[Original] Present Day-2011
Morning
Los Angeles, California
The Host: Parking Lot
The sun rose in the early morning. Still lying in the parking lot outside the Host nightclub, Angelus slowly regained consciousness. His head pounded against the walls of his skull. Gritting his teeth, his body sore from the fight, Angelus rolled onto his back.
"Buffy." He exhaled a breath and slowly sat up on the ground.
Looking around himself, Angelus hoped to the Powers That Be that he was back in the alternate reality he so desperately longed for. He didn't want to be back here. All that he wanted was his family.
Slowly getting himself back onto his feet, he lowered his gaze at himself. There was dirt and drops of blood stains on his white collared shirt from the cut above his right brow. He looked at his left hand to see that the Claddagh ring was not around his finger.
Angelus' heart sank to his gut.
"No... no, no, no! Goddamnit!" He frantically searched his pockets and then the ground, hoping that he hadn't dropped it or it was not stolen from the mugging.
Picking up the set of keys on the ground, Angelus opened the door and hopped inside the classic car. He put the car into gear and sped out of the parking lot, rushing to leave the city.
Sunnydale, California
Entering the suburban town, Angelus heard a ringing cell phone. He searched his front pocket and took out the phone, reading the screen. It was Lilah Morgan.
Ignoring the call, Angelus tossed the cell phone onto the passenger's seat and concentrated on finding Buffy.
Driving down the familiar streets, Angelus rounded a sharp corner, nearly crashing into a car driving in the opposite direction.
Angelus slammed on the brakes outside of the home he and Buffy were raising their children. He turned off the engine and got out of the car, looking around the familiar—yet unfamiliar property. Gone were the Christmas decorations, toys laying haphazardly in the grass, and the 2008 Jeep Cherokee.
Running up the pathway and onto the porch, Angelus pounded a fist against the wooden door. He wiped the beads of seat on his forehead and continued to pound on the door until someone answered.
After a few minutes, the sound of the door being unlocked got Angelus' attention.
The door opened, but much to Angelus' dismay, standing on the other side of the doorway was not the love of his life. Instead, it was a rather short man with short dark brown hair. He wore a black Star Wars t-shirt and a pair of matching Star Wars pajama pants.
"Uh, can I help you?" The man asked, raising his brow, eyeing Angelus with surprise.
"Who are you?" Angelus asked.
"Um…" The man rolled his eyes over Angelus and answered, "Jonathan."
Angelus looked into the home over Jonathan's head, desperate to find Buffy. "Has a Buffy Summers ever lived here?"
"Excuse me?"
Aggravated, Angelus grabbed the front of Jonathan's shirt. "Has a Buffy Summers ever lived here?" He repeated.
"Um… no?" Jonathan's brows pinched together and looked down at Angelus' hand clutching the front of his shirt.
Frustrated, Angelus let go of Jonathan's shirt and slapped a hand hard against the wall. He paced back and forth on the porch, his hands weaved through his hair, pulling at it. He didn't have a clue where Buffy could be. Was she in Sunnydale? Sacramento? Was she still even in California?
"Shit. Shit-fuck!" Angelus cursed.
"Hey," Jonathan stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind him. "Are you okay?" He asked, careful not to get too close to the distraught man.
Angelus ripped his hands from his hair. "No! I'm very not okay." He lashed out. "The love of my life was supposed to be here. And she's not. So, yeah, I'm not okay." Angelus whirled around and angrily marched back to the car.
From the porch, Jonathan watched Angelus throw open the Plymouth's driver's side door open and get inside. He swallowed, debating whether to call the police, but quickly decided against it. He returned inside the house.
In the car, Angelus' hands gripped the steering wheel. He looked out the windshield and up at the cloudless blue sky. "A sign would be helpful."
Driving down the street in front of him, Angelus watched a school bus pass by. It was then, Angelus felt a glimmer of hope swell in his chest.
"The high school." He turned the key in the ignition and sped off into the direction of Sunnydale High School.
Sunnydale High School: Lobby
Sprinting inside the large high school, Angelus nearly slipped on the tiled floor but caught his footing. The students still lingering in the lobby looked up from their cellphones and textbooks and watched the frantic-looking man whip around to the left and right in search of Buffy.
Angelus pointed at a young student, grabbing his attention. "You." He marched over to the student. "Where's the guidance counselor's office?"
"Uh, the main office." The student answered.
