**********
Buffy paced the magic shop angrily. “I just can’t
believe that little tramp would sleep with my
boyfriend,” she whined.
Giles closed his eyes and clenched his jaw and
reminded himself for the thousandth time today that
regardless of her atrocious attitude, the blonde was
still the slayer. “Buffy, please. I have asked you
repeatedly to stop calling her that. Willow,” he was
met with an angry glare at the mention of the
redhead’s name, “was an invaluable part of this team
at one point and I will not have you continue to
disparage her name. And Angel is your EX-boyfriend.”
“I don’t care. She’s still a little whore,” Buffy
spat. “I ought to drive up to LA and stake both of
their sorry asses.”
Giles’ careful grip on his patience and restraint
suddenly snapped, and the slayer found herself face to
face with Ripper. “You will not harm a hair on that
girl’s head,” Giles said quietly. His voice carried
an edge to it that sent a chill down Buffy’s spine.
His eyes were cold and hard as he glared at the blonde
girl. “Do you understand?”
Buffy nodded shakily. Something in the Englishman’s
eyes made the slayer suddenly realize why he had been
such a formidable enemy in his previous existence.
“Good. Then get out. I’m sure there are things in
Sunnydale that require your attention.”
Buffy walked dejectedly out the door, glancing
backwards only once before another angry glare sent
her hurriedly on her way.
Giles sighed heavily and sank into a chair. Picking
up the phone, he dialed the now familiar number to
Angel Investigations. Although he doubted Buffy would
really go through with her threats, it was worth the
phone call anyway. Besides, Giles rather enjoyed
talking to the redhead even if circumstances weren’t
the best at the moment.
**********
Spike watched the redhead and his sire impatiently.
He couldn’t understand what the big deal was with
Angel and his precious Tai Chi. And now he had Red
sucked into it as well. Spike sighed dramatically,
drawing a glare from the dark vampire. “What?” he
asked innocently.
“Spike, just shut up and sit there,” Angel replied.
He was torn between sympathy for his blonde childe and
anger about said childe’s outburst in Sunnydale. And
as much as he hated to admit it, Angel felt a little
threatened by Spike’s presence. He didn’t want to
lose Willow or see her get hurt anymore than she had
already. The conflicting emotions meant that Angel
still wasn’t sure how to react to the blonde most of
the time.
“It’s okay, Angel,” Willow said softly. “We should
probably go meet the rest of the gang anyway. I’d
hate to miss Wesley’s performance.”
Angel smiled. “Can you believe Lori talked him into
Karaoke?”
“I believe that as bad as he’s got it, she could talk
him into anything. Besides, it’s probably good for
him to get a reading every once in a while. It’s
certainly helped you out before.”
Spike hated watching the easy interaction between his
sire and the redhead. It just reminded him how much
of an outsider he was. It wasn’t any better than the
damn slayer and her gang. And Angel was supposed to
be his sire. “What the bloody hell are you two
talking about?”
Angel smiled conspiratorially. “Just a bar we’re
going to that has a Karaoke machine. You should try
it.”
“Not a chance, Peaches. You’ll never catch me singing
like a bloody poof.”
A few hours later and a couple bottles of Tequila
later, Spike was slurring his way through “Why Don’t
We Get Drunk and Screw” by Jimmy Buffet.
Willow and Cordelia were giggling hysterically, having
kept up with Spike for most of the evening. Wesley
and Lori had disappeared about an hour ago, Angel
didn’t even want to speculate as to what they were
doing now. Gunn and Angel just sat staring at their
respective partners, glancing towards the stage
occasionally.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone drink so much so
fast,” Gunn replied, shaking his head as Spike
butchered another line.
“You’ve never seen Spike tie one on before. Of
course, it probably didn’t help that I offered to pay
for drinks,” Angel replied with a smile.
“Yeah, but he’s going to be pissed at you in the
morning.”
“It’s worth it.” Angel watched as Spike finished the
song and stumbled towards the table.
“Well, my friend, that was truly amazing,” the Host
said, pulling up a chair. “You should really be
proud, Angel.”
Angel chuckled before he realized that the demon was
serious. “Why?”
“You’ve managed to find someone who’s even more
complicated and twisted up than you were the first
time. Bravo.”
“I’m not bloody twished up,” Spike slurred.
“If you say so, blue eyes. I’d give you a reading,
but I doubt you’d remember it. So instead, I’ll just
give you a piece of advice. Follow your heart. Don’t
be afraid to love again. There are people, or demons,
out there who aren’t going to break your heart.” He
stared pointedly at Angel, but Spike had already
fallen face first onto the table.
“I want to sing,” Willow announced. She stood up and
made her way towards the stage, losing her balance
only once. She peered at the selection screen for a
moment while waiting for the previous performer to
finish. When it had, she marched on to the platform
and pulled up a stool.
