Part 10

"Nominations for Student Body President start today. See Mrs. Goldsmith in the English faculty for a form," one of the ladies from the school's admin announced through the PA system.

Buffy immediately perked up and tapped her pen on the table in thought. **Student Body President huh? Maybe...it wouldn't hurt to try.** Buffy smiled deviously and returned to her work. **Yes, that could definitely work out for me.**

*****

Kathryn heard the announcement and leaned back in her chair. She'd planned to try for Student Body President but she was still unsure, well until now. **Nothing better than gaining power. Well, not really. I can think of a few things straight off the top of my head...**

*****

"Hi Mrs. Goldsmith. I was just wondering if I could have a form for Student Body President nominations," Buffy spoke kindly to the amiable old woman. It was a well-known fact that Mrs. Goldsmith was the nicest teacher in the whole school (excluding Giles, that was, since he wasn't technically a teacher).

"Oh hi Buffy. It's so nice to see you running for the job," Mrs. Goldsmith smiled and handed Buffy a form. "To tell you the truth, I just don't want to see your sister doing the job."

"Neither do I. And I'm sure you're not the only one who thinks my wretch of a sister can't handle it," Buffy replied.

"Yeah, especially Mrs. La Croix... Well good luck, hun." Mrs. Goldsmith's congenial attitude changed when she saw who had also turned up at the staffroom, probably in search of her.

"Hi Mrs. Goldsmith," she smiled sarcastically. It was obvious that she had heard at least some of their conversation.

"Kathryn Summers. What an interesting surprise."

Buffy looked carefully at Kathryn's suspicious demeanour and couldn't help but think something was up. "Remember Kath, no cheating," Buffy said, patting her twin lightly on the arm before walking off.

"So...can I have a form or not?"

*****

"Buffy, you're kidding right?" Willow asked with wide eyes.

"Nup."

"Aww, come on Will. Aren't you gonna join me on the 'Go Buffy' team?" Xander said, and wriggled a little to suggest some sort of weird dancing...or maybe a hamster in his pants.

"Sure, but do you have any idea what kind of competition you have?" Willow asked seriously.

"Not really. I only know Kathryn is in, however much Mrs. G hates her."

"Hey people," Faith greeted them and chucked her books onto the table with a loud smack, "what's the topic of now?"

"Student Body President nominations."

"Why the hell are you talkin' 'bout that?"

"Buffy's running for it, as is Bitch Number One."

"Kathryn's going for president? You're shitting me," Faith looked at the stone-faced trio incredulously.

"We shit you not," Xander said in a dull voice. He could see Cordelia coming in their direction-the perfect day spoiler. "Oh look, it's Bitch Number Two."

"Shut up Xander, at least I'm not a loser like you," Cordelia bit back, which was, admittedly, a pretty bad comeback.

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots," Xander looked at his feet, "sneakers, whatever."

Cordelia rolled her eyes and grabbed Buffy by the arm and dragged her away from her friends.

"Look, I want to make this quick. I don't want to be seen with you longer than I have to."

"Really? I'm touched."

"I saw you and Angel at the Bronze. And as much as I hate to not say anything, I REALLY don't want to be the one to tell Kathryn."

"And...? Was that all?"

"Buffy, please, just take this seriously. She really likes Angel, like, REALLY likes him. I don't want to see her hurt and I'm just asking...and for what it's worth-"

"Whatever it is, it's not worth anything. You turned her into the way she was. Before, she'd been okay; she'd actually been friends with me," Buffy glared at the snobby cheerleader Kathryn called her best friend. What kind of a best friend is afraid of telling them their boyfriend is cheating on them? Not a very good one. "I don't suppose you'd understand how it feels to have your own twin sister hate you, so don't give me any of that bullshit." Buffy walked away from the gaping Cordelia and went back to where her friends were, still staring in disbelief. Buffy and Cordelia had never had such a long conversation before; it was a cause for some sort of weirdness factor.

"B, what'd the bitch say?"

"Don't worry about it. It's not important," she replied glumly. **Is this relationship all a mistake? Is Cordelia right?**

*****

"Okay, that's the last one," Willow said and shook her arm. "Boy, can these staple guns give your arm muscles a run for their money."

"Remind me never to do this again?" Buffy whined childishly.

"Never do what again?" Faith asked. She'd arrived at the noticeboard outside the library to find Willow and Buffy putting up campaign posters.

"Put up so many posters all in the space of twenty minutes using one of these," she held up the heavy black staple gun she'd borrowed from Miss Curtis from the art faculty. She could hardly hold it anymore, her tiny muscles no longer able to handle the strain. "AND do this whole 'campaign speech' thing. I'm so nervous. What if I fall flat on my face?"

"Ever the optimist."

"You won't, trust me," Willow said, leaning against the wall in exhaustion. They'd spent the whole morning running around Sunnydale High trying to find the best places to put up her posters. Literally, running.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Cos, there's nothing to trip on except for your own feet. So just don't be clumsy and trip over your own feet and you'll be A-OK," Willow reassured her. "Anyone seen Spike lately?"

"Oh, I knew I forgot something. His grandfather died so he and his family are flying back to the mother country for the funeral," Faith told them, "he'll be back in a few days."

*****

"Who'd you vote for?"

"Kathryn, cos she's hot. What about you?"

"I voted for Buffy. Just as hot as Kathryn AND not a friggin' bitch."

Kathryn eavesdropped on the conversation between the two guys from around her spot around the corner. She'd almost started fuming...but it really didn't do anything except make her look splotchy.

*****

"The ballots are in and we're here to announce the winner of the election. So sit down and keep your mouths closed. And no horsing around. Please welcome our guest speaker, Deputy Mayor Allan Finch." Snyder clapped while he went back to his seat on the stage.

It was the day of the announcement of the new Student Body President. Everyone from the freshmen to the seniors were all crammed into the auditorium to hear who had won. The competition was fierce. Up against Kathryn were Holly Charleston, Rob Stevens and-

"Buffy are you sure you want to be Student Body President?" Willow asked nervously. "I mean, I voted for you and all, but I kinda get the feeling that you're doing this to prove some kind of point."

"Of course I do, Willow," Buffy whispered quietly to her friend, "but can't some things have more than one motive?"

Willow just frowned, sinking deeper into thought. The deputy mayor always spoke at the announcement of the new president and each year it was almost the same as the last and it sure wasn't really much of a shebang either.

"Now, I'll hand it over to Mrs. Goldsmith to announce the winner," Snyder said with as much politeness as he could muster.

Buffy crossed her fingers and prayed for the best. Willow held Buffy's hand and kept her eyes on the old English teacher, who had just opened the envelope.

Angel and his friends were all at the back of the hall, watching Mrs. Goldsmith open the small yellow envelope in her frail hands. Angel crossed his fingers, still undecided over who should win. He'd gone to the election and filled in the ballot slip and put it into the box but he still had no idea who the hell he'd voted for.

"And the Student Body President '98-'99 is…" she looked closely at the small print on the sheet of paper. Of all things to forget, she'd forgotten to put on her glasses. "Sorry, I seem to have forgotten to put on my glasses."

There was a resounding groan through the whole auditorium from exasperation that they would have to wait a mere few seconds for the elderly woman to put on her glasses. They'd seen the two Summers twins campaigning for the presidency for the whole of the past week. The anticipation over which of them would win had built up to such a degree that a few troublemakers had attempted to steal the envelope that morning but unfortunately they'd been caught by Snyder and given afternoon detention for a whole month.

"The Student Body President '98-'99 is," she reopened the envelope. "Wow, it was a VERY close election. The winner is Kathryn Summers, by just *two* votes. And since she won by so little we have appointed Buffy Summers as the first ever Student Body Vice President."

"Oh my God, by two votes?" Buffy was shocked. She gaped at Willow as if she'd just realised she actually had a chance at winning. "They've got to be fucking with me," she added under her breath.

"Just go!" Willow said, pushing her friend onto her feet and joining the crowd in applause.

*****

"Congratulations girls," Joyce beamed at her daughters. They were having a 'celebration dinner' that Kathryn found boring on all counts. Except for the cake, cos for the first time ever, her name was written above Buffy's since every other time the bakery people always put Buffy's name first whenever they got birthday cakes. It pissed Kathryn off all the time to think that it might not have even been the baker's fault, just her mother's, for having written their names in that order.

"Thanks mom...mmm, it smells delicious," Buffy grinned at the sight of the beautiful chocolate mud cake she and her mother had picked up on the way back from the gallery.

"Low-fat?" Kathryn asked as a precaution.

"Nup, it's the real-deal this time. I like the low-fat one and all but I have GOT to tell you, it tastes better this way," Buffy took a bite of the piece she'd been given and relished the taste of the rich chocolate icing.

"Here, here," Dawn dittoed after taking a bite out of her's.

Kathryn stared longingly at the piece of cake on the plate in front of her and timidly brought her fork to her mouth. Her eyes visibly widened at the taste compared to the low-fat version they'd had for their birthday. "Mmm, it does taste better."

Joyce smiled at her three daughters and noticed they all agreed on one thing for the first time in...months. Unfortunately their father had had to leave for a business trip to New York a few days earlier and wouldn't be back for another two days. It was a pity that he'd missed the occasion, but sometimes there really wasn't much you could do about things like that. Especially not if you're the boss.

"Remember girls, the most delicious foods are the least healthy ones. Well, unless it's cooked by Mai Lee of course."

"Umm...where's Mr. Gordo?"

Kathryn gulped, "Oops."

Part 11

"What do you mean 'oops'?" Buffy asked with her fists clenched and leaning over the table to interrogate her. Mr. Gordo was to her like Mr. Bigglesworth was to Dr Evil. Her partner in crime. (Although Buffy never actually did anything that could be considered a 'crime'.)

Kathryn shook her head, refusing to be accused of anything. It was the damn cat's fault anyway! "Nothing. I just might've...left the back door open an-"

"And he went outside?!" Buffy shouted before running out of the room and out the back door, calling out Mr. Gordo's name.

She frantically began systematically checking all the trees for the beautiful white cat, all to no avail. She checked amongst the rose bushes, in the agapanthus and under the garden furniture. She checked in the gardener's shed, throughout the entire garden and even in the pool (in case he'd fallen in and drowned or something **No, please not that.**). The thought that her precious and beloved cat was all by himself and not safe and sound distressed her beyond belief.

She went back inside and picked up the cordless phone. "Hello? Willow? Have you seen Mr. Gordo? He's missing and..."

"Oh my God, Buffy... Do you think I could help? You know, and try to find him?" Willow asked.

"Thanks, but no; it's okay. I don't even have any idea where to start looking and I don't think the two of us will have any better luck. I'll...see you tomorrow," Buffy hung up hurriedly before dialling the next number. And the next. And the next. No one had seen him nor had any idea where he might've gone.

Buffy sighed and sat down on one of the deck chairs lining the edge of the pool. The only person she hadn't yet called was Angel. She doubted he'd seen Mr. Gordo, but it was always worth a shot. She punched in the number she'd learnt off by heart from sneaking a peak from Kathryn's address book. "Hello? Is Angel there?"

"Who's this?" Kathy said from the other end of the line.

"It's Buffy. Could you please give the phone to Angel? It's an emergency."

"Well, maybe I can help."

"My cat, he's missing."

"No he isn't. He's here with me."

"What? He's there? With you? How? Why? When? Huh?"

"Hey, one question at a time. I was walking home from swimming training this afternoon and he was following me all the way. I didn't think it'd be very much trouble to keep him for a little while until Angel got home to gimme a ride to your place to give him back," Kathy said sweetly. For a twelve year old, Kathy was pretty smart, but when it came to animals...

"Oh thank God! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I could just kiss you right now except, well, we're on the phone and all. Do you think you could bring him back now though?" Buffy was ecstatic. She didn't care that Kathryn had left the door open or that Mr. Gordo had followed Kathy all the way to her house. Not to mention the coincidence that he'd found her at all. **Maybe he recognised her scent.**

"Of course. We were just about to leave but we had to have dinner first. We'll be right there."

Buffy pressed the button to hang up and trudged back inside. She put down the receiver on its charger and sat back in her chair at the dining table.

"Well? Has anyone seen him?" Joyce asked as she set down the large bowl of salad she'd made beside the dish of spaghetti bolognaise (and since it was Mai Lee's day off, Joyce had had to cook it--not exactly restaurant quality, but still "scrum-diddly-umptious"--as Dawn once put it).

"He followed Angel's sister home. They're bringing him back now," Buffy replied happily. "Mmm, this smells great."

Kathryn stared at her sister in fury. **How dare she treat me like that? The little bitch.**

"And Kathryn? I know it probably wasn't your fault, but please keep the back door *closed* when Mr. Gordo's around. He isn't a dog."

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang. Buffy leapt right out of her seat to answer it, anxious to see her cat all safe and sound again. And sure enough, there Kathy and her brother stood, with Mr. Gordo held unharmed in Kathy's arms.

Buffy flung open the door and eagerly invited them inside. Kathy handed Mr. Gordo back to Buffy with regret. But when she saw how happy it made Buffy to see the feline again, she realised that she shouldn't be regretting it. After all, it wasn't as if the cat was hers. It was ironic that she loved animals but she'd never had any pets except for a few goldfish that she'd had to give away when they'd moved a couple of years ago.

"I can't thank you enough!" Buffy hugged Kathy (cat and all) as if she'd just been told she'd won the lottery. "You have no idea how much this means to me," Buffy continued to gush.

"No problem. It wasn't as if I'd found him anyway. He found me."

Angel--who had been silent the whole time--watched Buffy intently, noticing how much the cat made her happy. **Will I ever make her that happy?**

"Kathy, we have to get going soon," Angel said ruefully. He really didn't want to leave so soon. It was so tempting to just grab her and kiss right there. He didn't even know why he was so attracted to her, he just...was. She was everything he'd ever looked for in a person; he supposed. He felt drawn to her in a way he couldn't describe. Unlike with Kathryn, who he'd started dating because he thought she was hot. **I guess I found someone better than her--someone who's exactly what I wanted to find in Kathryn, but didn't. That could be the reason.**

"So soon? Would you like some cake? We have lots of celebration cake left if you want any," Buffy offered warmly. She shifted her hold on Mr. Gordo, which revealed to Angel that she was indeed still wearing the bracelet instead of still guilt tripping about it.

Kathy was about to open her big mouth to say yes when her brother clamped a hand over mouth and shook his head. "No, we really should get going. Kathy has homework and so do I."

"Sure, I understand," Buffy said sadly.

"I mean, we'd love to stay but we can't. And if I remembered correctly, Kathy has an essay due tomorrow which she hasn't even started on," Angel said, and grinned as Kathy's eyes widened.

"Shit. Oh crap! We have to go, bye Buffy," Kathy said as she ran out the door and jumped into the car.

"Never mind her. It's actually due on Wednesday, I just wanted to get her out of the way," Angel quietly. The rest of the Summerses were still enjoying their dinner, not really interested in what would happen when Kathy gave back Buffy's cat (cos it's just such a big whoop...not). It was just Buffy and Angel, alone, again.

"I see... Now that you have me alone, what do you plan to do?" Buffy asked, smiling tenderly at the sentiment.

