Buffy was thinking about everything but class at the moment. Her pen was
acting up and the ink was everywhere and she was trying to focus on what
she and Angel had told Giles earlier.
"Wee bit unethical." Giles said.
"Hello, people. Hey. Mmm." Buffy said. Giles held up the sketch.
"It's your late night storm trooper pal." Angel said.
"It's.. it's just for reference, you know, but fairly accurate you'd say?" Giles asked.
"That's your man." Buffy said.
"Your man, actually. Uh.. You are patrolling tonight?"
"Nope, Angel and I are going to a party tonight. Hopefully, a "no fighting, no biting" kind of deal."
"Look, Buffy, somebody's got to find out who these people are."
"Giles, I go to college now. The girls in my school want to party and Willow needs some cheering up. We're going to take her."
"How's Will dealing.." Xander asked.
"With the black hole of despair she's been living in since Oz left? She's dealing. Angel and I are helping. It's hard. Ergo, party. You two can take patrol."
"Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to go find something slutty to wear tonight." Angel said.
Everyone but Buffy had stared at him. She was used to his humor now, but it was obvious the others weren't. Buffy giggled as she took his hand and they walked out. She was happy to have Angel walking in the sun with her now on a regular basis. He walked her to psych class and promised to return when it was over. She asked what he was going to do and he replied, "Picking something equally slutty for my girl." Willow had walked up and stared at Buffy and Angel as they laughed at the joke. Now Buffy fought with her pen as Professor Walsh continued to talk.
"Stupid pen!" Buffy mumbled.
"Ballpoints can be tricky." Willow said.
"I'll see you all tomorrow." Walsh called out.
Buffy and Willow got up and headed to the door. Buffy saw Angel waiting and she rushed up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. She expected Willow to be next to her, but the red head was talking to Riley and Professor Walsh.
"Oz will be back." Willow said.
"Not to my class, he won't. An educated guess. You know the rules, you know I hate exceptions, and yet somehow you feel your exception is exceptional." Walsh said coldly.
"Oh, but.."
"It is. To you. But since I'm neither a freshman nor a narcissist, I have to consider the whole class. If your friend can't respect my schedule, I think it's best he not come back."
Willow looked miserable as she walked past Buffy and Angel. Buffy stared incredulously at Walsh. Angel tugged her elbow, but she pulled her arm away and walked up to Walsh.
"You know, for someone who teaches human behavior, you might try showing some." Buffy said.
"It's not my job to coddle my students." Walsh said.
"You're right. A human being in pain has nothing to do with your job." Buffy walked back to Angel and the two left.
"If I had talked to my teachers like that back when I was in school, I would have been swatted on the hand and sent to the corner." Angel said when they got home.
"I'm sorry, but couldn't she see that Willow was really hurting? God! That just pisses me off that Walsh could just ignore Willow's feelings." Buffy said.
"Me too. You're a brave one Miss Summers."
"Always have been. Ok, so, party wear. What'd ya pick?"
Buffy, Angel, and Willow walked into the party. The music was playing and people milled about or danced. Everyone looked like they had a drink. Buffy looked over to Willow who looked really glum.
"Looks cool." Buffy said.
"Uh huh." Willow said.
"Look, we could go."
"No.. no, we're here for fun."
"Oh, look. Some of the guys are here already."
Angel gave Buffy a look that said, "Guys?"
"I'm gonna grab a soda. I'll.I'll find you guys."
"Ok." Buffy watched Willow disappear around a corner before she turned to Angel. "Wanna dance?"
"Buffy.." Angel started.
"I know, I know, you don't dance. But come on Angel! It's a party. Dance with me once?"
"Slow dance?"
"Ok. Get me a drink?"
"Of course. What would you like?"
"Coke."
"Be back." Angel disappeared into the mass of people.
Buffy walked up to the group of guys she knew from a couple of her classes.
"Buffy!" one of them said.
"Hey Greg." Buffy said.
"Glad you could make it. Did you bring Angel? He's a cool guy."
"Yeah, I brought him. He's off getting drinks. He won't dance with me."
A few of the guys responded "I will!"
