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It was the summer party that the neighbourhood hosted every year and it was in full swing, it signalled the end of the summer season, not that it mattered anyway as the climate only went from exceptionally warm to warm.
Everyone celebrated anyway; it was an excuse for a massive barbecue and an excuse to drink from early afternoon through to the next morning if you were that hardcore. Buffy was at one of the tables helping to cut up the vegetables for the salad.
Buffy stopped chopping the onions when one of the neighbours scoffed, Amy Madison was nice, a bit of a strange one, but nice none the less – she looked over to where Amy was staring and rolled her eyes "Would you look at what she's wearing?"
Amy shook her head in disgust; most normal people at a neighbourhood party would wear summer clothes, maybe shorts, a dress or something light and airy. The neighbourhood skank Darla had a two piece on with a pair of sheer shorts covering her bottom.
Darla laughed heartily with one of the men and accepted a cup of the cocktail mix that he had handed to her, as usual her husband was sitting alone with a scotch in his hand, glowering at her behaviour.
Buffy looked at her curves and couldn't deny that Darla had a beautiful figure; she could see why a lot of men went for her. Looking down at her own figure that was covered with a sundress she frowned; sure she had gained some weight back and looked healthy but she had a gentle frame.
A few of the married men all tried to ogle her on the sly but her quick eyes caught them, whenever they made eye contact with her they would look away ashamed. When she heard Darla purr out Angels name loudly she tried not to look, fully trusting him.
She couldn't hear what the bimbo was saying to him but glancing from the side of her eye she could see him trying to be polite then politely step aside when her finger hooked into the vest he had on to tug him closer.
Buffy grit her teeth with annoyance then let out a scoff herself "Maybe she confused out here with a beach, huh?" Amy nodded along then patted her shoulder as she walked off to meet her boyfriend who was chatting in a group nearby.
Feeling that she had chopped enough onions she wiped her hands with moist wipes to get rid of the smell then walked towards Angel and Darla. As she got closer she gained confidence in her stride, letting her hips swing from side to side and smile widely.
Angel perked up when he saw her come closer and leaned down to kiss her, taking the opportunity she slipped her tongue into his mouth, making it a lot more heated that she would usually go for in public "Hey"
She smiled slyly at Angel then regarded Darla with little interest "Darla" she felt like a grade A bitch and was loving it, the wind got knocked out her sails when Darla smirked and leaned her head to the side as if she was speaking to a child.
"Oh Buffy Hi" she over acted her sniff then wafted her hand "Wow, something stinks… just like onions huh?" feeling embarrassed Buffy turned red and tried to retreat into herself, Darla looked at her with amusement, loving that she'd made her insecure.
Angel watched the display then frowned when Buffy pressed herself into his side "I've forgotten something inside… I'll be back in a minute" she kissed him quickly then high-tailed it inside to wash her hands.
"That was uncalled for… at least she's helping out and not just drinking" his dark eyes bore into her lighter ones, he was getting annoyed with the constant barbs she would throw at Buffy; he knew Darla had a stick up her ass about being rejected by him.
In response he got a lusty smile, clearly she didn't care what he had just said to her "And I still smell of Chanel… onions or Chanel? I know what I'd go for" she bit her bottom lip as she squeezed his bicep, stepping closer she whispered "Just remember that"
He glared at her as she floated away to speak to one of the older men, who he had no doubt she was probably sleeping with behind Lindsay's back as well. His body relaxed and he smiled down at Buffy when she reappeared beside him "Hi"
Her voice was small and shy compared to the confidence she exuded only minutes prior, he turned so he was fully facing her and pulled her body flush against his "Buff, she was just being a bitch…" he came down to kiss her softly "Don't listen to her"
Buffy nudged her nose off his then sighed "I know" what she hadn't told him was that when he wasn't there, Darla was an even bigger bitch who belittled her any way possible "I just don't like bitchy people"
Not wanting to discuss the matter any further Buffy kissed him again playfully "Okay, lets grab a drink… and then we'll get some food" she linked her fingers through his and led him to the alcohol to get them both a drink.
Thankfully for the rest of the evening Darla kept away from the couple, once she'd had a good drink in her she played the loving wife and fawned all over Lindsay, who was equally as drunk and welcomed her attention.
Buffy giggled against Angel's chest as they made their way back to their home, to say they'd both had a few drinks was an understatement, wanting to continue the party she had suggested grabbing the bottle of Champagne and taking it into a bubble bath.
Angel swatted her ass playfully and headed to the back of the yard where they had a bar outside, with the last bottle of Champagne they had as Buffy went to the bathroom to get a start on the bubbles.
