenny, in a lot of ways she reminded her of her deceased mother.
Angelus smiled "Okay, good… that's good. Good night Buffy," Said giving her a kiss on the cheek. It was strange how it didn't feel wrong to do that, even though Buffy was a near stranger, giving her a goodnight kiss seemed extremely natural.
"Hmm. 'night Angel," Buffy closed the door and touched her face where he had kissed her. She liked Angelus and felt very comfortable with him. He was like the big brother she never had… yep that's right, he was just like her big brother. Then why did she get tingly all over just from a simple kiss on the cheek?
'Oh boy' she thought to herself as she went to sleep.
TBC…
Thank you's
Yummy0o0: Thanks! Sorry it took so long to update, but here it is:)
Julyhearts: First of all thank you! And of course they will fall in love, this is a B/A fic isn't it? Hm… you're one of the few who would like it to be sooner rather than later so I'm going to have to see what I can do… maybe I can do it not too soon but not too late either? I love AU fics too!
Pink-zelda: No prob. I'll try to edit my work more, but I can't promise that it'll be perfect! Sorry but since I don't have a beta and all it's kind of hard. You'll have to forgive me but English is my second language and I'm just starting to get the hang of everything :P I'll try for you and thanks for reviewing!
Crystalix: Oh wow! I got a superfunkytastic! Now I'm blushing! ;) I'll try to go slow but there are people who are also telling me they want it to go fast so I'm kind of trying to juggle both so I'll go… moderately slow… I guess? lol this was meant to be a short story, really just to make me snap out of my writers block so I'm not sure how slow I can make it but for you, I'll try :)
Serrafina: As I told Crystalix this is meant to be a relatively short story so I don't know how slow I can make it but I'll try. Thanks! I like cute:D
Berra-Moon: I'll try to implement as much of your idea as I can into it, but I was thinking that maybe a punch here and there but there wouldn't be like a full out fight, and the issue would mostly be between Buffy and Angelus. And good advice! I was a little troubled about writing some parts but after re-reading the reviews (to get me pumped up to write) I decided to just go with whatever came up on my screen.
Buffy4592: Yep! It is! But I guess if you read it you already knew that :P I really like Cordy as Angel's sister too and even though in this chapter she was a little (understatement) bitchy to Buffy I'll try to bring out the fun-ness of Cordelia being the sister! Promise!
Jess: You're right, it is kind of too late huh? lol well I'll try to make it kind of slow but fast if that makes sense. As in they fall for each other but… actually I don't know what I'm going to do :P I guess we'll find out soon right?
Krissi: Okay then, from this point on Angel is 24!
Buffyangel23: Really? Well I'm glad you liked the story, I wrote it kind of on a whim and considered taking it out, but I guess it's a good thing I didn't :) I always thought Jenny and Giles were perfect and very cute together, so I'm trying to put that into the story, glad you thought they were cute too! And I like what you're saying, I just might do that, and I thought Angel-jealousy was a given! evil grin
Blood Roses 18: Cordy, who else? I'm glad you don't care either way, and lots of B/A is coming for sure, promise!
Titan0506: Hopefully it'll meet up to your expectations :) And have you read "forced into love"? If you haven't you must, it's excellent!