'People' Angel thought as he glanced around the crowded club. 'All
teenagers...well, actually adults do it, too...is come to these places and
drown themselves to avoid reality' The dancing bodies moving in front of him
proved his theory. 'Does no one in this city actually work? Or is this just
a quick way of relaxing after what they think of as a stressful day?'

      Angel wanted to just walk out the door and go back to the quietness of his
dark room at home, but a warm hand on his arm stopped him. He glanced at the
red-head beside him and couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.
All thoughts of humans and clubs left his mind. Willow raised an eyebrow.
"Where do you think you're going. Angel?" she asked.

      "Well, I....this just isn't the normal place I hang out," Angel replied,
glancing nervously around the club.

      "Yeah, because that darkened hotel room is such a welcoming place, believe
me," Willow said sarcastically. She squeezed Angel's elbow. "If I remember,
we had an agreement. That if I help Angel Investigations, that I can pick
the places we go out to on slow nights. Am I right or wrong?"

      Angel thought about lying and saying he had no idea what she was talking
about, but one look at her emerald eyes and he knew he couldn't. "You're
right, as always," he replied reluctantly. "I just didn't know that we'd be
hanging out in places that smell like beer and are full of....movement."

      "It's called dancing, Angel," Willow explained. "And trust me, you're going
to try it later." Angel started to protest, but when Willow rested her hand
in the crook of his elbow and led him to a nearby table, he didn't try to
stop her. The two of them ordered a drink, and Angel couldn't help but look
at Willow as they sat in the crowded club. It'd been almost two months since
Willow had come to L.A.....two months since Willow's heart had started its
painful process of mending. Since then, she'd enrolled in classes in a local
college, and picked up on helping the L.A gang keep the demon population
down.

      "Ok, what's on your mind? You have that broody look," Willow said. "What's
up?"

      Angel shook his head and smiled slightly. "Nothing. I was just thinking how
much better you look than that night I found you two months ago," he
replied.

      Willow smiled. "Yeah, I'm better. I mean, I'm not one-hundred
percent-Willow yet, but working on it. Some days things are fine and I think
I'm finally getting my life back together, and then the next day it's like
'why me?' Does that make sense?" she answered.

      "It's hard," Angel said. "But you're a strong woman, Willow. You can do
this."

      "But I can't thank you for letting me move in," Willow said. "I wish I
could."

      "It's ok, Willow," Angel replied. "That's what friends are for. And you
*are* helping. You help me with Angel Investigations, which I appreciate."

      'Friends' Willow repeated. For some reason, when Angel used the word
"friends" to describe their relationship, it hurt her. It was like her heart
sank, but she pushed the thought away. "You're right," she said.

      "Of course I am," Angel replied with a chuckle. It still amazed him how
Willow had lightened him up since moving in. He could actually crack jokes
now, which scared the others at times.

      Willow swatted his arm and laughed. "That's it, you just have to mock me,
don't you?" she said. When Angel shrugged innocently, she grabbed his hand.
"Ok, you. Let's go dance." A slow song was playing, so Willow led him to the
dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt his pulse quicken
when she touched his skin. She wanted to think that she and being in her
arms was the cause of it, but she knew that realistically there had to be
another explaination. She laid her head on Angel's shoulder as the music
moved them.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 

"How you feel about a girl like this?
Try to control me, boy you'll get dismissed.
Do what I want, live how I wanna live
Buy my own diamonds, and pay my own bills.

Please don't call me baby
'Cause I'll call you.
Don't mean to hurt your feelings, got a lot to do
'Cause I'm my number one priority.
No falling in love, no commitment from me."
 

      Cordelia sang along as the song continued to play. She was lost in her own
world as she took a call from a potential client and wrote all the
information down, setting up an appointment for the next morning. She hung
up and went back to flipping through the new issue of Cosmo.

      Gunn smiled as he watched Cordelia Chase from the doorway. 'She doesn't
even know I'm here' he thought with amusement. That's when he realized what
she was listening to. 'How does she stand that stuff?' he wondered. He
walked over to the CD player quietly and stopped  the music. "I can't
believe that today's generation listens to this crap. It scares me really,"
he said.

      Cordelia smiled sweetly as she looked at Gunn. "Some of us listen to music
that actually has meaning. It's not meaningless like that rap you listen to,
Gunn. If you can even call that stuff music."

      Gunn started to argue, but the words died on his lips as he watched
Cordelia walk over to the filing cabinet. As usual, Cordelia Chase was
dressed to kill in a red knee-length skirt with a white mid-driff top. It
still amazed him how good she could look. "What? No comeback? No smart
remark?" Cordelia asked, not even bothering to turn around.

      The demon-hunter closed the distance between him and Cordelia in four
seconds. Without a work he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her
neck, breathing in the scent of her perfume.

