Part 13

After enjoying a delicious meal cooked by none other than Joyce and Dawn Summers, they watched a few movies that Buffy had unearthed from the back of the cupboard and finally went to bed at a little past midnight. Tomorrow would entail an early start (well, at least that was what was written in Giles' itinerary). Not exactly a pleasant notion for night owls like Spike and Faith.

However, there was never a doubt in anyone's mind that Spike would do almost anything to go to the Passions set, where Buffy had been able to get backstage passes due to Giles' connections with the producers. They'd also been pestering her to agree to guest star on the show-which she'd adamantly refused many times. They just didn't stop with the pester.

Buffy rubbed the sleep from her eyes and slapped the button on the top of the alarm to shut it up. **Fuck. If only every morning were so pleasant...not.**

Buffy squinted at the digital numbers displayed in blue from her limited edition Powerpuff Girls clock. She could imagine fans laughing over it. What could she say? She *was* a normal girl, after all.

Slipping on a pair of fluffy blue slippers, she started to head toward the door. Gazing around at her room, she frowned. **How'd it get so messy?** She picked up an armful of clothes and shoved them into her wardrobe, not really wanted to touch on the whole messiness issue. It was Saturday for goodness sakes. No room cleaning for Buffy.

Grabbing her robe from the hanger on the back of her door, she slipped it on and headed out the door. She dawdled to the end of the hallway, seeing as it seemed to already be occupied already anyway. **Shit! I'm busting, hurry up whoever it is! I need to pee!**

Not able to stay still, Buffy paced back and forth in front of the door. **Whoever it is, I'm gonna kill them. I know I could go to the bathroom downstairs or the one on the end of the hallway, but whoever it is-who shall be dead as soon as they get out-could very possibly be done before I reach another bathroom. Hurry up! I'm gonna-**

Buffy's thoughts were interrupted when she crashed into the person who'd occupied the bathroom while pacing and in deep and angered thought at the same time. The one whom she had cursing just moments before. It was obviously a man. Large, muscular chest, perfectly tanned, dripping wet from having had a shower, wearing only a towel...Buffy bit her lip at the sight. She meekly lifted her head to make sure it was who she thought it was. She found him smiling at her in amusement. **Oh God, I think I'm gonna pee my pants. He looks so yummy! And sexy, did I mention sexy? I better not have a trail of saliva running down the corner of my mouth. Fuck! He's so hot... Kill me now, but I may be in heaven already. A yummy heaven!**

"Enjoying the view?" Angel finally asked.

"Uh-huh..." Buffy said without even knowing what it was that he'd asked. She blinked, snapping her (slightly) out of her reverie. "I mean, what are you talking about?"

Angel just laughed, enjoying the opportunity to get an eyeful. No make up, messed up hair, in her Wonder Woman pyjama pants, a singlet top and a loosely tied satin robe. "Wonder Woman?"

"Hey! Don't mock Wonder Woman. I used to watch it all the time," Buffy defended herself. **You. Are. Busting. To. Pee. Go already! The only problem is moving...he's too hot for me to want to move.**

"I'm feeling a little underdressed, so I should, uh," Angel trailed off, not able to resist her lips. They looked so soft, so kissable. He brought a hand to tuck a loose section of golden hair behind her ear. **Good enough to nibble...although having a hard-on while dressed only in a towel is VERY not good, I can't resist...kissing her.**

His hand trailed down her neck and under her chin. He ran his thumb along her lip. It was perfectly moist, perfectly kissable. He tipped her chin up and lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was tentative at first, but it grew passionate, with Angel pressing her against him in their first real kiss. As they finally broke apart, Buffy's mouth flew agape.

"Wow, that was...uh..." she was literally speechless. She couldn't even say how amazing the kiss was. She'd been kissed before, but it never felt quite like this before. It was...incredible.

"Intense?" Angel suggested.

Buffy nodded, "It was incredible..."

"But...?" Angel asked, sensing that she had more to say than 'it was incredible' even though she was speechless.

"But I'm busting to go to the toilet," Buffy finally said, pushing past him to get into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Okay. That was new," Angel said to himself. Looking down, he was relieved to see that the towel was still in place. **Phew. How embarrassing would it have been if it came off? Ugh, I don't even want to think about THAT...**

*****

It wasn't until later on that Buffy had allowed herself to remember what had happened and found how stupid it must have seemed. Of course, hormones had taken over control at the time-not to mention, her bladder-and, thus, hadn't really been aware of her actions. Especially not after that kiss; she could go on for ages about how incredible it was, but then she'd only end up repeating herself.

**Enough about the new, embarrassing me though. Which dress should I wear? The pink, the purple, the blue or the yellow?** Buffy had four outfits spread out on her bed, each consisting of a different coloured dress (all different in design, of course), each with matching accessories-shoes, jewellery, bags and jackets and all that. Not being able to decide, she put one hand over her eyes and pointed her index finger towards her bed. She waved her arm in a figure-of-eight until she stopped the movement abrupt. Removing her hand from over her eyes, she found herself pointing at the purple dress. **Ooh, nice.**

Buffy glanced over at the clock. Just enough time to have breakfast and then get changed. Tossing the other three outfits onto one of her chairs and putting her jewellery back into her jewellery box, she headed downstairs toward the welcoming smell of bacon, eggs and toast. **Yum... Hmm, I wonder if mom got any ice cream for me... She knows how much I like that cookie dough fudge mint chip.**

Following her nose, she found Dawn, Gunn, Faith and Spike already eating and going about their business. Her mother was in the kitchen, frying the last of the pancake batter-assisted, surprisingly, by Angel. There was already a large stack of toast and pancakes on the dining table (though quickly being polished off by Spike and Gunn) as well as a plate of fried eggs and strips of bacon.

"Wow, what a way to wake up the troops. Where's Cordelia?" Buffy asked, taking a plate from the stack on the kitchen bench and taking a seat at the table. She grabbed a slice of toast, a fried egg, a few rashers of bacon and the remaining half-pancake that had survived Spike and Gunn's attack.

"Hogging the bathroom. Where else?" Spike answered cheerfully.