Feeling giddy she bounced around the bathroom singing to herself, she poured a generous amount of liquid into the large tub then faced the mirror so that she could pin her hair on her head. Shaking her hips she turned to look outside and stopped in her tracks.
Angel was still in the backyard, champagne in hand but wasn't alone; Darla was standing beside him, her hand caressing his now bare chest. She ground her teeth together at the audacity of the bitch touching him twice in one day.
Her heart rate sped up, she watched the perfectly manicured hand slide down and squeeze his groin through the shorts he had on then press a kiss to Angels jaw. Buffy scrunched her eyes closed and bit down on her lip to stop the sob.
The rational part of her mind was telling her to ignore, Darla was like a cat on heat and that Angel would not reciprocate, he was a good guy, her guy; he would never cheat on her. Unfortunately the rational part of her mind was under a sea of alcohol.
Darla was a beautiful woman; her hourglass body was what all the magazines said was the ideal shape that all guys wanted for their woman – Darla knew she was insecure about her soft figure and had exploited that many a time, it was something as a teen was used in malice as well that she hadn't got completely over.
Angel came into the bathroom, a fraction less happy than he was five minutes ago – Darla was nothing but persistent, he had ripped her hand away from his crotch and gave her a harsh warning about leaving him and Buffy alone, his deathly tone for once must have broke through as her eyes betrayed how scared she was.
"Buff, I've got champagne" he tilted the bottle carefully in his hand and frowned when he saw her rigid body from behind and knew instantly she was pissed about something. He sat the bottle on the counter then went over to place his hands on her shoulders.
Immediately she shrugged out of his grasp and shook her head, when she turned around he could see unshed tears in her eyes "What's wrong?" he took a step forward and she took one away, leaving the same distance between them.
She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him "Is there something you should be telling me, huh?" he frowned not knowing what she was talking about; he shared everything with her "So you're just going to stand there in silence?"
When she was nervous she would babble, when she was happy she would not stop smiling and when she was pissed – well, she wouldn't let things go. He wanted to diffuse this situation rapidly or else they would be there all night.
"I don't know what you're talking about" he held up his hands in an act of peace and looked at her sincerely; the look on her face darkened as she pointed outside and stamped her foot off the tile on the floor.
"Don't lie to me, I saw Darla touch you! She looked pretty cosy doing it… is this what happens when I'm not around?" she glared at him and successfully kept the tears at bay but her face crumpled as she pictured more happening.
Staring at her incredulously, Angel took a minute then glared at her "WHAT?" he couldn't believe what she was accusing him of, never had he ever cheated on any of the women in his life, if he ever got any inclination he would break it off.
When she only looked to the ground he felt the anger rise "Have I EVER gave you any reason to think that I would betray you like that huh?" he saw her body as she tried to hold the tears in and got angrier, his voice lowered dangerously "Aren't you going to answer me?"
Buffy licked her lips and hugged her body tighter, he sounded so angry she was scared to even look at him; she could feel how tense he was radiating off his body. She kept her eyes on the ground as if completely fascinated by the tiles.
Angel clenched his fist causing his knuckles to crack loudly, the sound brought back a horrific memory of her time with Riley, she let out a sob and scurried back, closing her eyes tighter. When he lost his temper he swiped at the bottle causing it to smash on the floor, making her jump once again.
He stormed out of the bathroom and downstairs then paced around the living room, livid that she would think that of him. After a couple of minutes he shook his hands to relieve the tension, as he went through the back door he slammed it without realising.
Buffy jumped when she heard the door slam and let the tears fall freely, her legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground. When the water from the tub overflowed and snapped her out of her trance she pulled the plug and stopped the water.
She waited for over an hour to hear if he was coming home before feeling even more like shit and climbed into bed. She knew she had overreacted; she had accused him of outrageous things and said nothing – absolutely nothing when she should have explained her reasons.
By the time he had calmed down enough to go back inside she was asleep, tears stained her cheeks and she looked lost, even in sleep. He was still pissed at her, he thought they were strong and nothing would get in there way – that she would at least speak her concerns.
Taking one last look he grabbed his phone from the bedside table and stalked off to the spare room, he was pissed at her and he was pissed he would have to sleep on this lumpy, stubborn old mattress. He hated this mattress and hated fighting with Buffy.
Oooooooooooooo
Before she had even opened her eyes she knew she was in for the worst day in a long time, peeking one eye open she saw light flood into the room and she groaned. Her head was killing her.
