Title: Friendsgiving
By Angelfan15
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Their relationship would have turned out so different if they were mine.
Pairing: Buffy/Angel mainly
Distribution: Let me know where it's going!
Spoilers: This is completely AU
Rating: PG-13, probably. If you can watch the show, then you can read this.
Summary: Buffy hosts a Friendsgiving for her closest friends every year.
Authors Note: So, I had been working on this other story and it had been going really great, I have 17 chapters of it written. Then I got a promotion at work and this pandemic hit... literally at the same time! I haven't had much time for writing but I have been reading on my down time. The other day I started reading Promiscuous by bangel4ever. (if you haven't read it, please do! It is NC-17 though, fair warning.) As soon as I finished reading it, I was inspired to write! I wanted to just do a one shot Thanksgiving story but it kind of turned into something more. I'm not sure how long this is going to be but it should still be relatively short, I really want to get back to writing my other story and doing updates. Anyway, for those of you that celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving!
Chapter 1:
Buffy Summers looked at her dining room table then rushed back into the kitchen to grab the basket of rolls, she didn't want to hear Xander complaining that he didn't have anything to snack on before dinner was served. The blonde grabbed the basket, rushing back towards the door that led to the dining room but paused to look around the kitchen. Something was missing, pursing her lips, she looked around at all of the food scattered around her kitchen counters. She loved Thanksgiving, for her it was about gathering together with her friends and family, some of which she hadn't been able to catch up with as much as she would like. She had to admit though, hosting Thanksgiving was stressful! So, why was it that she kept doing it? It was now a tradition to have the large meal at her house ever since her freshman year of college, she had hosted the event because her mother and younger sister had gone out of town to visit family. Buffy and her small group of friends had become like family, some of them filling a void that their actual families had left, so it only made sense to celebrate the holiday together.
"Hey, what's up?" Came a voice from behind the petite blonde.
Buffy turned towards the doorway, seeing her redheaded best friend, Willow Rosenberg. "Huh?"
"You okay?" The redhead asked again.
The blonde shook her head, shaking her thoughts away. "Yeah." She whispered, turning back towards the messy kitchen. "I just feel like I'm forgetting something."
Willow glanced around the kitchen. "You have the yams?"
"Of course!" Buffy pouted, almost insulted that her best friend would think otherwise. "It's not a sham without those."
Willow smiled at the inside joke. "Yes, yams are required for the yam sham. Cheese?"
The blonde raised her eyebrows at her best friend. "Like I would forget cheese?"
Willow laughed, it was true, Buffy would never forget the cheese! It was one of her favorite foods. "Cranberries?"
Buffy made a grossed out face. "I purposely forgot those but to my disappointment, Faith brought them."
"The canned kind?" Willow assumed.
Buffy shrugged with a small smile. "Is there any other kind?"
The redhead laughed. "Actually, yes!"
"That requires Faith to do less than open a can?" The blonde asked, walking the short distance to the kitchen island, picking up the unopened can of cranberry sauce.
Willow sighed. "She can at least have the decency to take it out of the can before she eats it this year." She shrugged. "Maybe slice it."
"You're asking for too much." The blonde offered a small smile before turning back towards the exit of the kitchen. Checking the clock on the dining room wall, she noticed that Xander should be there any minute. She set the rolls on the table just as the dark haired man in question opened the front door, leaving it wide open behind him, holding his arms out to two of his favorite girls. Suddenly, Buffy gasped. "Pumpkin Pie!"
"Huh?" Xander asked, dropping his arms to his side.
"I forgot to make the pumpkin pie!" Buffy exclaimed.
Willow looked at her best friend with a sympathetic smile. "Maybe that isn't such a bad thing. You haven't had much luck making an edible pumpkin pie."
The blonde shook her head. "No, that was cheesecake."
"That too." Xander nodded. He loved his best friend, but Buffy wasn't that great of a cook. They all thought it was a fluke that she managed to pull off Thanksgiving dinner the first year and were even more surprised when she was able to do it the year after that. Buffy didn't cook much throughout the year, or at all, but when it came to Thanksgiving she pulled it off, for the most part. Desserts seemed to be her downfall, she either burnt them or didn't fully cook them.
"I guess it's a good thing that I brought one." Came a voice behind Xander.
The two girls looked towards the man behind their best friend, Willow looked confused, while the blonde let out a small gasp.