"Here's some more, kids," Joyce announced as she rested the two plates of freshly cooked food on the table. "Gosh, I haven't even eaten yet. Thanks to Angel, at least I'll get to eat some before I have to go to brunch with Lilah. Oh, and drop your sister off at her dance class." Joyce shot her daughter a Look.

"Sorry mom. I just figured you wouldn't have benefited from me and my klutzy ways," Buffy replied truthfully. "Besides, I saw you already had plenty of help," she smiled at her boyfriend, who, unfortunately, was now dressed. **Oh well, I still have a pretty good memory of what he looks like half-Monty and dripping wet. Hey! How come he has to be the only one who's properly dressed?** Buffy frowned and continued to enjoy her breakfast.

"Mo-om! Buffy ate the last of the bacon!" Dawn complained as soon as she noticed the last few pieces missing. "And it was good bacon, too...it wasn't burnt!"

"Ooh, breakfast," Cordelia said, barging in the room so suddenly that everyone almost dropped their cutlery.

"You should really try the orange juice," Faith commented, knowing perfectly well that it was sourer than a lemon. The rest of them laughed inwardly, knowing what Faith meant. "Really, it's got no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives." She took a glass and poured Cordelia a small glassful. "Here."

"Uh...okay," Cordelia said, taking the glass. She took a wary sip and made a face. "I think that maybe I've still got the taste of toothpaste in my mouth or something, but that does NOT taste sweet. Ugh, gross. Is there any coffee?"

"Sorry, ran out because Gunn had two cups and used the last of the good beans," Joyce replied, spreading out her newspaper innocently. She knew what Buffy's friends were up to-she decided that she didn't really like the girl either. In some ways, she was worse than Lilah. After the way she'd behaved at dinner the previous night and had acted during her stay with the Summers'.

"We're leaving in half an hour. You'll either have to eat normally and dress really fast, or eat really fast and dress normally," Buffy informed Cordelia. The rest of them were just about finished eating and she hadn't even sat down yet.

"Oh," Cordelia looked around as the rest of them rinsed their dishes in the sink, "well then Angel can keep me company. You know, seeing as he's already dressed."

Angel was just about to reply when Buffy grabbed his arm, "Can't. He's coming with me."

"Yeah, uh, Buffy promised to show me something," Angel covered lamely.

"Don't take too long," Joyce called out to her daughter and her friends.

"What was *that* all about?" Cordelia asked as soon as they were out of sight.

"Buffy hasn't had a boyfriend for about two years. You'll have to excuse her," Joyce replied, not taking her attention off her newspaper. "Would you like some *instant* coffee?"

*****

"So, why did you make me come with you?" Angel asked as soon as he heard the door click closed.

"What? Did you want to stay there and have a conversation with Cordelia?" Buffy asked in a surprised tone.

"Well, it would've been interesting-" Angel cut his sentence short. "Well, you sure aren't a neat freak." He blinked to see if it was his eyes that were playing with him. But sure enough, there were clothes and assorted things strewn around the room, books and CDs on the floor, a stack of Cosmopolitans in the corner with a small pile of soft toys on and around it and what looked like the strap of a bra sticking out from under a pile of clothes at the end of the bed; it was the messiest room he'd ever seen. Far worse than his and Spike's combined. As well as clothes, there were several sheets of lined binder paper on the floor with words scribbled in pencil on them.

"Yeah, Giles tells me off about it, too," she dashed around the room, trying furiously to neaten it up a bit. She tucked the bra strap underneath the pile of clothes and hung a few things up on hangers. Spotting a few sheets of paper, she frantically picked them up and shoved them into her desk drawer. She'd scribbled ideas on the paper for her next album-topics for songs, styles of music and a few lines of song lyrics. Okay, a few pages.

"Well I don't blame him if your room in Sunnydale is anything like this. And seeing that you don't even live here..."

"Don't tell him you said that. He'll chuck a happy," she replied, pulling the drapes shut over her windows. "I'm just always too busy." Buffy ran across to the other side of her room, but was stopped by Angel. "What?"

"Buffy, what are you doing?" Angel asked in confusion.

"Closing the blinds so no one will see us through the windows? Cos then they take pictures and put them in magazines and come up with nifty captions next to them saying something like 'Who's Buffy's new boytoy?'."

"Oh, well, I'll go if-"

"No, stay. You have nothing to do anyway...besides, I'm just getting changed," she picked up the dress from her bed and took it off its hanger.

"What-"

She shrugged off her robe and tossed it on her bed beside her perfectly planned outfit. Angel stared wide-eyed at her half-bare back. Well, at least until she turned around and he found himself staring at her breasts-covered, of course, by a flimsy pink singlet top. "Oh, I'm not changing right here. That's what the really big walk-in wardrobe is for."

Buffy emerged a minute later, dressed, but otherwise in a bit of a mess. "What do you think?"

Angel blinked; he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Never in his wildest dreams would he have even considered that Buffy Summers would ask him about his opinion on what she was wearing. He snapped out of it with a slight shake of the head, "You know-"

"Bad? I'll go change."

"No, no, no. You look great. It's just that half the time I wonder if I'm asleep or awake because it-this-feels like a dream to me," Angel explained. "Like you're not really here and it's all just my imagination playing with my mind."

"Really?" Buffy asked, approaching him slowly. "Does this feel real?" She leaned in and captured his lips with hers, pulling him towards her in a fiery kiss. It was sweet and passionate at the same time, hot like fire, and achingly delectable. Neither wanted for it to end, but the need for air became an issue and were forced to break apart.

"Hell yeah," Angel replied breathlessly.

"Good. Now I just need to do my hair and put a little something on my face, so if you think you'll be bored, wait downstairs with...well, Spike. He's probably in hypermode."

"Somehow, I think it'd be better if I stayed here..."

*****

Later that day, after being bombarded by the people at the set of Passions (and the set of Passions being bombarded by Spike), Buffy and Co. decided to take a trip to Santa Monica beach. After all, it was a sunny day, they had wheels and they all had their beach gear-who *wouldn't* go to the beach. The itinerary Giles had prepared had said "1:00 - Lunch, 2:00-5:00 - Free time" anyway, what better way to spend four hours at the beach with a picnic lunch?

"Mmm...you smell good," Angel commented as he kissed her neck. "What is that?"

