Love at First Sight

So… this story kind of popped in my head, and hasn't let me concentrate on homework, so rather than avoid it, I'm giving it a shot and writing it. Characters are all human and attending college. Buffy and Willow are in college, Buffy majoring in Dance and Willow in Physics. Angel and Riley are friends both from rich families; Angel more than Riley as he's a business owner and Riley still studying unsure of what he wants to do.

Characters are not mine; they belong to Joss and all their owners.

/

"He's in my physics class Buffy, he's cute, charming, and very attractive. You gotta learn to have a little fun once in a while… live a little…" Willow encouraged as they walked into their dorm.

"I'm not interested in dating Will; I rather focus on finishing school. Plus I have dance practice, a performance coming up; I just don't have the time for a distraction like boys…" she argued.

"Well that's too bad because I gave him your number and he's gonna call you to go on a date, so you better answer him when he calls or so help me god, I will hold this against you for all eternity."

"Ugh…" she sighed, "Fine… it's not like I'm going to be marrying the guy, it's just a date right?"

"Right!" she answered excitedly, "Okay, well, his name's Riley… Riley Finn." Will grinned.

"Riley, huh?" she raised an eyebrow, "sounds like a strong, masculine name…"

"Wait till you see him… he's so good-looking you'll want eat him right up…" she licked her lips.

"Willow…" she laughed, "I don't know what kind of kinky stuff you're into but…"

"Oh come on Buff… don't be such a prude." She nudged her on the arm.

/

Riley walked towards an elegant building with a sign on the street that read, [Bronx's Grand Opening this weekend… get your exclusive tickets now.]

Walking in he searched for Angel, "Hey man, how are the preparations going?" Riley asked his best friend. They'd been like brothers all their lives as their parents had been long life friends and had remained close since their move to LA.

"Everything's going as planned; just missing a few touches here and there. Hey… you are coming to the opening right, I can't have an opening without my brother by my side." He asked while inspecting some crystal ware on the bar.

"I don't wanna miss it but I may have plans this weekend… this girl Willow in my Physics class sort of set me up with a friend of hers; she made me promise I'd call her to set up a date for then."

"Oh come on… you can't do this to me, why don't you bring her with you? I'm sure there's no one in LA that hasn't heard of my grand opening, she'll love it. I'll give you VIP treatment, not that you don't already get it, and I'll have a table reserved for you two and everything…" he pulled two invitations from his jacket and pushed them against his chest.

He shook his head, "Look… I'll give it a try, but I make no promises…" he joked as he put the invitations in his pocket.

"Alright, alright… hey and this girl Willow… is she hot?"

"Yeah… she is, why?" he questioned with a narrow look.

"Well… I can give you an extra invitation if you hook me up. After all, you are taking out her friend… she owes you right?"

"We'll see… I have to get her friend to agree to go out with me first." He said while leaving.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem…" he yelled after him, "don't be stingy and share…" and he was gone.

/

Days later, Buffy was in the middle of dance practice when she heard her cell phone ring, she reached in her duffel answering distracted, "Hi… Hello?"

"Hi… Buffy, its Riley… Riley Finn…" he stammered a little.

"Riley?" she asked clear confusion in her tone, she didn't know any Riley's.

"Oh god, Willow did tell you about me, didn't she?" he asked mortified, "About me calling… for our date… I have physics class with her…" her silence was making him uneasy.

It finally clicked to her, "Oh yes! … You're that Riley..." she recalled Willow's set up.

She heard him laugh in relief, "Yes… I'm that Riley. So… I was hoping, if you're interested to still go on a date with me, and aren't too busy or have other plans… that maybe we could get together this weekend?"

"This weekend's good, what'd you have in mind?"

"Well… I kind of heard you're into dancing and there's a club opening I was invited to, I figure I could take you to dinner and we can head there after… if you like?"

"That sounds like a plan…" she agreed.

"Good…" he smiled to himself, "is there a specific type of food you like or hate… that I should know about before choosing a restaurant?"

