Rating: A PG for now, I suppose, but it will be upped later on… ;D

Summary: Completely AU! Buffy’s not a Slayer and there are no vampires or demons *everyone’s human, people!* Inspired by my Audrey Hepburn obsession, this is loosely based on Sabrina. Buffy Summers has only had eyes for Liam ‘Angel’ Giles since she was a girl, and now after all these years, it looks like her dreams might becoming true, that is unless his brother William has a say in it.

Disclaimer: There once was a young girl named Desire *just like the word* who dreamed of a fantastical world filled with vampires, demons, hellmouth’s, slayers, and naked James Marsters. She loved this world so much that she decided to turn her dreams into stories that she would share with the internet masses! It was while she was sitting at her computer, that she realized this world and its characters weren’t her creation. They all belong to a manly man named Joss Whedon, and our young Desire had just fallen asleep in front of the TV again…

Author’s Note: I’m still very much at work on ‘The Texas Trilogy’, but I’ve been wanting to do a fantasy AU for quite sometime and this idea was just nagging at me. I’ll work on this as much as I can *since you know, I am a busy girl* and will only continue with this if the response is great enough *cough, hint, cough*. Here’s the first chapter, a bit of a past portion if you will, then things will quickly move to present day. Let me know whatcha think…

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Her breath hitched in her chest, at least she thought it did, then again she really wasn’t sure she was breathing at all. Oh god, she might not be breathing! Buffy quickly shut her eyes, trying to calm herself once more. He always had that affect on her…

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, and bent back some of the limbs and leaves that blocked her view. Her tiny body was stretched somewhat uncomfortably across the tree branch, her legs hugging it tightly underneath. It kinda hurt, and she was deathly afraid of heights, but it was all worth it just to see him.

The Giles’ had moved next door more than a month ago, their father some big corporate executive, she had no clue what the man really did, besides order her daddy around. They had moved to Sunnydale all the way from London so that Mr. Giles could over see the new company here. Buffy wasn’t interested at all in her new neighbors when her mommy and daddy had been talking about them, she was more into watching ALF at the time. It wasn’t until she had spotted Liam that she suddenly wanted to know any and everything about the family next door.

Liam was a tall, gorgeous, older man of twelve, who had soulful brown eyes, an amazing smile, and quite possibly the most angelic face she’d ever seen. Dad had said something about him having a younger brother, a few years older than she, but she didn’t care. Liam Giles was the only Giles that existed to her.

Ever since the day Liam had trotted over to the house to return the baseball she accidentally sent flying over the fence, she was in love. And had taken up a nightly vigil in the large oak tree in the backyard, that overlooked the privacy fence, giving her a direct view of the Giles’ tennis court. He may only be twelve, but Liam was already quite the playboy, taking girls to his ‘special’ spot out on the court. She watched him, night after night, whisk some girl away, a bottle of his father’s champagne deftly hidden in his jacket. After the two of them sputtered from the few sips of alcohol and danced to the soft music he would have playing on his radio, would come the kissing. That was always the part that made Buffy'’ heart sink…

She wanted so badly to be one of those girls, but she was only seven, and he didn’t even know she existed, unless he was returning one of her ‘toys’. God, she was such a baby, she cursed herself silently, and focused her attention back on the court.

Tonight was no different, as if on cue there was Liam and his girl of the moment. Buffy scowled as she watched them, secretly hoping that the girl would get close enough to the tree so that she could spit in her hair. Buffy was so busy being completely jealous, and wondering if she could spit far enough from this spot to hit her anyway, that she didn’t notice the tiny figure standing in the yard below, looking up at her.

"What are you doing?!" The voice shouted out of nowhere. Buffy felt her eyes go wide as she lost her grip on the tree, and let out a startled yelp as she fell, smacking into the ground with a loud thud.

Not gonna cry, not gonna cry, not gonna cry….she repeated over and over to herself as she writhed on the ground in pain. Not gonna cry, not gonna cry…her arm and leg throbbed like crazy, and she could feel the sting of tears at the corners of her eyes. Not gonna cry, not gonna cry…

"Are you okay, girl?" The tiny voice asked again, Buffy opened her eyes to see a small, frail looking boy standing over her. He pushed his thick glasses further up on his nose with one hand, and used the other to wipe off the snot that dripped gingerly, sniffing loudly.

"Is she okay?! What the hell happened?!" Oh great, Liam! She had fallen right over into their yard, he’s gonna know she was spying on him, he’s gonna know all about her stupid crush, and he’s gonna laugh at her for being such a baby…

She couldn’t hold it any longer, the tears that had threatened to spill earlier, came out in droves. She couldn’t help it, and only cried harder as she felt herself being slowly lifted from the ground.

"What did you do?!"

"I didn’t do anything, Angel! The silly bint was sitting in the tree!"

Angel? She smiled a little at the nickname, forgetting the shooting pain in her arm for a moment.

Angel, she liked that….

****************************

"Mr. Giles, thank you so much, but really there’s no need…"

"Nonsense, I’m more than happy to cover the hospital bill, I do feel partly responsible for the accident."

Buffy could hear her mom and Mr. Giles talking outside of her room, as she sucked on the lollypop the nurse had given her. Everything was more or less a blur since her fall, she barely remembered being driven to the hospital. Her arm felt weird covered in that cast, but it didn’t hurt quite as bad anymore, plus, if free candy is what you get for breaking your arm, then she would be working on the second one real soon.

"But I didn’t do anything! It wasn’t my fault she fell!" She rolled her eyes at the whiney voice, she didn’t even know the kid and already she didn’t like him.

"William!" Mr. Giles said angrily, making Buffy giggle, she liked hearing this boy get in trouble, he deserved it, sneaking up on her like that and all…

"Go and take your gift to Buffy, and do behave."

She could hear the little boy groan as he opened the door to her room. God, he’s funny looking, Buffy thought as William reluctantly made his way to her, holding a card. He had poofy, brown hair a big, thick glasses, that seemed to swallow his face. He was kinda skinny too, no really skinny, he looks sick she thought, and retched a little as he sniffed loudly, obviously swallowing snot.

William stood near the bed nervously clutching the card until it bent, sniffing loudly. Buffy stared at him, rolling the lollypop around in her mouth.

"What?" She snapped, taking the stick out of her mouth.

"Does, does that hurt?" He asked meekly, sniffing again, whipping his nose with the back of his hand.

"No, it tickles." Buffy said rolling her eyes, putting the candy back in her mouth.

"You don’t have to be mean…"

"I wasn’t being mean." She shrugged. William glared at her, his grip tightening on the card. He really didn’t like this girl…

"What were you doing in that tree anyway?! Only an idiot would sit in a tree at night…" He teased nastily, smirking at her.