"Sunscreen," Buffy replied, putting on a pair of dark Jackie-O-like sunglasses and a floppy white hat that matched her bikini.

"Really? Sunscreen can smell nice?" Angel asked, wrinkling his nose up in confusion. Buffy just responded by giving him a kiss.

"You realise, we haven't even gone on a proper date yet and we've kissed already-several times."

"Yeah, but I thought that going to the Bronze after the game on Wednesday was pretty much considered as our first date. Unless..." Angel trailed off, not really knowing how to finish what he was saying.

"Well when you put it that way..." Buffy grinned. Angel leaned back and relaxed into the pillow-y softness of Faith and Spike's discarded towels. Buffy settled beside him and threw an arm over his chest, hugging him close and entwining one of her legs with his.

"You know, I'm gonna get a funny tan like this," Angel pointed out.

"So?" Buffy asked innocently. Angel chuckled and snaked an arm around her body to pull her closer. "Angel? This is the first time I ever really felt this way."

"What way?"

"Just like I've always wanted to. Like a normal girl, relaxing in the arms of her normal boyfriend. It's perfect." Angel didn't reply. He just kissed her on the top of her head and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her in his arms.

Part 14

"What exactly are we doing today?" Faith asked suddenly. They were on their way the next morning to places unknown to do God-knows-what.

"Are we going shopping?" Cordelia piped up.

"Yeah, I'll drop you guys off and then I have to record this thing for MTV. It won't take long. I've only got enough passes for Gunn and, well, one extra guest. That equals two. Present company equals six and that doesn't work out." Buffy said as she sifted through her bag for her elusive MTV passes.

"What about you?" Angel asked.

Buffy shot him a Look. "I don't really need one."

"Oh."

"Damn, that really bites, you know. You're gonna ask Angel to be your 'guest' and I'm gonna be stuck with tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum," Spike said angrily.

"Hey!" Faith and Cordelia exclaimed in unison, the former giving him a punch in the arm and the latter giving him a kick in the shins.

"Can I pass on MTV?" Gunn asked Buffy. "I know I'm supposed to be your bodyguard and all, but Angel's a big strong football playing guy. You'll manage. I'm afraid I have to save Spike from an untimely death." Cordelia responded by giving him a dirty look followed by a painful nudge from her elbow.

"Sure, if you want," Buffy answered as she kept rummaging through her bag. "Aha!" She pulled out Angel's pass and a small container of Vaseline.

"Why are you going to the MTV studio anyway?" Angel asked, accepting his pass and watching her curiously as she procured a small mirror from one of the many knick-knacky compartments and drawers built into the limo.

"I have to tape my acceptance thing for the VMA's cos I couldn't go to New York. I have a test on Monday," Buffy said calmly as she applied the Vaseline on her lips.

Spike choked. He coughed several times before he could talk properly. "VMA's? What did you win?"

"I can't tell you. I'm sworn to secrecy."

*****

Upon opening the door to the studio, Angel didn't know what to expect. He was shocked to find that the small studio was...so small. It looked cosy and comfortable in the reception area with a few orange sofas spread around the edges of the room and an odd looking table with a receptionist sitting behind it. Said receptionist looked up and said, "Go right in. They're expecting you."

Buffy thanked her and lead Angel into the dimly lit halls. The floors were wooden and made disturbingly loud sounds when they walked. They passed a few doors-all of different types and degrees of eccentricity-as they moved through the production office hallway. A few of the noticeboards on the walls displayed photos of celebrities who had been in lately (all candid and crazy snaps of the celebs when they were a little less down to business). The hall wasn't all that long; Angel felt as if it seemed to go on forever.

Finally, they turned right and passed by a few doors with pictures with elaborate vintage-style frames and a department name written underneath each picture. A door marked 'Make Up 4' was busy with the make up artists working away at what they did best. They passed by a mirror with what looked like old make up and hair products stuck all over it to reveal a picture formed by the uncovered parts of the mirror that appeared to be the MTV logo.

They passed by the infamous 'Paparazzi in a Can' photo booth which made Angel want to blink a few more times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. But sure enough, there it was. Standing in all its purple glory. He decided later that the people at MTV must be either: a) creative, b) artsy, c) eccentric or d) strange. He hoped to God that it was a).

Finally, the hallway opened up to a plain, white door with a sign on it that said 'Green Room'. A huge security guy stood on one side of the door and had a walkie-talkie-like contraption gripped in his large fist. He looked to Angel to be the sort who would've been a jailbird for part of his life, or a boxer. Or maybe a WWE wrestler.

Angel felt a bit awkward when the security guy smiled at them and said, "Hello, Miss Summers...and company. They're waiting for you inside." He pushed the door partway opened for them to step through.

"Thanks," she looked at his nametag, "Max." She stopped halfway through the door, causing Angel to bump into her-not that he minded-and looked back at Max. "Have I seen you before? Oh wait, don't answer that. I *know* I've seen you before."

"I was one of the security guys who were part of the security crew on your last tour. It was a pleasure working with you, might I add," Max said, almost curtly. Angel was left puzzled. This big guy who looked suspiciously like a biker-type of guy was talking *curtly*. What was even stranger was that he had a vaguely English accent. He would have dropped to the floor, rolling with laughter if his manners were non-existent and if the guy didn't look so...well, no need to say 'threatening' since Angel *certainly* wasn't threatened, but...

"Oh my God, how could I have forgotten? I like you. You didn't eat all the jelly donuts like the rest of them," Buffy chuckled.

Max laughed with her and said, "I liked the chocolate icing ones better than the jellies."

"Oh, gosh, I think we're running late," she said, looking at her watch hurriedly. "I hope I'll see you again, Max."

They bid their farewells and as soon as he stepped through, Angel was surprised by the smallness of the room. There were people all over the place, preparing the lighting and the assorted equipment. It was most intriguing for Angel to witness as he always watched MTV whenever possible-after school, while studying, when he was bored-that is to say, all the time.

"I'm going to get my make up done. Are you alright to stay here?" Buffy asked, looking past him to see one of the ladies from the make up department waiting patiently at the door.