"Oh, I dunno." Angel replied and rested his hands on her shoulders. "I could give you a kiss." He captured her lips in a chaste kiss, taking his time to explore the inside of her mouth with his tongue until they mutually broke apart.

Buffy licked her lips, "Mm, not bad. What else?"

"How about a date?" Angel asked as he tucked a piece of her baby-soft blonde hair behind her ear.

"When?" Buffy inquired, and relished the closeness between their bodies, trying to ignore the possibility of being caught.

"Thursday, after school?"

"Sure. But why not tomorrow or Wednesday? Even though I work at the gallery on Wednesdays. And I can't tell you how much better it's been going since mom stopped getting Kathryn to work there since she's so bad at it."

"Really? Well it's because I have football practice tomorrow. And I already knew that you'd be busy on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays."

"Thursday it is, then."

*****

Buffy woke with a smile on her face. The moment she'd woken up to the near-blinding light coming from outside her bedroom window, she'd decided that it would be the perfect day for a jelly donut and fresh (and delicious) Starbucks mocha. She knew she had a chemistry test to do, but she wouldn't let something like that spoil her mood. After all, she'd studied as hard as she possibly could already (with Willow as her tutor) and that there wasn't much more she could do about it.

She threw back the covers of her bed and hopped out of bed with a spring in her step. Not much later after she'd used the bathroom, she was dressed in white capri pants, a pale yellow tank top and her favourite baby blue embroidered cardigan. Mr. Gordo--who had been sleeping at the end of her bed--had not yet woken up even though he'd gotten part of the blanket tossed over him (just a bit).

Buffy looked down at the two neat rows of shoes lined up in her closet and picked out the pair of blue, strappy sandals she'd bought especially to match the cardigan. She quickly put them on and fastened the small buckles on both ankles and went over to her dressing table to fix her hair and put on a little bit of make up.

Buffy slung a bag over her shoulder and checked her reflection out in the full-length mirror attached to the back of her door. "Perfect." She bounded down the stairs and out the door, shouting a good morning to her bewildered mother on the way out.

It was still rather early and she was in such a good mood that she'd decided to walk the whole way instead of taking the car. **Hey, on second thought it's kinda...far. And 'far' means 'late'.**

She popped her head back through the door and found her mother still standing there with a set of car keys in her hands as well as a steaming mug of coffee. "Jellies?" Joyce asked in amusement.

"How'd you guess?" Buffy joked. She knew that her mother knew that whenever she didn't have breakfast at home, she'd probably be buying jelly donuts from the bakery on Main instead.

Joyce shrugged in mock innocence, "Wouldn't have a clue."

Buffy smiled gratefully and kissed her mother on the cheek before taking the keys. She was thankful that she wouldn't have to beg for permission to take out her and Kathryn's car; unlike last time. After her sister had "accidentally" backed it into some old guy's car, their mother had been more careful in deciding whether or not they would be allowed to take the pretty (pretty expensive) little car out.

It was pale metallic blue. With leather seats. A CD player. Convertible. It even had custom installed headlight wipers (compliments of their father; the car junkie). It was probably Cordelia's dream car. It was always the best for Hank Summers' daughters. His amassed wealth had bought much for him and his family, but Buffy had never let it get to her and turn her into a snob.

Buffy took out the pair of sunglasses she'd left in the glove box and started the ignition. She was so excited that she'd almost forgotten to wait for the gates to open. Almost.

She drove carefully into town. It'd been a while since she'd last driven, but it wasn't as if she was rusty at it. It was just that sometimes there were some pretty crazed drivers running rampage--you could never be too careful. At least, that's what her mother always said.

She found a place to park conveniently right in front of the bakery. Maybe it was her lucky day. She entered the bakery and bought three jelly donuts--two for her, one for Giles. She picked up the paper bag from the counter after putting her wallet back into her bag and turned to find Angel standing there looking as if he were just about to hello.

"What a nice surprise," Buffy greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

Angel grinned. How come things like this kept happening to them? It was like Fate was messing with their lives and kept doing things to bring the two of them together. Angel turned his attention to the girl behind the counter, "I'll have a cinnamon pastry, thanks."

Angel paid for it and picked up his paper bag and followed Buffy out of the shop. "Coffee?" she asked.

"As if I'd refuse a steaming hot Starbucks café mocha with extra cream and extra foam," Angel said and opened the door for her. Buffy complied and entered the café, glancing briefly at the menu before ordering.

"Angel? What do you want?"

"I already told you didn't I?"

"Oh. Right, ok," Buffy said quietly to herself and turned back to the person behind the counter. "One café mocha with extra cream and extra foam and one white chocolate mocha with no foam."

Meanwhile, Angel had found them a place to sit in the already bustling coffee house. He watched her wait for their coffees and paid special attention to everything she did. **I think I do believe in Fate...**

"Here we go," Buffy said as she set down the two mugs down on the table. "And please, don't worry. It's my treat."

"Are you sure? Cos I could pay you back," Angel fumbled for the money in his pocket.

"No, no, no. It's FINE," Buffy put her hand on his to reassure him. "So, how do you take your coffee?"

"What?"

"Well, when you get to know someone, you should find out how they take their coffee. I usually take one raw and one white." She took one packet of the raw sugar and one of the white sugar from the few that she'd picked up on her way over and opened them both at the same time and emptied their contents into her mug.

"Really? I guess I'll have to remember that then. I take two raw."

"Really? Am I strange or something? Cos everyone else usually take two of the same. And it kinda makes it harder to remember. Oh well, couldn't be too hard to remember," Buffy beamed and took a sip of her white chocolate mocha. "Yum."

*****

20 minutes later, they found themselves standing outside once more. It had become too crowded inside and the time to get going was dangerously near.

Buffy leant on her car and crossed her arms, waiting for Angel to reply to her question.

"What do you mean by 'Do you like shrubs?' and I don't think the owner of that car would appreciate you leaning on their car like that."

"I meant 'Do you like shrubs?'; how much simpler can a question be?" Buffy said, purposely not answering Angel's second question. She put her bag and the paper bag with the jelly donut for Giles in it in the passenger seat.

"I suppose I do, but you didn't answer my other question."

"About the car?" Buffy asked innocently, intending to tease him.

"Yeah." **That can't be her car right? It's a fucking Mercedes SL-500!! Can't possibly be hers.**

"Well, I thought you'd have figured it out by now. And I can tell you're probably thinking that it can't be mine. And you'd be right." Buffy grinned--she'd always wanted to try this on someone...

"But then why-" Angel lowered his voice, "You're not stealing it are you?"

Of all conclusions she'd thought he'd come to, THAT was not what she'd expected. "What? No. Dad bought it for himself to gawk at and used the excuse that it was for me and Kathryn to convince mom that we should get a third car. It's not technically mine and that's all I meant to...mean. And-"

Angel stopped her babbling with a kiss. "I like you. And I like cars. That meshes well. You know, in a not 'women-and-cars' way." Angel made a face and mentally kicked himself for the utterly thoughtless choice of words. "Do you think you could come to practice this afternoon? We could go...do something afterwards. If you want," Angel asked timidly. **Timidly? How did I get 'timid' and how the hell did I not notice?**

"Sure. I'd like that."

Part 12

Cordelia drove into the school car park exuding the confidence and positivity that the Chase family was known for. Cordelia believed that it was her "duty" to carry on as her mother had way back when she, too, had attended SHS. No "Mrs. Porter's Dormitory for Girls" for those two. No, it was their "duty" to separate the cool ones from the losers, rich from the poor, and to claim every worthy guy for herself.

Cordelia almost started digging her own grave, imagining how the rest of the school would react to Queen C not having the best of the best, but to Cordelia's surprise Mr. and Mrs. Summers had forbidden Kathryn and Buffy from taking the car to school. For what reason? Kathryn hadn’t disclosed the info to her, but she guessed it was because of a little "accident" which ended up costing $5000 to repair. **Must've been pretty bad to have cost so much. Hurricane Kathryn strikes again.**

"What is it now?" Cordelia yelled to a rather angered Kathryn who was storming towards her—full steam ahead. Cordelia removed her sunglasses and carefully put them back in its case and slipped it into her bag.

"What is it now? I'll tell you what it is. My new duties as Student Body President includes showing this loser around the school for the *entire* day," Kathryn said breathlessly as a short, slightly geeky boy scampered to keep up with the rampaging brunette.

"Excuse me. Ex-" the boy said with a stutter.

"Will you just leave me alone for just *one* minute? I'm having a conversation here," Kathryn snapped at the new student. The boy obediently closed his mouth. "Thank you."

"What do you want me to do about it, Miss Student-Body-President?" Cordelia asked while she looked frantically through her glove box for the watch she'd left in there the night before. She could swear she’d left it in there...

"I don't know. Find me a person who'd be willing to do it? Please, Cordy? I'm begging here. I *don't* beg."

"You're right, I'm finding it all a bit strange to hear it actually." Cordy dug further into the glove box and upturned her expensive white gold Cartier watch.

"Please Cordy?" Kathryn pleaded with her—a strange and unfamiliar sight indeed.

"Fine, fine. But why didn't you just find any old somebody to do it?"

"Cos I don't have time. I need to see Mrs. La Croix. Again." Kathryn rolled her eyes and shuddered for dramatic effect. One of her mottos was ‘You can never show enough hatred towards someone you hate and hates you.’ Of course, the opposite was ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’, but it only applied if they didn't hate you back. In this case, she had to go with the first one. The second one was beginning to get a bit old anyway. Kathryn nodded her head as a confirmation and hurried up the path towards the school.

Cordelia got out her car gracefully; giving the football jocks huddled on the lawn nearby an eyeful of her perfectly tanned legs. Her glory was ruined both by the new guy (who's name she still didn't know) asking her where he could find the bathroom and by Buffy suddenly parking her car in the space next to her hers. Cordelia's confident smile turned into a frown immediately at the sight. This was the day she had been dreading for months.

"Hey Cordy. Lovely day isn’t it?" Buffy smiled sweetly at Cordelia. The brunette fumed silently, wishing she had dug that grave; nice and ready for her to crawl up and die inside.

Buffy knew she was being a bitch, but it was no different from how they treated her. It was finally her turn to bat and she wished to God that this one would hit right where she wanted, right where it hurt the most.

Cordelia eyed the blonde warily while the boy (who was actually called Martin) watched in fascination. "No, I guess I didn’t. But at least I’ll be safe in the fact that your mom won’t be in such a good mood for at least, oh...a few months?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Buffy replied. She pressed the button to automatically put the hood back up and stepped out of the car as it started to take effect. As soon as the hood stopped moving, Buffy pressed the button to turn on the security system.

The sound of another car turning into the lot was heard, with Angel in the driver’s seat of said car. Angel did the same as Buffy and put the hood back on and turned the security on. Cordelia just ignored them and pretended that they weren’t there and that they didn’t have better cars than her. **What’s their thing with cars? I mean...look at them...**

"See you later Buffy," Angel flashed Buffy a smile before checking his watch and jogging toward the group of jocks still huddled on the lawn.

"You know Angie Boy, you’re gonna get into some serious trouble one of these days," Gunn told him as he patted his friend on the back, "but I think you found someone who’s worth it. I mean, look at her."

"You really think so?"

"Man. What did I just say?"

"Good to know you think so too," Angel said distantly, watching Buffy run up the stairs to give Willow back her notes for history.

"Oh no, I think he’s as good as whipped..." Doyle whispered to Gunn in his thick Irish accent. The dreamy look in Angel’s eyes stayed until Buffy entered the building with her friends.

Gunn and Doyle laughed at the love-struck footballer when the bell rung abruptly and startled him. "What?"

"Don’t worry," Doyle answered, attempting to contain his laughter—not quite succeeding.

"Hey, Irish. We gotta head to class already not watch you laugh until you pee your pants," Gunn said with a slight smile.

"Okay, I’m just fine..."

"What were you two laughing about anyway?"

"Nothing," they replied in unison.

*****

"Cordelia!" Harmony called out to the brunette. She reluctantly turned to face the ever-cheerful Harmony to find out what the hell the problem was this time. It’d taken ages to find "Martin" someone to show him around and now Harmony was gonna bug her too? This was *so* not her day...

"What now Harmony?" Cordelia grumbled.

Oblivious to Cordelia’s bad mood, Harmony remained cheerful with hand gestures and perky dialogue. "Halloween. So, like, what are we planning? It’s next week and we haven’t planned a single thing."

"Ask me tomorrow Harmony," Cordelia muttered dejectedly, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

"Cordelia! What’s your problem?"

Cordelia whirled back around to face the obnoxious blonde. "Everyone else’s problems, that’s what my problem is. For God’s sake, ask anyone—ask Kathryn or Holly or Aura or Aphrodesia—just don’t ask me. Okay?"

Harmony was confused, but she nodded anyway. "Sure, whatever."

*****

"Edna?" Miss Hancock called for the lady behind the desk at the print room, "Do you have the copy of the poster I gave you yesterday? I need the copies today; if possible."

"Sure dear. I’ll be right with you," Edna Ross, the lady who worked in print room, had been doing the job for over twenty years already. She did copies of things for teachers, printed off notes to go home to parents and organised the school newspaper. When you gave something to her to copy, you’d never fail to get the right amount, right on time. "A-ha, here they are. Right where I left them."

"Thank you. We’re rushing to get all this stuff done in time and it’s feels so good to finally have things under wraps."

"No problem and good luck."

In Miss Hancock’s hands were the posters for the Homecoming dance. **I can just imagine those two fighting it out for the crown. Cordelia Chase and Kathryn Summers; friends yet foes...** She shook her head and hurried to the gym where the organising committee was working out decorations for the dance that was to come just a few days after Halloween. They still had plenty of time, but you could never be too careful.

*****

Buffy took the car home before heading back to school to meet up with Angel. She had decided during English that it would be awkward. She also changed into a pair of jeans, black singlet top with a white loose-knit jumper over the top. Nice, yet casual.

She watched the team from the bleachers along with a few others who were waiting for friends or girlfriends or boyfriends. The cheerleaders were using part of the running track for their practice and according to Willow, there was going to be a game tomorrow.

The Razorbacks’ second game of the season had been against Brighton High; a high school in a town about the same size as Sunnydale that was near Oxnard (who they had beaten, 20-13). Every time Sunnydale played against Brighton, the Razorbacks had beaten Brighton’s Badgers, no sweat. Some of the other schools, however, weren’t such pushovers. Such as Mundine High, which had had the best team in the area for eight years running.

Hopefully with Angel as their new quarterback, they’d have a better year than the last.

Tomorrow’s match would be against Mundine, and the team had been training extra hard for it for the past week and a half.

Coach Denovan had been working them harder than ever and putting all his players on protein-rich diets as well as extra-intense weight training, strategising, and tackling. They were all set and geared up to face Mundine, as were the cheerleaders.

As soon as the coach blew his whistle—signalling the end of the training—Buffy noticed people leaving the bleachers. When Buffy finally spotted Angel in the small crowd, Buffy smiled and waved.

She picked up her coat and headed down the steps toward him. She briefly wondered if this relationship would ever amount to anything. Would she ever be his girlfriend?

"Hey Buffy. When did you get here?" Angel asked, searching his bag for the bottle of water he’d put in that morning before he’d left the house.

