SUMMARY: Happy, happy, HAPPY season three fic. Buffy gets a normal night, courtesy of her friends
SPOILER: This is somewhere between Earshot and Choices, I guess.
DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just email me & lmk where it's going - I like seeing my name in print =)
FEEDBACK: I'm missing it like candy. Till the day my life is through, I need it. Show me the shape of your hearts. I'm stronger with feedback. I want too much TRL.
RATING: TV-14. I think
DISCLAIMER: Everyone is Joss's. No one is mine. I hate that. the songs are:
"Sometimes" by Britney Spears
"Impulsive" by Wilson Phillips
"Hanging on a Moment" by Lifehouse
DEDICATION: Happy belated birthday, Krissy. I'm sorry it took me SOOOOOOOOO long to finish it.

Buffy was putting the finishing touches on her appearance when the doorbell rang. She was expecting to open the door and find Willow. The girls would go to a movie, then alternate their night between patrol and the Bronze until the vamps ran dry or they got bored.

"I'll get it, Mom!" Buffy called as she sailed past her mother's bedroom. Joyce was studying some paintings and barely nodded.

"I'll be home late!" Buffy closed the lock on her hoop earring and took the stairs two at a time, careful not to scuff her new boots. She threw the door open and blanched. "Angel."

"I found this on my couch when I woke up," he handed Buffy a note. She instantly recognized Willow's handwriting. "I think it's too easy to get into my house."

Buffy smiled and unfolded the piece of paper.

Buffy - Angel,

I know you'll both read this so I'll only write it once.

Xander, Oz and very reluctantly, Cordelia and I have decided to give you a gift. It's not for any special occasion except that you're my best friend and I love you and wanted to do something nice for you before graduation and all the freaky stuff starts.

So tonight, you're off the hook. No patrol, no stakes, no nothing. We've got it covered. Go out with Angel and have the time of your lives. We love you.

Willow (and Xander and Oz and even Cordelia, though she'll never admit it)

"Did you read this?" Buffy asked.

"Uh-huh."

"So?" she pressed.

He offered her his arm. "So let's go to dinner."

"You're gonna eat?" Buffy asked as she pulled the door closed and stepped onto her porch. Her shoes were slippery on the cement, so she held Angel tightly. He didn't seem to mind.

"Yeah, I think I could go for some onion rings."

"No way," Buffy shook her head. "Date rule. You can't eat onions or garlic unless I eat them, too."

"Then you'll just have to eat them too."

"Are you kidding? They'll go straight to my thighs!"

"Yeah right. Come on."

Buffy noticed that Angel was leading her towards a black Mustang in front of her house. "What's that?"

"My car."

"You bought a car?"

"Won it, actually. I went by Willy's lookin' for some information the other night..."

"No, no shop talk on our date." Buffy said as Angel opened the door for her to get in. "It smells like apples in here."

"It's the air freshener," Angel pulled it down from the mirror. "I forgot to throw it out."

"I'll give you something that smells vanilla-y, you'll like it."

"Girls," Angel remarked under his breath.

"Vampires," Buffy shot back before turning on the radio. She found a Britney Spears song and turned up the volume.

"Oh God, not that again," Angel winced.

"What's wrong with Britney Spears?" Buffy asked.

"Where do I start?"

"Angel."

"Buffy."

"Listen to the words," Buffy turned the song up. "It's so pretty."

Angel sighed and agreed to listen.

//I don't wanna be so shy
Every night when I'm alone I wonder why
Hope that you will wait for me
And you'll see that
You're the only one for me

I wanna believe in everything that you say
'Cause it sounds sooooo good
But if you really want me
Move slow
There's things about me you just have to know

Sometimes I run
Sometimes I hide
Sometimes I'm scared of you
But all I really want is to hold you tight
Treat you right
Be with you day and night
Baby all I need is time\\

"It's okay," Angel admitted as he pulled into the parking lot at TGI Friday's. "Sorta what they used to call bubble gum though."

"That's why I like it," Buffy said as Angel opened the door for her to get out. "It's just simple music. Nothing depressing there."

Angel nodded and let her into the restaurant.

"I can't believe you brought me here."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, because this place is cool and young and you can be so-"

"Old?" Angel guessed.

"I was gonna say cultured, but I think stuffy is more the right word."

"I'm not Giles," Angel said quickly.

"Thank God," Buffy leaned against his chest. "He's too young for me."

*****

"What are you getting?" Angel asked when they were finally seated at their table and Buffy was sipping her iced tea.

"Probably fish and chips. You?"

He closed the menu. "Onion rings, mozzarella sticks and nachos."

"You're just a glutton for cardiac arrest, aren't you?" Buffy smirked.

"I doubt it," he took a sip of his coffee, then blew on it. "I don't think vampires can gain weight, either."