"Sorry guys, I'm off the market. Dancing only allowed with the boyfriend."
Riley shoved into the group and gently grabbed her arm. "Excuse me. Hi."
"Hi." Buffy said. She excused herself and allowed Riley to pull her to the side.
"Um.. Buffy.. You do the reading on chapter 9?"
"Uh-huh."
"Wow. Some theories, huh? Cheese?" Riley held up a cheese cube on a stick.
"No thanks. Thanks though."
"Welcome. Ok, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."
"Ok." Buffy stared at him as he walked off. "Sorry about that."
"That's cool." Greg said. "Where's that boyfriend of yours?"
"I don't know. He should be back by now."
"He'll be back."
Buffy and the guys continued to talk. At one point Angel came up and handed her a drink. After a little while of talking, he took her jacket. Angel put it on a couch and led her to the dance floor as a slow song came on. When it was over, Buffy rejoined the group as Angel went for more drinks.
A hand fell on her shoulder and Buffy turned to find Riley. "Hey."
"Um, Willow said to say that she took off." Riley said. Buffy started to get upset and Riley noticed. "Oh, no, she's ok. Kind of blue, but she said not to worry."
"Thank you."
"You know.. I wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away."
Riley was about to say something when Angel came up. "Buffy! We need.. Need to talk, uh, not here. It's sort of.. Unfinished business." He said.
"Business? Right. Uh, excuse us?" Buffy said to Riley.
"No problem."
The two rushed off, Riley staring after Buffy. As soon as they were out the door, Xander joined them.
"Xander?" Buffy asked.
"He found me in the party." Angel said. "We've got some unwanted company."
"When do we not?"
"It's Spike." Xander said. "He's back in town."
Buffy sighed as they ran to Giles' apartment. The three burst through the door and startled Giles.
"Buffy! You three startled me." Giles said.
"Sorry, but we've got a pest." Buffy said.
"Sorry?"
"Spike. He's back in town." Angel said.
They all went and sat down around the living room.
"What is wrong with him? Doesn't Spike get that this is my town?" Buffy said.
"He's resilient." Giles said.
"And it's our night off."
"I'm sure he'd pick another night if he knew you were busy with Teutonic boy toy." Angel said.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"Riley's a doof. He's not Teutonic."
"We have to assume that Spike's main target is you, Buffy." Giles said.
"Fine. You know what? He's worn out his welcome. Tonight, I kill him."
"You have a plan?"
"I am the plan. If Spike wants me, I go alone.." Angel started to protest. "No arguments. I'll lead him away from the popular places and give him what he wants."
Buffy got up to leave, but Xander stopped her. "Oh, wait, wait! Take this."
"A flare gun? Xander, if I find Spike, I'm staking him, not signaling ships at sea."
"You get into trouble.."
"Ok. I'll flare."
"And we'll come a-runnin'."
Buffy walked out the door and Angel watched her go. He looked at Giles who nodded, knowing what the vampire was thinking. Angel took off after Buffy. He stuck to the shadows and kept a close eye on her.
Buffy sat down on a bench out in the open and looked around. She waited for any sign of Spike, or anything else for that matter. After a few minutes, Riley walked up to her.
"Riley! What are you doing here?" Buffy said.
"Well, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you after the party. You left so fast. You know, with your friend.. Who's a boy." Riley said.
"Uh, Angel? He's someone that I.. don't want to talk about, right now. Um.. You know, I don't want you taking this the wrong way.. It's just, um.. I need a little alone time now.. Alone."
"Why?"
"I need space."
"We're outdoors."
"Emotionally. I mean, emotionally.."
"You know, there's plenty of space back in your house. Why don't I take you? You wouldn't believe the weirdos out at this hour." He started to lead her away.
"Whoa! Ok.. It's a free campus. Who died and made you John Wayne?"
"I'm just trying to help."
"You think I need help? Believe me, I don't. You know, if you were a real gentleman, then you would just leave. You would go far, far away, now! Shoo!"
"Are you drunk?"
"Yes! Go and report me."
"I'm taking you home. Come on." He went to grab her and lead her off, but Buffy dodged.