"Oh, not too long ago," Buffy answered. She bit on her lower to stop herself from kissing him right there and then: right in front of the cheerleaders who were still trying to perfect their pyramid. So far so good, but it still needed some work along with some of their flips and moves. Buffy, however, wasn’t doing so good with the whole "resisting temptation" thing.

"I have to shower, but I’ll only be few minutes. Just wait for me here. Is that okay? Cos I’m sure I smell really bad. I’m not too sure anyone would want to go anywhere with a sweaty, dirty, chunked up guy like me." Angel shrugged his shoulders slightly to make himself more comfortable in his ‘chunky’ pads and picked up his bag.

"Go," Buffy said. She lowered her voice and whispered in his ear, "Before I kiss you—right here and now—in front of all those big mouthed cheerleaders." She playfully pushed him toward the locker rooms, glad that he didn’t smell *too* bad.

Buffy grinned at the way Angel looked back to check that she was still waiting for her. The look on his face made him seem younger than he really was, less serious. **Is that a good or bad thing?** Buffy pondered the thought until she felt a soft tap on her shoulder.

"Cordelia."

"Why do you have to do this? What on earth has Kathryn ever done to you?" Cordelia asked. She had been watching from afar—where the cheerleaders had been practicing on the other side of the field—and was just bursting to say something to Kathryn. It had been eating at her conscience for days on end and she still hadn’t decided yet.

"I think you might like to reconsider that particular question."

"Alright, so she hasn’t treated you like royalty these years, but neither have you," Cordelia snapped.

"And what’s in it for you? If this is so important to you, why don’t you tell her?"

Cordelia didn’t know what to say. She breathed in and clasped her hands nervously, "I don’t know. I guess I’m just scared of what I turned her into." Cordelia sat down on the bench next the field where the team had left all their stuff before and put her pompoms next her.

**What the hell? Is she doing what I think she is?** "Go on," Buffy prodded gently, sitting down next to a distressed Cordy. She held her hands through her hair and sat in momentary silence.

"I don’t know what happened to her to make her like this. I swear, I never knew. The cross, the guys, everything; it’s her. She fucked herself up and half of that was because of me. You’re asking me why I’m doing this? It’s because I feel like I owe her something."

Buffy looked at Cordelia and realised that she wasn’t joking. And what did she mean by ‘it’s her’? How had Kathryn become this way if it wasn’t from Cordelia’s influence? "It’s not your fault? But then...how?"

"I already said that I didn’t know. It just happened. And I couldn’t convince her otherwise. She just started with the whole coke thing and then it was guys and then more guys until she was cheating on guys she was cheating on someone else with."

Buffy took Cordelia’s hand in her own, "I’m a bit lost, but I believe you. And one of these days, one of us is going to finally have the guts to face up to her."

Cordelia had never really had a real friend before. Not someone who was her friend because they wanted to be part of the ‘in’ crowd or because she’d pretended to be someone she wasn’t. "I hope it’ll be soon. You two look good together."

"I never thought I’d ever hear you give me a compliment," Buffy said with a grin.

"Well, don’t get used to it," Cordelia said with a sly grin. She looked at the time on her watch, "Shit, I’ve got to go home already. Bye."

"Bye, Cordy."

*****

"Where are we going?" Buffy wailed. "We’ve been driving for about 10 minutes already and you still haven’t told me where the hell we’re going."

"We’re nearly there," Angel told her, already able to see their destination.

"How near is ‘nearly’? Cos I don’t see much except road, trees, dirt. Lots of dirt, sky, and an old drive-in," Buffy rambled on about the surroundings but Angel wasn’t paying much attention. He watched her expressions when she spoke and the way she’d use rapid hand gestures and the way she was so...‘adorable’ would be the word Buffy would hate for him to use; but it fitted.

"We’re going to the old drive-in?" Buffy crinkled her nose in a way that almost made Angel laugh.

"Yeah. What’s wrong with it?" Angel asked and got out of his car. He made his way to the other side to open the door for her, the gentlemanly way he’d been taught all his life.

"It’s old and unsafe?" Buffy stepped out of the car and looked uncertainly at the drive-in.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then come," Angel took her hand and guided her across the empty lot and showed her the ladder behind the large screen. "Don’t worry; it’s safe."

"I bet you take all the girls here," Buffy commented playfully and was eternally grateful that she’d decided to wear pants instead of a dress or a skirt.

"No. Just you."

The top of the screen was wide enough to walk along safely and was still sturdy enough to hold their combined weight. Buffy walked to the opposite end and sat on the edge. "It’s beautiful."

"I know," Angel replied and sat down next to her. From where they were, they could see the whole of Sunnydale and the dim light coming from Oxnard in the distance. The drive-in had been built on the hill that overlooked Sunnydale to make it more romantic with the moon and stars and stuff, but the council had closed it down and declared it to be unsafe because of asbestos.

"I never picked you as the romantic type. I mean, football player and all," Buffy turned her head to face him and gasped at how close they were sitting. "Not in a bad way, of course."

"I guess I got that gene from my mother," Angel said before capturing her soft, pink lips in a kiss.

"Well then maybe I should thank your mother," Buffy whispered in his ear after their kiss had left their faces lingeringly close.

Angel chuckled and took her lips in another kiss, turning more intimate when their hands groped for more contact. When Buffy felt Angel’s hand slip completely under her top, she pulled away from his kiss.

"What’s wrong?"

"We should go slower."

"Sure, I can do slow," Angel smirked and pulled her against him for a slow and tender kiss. "Slow enough for you?"

"It’s just right."

Part 13

Giles and Miss Calendar were still discussing the pros and cons of using computers compared to books—a discussion they’d been having since the week before.

"No, you see books are too slow. And you have to go over every single word and it just takes too much time," Jenny argued, taking a sip of the steaming mug of coffee in her hands. "Ugh, whatever this is, it definitely isn’t coffee."

"Hey, d-don’t change the subject!" Giles said and set up two cups on saucers and poured them both a cup of tea. "See? I was winning wasn’t I?"

"Get over yourself already. Can’t anyone comment on the coffee around here?" Jenny set down her mug onto the library’s front desk and gladly accepted the tea from Giles.

"You know, uh, Jenny, um..." Giles stuttered.

"Hmm?"

"Would it a-appear indecorous... Uh, no, not in-in-indecorous um..."

"Yeah...?"

"Well, um... Wha..." Giles exhaled, trying to get the words exactly right. He’d been trying to work up the nerve to ask Miss Calendar out for weeks and at the rate he was going, it’d be the next millennium before he’d finally get it out. "Ah, ah, um..."

Jenny looked at her watch and gulped down the rest of her tea, "Rupert, look, I've gotta go. I have a class."

"What, what I'm proposing is..." Suddenly, the bell rang, startling the already slightly frazzled librarian out of his tweed.

"Ah! I gotta go! Sorry!" Jenny picked up her things from the countertop and started heading toward the library doors. After second thought, she turned back and saw Giles muttering something to himself. "Hey! Listen, if it’s important, why don’t you just tell me at the game?"

"Game? Oh, uh, you’re going to the football game?"

"Yeah, you seem surprised," she smiled.

"No! I-I-I-I-I-I-I just assumed y-you spent your e-e-evenings downloading things on your computer and-and-and preparing classes."

"On game night? Are you nuts? You’re going, too, right?"

"Oh, oh, of course," Giles exclaimed lamely, "Always, always do."

"So, we should just go together! Look, I could pick you up after school, and we'll grab a bite to eat on the way if you like. How do you feel about Mexican?" Jenny asked casually.

Giles nodded.

"Good! Okay! And whatever it is you wanna tell me, you can just tell me then. Okay?"

"Okay. Tonight then." Giles watched Jenny leave the library and turned back to the small pile of books in front of him. "That went well. I think."

*****

Xander, Willow, Oz and Buffy opted for going to the game instead hanging out at the half-empty Bronze. Giles and Jenny had already arrived and found seats in the bleachers and had loaded up on popcorn, chips, drinks and souvenirs.

"Well would you look at that. The bookworm and the computer teacher at a football game. Am I the only one who finds it strange?" Xander asked when he spotted the two of them, sticking out like sore thumbs in the crowd of teens.

"Yeah, but also, it looks like they’re on a date," Willow commented before realising the implications.

"Did we just hear ‘Giles’ and ‘date’ in the same sentence?" Buffy asked, making a face at the thought. It was like the thought that her own parents had had sex. Gross and grosser.

"Yeah, I think we did," Oz replied.

The small group—who were missing Spike (who was still in England for the funeral) and Faith (on one of her unannounced walkabouts, again)—headed toward the two adults buried amongst the bleachers on the other side of the field. It was apparent to everyone that Giles wasn’t all too comfortable with the whole idea of going to a football game where they hardly even used their feet. In fact, he looked just about ready to run away except for the fact that he was spending the time with Miss Calendar.

"Hey Giles," Buffy smiled sweetly (in a sarcastic and suggestive way) at her uncle while the others proceeded to squish into the empty seats next to and in front of the two. Buffy almost had to hold her lips together to keep from laughing at Giles’ distressed reaction.

"Buffy. And Willow, Oz and Xander...what are you doing here?" Giles asked as if it were an anomaly to find teenagers at a football game at their own school.

Buffy gave the muddled librarian a Look. "Maybe I should ask you the same question. You guys on a date?"

*****

"Oh my God, I think they won...and against Mundine High too…" Xander muttered in a non-committal tone.

"I think they did," Oz in his usual way and looked around at the rest of the crowd cheering. "Okay then, I’m sure we did."

"Cool, maybe we could make it to the state championships this year," Willow beamed. "Ooh, Buffy, there’s Angel. Maybe you should go down there and congratulate him. Or something."

"Or something..." Buffy said in a dejected tone. "I mean, I don’t think it’d be such a good idea. I mean...Kathryn could be here...somewhere."

"Why are you so scared anyway? Maybe you should fight back, or-or-or tell her the truth."

"Liking the whole idea, except the ‘tell her the truth’ bit."

*****

"Buffy, are you sure about this?" Willow asked.

"You asked me the same question when I ran for Student Body President. Besides, you told me to fight back. Well I’m fighting...I’m fight-girl," Buffy replied while they worked on the database Willow had started for Buffy. "But not exactly ‘fight-girl’ cos it sounds kinda odd."

"But isn’t Homecoming Queen more...bitchy?"

"Yes, well, the way I figure, Kathryn is running. As is Cordelia, Michelle Blake and Holly Charleston. If I run, then I could either win or at least splinter my dear sister’s vote. You see what I’m getting at, right?" Buffy asked as she tried to follow Willow’s draft (yet already much too complicated) database.

"Oh...good thinking, when can we start running off the posters?"

*****

Buffy gazed around their newly transformed living room and admired she, Willow, Xander, Oz, Spike (who had returned from England with his personality still intact and a sudden dislike for tea) and Faith’s joint efforts. It was no surprise that Kathryn’s crowd had voted themselves to do the shopping to get the food, drink and everything else. After all, they’d get to go to the mall. **Pfft, it was as if they never got to go to the mall...**

Buffy was still wondering how they had somehow ended up agreeing to having a joint Halloween bash. It was beyond Kathryn to ever relent to anything her sisters suggested. Stranger things have happened.

Back to the point though, the room was carefully decorated as they’d previously planned. There was still plenty of time until the party was supposed to start, but as Miss Hancock always said "You can never be too careful."

On one wall of the expansive living room, a plastic mirror was hung with a hologram where the mirror was supposed to be to make it seem like the one in Snow White. All the furniture had been moved painstakingly by Spike, Oz and Xander (not very muscular men, really...). Well...it wasn’t so painstaking when Faith pitched in (luckily) and they had all of the rest of the furniture moved within ten minutes.

Plastic skeletons were hung from the mantle over the fireplace. The mouth of the fireplace had been covered with red cloth and a light was placed behind it to make it seem as if it glowed. The glowing red light that filtered through the gaps made by the bones of the plastic skeletons made them look more sinister than they really were.

Black cloth had been hung to cover up the designer wallpaper that their mother had had put up only two months ago so that it wouldn’t get soiled by rowdy partygoers. Willow and Buffy had decided that the cloth looked too boring and had started decorating it with every kind of glitter they could find using some of Dawn’s craft glue. They didn’t get very much done before lunchtime rolled around. By then it seemed hopeless to try to decorate the rest since no one would notice it anyway.

A partition had also been put up after Buffy begged Mai Lee to dig it up out of the attic for them. It had been placed strategically that you could only go to the living room after entering the house. The rest of the house (of course) was off-limits—Joyce’s orders. They’d even put up a sign at the centre of the partition, in big, bold lettering.

The rest of the decorations were pretty standard—streamers, the usual motifs of witches on broomsticks, toothy pumpkins and other Halloween-associated scary stuff. Fairy lights had been strung in haphazard patterns all over the ceiling. It all looked pretty good, especially the hologram.

"I think we’re done," Buffy announced.

"Thank goodness; we’ve been at it for hours. No one knows neck ache like people who’ve been staring at the ceiling for a whole hour putting up those fairy lights," Willow said as she plugged the lights into the electrical socket.

Faith was sprawled on the floor in exhaustion. "Can I curl up and die now?"

"No, you can party and then you can curl up and die. All this work and we don’t get to party? Nuh-uh," Xander shook his head. "We gotta shake our funky party weasels."

"Yeah and I also don’t want any dead people lying on the floor of our living room when people start arriving," Buffy said, offering a hand to help her dark-haired friend up.

"Well if we ever want to actually *go* to the damn party, we’d better get chopping. Only a few hours left ‘til party time and I’m planning to hoard the punch," Spike said with a mischievous grin. "What?"

Buffy gave him a deadly glare, "Forgive the pun, but please don’t spike the punch."

"No problemo amigo," Spike replied and stood stiffly with his hands behind his back. The grin never left his face. Well, until Faith hit him upside the head. "Ow. That hurt. You hit too hard."

"Great. We’re all going to have hangovers tomorrow. At least we’ll know who to blame though," Xander grinned in an equally mischievous way.

"Shut up, Xander," Spike muttered. "We all know you’re still bitter over not having a bird of your own, but you don’t have to take it out on me."

Xander fumed, "Oh yeah? I’m not bitter, I’m just waiting for the right one...I don’t want to end up with a dud."

"Nice excuse. Not gonna work with me, lad."

"Hey, hey, hey! No fighting," Willow declared. "We don’t need anymore testosterone sparkage in here."

"Ditto that," Oz raised his hand.

Buffy shrugged, "Arguments relieve stress. Those little squishy balls just aren’t as good as the real thing," everyone raised their eyebrows. "So I've heard."

"Ditto that too," Oz agreed again. "Stress balls don't do anything but make funny faces at you.

*****

"Trick or treat!" A group of small children in costume stood on the Summers' doorstep with smiles plastered on their faces and slightly filled bags for candy collecting in their hands.

"Oh how adorable," Joyce exclaimed and reached into the bowl in her hands and dished out candy to each of the kids. It was still relatively early—not even dark yet—and all three of the Summers girls were getting ready for their Halloween parties; be it right there at Casa del Summers or across town at Janice Davis' house.

Joyce closed the door with a smile and a wave and turned to find Dawn standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting in her Morticia Addams costume.

