Thanksgiving passed and not long after Cordelia's seventeenth birthday as well. Things remained quiet but as any member of the Scooby Gang can tell you, quiet doesn't last. The end of the first week of December Buffy came home to a sight that terrified her and made her glad Dawn was spending the night at her friend Janice's again. Although now Buffy knew why her mother had given her permission to spend the night on a school night, something she didn't usually do.

Buffy got out her key and reached up to put it in the door lock. When she pushed on it to insert it the door just swung open. Buffy stared in, concerned to find the door unlocked and not closed. Yes, things had been quiet and vampires were gone, but other demons weren't and she was from L.A., humans broke into people's homes too. She cautiously entered the house listening for anything that sounded off and heard...a glass breaking in the kitchen and her mother's cry of No! Buffy rarely hesitated anyway and right now it sounded like her mom was in trouble and remembering Darla's attack on her, rushed toward the kitchen where she discovered - her mother and a man kissing.

Yeah, her nightmares had a new direction now.

The two stopped kissing and the three of them stood awkwardly just looking at each other for a moment. "Buffy, you're home early." Joyce said, for lack of anything else to say.

"I was a fifth wheel, Mom. Willow and the guy she's been seeing and I'm not sure, but I'm thinking Xander and Cordelia might be announcing they're dating soon. She's been spending a lot of time with us and they might have been holding hands at the movie. I don't currently have a boyfriend so it was - awkward, I guess. Anyway, the door was unlocked and I heard you cry no, so I thought - but I was wrong. You don't seem to be in any trouble. Are you in trouble?"

"No, I just accidentally knocked over a wine glass." Joyce answered. "Buffy, this is Ted, we met at the gallery."

"Buy a lot of art, does he?"

"He's in computers actually. He upgraded the system at the gallery and we started talking. One thing led to another - I've been thinking about how to introduce you girls to him. This isn't quite how I thought it would go, but now it's only Dawn I need to talk to, I guess." Joyce looked really uncomfortable.

"I was going to make us a late snack." Ted offered. "Why don't you join us? Give us a chance to get to know each other."

"Sure, why not, be a third wheel instead of a fifth, it's an upgrade, right?" Buffy tried to smile as she mentally tried to apply brain bleach to the memory of her mother kissing a man.

"Cordelia and Xander?" Joyce asked, as Ted moved passed her and began pulling ingredients out for whatever snack he was making. He seemed to know his way around their kitchen pretty well, guess he'd been here before, Buffy realized.

"Yuh, yeah. I don't think Willow will be happy when she finds out though. Cordelia used to bully her, but Cordelia's changed a lot in the last several months and I haven't heard or seen her bully anyone in quite awhile. Plus, Willow had a crush on Xander for quite awhile."

"She wasn't nearly as circumspect about it as she thought she was." Joyce nodded. "And Cordelia just didn't realize she herself was interested in Xander, but she talked about him quite a bit on Halloween and how he saved her from a guy who didn't want to take no for answer."

"Oh, yeah. I remember that, kinda sad in a way." Buffy remembered the Frankensteined Chris Epps. "He was a very lonely guy. Anyway, what are you making, Ted? Can I call you, Ted?"

"You can." Ted nodded amicably. "I thought I'd make some small snack sized pizzas, it's a quick and easy recipe and it won't be long before they're ready. Why don't you two ladies take the time to freshen up?"

"Good idea," Joyce agreed. "I'll change into something a little more comfortable."

"I have a little bit of homework I need to finish up." Buffy answered. "I should be done by the time the pizzas are ready." Desperate to escape the very awkward situation.

"Good." Ted smiled at her. "Your grades could still use some work, you know."

"You...know what my grades are?" That struck Buffy as a little odd.

"Your mother mentioned it, she was naturally concerned. It's good that you seem to be applying yourself, but there's always room for improvement." He uttered the cliche in a chipper tone as he quickly prepared the small pizzas.

"Right, Mom, I'll just go do that." Buffy headed up to her room, not sure why the guy made her so uncomfortable. He seemed nice enough and obviously her mother liked him. But something seemed off and she couldn't think what it was.

"Buffy, I want to apologize. That wasn't how I wanted us to meet." Ted told her when she came back down. "I wanted it to be...perfect. I'm very fond of your mother, I guess that's pretty obvious. I know you're the most," he gesture toward the picture of her and Dawn on the refrigerator. "important thing in her life, and, well, gosh, that makes you pretty important to me, too."

"Buffy, I really want you to be okay with this." Joyce was almost pleading.

"Beg to differ, we really want you to be okay with this." Ted grasped Joyce's hand.

"I'm okay." Buffy tried to assure them, wondering why her gut was squirming. Something about this guy just made her so uncomfortable.

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A/N Some dialog taken from Buffy wiki 'Ted' transcript.