Annoyed by the lack of information in the reply, Angelus huffed. "Yes, but where is that?"
"At the other end of the lobby to the left." A young female teenager answered.
Looking at the girl, Angelus nodded and rushed across the lobby and made a hard left to the main office.
Main Office
Rushing into the main office, Angelus ran right to the large help desk where an attractive woman with voluminous blonde curly hair sat. She appeared rather bored, studying her red painted nails.
Angelus leaned on the counter, catching his breath.
The woman lifted her gaze from her nails to the out of breath man. Raising the arch of her brow, she looked over the winded but very handsome man. A smile curved at her red lips. "Can I help you?" She asked.
Angelus noticed the nameplate at the front of the desk. "Glory, does Buffy Summers work here?" He huffed, still catching his breath and ignoring the cramp in his side.
"Uh-huh." She nodded and pointed the nail file over her shoulder towards several offices behind her. "Her office is right over there—"
Angelus took off towards the offices.
"She's with a student!" Glory exclaimed, but it went ignored.
Angelus ran around the desk and ran right into another office staffer, forcing her to drop the stack of copied papers from her arms. "Sorry." He said, not stopping to help the woman.
Without thought, Angelus wrapped a hand around the doorknob and whipped the closed office door open.
His heart nearly stopped in his chest to see Buffy sitting behind the desk in the middle of talking with a student. Angelus swallowed, the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile, not believing that he had found her. She looked just as gorgeous as ever.
Just like in his alternate reality, Buffy's hair was long and stylishly curled over her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless red blouse, a pair of form fitting black trousers, and a pair of strappy black heel sandals.
"Buffy." He breathlessly said her name. Angelus wanted to fall to his knees and cry, so happy that he had found her.
Shocked and confused, Buffy stared at her ex-fiancè, waiting for an explanation. "Angel? What are you…"
Catching his breath, Angelus stood in the doorway. "You're here." He ran a hand through his damp spiky hair. He was sure he looked disheveled, but he didn't care. "Hi." He sighed.
Forcing herself to tear her eyes from Angelus, Buffy looked at the teenager sitting in front of her desk. "Rodger, can we take this up at the same time tomorrow?"
"Sure thing, Ms S." Rodger picked up the backpack at his feet and slung it over one shoulder. "Excuse me." He stepped past Angelus and headed out, giving Buffy and the strange man a bit of privacy.
Angelus entered the office, closing the door behind him. As he turned back to Buffy, he noticed the way she was staring at him; like a stranger.
Standing from her chair, Buffy folded her arms across her body. She stared at Angelus, as if she was looking at a ghost. "God, it's been, what? Eight years? You look…" her green eyes dropped over him, finding him appear quite haphazard, "... winded."
Angelus glanced down at himself. His expensive suit was battered, stained with dirt and blood. Lifting his eyes back to her face, Angelus exhaled a breath, drawn to her beauty. "You look beautiful."
Buffy took a deep breath, shaking her head. None of this seemed quite like reality. "It's, um, good to see—What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for you." He took a tentative step closer.
Aghast, Buffy felt the need to burst out into laughter. But she did not. She was too shocked and dumbfounded to do anything but stare at her ex-fiancé. "Um, what?"
"You're not married, are you?" He asked, his eyes fixed on her left hand.
Confused, Buffy shook her head. "Um, no, I'm not married. Thanks for that subtle reminder."
"I'm sorry, Buffy." He said, taking another step closer to her, but she took a step backwards. Keeping a reasonable distance between them. "I'm so sorry."
"What's going on, Angel? You just show up here out of the blue for what?" Her words sliced with a bit of venom. "Closure? I haven't seen or talked to you in eight years. What, did you cook up another hurtful thing to say—or I guess, in your case, don't say and, well, you couldn't just tell me on the phone because the funniest part is that look on my face when—"
"I'm here now." Angelus interrupted her. He had so much guilt for how he had treated her and their relationship in the past. He just stopped all communications with her and without an explanation. "I came back for you."
The perplexed expression on Buffy's face hardened into a look of anger. "Well, you're about eight years too late."
Acknowledging her anger, Buffy had every right to be angry and want him out of her life for good, but Angelus just needed to know—he was desperate. "Do you ever think about us?" He asked, much to her surprise. "About what might've happened if I came back when I should've?"
Buffy stood silently for a long time, staring at Angelus. She closed her eyes and exhaled a heavy sigh. "What are you doing?" Bemused, Buffy huffed a laugh, in utter disbelief. "You're serious." The small smile fell from her face. "Angel, that was so long ago."