"Mum, I'm ready to go now."

"So early? I thought Janice's party starts at six," Joyce checked the clock that had only recently taken to be fixed that was standing atop the table that stood in the hall, "but it's only five-thirty. Honey, you know it doesn't take half an hour to drive there. What's the rush?"

"Oh nothing," Dawn said innocently. "Kathryn's in one of her moods again, that's all."

Joyce sighed and grabbed the keys from beside the clock and reopened the door. "Fine, we'll go. On a scale of one to ten, how bad?"

"Oh it's not that bad...about...a seven."

"The last time you said that we got a broken window."

"I know."

Joyce shook her head and locked the door behind her.

*****

Kathryn had rummaged through her wardrobe for the past 20 minutes and she STILL couldn’t find the pants she had been looking for. Those black three-quarter pants should’ve been in there...she had a perfect memory of Mai Lee putting them in...

Kathryn sighed and leant back against the wall. She repeatedly hit her head against the wall, trying to remember where they might be. "Buffy!" Kathryn called out. If it wasn’t her, then she had no clue what the hell happened to her pants. If she couldn’t find them she would have to be Audrey Hepburn, and she REALLY didn’t have time for the hair.

"What?" Buffy asked, innocently poking her head into her sister’s room. She had heard Kathryn interrogating Dawn about her pants and wasn’t really jonesing for the same interrogation for herself. There had already been enough conflict over the whole Homecoming Queen thing. Besides, she still had a few more things to do for the party and the rest of her makeup to apply. She hardly had enough time for her own problems, let alone Kathryn’s.

"Have you seen my three-quarter black pants? I need them. NOW!" Kathryn yelled. The sun was setting outside, signalling the nearing of the beginning of the Halloween party to be held downstairs.

"Have you asked Mai Lee? I don't know where they are," Buffy replied and left to deal with her own problems.

Kathryn shook her head. She doubted that Buffy had taken the pants, not after knowing what could happen to her. **I bet she even locked the door of her room...scaredy cat.** Kathryn opened the top of the crucifix sitting on her desk and just couldn't resist. After all, she'd have to deal with this problem and then she still had to figure out how to put on that wig so that it wouldn't look...blah...

"Mai Lee!"

*****

"Oh my God, thank you Mai Lee," Kathryn exclaimed as Mai Lee pointed out the pants hanging in the laundry. They been freshly laundered and ironed. "You know, I could just kiss you, but I don't want to wreck my lipstick."

"You are welcome, Kathryn," Mai Lee thanked her awkwardly and turned back to attend to the rest of the large pile of ironing. Since Mr. Summers returned, the pile had grown considerably larger and not for the first time, she wished that he had bought some of those non-iron shirts she'd heard about.

Kathryn took her pants and left. There was only half an hour left and she still hadn't even put on her whole costume yet. After much thought, she'd decided to dress up as Mia Wallace—the character Uma Thurman played in Pulp Fiction—since she almost had the whole costume already, why not? Stilettos; a very tight, white shirt; three-quarter black pants (previously missing, now found) and bright red lipstick. The only thing she didn't have was the wig and when she found the perfect one while at the mall just a few days ago, she'd decided to settle on it. And if it didn't work, she could always whip out one of her formal black dresses, a string of pearls, a pair of black gloves, a tiara and be Holly Golightly (from Breakfast at Tiffany's). And to top it all off, a French twist, courtesy of Joyce who had many years of experience from having to do them for her mother for going to church on Sundays.

*****

Buffy smoothed out all the nonexistent wrinkles in the bodice of her dress and put on the earrings that were sitting there so temptingly in front of her on the dresser. The full length mirror revealed Buffy in her costume—an eighteenth century noblewoman's dress she's purchased the year before and had never been worn. Of course it was just the costume variety which was lighter, not so elaborate and made of less expensive material, but it made her feel like a real eighteenth century girl.

Since her hair was too short and too blonde to look good in ringlets, she had done the same as Kathryn and bought a wig. It went well with the colour of her dress and the filigree comb she'd found amongst her mother's jewellery and had borrowed it—just for the night.

She tucked a loose ringlet of hair behind her ear and headed downstairs to greet any early birds. It was still rather early and she'd heard a few trick-or-treaters coming and going and hoped it wouldn't be too long until she got to talk to Angel.

*****

*ding dong*

Buffy opened the door and found all her friends on her doorstep. Right on time too.

"Trick or treat!" Willow and Xander exclaimed, with grins on their faces like the little kids that Buffy had just handed out candy to only five minutes ago.

"I don't have to say 'How adorable!' do I?" Buffy asked before letting them inside.

"No, but can I have some candy anyway? Spikey boy over there wouldn't let us go next door first to visit kind old Mrs. Williamson for some cake. Boy am I hungry," Xander said and glanced nervously around the hallway.

"Always thinking with your stomach...doesn't your mother feed you?"

"Not in the strictest sense."

"There's some candy left in the bowl over there," Buffy pointed to a half empty glass mixing bowl near the door, "but I think mom said not to let you gorge on them. For trick-or-treating kids only."

"But I said trick or treat fair and square! And I did the adorable smile thing too!"

Buffy laughed at the look on Xander's face. "Fine, but you can only have two."

Xander had dressed up as Jimmy Olsen with a bright blue suit, a red bowtie and his hair dyed orange (with temporary dye of course). Willow had decided to dress up as a Wiccan after sighting the perfect dress in a magic shop at the mall. Oz had decided to stay natural and come as a groupie. He even wore a t-shirt with the words 'I am a groupie' printed on it. Spike had decided to come as a vampire and wore a pair of plastic fangs and a whole lot of black leather (which he seemed to already own a lot of…which was strange because he’d only ever worn the odd leather jacket)...between him and Faith, there were many dead cows. Faith came as the Devil, with a pair of red, glittery devil horns, dark eye makeup and a whole lot of red leather.

Kathryn came thundering down the stairs with her dangerous high stilettos in hand. "Hey, who-" she began to ask, but stopped short at the sight of the group of mismatched people Buffy called 'friends'. "Oh, never mind then."

Kathryn ignored them and moved aside the partition to get to the kitchen.

"Well…" Xander broke the silence in Kathryn's wake nervously.

"Don't mind her. Did I mention there was food? Of the chips and dips kind of course. And freshly made punch. Grandma Giles' original recipe," Buffy ushered them into the living room and fixed the partition just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

*ding dong*

Buffy opened the door to find Cordelia and Harmony on the other side. "Now would ya look at that; Dorothy and Barbie are standing on our doorstep," Buffy said sarcastically. Cordelia had donned bright red lipstick, curly pigtails (with blue ribbons), a checkered dress, a white short-sleeved blouse, a pair of sky blue socks and a pair of ruby slippers (well, actually, they were just a pair red pumps but who really noticed?).

"Hey! How'd you guess I was dressed up as Barbie?" Harmony said (well, wailed would've been closer).

"Aren't you supposed to look like Barbie? Besides, the pink gives it away," Buffy opened the door for them to get through and found a crowd of guests arriving on their driveway. At the same time, Hank Summers was struggling to drive up the driveway without hitting anyone.

Buffy watched as the guests streamed through in costumes ranging from Roman togas to aliens from out of space. She didn't even know that there were that many people coming...not that their living room was too small to fit everyone inside. Even though she felt as if she'd seen half of the population of Sunnydale pass through their door, Buffy still had yet to catch sight of Angel.

Buffy recognised the African-American guy on her doorstep dressed as Robin Hood to be one of Angel’s friends. She’d seen him around campus and at the game last week and she’d found out that Angel’s two closest friends were Gunn and Doyle. Next to him was a woozy-looking, fair-skinned, dark haired guy with a bottle in his hand.

"Hi, you two must be Gunn and Doyle. I’ve heard about you," Buffy said nervously.

"And since you’re being nice, I’d say that you’d be Buffy," Gunn said with a smile. He took off his hat and bowed melodramatically, "Charles Gunn, at your service ma’am."

Buffy laughed and curtsied politely, "Thank you kind sir, but could you please tell your friend that alcohol isn’t allowed even though I’m sure the punch has probably already been spiked?"

"I think its part of his costume. He ditched the Little John costume and decided to come as a drunk."

Buffy laughed and let them through, "I’ll make an exception then."

*****

Buffy quit the whole meet and greet thing soon after her encounter with Gunn and Doyle in favour of enjoying the party. After all, her mother had insisted that she would watch the door in case there were late trick-or-treaters, stragglers or anyone else who might be roaming around on Halloween.

She still hadn’t yet seen Angel yet nor had she seen her sister and whether it was good or bad was unclear to her. She’d just about seen everyone except for those two… **Where are those two? If I didn’t know better then I’d think Kathryn had dragged him into a closet somewhere.**

Buffy scanned the crowd and found Willow sipping punch with Oz near the fireplace. "Willow, have you seen Angel?"

Willow smiled and pointed across the other side of the room. Buffy traced the direction of Willow’s finger with her gaze and found Angel—in a three piece pinstripe suit—talking to one of the guys in the band that was setting up. **Band?!** "Why is there a band?"

Willow shrugged and turned to Oz for comment.

"What? Don’t look at me; they look like they’re from out of town. Or something."

"Or something," Buffy echoed and picked up her skirt and begun to fight her way across the room. She was stopped when she was almost there by a tap on her shoulder.

"Great party Summers!" Some guy she didn’t know shouted over the din. **Probably one of Kathryn’s friends. After all, I’m wearing that wig…and that guy looks drunk...**

"Thanks, but I think you’ve got the wrong sister," Buffy said before feeling herself being pulled into someone else’s embrace. **What? Who now? I knew it was a mistake to wear the wig…** She hadn’t even gotten a look at the person yet, for all she knew, it could’ve been Xander. **Or it could be Angel...** she thought when she noticed who it was.

He kissed her briefly before letting her back down on the ground. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d picked her up...talk about being swept off her feet... "I’ve been searching for you everywhere Ka-" Angel stopped before looking more intensely into her green eyes, "Buffy? I thought you were Kathryn. I hope you didn’t dye your hair...you didn’t right?"

"Of course, and it somehow grew long, curled itself and retains a plasticky texture. Why are you so late?"

"Mom was in with the flu, dad is visiting my sick grandmother and I was stuck with having to take Kathy trick-or-treating. Plus, I knew you didn’t have a band so I when I bumped into Penn, I asked him to come and play."

Buffy punched him playfully in the arm. "You could’ve given us some warning! Not that I don’t appreciate it of course. And who are supposed to be?"

Angel’s worried expression cracked into a sexy lopsided grin that made Buffy melt. "Rhett Butler...but I didn't get enough time to do the whole moustache thing. Anyway, Penn’s one of my oldest friends and he owed me a favour. So...do you wanna-"

"Angel?" Kathryn appeared from behind him. Buffy’s eyes widened and she hoped beyond hope that she hadn’t seen the kiss they’d shared. **Or all the ones last week or heard about all the ones from week before and all those other times when she was still grounded.** Now was not exactly the best time to tell, even though Buffy was already sick and tired of having to go behind her back all the time. As far as she was concerned, no time would be a good time to ever face the wrath of a betrayed Kathryn Summers.

"Kathryn. I was beginning to wonder if you’d show," Buffy spoke nervously while she fidgeted with the lace of her dress.

"We were just talking," Angel said awkwardly, "...about my friend Penn. His band almost finished setting up."

"A band?" Kathryn asked with her eyebrows raised in perfect arches. She had only recently been let off her punishment and she was not about to get in trouble again because of an unannounced… "A band?! Why is there a band?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and backed away. She didn’t want to see the two of them together...not even for a second.

*****

Buffy stood at the door and watched as people started leaving the party. Some in pairs, some in large groups and some by themselves. She waved to her friends as they left together in Oz’s van. Mr. Gordo purred in her arms, the sound comforting her slightly.

Angel approached from behind and scared Buffy to death with an unexpected hand on the shoulder.

"Ah! What the hell are you trying to do? Scare me shitless?" Buffy scolded him. Mr. Gordo was agitated by her jerky movements and forced Buffy to let him back down. He purred and wound himself around Angel's leg and yawned.

"No, I was going to say that you look beautiful tonight which I didn't get to say because of the interruption."

"You're forgiven. You look good as well. I must also admit that I've never seen anyone with a costume from Gone with the Wind. And I think Mr. Gordo really likes you as well," Buffy glanced down at her cat and chuckled as he settled at Angel's feet and looked just about ready to fall asleep.

"Well, I'll see you soon?" he asked, gently removing his foot from underneath Mr. Gordo.

"Of course," Buffy glanced around before planting a soft kiss on his lips and practically having to push him out the door to stop the temptation building up. Buffy picked up Mr. Gordo and together they headed up the stairs, "Now how'd it get so late?"

Part 14

Kathryn had been suspecting that something was up for the past few days. Now that she had finally been released from being grounded, she’d expected that Angel would be willing to spend his time with her. Instead, he came up with the lamest excuses like his mum having the flu or that he his father was having guests for dinner or something like that. Whether they were true or not, Kathryn didn’t know, but she could just feel that something was up. He was her longest lasting boyfriend so far and she wasn’t about to let it fizzle out all by itself just because she had been grounded and had been under close surveillance for the past few weeks.

**Could he be cheating on me? No, he’s smarter than that. He knows what will happen...unless...no, don’t go there...** Kathryn was being paranoid and she knew it. Besides, it was the Homecoming dance tonight and everything was perfect. The only things missing were the corsage that Angel was sure to bring and the Homecoming Queen crown. Her dress was immaculate, her makeup was flawless and her hair was absolutely perfect (and so secure that she could sleep, ride on a motorcycle and go bungee jumping without it falling out of place). Her hairdresser made sure of that after the incident not so long ago with Spring Fling.

Kathryn smiled in content at the sound of the doorbell’s chime. *ding dong* Kathryn busied herself in checking that she had everything—lipstick, powder press, her coke crucifix, mini perfume spray, keys, and a few condoms...just in case.

By the time Joyce had called up the stairs to announce her boyfriend’s arrival, Kathryn had taken her shoes out of the box and put them on. After all, she wasn’t in that much of a rush. It was traditional to make the guy wait while you get ready, even if you’ve been ready for over an hour and have just been sitting around, waiting for them to arrive. Kathryn checked her reflection and decided she really did need that necklace after all. She’d been undecided until she checked her whole outfit just then and was certain that she needed the extra accessory. A simple chain with a pendant on it in the shape of a crown; it’d been part of her birthday present from Angel.

She descended the stairs gracefully in a pale green, sparsely embroidered, one shoulder dress with accents of red fabric scattered among the flowing silk satin skirt. It was absolutely beautiful and had cost a pretty penny, but with the money she’d saved from her large allowance, she was able to afford the expensive designer couture gown. She wore an elegant vintage-style brooch—which had belonged to their grandmother—from which five short strands of pearls hung. It worked well with her outfit and her feminine hairstyle—which also had a few pins in it which had pearls on them. And to finish it off, she had found a shawl in a slightly darker green than her dress; the colours contrasted and complimented each other and made a beautiful combination which went well with her dark hair and fair complexion.

