So yeah... the last chapter was sort of eventful. I know some of you weren't happy about it but it gets better, I promise. Hope you enjoy this chapter... there's a lot more drama happening than I had honestly plan for this story but I feel it is sort of writing itself. It's weird :) anyways... Let me know your thoughts. I LOVE to hear from you...
Chapter 14
Willow walked back into the party when Angel and Riley approached her, "Have you seen Buffy, babe…?"
"I…" Will looked at them both, "I uh… she wasn't feeling well, and I…" she looked around for her, but was nowhere to be found.
"Willow please…" Angel asked, "If you know where she is…"
"I don't…" she finally said, and at the moment… it was true. Where the hell had she gone?
By this time dinner was announced and the guests were moving into the dinner hall. Buffy and Isa came back in time for that and she whispered something into Liam's ear, making him nod and escorting Buffy into the dining room with the rest of the guests.
Angel approached his mother to question where they had been, but she dismissed Riley and Willow to go ahead into the dining room.
Once Angel and his mother were alone, Isa began…
"You sure know how to pick'em son…" she smiled, "Buffy's a great girl…" she said taking the envelope he held, "and before you make your own conclusions I want you to hear me…"
"Mom… if you know what's in there how can you…"
"Angelus…" Isa warned and he shut up waiting for her to finish, "I spoke to her and I don't think you need to be told to hear her story…" she tugged him towards the dining room, "because I know my son and I just want you to know that I approve…"
Angel stopped taken… what could Buffy have possibly told his mother to make her think this highly of her, he wondered.
Before Isa took her seat she said to her son, "Your father must not find out about this…"
Angel nodded and made his way to sit by Buffy's side… she was fiddling with her napkin on her lap and as Angel took a seat, he grabbed her hand giving her a tender smile. Buffy smiled nervously back.
Angel didn't know what was behind her past but he knew that if he wanted them to have a future… they were to have a bumpy road ahead. It seemed tonight was to be the first mountain of an obstacle they'd have to tackle together. Would they make it through…? I guess they'd find out soon enough.
/
The rest of the evening Willow and Riley gave their friends worried stares… they wanted to know what the hell was happening, but in the middle of what was going on, it was kind of hard to have a serious conversation.
The first couple of minutes were awkward between Angel and Buffy but after a moment it was like they had mutually decided to press pause for a moment till they got some time to talk.
After everyone had dessert, the senior O'Donnell invited the gentlemen into his study for brandy and cigars, as Isa invited the ladies to her patio for tea… their key word for gossip. She glanced a reassuring look to the couple and Angel reached for Buffy's hand, leading her to his mother's garden.
Buffy was overwhelmed by its beauty… it had to be like Angel's mother personal Garden of Eden. She almost wanted to ask Angel they should talk somewhere else, like her words would ruin this place.
They took a seat in a small bench by a water fountain when Angel spoke, "Buffy… before you say anything I need to tell you something…"
Buffy gulped, "Okay…"
He leaned in to capture her lips in a slow, but very thorough motion of a kiss, and as he left her panting he said, "I'm in love with you Buffy Summers…"
Buffy's eyes began to tear, "How can you say after what you…" he placed a finger to her lips.
"Not the answer I was looking for…" he whispered huskily with a sexy grin.
Buffy moved her hand to cup the side of his face and said, "I am so in love with you too but…" he cut her off kissing her again.
Their kiss was hungry full of emotion… the reaction that he caused her body to give was almost scaringly good. Just as Angel felt the whole essence of himself being sucked into the tiny little woman in his arms. Nothing else mattered.
She pulled herself reluctantly apart and gazed at him with fear… she hoped that what she was about to tell him, wouldn't change anything between them. His mother had assured her it wouldn't, but she wasn't so sure herself.
Buffy took a deep breath and began… "My past has obviously caught up to me, and I'm not proud of what you saw but…"
Angel squeezed her hand urging her to continue when she stopped, and after a moment she did.
/
Willow and Riley stood by the back entrance to the mansion were in the distance, they could see a very serious Buffy and Angel talking. Willow smiled, she's telling him, she thought, and that was probably the best thing that Buffy could do. Maybe once this was all out, Angel could get her out of the hole that she'd dug herself into by closing herself emotionally and practically physically.
Riley stared with worry but when Willow smiled at him gesturing to not make it his business, he smiled back and led her in the opposite direction of the garden.
/
Angel listened to every single word coming out of her mouth intently… he soon understood why his mother had taken her side. She was an amazing woman that had had to make some hard decisions by herself, in a time where all she should have been worried about was going to college and her grades. He know fully understood her reluctance to a relationship. The one time she'd decided to hand her heart over; it'd been beaten and bruised.
He pulled her into a tight embrace while saying, "You'll never have to deal with anything by yourself Buffy… I promise…"
Buffy looked up with teary eyes, "I feel like I'm not worthy of you… you've been so good to me and…"
"Shhh…" he wiped her tears away, "I'm going to take care of it…"
Angel tried to keep the tense feeling his body felt at making sure that that asshole paid for making Buffy suffer, but not only that, he'd brought that into his house trying to mess with his family and NOBODY got away with that.
