A/N: WHOA! This isn't an allusion! We haven't dropped off the face of the earth! And for anyone(if anyone) has been waiting for an update, we're reeeally sorry it took this long... hasn't been letting me (Ozlover) add anything, because...Well, I don't know. But, it did (obviously) and...well yeah. That's all. But good news- All that time that we haven't updated here, we;ve still been writing, and we're up to chapter 24. (woo-hoo! lol) So, if you're craving an update, let us know! We'll be glad to satisfy. D Ozlover

Oh, and this chapter was written by Willowzlilsecret

Chapter Fifteen- Traumatized

Everyone woke up around the same time--Dawn and Cordelia had given up on being up before five—and Darla immediately went for the shower.

"I'm after her." Buffy announced. The group grabbed some breakfast and began their discussion of the 'what to do' of the day.

"Hey look guys. Jenny and Giles left us a note. We're supposed to be home by seven and looking nice. We're going to a fancy party for Giles' work." Oz read the post-it stuck to the fridge as he returned the orange juice to its rightful place.

"Well, I guess we should go get our nails and hair done." Willow suggested.

"Yeah Darla wanted her nails done." Buffy said with added emphasis on Darla. She saw Angel shooting her a look. "By the way, Angel, I have to talk to you."

Angel stood up slowly and went into the living room.

"I'm actually not sure what I'm doing, and I'm probably crazy for doing it…" Buffy began after five minutes of silence.

"What is it?" he asked, putting his hand on hers.

"Its just…I'm so confused. I don't know if…" Buffy began and sighed. Suddenly Darla started down the stairs.

"Damn." Angel muttered and pulled Buffy into the closet and signaling for her to be quiet. Buffy suppressed a laugh at the seriousness of Angel's face. When he saw her laughing he smiled brightly. A real smile. Buffy put a hand on Angel's cheek. He looked her in the eye and she felt her heart melting all over again. He leaned down to her and his lips brushed against hers. She felt butterflies awakening in her stomach. She pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Neither of them could stop, pull away, or object because they were in a small closet. Finally Angel pulled away, but kept his arms around her. She felt one stroking her hair, and the other on the small of her back, playing with the bottom of her shirt. She looked up at him and he grinned and kissed her on the tip of the nose. She did all she could to keep from giggling. Suddenly the door swung open.

It was Willow. "Guys you gotta get out of there. Darla went downstairs looking for Angel, and she's coming back any second now." she warned. The two stumbled out of the closet and Buffy rushed up the stairs and Angel returned to the kitchen.

"Baby! Where were you?" Darla yelped as she threw herself into Angel's arms, raining his face with kisses. He seemed a little distracted.

"Bathroom." he answered. Darla started trying to make out with him and he had no choice but to obey. The rest of the group left the room immediately. Buffy came storming down the stairs.

"She used all the hot water." she said in a dangerous voice. She flopped down on the couch next to Willow and Oz.

"Yeah and now she's in there sucking face with Angel." Connor said in disgust. Buffy shuddered.

"Let's get ready and leave." Dawn suggested. Everyone headed up to their rooms to get ready.

Everyone split up at the mall, the girls to get their hair and nails done, and the guys to buy something nice to wear.

"What color are you getting?" Willow asked Buffy.

"I'm getting dark blue to match a stunning dress I saw a couple stores down." Darla answered.

"I'm getting pink." Buffy said, shooting Darla a look. "You?"

So the girls got their nails and hair done and met the guys in the middle of the mall.

"Lets get some pizza." Buffy suggested. Darla rolled her eyes as if it were the dumbest thing she had ever heard. The rest of the gang agreed. So they took their discount ticket and went to Sadie's.

"I'm going to touch up my makeup. I'll be right back." Darla said and walked-no strutted-back to the bathroom. Buffy pulled Angel off again.

"What I meant to say was…Angel…I think…I think I'm in love with you." she blurted. Angel just looked at her and walked back to the table. She had never felt so rejected in her entire life. She pulled out her cell.

"Spike?"

"Buffy."

"Do you wanna meet me at Sadie's…like now?"

"Sure luv."

"Thanks."

"Love you."

"You too." she hung up and sat back down at the table, refusing to look at Angel. Darla emerged from the bathroom and took her place on Angel's lap. They were worse then Xander and Cordelia, who had been cutting back on the kissage after they saw how disturbing it was. Even Dawn and Connor had cut back a little, which was probably in their and everyone else's best interest.

Minutes later Spike arrived and Buffy greeted him with a deep kiss. He was taken by surprise, but when he saw the look on Angel's face, smiled through the kiss. They broke apart and Spike pulled her into a hug, kissing her neck and whispered,

"Good at making ol' Angel jealous, aren't we." Buffy giggled in response and pulled him over to the table.

