Willow stood by the door, nervously chewing her lip. Angel pulled
her closer
to him in an attempt to reassure her.
"I don't want to go in there." Willow buried her head in Angel's jacket.
"Come on Red. It'll be fun." Spike cajoled from the otherside of her.
"Fun?" Angel questioned.
"Maybe even a spot of violence." Spike turned to Cordelia.
"Won't that be
fun, pet?"
"I'm not big on violence." Cordelia informed him. "Althoug[,
if it's
Buffy getting hurt..." She trailed off thoughtfully.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt." Willow was close to tears.
"*No one* is going to get hurt," Angel said firmly, glaring at Spike.
"You're sucha spoilsport, Peaches." Spike pushed past him and
knocked on
the door. "Whoops, look what I did." He smiled at Cordelia.
"I guess they
know we're here, now."
"Thanks, Spike." Willow muttered sarcastically as the door opened
and Giles
peered out.
"Willow!" Giles sounded surprised, and he stepped out to give
her a
warm hug. "It's nice to see you again."
"You too." Willow stepped back and reached for Angel's hand again.
"Angel." Giles acknowledged the vampire with a nod. They
would never be the
best of friends, but Giles had come to tolerate Angel, and Angel thought
that
that was more than he deserved.
"Cordelia too." Giles came forward and gave her a brief hug, and
she smiled
at him. "Quite a reunion."
"That's just charming." Spike grumbled. "Don't I even exist?"
"You only left an hour ago." Giles reminded him. "Shall
we?" Giles
motioned to the door that he had pulled shut behind him. "Xander
and Anya
will be pleased to see you, and Buffy...well...Buffy's here."
Giles finished
as he opened the door.
"Spike told us." Willow came through the door holding tight to Angel's hand.
"You really should be careful who you let in, Giles." Buffy spoke
to Giles
but her eyes never left Angel. "You don't want to get dust on
the carpet."
Willow tightened her grip on Angel's hand, more in an attempt to calm
her own
anger than his. Angel merely smiled and bent down to whisper
in her ear.
"Dust again!" His words brought a smile to her face.
"What's so funny about dust?" Spike asked Cordelia, his vampire
hearing
having picked up the comment.
"Apparently, it's a 'vampire joke'." Cordelia informed him.
"It's not very
funny, though."
"Peaches always had a strange sense of humour." Spike reached
out a hand and
pulled her back against the wall. "Let's just observe, shall
we?"
"I thought I warned you not to come back here." Buffy moved closer
to Angel
and Willow.
"You made your views perfectly clear." Angel stood his ground.
"You don't
control our lives."
"This is my town." Buffy ground out the words.
"Buffy." Giles stepped in between her and the couple. "Sit
down." Buffy
stared at Giles, but he returned her gaze without flinching, and she
turned
and moved to the couch. As she sat, Xander stood and made his
presence
known. Willow smiled at him. She couldn't remember him
ever being that
quiet before.
"It's good to see you." Willow dropped Angel's hand and threw
her arms
around Xander. He squeezed her tightly. "You look great."
He said, and immediately
regretted it when both Anyaand Angel coughed meaningfully. "I
mean in a totally
friendly way, really."He assurred them both.
"Cordelia's here." Willow informed him, smiling.
"I saw." He answered her with a small smile of his own and a glance
in
Anya's direction. She was currently busy flipping through a magazine,
occassionally sighing to let everyone know she was bored.
"Say hello." Willow ordered. "It's polite." She added
when he pulled a
face.
"Fine." Xander walked over to the back of the room where Spike
and Cordelia
had last been seen. For once in his life he was completely speechless.
He
had found Spike and Cordelia locked in an embrace, their lips and seeminglyevery
other part of them connected in some way or another. Xander stood
silently observing
them for a full minute before finding his voice. "So, is this charming
state of affairs a new development?"