Category: Fluff!! YAY!!
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns them and I don't.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Notes: This is my Christmas story for this Christmas. I might write more Christmas stuff. With Christmas break, I plan to get TONS of writing done.

Angel fought the urge to bite the annoying woman next to him. She was a ditzy redhead who wouldn't shut up.

"So, my daughter was saying 'Mommy, get me a Furby for Christmas and get me Pokémon stuff too' so that's what I'm waiting for," she explained to Angel, who was tuning her out.

Angel just nodded, waiting for the lady to finish wrapping either her gift or his so one of them could leave.

"What are you waiting for?"

"A present for my girlfriend," he told her, looking around for the store clerk.

"Oh, how romantic. How long have you been seeing this girl?" she asked.

"Couple years," Angel told her. She just smiled. "So, does your handsome face come with a name?" she asked, trying unsuccessfully to flirt with him.

"Angel," he said, thinking that Buffy wouldn't mind if he sucked just *one* person dry. Think of all the other innocent men she could harass at one in the morning. He'd be doing people a favor.

"Well, I'm Mary Noel Hanks. And Noel means Christmas, so I always joke about being Mary Christmas," she said, laughing as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

She had a *really* annoying laugh.

"I think you've got your Mary confused with merry," he told her.

"But no one is going to see how my name is spelled when I talk!!" she said, laughing again. Angel wanted to die.

Angel yelled cries of joy when the sales clerk came out with both of their presents. She handed Angel his box and Mary hers.

"Thanks honey. My daughter was telling me how much she wanted...." Angel stepped into the elevator and sighed at the lovely sound of silence.

****************************************************

"So I walked into this store and- how much sugar?"

"1 cup."

"Thanks. And I saw the perfect thing to get Angel for Christmas. It's a- do I need vanilla?"

"Yeah, 1 1/2 teaspoons."

"Thanks. So I was saying I walked past this store and I saw the most perfect thing for Angel for Christmas. It's a- flour?"

"You got him a flower?"

"No! How much flour for the cookies?"

"Oh, 2 cups. What did you get him?"

"I got 2 claddaugh rings, like the one he gave me on my birthday. Since we lost the other two, I got one for him and one for me. I was so surprised that I actually found them."

"That's great. Now add butter, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and 2 eggs. Then stir it up and let it sit in the freezer for a while."

"Will, are you sure you're reading the instructions right? How long in the freezer?"

"Um, 2 hours."

"That long! It's Christmas Eve, I don't have that much time! It has to be special. I didn't get to see Angel last night because he had to shop. Now we're making this perfect. Does it say just cooking them will kill them?"

"Nope."

"Okay then. I don't see why we have to freeze them anyway!"

Buffy stuck her sheet of cookies in the oven and she and Willow started cleaning the kitchen.

*************************************************

Angel put the finishing touches on the bow he had spent all afternoon trying to make perfect. He stuck it on Buffy's present and headed towards her house.

She had planned a dinner with just them before they'd have to spend the next day with everyone else. He looked at the present. She was going to love what he got her.

He knocked on the door and smiled when she answered it. She was dressed in a long black dress with no back and a Christmas decoration pinned in her hair, which was pulled up, only a few curly locks hanging around her face. She looked beautiful.

"Come in," she said. Angel stepped in and they kissed.

"Merry Christmas," he said, handing her the box.

She looked like a young child with excitement in her eyes as she took the box.

"What is it?" she asked, giving him a sneaky look.

"You'll have to see."

"You're no fun," she said, putting out her lower lip.

Angel pulled her face to his and kissed her gently. "Nice try, but you'll just have to see," he said.

He put his head up and sniffed the air. "Is there something burning?" he asked.

Buffy's eyes got wide as she ran into the kitchen and opened the oven. There was a fire burning inside where her cookies should've been.

She let out a scream that made Angel come running in.

"Fire!" she yelled, pointing to her oven.

Angel looked around and grabbed a bowl filled with liquid and threw it on the fire at the same time Buffy screamed, "No!"

Angel and Buffy looked at the black cookies with brownish glop on them.

"That was the gravy," Buffy said, upset.

Angel looked at her blackened cookies. "Wanna open your present?" he asked, hoping to make her feel better.

She automatically brightened up and they went to her living room. She grabbed the box and tore at the paper. She opened the box.

"Oh....Angel. This is...um....great," she said, lying through her teeth. Angel was confused and went over to the box and looked in it. There was a Furby and some pokémon cards inside.

"No, no! The idiots!" Angel said as he took the box from Buffy.

"What, did they forget the Tickle-Me-Elmo?" she asked.

