Summary: Just a short, light, happyfic set a couple years in the future.
B/A
Spoilers: Nothing really specific.
Disclaimer: The characters are MINE! MINE MINE! HAHAHAHA!! Well, okay, they're
not, but I like to pretend sometimes.
Rating: You watch the show, this is totally fine. A little mild even. :)
This story is for Rebecca who is a total sweetie and deserves all the thanks
in the world. (I'm *guessing* that you like the Buffy/Angel thing...
heehee)
:) Tracy, you are the bestest of the beta readers. <g>
by: Amy
I looked in the mirror, still marveling that I could see myself. Applying a little more gel and brushing my hair back so that it stood up the way that Buffy liked, I patted it self-consciously. It was moments like these when I wished that my girlfriend wasn't so fashion-conscious. Of course, the skirts she wore made up for that entirely.
Words ran through my brain. Hi. I tested it. "Hi." Sounded casual enough. "Would you..." That wasn't right.
"I need to ask something--" No, not good either. How am I planning on doing this? It isn't going to work. First they will hit me and I will let them. Then they will kick me out and I will let them. Buffy will be laughing the whole time. I patted my pockets nervously.
It wasn't there. My heart stopped beating. Those were the things I noticed since the spell Willow gave to restore my humanity. It actually stopped. Literally skipped a beat. Fear is the oddest emotion. I was terrified.
Glancing over at my dresser, I breathed a sigh of relief at it sitting there, so inconspicuous, as if it wasn't dominating my entire future. I growled uselessly at it, picking it up and stuffing it in my pocket.
Then I started patting it nervously again.
"Would it be okay...?" You moron, I berated myself. I'm not asking a fifties mother if I can go out and play. How about asking-- No, that would sound terrible. First impressions *aren't* the most important, I was learning. It was moments like these... Where I was scared out of my mind.
The doorbell rang and I flinched. Terror. It's a scary word in itself.
Taking one more quick look in the mirror, I rushed to it anxiously. They probably already left. No one wants to wait on the doorstep of an overly vain former vampire, right? Part of me *wished* them away, wanting them to leave Buffy and me alone. But no, I would at least do the honorable thing and get my heart broken by everyone she loved.
That seemed fair.
But they were there. I smiled shakily in greeting, opening the door wider for them to enter. Xander gave a half hearted smile, and I felt nauseous. Oz shook my hand casually... And I felt nauseous. Willow smiled and hugged me. Was I going to feel nauseous forever?
Giles and Buffy's mother simply looked at me curiously. As we sat, Buffy took the seat of the arm of the chair I was in and looked down at me in concern. She leaned in, inspecting me closely.
"Are you okay, hon?" She whispered. I nodded, waiting for the feeling of being sick to pass. She touched my forehead lightly. "Angel, you're in a cold sweat. Your face is whiter than it ever was as a vampire...." I swallowed.
"No, I'm fine," I whispered back frantically. Just get it done, I shouted to myself.
And then, before everyone was even settled, for the first time, I listened to my idiotic advice and did the most clumsy and ungraceful gesture anyone could imagine. Ruining anything everyone thought of me, I was sure, I knelt down on one knee before Buffy. She looked at me, startled.
"I uh..." My voice was raspy and I swallowed again. "I love you, Buffy. And I want you to be with me forever. I want you to marry me. So, uh, could you? I mean, will you? Think about it?" Oh, God, I sounded like Xander. I lowered my head as I took out the sparkling ring and waited for the laughter to come.
It didn't.
After a moment, I looked up to see Buffy staring at me with huge eyes that shimmered with tears. Her lips trembled and our eyes caught. In that single second, everything else fell away. All I saw were her lips, already swelling with tears, and her eyes which were looking at me warmly.
It didn't matter to her that my manner in asking had been so strange. It didn't matter that I had been nervous beyond belief. It didn't matter that my hair had far too much gel on it. None of these things mattered. I should have known what her answer would be.
Finally she smiled widely and nodded, her voice still not working. As she leapt into my arms, I stood and spun her around, releasing my tension in my laugh. Of course we wanted each other. We were made to love each other.
I lowered her to her feet and kissed her deeply, past caring that the others were watching us in shock. Her mouth was hot against my own, her lips and tongue seeking and aggressive as she held me almost tighter than I could stand. But not quite. Personally, I don't think anything *could* be too tight.
Giles finally closed his mouth, which had been hanging open, and stood from the couch, walking over in two strides to shake my hand firmly. I was so grateful in that second. So glad that he had forgiven me, even though it had taken him nearly five years.
Joyce nodded approvingly and I released Buffy as her mother gave me a hug. She whispered in my ear. "Thank God. We were afraid something horrible was going on that you couldn't tell any of us individually," she confided. I grinned.
Willow hugged Oz, then Xander. Xander gave me a grudging look of respect accompanied by a very nice smile. I wondered momentarily at where the smile had come from. I didn't realize his face could twist into one.
Then Buffy kissed me again and it was a swirl of laughter and scattered applause and talking over each other and gazing into her eyes and Xander shouting, "Weren't we going to eat?"
I laughed and gestured to the table. We all sat down quickly and as I took the casserole out from the stove (trying not to notice the raised eyebrows at the realization that I could cook), I noticed that I didn't feel nauseous anymore.
In fact, I was feeling pretty good.
The End
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