Chapter 1 - Betrayal
The sound of roaring applause filled the Bronze, as local band “Dingoes Ate My Baby’ performed to the packed out club. The place was thrumming with people, dancing in time with the music. Later, lead singer Devon MacLeish, Oz, the lead guitarist, and the other band members made their way off stage to a round of rapturous applause. They then struggled to make their way over to their friends at a table by the bar, where they sat as people came over to talk to them about their set.
At a table in the corner, a dark haired woman by the name of Faith finally turned to her friends, Buffy, Willow and Anya. “Damn that guy is hot! Should I make my way over to the bar, see if he’s looking for a new groupie?” Buffy tried to stifle her giggles as she looked at Faith.
“Uh, sure Faith, he’s uh…cute, I guess. What do you think Wills?” She tried to look innocent, whilst knowing full well that Willow had her eye on the lead guitarist, who seemed to have a different hair colour every time they’d been to the club that month.
“I think he’d give you great orgasms Faith”, Anya said, in her blunt, but thoughtful way, as Willow turned bright red, and an “Anya” was thrown her way. “What?! I’m happy with my Xander, I want others to be as happy as I am. Don’t you agree Buffy?” She turned to look at Buffy, who had turned very quiet as the exchange went on. She was watching another of their friends, Dru, and her husband Riley out on the dance floor, in each others arms. “Hello, earth to Buffy!” Anya said, waving her hand in front of Buffy’s face, where her eyes had glazed over.
“Sorry Ahn, what?” she said, as she brought herself out of her dazed state.
“B, where the hell did you just go?!” Faith said, as she looked at her friend with concern.
“Look at Dru, she’s glowing. I hope Angel and I are as happy as her and Riley when we’re married”.
Faith screwed up her face and replied “The reason she’s glowing is because she’s been throwing up the whole morning! She’s pregnant B! She can’t keep her food in her stomach; I’m surprised she’s even kept her dinner down as long as she has tonight!”
“True, but they just look so carefree. Anyway, what were you guys saying before I went weird on ya?” Willow blushed again, as Anya replied.
Buffy laughed, as Faith stood up and said “Screw this! I’m going to the bar before he leaves. Wills, you coming with?” The redhead looked nervous, but Buffy encouraged her and gave her the little push she needed.
“Go on Willow, you never know, he might be single!”
“Ok, ok, I’ll come with you Faith, jeesh!” The redhead replied as she leapt up from her chair.
“Go Willow, you might actually get some tonight!” said Anya, before getting up and heading over to Xander, who had been talking to Angel, and sitting on his lap. As Willow and Faith headed over to the bar, Riley and Dru headed back to the table.
The pale looking woman took a seat next to Angel, complaining of the pace of the song being much too fast for her stomach to handle, to which Riley laughed, before asking Buffy if she’d like to dance. She looked at Angel, who had begun talking to Dru, and then at Xander and Anya, who were clearly occupied with each other, possibly a little too occupied really, before agreeing, and taking his hand, heading to the dance floor with the husband of one of her closest friends.
Faith and Willow had reached the bar, but the brunette had failed to notice Willow left flailing like a fish out of water, as Devon had struck up conversation with her straight away. The redhead shuffled her feet and played with her necklace nervously, waiting for the barman to notice her, and looking miserable, as she had just noticed the guitarist from the band talking to a blond girl at a nearby table on the walk over towards the bar.
“H-hey, can I g-get you a drink?” stuttered a shy looking blond woman the other side of Willow, who looked about as nervous as she herself had at the prospect of going to the bar just minutes before.
“Oh, thanks, that’s really sweet! I’ll just have a coke please! I’m Willow!” she said, as she held out her hand to shake.
“I’m T-Tara!” she replied, taking Willow’s hand in her own. “You seem to have l-lost your f-friend’s attention!” she said, looking over Willow’s shoulder, before coming back to face her, and smirking.
“Yeah, I think I have! That happens a lot!” she replied, rolling her eyes and letting out a little giggle.
