A/N: Merry Christmas! Yeah, I know, I'm two days late with that greeting, but still! I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas! So, here's a belated present. Can you believe that there's only two more chapters after this? Ah! I know! I excited because after I finish this story, all of you know what happens next...
AISHB sequel! (insert squeal here)
Yes, yes, yes, be excited. Be very excited because it's my best work yet.
Sooooo...on that note...let's get back on this story...
Random Disclaimer: (I don't own Buffy).
Me: Come on, Angel. It's not that bad.
Angel: I can't believe you're doing this to me.
Me: It's not like you'll be suffering.
Angel: That's what you think.
Me: But Buffy will be wearing this really pretty pink dress that's gonna get you all hot and bothered...
Angel: Really?
Me: Really.
Buffy: Well, duh. That was the whole purpose of the dress.
Eye of the Beholder Chapter 31
"Please?"
"Buffy—"
"Please? Pretty please?"
"Buffy—"
"If you love me you'll say yes."
Angel frowned. "That's not fair."
"Life's not fair," Buffy smiled sweetly before she put on her best adorably-pathetic-pouty-face. "Please?" she begged.
Angel looked at her for a long moment, debating, or at least he was pretending to. Truthfully, he'd known his answer the first time she'd asked. Granted, it wasn't the answer he honestly wanted to give, but this was Buffy. Apparently, love truly knew no bounds.
Prom.
"Yes," Angel sighed in acquiescence.
Buffy squealed and launched herself into his arms. "Thank you, thank you!" she said quickly before giving him a smacking kiss on the cheek. "I won't even make you dance to the fast songs," Buffy promised as she pulled away. "But you've got to give me the slow dances," she stipulated. "That's a done deal."
"Hmm," Angel hummed as he pulled her closer and began to dance with her, turning in slow circles. "Like this?" he whispered in her ear.
Buffy sighed contentedly. "Yep."
Angel chuckled and spun her out of his embrace, causing Buffy to giggle in delight. He twirled her back into his arms and said, "You know, you should really let me teach you how to dance."
Buffy pretended to think. "I don't know…" she trailed off warily, though a teasing smile pulled at her lips.
Suddenly, Angel took a step forward with his left foot, causing Buffy to take the appropriate step back with her right foot. "Hey," Buffy complained although she was unable to fight a smile as Angel continued to step in what she recognized as an upside down 'L' pattern. "I can't waltz." Buffy giggled as Angel twirled her.
"Really?" Angel challenged as he brought her back to him. "Cause you're doing a pretty good job."
"What?" Buffy grinned as she mirrored his steps absently. It'd always been easy to follow Angel. "It's all in the leading."
"Is that a compliment?" Angel asked with a smile before lifting her up and spinning her around. He set her back on her feet and they were off again, dancing around the furniture in the main room of the mansion.
Buffy giggled. "Maybe."
"So," Angel grinned as he twirled her again. "What color is the dress?"
Buffy smirked. "Pink."
"I'm shocked."
"Yeah, you look it," Buffy teased as Angel continued to lead her around the main room.
"Do I get to see it?" Angel asked, his lips brushing against the skin of her throat.
"Um..." Buffy fought for coherency. "Well...maybe...no, no, you can't see until the night of."
"Bet I can change your mind," Angel whispered huskily in her ear before stopping the dance all together and capturing Buffy's lips in a searing kiss that made Buffy's knees weak.
Suddenly, Doyle and Cordelia burst through the door, causing Buffy and Angel to jump apart. Angel was wondering about the interruption (because it had better be damn important), while Buffy was more focused on why Cordelia was with Doyle.
"Sorry for the interruption," Doyle began apologetically. "We would have actually interrupted you sooner but…"
"We were afraid you two were getting groiny," Cordelia cut in, causing Buffy to blush and Angel to frown.
Buffy cleared her throat and looked at Doyle. She raised her eyebrows. "So what's so important?"
"Oh, uh, vision," Doyle tapped his temple. "Urgent. Needs immediate Angel attention."
"Where?"
"The Box of Gavrock," Angel explained an hour later to everyone gathered in the library. He'd arrived at the airport just in time to question the vampire about the box that he'd just dropped off. Unfortunately, the vamp had gotten a little temperamental and needed to be staked. Angel hoped he'd gotten enough information.
"Apparently it houses some great demonic energy or something that His Honor will chow down on come A-day," Buffy picked up where Angel left off, having demanded details as Angel had driven them to the meeting with the Scoobies.