"Sure. I'll just...sit," Angel replied, sinking into one of the nearby chairs. **Okay, so the Green Room isn't green. Is it too late to change my mind and pick d)?**

Sure enough, the Green Room was far from green. It was white, or maybe some other colour. The lights were pink and yellow, leaving the colour of anything in there to the imagination. A TV ran on the other side of the room showing random music videos. Angel guessed that the TV was permanently tuned only to MTV. In the corner next to it was a computer and next to that, against the wall was a velvety red couch. In front of the couch was a small round table with a blackboard surface with all sorts of things written in chalk.

Angel froze and wondered if he could be any more starstruck than he currently was.

*****

Buffy gripped onto her silver moon man as they ran a few practice shots. **Thank God I'm not doing it live...** She looked up and grinned over at her boyfriend who was standing quietly in the corner nibbling on one of the tiny salad sandwiches that the catering company had provided for brunch.

He smiled back, holding up Spike's autograph book in his other hand. He'd been forced to get as many autographs as he could-anything and anyone was fine with Spike. If he could only get the paw print of the camera man's sister's dog, then so be it. However, if he could get someone famous...then Angel would have to endure the horror of seeing and experiencing his stepbrother putting on some of his girlfriend's dark lipstick and giving him a BIG kiss on the cheek.

Buffy relaxed into the cushions on the velvety red sofa and wished she could have just done the whole thing in the safety of her own home. At least then she wouldn't have to have pink, red and yellow lights all over the place to make her resemble a tomato with pink hair and a yellow nose.

After they were done filming Buffy's acceptance speeches, she was lead (reluctantly) into the photo booth. When she finally agreed, she said, "Fine, but you, Angel, have to take at least one shot with me."

And so that's how Angel found himself sitting in the 'Paparazzi in a Can' booth with Buffy to take two shots-one normal one where Buffy sat herself in Angel's lap and one crazy one where Angel pretended that he was having sex with her against the side of the booth. A copy of the strip made its way to become tacked onto one of the noticeboards where all the other were kept and the second copy was for them to keep.

*****

Later that night, they sat down to watch the VMA's in the comfort of Buffy's parents' home with the rest of the group, all of Buffy's family and her three new moon men in her awards cabinet. The rest of her awards were kept there and hadn't made the move to Sunnydale and probably never would because her mother and sister *insisted* that they should stay "in case they got broken or damaged during the trip". They each had a bowl of ice cream in their hands-excluding Cordelia as she'd said that it was bad for her skin-and were enjoying the company of each other. The only one who wasn't there was Gunn, who had gone to visit his family.

During the course of the afternoon, they had hung out, shopped and just had fun. They'd laughed over the photos and enjoyed the cuisine of Los Angeles' most exclusive restaurants. Spike had met Billy Idol by coincidence and had had his picture taken with him. However, Buffy had an inkling that Billy thought that Spike was either a look-alike/impostor or a wannabe when, in fact, Spike had had an accident with bleach which hadn't yet gone away. It was almost like a superhero storyline, like when Spiderman got bitten by a genetically modified spider, except that it'd make Spike something like...Bleachboy, which would've been laughable if it weren't so sad.

Angel had also discovered that he really HAD gotten a funny tan from Buffy lying on him in full sunshine the day before. Buffy had laughed at him and his predicament until he'd glared at her. She'd told him not to glare because it made him look rather sexy and made her want to kiss him in public, which she was forbidden to do because Lilah, her publicist, had said it would spark rumours. (She kissed him later when they got back home.) In all truth, though, Buffy didn't really give a rat's ass about what Lilah ever had to say.

They were scheduled to leave for Sunnydale in an hour; as soon as Gunn got back. It would give them enough time to watch some of the awards and to finish their desserts. Cookie dough fudge mint chip just didn't taste the same when rushed.

There was a rustle in the bushes, capturing their attention. Just as suddenly, a light appeared from within the bushes outside the window and a green glass bottle with a rag at the end which was alight with a flame was thrown at the window-a Molotov cocktail.

Fortunately, it wasn't thrown hard enough to smash through the window, but the explosion that resulted blew apart the window and the bushes in front of it as well as part of the room. Angel instinctively pulled Buffy to him to protect her from the flames. Hank and Joyce ran into the laundry to fetch some buckets to fill with water and Faith had sprung to her feet and immediately called 911.

Angel spotted a figure darting through the trees that stood on either side of the driveway. He released Buffy and flew out the door. He ran faster than he had ever run before-even when he was playing football-and, by some miracle, he was able to pull the culprit to the ground. They struggled, but Angel was able to get the upper hand. **I guess coach was right. I *did* need to work out. And hey, it came in handy.**

He pressed the guy's head to the ground, held his hands behind his back and used his leg to stop him from kicking. Angel saw Buffy jogging toward them with a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Are you alright?" Angel asked Buffy in concern.

"Yeah, the fire didn't spread. Turns out my mother is prepared for anything. The bushes under the window were rubber plants-lots less flammable than posies. Rubber plants as in the plants that produce rubber naturally...you know," Buffy smiled, kneeling down next to them. She took one look at the culprit's crop of blonde-brown hair and said, "Riley?"

Angel looked up at his girlfriend in surprise. **She knows the guy?**

"You idiot! What were you thinking?" Buffy scolded Riley. She pried Angel off of Riley's body and made him stand up-then she punched him, hard, in the nose. "I told you to leave me *alone*! And now what? You show up trying to blow up my house? And don't go thinking I won't press charges."

"No, but-" Riley started to say in his own defense.

"I don't want to hear it."

"Okay then, that hurt," Riley said, rubbing his nose.

Buffy just rolled her eyes and looked over at her completely baffled boyfriend. She beamed at him and then turned back to Riley to give him his just desserts-a nice, big, knee to the groin. He crumpled to the ground, clutching to a nearby tree to steady himself.

"Buffy, Warrior Popstar," Angel said with a smirk at the traumatised boy crumpled against a tree, forcing down the pain by biting his lip.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Buffy replied with a slightly amused smile.

"Okay, now that we've laughed about it-what do we do?"

"Faith called 911. The police are probably coming..." Buffy said calmly.

"Won't they want to hold us for questioning? We can't stay. We have school tomorrow."