"Wow...I mean... You look terrific," Angel gushed. He had always been attracted by her looks; there was probably only one man in the whole town who wouldn’t be mesmerised by her stunning looks and that person would be Hank Summers. But that would be exaggerating it just a bit too much. Angel was certain some of her teachers wouldn’t nor would her uncle, Mr. Giles...and hopefully not his own father.

"Thanks," Kathryn replied simply, and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

Angel wordlessly offered the corsage that he’d bought for her along with a dozen blood red roses that Kathryn had decided went well with her dress but would have to stay at home. She handed them to Mai Lee to put into a vase for her and had even given her a slight smile for her efforts.

"The limo is waiting outside but since Buffy needed a ride as well, I kind of offered to..." Angel gulped. He, Kathryn, Gunn, Doyle and Cordelia had decided to all share a limo and split the cost. When he found out that Buffy still needed a ride and that she didn't want to take a car or get someone to drive halfway across town just to pick her up, he'd offered to give Buffy a lift there as well. The others were completely fine with it and Angel had made it a point to not consult Kathryn on the idea either. She would have reacted in a very not-good way. Just like she was now...

"What?" her eyes widened as Angel shrugged apologetically. Kathryn threw her hands up in frustration. "Fine...whatever." Kathryn flung open the door and hurried to the awaiting limousine, eager to get out of the chilly evening weather.

Buffy didn't waste time with pleasantries when she'd arrived in time to see Kathryn walking as fast as she could to get away from Angel. Buffy had opted for a pale violet dress—much simpler than Kathryn's—with a tight-fitting bodice, full skirt, spaghetti straps and an elaborate beaded flower motif along the hem of the skirt. The bodice had been decorated sparingly with sparkly silver rhinestones that started out densely near the top and fizzled out gradually up to her waistline.

Not long after, they were able to leave; an uncomfortable silence hung among them all the way to the Bronze. There was no doubt it was because of what everyone knew and Kathryn didn’t.

*****

The Bronze was packed with students who had already arrived and dressed in formalwear. Kathryn had no doubt that she would be the best dressed girl there not just because of her clothes but because of having Angel on her arm dressed in a tux. A tux that made him look even hotter than usual. **Very drool-worthy...who would want Brad Pitt when you can have Angel? Not that they can, cos I’m having him all to myself...**

Kathryn immediately spotted Harmony talking to Randall Clark—one of Angel’s loose circle of friends from being in the football team. Cordelia and Kathryn left the rest of the guys to talk to her, for what reason they talked so much, Angel still didn’t know. They always seemed to be either talking or shopping...and for a moment Angel wondered if they should be considered shallow.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Buffy, letting him know that she was going off on her own. Her eyes told him that she wanted him to tell Kathryn—just as they’d discussed just the day before. It was killing him. On one hand he had the most popular, beautiful girl in school (although also the bitchiest). The wet dream of most of Sunnydale High’s male population despite her cruel tendencies and bad attitude. On the other hand he had her twin—the nice, sweet, innocent, blonde (a pet preference of Angel’s ever since he was fourteen), less popular version yet just as pretty. It was supposed to be the easiest choice in the world...but sometimes the simplest things could turn into the most complicated things if you think hard enough about it.

Kathryn was the kind of girl he was supposed to date—the popular one. Buffy however... At least it wasn’t like the whole ‘Romeo-and-Juliet’ deal. (Although Cordelia had informed him that Kathryn knew a guy in gang that owed her a favour. Angel hadn’t asked why and was sure that he didn’t want to know.)

Angel was dreading having to make a decision. He was hoping for a miracle to happen to get him out of it. Already he was having a nagging feeling that it wouldn’t be secret for much longer. It was bothering him even more than that inkling of a feeling that he could already have fallen in love with one of them...

*****

As well as having a DJ, the Dingoes were going to make a brief appearance. Apparently it was Miss Hancock’s idea to have them play "because of their popularity among the student body" but a few people reckoned that it was because she was a closet Dingoes fan.

It was getting to the time to announce who the students had picked as Homecoming King and Queen. Cordelia waited anxiously with Harmony and the large group of Cordettes who had made an appearance.

"Good luck, Buffy," Willow whispered to her.

Buffy gulped and smiled uncertainly, "Thanks for your help."

Xander had his mouth full of finger food and tried to say ‘good luck’ as well, but it came out sounding more like "mmph hrrph". Spike and Faith were so caught up with each other that they hadn’t noticed anything going on around them for the past half an hour. Which was pretty much a common occurrence for the two of them.

Kathryn stood next to Angel with a confident grin on her face. After all, she’d always taught herself to always be confident in herself and project an outward appearance as such. Although it didn’t always work when her temper got the better of her, it’d been pretty successful the last few times she’d tried it. Kathryn gripped Angel’s hand tightly and looked for reassurance but instead found him in a state of deep thought and hardly in tune with his surroundings.

Devon took the microphone off its stand and accepted the envelope from Miss Hancock, who was grinning at him awkwardly from in between the wings.

Experience had taught him to not worry about making mistakes and did his best to act as if Homecoming Queen wasn’t one of the most important popularity contests at SHS.

"Hey, guys, the moment we’ve all been waiting for," Devon said casually and waited for the crowd’s cheering to die down. "First of all, I’d like you all to give a big round of applause to Miss Hancock and the organising committee for doing such a great job with the...organising this year." He rattled off a few thank yous that had been put into his script by Miss Hancock before getting to the important stuff.

Sunnydale High’s Homecoming King and Queen 1998.

"In this envelope, I hold the names of this year’s Homecoming King and Queen," Devon held up the cream coloured envelope in his hand with a red foil sticker holding down the flap. He tore it open and read the names on the card inside. "You would not be surprised to hear that Angel Ferguson is our Homecoming King but I know you *will* be surprised to hear that our Homecoming Queen is none other than..." Devon paused dramatically and the tension in the room was so thick it could probably be sliced with a knife. "...Buffy Summers."

Kathryn’s face fell at the mention of her sister’s name and hardly even noticed that Angel had left her arms. She closed her eyes briefly and regained her composure. She ignored the balloons and confetti falling from above and the voice of Cordelia saying her name again and again. Instead she kept her eyes glued on the tiara on Buffy’s head and the smiles on both their faces.

She hardly even noticed the chanting of the crowd around her. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Kathryn’s eyes widened in realisation and kept her eyes glued as their lips met. **Bitch. Get your lips off my boyfriend and that crown off your little blonde head.** Kathryn started to storm toward the stage in the midst of her rage.

She felt two strong hands on her shoulders holding her back. Cordelia.

"Let me go!" Kathryn hissed.

"No. Kathryn, what is your problem? Whatever it is, get over it," Cordelia said calmly and forcefully sat her friend into a chair.

"My problem is that my *boyfriend* is kissing my *sister* in front of the whole grade. And he’s enj-" Kathryn paused. **Oh my God. The fucking bastard...** "He...he’s cheating on me," Kathryn said with eyes wide open in realisation. "He’ll pay for that."

*****

As soon as she could, Kathryn dragged Angel outside, away from everyone else so that they could have a private conversation.

"You know, I never expected this from you," Kathryn said bitterly.

"What?" Angel asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I’m talking about you cheating on me with my sister. Of all people."

"I’m not going to lie to you and tell you what you want to hear. I’m not going to deny the truth. But it didn’t mean anything-"

Unbeknownst to Angel, Buffy had followed them both outside and was currently standing behind him.

"It didn’t mean anything, huh?" Buffy could feel the tears welling up and wished that she could just pinch herself and wake up and discover that it was all a dream. That winning the Homecoming crown was just a figment of her subconscious imagination.

"No! I mean, y-...no. I mean...I don’t know!" Angel knew that this was the moment he’d been seizing himself up for all this time.

"Well then decide now, Angel. Who’s it going to be? Me...or Buffy?"

Part 15

"Well?" Buffy looked at Angel with as much contempt as she could muster. This wasn't exactly what she was expecting to happen, nor did she think it would be such a tough decision for him to make.

Angel looked back and forth from Kathryn to Buffy then back to Kathryn. All the pros and cons he'd been going through had not helped him come to a decision and had flown out of his head the very second Buffy had appeared behind him. Now, if only he could ask for a lifeline...but of course, his life wasn't a game show and he had no possibility of winning a million dollars if he got all the answers right. After all, there were no right or wrong answers.

Kathryn got sick of his indecision and slapped him, hard, across the cheek.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You know fucking well what it was for, you bastard," Kathryn said viciously.

"So...I assume the two of you agree to this ultimatum?" Angel asked uncertainly, flinching when he touched his tender cheek. By now there was probably a nice, pink handprint there. He was lucky that it was night and that there was only very dim lighting where they were standing in the alley on the side of the Bronze.

They both nodded and turned back to him for his decision.

Angel sighed. He had no other choice. He weighed the pros and cons and had tried just about everything to try to pick. He had asked every single one of his friends for help, including Gunn, Doyle, Penn, Randall, and a few others who still had not helped him. He had always liked the quote that went sort of like 'If you love someone, let them go. If they come back, then you'll know for sure that it was real.' Right now, he just needed to let go. At least, until he got his feelings straight.

"Well, then I pick neither of you." Angel glanced down sadly at his shoes, expecting the worse. Surprisingly, the two sisters remained silent and somewhat accepting of his decision.

Angel waited. And waited. But they still said nothing. Angel just nodded slightly and headed down the dark alley toward the main road and stopped only to hail a cab to take him home, leaving the two twins glaring at each other in the dark, dingy alleyway.

"I hope you're satisfied now," Kathryn told Buffy quietly and brushed past her to get back inside.

Buffy blinked away her tears and followed her sister in silence. There wasn't really anything to say.

*****

Buffy flipped through the CDs in her drawer and could find all but the one that she wanted to find. **Damn. Why'd she have to take it now?**

Buffy gave up her search for her Sarah McLachlan CD and instead took out her diary. She had hidden the lock's key by sticking it underneath her jewellery box with sticky tape (not as safely hidden as she guessed Kathryn would assume it would be). Inside the jewellery box lay her abandoned ID bracelet that had been a gift from Angel only a few weeks earlier on hers and Kathryn's birthday.

Upon seeing the bracelet fall out along a few other things that had been inside, Buffy felt tears threatening to spill from her struggling lids. Buffy picked the bracelet up and inspected it, hardly able to see through the fogginess of her tears. She sobbed momentarily and angrily tore the key off the bottom of the jewellery box and threw everything back in. He had betrayed her trust and she couldn't forgive him for that. Not in the state she was currently in.

She hurriedly unlocked the diary and picked up the pen on her bedside table and began to write.

Dear diary,

Why don't things ever go the way I intend for them to go? He was supposed to pick me over Kathryn... How can I trust him again if he can't even decide if he likes me more or the heinous bitch I call my sister? Is it really that hard for him to pick? I can see that he could like her for being the way she is, but I don't believe that Angel would be that kind of guy. Would he?

I wish I could know what was going on inside that head of his and understand what it is about Kathryn that makes him like her at all. She looks almost exactly like me, she's devious, she snorts cocaine, she's a bitch, she doesn't care about anyone except herself, and she's like...the slut-o-rama of the century. How endearing could she possibly be?

Actually, I've changed my mind. I don't want to know why, I just want him back! It's been so hard these past few days ignoring him in the hallways, not talking to him on the phone, not even making any sort of eye contact... I didn't think I was at first but... I think I love him. Ever since the Homecoming dance, I just haven't been able to concentrate on anything except thinking about what happened in that alley and mulling over why he didn't pick me. He almost said that what we had didn't mean anything to him! I can understand why he would've said it though. To protect me from Kathryn. I just wish I knew whether or not he feels the same as I do...not that there really is a chance of THAT happening since he obviously didn't pick me in that alley. I just wish I knew...

- Buffy

Buffy sighed as she re-read her badly scrawled entry. It wasn't a great entry, but it would have to do for now. She just wanted to get her anger out...as well as her so-long-pent-up feelings. It was frustrating to be conflicted by her feelings for him and the way he'd acted under the pressure of the ultimatum. She only hoped that he would snap out of it soon and choose, for real, this time.

*****

Angel drove down Main as he had every other day since the episode during the Homecoming dance. In a daze. He was hardly ever aware of the environment around him. He only saw what was in his direct line of vision, only listened when he wanted to listen, only spoke when he had to, and only ate when his body told him it needed food. For the casual observer, he merely seemed more pensive than usual which worked well for him since no one seemed to notice anything, yet.

His sister, however, had noticed. Kathy noticed that he seemed more depressed than usual and never wanted to spend time with her anymore. Every time she asked, he'd always say he had work to do and locked himself in his bedroom and only came out for dinner. He answered all her questions with either a 'yes' or a 'no' and seemed too dull to be the person she knew only a few days ago.

Kathy had formed a friendship with Dawn and had found out what had conspired between her brother and Dawn's sisters. It surprised her to find out what her brother did. After all, he was always such a nice person; why would he date someone else if he was already dating another? Kathy's young mind had yet to grasp the main concepts of dating, let alone cheating. When Dawn had tried to explain it to her, she still couldn't understand. Cheating was when someone looked at someone else's test paper for answers or took shortcuts in races or used tricks to help them win. What did that have to do with dating two people at the same time?

Kathy watched her brother wordlessly entering the house and slamming the door behind him. He kept slamming doors and doing things without thinking first and Kathy, frankly enough, was sick of his new and unimproved attitude. It was time she did something about it too.

As he swept past her, she grabbed onto his hand and tugged as hard as she could. Angel, who hadn't been paying attention, stumbled and nearly slammed into the wall. The narrow hallway was dark and for a moment he almost thought something strange was happening to him. Well, until he saw his sister's angry face staring up at him.

Kathy let go of his hand and gave him the enraged look she could manage. "Hello?" She waved a small hand in front of his face to try to get his wandering attention. "Earth to Angel!"

"What is it Kathy?" Angel grumbled. He had decided that there was only way to solve it. Since the pros and cons list hadn't helped since it wasn't really fair to judge someone on their imperfections, he had decided to do a sketch that was based on personal instinct and desire. He wouldn't let his mind control his decision—just his instincts.

"Stop walking around like you're half-dead, that's what. It's not only freaky and scary to see you like that...it scares me," her last three words were just a whisper, but Angel had been listening and he had heard.

Angel looked into the eyes of his younger sister and relaxed himself for the first time that week. Angel stroked her hair and stooped to her level. "I just have to figure this out, Kathleen. Then I'll be back to normal." Angel stood back up and continued into the house. Kathy awaited the slam of the door behind him. It never came.

*****

//The road is long
The memory slides
To the whole of my undoing
Put aside
I put away
I push it back to get through each day
And all I feel is black and white
And I'm wound up small and tight
And I don't know who I am//

Kathryn listened to the song and wondered whether or not she was a fool for falling for a guy like Angel. How was he different from the scum she'd picked up along the way? Use her, dump her. She hated to act as if she was fine and dandy all the time. It hurt that the only opinion anyone ever had of her was either 'snob', 'bitch' or 'slut'. It hurt that her life was like it was. Like a carousel, it just went around and around and around, always playing the same annoying song and spinning in the same direction. People came on looking for a good time and got off when they got bored or when she got bored of them. No one ever stayed very long. Angel had been on for the ride the longest and she had practically pushed him off.