"Oh, hope you don't mind, Buffy." Xander took a step towards his best friends but turned to look at the man. "This is Angelus, he just moved into my building and didn't have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with, so I invited him along."
Willow looked towards her best friend but she didn't seem to respond to Xander, she was just staring at the new man in the room. "Of course, it's okay!" The redhead answered for the blonde. "I'm Willow and this is Buffy." She walked towards the man, motioning for him to come further into the house before taking the pie from his hands. "You know, you look really familiar. Have we met before?"
"Possibly." Angelus smirked at the blonde before directing a shrug at the redhead. "I just recently moved back to Sunnydale."
"Really?" The redhead asked interested in information about the new person Xander brought over. She set the pie on the dining room table that was just to the left of them. She found it odd that Buffy still hadn't said anything to their new guest. "How long ago did you live in Sunnydale?"
"About four years ago." Angelus nodded at the redhead before glancing at the blonde quickly. "I left after I graduated college."
"Sunny U?" Willow questioned, earning a nod from Angelus. "That's probably where I have seen you before! We would have been freshmen."
"Probably." Angelus answered quietly, his eyes never leaving the blonde.
0o0o0
Buffy leaned against the house, looking out to her backyard. She still couldn't believe this was all hers. Who would have thought, just a year out of college and she would be able to afford her very own house. The house was much too big for just her, so Willow and her boyfriend, Oz, along with their friend Faith had moved in with her. As soon as the realtor had shown her the house on Revello Drive, she knew that she had to have it, reasoning that at some point she would have a family to fill the rooms.
She loved her life. She had a new house, great friends and her dream job. A small smile graced her lips when she thought of how she had finally come to a decision on what exactly her dream job was.
7 Years Earlier
Buffy gasped with large eyes as the car came to a screeching stop just inches from hitting the car in front of them, she turned to look towards the brunette in the driver seat.
"Oh! Why do they park so darn close to you?" Cordelia Chase huffed before flipping the mirror on the sun visor down to check her hair. "So, remember: be interested if someone talks to you, it may or may not happen. And be polite. And laugh at the appropriate intervals." Cordelia let out a painfully obvious fake laugh before flipping the sun visor back up. "And above all else, don't embarrass me. So, are you ready for this?"
"I don't know, maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Buffy looked around at all of the party goers outside of the house.
"Me too! Let's go!" The brunette ignored her as she got out of her car, slamming the door. She began walking around the front of the car until she noticed Buffy wasn't moving. "Come on!"
The two girls walked into the fraternity house, Buffy frowned when she saw a college aged boy with a video camera, pointing it straight at them. "You know what is so cool about college?" Cordelia asked without looking back at Buffy. "Diversity. You've got the rich people and then…" the brunette shrugged. "You know, all the other people."
"Welcome, ladies!" A frat boy smiled at them with two drinks in his hands, Buffy recognized him as Richard, the guy who had invited Cordelia and for some reason, had wanted her to come too. Richard handed them the drinks.
"Thank you." Cordelia smiled at Richard.
"Oh." Buffy looked down at the drink in her hand. "Does this have alcohol in it?"
Richard shrugged. "Just a smidge."
"Come on, Buffy." Cordelia gave her a pointed look to remind her of their conversation in the car. "It's just a smidge."
"It's cool." Richard shrugged again. "When I was your age I wasn't into grownup stuff either. We can get you another drink."
"Thanks." Buffy gave him a small smile as she handed him the cup back and he went to get her a new drink.
"Seriously, Buffy!" Cordelia huffed in annoyance. "Don't ruin this for me and don't make me regret bringing you!"
The blonde raised her eyebrows at the brunette as she wiped the annoyed look off her face and smiled brightly at Richard who was making his way back towards them. Buffy was still confused on why exactly she was there. She wasn't friends with Cordelia, and yet, here she was, doing the brunette a favor because Cordelia had reminded her how everyone in their high school already knew what a big loser she was so she wasn't going to get a boyfriend there and besides, according to Cordelia, college boys were where 'it' was at… whatever 'it' was.
"Here you go." Richard handed Buffy a red plastic cup. "Non alcoholic. Have you seen our multi-media room?"
"The one with the cherry walnut paneling and the two seventy-five inch televisions on satellite feed? No. Wanna show me?" Cordelia smiled.
Richard turned to look at Buffy. "What about…?"
"Oh, her?" Cordelia waved in the blondes direction. "She's happiest by herself."
Buffy watched the couple walk away, she pursed her lips, and looked around the house.
