Disclaimer: Not mine unfortunately.
Chapter 22
Buffy remained shuttered in the bathroom, nervously looking at her reflection in the large mirror over the sink. She couldn’t believe she’d said that to him, When you kiss me, I want to die. God what was she, some fairy tale princess. It was such a lame thing to say. The slight tingling at the base of her spine told her he hadn’t yet left the bedroom. He’s probably still stunned with shock.
She was baffled at what possessed her to say that to him. He’d seemed so serious, warning her about getting into a relationship with him. Shows how much she knew. She’d thought they were already in a relationship. Why were things so complicated? There had never been an uncomplicated relationship, like, ever. It was impossible.
She closed her eyes and willed away the gathering tears. Why had she expected to have a normal relationship with Angel? It was literally impossible; he was a vampire and she was the Slayer, not something out of dreams. She’d thought he wanted to be with her, he’d seemed to like her a lot so what was the problem?
Buffy sighed and turned on the cold water tap. She bent and splashed her face with the water then pattered herself dry with the small towel hanging off the rack. A quick glance in the mirror made Buffy grimace. Her eyes were puffy and ringed with red and her face was all splotchy. Attractive.
The soft knock on the door caught her off guard. ‘Buffy?‘ Angel called quietly through the thick wood.
Buffy sighed again and her face screwed up as she began to cry but she held herself in check. One sob, however, escaped her. ‘Just a minute,’ she scrabbled around trying to calm herself before she opened the door.
Angel stood, shoulders slumped, on the other side. He looked completely unhappy and it did not give Buffy one ounce of satisfaction. She hated seeing him so miserable. It cut her to the bone and made her feel worse than she already did.
She stood there silently in the doorway, her eyes on the thick cream coloured carpet. She so badly wanted to say something to him but any words disappeared before the reached her tongue. Angel seemed to be having the same problem.
Buffy’s eyes began to fill with tears again; this time she couldn’t hold them back. The drops slid down her pale face and fell onto her crossed arms. She started as a light caress wiped the wetness from her cheeks.
She looked up and saw her vampire’s pained expression though her moisture-filled eyes and her heart almost broke yet again. When he spoke she winced at the self-flagellation in his voice. ‘I’m sorry, Buffy,’ he started. ‘I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.’
‘Then why did it?’ she asked him softly, dreading the answer.
‘I… when you went on patrol, I had some time to think. A lot of time to think. I guess I kind of overreacted,’ he said solemnly.
Buffy snorted. ‘Ya think?’
Angel hung his head. ‘I really shouldn’t be left alone,‘ he smiled grimly. ‘My thoughts weren’t exactly the most pleasant. I kept thinking about how much I wanted you and how our relationship was against every law of nature. I’m sorry, Buffy. I just wanted you to know what you were getting into.’
Buffy took a step forward and looked him in the eyes. ‘Don’t you think I’ve thought about this too,’ she said, a little anger colouring her voice. ‘I know what I’m getting into, Angel, because I’ve already thought about us from every angle. I know you’re a vampire and I’m a Slayer, I know you’re going to live forever while I will either die early or grow old and then die, I know you’re two hundred and twenty-five years older than me but you know what? After all of my thinking, after every concern I’ve had, I don’t care. I’m not going to live forever, Angel, I have no illusions on that. What if I just want to live my life as best I can, while I can?’
Angel had the grace to look a little ashamed of himself. He’d been trying to make decisions for her but Buffy wasn’t going to take any of it. Any decisions, they made together, she refused to let him take control like that. Something told her if she left it up to him, she wouldn’t be too happy.
Buffy stepped forward and lied her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her slim body and she smiled. Maybe things weren’t as bad as she thought they were. He kissed the top of her head and she looked up to meet his eyes. To Buffy’s relief, only happiness shone from them. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him, rejoicing when he returned the kiss thoroughly. Her arms stole around his neck and his hands slipped to grasp her waist. She kissed him with all she had but pulled back before it could go too far.