She grinned at his thoughtfulness, "Nope… I'm a foodie… I'll eat pretty much anything…"

"My kind of girl…" he grimaced, "which dorm building are you in?"

"Hampton Hall…" she answered.

"Great, so… I'll pick you up Saturday at 7:00pm?"

"7:00pm sounds great."

"Great… see you then."

"See you then."

/

Buffy looked at the time, it was 6:30pm; she was putting the final touches on her hair when Willow walked into the dorm.

"Ooh… look at you getting all dolled up…" Willow smiled at her friend. She was wearing a red dress that came off the shoulders, tight around her curves, with a flare towards the skirt on the bottom by her knees. She'd pinned up her hair that was is curls to a side pony tail, outlined her eyes so the green would stand out, and wore shimmer cherry gloss on her lips.

Buffy laughed; "Yeah well…" she turned to face her, hands on her hips, "how do I look?"

"Gorgeous… He'd be crazy not to completely fall head over heels for you…"

"So… too much? I don't want him to fall for me; I just want a fun night out. Like you said, to live a little…" she adjusted her dress.

"Uh huh… sure, so is he coming up, you meeting him downstairs… what?"

"He didn't say but I think I'll just meet him down stairs, he didn't ask for our room number…"

Will rolled her eyes, "Smart guy…" she said sarcastically.

/

Riley arrived fifteen minutes early to her building, anxious much… he thought. Shit! He hadn't even asked her if he should knock on her door or meet her at the building's lobby. He decided to just get down and wait in there for a bit before calling like a dork to ask if he should go up to her door.

He walked into the lobby and began pacing in anticipation, there was something really nerve wracking about blind dates. He'd only heard her voice which sounded like she was attractive, but that could be misleading. It had just now occurred to him, what if she was ugly, he had just made plans to spend the whole night with her; how would he be able to bail if he had to, what if… Lost in thought, he missed the sound of steps coming from down the hall.

Buffy saw a guy pacing; she figured that that must be him. Who else would be in the lobby just there… waiting?

"Hi…" she said interrupting his thoughts, "are you Riley?"

At the sound of a greeting he turned around to where the voice was coming from, "Hello… yes, I'm Riley…" he responded thrilled, she was very, very attractive. He gave her a hug.

"I'm Buffy," she said like he couldn't assume, "So… uh… shall we?" she gestured to get going.

"Of course…" he offered his arm, which she took and they walked to his car.

/

Riley pulled up to the curve in front of the restaurant, and the valet opened the door for Buffy. Riley stepped out and tossed the keys to his convertible to the valet, hurrying to Buffy's side. The restaurant seemed very fine and elegant…

They walked in and were greeted by the hostess, a male in a tux. "Welcome back to St. Michel's Mr. Finn… your table's ready." He gestured them to follow.

"Mr. Finn?" Buffy asked, "Guess you come here often?"

Riley chuckled, "Something like that…" he pulled her chair back for her to take a seat.

"Thank you…" she said of his gentleman like gesture.

They enjoyed each other's company through dinner, Buffy had loved the Italian food he'd ordered for them, and they had been able to learn a little about each other. His family owned the restaurant they were eating in, he was studying Physics just like Will, he was an only child but mentioned his best friend Angel being like the brother he never had.

Riley became more and more attracted to her the more he learned about her. She was an aspiring dancer wanting to major in Arts & Entertainment. She was an only child as well, and worked as a part-time dance teacher at a studio for children.

After dessert, Riley began to inquiry about possibly inviting Willow to join them for the club opening. He hoped that he'd had talked up his friend enough to encourage Buffy to invite Willow out…

"So… about the club opening tonight… my friend, Angel, is going to be there, and I thought maybe you and I could get Willow to come and set them up…" he suggested.

"Oh… so that's why you kept on talking about this Angel guy, you were laying down ground work for the set up…" she smiled accusingly.

"No… I… I just thought…" he blushed.

She giggled at him being uncomfortable, "You know… I was just teasing…I'll call her; see if she's up for it. Where are we going exactly?"