"I hate you." Buffy made a face.

"Oh come on, you don't gain weight either."

"That's what you think." Buffy looked around the restaurant and smiled. She couldn't believe she was actually out with Angel, at a restaurant, on a Friday night, on a date.

It just didn't seem right.

Yet it felt perfect.

*****

"I can't believe we're here," Buffy kept saying. Angel just smiled at her. He'd taken her to Freek, a club just outside Sunnydale that Cordelia hadn't been able to get into for weeks. Of course, he had no problem getting Buffy in since he was a vampire and it was a demon club. But she didn't need to know that. No game faces were allowed inside.

"Are you having fun?" Buffy asked Angel. "Because I have had the best time. Dinner and the drive through the city and now this....it's so...."

"Normal?" Angel guessed.

"Exactly. I'd forgotten what normal felt like."

He wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist and hugged her. "You wanna dance?"

"I'd love to."

The rock song playing wasn't the easiest thing to move to, but they managed. And when the song changed to an older pop song by one of those defunct girl groups, most of the crowd groaned. Buffy beamed.

"I LOVE this song," she pulled her body closer to Angel and began to sing to him, softly, while sliding her body against his.

//The secret of love
I thought I understood
The way it's supposed to be
I never imagined you could
Blow my theory apart
But now you're running away with my heart
I don't wanna think about it
Don't wanna think clear
Don't analyze
What I'm doing here
Wanna be impulsive
Reckless
And lose myself in your kiss

Arrows through hearts
Drawn on a misty window
You're taking me home in the rain
My heart, it's beating 'Don't say no'
My head keeps saying 'Take it slow'

I don't wanna think about it
Don't wanna think clear
Don't analyze
What I'm doing here
Wanna be impulsive
Reckless
And lose myself in your kiss

You're giving me a feeling
It's a sudden rush
Acting on the moment
Spontaneous
Ooh this is not like me
To follow my heart so easily

I am reckless... Impulsive

I never imagined you could
Blow my theory apart
But now you're running away... with my heart... my heart

I don't wanna think about it
Don't wanna think clear
Don't analyze
What I'm doing here
Wanna be impulsive
Reckless
And lose myself in your kiss

You're giving me a feeling
It's a sudden rush
Acting on the moment
Spontaneous
Wanna be impulsive... reckless
And lose myself in your kiss...
Impulsive
I wanna be... impulsive
I'm gonna be impulsive... reckless
And lose myself, lose myself

Impulsive
I'm gonna be
Impulsive
Reckless
And lose myself in your kiss\\

"Good song?" Buffy questioned.

Angel could only moan his response.

"There's a bathroom over there," Buffy pointed. Angel nodded and they wordlessly made their way through the throng of club goers to the restroom.

"It's dirty," Buffy mumbled when they entered.

"I don't care," Angel grabbed her and pushed himself against the door, hoisting Buffy up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and was extremely thankful that she'd worn her short leather skirt from Express instead of a the jeans she'd originally had on.

"Good song for the moment," Buffy mumbled in between her and Angel's furious kisses.

He didn't disagree.

//Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
I'm closer to where I started
I'm chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you\\

"This is wrong," Angel mumbled.

"Completely," Buffy agreed.

"And we can't really...."

"Of course not." she stopped, stared into his eyes, waited.

He kissed her again and all previous thoughts were forgotten.

//Forgetting all I'm lacking
Completely incomplete
I'll take your invitation
You take all of me

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you\\

"What......we're......doing....."

"I know," Buffy kissed Angel's neck. "Totally.....out of....the question."

"We gotta stop," Angel managed to say.

"Right," more kisses. "Stop."

//I'm living for the only thing I know
I'm running and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know what I'm diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with you

There is nothing else to lose
There is nothing else to find
There is nothing in the world
That could change my mind
There is nothing else
There is nothing else

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
I'm closer to where I started
Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you\\

"Wow," Buffy hopped off of Angel and straightened her skirt. "That was--"

"It was," Angel agreed.

"You still....broody?" she asked for lack of a better word.

"I didn't lose my soul, if that's what you're asking."

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked. "I mean, does that mean you're not cursed, does that mean the curse is different, or does it mean...." she couldn't finish that sentence.

"No, it doesn't mean that," Angel put his hands on Buffy's shoulders. "Don't even think that."

"Then what?"

He shrugged and kissed the top of her head. "I don't know. We could ask Giles."

"No way in Hell."

"Willow?"

"I don't wanna deal with the lecture."

"Then what?"

Buffy smiled at him. "How about nothing?"

"But--"

"Our date's not over yet," she pulled him towards the door by his jacket. "Let's dance."

//I'm living for the only thing I know
I'm running and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know what I'm diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with you\\

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