"None of your business!" She shouted. "Give me that stupid card and go, Will-ie-yum!" Buffy snatched the card out of his hand, making a face at the giant wet spot she found on the back of it. "Eww…" She muttered.

Buffy felt all of the air go out of the room as he walked in. There was Liam, smiling warmly at her, carrying a basket of flowers. The elder boy, eased his little brother out of the way, putting the flowers down next to the bed.

"Hey, Buffy." He smiled, god he has a great smile. "Feeling any better?"

She nodded, unable to speak. She should say something, anything, don’t just nod! William snorted again, making her want to gag, but she shook the feeling away, looking up at Liam.

"Thank you for the flowers, Liam." Buffy said, sweet as ever. He flashed her another smile, causing William to roll his eyes.

"Call me Angel."

"Thank you for the flowers, Angel." She giggled, William made loud gagging noises in the background, earning a look from his brother.

Buffy scowled at him, sticking her tongue out at him. Man, she really didn’t like that kid…

TBC…

Rating: A PG for now I suppose, but it will probably be upped later on…

Summary: Completely AU! Buffy’s not a Slayer and there are no vampires or demons *everyone’s human, people!* Inspired by my Audrey Hepburn obsession, this is loosely based on Sabrina. Buffy Summers has only had eyes for Liam ‘Angel’ Giles since she was a girl, and now after all these years, it looks like her dreams might becoming true, that is unless his brother William has a say in it.

Disclaimer: You know, people can get really mean when you steal something of theirs. Take Joss for example. Just cause this one time, I forgot to tell everyone that I don’t own the characters in my stories, that they all belong to him and ME, he wanted to get all pissed off and have his big goons snatch me at gun point and lock me in his basement, where I’ve been now for a week. Jesus, some people really do have ‘sharing’ issues.

Author’s Note: Thanks for the reviews so quickly, guys! Much appreciated. I’m more or less taking the idea of Sabrina and twisting it *you know, creative license and all that*, so, it’s not completely like the movie…more a modernized adaptation in the Buffyverse *did ya catch all that bullshit?* Katy; yes, in the movie, Sabrina does end up with the older brother, but for the purposes of this story, I reversed the roles…Angel takes the David role, and Spike the Linus role. I figured I could get away with twisting it, since Grandsire is the eldest *and non-of us want to relive the Buffy/Angel thing right, right?!*

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This was, without a doubt the worse day of her entire life. Buffy sat on the porch and watched as the movers drug her belongings out of the house, in boxes her mom spent hours busying herself marking ‘Buffy’s’, just another way to avoid talking or even being in the same room with her father…

Buffy may have only been nine, but she wasn’t a dense little kid. She could tell for quite some time that her parents weren’t getting along anymore, even before daddy’s secretary came into the picture. The divorce didn’t bother her as much, she understood that they didn’t want to be together anymore, but the packing up and moving across the freaking country did.

A new house in a new town, with new people, and no Angel.

In the two years since their arrival, Buffy had made herself a bit of a fixture at the Giles’ house. She would do anything to be near Angel, and anything usually involved doing his chores and errands. Mr. Giles had come to love her as if she were his own, making time for the child as often as he could, and William, when he wasn’t in his ‘big plastic bubble’, do to all of his allergies, continued to be the only Giles who couldn’t stand her, and the feeling was completely mutual.

Buffy’s tiny little heart wrenched at the thought of never seeing Angel again, he was even more sweet and handsome than he had been two years ago…

God, was New York really necessary?! She and mom could move across town and be far enough away from dad and her new Auntie Cecilia.

The little girl sighed loudly, climbing to her feet, she had to see him one last time, tell him goodbye, and confess her undying love and devotion…

Maybe just tell him the goodbye part…

*******************************

"Angel…come on, stop it…" He growled in frustration, finally removing his lips from her neck.

This was really beginning to be a pain in the ass, every time he touched this girl she squirmed and told him to stop. As of today, he was looking for someone who’s more into the groping aspects of a relationship.

"What’s wrong, now?!" Angel groaned. "You do realize I lied when I said we were coming up here to study."

She sighed loudly, pushing his roaming hand off of her thigh. "I know, but…"

"But what…" He said softly, slipping into his seductive voice, well as seductive a voice he could come up with. His lips quickly found their way back to her skin.

"But, what if your little girlfriend shows up." She smirked, pushing him away again.

"Who, Buffy?! You mean, my pint-size stalker." He rolled his eyes, scowling a bit as she laughed at him. "I only let her hang around because she’ll clean my room, but she’s moving today…New Jersey, New York…one of those places. She’s gone, no Buffy to interrupt, I promise."

She giggled and relaxed a little more, letting Angel’s lips resume their business with her neck.

*********************************

Her hand was frozen in front of the door, curled into a fist, all ready to knock…but she had heard him. Clear as day, he really thought nothing of her, nothing more than a tiny pest who would clean for him, the jerk probably wished she were old enough to do his Algebra homework as well.

Buffy could feel the unmistakable lump spring up in her throat, always the signal that tears were on their way…

"What are you doing here?!" She scowled when heard his voice, she really didn’t want to cry in front of him, not gonna cry…not gonna cry…not gonna cry…

Buffy turned around slowly, sniffing back the tears, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, trying to look as mean as possible. "Saying goodbye. I’m leaving today."

"Oh, right." William said flippantly, pulling his inhaler out of his pocket. "Good, please forget to write." He smirked, taking a much needed hit of the medicine. His breath always seemed shorter when that annoying girl was around…

Buffy sniffed even louder, not gonna cry…not gonna cry, and walked over to the ever sickly boy, a devilish grin breaking out on her face as she sneezed directly on him.

William cried out in disgust, frantically whipping at his face. "Argh! You’re disgusting! I’m going to be sick for a whole bloody week! Dad!"

She smiled at him as she turned to leave, listening to the big eleven-year-old call for his daddy like a baby made her feel much, much better.

*********************************

Buffy stared out of the window, not bothering to speak as her mommy backed the car out of the driveway. Her mom had put on the best smile she could, asking if the little girl wanted a Happy Meal before they officially hit the road. Buffy only shrugged and slumped down in her seat, painfully watching the Giles’ house fade out of view.

TBC….

Disclaimer: You know, I’ve never met a man with as many self-esteem issues as Joss. No matter how many times I said I didn’t own the characters in my story, that they all belong to him, I just couldn’t make him feel better about himself. It wasn’t until I told him that he had the body of a Greek-God and looked far better than James Marsters naked that a smile broke out on his face…

Author’s Note: Thanks for the reviews! *does that happy dance* I’m feeling so very productive, I got two new chapters for both stories done *actually…that kind of says a lot about my social life at the moment…*. I’m glad that you guys like this so far and that it’s gotten any attention at all. ;D

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The sun was well hidden behind the many clouds that moved across the sky. She drew her knees up slightly, easing her feet out of her sandals, relishing the way the grass on the knoll felt between her toes.

