Disclaimer: No characters or settings are mine. They belong to Joss.
Sorry for you Cordelia fans. I actually didn’t mean to write her like this… it just came out.
Chapter 10...Double figures, Yay!
Giles stood in the corner, conversing with Wesley. Angel couldn’t hear what they were saying but there was a lot of hand waving on Giles’ part. He turned and watched Buffy and Willow walk down the stairs. Connor had come down running a few minutes ago, looking a little a little rattled. Gunn had had words with him and at some point had broke down laughing which, in turn, caused Connors lips to twitch.
The girls both shot an apologetic glance at Connor, then focussed their attention on the two Englishmen still talking in the corner. Giles finally noticed they were there.
‘All right, can everyone please take a seat. What I have to say you all can listen to.’
Buffy, Angel and Willow sat on one couch, while Giles and Wesley took the other. The rest sat where they could get the best view. Giles was about to speak when Cordelia pranced in. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Meeting,’ Giles dismissed her. Angel knew Giles had no patience for the seer. He never had. To him she was just a silly little girl from Sunnydale.
‘You’re having a meeting without me? Are you talking about me behind my back?’ Angel saw Buffy roll her eyes and he smiled. They hadn’t even formally met yet and Cordelia was already making a bad impression.
‘You know, the whole world doesn’t revolve around you,’ Connor sneered. ‘Although the way your stacking on those pounds, give it time.’
Buffy snorted and covered her mouth, trying to block the sound. Willow laughed outright. She’d known Cordelia all through their schooling and they had never been friends. She was a stuck up bitch then and still was now, obviously.
Angel frowned and opened his mouth to reprimand the boy but Cordy beat him to it. ‘Oh please, like any thing you say matters. You’re just a waste of space. No one wants you, Connor so why do you stick around?’
Everyone froze after Cordy’s outburst. The A.I team froze because they knew how sensitive Connor was about his place in the team; Willow and Buffy froze because of the maliciousness of the comment.
Angel watched as Buffy got to her feet and marched over to the beautiful brunette. She leaned up close in her face. ‘Apologise,’ she ground out. Angel could practically see her desire to choke the former cheerleader.
Cordelia just smiled ignorantly. ‘Who the hell are you?’
Buffy turned to Angel. ‘How often is she here? She can’t be this stupid.’
Ignoring Connor’s murmured ‘Wanna bet?’ he answered the blonde Slayer. ‘She generally only hangs around when she has a vision. She has an apartment on the other side of town.’
Buffy nodded and turned to Cordelia who was staring over her head. ‘Willow?’ the Seer exclaimed. She pushed past Buffy. ‘Oh my god! It’s been like, forever,’ she tried to hug the redhead but Willow took a couple of steps back, disgust written across her features.
‘Don’t come near me, you bitch,’ Willow snarled and everyone stopped, shocked. No one had heard Willow swear like that before. Usually it wan some pansy insult like meanie or jerk. ‘You want to hug me after everything you’ve done? After everything you did to Xander? I should kill you where you stand.’
The fake smile slipped from Cordelia’s face. ‘Oh please. You were all such a bunch of losers, God, you didn’t actually think I liked any of you did you? Hell no. I just used you ‘cause I had no other choice. You guys, especially Xander, no, especially Jesse, meant nothing and never will mean anything to me.’
She turned and trotted off towards the kitchen. Buffy roughly grabbed her arm as she passed. ‘Excuse you,’ she said loudly. Cordelia glared at her then tried to pry her arm free. When Buffy’s grip only tightened, Cordelia’s eyes widened and Angel knew then she realised she was in trouble. How could have never seen that attitude buried in her? ‘Apologise, NOW!’ Buffy practically yelled and Cordelia flinched as Buffy’s grip became even tighter.
Angel stood quickly and walked over to the two women to diffuse the situation. He shook his head at Buffy and she slowly removed her hand from Cordelia’s arm. A bright read slash marked the spot where her hand had been. Before Angel could guess her intention, Buffy turned and punched Cordelia in the nose. She nodded, satisfied before she went to comfort a stonily silent Willow.
He took Cordelia by the arm and led her into their office, closing the door firmly behind them.
********************
Buffy rubbed Willow’s shoulders comfortingly as she flicked her gaze from Connor to the closed door. What a bitch! Ten minutes in the same room and Buffy wanted to kill her. How could Angel keep someone like that around? Even his son didn’t like her.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked a shaking Willow. The girl shook her head and pulled away from Buffy. She sat in one of the chairs and curled herself into it.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Buffy asked her gently as she moved towards her.