Giles and Willow entered the library then, carrying what large pieces of paper. "What's that?" Xander asked.
"Maps and stuff," Giles replied as he spread the papers out onto the table.
"Plans for City Hall," Willow explained further. Angel had asked for them immediately once they'd arrived. "They were in the Water and Power mainframe."
"The box is being kept under guard in the top floor conference room," Angel said as he pointed at the specified place on the map. "There. That's all I got from him before I had to kill him."
"Hopefully it's enough," Wesley murmured as he studied the map carefully. "What's the plan?" he asked, looking directly at Angel instead of Buffy, who was usually the mastermind of most tactical plans. Buffy and Giles noticed, but didn't say anything.
"I figure we enter through the skylight," Angel said as he studied the maps further. "Buffy can come with me."
"Fun," Buffy piped up, although she was slightly put out by the fact that Angel appeared to be leading the meeting and not her.
"And there's a ladder on the east side of the building," Xander spoke. "Here," he elaborated, placing his finger on the map, tapping the little diagram.
"You'll have to do more than just take the box," Cordelia spoke up, causing everyone to look at her. "What?" she snapped defensively. "What good is having the box when someone can just take it back?"
Doyle's eyes lit up in understanding. "Brilliant plan!" he said with pride before turning to everyone else. "Isn't she brilliant?"
Wesley was nodding as he understood Cordelia's statement. "Cordelia's correct. We'll have to destroy it."
"It won't be enough to simply have possession of the box," Giles agreed.
Willow's eyes sparkled as she realized what she got to do. "Ooo, yay, down and dirty black magic," she said with a smile. "I can do that."
"No doubt the box itself will be protected," Wesley postulated, his eyes narrowed in thought.
Buffy looked at Willow, her eyebrows raised, a small smile pulling at her lips. "Looks like a job for a Wiccan girl. What do you say, Will?" Buffy asked. "Big time danger…"
"Hey, I eat danger for breakfast," Willow retorted easily.
"But oddly enough, she panics when faced with breakfast foods," Xander pointed out with a smile.
"Alright." Angel seemed to command the attention in the room. Fascinatingly enough, he found himself enjoying being the leader. "Let's go to work."
Buffy crept along the side of City Hall alongside Angel and Willow. She supposed she should be concentrating on the plan to get the Box, but she just couldn't make her mind focus. Instead, she was remembering the Scooby meeting and the obvious role reversal.
Angel had taken control. He'd manned the helm. He'd given out orders, he'd come up with the plan, and everyone had gone along with it. Cordelia had volunteered strategic advice and Wesley had just hopped onboard the Angel train too. And even though Buffy suspected that Cordelia's involvement had more to do with Doyle than her actual desire to help, the fact remained that she'd cared enough to offer her own opinion.
How did she feel about Angel being more authoritative? She had to admit that it was quite attractive. She did like seeing him take charge. Also, the Shanshu prophecy always lingered in the back of her mind. Slowly, Buffy was seeing the changes in Angel that would eventually make that prophecy reality. Buffy had always known that Angel was a hero.
However, a little part of her was miffed. Sunnydale was her town. The Scoobies were her Scoobies. She gave the orders. She was in charge. She made the plans.
Buffy figured that that was the Slayer in her because the part of her that was simply Angel's girlfriend was ecstatic for this progress.
Either way, Buffy and Angel needed to talk.
It was almost shocking when Buffy looked around and found that she was on the roof of City Hall and Angel was in the process of removing the skylight. Right. Time to focus.
Buffy dug into her backpack and produced the spellbook and the bag of salt that Willow needed to lift the spell surrounding the box. Willow took them with a smile before she turned the book to the required page and began to read in Latin. As she spoke, she poured the salt through the open skylight so that it rained down on the box below. What appeared to be a force field with a bluish hue became visible for a moment before it faded.
A big smile lit Willow's face. "Oh, yeah. I'm bad," she celebrated smugly.
Buffy couldn't help but smile in return. "Four stars, Will," she praised before adding, "now get going."
"I'm gone," Willow confirmed with a nod before heading back towards the fire escape.
Buffy watched her friend go and then turned back to Angel who was waiting with the harness. Giggling slightly at the Mission Impossible-like scenario, Buffy let Angel strap her into the harness. "Ready?" Angel asked once everything was set up.
Buffy nodded, focused on the task at hand. "Drop me."
"Never," Angel returned with a grin before carefully lowering her through the skylight.