Angel smiled and kissed her again, lightly. He smoothed her hair then stepped back. ‘I have to go, the others are probably waiting. See me out?’
She nodded and he took her hand and led her out the door. The others were waiting in the foyer, along with Giles who seemed a little flustered. One look at a sullen Cordelia and Buffy knew some unpleasent things had been said and the brunette had been put in her place yet again. Giles seemed to have a nifty talent for insulting Cordy. She grinned at the red faced Watcher and he smiled sheepishly back.
It took only minutes for everyone to grab their stuff and put it in the car. After all, they each only had one bag, not having intended to stay this long.
When his team was buckled in and ready to go, Angel turned to Buffy and she smiled at him understandingly. ‘Have a good trip,’ she said lightly as he pulled her into a tight hug.
She clung to him and he kissed the top of her head before pulling back to kiss her lips. She melted into the kiss, deepening it and only broke off when the need for air became immediate.
He kissed her one last time before he took a step back and nodded goodbye to Giles. He got into the passengers seat of the car and Buffy waved as Wesley put the car in drive and the A.I team headed back to L.A.
Buffy felt Giles come stand beside her. She glanced at her watcher who was watching her with concern. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked her and Buffy looked at him puzzled. ‘You look like you’ve been crying,’ he explained and Buffy ducked her head.
‘We… we had a fight before,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m okay now.’
‘Ah,’ Giles looked at her sympathetically.
Buffy turned to go back inside and covered her mouth as she yawned. ‘It’s late and I’m tired, I’m going to bed. Don’t forget we have to get up early to let out the werewolf person.’
She saw the thoughtful look return to Giles’ face and knew it would be a while before the Watcher went to bed. ‘Night,‘ she said as she started to enter the building. ‘Oh and Giles?’ he looked up. ‘Get some sleep. A tired Watcher is an unproductive Watcher.’
***********************************
Buffy was up before the sun was the next morning. She stretched out in her bed then rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She was still majorly tired but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She wondered what time Giles had gone to bed. Most likely sometime in the early hours. Maybe she should go and get the wolf person herself. Let him sleep in.
She took a quick shower and bounded downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee. After that, she decided, I’ll go get a muffin from that place on main then on to the cemetery. Her plans changed, however, when she discovered an awake and extremely alert Watcher in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea.
He looked up as she entered and a small smile crossed his face. ‘Good morning Buffy,’ he greeted jovially and she stopped in amusement. ‘Sleep well?’
‘Morning, Giles and yes,’ she said simply, choosing to ignore the bright look on his face. She got more sleep than he did, she knew it, so why did he look so fresh? ‘What’s up?’
‘Well, we are going to discover the identity of your werewolf this morning, are we not?’ he took another sip of his tea. ‘I’d have thought you would be up a little later than this. It’s barely even dawn.’
Buffy wondered what was going on. There was no way he could be this…up, at this early hour. Who was he and where was her Watcher? When she said as much to him he smiled put his cup down.
‘There is nothing wrong, Buffy,’ he assured her. ‘Just a good day to be alive.’
Buffy suddenly realised why he was in such a good mood. ‘Yeah,’ she said disinterestedly. ‘It’s nice and quiet, isn’t it? Peaceful,’ she hinted.
Giles murmured an agreement and Buffy grinned. ‘Wesley gave you a hard time, huh?’ she asked getting to the point.
Giles took off his glasses, frustrated. ‘That man is no doubt the most infuriating man it had ever been my misfortune to work with. It was fine when we were in L.A but now that I have taken up residence here, he seemed to be enjoying usurping my power. The pompous git actually dared to correct me and told me I was doing my job wrong.’
Buffy wanted so badly to laugh at him but she knew it was an unwise decision by the fiery look in Giles’ eyes. ‘Alright Tex,’ she slapped him lightly on the arm,. ‘Saddle up. Were’ gonna catch us a werewolf,’ she paused. ‘Except, you know, it won’t be a wolf and it’s already caught.’