Willow nodded and took a deep breath. ‘I’ve known Cordelia since junior school. We weren’t friends, we were never friends but one day in high school she started to be nicer to us. Us being Xander, Jesse and myself. When Jesse died suddenly in an accident, he lost a lot of blood,’ alarm bells rung in Buffy’s head, ‘She was actually decent. There were no nasty comments, no taunting, she was just… distant. It wasn’t until much later I found out that her and Jesse were secretly dating.’
‘So what was with the crack about not caring?’ Buffy asked, confused.
‘The rest of the school found out. She was shunned, an outcast. No one from her old crew wanted anything to do with her, right?’ Gunn guessed.
‘Got it in one,’ Willow murmured. ‘She had no one else so it became the three of us. Xander, Cordelia and me. She mellowed out a lot, we thought. Obviously not.’ she said the last part sadly. Buffy could see tears forming in her eyes.
‘Don’t cry over her, pumpkin, she’s not worth it,’ Lorne said comfortingly, though he too was staring daggers at the closed door.
‘Yeah, no one here likes her either. We only keep her around because of her visions,’ the shy Fred spoke up.
Yes and I am very sure we don’t even receive half of them,’ Giles meant as a throwaway comment but everyone turned to look at him. He coughed lightly, and took off his glasses. ‘I’m just saying,’ he polished them furiously.
Gunn looked at the closed door then back to Giles. ‘Actually that’s a fair comment. I don’t think we get told every vision,’ he agreed.
The door opened and Cordelia stormed out. ‘After all I’ve done for you ungrateful rejects you treat me like this. How dare you.’
‘Am I to take it Angel more than adequately put you in your place?’ Giles asked mildly and Buffy looked at him with newfound respect. He insulted the cheerleader and she didn’t even know it.
‘He fired me,’ she raged. ‘Me. He can’t do that.’
‘Ah, yeah, he can, and apparently he just did,’ Gunn grinned.
Cordelia opened and closed her mouth a few times, at a loss for words, before she turned on her heel and left the building without a glance backwards.
‘Good riddance,’ Wesley breathed and Buffy noticed everyone seemed to relax. Was the bitch really that bad? She noticed Angel hadn’t come out of his office yet. With a frown on her face, she got up and walked over to stand in the doorway.
Angel sat at his desk, head bowed. He looked ashamed. ’How could I not have seen that?’ he asked without looking up.
Buffy came further into the room and shut the door. ’Maybe we bring out the worst in her,’ she half joked. She walked over and perched on his desk and he leaned back to look at her. ‘Sometimes there are things we just don’t want to see,’ she shrugged. ‘It’s human.’
‘I just never saw it, any of it. Everyone else, especially Connor, hated-’ he began but Buffy cut him off.
‘She’s a good actress,’ she said and Angel gave a harsh laugh.
‘If you’d seen her act you wouldn’t be saying that,’ he promised. ‘I don’t care, she’s gone. It’s done,’ he paused and looked up at Buffy. ‘Are you all ready to go?’
Buffy nodded and her hand dropped to the desk. ‘Yeah, we’re all packed and ready to leave. Sunnydale, here we come,’ she cheered with false enthusiasm, missing Angel’s brief smile.
He reached out a hand and clasped the one of hers on the desk. He held it briefly and Buffy felt tingles all through her body. She entwined her fingers in his and lifted their joined hands to her lap. Their fingers made a sharp contrast with the black skirt she was wearing. She examined his fingers. They were smooth and pale. I guess vampires don’t get calluses.
Letting go of his hand, she stood up from the desk. ‘We better get back out there,’ Buffy smoothed down her skirt. ‘Giles still wants to talk to us.’
Angel continued to observe her and she flushed under his gaze. He stood and took hold of her hand again. Tugging on it lightly, he pulled her in front of him. He caressed her palm with his fingers, then her wrist, drawing them along her arm to her elbow. Goosebumps spread on her skin and she shivered. He let go of her hand, bringing it up to trace the line of her jaw, the other came to rest on her hip.
Buffy drew a shaky breath. His hands, though cool on her skin, lit fires in her and she was almost panting with the effort to breathe. Her head came up and she studied his beautiful face. She raised a hand and ran it up his chest, feeling the muscles she’d daydreamed about since he’d appeared half-naked in her doorway. Thank you Willow!