"That cloud definitely looks like Janet Jackson."

"You’re insane! It’s clearly Gavin Rossdale."

"I think you’re biased Buffy, you simply refuse to see Janet’s amazing body carved out in that cloud…"

"I see Gavin’s amazing body…"

"Oz, as the only other guy here, please tell me that cloud looks like Janet Jackson."

"I can kinda see that enormous headset she wears…"

"Thank you."

"What about you, Will?"

"Well…I was thinking it sorta looked like Cary Grant, but I guess that’s not the answer you wanted, huh Xand?"

The group laughed, relaxing even more if that were possible. It was moments like this, just taking in some lazy time with her friends that made Buffy regret leaving…

She, Willow, and Xander had become instant best friends once she and her mom moved into town, making life without Sunnydale and Angel a little more bearable. Oz had joined the group later on in high school, once he began dating Willow, and had become a silent staple ever since. For practically twelve years they had been inseparable, all even opting to attend Ithaca College together, and now Buffy was leaving her friends behind to spend the summer with her virtually absentee father, who suddenly had the desire to see his ‘little girl’ again. She should have said no, laughed at him over the phone, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, god she hated being so sweet sometimes.

Buffy sighed lazily, sitting up. Her golden blonde hair fell over her bare shoulders in waves, as she absently tugged at her halter-top.

"Anyone up for a quick round of ‘anywhere but here’?" She asked, gently rolling her head, working out a few of the tiny kinks that had settled in her neck.

"Sure, Buffster." Xander sighed, sitting up as well. "As if we didn’t already know what your fantasy is…"

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. "Why don’t you go first."

"Easy." Xander nodded, his dark brown locks flopping down in his face. "Amy Yip at the…"

"At the waterslide park." Will finished his sentence, copying Buffy’s eye roll. "As if we already didn’t know."

"What? I’m a simple man. Oz?"

"I’m enjoying being here actually." Oz smiled, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

Xander smirked, shaking his head. He was going to have to find a better partner in crime. "You’re completely whipped."

"I know, but it has its benefits." Willow giggled as Oz planted a chaste kiss on the back of her neck.

Buffy smiled brightly, running a hand through her hair. "My turn. Okay, I’m back in Sunnydale, and after dancing the entire night at one of their lavish parties, Angel and I slip away for a more private session out on the tennis court. Great conversation and two glasses of champagne later, we’re dancing again, and he looks into my eyes, tells me how much he’s missed me…how beautiful I am, we kiss and it’s slow and amazing…"

The fantasy vividly played out in her minds eye, whisking her away from reality for a brief moment. The tingly feelings that had settled in her stomach quickly went away at the sight of the bemused faces of her friends.

"Sorry." Buffy shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Got kinda carried away."

"Hey!" Willow excitedly slapped Buffy’s leg. "Maybe it’ll happen, your dad does still live next door to them…"

"I heard that guy was getting married." Xander grunted. "Besides, I think Buffy should use her time back in her home town to do some catching up with her dad and Auntie Cecilia." He added, jealousy practically dripping from his voice.

"You mean Auntie Tammy." Buffy said with a mock cheeriness.

"What happened to Auntie Cecilia?"

"Auntie Tammy happened."

The car horn sounded loudly, and Buffy sighed reluctantly climbing to her feet. She grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she slipped her sandals back on. The rest of the gang stood as well, pulling her into tight goodbye hugs.

"God, I’m gonna miss you guys! I’ll call as soon as I get there, and Xander, don’t forget to feed George. If I come back and find him floating upside down at the top of his bowl, I’m staking you."

************************************

He walked purposely out of the elevator, the long leather duster flowing behind him. Just wanted to get to the office, dying for a fag and his office was the only place without one of those Nazi ‘No smoking’ signs.

"Oh, good morning Mr. Giles!"

He stopped briefly at the secretaries desk, giving her a devilish grin. "Good morning, Lola. Any messages, luv?"

"Yes sir." She giggled in spite of herself, Mr. Giles was quite possibly the sexiest boss she’d ever had… "You’re meeting with the investors was pushed from four o’clock to ten o’clock."

"Ten o’clock!" He groaned, running a hand through his curly platinum blonde locks. "That’s a bloody hour from now!"

"I’m really sorry, sir. Oh, your father also called, something about an engagement party…"

"Thanks, Lola." He sighed, resuming his quick pace towards his office. "Oh! And your brother’s here, sir!" Lola called out, as the office door slammed loudly in his wake.

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Spike frantically dug through the inner pockets of his duster, a wave of relief washing over him as he pulled out the pack of Marlboro Reds and his lighter. He shrugged the jacket off of his shoulders, tossing it aside, his face darkening as he finally noticed that his brother was occupying the chair at his desk.

"Oh for Christ…what the bleeding hell do you want?!" He snapped, lighting a cigarette. Angel frowned slightly, climbing to his feet, you’d think his own brother would greet him with a little more warmth in his time of need…

"I can’t do it, Spike…" He sighed heavily, flopping down on the couch dramatically.

"What can’t you do now? I’ve got a meeting in an hour to prepare for so make this quick…"

"I just can’t marry Cordy." Spike groaned loudly, dropping down into his chair, and quickly grabbed the ashtray he kept inside of his desk.

"It’s too much pressure. She wants me to help with the planning, pick out flowers, and china patterns, and places to register…she’s driving me fucking nuts and we haven’t even made it to the damn church yet!"

"Mr. Giles, Hank Summers is here to see you." Lola’s voice called over the intercom. "Send him in."

"I should just break it off…" Angel moaned, trying desperately to hold his brother’s attention.

"Angel, I really don’t have time for your sh--…Hank!" He smiled brightly, maybe a little too bright. "Come in, what can I do for you?"

"I’m really sorry to bother you, Spike…"

"Oh, it’s no bother, really, gives me an excuse to stop listening to Peaches for a while…" Spike grinned, lighting another cigarette.

"Listen, I heard about the meeting getting pushed up to ten, and I can’t make it."

"You can’t make it?! What do you mean…"

"My daughter’s flying in to LAX, she should be here at around ten thirty, and she’s counting on me to pick her up."

His daughter? Oh yeah, Spike had almost forgotten about that little monster, just the thought of that awful Summers girl made him want to reach for his inhaler…

"Here’s a thought. Why don’t you let Angel pick up dear Betty…"

"Buffy." Hank corrected.

"Right, Buffy, and you can stay here and help me out with this meeting." Spike’s smile stretched painfully across his face, it looked as if his lips would crack and bleed at any second, his eyes pleading with Hank.

"I, I guess that’s fine."

"Great! It’s settled, Hank you’ll stay here, and Angel you’ll go to the airport and pick up Betty…"

"Buffy."