"Oh, did you ever think maybe I'm gonna take you home, huh? What? You think that boys can take care of themselves and girls need help?"
"Yeah."
"That is so Teutonic!"
"Look, Buffy, as long as you're out here, I'm staying."
"Well, as long as you're out here, I'm staying."
A scream sounded from somewhere far off and the two jumped and looked at each other.
"Gotta go." Riley said.
"See ya!" Buffy said.
They both ran off in opposite directions. Buffy knew that scream and knew exactly where it had come from. Willow. As she ran, she bumped into Angel.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Buffy huffed as she ran.
"I followed you to make sure you were safe." Angel replied.
"I said alone!"
"I know. Who was that boy?"
"Riley? He's the TA in my psych class."
"His eyes were all over you."
"Please! Now is not the time anyway! We need to get to Willow."
By the time they reached Willow's dorm, all the lights were out. Buffy and Angel raced up the stairs and found Willow's hallway filled with commandos. Spike was fighting with a few of the commandos and Willow was crawling around on the ground as one of the commandos grabbed her.
"She's contained!" he said.
"Contain this!" Buffy said. The commando who had Willow turned around and was blinded as his night vision goggles were overloaded when Buffy shot off the flare gun. The flare bounced around the room.
"Ahh! Ow! I'm blind! What the hell was that?" a bunch of the commandos screamed.
The commandos tore off their goggles. Buffy shooed Willow into her room and she and Angel began to fight the commandos. A tall commando who appeared to be the leader redirected her into a wall. Spike saw a way to escape and did. Buffy got up and dodged a kick, then a punch and then reciprocated and landed a punch. She got him in a corner and landed about a dozen quickly repeated punches on his stomach. He got a hold of himself, and then punched Buffy in the face. She flew back. Spike who ran down the hall and jumped out a window. Angel and two of the commandos followed him, but stopped at the window. Then the three started fighting each other. Buffy was directed into a wall. She got up and slammed her commando in the face with a folding chair. She delivered a roundhouse kick and flipped him over onto the floor. He got up and through his hazy vision realized there was something amiss.
"Abort!" he yelled. "Abort!"
The commandos cleared out fast and Buffy went to help Angel up. He had been stomped on the ground under a large onslaught of commandos. They went to Willow's room to see if she was ok. Willow was a little scared to stay at home by herself, so Buffy and Angel invited her to stay at the mansion for a little while.
The next day, Buffy was headed home to see how Willow was holding up. Angel had promised to wait on her hand and foot. She was walking pretty fast when Riley caught up to her.
"Hey!" Riley said.
"Hi." Buffy said.
"Listen, sorry about last night."
"No, no.. I was rude. I just felt like being alone. Sometimes it's nice to be out by yourself at night."
"I hear that. Gotta be careful, though. Lotta strange.. People out there."
"Oh yeah."
"How's Willow doing?"
"Ok. 'Course, that stupid fraternity prank on the dorm didn't help any."
"That's right. I forgot you guys live in Stevenson."
"I don't. Willow does. I live with a good friend of mine. I used to live there anyway. How did you know that?"
"Well, Willow and I were.. I thought she might be able to help me on a project."
"Really? That work out for you?"
"Don't know yet."
"Uh, last night.. At the party. You wanted to tell me something."
"Oh, yeah. Very important stuff. I don't remember any of it now. But you would have been fascinated, possibly even moved. Did Willow tell you I like cheese?"
"You're a little peculiar."
"I can live with that."
They continued to walk and talk. Buffy led him to her and Angel's mansion.
"This is where you live?" Riley asked.
"Yup. Me and Angel and, right now, Willow. She was a little wigged last night, so we offered to let her come stay with us." Buffy said.
"Wow. It's a little creepy."
"Nah. I like it. It has a really pretty garden. Wanna see?"
"Sure."
Buffy opened one of the doors and allowed Riley to enter first. She put her keys down on a table behind the large couch. "Angel? Willow?" Buffy called. No one answered. "Hmm, no one's home. I guess they went out for ice cream."
"Wow." Riley was looking around at the immense space of the living room.