After what felt like forever, even though in reality it couldn't have been more than a minute, Buffy's hands touched the box. "Got it!" she smiled triumphantly as she lifted the box off the table.
And then the alarms started going off.
Damn.
"Angel!" Buffy called worriedly when she wasn't moving.
"It's jammed!"
Buffy heard the sounds of approaching footsteps. "I'd very much like to come up please, Angel!"
"I know!"
She still hadn't moved and now there were two very angry vampires growling at her. Buffy smiled at them dryly, "I don't suppose you'd like to help me down?" The vampires growled menacingly. Buffy nodded to herself. "Didn't think so."
The vampires charged at her, but Angel dropped down right in front of them, crouched in front of her protectively.
Buffy resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at them.
With Angel's help, they managed to escape out the front doors. Buffy started to run left, but Angel snatched her hand and dragged her to the right. He pulled her down into some bushes, and Buffy tried to control her heavy breaths so she didn't give away their position.
The vampires burst out of the building and immediately began following the black van, containing Giles, Wesley, and Willow. Buffy sighed in relief, and Angel took her hand, quickly leading them back to the library.
Buffy couldn't believe it. Once again, she cast her eyes around the library and her friends, looking for her favorite redhead.
Once again, Buffy came up empty.
Willow was gone.
Captured.
And it was all her fault.
"How did you guys let…" Buffy couldn't think. "How did this happen?"
"We thought she stayed with you," Giles explained contritely.
"They must have grabbed her when she hit the ground," Angel theorized before looking at Buffy guiltily. "I'm sorry."
Buffy forced her mind to work. "Look, it's nobody's fault, okay?" She couldn't have everyone playing the blame game. "We just need to focus and deal." Buffy looked at Oz, her expression suddenly determined. "Oz, I won't let them hurt her, I swear."
It was almost as if Oz didn't hear her. He didn't even acknowledge her words. He simply continued staring at a spot on the wall.
"We go back," Xander proposed determinedly. "Full-on assault."
Giles frowned. "They'll kill her," he argued.
"If they haven't already," Wesley couldn't help but point out, though Buffy was shaking her head as he spoke.
"No, they know how important she is," she retorted. "She's too valuable as long as we have the box." Buffy took a deep breath. She hated the plan she was about to propose, but it was the only way to get Willow back safely. "We trade."
Wesley immediately balked. "We can't."
"No, it's the only way." Buffy told him, her mind already made up. She turned to Giles. "It's the only way, right?"
Giles was nodding. "It might well be."
"Look, we call the Mayor and arrange a meeting," Buffy began, but Wesley was still opposed.
"We have to destroy the box," he pressed.
Xander scowled. "I need a volunteer to hit Wesley."
"He has a point," Cordelia spoke up, having been listening the entire time. "I mean, according to Wes this box is the key to really putting a kink in the Mayor's evil plans."
"Are you made of human parts?" Buffy looked at Cordelia scandalized. "This is Willow we're talking about here! She's worth more than a damn box!"
Buffy turned on Wesley. "We'll find another way to take down the Mayor."
"For all we know there is no other way," Wesley argued, his voice rising.
"Then we'll make one!" Buffy ground out through clenched teeth. She turned to Angel. "Back me up."
Angel hesitated. If he agreed to trade Willow for the box, he could potentially be agreeing to trading a thousand lives for one. Selfishly, he thought he already had too much death on his hands.
But this was Willow. Willow was Buffy's best friend. Buffy loved Willow.
And Angel loved Buffy.
Angel looked at Giles. "Make the call."
"The whole place is locked down," Oz enlightened them all after tugging on a door. "Except for the front."
Xander fought a hysterical chuckle. "Yeah, that really gives me that comforting trapped feeling."
"One way out means one way in," Buffy pointed out, her voice steely with determination. "I want to see them coming."
Giles had placed the call to the Mayor, who, of course, had graciously accepted the proposed trade. The eldest Watcher had hung up on the phone with mixed emotions. He was happy that the Mayor had agreed, not that he'd really been too worried. The box was too precious not to trade for Willow. It was just that the Mayor was…weird. No one that evil should be so…giddily happy.
Suddenly the lights went out, prompting Angel to take an unconscious step towards Buffy.
"Guess they're shy," Xander mumbled, trying in vain to see through the black.
Angel's eyes narrowed as he saw the Mayor, Faith, and Willow led into the cafeteria by two vampires. "I can see alright," he assured them calmly.
