"Mahal"
By: Lynn
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/
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BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)
Part 16
"You owe me one," Jessica declared to Dawn as they pulled into the parking lot of the local skate park. Jessica had borrowed her mom's SUV so she could go with Dawn to meet up with her new boyfriend, Pete. That left the big house free of any teenagers, making it easy for Isabella to relax and enjoy one of her rare and much deserved day offs.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dawn dismissed as she quickly inspected herself in the mirror and then exited the vehicle. "Besides," she continued while the duo walked over to the skaters, "Connor might've needed a ride."
"True," her friend agreed.
A devilish grin spread over Dawn's face, "And Noah's here so technically, I did YOU a favor." She nudged the brunette's shoulder playfully.
Jessica smiled shyly and blushed, "Shut up, we're just friends." But it was true, she did like the boy that had just recently transferred from LA, but the both of them were too shy to make a move on each other.
"Yeah. Right. That's what Buffy and Angel said. Now I have to yodel or something before entering a room so I don't have to experience anymore nauseating PDA's."
"Not that it helps any," Jessica half-joked. Those two were the most affectionate couple on Earth. They were like candy... sweet, but if you have too much, you end up getting all queasy and throwing up on the floor. Though, that didn't seem to bother the two at all. Even the parents saw how close they were getting and didn't allow them to be alone in the room for more than a few minutes.
As the two approached closer to the park, Dawn spotted her boyfriend talking to a couple of unrecognizable girls, and stared at them incredulously.
"What the hell is he doing? Who are those skanks," she exclaimed.
Jessica raised her eyebrows at her jealous friend, recognizing her behavior when she had a thing for Connor. "You're really the jealous type aren't you?"
"Well, yeah! You just figured that out," Dawn quickly looked at her companion as if she was the one acting crazy. Jessica was actually amazed that Dawn didn't even try to deny the fact that she was the poster child of jealousy.
"Dawn, calm down and breathe," Jessica said, pausing to demonstrate deep soothing breaths, "I can guarantee that Pete has zero interest in those girls."
Her friend threw a glare at her best friend before looking back at her boyfriend and the two girls. "How do you know that!"
"Well, for one," she started off slowly, talking to Dawn as if she had severe mental problems, which at that moment, she was starting to suspect that she actually did have some, "Those two girls... they're sixth graders." Jessica could see that her friend was calming down some, actually seeing how young the girls were, but there still was a bit of red and green in her blue eyes. "And plus, that's Pete's little sister, Vivian, and their cousin Mary."
The anger then totally drained from the girl's face and a frown was set in place, "Oh." There was a pause and then a wide grin split Dawn's face and she let out a perky, "Okay!" before she ran off to say hello to Pete.
Jessica rubbed her temple and shook her head, mumbling to herself, "I swear... the girl is bi-polar."
She spotted her brother on one of the ramps and waved, starting to walk towards him. As soon as she stepped a few paces forward, she heard someone yell, "Look out!" before being almost instantly tackled to the ground. Luckily, she landed on the grass and it softened her fall, but unfortunately she was the one that broke the fall of the guy that was on top of her.
"Oh my God. I am so sorry," a familiar voice apologized from above her. "Are you okay?"
Jessica let out a groan and answered, "I'm good," she opened her dark eyes and came to see Noah Linus' light gray-blue eyes looking down at her.
Noah, realizing the position they were in, stood and helped the girl up.
"I didn't hurt you did I," he asked, the concern he felt for her was evident in his voice. His gaze never left hers, even when he bent down to pick up his skateboard.
"Not really," she confessed, but then winced and grabbed her side as a sudden rush of pain hit her, "Um… Actually, can we sit down for a bit?"
Noah nodded and guided her to nearby park bench. After her watching her breathe deeply in and out, he cast his eyes to the ground. "I can't believe I rammed into you like that. I feel so bad."
"Don't. It's okay," Jessica reassured him, the pain slowly receding, "I'm fine."