"Right, Buffy." Angel quickly shot up to his feet. "I don’t have time to go to LAX…!"

"Nonsense." Spike smiled, getting out of his seat, walking over to him. He slid a sly hand around his shoulders, flashing him that killer grin, his salesman techniques evident. "It’s like killing three birds with one stone in this case…Hank’s daughter gets a lovely ride home from the airport, you get away from Cordelia for a while, and I get to see your arse walk out of my office never to return. It’s an all round win, win situation."

Hank smiled somewhat smugly in Angel’s direction. "She’ll be at Gate 17."

TBC…

Disclaimer: I own everything! That’s right, not only do I own each and every single character in this story, but I also own the Elephant man bones, the rights to the RMS Titanic, the Eiffel Tower, the underwater city of Atlantis, and the soul of Freddie Prinze Jr *but I am not responsible for his film work post She’s All That…with the exception of Scooby Doo…I have fun at any kids movie with sly pot references ;D*

Author’s Note: Ahna the Bloody: Oh, how I LOVE ‘My Fair Lady’, but since I’m fantastically bad at song fic, I decided to use a movie with a little less singing ;D

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Angel sighed loudly, taking a sip from his coffee and glared at his watch through his sunglasses. He had been at this damn airport for what seemed like an eternity, and he was getting beyond impatient…

The evil thought of just abandoning the girl all together crossing his mind once or twice.

Finally! The Gate doors were opened and the plane’s passengers began to spill out into the terminal. He took one more sip of his coffee, removing the makeshift sign bearing Buffy’s name from under his arm, holding it up in front of him.

His breath suddenly hitched in his chest, not exactly sure if he was still breathing and at the moment, not really caring…as quite possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen bounded out of the gate. She looked around briefly for a moment, before her eyes locked on him.

She’s coming towards him, oh god she’s coming towards him! Her long, golden blonde hair flowing behind her in waves, the tiny halter top she wore bared a bit of midriff, toned and tanned, shapely legs jutted out from beneath her skirt, strong, powerful, confident looking legs…

Angel took a rather nervous sip of the coffee as she stopped in front of him, smiling brightly, her hazel eyes twinkling a bit. God, this girl was perfect…

"You’ve changed, dad." She smirked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Buffy?" Angel asked, a tinge of disbelief in his voice. He set the coffee and the sign down on a nearby chair in the waiting area, and removed his glasses, swiftly tucking them in his pocket.

She paled suddenly, recognition hitting her full on. "A-Angel?"

"Your dad had a meeting and he couldn’t make it. I’m your poor substitute I’m afraid…" He smiled, trying to be as charming as humanly possible. His plan, seemingly working as a dreamy look swept over Buffy’s face.

"That’s fine." She nodded, regrouping herself, be calm…play it cool… "I should get my bags…"

"You bags! Right, sorry, I almost forgot…I just…can’t get over how much you’ve grown up, Buffy."

She smiled warmly at him, the leering look in his eyes not at all lost on her.

*********************************

She could feel it, his eyes casually drifting off of the road to give her a once over every now and again, yet Buffy stoically continued to look out of the window. She didn’t want Angel to see her as the dorky little girl who melted at the sight of him. She was twenty-one after all, and she was going to act like it, dammit! But, that didn’t mean that the little girl in her wasn’t doing backflips…

Buffy turned away from the window, briefly catching Angel’s stare. He chuckled softly, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry." He shook his head. "I just can’t get over how much you’ve changed. I think I half expected a nine year old with skinned knees to walk off of that plane."

"Hey, you’ve changed too…" She laughed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, well, you’re taller for one. Obviously, you’re using hair gel nowadays…"

Angel laughed, the sound sending small tingles down her spine. Being back in Sunnydale was now suddenly not so bad…

"Plus, the total lack of a British accent is new." Buffy smiled.

"I figured, I’m an American now, might as well drop the accent. Although, dad and Spike were none to pleased with my decision."

"Spike?" Who the hell is Spike?

"My little brother, William. You remember him don’t you?" Buffy nodded, a frown slowly setting on her face. Of course she remembered, how could she possibly forget that whining snot machine.

Angel pulled the Jaguar somewhat recklessly in the driveway of the Summers’ home, quickly jumping out and rushing around to the other side of the car to open her door. Buffy looked up at the large, imposing houses, side by side, memories flooding back all at once.

"I’ll get your bags." Angel said, cutting into her thoughts. "Thanks." She called back absently, as she made her way up the walk. It was like nothing had changed in twelve years…

"You must be Buffy!"

Well, almost nothing. She smiled forcefully at the young woman standing in the doorway, she’s practically young enough to be her sister… "Yes, I’m Buffy."

"I’m Tammy, it’s so nice to finally meet you!" She squealed, bolting towards her. "It’s nice to meet you too…oh!" Buffy’s voice was tentatively cut off by the bear hug Tammy pulled her into.

"Hank’s told me so much about you! He should be here shortly, his meeting just ended."

"That’s great." Buffy said, stepping away from her, taking in a much-needed breath.

"Just go on in and make yourself comfortable. Liam, uh, do you need some help with those?"

Angel quickly shook his head, male pride evident on his face. "No, Tammy I got it!" He called out. Shit, what did this girl have in this trunk, a body? He grunted loudly as he yanked the trunk out of the tiny compartment, letting it fall to the ground.

Tammy slipped an arm around Buffy, guiding her into the house. "Come on, I want to hear all about you. So how’s college?"

****************************************

"No! No, this is all wrong this is not the menu I wanted for tonight!" Cordelia screamed in frustration, pacing the kitchen.

"But Ms. Chase…"

"I want everything changed, start over! You people will not ruin my engagement party!"

"See here, what’s with all the yelling…" Giles asked, breezing into the kitchen. "Oh." He sighed. "Cordelia’s here, explains everything."

"Giles, I told you we should have heard a caterer to do this, but no…you said ‘let the kitchen staff take care of it’ and now everything’s ruined!" She whined loudly, stomping her expensive heel encased foot.

Giles shook his head soundly, wondering why he had even encouraged his son to date the WASPY annoying creature. "What’s the problem…"

"The problem?!" She shouted, tossing her long brown hair. "The problem is that I very specifically said caviar and not Swedish meatballs, and look…meatballs!"

"Oh dear, that is grounds for whining and screaming." Giles rattled off sardonically, rolling his eyes at the spoiled girl.

"Dad, you’ll never guess whose here!"

"Baby!" Cordelia shouted happily, rushing over to Angel, throwing her arms around him.

"Hey Cordy." He said absently, unwrapping himself of her. "Dad, you won’t believe whose here!"

"Who? Do you plan on telling me or just shout about how much I won’t believe…"

"Buffy Summers." He smiled, a glossy look sweeping over his face, a look Giles knew all too well.