Now that Buffy's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see fairly clearly. Both she and the Mayor stepped forward until they were within arm's reach. After a session of glaring at the other, the Mayor chuckled. "Well this is exciting, isn't it?" he chuckled again. "Clandestine meetings by night, exchange of prisoners…I, I just—I feel like we should all be wearing trench coats."
Buffy's eyes narrowed. She wasn't in the mood for theatrics. "Let her go."
"No," the Mayor shook his head with a smile. "Not until I have my box." He paused and seemed to look her over for a moment. "So you're the little girl that's been causing me so much trouble. She's pretty Angel," he said looking up at Angel who remained completely unaffected except for the slight narrowing of his eyes. "A little skinny," he said off-handedly as he sized Buffy up again. "Still don't know why it couldn't have worked out with you and my Faith. Guess you just have strange taste in women."
"Well, what can I say?" Angel retorted easily. "I like them sane."
Willow whimpered quietly as Faith tightened her hold on the young Wiccan's arm. "Angel," Oz warned, a slight pleading edge to his voice.
"Well," the Mayor sighed as he focused back on Angel and Buffy. "I wish you two the best, I really do. But if you don't mind a little bit of fatherly advice…I, uh, I just don't see that much of a future for you."
Buffy barely stopped herself from growling in frustration. She was tired of people telling her how her relationship was doomed.
"I just don't sense a long-lasting relationship," the Mayor continued. "And not just because I plan to kill you," he couldn't help but add. "You two have a bumpy road ahead."
Probably, Buffy agreed silently. But we'll come out of it stronger.
"I don't think we need to talk about this," she said aloud, annoyed.
Of course, the Mayor completely ignored her. "God, kids you know? You don't like to think about the future. You don't like to make plans. Unless you want Faith to gut your friend like a sea bass, show some respect for your elders." By the time the Mayor had finished, his voice had a hard edge that belied his usual upbeat glee.
"You're not my elder," Angel pointed out coldly. "I've got a lot of years on you."
The Mayor seemed to take this in stride. "Yeah, that's another thing you'll have to contend with. You're immortal. She's not. I married my Edna May in '03 and stayed with her until the very end. Not a pretty picture," the Mayor shook his head. "Wrinkled and senile and cursing me for my youth. Wasn't our happiest time."
"And let's not forget that any little moment of true happiness and you go evil," the Mayor continued and every Scooby tried to keep a straight face so they wouldn't give the falsity away. "I mean, come on. What kind of life can you offer her? I don't see a lot of Sunday picnics in the offering. I see skulking in the shadows, hiding from the sun. She's a blossoming young girl and you're trying to keep her from the life she should have until it passes her by?" The Mayor made a show of looking outraged. "My God! I think that's a little selfish. Is that you're greater purpose?" he shook his head in disgust. "Make the trade," he ordered with a wave of his hand.
Angel grasped the box firmly in his hands at the Mayor's command, his instincts to keep it away from his enemy momentarily overcoming him. Slowly, he and Faith approached each other. With his free hand, Angel reached out and grabbed Willow by the arm as he placed the box in Faith's hands.
As soon as she felt the wood of the box touch her fingertips, Faith shoved Willow away from her and immediately retreated back beside the Mayor, clutching the box securely. "Ah! Pleasure doing business with you," he smiled congenially. "And do remember…love doesn't conquer all—especially immortality. Life sucks that way, pardon the pun," he chuckled to himself before turning on his heel and leaving the cafeteria.
"So Faith was like 'I'm gonna beat you up' and I was like 'I'm not afraid of you' and then she had the knife, which was less fun a-and then…oh! I-I told her that you had made your choice, and that Buffy had made hers—"
Giles interrupted Willow's excited ramblings with a patient smile. "This is fascinating, but let's get back to the point…you actually had your hands on the Books of Ascension?"
Willow's smile never faltered. "Volumes one through five."
"Is there anything that you can remember that could be of use to us?" Giles asked quickly, unable to hide his thinly disguised desperate hope. "Anything at all?"
"Well," Willow trailed off, her smile disappearing. "I was in a hurry and what I did read was kind of over-involved." Willow frowned. "If you ask me, way over-written," she continued. "Actually, there were a few pages that actually looked kind of interesting but I didn't get a chance to read them fully."
Giles visibly sagged at this news, disheartened.
Suddenly, Willow's bright smile returned as she dug some folded pages out of her pocket and held them out to the Watcher. "See what you can make of them?" she offered with amusement.