She smiled up at him, the emotional rollercoaster of the day… evident on her face. He kissed her lightly on the lips with the thought of telling her he'd take her home now but what came out of his mouth wasn't what he expected…
"Marry me…"
She froze at the comment not knowing if she'd heard him right. At this point, in this night were she had experienced every freaking emotion in the alphabet, this just couldn't be happening…
Angel quickly realized what he said and tried to quickly fix it…
"Buffy… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spring this on you like this but… wait no…" he grabbed her hands in his and look straight into her eyes, "I'm not sorry… I know I have the worst timing ever, you can ask my mom she'll back me on that, but I said what I felt at the moment I felt it…"
He paused…
"And what I feel is that I want you to be my wife… I don't want you to ever worry about anything in life that is not just being happy with me… with us… Let me be the man in your life that will do everything in his power to make sure your eyes never shed a tear and the one that makes sure that that perfectly agonizing smile… never leaves you face…"
Angel then brought one knee to the ground while pulling the ring he held in his pocket gracing it open for her to see and said again…
"I love you Buffy Summers… would you do me the honor of being my wife…?"
Buffy thought she'd entered like a different universe… the moment the words marry me left his lips, it was like the atmosphere around them changed. The beautiful garden quickly shifting the mood and as if with magic… making all the bad moments that had happened tonight fizzle out into forgotten memories.
One look into his hauntingly gorgeous auburn eyes as he asked her to marry him again, and she knew what her answer was…
"Yes…" she smiled, "God yes…" he got up slipping the ring swiftly onto her finger while pulling her for a kiss.
"We have to tell my parents…" he grinned grabbing her hand to lead her back into the house…
When she stopped, "Angel… are you sure…"
He pulled her in for a tow curling, ivory tickling, heart stopping, soul binding sort of a kiss then pulled back giving her that smirk…
She couldn't help but grin back, "Let's go…"
/
Angel stepped out of the lift of a hotel elevator with two men by his side… they came up to a door in which moans were coming from. He smiled… oh how his timing was perfect sometimes. He asked one of the men to open the door and soon it was open…
He walked in to find a platinum looking hair man getting startled with a woman under him… and not just any woman, but Drusilla herself.
"Wow… how the mighty have fallen…" Angel said, his expression with a type of evil he rarely let show, "I expected to find him here, but not you… Drusilla Kinsley…"
He threw a robe at her and made a gesture for the men to take hold of Spike…
As Drusilla tightened the robe around her she yelled, "What the hell are you doing here Angel… what do you want…?"
"Should of known you'd be behind this little stunt… it has your fingers all over it…"
"She had nothing to do with this…" Spike spat struggling to get out of the men's grip.
Angel gazed from Drusilla's concerned eyes to Spike's over protective ones…
"Oh… how sweet… you fell for each other…" his smile curved up on one side, "makes my life that much easier…" he said pacing about the room, "It's simple actually… I'll be the nicest guy in the world as long as you don't mess with my family…"
He stopped right in front of Spike…
"And you messed with my family…"
"Buffy's not…" Spike began.
"Going to be my wife…" he grinned.
Spike tried to fight his way out of the grip that only brought two punches from the men holding him in the stomach…
"That's for my family…" Angel said, then walked back to hit him, punching right across the cheek hard… "and that's for my soon to be wife…"
Drusilla had tears in her eyes and made a move towards them when Angel's glare stopped her in place…
"You know your family's in the brink of bankruptcy… stay in town… and I'll make sure the Kinsley's are brought down indefinitely. You both have till tonight to leave the state or suffer the consequences…"
He called his men to follow and right before he stepped out of the room he stopped, not facing them…
"Trust me when I say that I will find you should you not do as I say…" and with that he left.
As he left the hotel a limo waited outside, he stepped in and his father said…
"I know you didn't want to tell me what you had to take care of in there, but did the men I brought to you help…?"
"They did…" Angel nodded.
"Good…" his father smiled, "Let's head to the office there are some things I want to talk about…"
Angel nodded as they signaled the limo driver to be taken to O'Donnell Offices.
Liam noticed Angel's look of misery… "What's going on son?"
"I just wish I hadn't had to be put in this position… I'm not this person…"
"I know…" Liam said, "but if you came this far it was for a reason and I trust my son's judgment…"
"Have you ever…?" Angel began and his father gave him a look that said, plenty of times, "Right…"
"Do you think you made a mistake?" he questioned.
"No…" Angel answered surely. He hoped he'd scared the shit out of both of them enough and though he wasn't the vindictive kind of guy. He would follow through on his threats. It's not like his family had come to stand in this position by being nice guys. For the most part they were, but when the situation called for it… they would protect their own at all costs. Something the women in the family were to never know about. This was the first and only time he'd ever had to do something like this and he hoped to never have to do that again.
/
Buffy's phone rang as she was packing her stuff from the dorm. Angel had given her a key to the condo, and though they were not going to stay there after they got married… he'd told her that while they planned the wedding he wanted her by his side as long as she didn't feel like he was rushing her.
It had been kind of soon when she first thought about it but the fact that he wanted to get married fast kind of pushed that thought out of her head. They were to be married soon anyways so what would be the difference between moving in together now or later…
"Hello?" she answered.
"Ms. Summers, its Fred from the Dance Association… have you made a decision on which company you'd like to join? We unfortunately need an answer by today…"
Shit… she thought. With all of the excitement of the last couple of days… her confession to Angel, her speaking to Xander about moving Dawn here, and spending time with her future in laws… she'd completely forgotten her deadline for this…
"I… I uh…"
Fred interrupted, "It's okay if you don't, I just wanted to remind you that the contract must be signed before the end of today…"
Wow… by the end of today?