Giles shook his head and emptied his cup in the sink. ‘Shall we?’
*********************************
The cemetery looked so different in the daylight. It still looked like a cemetery, sure, but it seemed a lot less imposing. There weren’t as many dark corners for evil things to hide in, plus the whole scary movie element was gone. Dark, cloudy night, girl goes for walk in graveyard, gets eaten by a monster; it didn’t seem too likely to happen in the daylight.
Buffy reached the crypt first and waited for a slightly huffing Giles to catch up. ‘You okay?’
‘I’m fine,’ he waved off her concern.
She gestured to the crypt and he nodded. ‘Right. You first?’
‘You so did not mean for that to be a question,’ she shook her head and walked up to the crypt door.
She listened carefully for a moment, making sure the person wasn’t still the beast. Dawn had only just arrived, after all. Hearing nothing, she put her hands on the heavy stone door and pushed with all her might. It slid open a lot easier than it had closed.
Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the crypt and she noticed a huddled shape lying against the wall opposite her. A closer glance revealed the person was naked. She pulled the blanket from the bag she’d brought, just in case. Whoever it was started to stir as Buffy approached.
The person wasn’t stirring, Buffy realised as she got closer. He or she was having a nightmare. She knelt down beside the curled up figure- male- and placed the blanket over the top of him. He didn’t wake as the material settled so Buffy shook his shoulder gently.
The guy looked about her age with short spiky hair. Unusual, no, but the colour was. His hair was a bright purple and he had a small tattoo on his arm that said D.A.M.B. His left ear was pierced and he had a small goatee happening. He didn’t look familiar but Willow or Xander might know him. They could have gone to school together.
He was such a small person. Buffy couldn’t be sure but she had a funny feeling she might actually be taller than him. Yay, someone I can look down on. Not that I ever would because it’s wrong and I don’t like it when it happens to me.
Any further thoughts were cut off when the guy groaned. She moved back a little, giving him space as he opened his eyes. He slowly looked up at her and she smiled in a friendly way. ’Hi.’
Shock crossed his face or, well, it would have if he had emotions. The only reaction she saw from the stoic guy was the slight widening of his eyes. She looked at him, amused, as he unconsciously tightened his grip on the blanket.
‘I’m Buffy,’ she said perkily and the guy took it in with a nod. A scrape at the door announced Giles’ presence. ‘That’s Giles. We came to let you out of here.’
‘Right,’ he took that in and glanced around the crypt. ‘Where exactly is here?’ he raised an eyebrow and Buffy smiled at his calmness. He was either in a band or he was a surfer.
‘Um, crypt, in Restfield cemetery,’ she bit her lip. ‘Do you, uh, remember anything about last night?’
The guy shook his head and Buffy looked to Giles for guidance. He nodded so she looked back to the guy. He was still sitting on the cold stone floor. ‘Um, do you want to get up? I was told once that if you sit too long on a cold surface you can get haemorrhoids or something,’ she shrugged. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Giles shake his head.
The guy nodded his head taking it all in his stride. ‘Good to know,’ he stood from the floor, wrapping the blanket securely around himself. ‘I’m guessing since you locked me in here you know… everything’ he hedged.
Buffy nodded and Giles stepped forward. ‘I suggest we have this conversation elsewhere,’ he said wryly. ‘I don’t fancy spending any more time in a crypt than absolutely necessary.’
Buffy stood and so did the guy. They left the crypt and walked over to Giles’ car. ‘So, uh, what’s your name by the way?’
‘Oz.’
‘Nice name,’ she said dryly.
‘Thanks, Buffy,’ he countered and she smiled.
‘You know, I think you and I are going to get along just fine,’ she said as they piled into the car and drove towards the mansion.
I had to add Oz in. He and Willow made such a cute couple in the show. I don't think he has a tattoo, but in my story, he does.
I'm not entirely happy with this chapter so I may review it later. I'll let you know.
Review please.
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