A bright smile lit Giles' face before he took the papers and dashed off to his office. Wesley took a step after to follow him, before he turned back to Buffy. "Buffy, I'm sorry if I seemed rather…abrasive…earlier, I mean," he apologized as he glanced at Willow out of the corner of his eye.
Buffy smiled, accepting his sincerity. "It's okay," she assured him. She looked towards Willow and then towards Angel who looked to be on the verge of brooding. "It all worked out in the end."
Hopefully, she added in her head as she looked into a pair of troubled brown eyes.
"Do I have to wear this thing?" Angel complained as he fiddled with his tie.
"Stop that!" Buffy slapped his hands away and straightened the tie. She ran her hands over his shoulders and smiled at his appearance. "You clean up good."
Angel shrugged.
"You act like this is torture," Buffy said as they walked towards the gym.
"I'll add it to my list."
"You have a list?"
"Let's not talk about it."
"Okay, no torture-talk. I can do that."
Together, with Buffy on Angel's arm, they entered the gym and took a moment to take in the decorations. Buffy looked around. "Not bad," she conceded. "But I could have done better."
"I'm sure," Angel smiled.
"Buffy!" Willow squealed as she wrenched Buffy away from Angel to envelope her in a huge hug. Willow pulled back just as quickly and looked Buffy over. "You look so pretty!" she complimented with a wide smile before dragging Buffy away towards the dance floor.
Buffy turned back towards Angel with an apologetic smile, but Angel merely smiled back and gave her a reassuring nod.
Angel scanned the crowd and spotted the tables that were set up towards the far wall, and next to them he spotted Wesley and Giles nibbling on a few treats at the refreshment table. With a small smirk, Angel approached them.
Wesley looked up when he saw Angel. "Wow, how brave of you to endure the hormonal angst affair that is high school prom," he said dryly.
Giles scoffed. "Please, you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone," he said blithely, ignoring Wesley's affronted look.
Angel merely shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. After a minute or so, Oz joined him. "Everything cool?" the werewolf asked calmly.
Angel shrugged noncommittally. He looked at Oz. "How's prom?" he asked. "I'm too old to give a nonbiased opinion."
Oz nodded sagely in agreement. "Strangely affecting," he began thoughtfully. "I got all teared up when they played 'We Are Family.'"
"Is that a good thing?" Angel raised his eyebrows.
Oz debated for a moment. "It remains to be seen."
The sound of someone spitting and blubbering caused both Angel and Oz to turn. "Doyle?"
Doyle looked at the small cup in his hand in disgust. "What is this vile brew?"
Oz looked into the bowl. "Punch."
"That doesn't contain alcohol," Angel added as amusement danced in his eyes.
"What is the world comin' to?" Doyle shook his head, tossing the cup behind him. He came to stand by Angel. The Seer opened his mouth to say something else before he seemed to freeze, gawking at the entrance.
Angel and Oz followed the half-demon's gaze and saw what had drawn Doyle's attention—Cordelia.
"Isn't she lovely?" Doyle asked dreamily.
"Yeah, she's a real charmer," Angel said dryly.
It was like Doyle hadn't heard him. "Wonderful," he murmured.
Angel sighed dramatically before clapping Doyle over the shoulder, almost hard enough for the Seer to stumble. "If you like her, go ask her to dance," he advised.
"But what if she says 'no'?" Doyle asked worriedly, running a nervous hand through his hair. "I-I mean, there are so many ways this could go wrong…"
"Just ask her," Angel fought back a chuckle as he pushed a nervous Doyle towards Cordelia.
"Hey, you." Angel's attention was diverted as a certain blonde looped her arm through his. "Havin' fun hanging out at the punch bowl?" Buffy teased.
Angel just smiled; glad to see Buffy enjoying herself. "Yeah, you know, I actually thought about trying some."
"Really?"
"No."
Buffy slapped his chest playfully before a tapping on the microphone caused her to look towards the stage. The gym suddenly settled down and got quiet as everyone focused on a very nervous looking announcer who, with shaking hands, unfolded a piece of paper and began to give out the class awards.
Not even considering the mere possibility that her name could be called, Buffy contented herself with leaning her back against Angel's chest and letting his arms wrap around her waist.
"Um, we have one more award to hand out," Jonathan stammered self-consciously as he looked out at the entire student body. "Is Buffy Summers here tonight?" he asked as he scanned the crowd. "Did she, um…"
Buffy froze as the spotlight shined on her. and everyone near her turned to stare at her. Crap, what did I do? she thought nervously.