"Hi Spike." said pretty much everyone except Angel.

"Spike…it's been a while." Darla said, observing him. She definitely liked what she saw, except for the fact that he had himself wrapped around that…Buffy. The two sat down.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Angel said suddenly, signaling for Buffy to follow. She pretended not to see, but knew deep down moments later she'd be joining him.

"So, pet. Why don't you properly introduce me to your girlfriends." Spike said, nuzzling her neck.

"Well, the redhead is my best friend Willow, the little brunette is my sister Dawn, and the really fashionable one is my other best,
Cordelia." Buffy pointed out.

"What about me?" Darla questioned.

"And that's Darla." Buffy added after a moment. Darla shot her a look. "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom." She heard Darla huff loudly and could take pride in at least that. She was about to go into the bathroom, but Angel pulled her into a storage area.

"Another closet?" she asked, pretending to be annoyed.

"Buffy, please, I'm sorry about earlier." Angel said softly.

"Which part, the one where you dragged me into a closet and kissed me, or the one where you ripped my heart into about a bazillion pieces and flushed them down the toilet without a second glance?" Buffy accused. He pulled her close to him and began kissing her. She wanted so badly to push away, to object. But she just felt so perfect in his arms. In the back of her mind, she played over and over what would happen if Spike walked in. He finally let go of her.

"I'm not sorry about that." he said softly, caressing her cheek. She closed her eyes to hold back tears. "And I'd like to fix your heart…put it back together…if you let me."

"Angel, you heard what I said before. And just walking away, like you didn't care. A kiss isn't going to make up for that. You hurt me, Angel, and its gonna take a while for me to let you in." Buffy said quietly, not letting her tears fall.

"Well, it was rather sudden. What did you expect me—"

"Say something—anything! Not just walk away." Buffy said, finally letting the tears fall. She left the storage area and went straight into the bathroom. Angel sighed and reluctantly returned to the table.

The group got home around six and Buffy invited Spike to stay and go to the party with them, seeing as she was sure that Jenny and Giles wouldn't want her to be the…ninth…wheel. That's a lot of wheels…
Fortunately, Spike had something nice to wear at home and ran back to get it, also bringing his normal clothes-for after.

So the guys were mostly ready before the girls and went downstairs to play video games. Angel pretty much 'cold-shouldered' him the whole time, and Oz and Connor were the first to show any acceptance. Spike proved to be not-so-bad…and could beat Connor at the video games…Oz was still video game champion.

Upstairs the girls were putting on make-up, perfume, trying on clothes and shoes, and talking.

"I just…I guess seeing how disgusting Darla and Angel looked, made me think about what I was doing. I mean, if he had asked, I probably would've slept with him." Dawn said as she put some hair spray into her hair.

"I'm just embarrassed that Xander and I did that sort of thing in public! I mean ew!" Cordelia agreed.

"Well its more of an 'ew' because its Darla, but yes...very ew." Dawn nodded and started on her make up.

"But…I mean…it kind of makes you wonder why Angel and Buffy are spending all that time in the closet." Cordelia changed the subject…in a way.

"So you saw the storage closet thing too?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, but I think Willow was the only other one. Darla was too busy daydreaming about screwing Spike." Cordelia laughed and was joined by Dawn.

"Willow, I'm such an idiot." Buffy cried.

"What-no! You're not an idiot, Buffy. What would make you think that?"
Willow asked, dropping what she was doing.

"I-I told Angel that I loved him…and he just walked away. But then he tried to say sorry and I was still mad and so then I just walked away and now he'll never like me." Buffy wailed, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, come here Buffy." Willow said, pulling Buffy to her, unsure of what else to say. She held Buffy and stroked her hair, letting her cry. Buffy was glad that Willow didn't accuse her, and was just there to hold her, not mentioning Spike. She cried even harder at the thought of Spike and how confused she was. "Shhh, shhh." Willow said gently, rubbing her back softly. Buffy finally let up after about five minutes. "I'll be right back."

She returned with a cold, damp washcloth. "Here, Buffy, it's okay." Willow said as she wiped the tears and tearstains off of Buffy's cheeks. As soon as she was done, Buffy pulled her into a tight hug, and held back any more tears. Willow kissed her hair softly and Buffy let go.

"Thanks." she said, her voice cracking. Willow nodded, feeling tears of her own fill her eyes.

"Well I'm going up to the bathroom, mates. I'll be right back." Spike said standing up. He went up the stairs and smacked straight into Darla. She glanced around and pulled him into the kitchen.

"You've changed…and for the better, might I add." Darla said, running her hands up and down his chest.

"As have you…except for the better part." Spike said, trying to push her off.

"Oh, come on, you know you want it." she said and began kissing his neck. He tried again to push her away, but she was stronger then she looked.