      The two of them hadn't been able to stand one another when Gunn had first
come to work at Angel Investigations. Cordelia had only tolerated the boy
because he was a friend of Angel's. But with time, the two of them had put
aside their differences and finally realized there was more to their petty
fights...that they were just a cover for the real feelings that they had.
They'd been dating secretly for almost five months now without Angel or
Wesley having a clue of what was going on.

      Cordelia sighed contently as Gunn continued to kiss her neck. Then what
they were doing dawned on her and she pulled away from his embrace. "Gunn,
what are you doing? I thought we agreed to keep this away from work," she
said, walking back over to her desk and sitting down.

      "No, that's just what you wanted," Gunn replied.  "Why does it bother you
to think that Angel and Wesley might know we're a couple? I don't see the
big deal here...who cares if they accept it? We're the two involved, not
them and us." It bothered him that Cordelia didn't want the others to know;
he wanted everyone to know that Cordelia Chase was his girlfriend.

      "It doesn't 'bother' me," Cordelia argued. "I just think things will be
easier if they don't know the truth. You know Angel...if he knows we're
involved, he'll start with all the questions and sticking his nose where it
doesn't belong."

      "Then you tell him to shove off," Gunn pointed out. He sat down on top of
the desk and kissed Cordelia on the forehead. "Do you want me to come by
your place after you get off?"

      "Yes," Cordelia replied. "But stop. Do you want the others to see us?" she
whispered.

      Actually I don't care anymore," Gunn replied. "Let them see us. It's none
of their business anyway." With that, he leaned over and captured Cordelia's
lips with his own. The kiss seemed to go on and on as Cordelia's body
loosened up with the growing passion between them.  Gunn's hand traveled up
under Cordelia's skirt as the kiss deepened. It was as if the two of them
were the only people who existed.

      A shadow appeared in the doorway but Cordelia and Gunn didn't notice it.
"Oh god," Wesley said from the doorway, frozen in shock as he watched the
scene in front of him.

      Cordelia and Gunn jumped apart when they heard the voice. "Wesley," they
both said, looking at the English Watcher, Cordelia smoothing her hair and
skirt down.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

      Angel wiped his forehead as he and Willow sat down. They'd spent the last
hour on the dance floor, and Angel had to admit that he'd had more fun
tonight than he had since...well, for as long as he could remember. "Do you
want a drink?" he asked. Willow's answer was cut off as a scream sounded
from outside the bar. Willow jumped up, but Angel put a hand on her shoulder
to stop her. "Stay here, Willow," he said.

      The dark-haired vampire ran out the entrance of the club and glanced
around.  The scream sounded again from the alley so Angel ran down it. He
stopped to see two big vampires attacking a young woman. He grabbed one of
the vampires that had the woman pinned against the wall and threw it against
the trash cans. 'Damn' Angel thought. 'Strong guys' The vampire growled and
rushed Angel throwing him to the ground. These vampires were strong...it was
taking all of Angel's strength to fight one of them and the woman was still
screaming as the other vampire held her.

      Angel glanced up as a shadow ran by and started pummeling the other
vampire. He couldn't see who it was, but at the moment he didn't care; he
was just grateful for the help. Using both feet, he kicked the vampire off
of him and jumped to his feet. He saw Willow rush into the alley. "Angel!"
she yelled.

      The vampire turned it's yellow eyes in Willow's direction and growled.
Angel slammed the vampire into the nearby wall. He caught the stake Willow
threw to him and shoved it into the vampire's heart, watching it turn to
dust. He heard the second vampire turn to dust as Willow ran up to him.

      "Are you ok?" she asked.

      Angel turned around to see who his help was. His mouth flew open when he
saw his long-time enemy. "Spike? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked
when he saw the familiar blonde vampire that he hadn't seen in nearly two
years.

      Spike smiled when he saw Angel and Willow. "Peaches," he said by way of
greeting, lighting a cigarette. "Willow, it's been awhile. And I see you've
found a new toy."

      "What are you doing here, Spike?" Willow asked. "And for your information,
Angel's not my boyfriend."

      "We're just friends," Angel was quick to put in.

      "Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Spike replied. He started to say more,
but something on the ground caught his eyes. He bent down and picked up what
seemed to be some kind of ring. "Looks like our buddies left this behind."
He held it up for Willow and Angel to see.

      Angel took the ring from Spike. "What is it?" Willow asked, taking it from
Angel's hand.

      "I don't know, but I think we should take it to Wesley," Angel replied. "If
those vampires left it behind, then it can't be good. Maybe there's
something in the books."

      "Hey, am I invited?" Spike asked, as the older vampire and the witch
started to leave. "I am the one who found that, after all."

      Willow and Angel glanced at each other. "Come on," Angel answered
reluctantly. "But hurt anyone or touch anything and I'll personally kill
you."

      'Aye, 'aye, captain," Spike said with a salute, following them back to the
hotel.

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