"Yeah. I didn't really get to pay much attention when I first came here. I was a little busy fighting with Angel to notice."
"Fighting?"
"Uh.. Over something that he wasn't supposed to mess with. I had to stop him from messing with it."
"Angel's a he?"
"Yeah. What'd you think he was?"
"A girl. I mean, Angel for a guy's name?"
"I like it. He's real name is Liam, but he doesn't go by that now. Not since his parents and little sister died a while ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Besides, I never knew them. Angel never really talked about his mom much, but I got the impression she was a good woman."
"What about his dad?"
"They didn't really see eye to eye. His father was kind of.. abusive towards Angel. Complaining that he was a scoundrel and needed to get a girlfriend or a job or something."
"Oh. His sister?"
"He loved her. A lot. It really hurt him to find out he lost her. He still doesn't like to talk about it." Buffy sighed, a little uncomfortable with the subject. "So, um, garden. Is here." She led them through the French doors out into the garden.
"Did I say wow before?"
"Yeah. I think you did."
"Well I'd like to change it to 'holy moly!'"
"You can do that."
"This is amazing. How did he pay for it?"
"He didn't. The owners sort of died and gave it to him."
"Wow. Were they relatives of his?"
"No. Just, people he.. helped out."
"Oh."
"Well, you better get going. I promised Willow that we'd have some fun before the holidays got here."
"Yeah. Ok. I have a class soon, so I better leave."
"Ok." Buffy walked Riley to the door.
"Now I know where you live. I might drop by every now and then."
"Um.. No. Don't do that."
"Why?"
"I'm.. hardly ever here and Angel doesn't really like unannounced guests."
"Oh."
"Bye, bye now." Buffy rushed Riley out of the door just as Willow and Angel came in through the garden.
"Hey Buffy!" Willow said.
"Hey." Buffy walked up to Angel and kissed him before she hugged Willow. "How are you?"
"I'll be ok. Angel took me out for iced mochas and donuts!"
"You're spoiling my best friend!"
"What can I say? I love her." Angel said.
"Awe! I'm loved!" Willow said.
The three laughed as the girls went to sit on the couch and Angel went to make them dinner.
"Wee bit unethical." Giles said.
"Hello, people. Hey. Mmm." Buffy said. Giles held up the sketch.
"It's your late night storm trooper pal." Angel said.
"It's.. it's just for reference, you know, but fairly accurate you'd say?" Giles asked.
"That's your man." Buffy said.
"Your man, actually. Uh.. You are patrolling tonight?"
"Nope, Angel and I are going to a party tonight. Hopefully, a "no fighting, no biting" kind of deal."
"Look, Buffy, somebody's got to find out who these people are."
"Giles, I go to college now. The girls in my school want to party and Willow needs some cheering up. We're going to take her."
"How's Will dealing.." Xander asked.
"With the black hole of despair she's been living in since Oz left? She's dealing. Angel and I are helping. It's hard. Ergo, party. You two can take patrol."
"Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to go find something slutty to wear tonight." Angel said.
Everyone but Buffy had stared at him. She was used to his humor now, but it was obvious the others weren't. Buffy giggled as she took his hand and they walked out. She was happy to have Angel walking in the sun with her now on a regular basis. He walked her to psych class and promised to return when it was over. She asked what he was going to do and he replied, "Picking something equally slutty for my girl." Willow had walked up and stared at Buffy and Angel as they laughed at the joke. Now Buffy fought with her pen as Professor Walsh continued to talk.
"Stupid pen!" Buffy mumbled.
"Ballpoints can be tricky." Willow said.
"I'll see you all tomorrow." Walsh called out.
Buffy and Willow got up and headed to the door. Buffy saw Angel waiting and she rushed up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. She expected Willow to be next to her, but the red head was talking to Riley and Professor Walsh.
"Oz will be back." Willow said.
"Not to my class, he won't. An educated guess. You know the rules, you know I hate exceptions, and yet somehow you feel your exception is exceptional." Walsh said coldly.
"Oh, but.."
"It is. To you. But since I'm neither a freshman nor a narcissist, I have to consider the whole class. If your friend can't respect my schedule, I think it's best he not come back."