"No! There was this really annoying lady at the wrapping center, and this is what she got for her daughter. They mixed up our boxes!!" Angel exclaimed.

Buffy softened and decided Angel was still sane. She walked up to him and put the box down, wrapping her arms around him. "It's okay," she said.

"No it's not. I had the perfect present for you," he said.

"Well, you can open the one I have for you, maybe that'll make you feel better," she said as she pulled a small box out from under the tree.

Angel tore at the paper and opened the box. He saw what was inside and looked up at Buffy. "One for you and one for me. Since we lost the other ones, I thought I could get us new ones. And they're just the same, see," Buffy said as she took the claddaugh rings out and showed them to Angel. She slipped his on his finger, then she slipped on hers.

Angel stared at it. "Buffy, this is...this is the best thing you could've ever gotten me. I love you so much. Thank you," he said as he pulled her into a kiss.

"Let's eat," she said, pulling away.

"I hope vampires can eat real food, because we're currently out of blood," she said jokingly.

"We can," Angel said as he sat down. Buffy sat down across from him, and they took each other's hands.

"I feel so bad that they mixed up your present. I'll take it back," Angel said.

"And I feel bad that I burned the cookies and that we no longer have gravy, but I'm not brooding about it. And I won't have you brooding over Christmas either. So smile and eat dinner with the slayer you love," she said. Angel smiled and tightened his hold on her hand.

When they were done, Angel and Buffy cuddled in front of the fire in her living room. "This is what Christmas is all about. Sitting by the fire with your boyfriend. Feeling completely happy," she said.

"Speaking of completely happy, I wasn't supposed to tell you, but Giles and Willow found a way to make my soul permanently bound to me. I can never lose it. We were supposed to tell you tomorrow, so act surprised," Angel said.

Buffy's eyes grew wide and she smiled. "So we can be...happy together?" she asked. Angel nodded. She squealed in happiness and kissed him. She pulled away and he noticed she was crying.

"Are you sad?" he asked.

"No, I'm so happy. I love you," she said as she kissed him again. They laid by the fire, cuddling and loving each other. The clock struck midnight. "Merry Christmas Buffy," Angel whispered. "Merry Christmas Angel," she whispered as she closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

***************************************************

"I have a gift that I was given by mistake. I was supposed to get a picture frame, and instead I got this," Angel told the clerk at the department store he had purchased Buffy's gift.

"Excuse me! I think you people made a mistake here!" Mary, the annoying woman Angel had met before, called out.

"You!" she said to Angel. "You have my daughter's present!"

"And you have my girlfriend's," Angel said. She handed him the picture frame and he handed her the Furby and cards.

"You careless people should be more careful! My honey opened her Christmas Eve gift to find a picture of complete strangers! I want my money back and a *free* wrapping!" she demanded.

The tired clerk sighed and said, "Let me go get my manager."

Angel checked the frame to make sure it was still intact. Then he made sure that the picture was still there.

"You wrote on my cards!" Mary exclaimed. Angel looked over to see that Buffy had gotten creative with a pack of pokémon cards. He took them from Mary, giving her the money to replace them.

Angel looked at the cards. One of the little pokémon she had drawn wings on it, and then hearts all around. Off to the side it said MY ANGEL. He smiled and put them in his pocket, wanting to look at the others later.

The clerk came back with her manager. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked. Angel opened his mouth but Mary was all ready talking.

"You mixed up our gifts!" she said angrily.

"All right, we can rewrap them for you for free and give you your money back," the man said. Angel nodded his thanks and handed the clerk his picture frame.

"And I need another pack of cards because one of them was destroyed!" Mary demanded. "And I think I should get a bonus or something for having to come here at 2:00 in the morning!"

The clerk handed Angel his newly wrapped box and he thanked her, giving her a five dollar bill for her trouble. He walked out of the store feeling honestly sorry for the clerk and manager of that store.

***************************************

Buffy woke up to sunlight shining in her eyes. She looked around and saw that she was in her room. Then she saw a note on her pillow.

Buffy-

Thanks for the wonderful Christmas Eve.

It was perfect. I love you.

Angel

P.S. Look on your doorstep

Buffy got out of bed and ran to her front door, opening it. There was a box. She looked down and saw that it was for her.

She opened it and saw a picture of her, Angel, Giles, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Doyle, Xander, and Anya in a beautiful frame. She remembered the day they had that picture taken. It was in the park at night against a beautiful tree. She grabbed the box and shut the door.

Then Buffy felt arms around her and turned to see Angel in the shadows. "Merry Christmas," he said smiling. She grinned and jumped into his arms, kissing him.

It was indeed a very Merry Christmas.

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