He rubbed the top of his black, backwards cap he wore on his head, "I still feel bad."
"Fine. If I end up with some broken ribs, then I'll send you the hospital bill," she joked.
Noah laughed and shook her hand, "Deal."
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"Hey Connor," a boy with curly blonde hair rolled up behind the young Roarke, "Look at that," the boy, Preston, nodded his head towards the other side of the park.
"What," Connor turned his head in the direction his friend was gesturing to. His crystal, blue eyes fell on his sister laughing with his new friend, Noah as they sat too close to each other for his tastes.
"Dude's totally macking on your sister, Bro," Preston pointed out with a smirk, knowing how protective the Roarke brothers were of their precious baby sister, "I didn't know we can do that," he teased.
Connor momentarily abandoned staring blankly at the two and turned to scowl at his friend, the protective brother mode kicking in again.
Preston put his hands up in defense, "I'm just saying, man... your sister's hot."
Connor just shoved the laughing blonde forward. "Just shut up and skate, Pres." He cast one more glance towards Noah and Jessica, and shook his head before following Preston down the ramp.
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Xander Roarke was exhausted, and he could just feel the vein in his forehead pulsing, caused by the stress he was experiencing. It was a busy day at work, and busy equaled insanity.
Everywhere, there were little kids and teenagers surrounding his workplace asking him to cash in their tickets or to help them with the malfunctioning machine they were using. Different tunes played from different games, making one big annoying, unsynchronized symphony. Normally, the sounds and activities of the arcade never bothered Xander, but on stressful days like these was when he felt like going on a rampage.
He thanked God that his co-workers, Jimmy and Karen were there with him, otherwise, he would crack if he was alone.
He was currently collecting prizes for a little girl when he saw a sight for sore eyes enter the arcade.
Xander placed the little girl's winnings in front of her and moved to the other side.
"Boy am I glad to see you three." He smiled at Cordelia, Willow, and Buffy.
"Hi Xander," Willow and Buffy said. Xander smiled at them and then leaned over the glass counter to quickly kiss Cordelia.
"So, what brings you ladies here?"
"We were shopping and thought we would stop by and see how you were doing," Cordelia answered, sweetly smiling at her boyfriend.
"We're making rounds," Willow added, "After this, we're gonna visit your brothers at the garage."
"Also, we wanted to see if you still wanted to go on that group date to that Mexican restaurant that just opened."
"Now why do we have to go to some over-priced restaurant when we could just go to Taco Bell for the same food," Xander said, causing Cordelia to glare at him.
"Because it's classier and an actual restaurant; it's not the same."
"I still think Taco Bell is better."
"Alexander Harris Roarke! We are not going to a stupid Taco Bell because you are tight with your money!"
Before Xander could argue and make things uglier, Buffy cut in, "It's crazy in here, Xand. How you holding up?"
Forgetting about the millionth argument he was about to have with is girlfriend, Xander scoffed, but again, he was prevented from speaking when his co-worker, Jimmy, came up behind him and clapped his shoulder.
"Hey Xander, you gonna introduce me to your friends," Jimmy waggled his eyebrows in suggestion. He had curly red hair and was in dire need of Proactiv products for his face.
"Sure. Guys, this is Jimmy. Jimmy this is my girlfriend Cordelia, and that's Buffy and Willow."
"Hello Ladies," Jimmy said with a seductive tone towards Buffy and Willow.
The blonde and redheaded girls looked at each other before simultaneously saying, "Taken!"
"Uh yeah...sorry man," Xander apologized, "But those two are my brothers' girls."
Jimmy had a disappointed look on his face, but he quickly shrugged it off, and playfully glared at his co-worker/friend.
"Dude, next time, make sure your single friends visit you." He faced the three girls, "It was nice to meet you. Xander, sorry but you need to get back to work." With a sympathetic grin and a nod, Jimmy left the four to attend to the kids.
