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When the invitation arrived, courtesy of Willow, Angel was quite certain
that if he hadn't been a vampire, he would have fainted. It was bad
enough that Cordelia's vision necessitated their return to Sunnydale
for Buffy's mom's charity fundraiser, but fancy dress? Well, he was
supposed to be seeking redemption, but he thought that this sort of
purgatory was reserved for when you were dead, or in his case, dust.
With a sigh, he handed the invitation to Cordelia.
"Oh! This is great. What are you going to wear? Oh,
wait. I have the best idea! Leave it to me." Cordelia
dissappeared out of the door
before Angel was able to remind her that she was supposed to work for
at least another two hours.
"Let the fun begin." He murmered sarcastically, and unfortunately for him, just a tad prophetically.
Two Days Later*******************************************************************************
As Angel pulled the car into the drive at Willow's parents' home, he
offered a small prayer of thanks to the God he no longer had a right to
pray to, and hoped that Willow would be enough to distract Cordelia.
Another chorus of 'I'm so over Xander' or 'what does he see in Anya'
and he was afraid he would be unable to control the demon's murderous
impulses.
"Angel." Willow shot out of the house and found herself enveloped in a hug.
"I've missed you." Angel looked down at her shining eyes and pressed his lips to her forehead.
"Yeah...well...we're friends, and friends miss each other. Right?" Willow was trying to convince herself that they were indeed 'just friends'.
"Absolutely." Angel was busy running his fingers through her silky
hair, and it took a subtle cough from Cordelia, queen of tact, to bring
him
back to reality.
"We better get changed. We've got to be there in like two hours."
Cordelia motioned towards their costumes, carefully wrapped and lying
on the back seat.
"What are you wearing?" Willow asked as she helped Angel get Cordelia's 'overnight' bag from the trunk.
"It's a surprise. Cordelia picked it." Angel and Willow followed Cordelia into the house. "You sure it's okay for us to stay here?"
"Of course. Mom and Dad are still away and I needed to air the place anyway."
"Angel! Come and see your costume." Cordelia's voice floated
down from the guest bedroom, and Angel reluctantly stood and went to find
out what all the secrecy had been about. His air was most certainly
that of the condemned man, and Willow had to stifle a laugh as she
heard his footsteps on the stairs. She was just walking to the
kitchen when she heard an almighty bellow from above.
"What the..."