"This is actually a new category, first time ever," Jonathan continued. "I guess there were a lot of write-in ballots and, um, the prom committee asked me to read this," he explained as he unfolded a piece of paper and began to read…
"We're not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret that Sunnydale High isn't really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here…"
Jonathan was cut off as students from the crowd shouted particular incidents that caused Buffy to take a trip down memory lane.
"Zombies!"
That was fun…
"Hyena people!"
Whoa, Xander…Angel gave me his jacket around then…
"Synder!"
Buffy couldn't help but crack a grin at that.
"But, whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We're proud to say that the Class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history."
The crowd erupted into applause, causing Buffy to blush.
"And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks and gives you, uh, this…"
Jonathan suddenly produced a multicolored, glittery, umbrella-like trophy. "It's from all of us," he explained as Buffy stared up at him in shock. "'Buffy Summers, Class Protector.'"
Numbly, but with a growing giddiness in her bones, Buffy walked up onto the stage and accepted her award. She could feel Angel's eyes on her as the entire time, and fought not to look out at the crowd. She smiled at Jonathan who returned her smile shyly, handing her the trophy. Buffy took her little treasure and returned to Angel's arms immediately.
"Look at my little toy surprise," she grinned as she held it up.
Angel returned her smile and took the trophy, handing it to Giles. "I'm proud of you," he murmured in her ear. "I'm even gonna ask you to dance," he added as a slow song came on.
Buffy giggled as Angel led her out onto the dance floor before pulling her to him. Angel's hands settled at her waist. and Buffy's hands wound around his neck. With a small, indulgent smile, Buffy buried her face in Angel's chest, a content sigh escaping her.
Together they rotated in a slow circle, and Buffy closed her eyes, breathing him in and soaking up the moment. "So how's prom?" Angel asked after a few minutes.
Buffy pulled away to look up at him with a grin. She reached up on her tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Perfect," she replied, a happy laugh escaping her. "I finally got one normal high school experience."
Angel chuckled, and they continued to dance. However, a certain couple caught his eye. "Well would you look at that," he murmured dryly.
Buffy followed his line of sight and took in the picture of Cordelia and Doyle swaying to the gentle beat. She couldn't help but laugh lightly at Doyle's obvious nervous glee. He was obviously considering this moment a glorious one of triumph.
"What a pair," she finally mumbled with a shake of her head.
Amusement lit Angel's eyes as he looked pointedly between himself and Buffy. "You're one to talk."
"Oh, please, we're completely different," Buffy said playfully. "We're supposed to be sworn enemies. After all, you're a vampire. I'm a vampire slayer…sorta ironic."
"Just a little," Angel said with a smile as his kissed her hair.
Buffy couldn't stop her mind from recalling the Mayor's words to the two of them. "What we have," she began. "No one understands."
"Nope."
"The Mayor doesn't know a thing about us," Buffy said with a small smile.
Angel's lips twitched as he fought a grin. "Well, he's evil."
"Big time." Buffy rested her hand against Angel's chest again, her knowing smile still lingering. "He doesn't even know what a long-lasting relationship is."
"Nope."
"Probably the only lasting relationship he's had is with evil."
"Yeah."
"Big, stupid, evil guy." Buffy laughed as Angel suddenly twirled her. "We'll be okay," she said once she was in Angel's arms again.
"We will," Angel agreed before capturing her lips in a heated kiss.
When they broke away, Buffy had to smile. "And you know what?" she joked as they continued to dance. "That whole conversation I barely stopped myself from singing 'I know something you don't know!'"
"I still can't believe they haven't figured out that my soul is anchored," Angel shook his head.
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "I mean, could you imagine all the sexual tension if it weren't?"
"Unbearable."
"Totally."
Yes, yes, I know. I'm not too thrilled with this chapter, but I couldn't skip prom and I didn't want to dictate an entire chapter to it. The actual dance itself would have been the only part of the episode I could have used anyway since Angel and Buffy have actually already had the 'break up' convo earlier in this story. And then I just didn't like the whole creepy rapid dog thing...it just didn't float my boat. So, hence this chapter and the way it was done. :D
So...only two more chapters to go! "Graduation Day Part One & Two" comin' up!
And guess what? Only 5 more days until the AISHB sequel! Chapt. 1 "Heartthrob Part One" will be up Jan. 2. :)
Lots of love,
ArthursCamelot