"New girl!" A drunk fraternity boy shouted as he pointed at Buffy. "Dance!" He pushed his way across the room towards her, knocking a boy out of his way and spilling his drink. Buffy stared at him with wide eyes as he made his way closer to her. "Yeah, come on, baby!"
Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm and was gently pulled towards someone and out of the way of the drunken college kid. "May I have this dance?"
"Oh, come on!" The drunken football player shouted as Buffy was pulled from his path, but once another girl walked past him, he followed her instead.
Buffy's stomach did a flip flop as she looked into her savior's deep brown eyes. She never knew a man could be beautiful until this one took her breath away. Tall, dark and gorgeous didn't even begin to describe him. "Thanks." She whispered, setting her cup on the table near them as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You know, not all of us are drunken louts." He smiled down at her but nodded his head in the direction he had just rescued her from. "Some of us are sober louts."
Buffy let out a small laugh, resting her hands on his lower arms.
"I didn't think I would see a girl like you here." He offered her a half smile.
Buffy frowned up at him. "A girl like me?"
He nodded. "Yeah, you know, the ones that actually look like they have a head on their shoulders." He paused and then shrugged. "And something is actually in their head."
"Oh. Well, I came with my…" She paused, not exactly wanting to call Cordelia a friend. "I came with someone."
His face fell in disappointment, he should have known she already had a boyfriend. There was no way a girl as beautiful as her would be single. He pulled away from her, looking around. "Well, the Hulk seems to be gone, so you don't have to dance with me."
Buffy gave him a shy smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "He might come back."
0o0o0
Buffy stood outside, looking out into the night, she gently rubbed her arms to warm them. She still couldn't believe that she had come here, with Cordelia of all people. And why? Because Cordelia told her that she would never get a boyfriend? Since when did she care about that? She was perfectly happy focusing on school and hanging out with her friends. Okay, so maybe not focusing on school, but definitely hanging out with her friends. She got the feeling that she was no longer alone and she turned around to see the guy that had saved her earlier.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." She whispered. "I was just thinking."
He walked towards her slowly, watching as she picked her cup up from the porch railing. "Where is your… someone?"
Buffy gave him a half smile, looking down at her drink, she didn't even know why she continued to carry it around. She had yet to even take a sip of it. "She's probably still with Richard."
"She?" He questioned, stopping beside her and placing his free hand in his pocket as he held his own drink in his other hand. "You aren't here with your boyfriend?"
The blonde shook her head. "I would have to have one to be here with him, wouldn't I?"
He nodded with a smile, it was his lucky day. "I guess you would be right."
Buffy smiled at him a little wider. "You know, you saved me from the Hulk earlier and I don't even know your name."
"Angelus." He offered. "You?"
"Buffy." She whispered, she turned to look out into the night before looking back at her savior. "So, Angelus. What's a guy like you doing here? You seem like you have a head on your shoulders… and something in your head."
Angelus laughed at her comment. "Well, I kind of live here."
"Frat boy?" Buffy teased.
He sighed. "Unfortunately. I didn't want to be a frat boy, believe me. My dad wanted me to join, he said it was the best years of his life and he wanted that for me too. I got through my whole freshman year before my mom talked me into doing 'this one thing for your father'."
"What year are you?" She wondered.
Angelus took a sip of his drink. "Sophomore."
"Me too!" She exclaimed happily then shrugged. "Only in high school… and I'm a junior."
"High school?" He asked, surprised then reached over to take her cup from her hand. "You really shouldn't have this then."
Buffy frowned, wondering why he took her drink, even though she had yet to even try it. "Why? Richard said it was non alcoholic."
"I'm going to let you in on a secret, Buffy. None of these drinks are non alcoholic, unless you pour it yourself." He told her as he handed her his drink.
"I didn't pour this myself." She smirked, teasingly.
Angelus shook his head. "I wouldn't give you anything that you don't want."
Buffy brought the cup to her lips, taking a sip for the first time that night. It really did just taste like coke. "Look at that, you saved me twice in one night. If I went home drunk, my mom would kill me."
He smiled at her then offered her his hand. "Maybe you should stick with me so I won't have to save you a third time."
Buffy smiled, taking his offered hand. "I like the sound of that."
0o0o0
Buffy stood near the bed in the middle of the room and looked around at the walls. "Wow, who would have thought a frat boy would have such elegant art in his room."