Buffy just smiled at his concern, "Don't worry. We have a restraining order on *this* little sucker. I don't think it'll be a problem since he's such an honest kind of guy. Aren'tcha, Ri?"

"Okay, then I think we should get...this...Riley inside," Angel said, unsure of the name of the collapsed form which he was looking down at.

"I agree," Buffy nodded. Spike and Faith had come from behind her and had heard part of the conversation. Buffy looked over at them said, "Don't worry. He's actually quite co-operative. He can't run fast enough if his life depended on it, anyway."

"Thanks for telling everyone that."

"You're welcome."

"Maybe we should hold your hands behind your back, just in case," Angel suggested.

"Oh joy...I'm a criminal again."

"You brought it on yourself."

Riley snorted, "You *always* say that..."

"Tell me. How does a fairly good guy like you suddenly become a repeat offender? I knew your mother. She was a nice woman; your father as well. What happened to you?" Buffy asked, as the five of them headed back toward the house with Angel holding Riley's hands behind his back.

"You dumped me for Tyler and then he went and cheated on you with your best friend. A little birdie told me you forgave them both. What about me, Buffy? What about ME?" Riley said bitterly, straining against Angel's hold on him.

Before Buffy was able to deny it though, her driveway was suddenly bombarded by officials and men in uniform. The firemen put out what little fire was left and police had taken Riley and shoved him into one of their cars. Buffy didn't have any comprehension of time as she watched as he was taken away. She was finally jolted out of her trance by a comforting hand on her shoulder-Angel.

"Ready to go?" he spoke softly...sympathetically as well, Buffy decided.

"Are we going already?"

"Gunn got back about ten minutes ago. The car's ready. You've been standing here the whole time. We thought it'd be best if we left you alone for awhile."

"I told them that I didn't want to press charges," Buffy said, even though it was irrelevant to what Angel had been saying. "I think we should go now." She took his arm and together they headed back into the house. "Do you think my moon men melted?"

Angel just laughed and gave her a gentle, reassuring kiss to her forehead. "Those moon men are still safe and sound on their wooden moon bases. I'm sure of it."

Part 15

With Christmas on its way around, Buffy found herself gift shopping at Sunnydale Mall with Will, Xand, Oz and Gunn. She'd been together with Angel for 3 months now, she'd been at SHS for 4 months and she'd been a resident in Sunnydale for 5 months. But still, Buffy felt as if she were living in la-la land. They'd gotten their SATs over and done with and all had, well, in general, received outstanding results. (Buffy had refused to tell her exact score to anyone except for Willow, Angel, Giles and her family. All she DID say was that she got over 1500, which, in itself was an amazing score; Xander had even offered to punch her in the head to help her lose brain cells.)

She seriously doubted she'd even go to college, though-for obvious reasons. Besides having to study, she'd be travelling around, recording a new album, giving interviews and never have time to do assignments or even attend class. Such a hope would be...well, unlikely to be fulfilled (put bluntly).

Relationship wise, they were all doing great-except for Xander, of course. He was struggling to find a girlfriend since the time when he'd gone out with Amy Madison the year before and had had his ego damaged when he was dumped for the Michael, the creepy Goth guy. Willow and Oz were inching towards their one year anniversary, Spike and Faith were horny as always, Buffy and Angel were...getting to be pretty serious and Gunn and Cordy had split shortly after returning from LA. But then Cordelia introduced him to her cousin, Fred, and they were now dating as well. One month for them now, going on two in a week.

It was just over a month until Buffy's 18th birthday and she couldn't wait. Her family was going to be coming to Sunnydale for Christmas and would stay over New Year's until her birthday. The only thing she didn't look forward to about it was that she had to clean up her room. It was a mess. As per usual.

Buffy sighed; it couldn't be avoided. The only way she'd gotten out of spending the whole of her Saturday cleaning her tornado of a room was by telling Giles that they'd made plans a long time ago to go gift shopping. It wasn't a complete lie, but it also wasn't the complete truth, but it seemed to get him off her back and that was all that mattered. **Now, what should I get Angel? God help me; I hate gift shopping.**

*****

"There's a new girl," Xander announced in a sing-song voice the following Monday as soon as he caught up with the rest of his friends, who were currently hoarding around Buffy's locker, laughing.

"Hey Xand," Buffy greeted him with a smile. "There's a new girl?"

"How come you always seem to know when there's a new girl?" Willow asked with mocking suspicion. "You just come to school and just seem to know. It's creepy."

"His locker is just outside Snyder's office," Oz said, revealing one of Xander's most coveted secrets (or so he liked to think).

"Hey! Don't you know anything about being mysterious?"

Oz just shot him a Look and, in his usual tacit way, shrugged casually.

Xander nodded, "Oh, yeah, right...musicians with all their mysteriousness. Damn, if only I'd learnt the guitar instead of the French horn..." He looked inside Buffy's locker, which he hadn't forgotten they'd been laughing about before. "So...what were you guys laughing at?"

"Oh, it's just that I got some pictures of me and Angel developed and I finally got the MTV photo booth pictures scanned and printed so I could show you guys," Buffy beamed, seeing her boyfriend approaching. "Speak of the devil."

"There's a new-" Angel started to say.

"A new girl. Yeah, we know already," Buffy interrupted him. "Are you people always like this when a new person comes to the school? And what about when I was new?"

Angel and Xander swept their eyes guiltily at the ground.

She just laughed and slammed her locker shut. "Let's go find her then."

*****

"Where'd you transfer from, Anya?" Faith asked, poking her spork into a shrivelled up piece of broccoli and wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"I lived in Boston with my Aunt Josephine while my mom was sick and my dad was looking after her. They didn't want me hanging around all the time at home by myself, so they sent me to my aunt. She decided to move here to be closer to the rest of her family, so I came with her. She makes really nice butter cookies," Anya said with a smile.

"Boston, huh?" Faith replied. Next to her was Spike, who obviously wasn't paying attention to the conversation and had turned his attention to the rest of the people around their table. Anything to avoid polite conversation with the creepy (and in his opinion, much too peppy) new girl. "You're one weird chick, but I think I'm gonna like you."