Tara looked over at her friends, Wesley, Fred, Cordy and Gunn. Fred looked over and smiled. “Um, would you l-like to come over and s-sit with my friends? Y-You don’t hafta feel like you need to say yes…I understand if you don’t want to.” Willow smiled encouragingly, before looking back towards the corner where her friends were seated. Xander and Anya looked like they should get a room, but other than that, the table was empty. She looked around the busy club, and glimpsed Buffy and Riley dancing together, and then Faith and her latest conquest-to-be, Devon, making out next to her by the bar.
She turned back to Tara, picked up the drink that’d been placed in front of her, and replied with a heartfelt “Sure!” before taking Tara’s lead back to where her friends were sitting.
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Buffy and Riley were out of breath by the time they came back to the table a few songs later. Riley decided to head over to the bar to pick up another drink for Buffy and himself, since Faith and Willow didn’t seem to have brought any back yet, and Xander and Anya were clearly busy.
“Hey, guys…guys…GUYS!!!” she almost shouted at her friends. “Jeesh, get a room! But before you do, where did Dru and Angel go? I didn’t see them out on the dance floor.” Xander looked at Buffy, back at Anya, then back to Buffy again, his mouth doing a goldfish impression. Buffy raised her eyebrows, in attempt to get her brunette friend to talk a bit faster.
However, before he could, Anya beat him to it “Dru said she didn’t feel too good, and dashed off out the back alley, closer than the bathrooms I guess. XANDER was too busy giving me a hickey to notice anything!”
Buffy grimaced, and added a “Poor Dru…hey, why didn’t you come get Riley?”
Anya looked at Buffy and said, “You and him looked like you were having so much fun out there, Angel said he’d go make sure she was ok, and take her home if she wanted him too.”
Buffy knew the two had gotten close, after all, Buffy spent a lot of time with Dru and Riley, they'd grown into a tight little foursome, often going to each others houses for dinner . “Oh, Ok. I think I might head out there, check to see if they left yet. Angel’s not that great with sick women!” she said, with a loving smile. She stood up and headed to the exit into the alley at the back of the club.
*God, Dru’s good! If I was her I wouldn’t have made it away from the table without throwing up, let alone this far!* Buffy mused, as she wandered through the backdoors of the club and out into the night air. She took a few steps into the shadows, trying to see if she could see either of them, but then began hearing sounds of two people enjoying themselves. She didn’t want to walk into any embarrassing situations, but could clearly hear sounds of passion coming from further down the alley.
She was just about to turn back and head inside, resided to the fact that Dru and Angel must have left already, when she heard the unmistakeable English accent of her eccentric friend shout “Oh Angel, I love you my dark prince!” before a grunt she recognised as that of her love.
She stood, shocked, and immobile for a moment, before a low “Soon Dru…Soon it’ll be you, me and the baby“ was heard from her Angel.
“Oh my God!” came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it. Her eyes glazed over. She felt dizzy. She didn’t think her legs would hold her up, but she turned and ran back inside, Dru and Angel who had heard her, came hot on her heels as she made it through the doors.
Angel grabbed her arm “Buffy, whatever you think you saw was wrong, I can explain…” Buffy saw red, turning, she hit out at Angel, landing a punch square across his jaw, startling him, before turning to run to the table, whilst Dru tended to Angel, fussing over him to see if he was ok. He shook her off, and they followed back to the table.
Riley, Anya and Xander saw Buffy coming towards them, the look on her face one they’d never seen before on the normally passive blonde. Riley looked at her, then at Angel and Dru, who were also at the table now, before turning back and asking “What’s wrong, what happened? Buffy?” she looked up at him, before turning to glare at the raven haired pair.
She almost spat out in her hatred “Why don’t you ask your wife? I’m sure she’ll be happy to explain, Riley. Right Dru?” she glared at her friend, before grabbing her bag and storming out of the club, most of the Bronze occupants watching her go.