"I wasn't meant to be a frat boy." He laughed, sitting down on his bed as he watched her. "If I had it my way then I probably would only leave my dorm for class and food, but unfortunately, I live here."
Buffy shrugged as she turned to look at him. "I'm kind of happy you live here."
Angelus eyed her for a moment. "And why is that?
She smiled, taking a step closer to him. "If you were always in your dorm then I never would have met you." She stopped right in front of him before whispering. "And that would suck."
"I would have to agree." He whispered before gently caressing her cheek and pulling her down to him in a gentle kiss.
Buffy smiled against his lips. She couldn't believe he was kissing her right now! As far as first kisses went, she didn't think she could do much better than him. When they broke apart, Buffy bit her lip shyly as he stood up from his bed. He smiled at her as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her attention back to the framed drawing on his wall. "You like this one?"
Buffy tilted her head at the drawing of a man and his dog standing on the edge of a lake watching the sun rise, a moment later she nodded. "It's beautiful."
"Do you want it?" He asked, looking at her.
Buffy looked at him confused. "What?"
"Do you want it?" He asked again with a shrug. "I could always draw another one if I wanted to."
"You drew this?" She asked in shock.
Angelus nodded. "Yeah, I'm an art major. The whole point is to get other people to buy my drawing."
"I can't afford it." She shook her head. "It's beautiful though, I'm sure someone will buy it."
"I never said you had to pay for it." He smiled at her.
"That's really sweet of you but what am I going to do?" She smiled teasingly at him. "Stick it in the back of Cordelia's little car?"
Angelus shook his head with a laugh. "I can drop it off for you tomorrow. It will give me an excuse to see you again."
Present Day
Hearing a sound behind her brought her out of her thoughts about the first time she met Angelus. She turned to look at the back door to her house only to see Angelus himself standing there. "Angelus." She whispered.
"Hey Buffy." He stepped out onto the back porch. After several moments, he turned to look at the blonde. "You okay?"
"I'm just thinking." She whispered again.
Angelus smiled at her response. It was so much like the night they first met. "Is it because I'm here?" He wondered, he didn't want to cause any issues. "If it's any consolation, I didn't know it was going to be your house."
"It's not that." She shook her head, offering him a small smile. "Unless you would have liked going to a complete strangers house for Thanksgiving."
Angelus shrugged. "I would have been just fine staying home today, Xander didn't really give me an option."
"Oh." Buffy pursed her lips, he didn't even think that maybe he was uncomfortable being around her. "If-if you don't want to stay, you don't have to."
"Do you want me to stay?" He asked, looking away from her, into the backyard. He didn't know if he could look at her while she told him to leave.
Then Buffy turned away from him. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"It's been a while." He shook his head. "But I'm not uncomfortable."
Buffy nodded, it certainly has been a while. Four long years since the last time she had seen him. It was right before he moved away, she hadn't wanted him to go, but she knew he had to. It had always been his plan, and her falling in love with him wasn't a part of that plan. "Have you met everyone?"
"I think…" He shrugged. "Willow and her boyfriend Oz, Anya, Andrew and… Spike? I heard that right? Spike?"
Buffy nodded. "It's a nickname, his real name is William, but he hates being called that. It seems you haven't met Faith yet. You will know her when you see her, she will be the one trying to get in your pants."
"What?" He asked, shocked.
Buffy shrugged. "She won't even care about your girlfriend. If she thinks your hot and your girlfriend isn't here, then you are free game. And believe me, she will think you are hot."
"My girlfriend?" He questioned.
"If she becomes friends with your girlfriend then you will be off limits though!" She clarified.
Angelus shook his head. "I don't have a girlfriend."
Buffy turned her head to look at him as she raised her eyebrows. "I find that hard to believe."
"Why?" He asked, leaning his back against the house on the opposite side of the door.
She looked at him confused, he looked as amazing as ever. She never could get enough of his muscular arms, rock hard chest, broad shoulders and those beautiful eyes. She loved everything about him, right down to the way he scowled when he would consentrate. "Have you seen you?"
Angelus raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
Buffy was quiet for a moment before she turned back to look at him. "How was Boston?"
He shrugged again. "Boston was… Boston. Nothing special, didn't really work out."
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "When did you move back?"
Angelus sighed, he wasn't expecting to run into Buffy, not yet anyway, and especially not in her own home. "About a month ago. I got a job at the high school."
"A school?" Buffy was shocked, she never thought he would give up art.
He nodded. "The art teacher moved out of town."