Willow looked miserable as she walked past Buffy and Angel. Buffy stared incredulously at Walsh. Angel tugged her elbow, but she pulled her arm away and walked up to Walsh.
"You know, for someone who teaches human behavior, you might try showing some." Buffy said.
"It's not my job to coddle my students." Walsh said.
"You're right. A human being in pain has nothing to do with your job." Buffy walked back to Angel and the two left.
"If I had talked to my teachers like that back when I was in school, I would have been swatted on the hand and sent to the corner." Angel said when they got home.
"I'm sorry, but couldn't she see that Willow was really hurting? God! That just pisses me off that Walsh could just ignore Willow's feelings." Buffy said.
"Me too. You're a brave one Miss Summers."
"Always have been. Ok, so, party wear. What'd ya pick?"
Buffy, Angel, and Willow walked into the party. The music was playing and people milled about or danced. Everyone looked like they had a drink. Buffy looked over to Willow who looked really glum.
"Looks cool." Buffy said.
"Uh huh." Willow said.
"Look, we could go."
"No.. no, we're here for fun."
"Oh, look. Some of the guys are here already."
Angel gave Buffy a look that said, "Guys?"
"I'm gonna grab a soda. I'll.I'll find you guys."
"Ok." Buffy watched Willow disappear around a corner before she turned to Angel. "Wanna dance?"
"Buffy.." Angel started.
"I know, I know, you don't dance. But come on Angel! It's a party. Dance with me once?"
"Slow dance?"
"Ok. Get me a drink?"
"Of course. What would you like?"
"Coke."
"Be back." Angel disappeared into the mass of people.
Buffy walked up to the group of guys she knew from a couple of her classes.
"Buffy!" one of them said.
"Hey Greg." Buffy said.
"Glad you could make it. Did you bring Angel? He's a cool guy."
"Yeah, I brought him. He's off getting drinks. He won't dance with me."
A few of the guys responded "I will!"
"Sorry guys, I'm off the market. Dancing only allowed with the boyfriend."
Riley shoved into the group and gently grabbed her arm. "Excuse me. Hi."
"Hi." Buffy said. She excused herself and allowed Riley to pull her to the side.
"Um.. Buffy.. You do the reading on chapter 9?"
"Uh-huh."
"Wow. Some theories, huh? Cheese?" Riley held up a cheese cube on a stick.
"No thanks. Thanks though."
"Welcome. Ok, I'll let you get back to what you were doing."
"Ok." Buffy stared at him as he walked off. "Sorry about that."
"That's cool." Greg said. "Where's that boyfriend of yours?"
"I don't know. He should be back by now."
"He'll be back."
Buffy and the guys continued to talk. At one point Angel came up and handed her a drink. After a little while of talking, he took her jacket. Angel put it on a couch and led her to the dance floor as a slow song came on. When it was over, Buffy rejoined the group as Angel went for more drinks.
A hand fell on her shoulder and Buffy turned to find Riley. "Hey."
"Um, Willow said to say that she took off." Riley said. Buffy started to get upset and Riley noticed. "Oh, no, she's ok. Kind of blue, but she said not to worry."
"Thank you."
"You know.. I wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away."
Riley was about to say something when Angel came up. "Buffy! We need.. Need to talk, uh, not here. It's sort of.. Unfinished business." He said.
"Business? Right. Uh, excuse us?" Buffy said to Riley.
"No problem."
The two rushed off, Riley staring after Buffy. As soon as they were out the door, Xander joined them.
"Xander?" Buffy asked.
"He found me in the party." Angel said. "We've got some unwanted company."
"When do we not?"
"It's Spike." Xander said. "He's back in town."
Buffy sighed as they ran to Giles' apartment. The three burst through the door and startled Giles.
"Buffy! You three startled me." Giles said.
"Sorry, but we've got a pest." Buffy said.
"Sorry?"
"Spike. He's back in town." Angel said.
They all went and sat down around the living room.
"What is wrong with him? Doesn't Spike get that this is my town?" Buffy said.
"He's resilient." Giles said.
"And it's our night off."