Angel smiled at the redhead, catching her eyes. He
found himself lost, not for the first time, in her
eyes, her smile, her lips. The song didn’t even
matter, the sounds of it were lost on the vampire as
he focused solely on the exquisite creature he had
created.
“She’s pretty cute, isn’t she?” Spike mumbled, lifting
his head to stare at the redhead.
Angel’s hand reached out to grab Spike’s shirt and
practically dragged him across the table. “You stay
away from her, Spike. I won’t let you hurt her
again.”
Spike was suddenly sober. “What the fuck are you
talking about, Peaches? I never hurt the chit. Hell,
I hadn’t even seen her in months.”
Angel released the blonde angrily, suddenly noticing
that the bar was unusually quiet. Willow sat on stage,
music playing, but she had stopped singing to stare.
“Just stay away from her,” Angel growled angrily. He
wasn’t about to reveal Willow’s secret, especially not
in a crowded bar.
Willow left the stage but was caught on the arm by the
Host. “Hold on there, pumpkin. He needs to know that
you love him.”
“Who?” Willow asked.
“Both of them.” Willow blushed but nodded somberly.
“I think it’s time to call it a night,” Gunn said
softly. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you home.” He
helped Cordelia to stand and slung her arm over his
shoulder. “Angel, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye guys!” Cordelia waved.
“Angel, let’s go,” Willow said softly, tugging at his
arm. Angel whirled angrily and stalked out of the
bar. Willow followed, and Spike was close behind.
“Hold on, Peaches. I want to know where the hell you
got the idea that I hurt Red.”
“Just let it go, Spike,” Willow pleaded.
Spike started to protest, but the sorrowful look on
the redhead’s face stopped him. “Fine. But if you’re
going to go around accusing me of stuff, I’d at least
like to know what it is I’m supposed to have done.”
The trip back to the hotel was made in silence.
Willow and Angel went to their room, leaving Spike in
the lobby to smoke and fume.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Angel,” Willow said
softly as the dark vampire began to strip.
“I can’t help but worry about you, Willow,” Angel
replied. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Is that it? Or are you just worried that you’ll lose
me?”
Angel stopped and drew the redhead into a tight hug.
“Maybe a little of both. You’re my childe, Willow. I
love you.”
“Spike is your childe, too. When was the last time
you told him you loved him?”
Angel grimaced. “Spike is different. He doesn’t even
care about me.”
“How can you know for sure?” Willow asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Angel said.
“Okay, but think about it at least.”
“Later,” Angel replied before plundering her mouth
with his tongue. Willow sighed and leaned into his
embrace. His large hands squeezed her ass, pulling
her tighter. He broke the kiss to pull her shirt over
her head. The bra followed quickly as Angel kissed
his way down the redhead’s body. She giggled as he
licked her belly button and planted soft kisses down
her stomach. Skilled fingers undid her jeans and slid
them slowly down her hips, hooking her underwear with
his thumbs on the way. When she was naked, Angel
stood back to look at her. “Beautiful,” he whispered
softly.
Willow smiled at him shyly. Sometimes she still found
it hard to believe that he or anyone could look at her
with such desire. “So are you,” she replied quietly.
She stepped forward and wrapped one small hand around
his thick cock, squeezing gently. Standing on tiptoe,
Willow planted a soft kiss on his lips.
Angel groaned and wrapped his arms around the redhead
tightly. Grabbing her by the waist, he hoisted her
up. Willow wrapped her legs around his waist as he
carried her the bed and fell into it with her. Any
thoughts of Spike were quickly driven from the
redhead’s mind as Angel covered her body with kisses
and caresses, setting her cold body on fire with his
touch.
Spike stopped on the stairs, frozen in amazement. He
had started to come down to yell at Angel some more,
but he’d completely forgotten what he was doing when
he saw his sire and the redhead together. He watched
in surprise as his sire brought the redhead to orgasm
over and over, listened as Angel’s name spilled from
her lips in passioned cries. He admired her lean
body, a body that was far more beautiful than the
blonde could have imagined. He watched as the redhead
groaned and nipped at the older vampire, her teeth
leaving marks on the smooth skin. Spike stared at
Angel’s hard, chiseled body, remembering the feel of
it beneath his calloused fingers. His mind drifted
back to days when he’d been the one in his sire’s bed,
days and nights lost in a whirlwind of pain and
pleasure. Spike’s cock was painfully hard inside his
jeans as he forced himself away from the scene and up
the stairs.
Angel glanced at the empty space where the blonde had
stood moments before. For a moment, Angel had been
tempted to call to his blonde childe, to invite him to
join them. But then he had remembered the hurt the
redhead still tried to hide from him sometimes and the
longing way she had once spoken of the blonde. He
remembered the angry glares the blonde vampire
continued to cast in his direction and the pain of
betrayal. Angel wasn’t ready to deal with those
feelings yet. So instead, he redirected his
attentions towards the redhead beneath him and let all
thoughts of his blonde childe drift away.