"You don't sell your art work?" Her heart broke for him when he shook his head. She knew his dream was to have his art work in people's homes. It was the whole reason he left Sunnydale, he didn't think he would be able to reach his goals in such a small down.
"I sold a few." He shrugged. "Just not enough. What about you?"
"I, um…" Buffy took a deep breath. "I own an art gallery."
"What?" He asked, shocked, he pushed himself away from the house. "I can't say I saw that coming. When did you decide to open an art gallery?"
"It just sort of happened." She lied. She couldn't tell him the real reason she decided to do it, that she had started making plans to do it while they were together with the hope that he wouldn't have to leave Sunnydale, leave her, if he had a constant place to showcase his work. After he left she could have just given up on the idea but she discovered that art was something she was actually passionate about. Her freshman year she signed up for Art history because of the fact that he was the TA in that class and she wanted to spend more time with him, but it really grabbed her interest. Once she switched her major from undecided to Art History and a minor in Business, she started getting better grades. The best grades she had ever gotten, and her mother couldn't have been more proud. She had finally found what she was good at.
"Wow." He whispered, truly surprised that she had made a living off art in Sunnydale. "And business is good?"
Buffy let out a small laugh. "You could say that. I mean, we opened a little over a year ago and I can already afford to buy this house."
"Impressive." He smiled at her.
"Yeah, well…" She brushed her hair out of her face. "turns out Sunnydale is actually pretty big on art, but we don't just sell art to the people of Sunnydale. Just last week this rich businessman from New York came in and bought a bunch of work. Turns out he heard about us from another client that lives in Los Angeles."
"That's great, Buffy." He smiled at the girl that once held his heart. "Congratulations."
"Thanks." She gave him a small smile. "It's not doing what I had originally intended but it works."
"What do you mean?" He asked, confused by her statement.
Buffy shook her head, she couldn't believe she had just said that. "Nothing, it doesn't matter. I should go check on the turkey."
Angelus watched as Buffy made her way back into the house, towards the kitchen. He decided to take a seat in the white patio chairs sitting on the deck.
Willow watched her best friend as she opened the oven to check on the turkey. "So?"
Buffy glanced up at the redhead as she basted the turkey. "So?"
"What do you think of Angelus?" She asked the blonde happily. She was hoping to set Buffy up with someone, she didn't really know Angelus but Xander seemed to think he was a good guy and Buffy hadn't been in a relationship in a really long time. Who stayed single for four years after a breakup? But then again, if she had lost Oz, she didn't know what she would do.
Buffy closed the oven door, tossing the oven mitts on the counter with a sigh. "You are not going to set us up."
"What?" The redhead shook her head. "I wouldn't dream of it!"
Buffy raised her eyebrows at her friend. "I know you, Will! And I have both been there and done that."
"What do you mean?" She scowled.
"You remember that guy that I was with a while back?" The blonde questioned. "The one that never hung around because he was older?"
"The one that was your first…" Willow trailed off.
"My first everything." Buffy finished for her. "First kiss, first boyfriend, first lover."
"That was?" Willow trailed off as she pointed towards the back door where Angelus was sitting alone. "But you said his name was…" the redhead's mouth dropped open. "Angel is a nickname for Angelus."
Buffy nodded.
"But if he was that good looking then why did you hide him away? We just figured he was ugly." Willow pouted.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "It wasn't me that kept him away, besides, you did see him from afar a couple of times at The Bronze but mostly he didn't come around because our relationship wasn't completely legal. I was only 17 when we first got together. He was 20."
"Okay, so I get the first year." Willow nodded. "But what about once you turned 18? We all could have hung out."
"You are a rule follower, Willow." She gave her best friend a small smile when the redhead proudly nodded. "What's the statute of limitations on statutory rape?"
"Three… years." Willow pouted.
Buffy nodded. "We were together just shy of three years. If we hadn't broken up, then yeah, we could have hung out but he had plans for himself."
"You could have fit into those plans." Willow said, still pouting. She knew how much Buffy had loved Angel, how hard she took the breakup and how long it took for Buffy to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart once he left her. She still remembered holding Buffy while she cried that day and well into the night until she just didn't have anymore tears left in her. Buffy didn't eat or sleep and told Willow that she felt like she couldn't breathe without him. It was heartbreaking to watch her friend experience so much pain and not be able to help her. Buffy was strong though, she picked herself back up but she built walls around her heart, and never let anyone in again. Now, at the age of 24, Angel had been her first and last relationship.