"Darla, please. I love Buffy. And I don't want you all over me." he said softly, trying to push her off.

"Oh everyone 'loves' Buffy. But everyone also knows that I am the best…well…at other things." she laughed and nibbled on his ear. He had enough. He pushed her off and went straight downstairs, his only escape from Darla.

Giles and Jenny arrived home at about the time everyone was ready to leave. Everyone was wearing their nicest outfits and were each paired up. Darla in a dark blue very short dress with dark blue nails, dark blue eye shadow, and her hair up in a dark blue barrette. Buffy had her hair up in a half ponytail and had a light pink, slightly longer dress, and light pink nails and make up. Willow was wearing a peach dress and had her hair styled up in something rather hard to describe…(sort of how she had it for the prom in season three, except with longer hair) and peach nails and make up. Cordelia was wearing an emerald green dress with her hair falling around her face and nails and make up to match. Dawn was wearing purple with clear polish and matching purple eye shadow.

Each of them were paired with their combed and clean boyfriends, and were all standing ready to leave.

"How many people can your car take, Darla? Ours is only a four person, but we could fit five." Jenny said.

"Same with mine." Cordelia added.

"Mine can only fit two." Darla said.

"Well, that works perfectly." Jenny smiled.

"Except one couple is going to have to split." Buffy added.

"We can." Connor volunteered. Dawn gave him a barely noticeable nudge, but couldn't take back what he said.

"Well, we could take my van." Oz suggested. "It holds…well could hold, around six people. Or more if you squeeze."

"That works. Then we take four and Darla and Angel take Darla's." Giles said and nodded. Xander and Cordelia followed after Giles and Jenny and Darla and Angel went together. The rest of the gang loaded into Oz's van.

"Well you could've mentioned that there are no seats in the back." Buffy mumbled jokingly.

"Just be glad that there's carpet." Oz smiled.

The gang went into the library, where the party was being held, and pretty much stuck together as a group.

"Baby, why don't you get me a drink?" Darla suggested. But it was more of a command then a question. After this all the guys offered to get drinks and left the girls in a group.

"Let's go over near that office where its not as crowded." Willow suggested. So the girls sort of migrated their way over. It was near the drinks so the guys saw them and came over. Darla didn't even drink hers and wasted no time pulling Angel into the stacks. Soon Xander and Cordelia had done the same. So it was left with three pairs.

"This is fairly awkward." Oz observed after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah. I think we're gonna join them back there." Dawn said and grabbed Connor's hand pulling him back to the back.

"We're just gonna go in this office…if you don't care." Willow said. Buffy winked at her and let Spike put an arm around her waist.

"Wanna go outside?" Buffy suggested. Spike immediately agreed and the couple snaked through the crowd and was relieved to leave the crowded library.

"I can breathe again." Spike joked.

"Not for long." Buffy smiled slyly and pulled him into a kiss. Right then and there the two began making out. Buffy half wished Angel and Darla would come through the doors and see them, but they didn't.

"Buffy. I can't lie to you. I've been feeling guilty for a little while…" Spike said pulling away.

"What is it?" Buffy asked, arms still around him.

"Darla kind of…came on to me earlier. Kissing me and stuff. I pushed her away…well tried…but I could've tried harder. And I'm sorry." Spike said. Buffy smiled, covering guilt of her own.

"It's ok." she said and began kissing him again. She felt him laughing and laughed as well.

The party was finally over and as soon as they got back to the house they all changed into something more comfortable and went downstairs for movies.

Dawn and Cordelia were curled up in a blanket together, Xander next to Cordelia and Connor next to Dawn…but each of them were too 'manly' to share a blanket with anyone. Willow and Oz were snuggled in a blanket together, kissing sometimes, but not as bad as Darla and Angel.
And Darla and Angel were on a chair, Darla on Angel's lap, making out. The entire time. If you asked them about the movie the most they could tell you was the title and possibly the rating. If they took time to check.

And Buffy and Spike were on the other chair, Spike stroking Buffy's hair and Buffy feeling more and more guilty about the Angel thing.
"God do they ever come up for air?" Cordelia asked, glancing at Darla and Angel. Dawn suppressed laughter.

Suddenly Darla went upstairs for no apparent reason. Around five minutes later she returned.

Spike left and everyone got ready for bed. Buffy searched frantically through her drawers.

"I can't find them anywhere!" she said to Willow on the verge of hysteria. Downstairs came Dawn's voice.

"BUFFY!"

Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow all rushed down the stairs to see Dawn standing in the kitchen with the freezer door wide open. Darla emerged from the stairs, but no one noticed her, nor did they care.

"I am tramatized." Dawn said as she backed away. And Buffy looked in. And there they were. Every single bra she owned was in the freezer.

"Darla." she growled.

And so the war began…