She could hear his ragged breaths and wondered why he bothered. He didn’t need to breathe so why did he? For show? Habit? Maybe he missed being able to do it. His arm slipped around her waist and she stepped further into the embrace. She clutched at the shirt he was wearing as a hand slid into her hair.
She lifted her head and looked at him. His eyes were dark, almost black and her heart lurched. He looked wild, out of control and it turned her on immensely. Was that wrong? To be so totally aroused by a demon, her natural enemy? He cradled her head in his large hands and tilted it back. They looked into each others eyes for a heartbeat then his head lowered slowly towards hers. She took a deep breath, trying to stem the need, the unadulterated lust that swept through her even before his lips touched hers.
All thoughts flew from her mind as his lips made contact. She breathed in sharply. It felt like pure heaven, even this small contact. She opened her mouth and the kiss deepened. Angel’s hands left her hair and swept down her back, pulling her closer against him. She lifted her arms and wound them around his neck. Angel is kissing me… ANGEL is kissing ME… were the only thoughts Buffy could string together.
His lips tasted so good, better than she ever could have imagined and she ached to get even closer. Angel must have sensed her thoughts. His grip on her tightened, robbing her of breath and she wouldn’t have it any other way. The need to get closer was instinctual and Buffy was never one to go against her instincts.
Angel took a step forward which pushed Buffy against his desk. He lifted her onto it, not breaking the contact of their lips. Buffy held the back of his neck with one hand while the other caressed his chest, as they continued to kiss fiercely. His tongue entered her mouth and she almost passed out from the pleasure of it. Where had he learned to kiss like that? He has over two centuries of experience, she supposed. He was bound to pick something up.
He leaned forward and Buffy found herself being pushed backwards on the desk, not that she was complaining. His erection ground into her thigh and she felt herself get wet with the thought of it. God, she wanted him so bad.
He pressed himself against her and she moaned against his mouth. Her hand came up between them and began to undo his buttons. She needed to feel more of him, wanted skin to skin contact.
When the shirt was open she ran her hands up the bare expanse of flesh. He shuddered and she revelled in the feeling of power it gave her. Never mind the power she received from slaying; the power she got from Angel was so much better.
A discreet cough from the direction of the door had them breaking apart. Buffy blushed as she turned to find Wesley standing there with a bright face, almost a red as Buffy‘s. Buffy’s face became even hotter as she noticed Angel hastily buttoning up his shirt. She groaned and buried her face in her hands. This was not what she had expected to happen. Damn Wesley. No, not damn Wesley, good Wesley. God knows what they would have ended up doing if he hadn‘t interrupted.
The ex-Watcher came into the room and Buffy stood from the desk, frantically trying to rearrange her clothes and smooth out the creases. Angel’s hands came down on her shoulders and she stopped. She looked at Wesley, desperately trying to act cool but the disapproving look got to her and she crumbled. She turned and buried her red face in Angel’s chest.
‘Anytime you’re ready,’ Wesley huffed and Angel chuckled. Buffy felt his chest vibrate and she closed her eyes.
He rubbed a soothing hand down her back and whispered into her hair. ‘We better go out there.’
Buffy nodded and stepped away from him. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself and walked out of the office.
Gunn’s yelled ‘You go girl,’ sent her mortified face even redder. She raced over to the couch and buried her head in Willow’s shoulder, ignoring the redhead’s gentle nudging.
Giles saved her from her embarrassment. ‘Can we please start? We don’t have much longer,’ asked tiredly.
Everyone took their seats- Angel sat down next to Buffy, much to Gunn’s delight- and Giles began a long and Boring speech about the History of Sunnydale. ‘The Spanish called it Boca del Infierno. Quite literally meaning the mouth of Hell.’ More blah blah blah and Buffy tuned him out, preferring, instead, to go over Angel’s kiss in her mind. It was the most amazing kiss she’d ever had, was ever likely to get.
Something Giles said brought her out of her very pleasant thoughts. ‘Wait, what?’ she asked him.
He sighed and took off his glasses. ‘Spike and Drusilla,’ he huffed.
‘What about them?’
‘They are currently residing in Sunnydale. Demons are drawn there because of the power resonating from the Hellmouth. It is not surprising they are also.’
Buffy rolled her eyes. Yeah, it’s the Hellmouth they’re drawn to. It has nothing to do with the fact that I’m moving there.
Buffy sighed. Perhaps Sunnydale was going to be less fun than she thought.
Did I do okay? What did you think?
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