"I'm sure he'd pick another night if he knew you were busy with Teutonic boy toy." Angel said.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"Riley's a doof. He's not Teutonic."
"We have to assume that Spike's main target is you, Buffy." Giles said.
"Fine. You know what? He's worn out his welcome. Tonight, I kill him."
"You have a plan?"
"I am the plan. If Spike wants me, I go alone.." Angel started to protest. "No arguments. I'll lead him away from the popular places and give him what he wants."
Buffy got up to leave, but Xander stopped her. "Oh, wait, wait! Take this."
"A flare gun? Xander, if I find Spike, I'm staking him, not signaling ships at sea."
"You get into trouble.."
"Ok. I'll flare."
"And we'll come a-runnin'."
Buffy walked out the door and Angel watched her go. He looked at Giles who nodded, knowing what the vampire was thinking. Angel took off after Buffy. He stuck to the shadows and kept a close eye on her.
Buffy sat down on a bench out in the open and looked around. She waited for any sign of Spike, or anything else for that matter. After a few minutes, Riley walked up to her.
"Riley! What are you doing here?" Buffy said.
"Well, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you after the party. You left so fast. You know, with your friend.. Who's a boy." Riley said.
"Uh, Angel? He's someone that I.. don't want to talk about, right now. Um.. You know, I don't want you taking this the wrong way.. It's just, um.. I need a little alone time now.. Alone."
"Why?"
"I need space."
"We're outdoors."
"Emotionally. I mean, emotionally.."
"You know, there's plenty of space back in your house. Why don't I take you? You wouldn't believe the weirdos out at this hour." He started to lead her away.
"Whoa! Ok.. It's a free campus. Who died and made you John Wayne?"
"I'm just trying to help."
"You think I need help? Believe me, I don't. You know, if you were a real gentleman, then you would just leave. You would go far, far away, now! Shoo!"
"Are you drunk?"
"Yes! Go and report me."
"I'm taking you home. Come on." He went to grab her and lead her off, but Buffy dodged.
"Oh, did you ever think maybe I'm gonna take you home, huh? What? You think that boys can take care of themselves and girls need help?"
"Yeah."
"That is so Teutonic!"
"Look, Buffy, as long as you're out here, I'm staying."
"Well, as long as you're out here, I'm staying."
A scream sounded from somewhere far off and the two jumped and looked at each other.
"Gotta go." Riley said.
"See ya!" Buffy said.
They both ran off in opposite directions. Buffy knew that scream and knew exactly where it had come from. Willow. As she ran, she bumped into Angel.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Buffy huffed as she ran.
"I followed you to make sure you were safe." Angel replied.
"I said alone!"
"I know. Who was that boy?"
"Riley? He's the TA in my psych class."
"His eyes were all over you."
"Please! Now is not the time anyway! We need to get to Willow."
By the time they reached Willow's dorm, all the lights were out. Buffy and Angel raced up the stairs and found Willow's hallway filled with commandos. Spike was fighting with a few of the commandos and Willow was crawling around on the ground as one of the commandos grabbed her.
"She's contained!" he said.
"Contain this!" Buffy said. The commando who had Willow turned around and was blinded as his night vision goggles were overloaded when Buffy shot off the flare gun. The flare bounced around the room.
"Ahh! Ow! I'm blind! What the hell was that?" a bunch of the commandos screamed.
The commandos tore off their goggles. Buffy shooed Willow into her room and she and Angel began to fight the commandos. A tall commando who appeared to be the leader redirected her into a wall. Spike saw a way to escape and did. Buffy got up and dodged a kick, then a punch and then reciprocated and landed a punch. She got him in a corner and landed about a dozen quickly repeated punches on his stomach. He got a hold of himself, and then punched Buffy in the face. She flew back. Spike who ran down the hall and jumped out a window. Angel and two of the commandos followed him, but stopped at the window. Then the three started fighting each other. Buffy was directed into a wall. She got up and slammed her commando in the face with a folding chair. She delivered a roundhouse kick and flipped him over onto the floor. He got up and through his hazy vision realized there was something amiss.
"Abort!" he yelled. "Abort!"
