"So, I'll just tell him that it's not working out." She sighed.

"Eh, maybe after the May Queen ceremony." Angel suggested.

"Right! 'Cause if Cordy finds out before then, she will plot complete sabotage." Buffy scarfed some Ruffles.

"Hey!" He shouted and stole the bag.

"They're good." She pouted.

"But, you don't need them." He insisted.

"Right…Ah, Crap!" She exclaimed and hit her head.

"What?"

"How on Earth am I gonna look hotter than Cordy?"

"It'll be easy." He snapped his fingers.

"But, we're going dress shopping together."

"Tell her you have to cancel and spend the day with me, shopping, in LA." He grinned.

"Love that idea." She whispered.


Cordelia primped in front of the mirror in her skin-tight stretch cuffed designer jean capris (just in from Paris), her electric blue tunic, and her silver stilettos. Her hair was teased into a flirty ponytail, her makeup heavy. She wanted to show him that she was moving on. She hopped into her Mustang with her matching Chanel handbag and started to drive. She drove by Buffy's house and saw her laughing with Angel.

What? Angel? She made a small upset gasp and her jaws contorted viciously. She's gonna pay. She sped off towards the school.

Meanwhile…

"Wait-was that Cordelia?" Buffy's eyes widened in fear.


Buffy smiled, acting as if nothing happened. She sat down and fixed her braid.

"Buffy." Cordelia said sweetly.

"Hey, Cordy." Buffy gulped, unnoticeably.

"Can we talk?" Cordy raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, of course." Buffy wandered into the hallway and followed Cordelia to the utmost-deserted bathroom in the entire building.

Cordelia sat down on a torn up floral couch and patted the spot next to her. Buffy sat down,sweating in fear of Cordelia's wrath.

"Look, Buffy, I saw you and he-who-must-not-be-named this morning-"

"Cordelia, he's my next door neighbor, his parents are out of town, my mom suckered me into letting him and his little brother stay over." Buffy shrugged.

"And you couldn't tell me about this?" Cordelia raised her eyebrows, her eyes narrowed frustratingly.

"We thought you'd get mad." Buffy replied, squinting.

"Oh." Cordelia looked at her feet. "Everyone always thinks I'm out to get them. I don't try to." She looked in Buffy's eyes, tears rising "My parents just taught me to be assertive and to say what I mean." She was crying at this point.

"Don't cry." Buffy replied. "Maybe, you need to be a little more subtle with what you say. It does come across as a little, um, condescending." Buffy touched her shoulder.

"Just promise me that you and Angel aren't together." Cordelia's voice was shaking.

"We're not." Buffy lied, almost immediately.


The week passed rapidly and Buffy had a lot of hit-and-runs with Devon. She felt guilty. She had to dump him. But, she knew it had to be after the ceremony.

They were in the car. Angel was singing horribly and she laughed until he asked her to sing. She shook her head and eventually ended up singing a verse of the Spice Girls song "Wannabe". Once, they arrived in Los Angeles, they went into Neiman Marcus, holding hands.

"Remember, any sign of Sunnydale, hands fly apart and we scatter." She whispered into his ear.

"That's a definite." He replied with a smile. She perused the formals, wrinkling her nose at the outrageous prices.

"Let's go to Windsor." She grinned and tugged him along.

They entered the store and the music flooded their ears. She kissed him, tugging on his lip. She broke the kiss, unaware thatan all toofamiliarperson had seen them.

"That was nice-" Her whisper was interrupted by...

"You bitch!" Harmony exclaimed. She yanked out her cellphone, shaking her head. "When Cordy finds out, you're sooo screwed!"

Angel stole the cellphone out of her trembling fingers and held it above her head.

"Give it back!" She whined.

"Harmony, you're not going to tell her." Buffy rationalized.

"Oh, really?" She spat.

"You're not, 'cause I'll tell everybody that..." She whispered in Harmony's ear.

"Psh! Everyone knows about that."

"But-" She whispered more.

Harmony backed up slowly, a look of dismay on her face "Yeah, Cordelia doesn't have to know." She shook her head.

"Pinky promise?" Buffy held out her pinky. She knew Harmony believed pinky promises were sacred. Just as she believed unicorns were actually real.

Harmony stuck out her pinky. "Pinky promise."


"That is so gorgeous!" Harmony gushed.

"You think?"

"Devon and Angel are gonna flip!" She exclaimed as Buffy modeled the empire-waisted strapless gown. It was emerald green.

"Not so sure about the whole flipping thing." Buffy smiled.

"So what are you going to do about Devon?" Harmony sat down.

"I was planning on dumping him gently after the crowning." Buffy replied.

"When you do, could you put a word in for me?" Harmony asked.

"You like Devon?" Buffy was flabbergasted

"I've always been into those cool musician guys. Maybe I'm just a groupie." She shrugged.

"You don't have a problem with that?"

"Why should I? Hot musicians!" She cried.

Buffy laughed. "Harmony, you are so fun."

"Cordelia never says anything nice like that." She sighed. "She's always telling me that I'm an idiot. She's such a bitch."

"She doesn't know the meaning of tact." Buffy shrugged.

Harmony looked at her, completely confused.


At lunch, Buffy gave him furtive glances across the room. He was eating with his friends Spike and Doyle. He smiled back but then returned to his conversations, a hint of pink still resting on his cheeks.

"Bronze-age tonight?" Cordelia wondered aloud.

"Sure." Buffy replied absentmindedly.

"The Dingoes are playing. Didn't you know?"

"I haven't really talked to Devon all that much." Buffy said guiltily.

"If he was mine, oh boy, I'd be on him every minute." Cordelia licked her lips.

"You can have him." Buffy whispered back.

"What? He's your boyfriend! I wouldn't do that, I know he means a lot to you."

"Mhmm." Buffy nodded. Her throat was choking up.

"Hey, you okay?" Cordelia asked, her eyebrows were bunched.

"Of course." She whispered.

"Just making sure." At this, Buffy bit her lip and turned away to give Angel an upset look.


They tucked into thecafeteria after school. It was after cheerleading practice. They walked into the shadiest corner of theroom, he took her hand and leaned in to kiss her.

"Mmm, lips of Angel." She whispered.

"We should probably get of here." He looked around.

"You're probably right." She bit her lip and led him out of thecafeteria through the opposite entrance.

"So, Bronze tonight?"

"Only if you give me a ride." She replied. "But, we can't enter together."

"Right." He nodded.


nicer and longer than my usual updates, I felt I should be generous ;).