SUMMARY: A quiet night for three friends. Probably.
RATING: TV-PG
SPOILER: The Pack
DISTRIBUTION: Whoever wants it. My site http://planetslaythis.homestead.com
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon owns all. I own none.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I wrote this while bored and nauseous. That's all. 6/21/01

"Don't start without me!" Willow shouted from her kitchen. Her parents were out--again--so she'd invited Buffy and Xander over to watch MTV and eat junk food. She'd made Bagel Bites and burritos for Xander, egg roll stir-fry for her and Buffy. Willow took out a two-liter bottle of Pepsi and put it on the tray long with ice-filled cups and the eats. She carried them into the living room and settled between her friends on the couch.

"What's the verdict?" she asked.

"Real World or Road Rules," Xander offered. "The power of having a satellite dish. We can get grossed out via MTV East, then we can watch it all over again on MTV West."

"The only reason we get all these networks is so my parents can get Discovery in three languages," Willow rolled her eyes. "Oh!" she jumped up. "I'll be right back. I need to get the snacks."

She returned a minute later and handed Xander a bowl. "Want some pork rinds?"

He turned green and Willow fell to the couch with giggles. Buffy laughed along with her and Xander snorted.

"Go ahead," he egged them on. "Laugh at my pain. Revel in my misery. Bathe in my--"

"Those are Fritos," Willow interrupted.

Xander grabbed the bowl and began scarfing them down.

"Boys," Buffy and Willow shook their heads and Buffy grabbed the remote out of Xander's reach while he was still pigging out.

She picked at her food with chopsticks and asked, "So? What'll it be? Morons stranded in a house or morons stranded in a Winnebago?"

"Winnebago," Will decided and Buffy switched Networks. Annoying people screamed at each other and did body shots while the Slayer and her friends ate.

"Do you ever wonder what it really takes to be on that show?" Willow asked.

"I mean, do you have to be completely brain dead--"

"We could do Road Rules," Xander suggested.

"How do you--"

"We could do it in a bus that travels around Sunnydale at night. We could get Giles and maybe even Cordy and do confessionals in the outhouse by Miller's Yard. Then we could follow vamps and block out their faces for privacy reasons and--" he stopped when he saw the weird looks Willow and Buffy were giving him.

He took an egg roll off Buffy's plate and shrugged. "What?"

*****

"Thanks for the fun, Will," Buffy said, putting on her patrol coat. "And for the food, too."

"Great times were had by all," Willow said, smiling. "I think Xander actually ate half the bowl of pork rinds before realizing they weren't really Fritos."

"That's a guy for you," Buffy laughed. "See you tomorrow."

"I'll come to your locker," Willow suggested. "With bagels!"

Buffy knew she had to do a quick sweep before going home, and as she made her way towards the first of the four cemeteries she'd marked off on her route for the night, she sighed. She'd hit four more on the way to school in the morning and the last the following night at the start of her patrol.

Tired and sick of this racket, Buffy tossed two stakes back and forth between her hands and realized she wasn't alone.

"It's not nice to sneak up on pretty girls," Buffy teased him.

"Even if they're wearing your jacket?" Angel asked.

"Even if." he smiled.

Buffy sighed. "You're so intimidating, you know that? You just move me with your suave attitude."

"Watch it," Angel advised.

"Why?" Buffy smirked. She was starting to let her guard down with him. "Are you gonna stop stalking me?"

"No," Angel said slowly. "I'm gonna save your life."

Not wanting to be outsmarted by her stalker, Buffy spun around and drove both stakes into the heart of the vampire attempting to kick her ass.

When the dust settled at Buffy's feet, she turned around and smiled proudly at Angel. "You were saying?" she smirked.

"Nothing," Angel turned away. "I need to go."

"Where is it that you go all the time?" Buffy asked. "Do you have a mansion or a house or a tunnel underground? What?"

Angel almost smiled, and Buffy warmed immensely. She'd never seen Angel look like that before. She liked it.

"I have an apartment," Angel told her. "It's not far from here."

"Maybe I'll visit sometime," Buffy suggested, backing away from him. "Good night."

Angel watched her go, then followed her home at a distance far enough away that Buffy didn't sense he was there. He waited until the light came on in Buffy's bedroom, then he left.

Walking back to his apartment, he couldn't help wondering why Buffy smelled so much like pork rinds.

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