The commandos cleared out fast and Buffy went to help Angel up. He had been stomped on the ground under a large onslaught of commandos. They went to Willow's room to see if she was ok. Willow was a little scared to stay at home by herself, so Buffy and Angel invited her to stay at the mansion for a little while.
The next day, Buffy was headed home to see how Willow was holding up. Angel had promised to wait on her hand and foot. She was walking pretty fast when Riley caught up to her.
"Hey!" Riley said.
"Hi." Buffy said.
"Listen, sorry about last night."
"No, no.. I was rude. I just felt like being alone. Sometimes it's nice to be out by yourself at night."
"I hear that. Gotta be careful, though. Lotta strange.. People out there."
"Oh yeah."
"How's Willow doing?"
"Ok. 'Course, that stupid fraternity prank on the dorm didn't help any."
"That's right. I forgot you guys live in Stevenson."
"I don't. Willow does. I live with a good friend of mine. I used to live there anyway. How did you know that?"
"Well, Willow and I were.. I thought she might be able to help me on a project."
"Really? That work out for you?"
"Don't know yet."
"Uh, last night.. At the party. You wanted to tell me something."
"Oh, yeah. Very important stuff. I don't remember any of it now. But you would have been fascinated, possibly even moved. Did Willow tell you I like cheese?"
"You're a little peculiar."
"I can live with that."
They continued to walk and talk. Buffy led him to her and Angel's mansion.
"This is where you live?" Riley asked.
"Yup. Me and Angel and, right now, Willow. She was a little wigged last night, so we offered to let her come stay with us." Buffy said.
"Wow. It's a little creepy."
"Nah. I like it. It has a really pretty garden. Wanna see?"
"Sure."
Buffy opened one of the doors and allowed Riley to enter first. She put her keys down on a table behind the large couch. "Angel? Willow?" Buffy called. No one answered. "Hmm, no one's home. I guess they went out for ice cream."
"Wow." Riley was looking around at the immense space of the living room.
"Yeah. I didn't really get to pay much attention when I first came here. I was a little busy fighting with Angel to notice."
"Fighting?"
"Uh.. Over something that he wasn't supposed to mess with. I had to stop him from messing with it."
"Angel's a he?"
"Yeah. What'd you think he was?"
"A girl. I mean, Angel for a guy's name?"
"I like it. He's real name is Liam, but he doesn't go by that now. Not since his parents and little sister died a while ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Besides, I never knew them. Angel never really talked about his mom much, but I got the impression she was a good woman."
"What about his dad?"
"They didn't really see eye to eye. His father was kind of.. abusive towards Angel. Complaining that he was a scoundrel and needed to get a girlfriend or a job or something."
"Oh. His sister?"
"He loved her. A lot. It really hurt him to find out he lost her. He still doesn't like to talk about it." Buffy sighed, a little uncomfortable with the subject. "So, um, garden. Is here." She led them through the French doors out into the garden.
"Did I say wow before?"
"Yeah. I think you did."
"Well I'd like to change it to 'holy moly!'"
"You can do that."
"This is amazing. How did he pay for it?"
"He didn't. The owners sort of died and gave it to him."
"Wow. Were they relatives of his?"
"No. Just, people he.. helped out."
"Oh."
"Well, you better get going. I promised Willow that we'd have some fun before the holidays got here."
"Yeah. Ok. I have a class soon, so I better leave."
"Ok." Buffy walked Riley to the door.
"Now I know where you live. I might drop by every now and then."
"Um.. No. Don't do that."
"Why?"
"I'm.. hardly ever here and Angel doesn't really like unannounced guests."
"Oh."
"Bye, bye now." Buffy rushed Riley out of the door just as Willow and Angel came in through the garden.
"Hey Buffy!" Willow said.
"Hey." Buffy walked up to Angel and kissed him before she hugged Willow. "How are you?"
"I'll be ok. Angel took me out for iced mochas and donuts!"
"You're spoiling my best friend!"
"What can I say? I love her." Angel said.
"Awe! I'm loved!" Willow said.
The three laughed as the girls went to sit on the couch and Angel went to make them dinner.