“See? This is a first you can experience with all of us,” Willow, her best friend, or rather one of her best friends, told her as they found a table toward the back of the loud and packed club.
Buffy smiled, “Cool. Then maybe we can all have a new hang out to go to. I started a trend.”
Willow agreed, brushing her long red-hair from her face. “This place is so much better than Lust. That place has gone downhill.”
“I have a vague recollection of it.”
“How so?” Willow asked, tilting her head to the side, her green eyes inquisitive.
“Faith used to sneak us in.”
“I never did that with her!”
Buffy grinned, “She got me a fake I.D. She was a bad influence on me back in the day.”
“Of course she was.”
“And now,” Buffy sighed, “She’s met Robin Wood and she’s all on the straight and narrow.”
"That's a good thing, right?"
"Yep, it is," Buffy said and when Willow started for the bar, she muttered, "Maybe she can teach me how to do it."
“So, let me get this straight,” Buffy began after she and Willow had gotten drinks. “You became friends with crazy Anya Jenkins after I left.”
“Right,” Willow said, nodding.
“And so instead of me, you and Faith, it became you, Anya and Faith.”
“So far, you’ve gotten it,” Willow grinned.
”And then, Anya met weird Xander Harris and started dating him.”
“Right again.”
“And now they’re doing the meeting of the friend’s things tonight. Here. On my first night home.”
“Oh come on. You moved all day. How fun could that be? You need a night out. And it’s Saturday, you have all day to recoup before you start work on Monday, you big English professor, you.”
Buffy grinned. “I know, I know, but I was kind of hoping to have a night with just the girls, ya know? Catch up and all that.”
“And we’ll do that. Tomorrow. When I have you all over, sans Anya, for dinner.”
“Oh, is that right?” Buffy teased, tossing her almost waist length golden blond hair over her shoulder.
“That’s right. For a big old-fashioned dinner at my apartment. Then we can catch up in the right way. Who knows, maybe Xander will bring some cute men we can all fawn over and then commiserate tomorrow about them just like we used to do with the morons we went to high school with.”
“That’s encouraging. Xander is one of those morons we went to high school with. He probably still hangs with the same crowd.”
“Well, we’re adults now. We don’t need to be all clique-y.”
“I was never clique-y,” Buffy pointed out. “I was friends with just about everyone. Or at least I tried to be.”
“So, that’s why you called Xander a weirdo?”
Buffy giggled, “I said I tried to be.”
“Oh, here comes Faith and Robin,” Willow announced, looking over Buffy’s shoulder.
“B!” Faith shrieked when she saw Buffy, and ran over arms wide open, leaving her boyfriend in the dust. Faith’s shoulder length dark hair was flying behind her, her brown eyes sparkling in merriment.
Buffy shrieked back and ran to meet the girl, the two girls, forever best friends, hugging and jumping up and down, talking a mile a minute trying to catch up.
“I’m so happy you’re back. You don’t even know. California was way to far away for me,” Faith told her honestly.
“I know what you mean,” Buffy said, nodding in agreement. “But I had to wait, you know? I had to make sure I got myself to a point where I had free reign to ‘move about the country’.”
“You sound like an Expedia commercial,” Faith laughed.
“I do, don’t I?”
“So, how are the new digs? Must be pretty sweet for a genius professor.”
“I’m not a genius,” Buffy scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.
“B, Yale wanted you. They sought you out. And you what? Said no so you could teach at –“
“Boston University. Just as prestigious if you ask me.”
“Well, I didn’t, but okay.”
The girls giggled.
“Let me introduce you to my man, here,” Faith said, breaking away from Buffy and extending her arm, to wave Robin over.
Robin, was a tall, black man who looked pretty prestigious himself. Very handsome with a warm smile, he shook Buffy’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Buffy.”
“Thank you, I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” Buffy said graciously. “Never thought anyone could tame the wild one here,” and she jerked her thumb to Willow.
“Hey now, I’ve heard some stories from you, missy,” Faith admonished.
Buffy groaned, “Let’s not get into that.”
“Yeah, we’ll save that for tomorrow,” Willow said knowingly, and then chirped, “Oh, hey, here comes Anya…and an entourage.”
Anya was a petite blond girl with big expressive blue eyes that basically said whatever came to mind. She was in journalism, which Buffy was sure worked out well for her. She was bubbly and full life and energy and her boyfriend, the former weirdo, Xander Harris, seemed to adore her.
“He’s had a calming effect on her, believe it or not,” Willow informed Buffy as they spied the two dancing on the dance floor.
“Wow, that’s her calm?” Buffy laughed.
“What do you think of the red head he brought?” Willow asked, nonchalantly looking in the shorter man’s direction.
“He’s cute. I like the spiked hair. Oz, right?”
“Yeah, what a name.”
”Oz and Willow…” Buffy mused, “I like it.”
Willow blushed. “I’ve noticed that blond hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night.”
Buffy groaned and grimaced. “I’m not looking for a man.”
“What does it hurt to talk to him?”
“My track record is not ‘just talk to him’. My track record with men has been deplorable, and I’ve finally stuck to my guns and got on the straight and narrow. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Well, your streak might just be up. Here he comes,” and with that, Willow vanished.
Buffy turned to her, to stop her, when the bleached blond halted her by saying hi. She did a quick look at his ring finger, habit now, and noted he was not married. Good sign. He was hot, she had to admit, and she’d avoided him like the plague for that very reason. Her and hot men did not mix. Her and hot men, were unmixy. She did nothing but find herself in over her head in trouble with them.
He was tall and had been introduced as Spike, which she naturally assumed was his nickname. He was tall and lean, with azure eyes that were actually quite hypnotizing. He seemed to have an affinity for the all-black look, which just stressed to Buffy that he was most likely a bad boy, and definitely off-limits. But, hey, she was out to have fun and there was nothing wrong with being polite, right?
Just talk, Buffy. Just talk, she told herself and said hello back.