"I think about it." He told her. "Let's get a cup of coffee and talk about it."
Buffy raised the arch of her brow. "Coffee makes you jittery."
A knot of hope twisted in Angelus' chest. She had remembered that intimate detail. "Then you have coffee and I'll have… uh, water. Who cares? Just come with me."
"I can't. I'm working." Buffy sat back down in the chair.
"Then after." He took another step, standing in front of the desk. "If you don't want coffee then I'll-I'll do whatever you want. I'll wait for however long you want. Just don't say no."
A rise of anger boiled in her chest, finding that he had a lot of nerve coming back here after all this time and demanding for them to spend time together. "What do you want from me? Do you want me to tell you that everything that's happened between us was okay? That I wasn't heartbroken when you never came back or returned my calls. I was crushed."
Angelus hung his head in guilt for hurting her so deeply.
"But I got over it. I moved on. I don't know why you suddenly feel the need to open old wounds. But I assure you, it's over." Buffy stood from the chair and crossed the office to the door. She twisted the doorknob, opening it for Angelus to leave. "Please, go."
Angelus nodded. His heart breaking in his chest.
Respecting her wishes, Angelus turned out of the office. He took a few steps forward then faced her once more. "We have a house right here in Sunnydale." He announced, capturing Buffy's attention. "One of those homely craftsman houses. It's a mess but we love it. It's our home. We have two kids. Katie and Liam."
Buffy's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, noticing the entire office staring at her and Angelus. "Angel, stop."
Angelus ignored her and continued, "Katie, she looks just like you. Except she has brown hair like me and dark eyes also like me. She loves to play ice hockey. It terrifies you, but you believe that she can do anything she sets her mind to. So… you let her play."
Buffy's eyes were fixed on him as he slowly walked towards her.
"And Liam… he has your eyes. He doesn't say much but he's smart. His eyes are always open, watching everything we do. It's amazing."
Buffy stared at him half-mortified but equally transfixed with curiosity.
"We're in love." The corner of his mouth tugged into a smirking smile. "After eight and a half years of marriage we're still completely in love with each other." Angelus finally reached her, towering over her.
Buffy did not back away this time, completely spellbound.
"Every time we make love, it's like the first time. I hold you and you lay your head on my chest and it's perfect. Everything just feels right. We made a lot of sacrifices and had many surprises along the way but we got through it together."
Buffy's lips gently parted.
Angelus sighed, looking around himself for a moment then shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it was all a fever dream, but I swear nothing's ever felt more real to me. I've seen what our life can be together… I choose us, Buffy. Forever." He extended his hand, cupping her cheek. "That's the whole point. Just… get a cup of coffee with me."
Frozen and only able to hear the pounding of her heart in her ears, Buffy stared up at Angelus. For years, she wanted him to come back and make some big grand gesture, but she had never in a million years thought it would actually happen.
As he stared at her, waiting for her reply, his dark soulful eyes pleading with her and the crooked half-smile across his face, Buffy felt weak in the knees. "Okay, Angel. Okay…"
Angelus' smile grew wider. He closed the distance, lowering his head and pressing his forehead against hers. Buffy exhaled a sigh, giving in to the warm and familiar feeling of his presence again. She closed her eyes and let the world fall away.
Afternoon
Espresso Pump
Seated across from one another at a table outside on the sidewalk, Angelus and Buffy talked and exchanged a few laughs. It was all too easy falling back into a conversation.
Angelus was already head over heels for the petite blonde seated across from him. She was a bit different from the alternate reality and very different from the young woman he knew in college. This Buffy was mature, cool, but she had the same quick wit and fierce intelligence that he fell in love with originally.
Throwing back her head in laughter, without thought, Buffy laid a hand over Angelus'. Her laughter paused for a moment, looking down at their hands.
Buffy looked into his dark eyes. Hypnotised by his soulful gaze, Buffy could feel herself letting go and letting herself fall right back in love with this infuriating man.
"Tell me more about this fever dream." She said, holding her chin in her free hand.
Angelus smiled, lowering his gaze to their touching hands. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the backs of her fingers. "Well, it all happened after I was mugged."
Buffy's soft expression twisted into one of shock.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. But I was knocked out."
"Oh my God, Angel…"
Angelus waved off her concern and continued the story—their story. The story about their hectic and sometimes frustratingly ordinary life together.
End.