"To the Bronx…"

"Really! We've been trying to get tickets for weeks; they kept on telling us they were completely sold out and believe me… we tried everything." she said incredulous.

"Well… I know someone…" he bragged.

/

Willow had been asked to give a lecture on one of her physics experiments, and was preparing her speech when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Will… get ready, you're coming out with us tonight."

"Buffy? Where to…" she asked puzzled.

"Yes Buffy, to the Bronx's Grand Opening!" she said excited.

"Are you kidding me… how… did you…" she squeaked.

"Riley… He has tickets, and his friend needs a date…"

"Oh no… don't do this to me, you know how I feel about blind dates, I hate them…" she whined.

"Oh but I love them…?" she accused, "you made me come out tonight, so you're coming along, period. Got it Rosenberg?"

"Yeah, alright… I'll meet you there…"

"Good, see ya in bit."

/

Willow was looking forward to the club's opening, her and Buffy had been trying to get tickets forever and they just had no luck. Must keep Riley around for the perks she thought.

Riley was excited that things had worked out; Buffy had been one of the best dates he had ever been on so far. She was easy going, not hard to please, and she was up for having a good time.

Buffy was grateful Riley had turned out to be such a great guy, very gentleman like, caring, thoughtful, and fun. He had planned out the whole evening for them taking into consideration what little things he knew about her.

At the Bronx, people began to arrive and reporters were lining up to view the selected individuals invited to one of the most exclusive openings of the year. Mr. Angel O'Donnell was being interviewed as the opening deemed successful.

/

Willow had just arrived to the Bronx and didn't see Buffy or Riley anywhere; then she recognized his convertible pull up, the reporters rushed to the car excitedly anticipating who was arriving.

Riley got out of the car and opened Buffy's door, "Thank you…" she said as she stepped out.

"Welcome…" he smiled.

Willow approached them waving, "Hey guys…"

Riley turned around to face her and his breath caught, she was beautiful. She'd never seen her dressed so provocative, she was wearing a strapless, royal blue dress, tight on her and short to her knees, and her hair fell loose in waves, in class it was all about the jeans and t-shirts, but now she looked almost unreal to him. "W…Willow?" he stuttered.

"Riley…" she smiled, "thank you for inviting me."

"With pleasure..." He hugged just a little too long.

Riley began to escort them towards the door where Angel was being interviewed. Behind Riley's back discreetly, Buffy mouthed to her what was that all about. Riley had shown an obvious attraction for Willow, why had they gone out, if he was into her. It's not like she cared… much, but he could have hid it till the date was over.

Will mouthed back I have no idea, and shrugged. She had hoped that Buffy wouldn't have noticed but even she had seen the look in Riley's face at her presence, he wanted her… and the reason she knew that was because she felt it too. The moment he laid eyes on her mesmerized, she felt it too, but why now…? She'd seen him in class everyday and hadn't felt a thing till now, now… that she had set him up with Buffy.

Completely enwrapped in the awkward situation of just seconds ago, Buffy didn't notice were she was stepping and tripped falling right into Angel's arms. He caught her like if they had rehearsed a dance move dip whose grand finale ended with her in his arms. She beamed at him as she blushed in embarrassment and saw a seductive grin spread across his lips. For a moment there it felt like the world fell apart around them, giving them a moment to bask in each other's presence.

The intense gaze of his auburn colored eyes made her skin feel flushed, feeling her pulse rise, and she was lost… lost in the emotion his eyes conveyed to her. She focused on the lusciousness of his lips and felt her expression change as if anticipating something to happen.

As he caught her mid air and focused to recognize the face of the woman who had fallen in his arms, two emerald, amorous eyes met his. He felt the temperature of his body rise in responsiveness to the feel of her in his hands, millimeters away from bare skin, the only barrier the thin material of her dress. His heart began to pound so loud he was sure she would hear it, she was so still, completely surrendering her weight to him, looking up in anticipation… her smile faded and her cherry lips parted… slowly luring him in.