"Little Buffy?" Giles asked, cleaning his glasses. "I take it she’s not so little anymore…"

"Buffy? Who the hell is Buffy?!" A look of pure jealousy radiated off of Cordy’s face, fueled by her fiancé’s virtual lack of attention to her and the mention of another woman’s name. What the hell kind of name is Buffy anyway? "What the hell kind of name is Buffy?!"

"She uh, was sort of a friend of mine, use to live next door when we were kids."

Cordelia nodded, rolling her eyes. "Oh, fascinating." She said flatly. "While your trip down memory lane sounds fun, I actually have work to do, putting the finishing touches on our engagement party."

Angel smiled, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into a kiss. "I’m sorry. Need my help?" Cordy giggled, playfully hitting him on the chest. "No, I think it’s best you stay out of it."

"Hey, I should ask Buffy if she’d like to come…" He mused, letting go of his fiancée. "I’ll be back in time for the party." Angel said the words like an afterthought as he rushed out of the door, leaving Cordelia standing there scowling.

"Ilsa, get rid of those goddamn meatballs!" She shouted, leaving the kitchen in a blur.

*****************************************

Tammy was sweet enough, but if she spent another second with her, her head would explode. Buffy had managed sneak away to the backyard for a little privacy. It was almost surreal looking up at the oak tree where she spent many a night, and had the well-concealed scars on her legs to prove it.

She smiled, nostalgia washing over her, she couldn’t resist any longer and jumped up, capturing the lower branch, preparing to lift herself up.

"Still climbing trees I see." Buffy dropped to her feet quickly at the sound of his voice, smiling somewhat embarrassed.

"Angel."

He slowly made his way over to her, standing dangerously close. Buffy could feel her heart begin to race from his closeness, and promptly swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"I spent a lot of nights in this tree…" She chuckled softly. "Watching you."

"Is that so?" He smiled, did he just move even closer, great, now she’s breaking into a sweat…

"There’s a, a party at my father’s house tonight. He would love it if you came."

"I’ll do my best." Buffy said, her voice dropping to a whisper. Angel smiled softly, gently brushing his lips across hers.

"Great. I’ll see you tonight."

TBC…

Rating: PG for now…but ya know I can’t stay away from the porn very long…

Disclaimer: Come here for a second, come on, closer…closer…just a little more…perfect. I DON’T OWN A DAMN THING IN THIS STORY! THESE CHARACTERS BELONG TO JOSS WHEDON! Okay, you can back away now…

Author’s Note: Alright, sorry for the B/A action in the last chapter…but I’ve got to build conflict here people, and conflict is my middle name! Well, actually, my middle name is Yevette…I just like telling people it’s conflict cause it sounds dangerous…

A couple shout outs: It’s always great to hear from you Silver…although…I’m starting to believe you might be my very first stalker… *J/K you know I adore you, hehe* Dreamzone and Claudia: I was beyond happy to hear from you guys on this story, I’m still working on Lonestar…just trying to work through the writers block is all… ;D.

*************************************

"Is George looking a little green around the gills to you, Will?" Xander shouted, smirking, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard over the phone. Willow shot daggers at him, turning her attention back to her conversation.

"No, Buffy! There’s nothing wrong with George, Xander’s just being an ass. A very unfunny ass."

"I thought it was funny…" The boy snickered, dumping the fish food into the bowl. "Get it George, ‘green around the gills’."

"Buffy, that’s amazing! You’ll call and tell me everything tomorrow, right? Okay…talk to you tomorrow, we miss you too…bye."

"You know, I don’t think George likes me very much, his little fishy eyes are always glaring at me." Xander said, staring rather intensely at the tiny goldfish. "What was so amazing?"

"Oh, it seems Angel and Buffy had a small smoochie session by the oak tree in her backyard."

A low grunt escaped his lips as he straightened up, turning to face the redhead, a scowl plastered on his face. "I swear I heard that guy was getting married."

Will shrugged her shoulders, tucking her cell phone in her pocket.

"I really don’t like that Angel guy…"

"You don’t like any guy Buffy likes." She smiled at him.

"What, I’m the ex-boyfriend, it’s my job to hate any guy Buffy likes."

"Xander, you only went out for a week…in the eighth grade!"

"True, but we did make out twice, which qualifies me as an ex." He smiled proudly, earning a very loud snicker from Willow.

"Okay…we only made out once…"

**************************************

Spike sighed heavily, removing a cigarette from his pack and lighting it. Why the hell did he bother coming to this thing?! He absolutely hated parties like this, especially when they had anything to do with his brother. He fought his way through the crowd of people in the house, and out into the crowd of people on the balcony, managing to find a person-free spot by the railing.

He removed the tie from his tuxedo, stuffing it in his pocket, and unbuttoned the collar, finally letting his neck breathe. Hated these damn monkey suits, it was bad enough he had to be suit and tie man at the office, but at a party…he’d much rather wear his favorite pair of black jeans and his combat boots…

Spike took a moment to study the sight before him, he had to hand it to Cordy, the little planning Nazi had put together a rather decent looking shindig. A nice summer feel to it, complete with a live band and an open bar, two of his favorite things. He spotted his brother and sister-in-law to be, dancing out on the floor Cordy had installed for the occasion. He snorted a bit as he watched Angel stumble, the big lummox had never been a great dancer, to clumsy on his feet…

He was about to work on his second smoke when he saw it, the way the soft glow of the fading sunlight radiated off of the soft blonde hair, the woman attached to it, breathtakingly beautiful…it felt like his heart had skipped several beats, and suddenly being in this tux was making him extremely hot, great he was going to start sweating now. She was on the arm of Hank, probably another one of his child-brides…but so was Tammy…

Something inside of him tweaked painfully at the realization…Christ, it couldn’t be…!

"Ow, bloody hell!" He shouted, quickly dropping the lighter to the ground, bringing the searing finger to his lips. Shit! He had forgotten that he was trying to light that fucking cigarette.

It had to be her, only Buffy Summers could make him into a clumsy ponce all over again…

**************************************

Angel had spotted her out of the corner of his eye, god, if he had known Buffy was going to turn out to be this hot when he was younger, he might not have made her clean his room as much. Cordelia clung tightly to him, making him extremely uncomfortable. He had to get rid of this girl…

Perfect. A smile broke out on his face as he danced he and Cordy right into a woman holding a wineglass, effectively spilling the alcohol all over his bride-to-be.

"Oh god, Cordy I’m so sorry!"

"Angel! This is Prada, what the hell is wrong with you!" She fumed, her anger coming off of her in waves. Angel flashed her a smile, pushing her towards the woman. "I am so sorry baby, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Nancy, please take Cordy to get cleaned up. I wouldn’t want that beautiful dress to be ruined."

