Part 20
"Hello again, Buffy. What a not so pleasant surprise to see you back here, yet again," Cordelia said sarcastically as she greeted the blonde slayer. Buffy had been back in town for a little over a week, always coming to the restaurant for dinner. At first, Angel and Cordelia had tried to be pleasant and accomadating, if only for Willow’s sake, but that was quickly changing. Even the servers had gotten to the point that they didn’t want to wait on her, only doing so because it was their jobs.
"Hello Cordelia. I’d like to be seated please," Buffy replied, smiling at the brunette. She knew that the former cheerleader would like nothing more than to throw her out on the street but refused to let it bother her.
"Follow me." Cordelia led Buffy to her usual table, on the other side of the restaurant. "Do you want a menu, or do you already know what you want?"
"I already know what I want, thank you."
"Well, then, I’ll let Kim know that you are ready to order." Cordelia said as she left Buffy at the table to walk over to the young teenager in question. Buffy saw Kim look over at her, a sneer on her face as she was informed that she was going to be helping Buffy. She watched as the girl made her way over to the table.
"I get the priveledge of being your waitress today. Do you know what you want?" Kim asked, not even trying to keep the venom out of her voice.
"Do you get a lot of good tips with that attitude of yours?" Buffy asked.
"Actually, this attitude is all for you. Unlike the others, I don’t want to go out of my way to be nice to you, no matter how much they may not like you," the newest slayer informed Buffy. "I’m more than willing to lose my job if it means that I can have the privledge of telling you off. It would be more than worth it."
"And why exactly do you hate me so much?" Buffy wanted to know. She knew how close the girl was to Willow and Angel, but she didn’t like the idea of someone hating her without knowing anything about a situation.
"Hmmm, let’s see. Could it be because you are trying to break apart one of the best relationships I have ever had the luxuary of seeing? Nope that isn’t it. Or, maybe it’s the fact that you completely disregarded your duty because you just couldn’t handle it? Possibly." Kim pretended to think about something, snapping her fingers when it came to her. "Oh, yeah, it might be because you think that just because you finally decided to come back to Sunnydale, you believe that everyone should just take you back in and everything should go back to the way they were eleven years ago. But, then again, it might not be because of any of that."
"You don’t even know what happened back then," Buffy stated, defending herself. "Why I had to leave."
"I know that you sent Angel to hell," Kim shot back, "and then disappeared. Not even a word to any of your friends to let them know where you were or that you were even still alive." Buffy deflated as Kim started reciting her history. "I know all about how much you and Angel were in love. About how he had lost his soul because of the two of you being a little too happy. Anything else I should know that would make it easier for me to understand how you could even think of breaking up Angel and Willow?" Buffy looked down at the table in front of her, unable to stand the hatred in the young slayer’s eyes.
"I love him," she stated simply.
"Well, he loves Willow now," Kim replied softly, seeing the defeated look in the other woman’s eyes. "The two of them belong together. If you can’t accept that, then you should leave."
"Not until I fix everything."
"Nothing needs to be fixed. It isn’t broken," Kim informed her.
"My heart is," Buffy again replied softly.
"Then I would say that you should do what you need to fix it, without hurting someone else," Kim answered. "Now, did you want to order or not?"
"Yeah, I would," Buffy said, regaining control of her emotions. She didn’t like how this young girl had made her feel. "I’ll have the lasagna, with a side order of mozzarella sticks." Kim wrote down Buffy’s order. "By the way, is Angel around?"
"Nope, weekend off," Kim answered quickly. "Him and Willow went down to San Diego with the kids. They go about once a month or so."
"Oh," Kim could hear the hurt in the blonde’s voice. "I didn’t know."
"Yeah, well, it’s coming knowledge around here," Kim stated. "I’ll go get you your drink and place your order." Kim walked away from the table, a smug grin on her face. SHe did feel a bit sorry for what Buffy was going through, but she hated the problems that she was trying to cause among her friends. Buffy watched her go, wondering what she was going to do if she found out that Angel truly did love Willow more than her.
San Diego
"Goodnight girls."
"Goodnight mommy. I love you," Kathryn said from her bed.
"Night mom. Love you too," Jenny also answered.
Willow smiled as she turned off the light in her daughters bedroom. She shut the bedroom door and went to join Angel in their room. The family often stayed in the same suite when in San Diego and it had a feeling of home away from home. Especially since the staff often went out of their way to make them feel comfortable. Willow saw Angel laying in their bed, the covers over the lower portion of his body. Her breathe held, as always, as she took in his body. She could never get enough of the sight. Angel saw her staring at him and opened his arms to her, beckoning her to join him on the bed. She readily did so.
"Are the girls all tucked in?"
"Yup," Willow said, leaning over and giving her husband a deep kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest tightly.
"Good, that means we have time all for ourselves now," he grinned as he began to rain kisses up and down her face and neck.
"I like that. I like alone time."
"So do I." Angel’s hand reached for the bottom of Willow’s shirt, pulling it over her head. "What do you think we should do with it?"
"Not sure," she giggled. "Play monopoly maybe." Willow moaned as Angel took one of her nipples into his mouth. "Or Scrabble." Another moan as he turned his attention to the other nipple. "Or we could just stay in bed and make wild passionate love all night." Angel’s head left her breasts and she found herself staring into his brown ones.
"I like that last one," Angel replied, taking her mouth with his, his hands undressing them.
"Yeah, I like that too." Willow and Angel quickly stopped talking,
losing themselves in the moment. They always felt a little more uninhibited
when away from home, even when the girls were with them. It must have something
to do with being away from the problems that were waiting for them back
in the Hellmouth. This vacation, they had just a little more to forget,
but they had no problem doing so, over and over and over again.