//Everybody loves you when you're easy
Everybody hates when you're a bore
Everyone is waiting for your entrance so
Don't disappoint them//

*****

Angel stared at his sketch. It didn't look quite right. There was too much darkness and gloom in it. He had drawn Kathryn, sitting at a table in the Bronze, but it didn't look quite right. He hadn't drawn for many years, but he had always been gifted at sketching people. Especially women...for some odd reason.

Angel scrunched up the piece of paper and turned off his glaringly bright desk lamp. It was only 8 o'clock. He still had time for another sketch...

He let his hands do it all, hardly looking down at his sketch pad and not even turning his lamp back on. He concentrated for one...two...three...four hours and was finally happy with his drawing. It was a scene of a picnic in a sunny park. And sitting on the picnic rug was...

"Buffy," Angel whispered incredulously. He took a short glance at the clock on the wall; 12:07. It was too late to pay her a visit. It also wasn't as if he could just call her up and tell her.

He glanced down at his drawing again and noticed just how much detail he had put into it. The expression on her face was of happiness; like someone had just made a joke and someone had snapped a shot of her just before she got over the bouts of laughter. The happiness in the body language he had included in his drawing had been enhanced by the detail on her face and the care taken to make sure that she looked absolutely perfect. He had also drawn himself in the picture, sitting beside her. In his mind's eye, the picture just didn't look right if it had Kathryn in it instead. The love and tenderness that had been expressed by his sketching had been exactly opposite to how he had drawn Kathryn—with hard, dark lines that were drawn with anything but love.

**No more confusion, no more lies, no more deception. I love Buffy and only her.** He looked at the clock again. **Maybe I should wait until tomorrow.** Tomorrow would be Saturday and he didn't really fancy his chances of knocking on their door to find a grumpy Kathryn behind it. The only choice he had was to go looking for her at the Bronze and he didn't really fancy his chances of finding her there either. **Well, I'll never know if I never try.**

*****

Buffy sat inside the Bronze with Xander, Willow, Oz and a very hesitant Cordelia. While Buffy just stared at her soda, the others conversed and the mood between them was light. It'd thrown them a little to find out that Buffy and 'Queen C' had suddenly become friends, but they adapted nonetheless. Willow actually found Cordelia to be quite good company when they found something in common to talk about. Xander cracked his sometimes successful, sometimes not, jokes as he usually did and Willow laughed at all of them, as she usually did.

Buffy gulped down the rest of her drink and hopped off her stool. She had forgotten to bring the notes Willow had loaned to her and wanted to give them back so that Willow would be able to look over them as well for the test they were going to have on Monday morning.

"Where're you going, Buff?" Xander asked in a worried voice.

"You're not going home already, right? I still need a ride home. Remember? Car being repaired?" Cordelia asked frantically.

"I just need to go home to pick up this thing that I forgot and then I'm coming straight back. No need to go postal," Buffy reassured her in a non-committal tone. "I promise. I'll be back."

"Sure," Willow commented suspiciously when Buffy had left. She knew that something was bothering her friend and she had yet to squeeze anything out of her except the scarce tidbits that were making the rounds within SHS's hallowed halls. Willow swore that she'd find out what was bothering her and help her get through it. It was supposed to be the best friend's job, after all.

*****

Angel drove carelessly, only caring about one thing: not being later than he already was. He had been held back by one thing or another all day and the things he'd let fester throughout the week were beginning to come back to bite him in the ass. His driving wasn't helped by the feeling in his gut that he'd just missed the opportunity to talk to Buffy and would have to wait another torturous day to again have the opportunity.

With his mind and his nerves going all over the place, he failed to see that the light had turned red.

He braked as hard his foot could but he couldn't avoid the collision.

All he saw before he blacked out was a head of blonde hair collapsed against the steering wheel of the shiny, metallic blue sports car he had collided with.

Part 16

Angel woke up to find himself in a hospital gown and staring at an unfamiliar white ceiling that had suffered quite a bit of paint peeling through the years. **Hospital gown? Why the hell am I in a hospital gown?**

Angel turned his head slowly toward his left and found no annoying beeping machines or anything at all except an uncomfortable looking plastic chair and the tall metal stand that held the clear plastic bag that was joined to the tube which was joined to the back of his hand with some paper-like white surgical tape. **Huh? Why the hell am I on a drip? I don't need medication...do I?**

Angel shook his head to clear the fogginess in his mind to figure out what the hell was going on. The last thing he remembered was... The car crash. **Oh God, Buffy...**

Angel hurriedly pulled the tape off his hand, eased the needle out and looked around the room for signs of his own clothing. Or anything that didn't resemble both a dress and an apron at the same time. Not to mention something that actually covered him up. He saw another plastic chair on the other side of the room and spotted the pair of pants that lay folded neatly and a very grimy looking shirt on top. **Pants will do. I only need the pants.** He quickly picked them up and slipped into them, almost falling over when struck with a brief dizzy spell.

A nurse making the rounds was shocked to find him out of bed and leaving the medication dripping onto the bed. She was even more shocked when he rushed out of the ward, ignoring her completely.

Angel looked up and down the hall. Where oh where was a damned nurses' station when you needed one? He found it shortly after and wasted no time with pleasantries. He needed to know if Buffy was okay and not lying dead in the morgue already. Because of him.

"I'm looking for Buffy Summers. We were in a car accident and-" Angel started to say.

"Summers, Summers, Summers... Oh, here it is. Oh dear," the smiling old nurse's face fell. She pottered around for a while with the files on her desk before finally giving the keyboard a few more taps.

Angel banged his fist on the desk, imagining the worst. "What is it?"

"She's in room 307. The third floor is the Intensive Care Unit," the old nurse—Grace, it said on her nametag—gave Angel a sympathetic smile before lowering her voice. "You better go before you get caught."

Angel smiled thankfully and took the lift up to the third floor. He couldn't help but feel guilty...if she was badly injured, it would be because of him. Angel wouldn't be able to live with that.

*****

"Where the hell is Buffy?" Cordelia asked impatiently, watching the door for the blonde girl's appearance. "I'm going to kill her if she doesn't come."

"Where is she? If she doesn't turn up, then I'll get stuck with the job of walking you home. Now how scary is that thought?" Xander asked with a slight scowl. He'd secretly harboured a crush on her since elementary school, but he wouldn't let himself succumb to it. He could find someone who was more his type...couldn't he? He, Xander Harris probably had the least chance in the world with Cordelia Chase than any other person on the face of the planet. Almost, since people who were beggars or extremely obese or ugly would have less chance than him. Alright, just change 'planet' to 'school'. **Huh? Wouldn't that make the sentence not make sense?** Xander abandoned his idle ponderings for a little 'help me' look directed towards Willow.

Willow was too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to Xander giving her strange looks with the whole wiggling of eyebrows deal. "What if Buffy's in trouble? She could be mugged or attacked and it would've been my fault. Oh, I'm a bad friend. I'm a bad, bad, bad person." Willow slammed her head on the table repeatedly.

"Willow," Oz said comfortingly, "it isn't your fault."

Willow stopped and looked back up at Oz, who was giving her a loving, reassuring smile. "You're right. We have to look for her...o-or something. I'll call her mom to see if she got home safely. And then...we'll do...something. I dunno. We can't just sit here waiting for her if she's lying dead or injured or..."

"Here's my phone," Cordelia handed over her mobile with the number already keyed in. The number of the Summers' residence had been on her speed dial ever since she'd first gotten the phone. If she called Kathryn any more than she already did, she reckoned that she could get a lower rate for dialling the same number so often. Like when you get lower rates for dialling specific countries.

"Thanks." Willow accepted it and made her way toward the bathrooms where it was quieter. When she returned, she was unable to speak. **It's all my fault...**

"Will, what is it?"

"Buffy's mom got a call from the hospital. Buffy was in a car accident."

"How is she?"

"Bad."

*****

When Angel arrived at room 307, he found a doctor and a nurse with her. The doctor was scribbling something onto her clipboard and the nurse had been hovering about, fixing the bedclothes. Her shoes squeaked every few steps and in the minute that Angel had been watching, he had begun to wonder how the doctors could stand such a nuisance.

The constant beeping of the heart monitor beside Buffy's bed retained a steady rhythm. *Beep*, *beep*, *beep* in time to the squeaking of the nurse's shoes. There were tubes running all over the place, connecting, possibly, to the interesting machine pumping away on the other side of the bed.

"Rose?" the doctor said to the nurse.

"Yes, doctor?"

"I think the sheets are okay now," the doctor looked up briefly from the clipboard to eye the perfectly unwrinkled sheets that covered her patient.

Rose nodded and apologised in her thick Southern accent. "Sorry. I'm just worried. Such a sweet looking girl shouldn't be in a place like this."

"I know, Rose. I know," the doctor replied, and hung the clipboard on the end of the bed.

Angel approached the door quietly, and accidentally bumped into Rose, who was hurrying back nervously to the nurses' station. "Sorry," Angel said, with his face down.

"Hey. Aren't you the guy they brought in with Miss Summers?"

"Yeah, how is she doing? Is she okay?"

"No. She's far from okay. Thanks to you."

Angel gulped nervously. "W-what happened? She's...she's my girlfriend."

"Really? If she really is your girlfriend, then I suppose that it was just coincidence that you crashed into her instead of somebody else, huh? Don't try your lies on me, Mr. Ferguson."

Angel had had enough. He wasn't about to be stopped by some random nurse. He needed to know how Buffy was doing. Was it too much to ask? Angel grabbed hold of the nurse by her shoulders. "I am *not* lying and I'm not a criminal either. I just want to know what happened to Buffy."

"S-sorry, but y-you'll h-have to ask the doctor. I-I-I can't help you..." Rose whimpered. Angel had been more intimidating than he intended to.

Angel relaxed his hold on her and softened his demeanour. He was taking out his anger and frustration out on the poor nurse who had done nothing except be concerned for the girl that he was in love with. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that," Angel cast his eyes to the ground, afraid to look anywhere else for fear of being met with accusatory eyes.

Rose noticed how genuinely distraught-looking he was and briefly wondered he would know that Miss Summers' name was Buffy. "Apology accepted. If you want to know how she is, maybe you should ask her family. We're not authorised to give details to anyone except the patient's family and relatives."

"Where?"

"The visitors' lounge, just around the corner," Rose pointed further down the hallway.

"Thank you," Angel replied with a slight sigh. He turned regretfully from Buffy's room to find her family. He didn't care that he probably looked like hell broken loose or that he was wearing a hospital gown that resembled a painting smock; he just wanted to know if Buffy was going to be okay...

***** Angel approached Mrs. Summers cautiously, not wanting to upset the poor woman more than she seemed to already be. Hank sat beside her, holding her hand in his for moral support. Dawn sat with a cold cup of cocoa in her hand. She hadn't even noticed that her hot cocoa had become cold...she'd been too worried to notice. Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia were also there, but looked as if they were about ready to leave. It was getting late and they all undoubtedly had curfews.

"Angel?" Joyce asked. She looked up at him with puffy, slightly teary, eyes that couldn't focus on any one object for more than a few seconds at a time. Her free hand played with the strap of her hand bag, fidgeting nervously as the hand on the clock on the wall ticked away.

"Mrs. Summers. I...I'm sorry. They wouldn't tell me what happened...could y-"

"The doctor said that she has a few fractured ribs, a broken arm and a bit of internal bleeding," Joyce ticked off each item off on her fingers slowly. "She also had a mild concussion as well, but she should be fine with a bit of rest. I hope she'll be okay...the last thing we need is for..."

"It'll be okay, Mrs. Summers," Angel sat down beside her and hung his head. "At least I hope she will."

"Don't blame it on yourself. We all make mistakes. And please, call me Joyce."

*****

The next morning, Angel woke up to find himself still in the visitors' lounge along with the rest of Buffy's family (minus Kathryn and Mr. Gordo of course). Angel rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and snuck a peek at the clock still ticking away on the wall. It was still pretty early. Only 8 o'clock. He wondered where his own parents were... **They probably came by, found me asleep, took Kathy home so that she could get to bed early and went to visit Granny Ferguson downstairs. They know I'm okay. See? There's a note. 'Gone to visit your grandmother. We can't leave Kathy at home for too much longer. Hope you'll feel better when we come by tomorrow after church.'**

Angel yawned and stretched his arms. He stood up and found his way to Buffy's room. To his surprise, she was awake and alert. In fact, she was trying to reach the glass of water on the table beside her bed and was struggling to do so without causing herself too much pain.

"Here," Angel said, startling her. He rushed over to help her place the cup so that the straw was positioned close enough to her mouth. "Are you okay? Do the doctors know you're awake?" He dragged a chair from the corner of the small 'room' (with mere curtains as partitions) and sat down beside her.

Buffy opened her mouth to say 'no' but only a raspy indistinguishable sound came out. Instead, she opted to shake her head a little bit in hope that Angel would know what she meant. Every part of her body hurt, but none so much as her neck. The pillows had been so uncomfortable that her neck felt strained, so much so that she didn't want to move in case she hurt herself even more than she already was. Shaking her head just the littlest bit hurt.

Angel watched as she flinched every time she took a sip, wondering if she would ever forgive him for being so careless. Angel closed his eyes for a few moments before beginning to speak, "I hope you won't hate me for causing this to happen, and I know that this isn't exactly the right moment to say this, but if I don't do it now, I'll never be able to."

Buffy coughed slightly and hoped it wasn't what she thought it was. **He's not going to tell me he loves Kathryn instead of me after banging me up like this is he? He isn't that cruel...is he? He hangs with Kathryn's crowd, why the hell not?** "Stop," she managed to say in a soft voice that she could hardly recognise as her own. The water had helped clear out her throat. "If you're only going to give me bad news, then leave."

Angel stayed in his spot. He shifted uncomfortably in the plastic chair identical to the ones in his own room when he had woken up just the night before. The action scared Buffy a little bit until she realised she had mistaken his discomfort for an indication that he bore bad news.

"Well...it depends on what you make of it. It could be either good or bad," Angel said. He took in a deep breath. He'd just been putting it off and putting it off, coming up with lame excuses and just convincing himself that he'd stuff it up. Shyness was, by no means, his kind of thing. It surprised him that he could be reduced into a bumbling little boy around a girl like Buffy. "I-I...I...I just wanted-...I mean, I..." Angel chuckled at his own behaviour. He was like a deer caught speeding by the police and taken to the station to be interrogated. Of course, it was ridiculous, but he was far from being a 'deer caught in headlights'.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous, I guess. What I'm trying to say is that...is that I love you. Not Kathryn; *you*. If you can't forgive me, then I'll understand perfectly. I was just in such a rush to get to the Bronze to see you that I didn't see the red light and by the time I did, it was already too late," Angel said, holding Buffy's hand comfortingly. "Not that I'm trying to make excuses," he added after a moment of realisation.

Buffy looked into his eyes and immediately recognised the sincerity that she found there. "There's nothing to forgive. We all make mistakes."

"That's exactly what your mother said. Like mother, like daughter."

"She loves you already, you know. She was probably even imagining you as her son-in-law," Buffy replied slowly. "And as you said, 'Like mother, like daughter.'" Buffy grinned as Angel reacted to the implications of what she had just said.