"Sure thing, come on sweetie." Nancy smiled sympathetically, slipping her arm around Cordelia, leading her away.

Angel smiled to himself, effectively slipping away once his fiancée’ was completely out of sight

*****************************************

"That bastard…" Spike gritted his teeth, the sudden need for his inhaler becoming overwhelming as he watched Angel lead Buffy by the hand out onto the floor, pulling her in close to him.

"Well, now that doesn’t look a thing like Cordelia…" Giles quipped, slipping in next to his son.

"That would be the little girl next door…all growed up."

"Buffy has, uh, certainly turned into a beautiful young woman."

"Yeah." Spike grunted. "But, dad, you do see how dangerous she is, don’t you?!"

"What do you mean…?"

"I mean, well look at Peaches! He’s completely taken with her, you know him dad, he’ll call off his wedding to Cordy, and we need that wedding to happen! A merger with the Chases would make Slayer Games practically untouchable!"

Giles studied William’s tightly drawn face carefully, noting the little flecks his cheek muscle made, always a sign of anger. He was right about the company, a Chase merger had been the only reason he encouraged Angel to pursue Cordelia, he truly couldn’t stand the vapid girl.

"Well, Will, you’ll just have to come up with a way to keep him from Buffy."

*********************************************

"I was thinking…maybe we should go someplace private." Angel smiled, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could.

"The tennis court?" She beamed, looking up at him. God, being in his arms was amazing, although her neck was kinda sore from having to look up at him so much.

"You know me well, don’t you?"

Buffy chuckled softly in response, pulling away from him.

"Give me five minutes." Angel smiled, taking a rather longing look at her before dashing off to the bar.

***********************************************

"Where’s Angel?" Cordelia asked loudly, stepping out onto the balcony. Giles and Spike shot each other simultaneous helpless looks, the elder man the first one to act.

"Cordelia!" Giles said, over cheeriness in his voice, and grabbed her by the hand. "How’s about a spin around the floor with dear old dad, eh?"

"Giles, did you get into the scotch again?"

"Nonsense." He smiled brightly, a little too brightly, dragging her down the steps. "Just want to have a dance with my daughter, you know I always wanted a daughter…"

Spike smiled as he watched his dad work Cordy over, he had to hand it to the old man sometimes, always knew when to come through in a pinch. His blue eyes darkened once he spotted Angel at the bar, smiling like a moron as he stealthily stuffed two wineglasses into the back pockets of his trousers.

**************************************************

"Angel!" Spike slapped him on the back hard, badly startling him, making Angel nearly drop the champagne bottle he was holding.

"Spike, what do you want…"

"Dad’s inside of the house, looking for you, says the two of you have some important business to discuss."

"Can it wait…" Angel sighed loudly. "I really should be mingling with my guests…"

"I know, and my heart bleeds for you, really, but you know how dad is. It’s important to the old man that he sees you now."

Angel grumbled, reluctantly following Spike up the stairs and into the crowded house.

"Where is he?" He growled, impatiently clinging to the bottle of wine.

"Well, gosh, he was just bloody standing right here. Why don’t you just have a seat, Angel and I’ll see if I can’t find him." Spike rattled off quickly, pushing his brother down into a chair, relishing in the sound of glass breaking and the scream of utter pain that came from his lips.

Heads turned, all rushing over to see if Angel was all right. He writhed in pain, lifting up off of the chair to keep the glass from digging into his skin.

"What happened Angel?! Spike asked innocent as ever, trying his best to look concerned…he should get a sodding Emmy for this performance.

"Glasses…champagne glasses…Buffy…" The words came out of his mouth in disconnected bursts, filled in between with gasps of pain.

"Buffy? Oh, don’t worry about Buffy, I’ll take care it." Spike smiled, causally walking out of the room.

*******************************************

Okay, now she was beginning to make her own self sick…Buffy just couldn’t stop smiling. This whole thing was so unbelievable and it had all happened so fast…

Angel wanted her with the exact same passion and ferocity she had wanted him for all of these years, if she had known this would happen so quickly, she would have accepted her father’s invitation to come visit much, much sooner. She smiled wistfully as she slid off her heels, loving the way the pavement felt under her bare feet. She casually glanced at the oak tree near the fence, being sublimely happy to be the girl looking at things from this end.

She could hear his slow, but steady footsteps coming towards her, and she whirled around in anticipation…

"Hello, luv." Buffy’s smile quickly faded at the sound of the voice, not Angel, where’s Angel?!

"Hello." She called back, looking thoroughly confused as the man stepped into view. He was lean, yet muscular looking, his curly platinum blonde hair was tosseled, giving him a very boyish look, sculpted cheekbones that seemed to be a mile high…

He closed in on her, like a cat closing in on its prey, each of his movements fluid and confident. A smirk played across his pouty lips.

"Now, why do I get the feeling you don’t remember who I am?" He smiled, setting down the champagne bottle and glasses he was carrying.

"Should I remember you?" Buffy chuckled politely. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before in my life…"

He nodded, his grin getting wider. "Maybe this will jog your memory, pet." Spike sniffed loudly and whipped the back of his hand across his nose.

Buffy’s smile quickly faded, and she suddenly looked very pale. No…it can’t be…

"Will-ie-um, I mean…William?!" She gasped, shaking her head.

"It’s nice to see you again, Buffy, you’ve changed." He smiled, the low tone of his voice dipped in that accent sent small tingles down her spine that really shouldn’t be there…

"You’re one talk." She snickered. "It’s amazing just to see outside without being encased in your bubble."

Personality wise, she hadn’t changed a bit…still the same ol’ bitch who would take a dig at him any chance she got. "Grew out of the allergies, not as bad as they use to be."

"Where’s Angel?" She asked impatiently, softly tapping her barefoot against the pavement.

"Angel got tied up at the moment, but he didn’t want you to think that he abandoned you, so he sent me in his place. Sorry, I’m such a poor substitute."

"Good, at least we agree on something." Buffy smiled snidely, cocking her head to the side. Spike rolled his eyes, stifling the urge to strangle the girl, he now remembered why he disliked her so very much back then.

"Look…we’re both adults now, right? Surely we can get along for the length of one dance, luv."

Buffy looked at him as though he had grown a second head, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Don’t think of it as dancing with me, think of it as dancing with Angel. He’s the only reason why I’m here anyway…"

Buffy shrugged, sighing loudly and put one hand in his, the other on his shoulder. Spike drew her in closely, his heart stopping briefly at the scent of her, god he loved vanilla.

"So…William." Buffy began. "Where’d you get that ridiculous nickname from?"

"My name ridiculous? This coming from a girl named Buffy?" He snickered.

Buffy scowled at that, bastard. "Just answer the question…"

"I earned the nickname ‘Spike’ through the job actually. When I first took over for dad, they would tell me that the competition was so scared of me, that they would rather drive railroad spikes through their heads than to deal with me…"

"I share their sentiments…" Buffy said, smiling smugly.