*****

A week later, they were out of school and enjoying their Christmas break by spending time with friends and significant others and having fun when it'd started to hail on Christmas Eve. It was the closest Sunnydale was ever going to get to a white Christmas, but it suited them just fine. It felt like it was snowing. It just wasn't cold. And it had been rather loud when the hail had begun. Okay, so there were very few similarities. Close enough.

Buffy slipped between the covers and quickly fell asleep, even with the exciting anticipation of celebrating Christmas with *both* family and friends, for once. As soon as she closed her eyes, she dreamt...

|| Upon opening her eyes, she felt the coolness of the surface she was lying on-a stone floor. Her vision was blurry until she rubbed her eyes and got up on her not-quite-awake legs.

She felt a pang in her heart as she wandered through what looked like a slightly Gothic mansion. She looked toward the fireplace and felt a warmth in her heart as she remembered its exuberant source of heat, even seeing it blazing there in the hearth for a fraction of a second. A ghost of a flame haunted her along with the memory of a dozen other things about this room that she couldn't for the life of her recognise.

It was darkness everywhere. The only sources of illumination were the dim sconces that were spread sparsely along the edges of the room. Its ceiling was high, and as far as she could tell, no one lived there. It looked abandoned. The table was smashed into pieces and a small, metal pitcher was crushed. To the naked eye, it looked as if it were simply thrown or smashed with a hammer, but when she looked closer, it seemed as if it had been crushed by a person's hand. **Strange.**

On the wall hung a set of manacles fastened from a bracket on the wall. They looked ancient and slightly used. The sight didn't scare her; they just created a familiar feeling in her mind. She recognised their presence from some time in her memory before, like déjà vu, but she knew for a fact that she'd never been here or even seen *manacles* in her life. When could she ever have seen a pair of manacles anyway?

She turned her head and found that a small part of the wall there had been blasted away. The feeling it evoked within her was just like those other times when she'd had déjà vu. Only it was so much stronger now. It was as if it were showing her, no, telling her that something was wrong. A feeling in her gut that told her she'd felt the same way and had done the same things before.

Tracing the pattern on the floor, her gaze rested upon a pair of feet in black leather boots. Slim legs in leather pants all the way up the face of-

"Faith," she said, not quite surprised to see her in her dream.

"It fades. It all fades," the brunette muttered in a barely audible voice, her image flickering as she said it, a bloodied knife appearing in her hand. "Getting towards that time," she said, and disappeared completely. All that left in her wake was the bloodied knife falling to the ground with a seemingly deafening crash.

She lifted her eyes from where they were transfixed on the fallen knife and looked through the doorway through to what looked unmistakably like a bedroom. She took a few, cautious steps toward the doorway and felt as if the more she walked the farther she was away from it. Grinding to a halt, she found herself standing in the doorway, looking at the lifeless form of her boyfriend in the bed. He was draped lightly with a maroon blanket that she longed to feel the texture of. It looked so silky and heavenly. It was beckoning at her to come closer with its ripples and folds.

She reached her hand outwards, but her hand was stopped by another. The skin on the hand was folded in such a way that one simply couldn't call it 'wrinkled'. It wasn't wrinkled. It was folded and bumpy. It had a yellow tinge and the dips between the folds were a blackish brown. The face of the...creature was familiar and was folded in much the same fashion as on her hand. Only it was in a vague pattern that was centred on its nose.

Buffy took one look at it, stumbled back...and screamed. ||

Buffy woke up in a cold sweat, her blankets twisted around her limbs in an odd fashion. She had been writhing, she inferred. She remembered every last detail of her nightmare and it haunted her through the rest of the morning until she couldn't stay still anymore. She had to go. She couldn't stay in this sparklingly clean room of hers...she couldn't stand the sight of it. That thought frightened her almost as much as the thought of the dream haunting her dreams in the nights to come.

*****

She climbed the tree with ease. She could've used the front door, of course, but it was early on Christmas morning and she didn't expect anyone to be awake yet. She bit her lip and wrapped her jacket tighter around herself. Buffy jumped onto the roof from her perch on the branch and rapped on the window three times.

The head of her sleepy boyfriend poked out, tiredly gazing at her and wondering idly how she'd known she'd gone to the right window. "Buffy. What are you doing here, on my roof...at seven in the morning?" he yawned, ushering her in.

Buffy stepped through and sat down on the side of his bed. "Can I stay here for a little while?"

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Angel immediately sat down next to her and took him in his arms. "No one hurt you or anything, right? Giles-"

"No, it's not Giles. Not anyone. I had a nightmare and I woke up in a cold sweat. I can still remember it. Every little detail..." Buffy took one look at his face, broke down and burst into tears, "I'm so scared, Angel, I'm so scared..."

All Angel could do was to hold her, comfort her with his words and by just being there for her. "It's alright. You don't have to tell me anything if you can't...or won't."

"Just hold me," Buffy whispered.

Angel kissed her on the forehead and helped her settle in under his blanket. He got in beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'll be here. Sleep..."

They both slept soundly until they were woken up hours later by a giddy Bertha Blue scratching at the door and barking her head off until all the occupants of the house were up and angry at Bertha for waking them up.

Buffy snuck back out the way she came and disappeared back to her own home where Giles and her whole family were probably awake and concerned that she'd been kidnapped or that she had runaway. And since the second possibility was a lot less probable than the first one, she ran as quickly as she could in an effort to sneak back in without everyone knowing she had been out in the first place.

Surprisingly, she didn't return to a houseful of people who were so worried that they were about to pull their hair out. All of the staff was on leave, allowing her to creep back in undetected. Apparently, no one had tried waking her up yet. Which would be about right since she didn't usually wake up on non-school days until around 11:30 or midday.

Buffy hurried up the stairs and stepped back into her room, careful to close the door behind her as quietly as possible. "...I can't even remember what the dream was about now. Strange."

She never got that dream again.

*****

Her birthday came and went, and they'd celebrated substantially with a bash at the Bronze with the whole school invited. It was fun and normal and had been just what Buffy needed.

Buffy took out one of the bags that she'd stashed in her wardrobe. She was desperately looking for one of her CDs and had been searching for it high and low. She'd even asked Giles if he'd seen it-she'd asked *Giles*. **He probably doesn't even know what a...wait, yeah he would. He's my manager! He's supposed to know stuff.** She rummaged through all the pockets and compartments. Digging into one of the pockets on the inside, she came upon a small piece of paper. She pulled it out.