"Wha-...what?"

"I love you, too. And you're right. This isn't the right moment. I can't even lean over and give you a nice big kiss. Not that my breath is anything to be desired anyway."

"I don't care about that," Angel leaned over and gave her her 'nice big kiss'. He didn't want to be the cause of even more injury.

"You should probably tell the doctor that I'm awake...and that I hurt *everywhere*," Buffy leaned back into her pillows, noticing for the first time how incredibly strangely Angel was dressed.

"Everywhere?" Angel asked.

"Don't play smart with me. I may be in a good mood, but I have a nice big glass of water in my hands."

Angel got out of his chair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I promise to be good. Just let me see if I can find you a doctor."

*****

Kathryn found herself dragging herself over to the hospital after finding the note taped to her bedroom door. Something about Buffy being in the hospital. **Good riddance. If she dies, then it'll be well deserved. That should be a lesson to people who see their sister's boyfriend behind her back.**

Kathryn had not arrived home until late in the morning. It was at least ten in the morning and there was absolutely no one at home except Mai Lee. She had spent the night with the guy who refused to be called anything except 'Fray'. Stupid name, tough guy, tough gang. Kathryn had no objections to getting personal with a guy with power. And since he now owed her a few favours, she had every intention of cashing in.

But before she did, she wanted to inflict some emotional damage...thus the dragging.

*****

"Knock, knock," Kathryn poked her head through the curtains and smiled in a way that made Buffy feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Please, don't come in," Buffy continued to stare at the ceiling, thinking over the things that had happened in the past 24 hours. Specifically about the things that people had spoken to her about. The gifts were already beginning to accumulate in the corner. She had been moved down to the second floor as soon as the doctors saw that she was recovering better than they had expected. ICU had been filled to overflowing with victims involved in a bus crash, and since Buffy had no need of the attention given in ICU, she had been moved a few rooms down from Angel's. The ward down here was much quieter and the nurses weren't as nitpicky about visitors.

Hank had insisted she be moved into a private room, but Buffy had refused claiming to be too tired to be moving this way and that. She hated to be fussed over and it also meant that she would have to be moved somewhere that was far, far away from Angel. The ER was also located on the same floor and she didn't fancy her chances of getting any sleep at all through that noise.

Kathryn came in anyway and sat herself down on the chair with her purse neatly tucked under her arm. Her gaze was trained solely on the single bruise Buffy's forehead. It had turned an interesting mix of green, purple and yellow. It was almost a perfect circle and the colour made Buffy look paler than she actually was.

"Well? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to tell me what you came here to tell me?" Buffy asked in a non-committal tone of voice. She had wondered where Kathryn had disappeared to when she first woke up that morning, but after giving it a second thought and the sight of the wrinkled dress Kathryn was wearing, she decided that it was probably better to be left in the dark.

"I talked to Angel last night," Kathryn lied calmly.

"Oh really? And what did he say to you?" Buffy said without a change in her voice. She didn't want to give away the fact that she knew that her sister was lying. It was much more fun to hear everything her dear sister had to say...

After Angel found a doctor to check her over, he had sat by her bed and they had talked briefly. It was enough to understand that Angel no longer wanted anything to do with Kathryn and that she had almost tricked him into getting back together with her. 'Close but no cigar', as Faith always said.

"He told me that he wanted to make things right with me and that he realised that he was in love with me instead of you. And that I should break the news to you instead of him. He was too busy to do it himself..." Kathryn said. The phoniness of her sympathy was really getting to Buffy. It disturbed her that her sister would go to such lengths to be with anyone. Trickery, deception, lies, drugs, sex...

"Really? When was this? And why was he too busy?"

"Of course. You think I would lie to you about something like this? What am I talking about? You *would* think I'd lie to you. But I swear that I'm telling the truth." Kathryn kept a straight face and struggled not to burst into peals of laughter. All she had to do was answer Buffy's stupid questions and then have a little 'talk' with Angel. Then her plan would be complete. "He told me last night. And then... Well, I must look pretty bad this morning. I'm absolutely exhausted."

Kathryn was caught in a short daydream she kept having all the time. For a moment, she didn't even register where she was, though she snapped back into reality when she felt cold water being poured on her. Buffy winced in pain from the action, but the expression on Kathryn's face made it all worth it.

"Leave," Buffy said angrily. She had had enough of the lies and the little things Kathryn did that made her tick. She couldn't stand it anymore and she no longer wanted to be in the same state as her sister, let alone the same room.

Kathryn looked down at the large wet patch on her expensive grey dress and slicked her wet hair away from her face. She probably looked far less than adequate than she had been when she had left the house that morning—absolutely terrible. For that, she was beyond pissed and at the moment, all she wanted was to give Buffy a nice big punch. Anywhere was fine with her, just as long as it hurt. She would have done it if it wasn't a hospital and if there weren't security guards patrolling the whole building. Not to mention the little button Buffy sure had finger poised above to signal to the nurses' station that she needed help.

Kathryn clenched her fist. It was so tempting...but it wasn't worth the risk. She simply fixed herself up, picked her purse up from the ground where she had dropped it and took off running out of the building.

Buffy smiled with content. She'd wanted to embarrass her sister ever since Junior High and now that she finally had, it was about time she got to bask in her glory.

Meanwhile, Joyce, Hank, Dawn, Angel, Angel's family, Willow, Xander, Faith, Spike and Cordelia wondered what the hell had caused Kathryn to dash out in the fashion that she had. They found Buffy smiling with the glass in her hand standing empty.

"What happened?" Joyce asked suspiciously.

"I embarrassed her. Oops."

*****

Kathryn kept running until she found an available cab to take her where she wanted. She was going to see Fray again and finally ask for a favour. She wanted revenge and she wanted it as soon as she could. **She's not even going to see what hit her... That little bitch will pay for making me look like such dope. Finding and talking to Angel will have to come afterward...or not.** Kathryn gave the driver the address of her new destination. Her grim determination didn't stop her when she found the Ferguson house empty and decided to check every single place she could think of.

She would find him and tell him that Buffy despised him...and then she would get Fray's gang to do their thing...

Part 17

Kathryn rung the bell impatiently and peeked through the two windows on either side of the front door of Angel's house. After concluding that nobody was home, she walked to the Gunn residence a few blocks down from Angel's place. He wasn't at Gunn's.

She checked the houses of everyone who she thought might know of the whereabouts of her boyfriend. (Or in reality: her ex-boyfriend.)

Exhausted and lacking enthusiasm, Kathryn trudged home and finally lay down to catch a bit of shuteye. She had not slept for over 24 hours and she was certainly not a very happy camper. The light streaming through the large windows of her room only reminded her that it was not yet dark out. Her heart beat sped up, and she felt as if the thermostat had just been turned up a few notches too many. She felt tired all over, but she wanted nothing more than go partying until the wee hours of the morning. **I'm okay. There's nothing wrong with me at all...yeah, keep convincing yourself that Kathryn...**

Kathryn lay with her eyes wide open until the effect of the drugs in her system engulfed her in unconsciousness. The sweat on her cold skin collected in wet droplets that ran down her back and forehead and onto the freshly laundered bedspread.

Mai Lee whistled quietly as she opened the door of Kathryn's room to hang up the clothes she had just finished ironing. She found Kathryn asleep and tried not to disturb her. Mai Lee quietly hung the clothes in the wardrobe and tiptoed out as quickly as she could. When she closed the door behind her, she realised that Kathryn seemed a little too...unpresentable.

Mai Lee inched the door open and stepped back into the room. Quietly, she shuffled over to the other side of the bed to check if something was wrong. She was breathing, that was for sure since her chest rose up and lowered back down with every inhalation and exhalation. Mai Lee pressed two fingers to Kathryn's neck. Her pulse was a bit too fast for Mai Lee to believe that Kathryn was just sleeping. Mai Lee grabbed hold of Kathryn's shoulders and shook her awake. To her surprise, Kathryn responded by slapping her, violently across the cheek before falling back into slumber.

Mai Lee wasn't about to give up. She lifted one eyelid and found that Kathryn's pupil had become extremely wide. It was strange...and abnormally large and dark. Mai Lee grabbed Kathryn's shoulders and hoisted her up until she was sitting upright.

Kathryn woke within seconds, blinking her eyes against the light still pouring through the windows. "What the fuck?"

"Miss Kathryn! Your mother did not teach you about rude words?" Mai Lee spoke in less than fluent English.

"Can you get me a glass of water?" Kathryn was awake and alert again...and thirsty as well.

"No! No water!"

"What? How can there be no water?"

"No, no, no! Water not good after fainting. Must not give you any fluids."

Kathryn rolled her eyes and fell back against the pillows with her arms crossed over her chest. Denial—that was what this was. She couldn't admit that her body was strong enough to hack the amount of cocaine she had been consuming recently.

"I didn't faint. I just lost consciousness for a few moments. I'll be okay...just a little...dizzy. That's all."

"Otherwise known as fainting. Now sit up so the blood goes away from your head," Mai Lee said. She repositioned the pillows and made Kathryn sit up with her back parallel to the headboard with the pillows in between. "I will call your mother and ask her to come back straight away."

Kathryn grabbed a hold of Mai Lee's wrist just a moment before she got too far away. "Don't tell her."

Mai Lee hesitated for a second before prying Kathryn's fingers from her wrist. "Whatever you wish, Miss Kathryn."

*****

"Oh, I could just rip her throat out. That conniving, devious, perfidious, scheming, crooked, evil little bitch...-y streetwalker...-ish person. How could she?" Buffy said to Angel. The bleakness of the hospital was beginning to really get to her, as were the constant stream of doctors, nurses, funny smells, bad food and contraptions of all sorts. Her chest was hurting like hell and her immobile arm itched every time she managed to ignore the pain from her fractured ribs. This all made for an uncomfortable experience; one that had not yet even lasted a whole 24 hours.

"Well, you said it yourself. She's that evil bitchy streetwalkerish person you've been rambling on about for the past half an hour or so."

"But I want to understand why she'd go to such extremes. She's never ever had a single boyfriend for over a month."

"Huh? She hasn't?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow. Buffy just shook her head. "Maybe she's...I don't know...attached?"

"Maybe. Can I just ask why you chose me though?" Buffy asked with a smile.

"Because I realised that I love you," Angel said. He took her free hand and rubbed it gently.

"I know. But what took so long? What was so...great about Kathryn?"

"It's the whole popularity thing. That's about it. She's not such a bad person if she doesn't hate you. You said so yourself, you two used to be attached at the hip. You two sound like the Olsen twins... How scary is THAT thought?"

Buffy giggled momentarily and looked straight into Angel's eyes. His eyes shone with such...emotion. She regretted being stuck in the godforsaken hospital and having chosen to drive instead of walking. **Sorry Cordy. Looks like Xander had to walk you home.** "I guess... It still bugs me that I never found out why she wanted to join Cordelia's crowd in the first place. She was so angry at me...and I don't even know why. In the end, I guess I'm the one who fucked her up."

"Buffy. Don't blame yourself. She chose her own path."

"Yeah, and I put in the detour signs."

"Buffy..."

"I know, I know. But for a while, I had a few...doubts about your feelings for me. I mean, I was thinking that you were supposed to know, like, straight away and that it wouldn't be hard to decide. But then I realised that love isn't simple...and when I looked into your eyes just then; I knew it was genuine," Buffy said in voice just above a whisper. "And it's extra special to know that you'd break traffic rules to tell me."

Angel chuckled for a moment at Buffy's take on it all. Buffy the optimist...her glass was very much half full. Well, until it was emptied on Kathryn. "I'll always still be sorry about it though. And then you'll have that itchy, broken arm in that cast for a few weeks and then your ribs...well... I'm so sorry."

"Darn. And I had this whole vengeance thing planned as well. Now I'll be stuck in bed with the whole fractured ribs thing and the itchy broken arm...and cold feet," Buffy pouted.

Angel loved how mature she could be and then so suddenly become an adorable, childish little girl the next minute. "Well then I guess I'll have to distract you so you won't feel it then. And then I'll have to bring you hot water bottles and chicken soup."

"Or you could just distract me," Buffy teased. "Come 'ere already."

"At your service," Angel said, leaning over to take her lips in loving kiss.

"Yum. I love chicken soup...almost as much as I like these kinds of distractions," Buffy grinned.

Grace, the nurse that Angel had met last night at the nurses' station popped her head in with a large bunch of flowers in her arms. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not when you come bearing more gifts," Buffy flashed the old nurse a bright smile.

Grace smiled back. All of the nurses who had encountered the young girl had been immediately enchanted with her. The cheerfulness expressed in her actions had been a strange quality for the old nurses who were never used to polite and cheery patients very often before. Especially one who had just been in a car accident and had acquired several injuries in various parts of her body. "No worries. I'll be quick anyway. I just have to put these beautiful lilies in some water. I'm sure that awful Mr. Williams in 302 will be in need of something again. He just doesn't know when to stop pressing that button."

Buffy laughed, trying not to show that it hurt her chest to be laughing as she currently was. She was dreading and welcoming the day when she would be able to go home. The food was absolutely terrible, but the pain was less due the injections they had given her to relieve the pain. **Did I already say the food was terrible? Cos, well, yuck. It's absolutely disgusting. It's ten times worse than airline food.** "I can imagine," Buffy said, thinking about the way Kathryn used to order her around. Thinking back on it, she couldn't believe that was what she was like only two months ago. "Who are the flowers from? Was there a note?"

Grace plucked the small square-shaped card with a red heart motif on its front from the plastic clip buried among the stalks of the white and yellow lilies. "Here," Grace handed it to Buffy with a smile. "You don't suppose that it's from a secret admirer do you?"

Angel silently watched the exchange with interest.

Buffy flipped open the card after inspecting the words printed across the middle of the bright red heart on the front. 'All my love...' **Who could it be?**

Buffy's smile widened and she raised her eyes from the card to look into Angel's. "That's so sweet Angel. How?"

Grace left the couple alone, reminiscing about her own teenage years when she had been young and in love. Of course, she had ended up marrying her high school sweetheart. It brought back fond memories of when her husband was still alive. It plucked at her heartstrings that those kinds of relationships still existed in this modern era.

"I got my dad to help me. He likes you a lot...it's almost as if he thinks he's playing matchmaker. When I go home, I'll tell him the truth. They're not letting me go until they check me over later tonight. I'm just about good to go right now. And then I could go home and make some chicken soup and bring you some to rescue you from the stuff they somehow pass as food around here. My mum brought some, but Kathy gobbled it down before I got a chance to," Angel shrugged. "Do you like the flowers?"

"I love them. And the card too," Buffy shut the card and put it flat down on the table in front of her. There was still a small container of green Jell-O sitting uneaten next to the freshly refilled plastic jug of water. She had been experiencing a little bit of pain when she had been eating earlier, but she didn't really want to worry Angel anymore than she was sure he was. His brow was always slightly furrowed...but right now, he looked pleased that he had brought another smile to her face.

"Has the doctor spoken to you again?" Angel asked, the furrow returning to his brow.

"He said I could go home in a few days," she announced excitedly. "He said that they were worried that I would slip into a coma because of my concussion, but I just need to stay here a little bit longer."