"I liked it, so the name stuck." Spike finished, narrowing his eyes at her, bitch.

"Aren’t you a little young to be doing the CEO thing." She asked, lazily resting her head on his shoulder, she was suddenly feeling very comfortable, relaxed in his arms…

Spike unconsciously tightened his arm around her waist. "Dad wanted to retire, someone had to take his place."

"Why not Angel?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" He smiled, and Buffy lifted her head up, laughing softly as she looked at him.

"I’m curious by nature." Spike could feel his breath hitch in his chest as he looked into her eyes, swallowing the nasty lump that had formed in his throat, he slowly leaned in, brushing her lips with his. Buffy’s eyes went wide at the gesture, and she quickly broke the kiss, but remained in his arms.

"What?" Spike said, somewhat nervously, he could feel the sweat starting to break out on his forehead. "Think of that kiss as not coming from me, but from Angel." He smiled. "It’s all in the family."

TBC…

Rating: PG-13…hmm…that’s different..

Disclaimer: I was lying naked on our bearskin rug, in front of the roaring fire. Joss stirred lightly beside me, the poor little thing, finally waking up *I guess I wore him out…*. I smiled lovingly as he looked up at me and whispered to him "You own everything baby, these characters don’t belong to me." "I know…" He said rolling over on his back. "I’m the king of the world."

Author’s Note: Okay kids, this is the first rating change *there will be another*. I didn’t even notice that I had let my potty mouth get out of hand, in the last chapter, clearly taking this story into the PG-13 territory…*thanks for pointing that out Claudia ;D*. A fairly short chapter…more like a setup for a few things to come. I guess that’s enough out of me…now on with the show…

********************************************

Angel let out a garbled scream of pain, as he felt another shard of glass being pulled from his backside.

"Please, hold still Mr. Giles! This one’s deeply embedded in your skin and I can’t get a good hold on it if you continue squirming."

Spike smiled, barely able to hold back a laugh as he watched the doctor prepare to remove the next piece of glass. Giles, catching his look, gave Spike a swift slap to the back of the head.

"At least try to hide your utter happiness." Giles glared, shaking his head. Spike grumbled, bringing a hand to the fairly sore spot.

"Angel…" Spike began, trying his best to look sincere. "I am so sorry, I didn’t see those glasses in your pocket…"

Angel grunted in response, his hands tightly gripping the table. "Is this really the best time to apologize…I mean, could you wait until my ass isn’t up in the air."

"I just feel so bad." Spike said, desperately holding back his grin. "Thanks to my precious self, your meeting with Buffy was completely ruined."

Angel winced as the pliers tightened around another piece of glass, preparing to yank. He had forgotten about Buffy in all of this, she probably thought he’d stood her up… "Buffy! You, you didn’t tell her what happened did you?!"

"I told her you were indisposed at the moment, she understood." He smiled, roaming his pockets for a cigarette. "Don’t worry Angel, I’ll keep an eye on her while you heal."

Score! Spike fished out the slightly crumpled fag, putting it in his mouth and lighting it.

"Um sir, there’s no smoking in here, this is a hospital." The doctor said, eyeing Spike wearily. "Ow! Mary mother of….!" Angel cried out, whimpering a bit as he gripped the table for dear life.

*************************************

He whipped around quickly at the tug on his arm, the cigarette still dangled from his lips, even though he was in the middle of the hospital hallway.

"What are you playing at, Will?" Giles asked, letting his grip on the boy go.

"What do you mean?"

" ‘I’m going to keep an eye on Buffy while you heal..’" The elder man let the words fall from his lips in an almost scathing parody of his son’s cockney accent. Spike rolled his eyes at that, removing the fag for a moment.

"You want Buffy out of the sodding picture don’t you?! If we don’t keep that girl away, that wedding will go right out the bloody window, and our merger right along with it! Is that what you want?" He huffed angrily, expelling the smoke out of his nose like a dragon…

"What’s your plan?" Giles asked, removing his glasses, giving them a right good cleaning.

"Give her a new man to be preoccupied with."

"And where, Will, may I ask, are you going to get this man?"

Spike gave his father a look of annoyance, god he could be so amazingly dense sometimes, and made a rather irritated gesture towards himself.

Giles paused a minute, slipping his glasses on before bursting into laughter.

*****************************************

The warm summer breeze felt good against her bare skin, making the slight stinging on her leg barely noticeable. She had nicked her it on the climb up, maybe she should have changed into that pair of jeans instead of shorts…

Buffy shrugged off the thoughts and continued looking over into the Giles’ backyard. She couldn’t resist the urge to sneak out back after her father and Tammy had gone off to ‘sleep’, and had quite possibly been there for an hour. She had watched any of the signs that there had been a party there tonight, be taken away. The dance floor, the fountains, the stage, the bar. She knew very well Angel was engaged, but officially went past the point of caring once his lips touched hers.

She wouldn’t really be responsible if Angel and his fiancée decided not to take that trip down the isle…, people get unengaged all the time, not everyone who gets engaged is meant to be together and if another person should so happen to come between them, that person shouldn’t be held personally responsible…

And okay, she was really getting a little too good at lying to herself. She had decided that she wouldn’t push the Angel thing…just let things happen.

Her eyes drifted upon the tennis court and she fought to stop the smile that was tugging at the corner of her mouth. William had truly grown up, she had to admit he was relatively easy on the eyes these days, and for the first time, Buffy had noticed how blue his eyes were. Despite the dim lighting on the court, she could make them out perfectly, they had an unmistakable twinkle in them when he smiled…or more liked smirked as the case may be. How come she had never noticed his eyes before? Maybe those goofy owl-like glasses he use to wear had something to do with it…

"Fancy meeting you here." Buffy let out a startled yelp at the sound of his voice, slipping off of the branch, her hand quickly shot out to grab hold before she could tumble to the ground, some things never change…

"Oh, pet I’m sorry!" Spike shouted, panic ringing in his voice, he grabbed hold of her waist. "It’s okay, luv, I got you!"

Buffy reluctantly let go of the branch, letting Spike ease her back down to her feet. "I got you." He mumbled, as she came face to face with him, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry…

Buffy broke his hold on her, running a fairly shaky hand through her hair. "You know, I’m starting to get the feeling you may want me dead." She deadpanned.

"I didn’t mean to scare you…I just, well I saw you, and I couldn’t resist." He smiled nervously, nervous?! Why was he nervous?!

"What do you want, William? Or should I call you Spike now?"

He shrugged, removing his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Call me whatever you like, luv."

"I don’t think you should really give me that privilege." Buffy said sarcastically, grinning. "And I’m not your ‘luv’."