Jennifer Walkens. She'd forgotten all about her when they'd been in LA... **How could I have forgotten? She was partially responsible for the front part of my living room being blown up!**

Buffy grumbled and searched through the rest of the bag, finally procuring the elusive CD. She put the slip of paper under a paperweight on her desk and went about getting ready for her date with Angel. It was their fifth month anniversary-not entirely significant, but still worthy for a night on the much-too-boring town-and Buffy intended to look good. Plus, she'd gone shopping the day before and had bought a whole new outfit. After all, it *was* a special occasion.

She slipped her CD in the player and pressed 'play'.

//Just a day, Just an ordinary day Just trying to get by Just a boy, Just an ordinary boy But he was looking to the sky//

She quickly changed her earrings to something fancier. She decided on a pair of silver dangly ones that had tiny stones that matched the colour of her outfit embedded in the design. She took a look in the mirror and felt that her neck was a little too bare.

//And as he asked if I would come along I started to realize- That everyday you find Just what he's looking for, Like a shooting star he shines//

Buffy opened the top drawer of her vanity table and lifted her box of necklaces out of it. She took off the lid and placed it to one side of the box. Pawing through the box, Buffy tried necklace after necklace until she decided on a heavy silver cross on a simple snake chain. It'd been part of her birthday present from Angel. The weight of it felt familiar to her and she felt slightly safer while was wearing it, even though she wasn't a very religious person.

//And he said: Take my hand Live while you can Don't you see your dreams Are right in the palm of your hand?//

She reached her hand back into the box to untangle one of the chains from another when her fingers felt the cool hardness of a large pendant with a gem inside. Buffy couldn't place the necklace with just her sense of touch. She yanked it out and gasped.

//And as he spoke, He spoke ordinary words Although they did not feel For I felt what I Had not felt before You'd swear those words could heal//

She dropped the necklace on the floor as she looked up. Her nightmare came rushing back to her as the creature with the folded skin appeared in the mirror, grinning. She was there, in her room. Slowly, Buffy turned around.

//And as I looked up Into those eyes His vision borrows mine And to know he's no stranger, For I feel I've held him for all of time//

"I've been looking for you."

Part 16

"Wh-Who are you?" Buffy managed to stutter. She tried to step back, but was unable to with her vanity directly behind her. No escape. She doubted that she could escape through the window-even if it weren't on the other side of her room.

"What do you mean, 'who are you'? You know who I am and there'll be no fooling me. I'm over eleven hundred years old, child, so don't think you can fool me," the she-creature said in a slightly hissing voice.

"Uh, I *really* don't know who you are. Am I supposed to? I know I don't know any eleven hundred year old...anythings. What *are* you?"

"That's Anyanka to you, thanks. No calling me 'you' or an 'anything'. I'm the friggin' Patron Saint of Scorned Women, for the Devil's sake," Anyanka raged, closing in on a shaken Buffy Summers.

"Anya?" Buffy squinted, recognising the girl's face in amongst the folds of her demonic skin.

Anyanka ran a sharp fingernail along Buffy's cheek, "Ah, yes, my human guise. I can't believe I have to act like a ditz to get attention."

"What-wh-why...?"

"Why you? Oh, nothing, just that it'll be more fun with you. Oh, and you have something I want," Anya had Buffy against the wall by the neck. She was quivering with fright, not quite sure what was going on with this Anya/Anyanka girl.

"Now, what was it that I wanted?" Anyanka pretended to scratch her chin in thought. "I remember now-my necklace! Where is it?"

"Wh-what necklace?"

"It's shiny, and green, and priceless. You have it. I want it back."

"I don't have it!" **And if I did, I wouldn't have remembered it. I'm too scared to think. Someone, help! Where are big strong fellas when I need 'em?**

"You made a wish, and granting it has screwed me over. Telling me that won't save you. In fact, I think killing you and finding it by myself is a good plan," Anyanka squeezed at Buffy's throat even tighter.

"Please! I really don't know."

Anyanka scrutinised her intended victim. "You really don't, do you?" She let go of Buffy's throat when she replied with vigorous nodding. "Then where the fuck is it?"

"Um, um," Buffy scrambled to grab her box of necklaces, "you can check here. It could be there. If it isn't, then I don't have it." She thrust the heavy box towards Anyanka and pressed her back into the side of her vanity table, sinking to the floor.

Buffy watched as the demon pawed through her large collection of chains, pendants, chokers, and various other neck accessories. She flickered her eyes around for another route of escape. Her eyes were caught by something green, and extremely shiny-the exact same necklace she had dropped when Anyanka had appeared so suddenly. It was hidden by the stool at the same vanity table she was leaning against...just put of arm's reach.

Anyanka went through the jewellery and felt frustration building. If it wasn't here, she could either kill the girl and still not find it, or still not find it and kill the girl. It was pretty much a lose-lose situation, if such a phrase even existed.

Buffy discreetly crawled towards the stool and grabbed the necklace. She hid it behind her back and stood up with it clutched behind her back. Shaking slightly, she asked, "What was my wish?"

"I can't remember. Something about being a normal, All-American girl. I'm not *that* boring, so I twisted the wish a bit. Now you really *are* an All-American girl," she chuckled. "Of course, it didn't quite turn out as I intended. You turned out too normal. And I think something went wrong, cos you remember, like, nothing, right?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied uncertainly. "So what are you trying to find your necklace for?"

"To change you back," Anyanka said, bluntly giving her the truth. "I'm not known for subterfuge. Lying is not in my character."

"So why should I help you find your necklace? What was I like before?"

Anyanka stared into Buffy's frightened eyes. "You mean you really don't remember anything?"

"Well, I get déjà vu a lot..."

"That's part of you previous memory, then," Anyanka said with a frown. She paused and looked back up at Buffy. "You were the Slayer-the Chosen One. The one girl in the entire world picked by the high and mighty blippity-boos to fight against vampires and evil stuff. You loved and lost and then went down the deep end. Now, where is my necklace?"