"I’m glad you’re okay," Angel said, dropping his gaze to his hands. "Look-"

"*Don't* worry about it. Please?"

Angel hesitated. He felt so guilty about putting his beloved through all this...bullshit. He wished he could just scream out his love for her from the rooftop, but he still had to tell Kathryn. "Okay...on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Tell me all about that vengeance thing you mentioned earlier."

Buffy grinned. She was wondering when he would ask about that...

Part 18

A few days later, Kathryn STILL couldn't find Angel. He was never at home, never at school, never answering her calls and everyone she asked always seemed to not know where the heck he was. It was as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth. And to bake her noodle even more, Buffy had made such an improvement that she was able to come home. However, she had to stay in a wheelchair to prevent further injury. The doctor's orders were to just rest, but Buffy wasn't able to stay in bed for very long before she felt the need to move around and do ordinary stuff.

Kathryn stepped through the front door after a long and exhausting day at school. Mostly due to Mrs. La Croix again... Kathryn sighed and scanned the hallway for signs of...well, anyone except Mr. Gordo. He sat up as if he were more important than he really was before hissing at her and dashing up the stairs in record time.

Kathryn raised her eyebrows in curiosity. **Why does that damned cat always do that?** She shrugged and dropped her keys on the hall table. Glancing down toward the ground, she noticed a backpack. Not hers, not Dawn's, not Buffy's...definitely nobody who lived here. **Who the hell does it belong to then?**

Kathryn headed up the stairs and put her own stuff in her room before checking every single room for signs of the visitor...or intruder. **Hey, maybe it was a murderer out to kill Buffy...or not. Who the heck would want to kill a little nobody like Buffy?**

Kathryn carefully inched the door of the last room open. Buffy's door creaked open loudly to reveal Buffy and Angel involved in a heated lip-lock on the bed.

**That...fucking...bastard...** Kathryn clenched her fists. She didn’t even register the pain of her sharp nails digging into the flesh of her palm. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Surely she was hallucinating...right?

Buffy thought she heard a noise. Like the door creaking open. She pulled away from the kiss and saw her sister standing there, mouth gaping open and fists clenched so tightly that Buffy wondered whether she should be concerned about Kathryn's wellbeing.

Angel was about as shocked to see Kathryn as Kathryn was to see him. He was relieved though. He had been hoping that he wouldn't have to say it to her face. She had that intimidating glare...it made just about everyone feel small and in significant when she used it; even someone who was taller than herself. "Kathryn."

"I don't want an explanation," Kathryn said bitterly. She spun around and left the room, slamming the door behind her. She hurried down the stairs and picked up her bag along with her keys and unknowingly almost caused the front door to slam into Dawn's nose when she slammed it behind her.

"Hey!" Dawn protested.

"Fuck off," Kathryn spit out as she ran down the front steps. She was in a hurry. She needed to talk to Fray. And for the second time in her life, Kathryn felt betrayed by her sister.

*****

...Junior High...a few years previous...

"Kathryn?" Buffy asked uncertainly.

"Yeah?"

"Promise you won't fall into the wrong crowd?"

"I promise."

**

"She was saying that about me?" Kathryn screeched.

Cordelia nodded. "I know that it must be horrible to find out that your best-friend-slash-twin-sister had betrayed you." Cordelia sympathised, wondering if any of what Harmony had said was actually true. She only knew that she liked the twins—a lot—and was disappointed that Buffy had already befriended Willow Rosenberg. **Oh well. Her loss.**

*****

Buffy was frightened out of her slumber by the loud knocking on the door. Not her bedroom door; her front door...and her back door. She looked at her alarm clock. **Gosh, we must've gotten sleepy.** Buffy rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to adjust to the light. **Stupid people...it was good dream too!**

Angel—who had fallen asleep in the chair he had been sitting in the whole time—woke moments later, confused as Buffy was. "What the fuck is going on?" He hurried to the window and looked outside. There was a group of tough looking guys pounding on the back door. That was all he could see except for the cluster of less tough-looking guys watching worriedly. **What the fuck do they want?**

"What's going on, Angel?" Buffy asked. She felt so helpless...it sounded a lot like a riot outside, without the shouting or destruction.

"I’m not quite sure, but I think that it's that gang that Kathryn was rumoured to have."

"Great. Sex, drugs, lies, betrayal, deceit AND gangs. What the hell is wrong with her?" Buffy shook her head and slipped on a robe to fend off the cool November air. "Where's Dawn? And Mr. Gordo?"

Dawn burst into Buffy's room right on cue, with Mr. Gordo scooped protectively in her arms. "What’s happening?"

"It's a gang. Maybe I should talk to them; find out what they want. Buffy, you call the cops. Dawn, find a closet to hide in." Angel grabbed the cordless phone from Buffy's desk and handed it to her to make it easier for Buffy.

"Be careful!" Buffy shouted before worriedly punching in the three elusive numbers. It was easy to remember when your mind was clear and when you weren't feeling quite up to scratch. Every single number that had been imprinted in her memory ran through her mind before Dawn shook her out of her daze.

"Buffy! Call 911 already!"

*****

Angel peeked through the peep hole of the front door and found that the group who had previously been doing their level best to knock it off its hinges had decided to adopt a tough demeanour instead of wasting their energy on pounding the door instead of the people behind it. **Must be a strong door...** He scanned the few he could see through the small opening. **At least it isn't a racial gang.** Caucasians, Wogs, Asians, African-Americans...all very assorted.

Angel's gaze rested on one particular blonde...the only one who he recognised in the whole crowd.

Angel quickly flung open the door. "Penn?"

All eyes turned to look at Penn. "Angel? What are you doing here?"

Angel trained his stare on the man he thought he had trusted. He was in a gang...and he didn't even tell him. Angel's brow furrowed. "I'm visiting my injured girlfriend. You care to explain?"

"Hey, hey, hey. What is this? Are we going to have a tea party and share gossip or are we gonna do what we're here to do?" one of the tougher gangsters asked Penn. The gangster was dressed head-to-toe with leather and spoke with an odd lilt in his voice. His lips were cracked and dry and his hands were large—good for punching, bad for being punched with.

"We don't want any trouble," Angel told the gangster defiantly. He wasn't about to be intimidated by some guy who had probably been wearing the same pair of underpants for the past three days. He reeked of cigarette smoke and body odour. The name stitched on the jacket said "Larry", but Angel doubted that that was the guy's name.

"Don't want any trouble? Well maybe you shouldn't have stuck your nose where it didn't belong," he grumbled irritably. "I don't know what the heck it is that we're pounding you asses for, and I don't care."

Penn took the liberty (and the risk) to butt in. "I know why. Your ex called in a favour from Fray. They go *way* back. But we go even further."

Angel was shocked. **Penn's been friends with some no-good gang leader and he hasn't even mentioned a single word of it to me? And Kathryn was too?** "Kathryn."

Becoming bored, a few of the gang members began to disperse, leaving just Penn and the other gangster with Angel. "This is because of a girl? Why do I even bother? Maybe I should just...hand him over to the police or something. It's always about him and a girl. And I never ONCE saw his entire face. Like Wilson on Home Improvement."

"Then why is he the leader?" Angel asked out of curiosity. The gangster guy didn't seem so bad after all. At least his morals weren't out of whack like this 'Fray' person that Penn had mentioned moments ago. Whatever happened to "ladies first"?

"He isn't the leader cos he's got pansy name like 'Fray'. It's because he's got money. He compensates well," Penn shrugged.

"I'd REALLY like to know what his real name is," the gangster mumbled under his breath.

"He told me to keep it a secret...but I'm really beginning to hate the gay little fucker. Sebastian Valmont. You can even look him up in the phone book," Penn said angrily.

"I'll have to remember that," Angel mumbled. The police car sirens wailed from a few streets down, signalling to Penn and Co. that it was a good time to get lost. "Thanks."

*****

Kathryn didn't return home that night, instead staying with Fray for the night. Kathryn had gone home in the middle of the night to grab a few clothes and to refill her crucifix without bothering to check any of the other rooms for signs of havoc. The incentive just wasn't there. And there were more important issues to address—she looked totally fucked up. She felt about as trashed as she looked.

Kathryn had somehow tidied up in time to turn up for school looking decidedly presentable. She used concealer to cover up the dark circles under her eyes she had received from the complete lack of sleep she had been getting lately. She grabbed a few tissues from the box on her desk and shoved them into her bag. Her nose bleeds were becoming more frequent, but she didn't care; she just wanted to get back the feeling she got when she first started using cocaine. It didn't matter that the addiction costed her a fortune, just that she could one day achieve the same high as she had just over a year ago...it was...wow...

Kathryn checked her reflection briefly in the hall mirror and hurried to school in record time. Although 'record time' would be more closely defined as 'still late'. By about half a period.

When she arrived, she felt as if there was something strange going on. It was...it was like everyone was looking at her. Staring at her like she was a fiend that had to locked away and punished. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling to have all eyes trained on her in such an accusatory way. Kathryn had had enough after just a few minutes and made her way angrily to the nearest girls' toilets.

Kathryn took out a tissue and started dabbing at the small trickle of blood beginning to flow from her right nostril. It undoubtedly one of the worst side effects. Kathryn checked the stalls for other occupants and found none. She quickly whipped out her crucifix and unscrewed the top and snorted up the fine, white powder. When she was done, she screwed the lid back on and washed her hands. Her nose was still bleeding, but it was just about to stop so Kathryn tipped her head back and pinched the ridge of her nose, hoping that it would work.

Kathryn tipped her head back down to stare at her reflection in the mirror again. She cleaned the excess blood and applied fresh lipstick. Kathryn picked up her bag and pushed open the door. **English be damned. Who needs to know about Othello and his bitch anyway?**

She angrily trudged to the courtyard, not looking where she was going as she walked. The few people wandering around the halls made it a point to stay as far away as possible from her, carrying sheets of paper that Kathryn idly wondered about.

Kathryn bit her lip, not caring that she just ruined her newly applied lippy and sped up her pace. Turning the corner, she bumped into the hard metal of a wheelchair. A wheelchair with Buffy in it. And Angel pushing it. With her mother next him. And her father. "Ow. What's the hell is going on?"

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see her so-called friends whispering among themselves with Cordelia as their unruly leader. In Cordelia's hands were a stack of papers; the same as the ones that Kathryn had been seeing people carrying around, always with the face down—it was a whole big conspiracy; of that, Kathryn was sure. "Would you like one?" Cordelia asked her sarcastically.

"Cut the crap Cordy," Kathryn bit out harshly. **She's backstabbing me?** Kathryn snatched the piece of paper angrily from the girl's hand and braced herself.

"Isn't it funny how people who are completely different can be such good friends?" Cordelia asked. Xander appeared from behind Kathryn and slipped his arm around Cordelia's waist.

"What do you mean by that?" Kathryn said. She was angry; very much so.

"Well, your sister and I talked. We bonded. Buffy came up with the idea. I guess we just did what no one else wanted to do. We got the fliers printed for free since Mrs. Ross so kindly offered. The downfall of the Student Body President because of drug use. She thought it was a VERY worthy cause. They turned out well don't you think?"

"And him?"

"Xander? He was walking me home and he saved me from a mugger. We kinda just...clicked."

A few other students had begun to accumulate. No one had had their first period classes because Principal Snyder had called an assembly to address the issue with Kathryn, which he had not even found out about until he stumbled upon Mrs. Goldsmith talking to Mrs. Ross early that morning. Obviously, something had to be done about it. Snyder being the most anti-drug aware principal in the district, he would not tolerate having the Student Body President of his campus being a coke-addict.

"Young lady, you have become such a disappointment to us over the last few months," Joyce began, "so your father and I have decided to do what's right and put you in rehabilitation. We want you to get better and we want you to understand that this isn't a healthy way to live." Joyce gently pried the bag from Kathryn's hands. She dug into the inside pocket to reveal the crucifix that was hidden within. Joyce unscrewed the lid and angrily tipped out the contents into the bin.

Hank shook his head; he was unable to believe that his precious Kathryn had been deceiving them with her...act all this time. He was also unable to believe that he had fallen for it. They had gotten used to her tantrums after a while and he had always just told himself that the tantrums were justifiable. And the thing that upset him most was that Buffy had kept it a secret all this time.

Kathryn didn't say a word. She knew that no amount of manipulation would get her out of the predicament. She cast her eyes to the ground and let the single tear that had welled up to escape and run down her cheek. "So, you got what you wanted," she spoke, seemingly to everyone who had hated her over the years.

"Yeah, well, you can't always be the biggest bitch in Sunnydale High," Cordelia remarked snidely.

Kathryn lifted her head to look her twin sister straight in the eyes. "You betrayed me." **I betrayed myself.**

She didn't struggle when they led her off the campus. She just couldn't find the strength or the will to try. She knew she needed help. She knew it a long time ago.

"Will she go to jail?" Buffy asked Angel quietly.

"Not for long," he replied, watching Kathryn walking away with her parents and Principal Snyder. He briefly wondered why she didn't seem to be angry or unco-operative. **Because she wants this.**

"I betrayed her," Buffy whispered so softly that Angel could hardly even hear it.

"No you didn't."

"Yes. I did. She's my sister; my twin. I promised her...and I betrayed her."

"No. Don't blame yourself. I think, in a way, she wanted it to happen," Angel knelt to look her in the eye. "Besides, didn't you say that she deserved it anyway? Think of it this way: you're helping her get better." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and gently slipped his hand under her head and brought her lips to meet his.

Angel slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small, black, velvet box.

"Shit. You're not proposing are you?" Buffy asked; her eyes grew as wide as they could possibly go. "I'm not sure that...commitment is the best option for us. You know, at such a young age. Not that I NEVER want to. Just...you know-"

"Buffy? Can you maybe just let me talk first?" Angel asked, thoroughly amused by Buffy's reaction. He glanced around and found them in the midst of a large (and rather curious) crowd of peers, watching with eyes almost as wide as Buffy's had been.

Angel laughed without humour and wheeled Buffy into the nearest empty room—which so happened to be the library—so that they could have more privacy. Angel briefly checked for any other occupants and wheeled Buffy right up to the large wooden table standing in the middle of the room. Angel sat down in the nearest wooden chair and shuffled (chair and all) as close as he could to his girlfriend. He fished out the small box once again from his pants pocket.

Angel opened the box and showed Buffy the delicate piece of Irish jewellery. It was small, silver ring depicting a pair of hands holding a heart which was wearing a crown—a claddagh. "I want you to have this."

"What's the occasion?"

"Not much. The hands represent friendship, the crown—loyalty and the heart...well it represents love. You wear it with the heart pointing towards you; it means you belong to somebody. Like this," Angel held up his hand, showing the matching ring shining proudly on his finger.

Angel took out the tiny ring and slipped it onto her finger—it fit perfectly. Buffy's eyes sparkled with unreleased tears. She blinked, causing the tears to spill down her cheeks. "I love you," Angel whispered breathlessly.

"I love you too," Buffy replied. She kissed him as passionately as she could before her ribs started hurting her from the lack of air.

"I hope you get better soon," Angel said regretfully.

"And then what? We'll screw like bunnies?" Buffy joked light-heartedly, pressing her forehead to his.

Angel laughed, "You DO realise that Giles is standing right behind you, right?"

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