Xander sighed before returning his attention back to his visitors, "Remind me again why I took this job." He then winced when a siren went off, indicating that someone had hit the jackpot on one of the games.
"Hmm... Good pay and unlimited use of the arcade games," Willow replied.
"Not to mention a ten percent discount off of any product in the store," Cordelia happily added. The ten percent wasn't that much, but even the word 'discount' just made her all giddy inside.
"Right," Xander relented, exhaling deeply.
"Do you want anything before we leave," Cordelia offered, reaching out and rubbing her hand over the short sleeve of his gray uniform golf shirt he wore.
"No thanks. Jessica called and said she'd be coming by soon to drop off something.," he paused to rethink his refusal. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if one of you had some Tylenol in those purses."
Willow and Buffy shook their heads while Cordelia said, "Sorry. Only Midol."
Xander frowned, "Never mind. Sorry I asked."
"Alright," Buffy said, "Well, then, off to the coal mines with ya!"
With a roll of his eyes, Xander sarcastically and dully replied, "Heigh ho heigh ho. It's off to work I go."
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While stocking some newly shipped in air fresheners on the shelves, Oz silently went over lyrics of a Dingoes' song in his head, ignoring the soft eighties music that played throughout the store.
Suddenly, the bell on top of the door rang, signaling a customer had just walked in. Out of instinct, Oz paused to see who just entered. With a hint of a smile on his face, he placed the box he was handling on the ground and walked over to the entryway.
Immediately, he threw his arms around his favorite red headed girl, and nodded to the other two girls who entered with her.
"Angel's in the garage," Oz automatically told Buffy, reading her mind.
A smile on her face, Buffy thanked Oz and went to the interlocked garage, Cordelia training behind.
As soon as they walked through the doors, they were hit with the sounds of drills, clanking of metal on metal, and a radio playing the music of some old rock group.
Buffy and Cordelia walked up to a middle-aged bald man fixing something under the hood of a station wagon.
"Hey Uncle Carter," Buffy sweetly said to the man, catching his attention.
He lifted his grease-smudged face from the engine at the sound of the girl's voice and smiled. He put down the tool he was holding and wiped his dirty hands on the worn out rag he had in his pocket. Rounding the front of the car, he took the daughter of his old friend's in his arms.
Ethan Devlin Carter and Rupert Giles Summers had been friends since they were wee little lads in England. The two were inseparable. As soon as they were old enough, they both got tickets to California and made the transition from England together. Carter was always there for Giles through the ups and downs and vice versa. He had been there when Giles had fallen for both Jenny Calender, a teacher at the local high school, and Joyce Saunders, an art student; he was also there when Giles had to make the difficult choice between the two. Looking at how happy his friend was now, he had no doubt that Giles chose the right one.
"Hello Lovely. How's my favorite Goddaughter today," he asked when they ended their hug, he keeping his left arm around her shoulders.
"Peachy with a side of keen," she answered in her usual Buffy way.
"So what time is your old man supposed to be returning from Dallas?" Giles had gone on a trip to Texas a few days ago to do some sort of business for the bookstore he owned. It really didn't catch Buffy's interest when her father was talking about it.
"Mom is picking him up from the airport around ten tonight."
"Excellent. Well anyway, I think I know what you're here for," he grinned.
"Really," she pretended as if it wasn't obvious.
"Of course. Is that it?" He pointed to Angel who was also fixing something under the hood of a dark green Toyota Corolla. He obviously didn't notice that his love and friend had entered the garage, being so occupied with is work.
Smiling happily at her surrogate uncle, she kissed his cheek in thanks, signaling him to get back to work. As they reached her boyfriend, the blonde gestured Cordy and anyone in the garage that was looking to keep quiet as they snuck up behind him.
Buffy tip-toed quietly and paused before surprisingly grabbing a handful of Angel's ass, causing the tall, dark, and handsome teenager to jump and almost drop the tool in his hand, catching him off guard.