Buffy would believe anything at this point. There was a demon in her room, looking for a necklace which she currently held in her hand. "Is that why I always feel déjà vu when I'm with Angel? Is he the one I loved and lost?"

"Yeah, poor guy. He was a vampire with a soul and you went and had a relationship with him anyway and there was lots of angst. Too bad; he was so much more interesting when he was evil..." Anyanka drifted off and snapped back when she realised that she still had to look for her necklace.

"So...what would happen if your necklace were to be broken or smashed?"

Anyanka perked up, inadvertently changing into her human visage, "Are you starting to remember where it is, by any chance?"

"Sort of."

"If it were smashed, the last wish I granted would be revoked and something-I *don't* know what-happens to me. Not something pleasant, which is why I need to find it *now*. So, do you know where it is or not?"

"It's coming back to me. I think that I...I don't know. I think I hid it under the bed, near the headboard," Buffy said, pointing to her bed. "So, what was the last wish you granted?"

"This woman in Boston wished that a computer dropped on her husband and killed him, but since I didn't have the necklace with me or on the woman, it didn't work very well and it only gave him a concussion," she shrugged casually, "which is exactly why I need the necklace." Anyanka slipped her head underneath the bed in search of her precious necklace. "You know, it's weird. You're too easy to talk to. Must be one of those flaws I so stupidly put in."

Buffy grinned and placed the necklace on the ground. She picked up the box that used to contain all her necklaces and dropped it onto the pendant, effectively smashing it into bits that went flying, finally turning into a puff of green smoke and light. Buffy lifted the box again and found that nothing remained from the necklace. Not even the gold chain that it was on.

Anyanka's eyes rolled back in their sockets and she collapsed against the cold wooden floorboards. She was halfway underneath the bed, reminding Buffy slightly of the Wicked Witch of the East in the 'Wizard of Oz'.

//And he said: Take my hand Live while you can Don't you see your dreams Are right in the palm of your hand? In the palm of your hand//

Buffy looked over at her CD player in surprise. **Weird. Maybe she froze time or something. Good, now I don't have to worry about being late for my date with Angel.**

"Anya?" Buffy asked as cautiously approached her bed, peering underneath at the slackened form of the demon/saint known as Anyanka.

"Achoo!"

Buffy nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise at the sound of the sneeze.

//Please come with me See what I see Touch the stars for Time will not flee Time will not flee Can you see?//

"What did you do to me?" Anyanka screeched angrily. She got back to her feet and tried to hold her against the wall again, but was easily refuted by Buffy's counterattack. "What the-? You're a measly mortal; you're not strong enough to fight back."

Anyanka spun angrily and paced back and forth, scrunching her face up in an attempt to change back into her demon façade. All she got was strange looks from Buffy.

"You made me mortal," Anya cried, clenching her fists and breathing heavily to subdue her rage.

"Don't forget the 'measly'."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Uh," Buffy paused and wondered if it was such a good idea to insult her when she was already so apparently angered, "no."

"Good. Cos I'm going to fix this and when I get back, I'm going to kill you. Horrifically," she bit out, and with a flick of her curly, honey blonde hair, she had disappeared out the door.

//Just a dream, Just an ordinary dream As I wake in bed And the boy, That ordinary boy Or was it all in my head?//

Buffy collapsed on the floor with shock. **Right, well my life is a sham. How peachy...** She curled up into a ball and cried her mascara away until it blackened her cheeks in watery streaks. She looked like a mess, but she didn't care. Angel could see her like this-it didn't matter. What mattered now, anyway? If this life was all fake, then why shouldn't she let him see her like that? She wasn't real. He wasn't real. None of them were real.

//Did he ask if I would come along? It all seemed so real//

She sat down at her vanity table and wiped away the mess on her face with a tissue. Picking up a brush, she ran it through her hair and stared blankly at her own reflection. **Did I even look like this in my other life?** Buffy put it into her drawer and shook her head lightly. **Does it matter? Fuck...this song is too appropriate. It all seems too real to me that I never questioned anything. And it turns out it really is all a sham. A big, fat, shammy...sham.**

//But as I looked to the door I saw that boy standing there with a deal//

Buffy head her head in her hands and bit her lip. **If only it were true. If Angel were here, he'd know what to do.** She looked at the door, wanting desperately to see his face, smiling at her. But the doorframe was empty. After all, he wasn't expected to arrive until later. They had a date. One which she was going to be late for if she didn't get it together. **And if Giles finds out that we're more than friends, he'll chuck a fit...or something. I can't imagine him chucking a fit, actually. Don't come home yet, Giles, please don't get home early. Run extra errands or something.**

She pressed 'pause' on her CD player and wiped the last traces of her tears from her cheeks. They were shiny because of her tears and had turned a healthy, rosy colour.

Staring at herself in the mirror, she realised she didn't have a clue what she was doing. She was dressed, her hair was done, her make-up hadn't screwed up THAT bad and she was ready to go. So she just sat there. And waited. And thought about what Anya had said to her.

She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the phone ringing. **Please let it be Angel!** She picked it up and timidly said, "Hello?"

"Buffy?" It was Angel. "Is anything wrong? I just had the feeling that something was wrong and I felt the need to call you," he said hesitantly. "I know, it sounds stu-"

"It's not stupid. I need to talk to you," Buffy said softly. "As soon as possible."

Angel panicked. She wasn't pregnant, that was for sure-they hadn't even gotten to that stage yet. And he knew she wouldn't cheat on him. He had faith in her loyalty-and she to his. "Of course. I'll be there in under a minute." **So what could it be?**

"Okay, bye," Buffy said almost too late as he slammed down the phone in his rush to see her. She put down the receiver and wondered what exactly she planned to tell him. She sighed and pressed the 'pause' button again on her CD player.

//And he said: Take my hand Live while you can Don't you see your dreams Are right in the palm of your hand? In the palm of your hand In the palm of your hand//

Buffy crossed the room to look out the window. She could see Angel running through the gates, giving the guard there a polite nod as he passed by. Buffy smiled. **My life may be a sham, but at least I have Angel.**

//Just a day, Just an ordinary day Just trying to get by Just a boy, Just an ordinary boy But he was looking to the sky//

Go to Part 17