Taking a few deep breathes she gained the courage to sit up, as soon as she did she regretted it, her stomach churned and she swayed, feeling the rise in her stomach she ran to the bathroom and threw up into the toilet.
"Oh god!" she remembered the party, remembered drinking, remembered going home… then, she closed her eyes and threw up again, she remembered what she saw and what she accused Angel of, how much of a dummy was she.
He would never do anything like that and felt ashamed for even thinking that, she threw up again and choked when she felt bile burn its way up her throat. Once she felt strong enough to stand she made quick work on brushing her teeth.
She scrubbed at her face then put her hands on her head, she'd had many headaches before but this was bad, blindly checking the medicine cabinet she pulled out painkillers and dry swallowed them "Yuck!" she went to walk out the bathroom and forgot about the broken bottle and got a shard stuck in her foot.
Buffy yelped in pain and turned her foot to check the damage, having terrible luck it was a large piece of glass and the damned first aid box happened to be in the kitchen. Doing her best to keep the injured foot in the air she carefully hobbled downstairs.
Although she hadn't woke up beside him she knew he was still in the house, most likely in the spare bedroom and hopefully still asleep so she could work up the nerve to speak to him and apologise for being a complete idiot.
With her luck being close to nil already she hobbled into the kitchen to be faced with Angel hugging a mug of steaming tar like coffee; he looked just as bad as she most likely did. He took one look at her then looked at his drink.
Buffy felt the bile rise again but held it back as she went in search of the first aid kit, she took a sudden bought of dizziness and almost fell but was caught before she fell to the ground. Even though he was upset, he would never let her get hurt.
Angel placed her on the seat carefully and sat across from her to prop her calf on his thigh, he cursed himself that this was partially his fault, he had knocked over the bottle after all, but it was her clumsiness that had caused the injury.
Without saying anything but being gentle as he always would he removed the glass then cleaned the wound and dressed it so it wouldn't get infected. Once he was finished he made no attempt to move her leg back to the ground "thank you"
He looked up at her big sad eyes and felt bad, he looked back to her leg; before he could say anything she cleared her throat "I'm sorry!" he slowly looked over at her "I know you didn't do anything with Darla and you never would whilst we are together, you're the best guy I know"
When his thumb began to rub circles on the sole of her foot she continued, sounding more confident "I know I was a complete dummy… it's just that when you're not around Darla says some hateful things to me… that I still look like I'm in training bra's and she's obviously not"
Her bottom lip jut out and her eyes glazed over "Sometimes I think to myself, why would you, who could get the most beautiful woman in the world be with me… plain old Buffy?" she looked away as a tear escaped from her eye.
Before she could wipe it away she felt his thumb gently run over her cheek, she looked up to see his face look conflicted "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, Buff" he gently moved her leg off of him and came close to kiss her.
"I'm still pissed" she looked away in shame as he continued "…I do love you Buff but I need to know that you trust me, otherwise…"
Her head shot round and she looked at him in fear "I do! I do trust you; I don't know what came over me… I love you so much, I'm afraid I'll lose you!" her hands gripped onto his forearms tightly as she started to cry "I don't want to lose you"
Angel pulled her onto his lap and hugged her close, letting her cry; he was mad but understood that if she bottled up then it wouldn't end well. Once she was cried out she apologised and moved back over to the other seat, holding her head again.
"You okay?" he ran his hand across her back as she took a few deep breathes.
Buffy smiled sadly "Too much to drink, I've been sick and I have the worst migraine ever" Angel kissed her forehead then went to the drawer to pull out painkillers; she declined and said she'd already taken some.
Feeling tender as well he grabbed a couple bottles of water and headed back upstairs with Buffy limping beside him, they climbed into bed and snuggled up under the covers "I hope this migraine doesn't last long"
He slipped out the bed for a moment to shut the curtains, bringing the room into darkness then got comfortable beside Buffy "Thanks Angel" she kissed his chest then laid her head back down, he squeezed her gently then kissed the top of her head.
For the rest of that day they laid in darkness without speaking, Buffy fell asleep which gave him time to go downstairs to make some food for them. She was awake when he got back, accepting the food with thanks she dug in straight away.
Angel watched her as she picked apart the sandwich and smiled, this was something they would get over, he loved her and just like she had said, he didn't want to lose her either "You're staring" she peeked over to him and he ran his knuckles over her cheek.
"I love you" she stopped eating to face him properly; he shrugged with one shoulder then took a bit of his own sandwich. Buffy watched him for a few moments then went back to eating, her stomach was twisting and turning; this day she couldn't wait for this day to end.