"What’s with all of the hostility?" Spike asked, lighting his cigarette. "Come on, Buffy, we’re adults. What do you say we let the past be the past, and maybe attempt to get along?"

She frowned slightly, fanning the smoke. "I seem to recall, Spikey, you being dependent on an inhaler at one time."

"Your point? And don’t call me Spikey."

"An asthmatic chain smoker…oh the irony." She snickered. "I’m guessing breathing’s non-essential for you?"

"Ever been sailing?" He asked out of the blue, his hands quickly finding their way to his pockets.

"Huh?"

"Ever been sailing? You know, big boats, lots of water…"

"No…why?" Buffy asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Spike shrugged, tossing the cigarette to the ground, stamping it out with the toe of his shoe.

"Well…I figured, if you weren’t busy tomorrow, maybe I could take you out on the water…"

"You’re taking this getting along thing a little too seriously…" She snorted, shaking her head. Spike was beyond frustrated, this woman was driving him insane…

"Fine." He shrugged, quelling the urge to dig out another cigarette. "Just an offer, have fun with dear old dad and his secretary , while Angel’s in bloody traction…" Spike flashed her a smile, turning to leave, she quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Wait, what happened to Angel?"

"Had a bit of an accident…oh, no he’s fine, please don’t go all weepy on me. He can’t be on his feet for a while, and he asked me to make sure you at least had a little fun, you know, until he can be out and about again." Spike said, giving in to the urge, taking out another cigarette. "So what do you say, luv?"

"What time tomorrow?" Buffy sighed loudly.

TBC…

Part 7:

Rating: PG-13…for now anyway…

Disclaimer: You know, I thought I made it clear when we got to the room that I was just using Joss for his characters. All I wanted to do was take them and put them in my story, not making any money off of them whatsoever…and for some reason, after it was all said and done and we had our fun, the man thought we were betrothed. "But why would you use me like this?!" He screamed at me in between sobs. "Joss, why do you take a ho to a hotel." Was all I said as I walked out the door.

Author’s Note: I don’t know where I learned the evil art of the cliffhanger…I guess it just comes with having a black, black heart *mwhahahahahaha!*. Okay, Silver, really it comes from me being tired of typing and needing a place to stop…*I’m so not creative sometimes…* Okay, slight homage to ‘The Banana Song’ in this chapter…but I couldn’t remember the words exactly and since I don’t own the movie…couldn’t get to the video store…and nearly gave myself a funny aneurysm looking for the lyrics on the net, I pieced together what I could remember…and I’m not exactly sure if it’s right. And if it happens to be completely wrong, then live with it dammit…I don’t need a million messages telling me I got the Banana Song wrong…thank you.

***************************************

"How does this look to you?" Spike stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom, his face scrunched, closely scrutinizing his outfit.

"I’m disturbed you even asked me that question."

"You ought to be a sodding comedian, dad."

Giles chuckled, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I don’t see why you’re so concerned, it’s not like it’s a real date…"

"I know that, just like to look fairly decent is all." He sighed. "So what do you think? Too casual or not bloody casual enough?"

"You look fine, Will." Giles smiled, he was really putting a lot into this, maybe a little too much…

"Bugger, this shirt’s all wrong!" Spike grumbled, pulling the shirt over his head, and once again headed over to his closet.

*****************************************

"It’s Buffy!" Angel shouted, laughing like a mad man. "Little Buffy! Hey Buffy!"

Buffy smiled politely trying hard not to let her concern show as she walked over to the special hammock Angel was lying in. The at home nurse gave her a warm smile as she headed towards the door.

"How is he?" Buffy asked, softly.

"Doped up. He should be fine though." The woman smiled. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Giles."

"You’re so pretty little Buffy, isn’t she pretty?"

"She sure is." The nurse said walking out of the room. Buffy walked over to him, taking his hand, and gently kissed him. "Hey, Angel."

"You’re pretty." Angel smiled at her, a very glazed look forming on his face. "But you should really do something about those roaches nesting in your mouth."

Spike stood in the doorway, watching Buffy fawn over him. Neither one of them noticed he was even in the room, with Angel that was understandable, considering the astonishing amount of morphine running through his system, but Buffy…

Watching the display stung him a bit more than he would have liked. Spike cleared his throat loudly, finally grabbing her attention. She actually smiled when she saw him, maybe they were making progress after all…or maybe she had nicked a few of Angel’s pills…

"I’ll be back to see you later, okay?" She smiled, leaning in to give him another kiss.

"Okay little Buffy. Hey, Spike, stop singing so loud, you’ll scare away the chipmunks."

"Sure thing, Angel." He grinned, if only he had his camcorder with him…and extended his arm to Buffy as she approached. "Ready to go M’lady?"

She rolled her eyes and snorted a bemused look on her face as she walked directly past him. Spike sighed heavily as he turned, following her out of the door.

"What does it take with you?!" He called out, rushing up by her side.

"What do you mean?"

"How does a bloke get you to at least be nice to him?! I guess his name has to be Angel for him to get anything other than piss and vinegar out of you…"

"Look…" Buffy scowled, her patience already growing dangerously thin and they hadn’t even made it to the car yet. "I’m going on this little outing, aren’t I?!"

"Yeah…" Spike said, reaching around her to open the car door. "But will that bug up your ass die in time for you to maybe enjoy it?" He smirked.

She stared at him for a second, the sweetest smile crossing her face, and flipped him off before climbing into the car.

*********************************************

Buffy’s sandals slapped loudly down the stairs as she walked below the boat’s deck. The boat really was beautiful, and a hell of a lot bigger than the tiny sail boat he had tried to get her on. She strolled over to the stereo, eyeing it appreciatively, and pressed the play button.

"Yes, we have no bananas…"

"You have great taste in music." She snickered, turning to face Spike as she heard him coming down the stairs. He smiled, somewhat embarrassed to have the children’s CD in his disc changer, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I took my little cousins out on the water a few weeks ago, they must’ve forgotten it."

"It’s kinda catchy actually…" Buffy nodded, smiling. "Yes, we have no bananas…" She said in a mock sing song voice. Spike smiled, sweeping her up in his arms, and danced her around the cabin.

Buffy giggled as he dipped her, quickly bringing her back up. She was suddenly feeling very nervous, the reality of their closeness finally sinking in. God, he really was gorgeous, his hair all mussed, his deep blue eyes twinkling, the tiny hint of stubble on his chin and upper lip, obviously he didn’t shave this morning…and what the hell was she thinking?!

She quickly broke out of his hold, loudly clearing her throat as she turned off the stereo. "Shouldn’t we be taking off now…" She blushed.

"Yeah." Spike smiled and gestured towards the stairs. "After you." Buffy breezed passed him, and up the stairs, Spike followed closely behind.

"We have no bananas today…" He muttered, smiling.

TBC…