DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to Joss Whedon, FOX, ME, but not to me
SUMMARY: Angel. Buffy. a date?
SPOILERS: none
RATING: PG

Buffy hurried back home before sunset. She hung her coat in the entrance and rushed up to her room. She just stood there, glancing over at the mirror. Her sad face reflected on her.

"Smile." She ordered her face, not moving away from the mirror. She forced a happy wide smile on her lips. "Happy joy."

"Hey..."

Buffy was startled, hearing a voice behind her. She turned around, seeing Angel leaning on her window.

"Angel... What are you doing here?" She walked over to him, only the window's frame separating them.

"I came to see how you were... I... I heard what happened."

"You heard?"

"Yeah, well, there's gossip about the Slayer, in the underworld."

Buffy smiled at him and touched his face affectionately. "Don't give me this face, Angel, it wasn't your fault."

He let her lips flutter over his face, until they reached his mouth. He kissed her softly, leaning down on the frame.

"It's not my fault, but I should have helped you. I let you walk home alone."

"Right, and I-" Buffy started saying. "I lost my book... we didn't even get a chance to-"

Angel lifted his arm and put a brown book in her hands.

"-Bond..." Buffy finished her sentence, looking at the book. "You've found it!" She smiled widely.

"On the way here..." He nodded, then to her surprise, he continued- "I really wanted you to have a special day..." He waved his other hand, showing her two tickets. "I know you've planned to go with, your father... and I'm probably not the best person to go to the ice show with... being cold and-"

"Angel, I *love* you!" Buffy jumped on him, wrapping her hands around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She kissed his cheek.

He pulled back and smiled at her. "Are you ready? If we hurry we might even get you some cotton candy before the show starts..."

"How did you know?" Buffy was still smiling, looking at him in admiration.

"I've got sources... they'd um, like to remain confidential". Angel said awkwardly.

"Willow?"

"Buffy,"

"Giles?"

"Buffy..."

"No, Xander??"

"Buffy, we'll miss the show." Angel smiled cryptically.

"I still don't have my strength back..." She said hesitantly, walking away and put the poems book in her drawer, while Angel climbed inside her room.

"Don't worry, if you don't keep up I'll carry you," Angel winked at her, curving his lips to a crooked half smile.

"That's not what I meant..." Buffy giggled, then got serious. "Uh, Angel..."

"I'll wait downstairs.." He nodded, his face blank again.

Buffy leaped down the steps happily. Angel was standing with his hands in his pockets. He turned to look at her and gasped. "You look..."

Buffy smiled and faced him. "Look what?"

"Amazing." He smiled softly and smoothed a stray lock of hair from her eyes.

Buffy was still smiling and shining. She took Angel's hand and walked to the door. "Tonight I'll be a normal girl. A real one. No superpowers, just me being girly. Going to do a girly thing..." She opened the door. "Well, it's not totally a girly thing.. there are guys there too... with the tight, um..." She started to babble.

"Buffy, don't worry about it. I just want you to have some fun." Angel squeezed her hand. "Like a late birthday thing, the one that doesn't go bad."

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, just erase the birthday part and it might actually go well. *might*"

"We always remember more clearly the things that went wrong. But we had some good dates. You remember... We used to go to a movie after patrolling. That was okay, wasn't it?"

Buffy smiled, "I don't remember there was much movie... I just remember there were kissing... I mean, that we-"

"Yeah, I don't remember the movie either." Angel admitted. "But it wasn't a bad date."

"No," Buffy smiled. "It wasn't."

An awkward silence fell on them, and they just walked quietly to the ice arena.

"Hey, maybe after the show we could sneak to the other ice rink and skate a little." Buffy broke the silence.

"I don't know... the last time we went there it didn't go too-"

"Are you trying to weasel out of it? After you told me about the good dates bad dates thing?" Buffy stopped walking and looked at him.

"I... I did say we remember the bad things..." Angel smirked and kept walking. She ran to catch up with him. "Come on, Angel! I wanna see you skate! It's like a fantasy..."

"Which better remain unfulfilled."

"Now I'm gonna put my pouty face on all evening." She warned him.

"Buffy, we'll miss the show..." He prompted her to keep walking.

"I'm more interested in the aftershow now!" She declared and reached for his hand again. "And wait up, you can't escape me and my eternal nagging."

"I'm never gonna escape you, Buffy."

"And hey, if it's going good and no forces of darkness will ruin the show, you will forget everything anyway, like you said we only remember-"

"Buffy," Angel stopped walking and looked at her. "I'm not going to forget you. Ever. I might not remember the ice show, but I will always remember you, your face, and even your nagging."

Buffy smiled shyly, lowering her eyes. "Tricky thing, that memory."

Angel smiled back, touching her face softly. "It is, it's a gift and a curse, but without it... we couldn't survive." He leaned and kissed her briefly.

"So... I guess you didn't bring a camera..." Buffy smiled as they kept walking.

"Don't have one. And even if I had, you will never have me documented on the ice."

"Does that mean-"

"I said ice not skates."

"Ohhh come on..."

"No."

"Annnngel..."

"Never."

"Ohh.. pleeease?"

"Maybe."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Buffy..."

"I love you."

"Don't you *ever* mention it to your friends."

"Ahha! So it *is* one of them who told you!"

"It's going to be a long night..."

"I'm counting on that. This needs to be engraved on my memory. Like, forever!"

"Buffy..."

"Angel, are you blushing?"

"Look, we're here! I think the show started." Angel reached his pocket for the tickets.

The walked to their seats.

"See, we missed the beginning." He said when they sat. "Do you want a cotton candy?" He asked her.

"Ohhh my God! It's Dorothy Hamill! I didn't know she's in this show!"

Angel smiled, looking at Buffy's beaming face. He put his arm around her and brought her close to him. She snuggled against him as she kept on telling him again about her Dorothy Hamill obsession when she was younger. He breathed in her scent and held her tight, enjoying the feel of her petit body and the look of her shining face. A better picture than anything he could have wished for. And it didn't matter what will happen next, as long as this look of her would be imprinted in him for as long as he walked this earth.

//If every moment is a memory
A faded photograph of days gone by
Can I take a little piece of you with me
For When I leave this all behind//

Go to the sequel Faded Pictures: The Ice Show

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