He whirled around, about to give the person who just violated him a piece of his mind, when he came across his girlfriend and Cordelia trying to hold in their laughter.
"You know, sexual harassment is really frowned upon in these parts," Angel teased, a serious tone in his voice, but one of his cute half smiles was on his face.
"Sorry," Buffy apologized, but didn't sound even a bit sincere. "I just couldn't resist. Your butt was just begging to be grabbed," then after some thought, she added, "By me."
"Well in that case," Angel resumed his former position while looking over his shoulder, "Do as you will."
"Ew," Cordelia said, making her presence known, "So not gonna comment."
"Then don't," Angel bluntly replied, looking at the saucy brunette, while he still leaned over the open hooded car.
Cordelia glared at Angel, choosing not to verbally respond to his remark. "Ugh Angel. How can you work at a place like this?" She held herself tighter, as if that would help protect her from the grease and dirt that infested the garage.
"Like this," Angel then proceeded to work on the engine just to play around with Cordelia.
"Whatever. Just make sure you go to Josefina's with us tonight. Eight 'o' clock. Don't be late," she then looked him up down, grimacing at the dirty coveralls he was wearing, "And please Angel... Take a shower and don't wear that."
"Aye aye Captain Cordy," Angel mock saluted, standing up straight.
"Good boy," she nodded in satisfaction.
"I could've told him that myself, Cordelia," Buffy said, slightly annoyed that she was cutting into her and Angel's alone time.
"I had to make sure you wouldn't get distracted by Don Juan over there."
"Thanks," she bitterly replied.
"No problem," Cordy dismissed the tone in her voice, "Well, I'll be in the store with Oz and Willow if you need me."
Right after Cordelia left, Angel leaned in and softly kissed his girlfriend, pulling away before it could intensify. He was mindful of the watchful gaze of Buffy's godfather, he being the eyes and ears of Mr. Summers when he wasn't around. Not to mention that Mr. Carter was his boss.
Angel kept his hands away from her body, leaving them at his sides.
"Sorry I can't hug you," he held up his dirty hands smeared with black, "I don't want you to get all dirty."
"Well then," she slid her arms around his waist, "I'll just have to hug you myself." She hated not having any physical contact with him. Every time they parted it was like she felt empty inside, and it was getting harder and harder to say goodbye to him.
He kissed her on her forehead before telling Carter that he was going on a break, and dragged a giggling Buffy to the back for some "real" alone time.
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A half hour later, the couple re-emerged, Buffy leaving Angel to get back to work.
When she joined the others in the store, she was immediately laughed at by Cordelia and Willow; Oz then informing her of the grease she was covered in from Angel's wandering hands.
"Buffy, I think you missed a spot," Cordelia told her as she drove her car back to her house.
The blonde blushed while Cordelia and Willow giggled, wiping the area on her cheek where Cordy had pointed to.
"You and Angel are getting pretty close, huh," Willow said from her place in the backseat, leaning forward so she was in the middle of her two best friends.
"Ooh... You want to take the next step, don't you?" Cordelia smirked, partly teasing her.
Confused, Willow darted her eyes between Cordelia and, for the umpteenth time that day, a blushing Buffy.
"The next step," Willow questioned, "What's the...," she trailed off, the answer finally registering in her innocent brain. "Oh," her blue eyes widened, "Oh! The next... wow. You mean you want to... with Angel?"
"Yes. No. I don't know. It's all so new to me," Buffy told them, "Help me out here, guys."
Willow sympathetically leaned her head against Buffy's, "I wish I could, but me and Oz aren't ready for that, yet. Even though he's already... We're still in the cuddly puppy stage."
"Cordelia," the blonde turned to her other best friend for some advice.
"Sorry Buff, but me and Xander haven't had sex yet either. We've come close, though."
Buffy pouted, disappointed that her friends couldn't help her. Letting out a sigh, she stared out the window, brooding, as her boyfriend would do, about the new situation that had came into her life.
TBC…