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DISCLAIMER: Nooooo, nononononoooooo, nononononoooooo. No!
SUMMARY: The Scoobies were supposed to celebrate at the Bronze. Supposed.
WORDCOUNT: 1100
NOTES: the first part is for Leena, the second for Heidi. Thank you so much,
girls! *hugs pretty shiny icons*
JUST STAY
by Leni
Buffy dusted her clothes with swift movements. Stupid vampire for trying to stop her on
her way to the Bronze. Couldn't he see she was late already?
She ran as fast as she could, only beginning to breathe normally again when she arrived to
the club's dark interior. Finally. She took her jacket out, between the running and the
closed space, it was too warm to wear it. Folding it carefully - wouldn't want Angel to
think she hasn't liked his gift - she set to search her friends.
They weren't sitting in any of the booths. Weird. Willow had promised they'd celebrate
that she and Xander had pulled a B (B minus, but still!) in Trig, and she'd sworn they'd
wait for her. Obviously they hadn't, because she couldn't see Willow's noticeable red hair
anywhere, nor did she find Xander's extravagant 'dancing'. Buffy pouted. So much for best
friends!
Of course, as nothing can be that bad, she glimpsed a familiar figure next to the
bar. Buffy grinned widely and waited until she wasn't blushing to approach him.
Missing friends forgotten, she nudged her way through the dancing bodies, finally finding
herself scant meters away from her prey. Buffy smirked. Er, boyfriend. She was
thinking of the perfect way to ambush... greet him when she noticed the voluptuous
brunette at his side.
Who was animatedly talking to HER boyfriend.
Her eyes narrowed and her hand clutched around a stake that wasn't there.
"Angel?"
He turned around, and the smile he greeted her with managed to lessen her anger a notch or
two. Not completely, though. Buffy didn't take a step in his direction, but the way he
disregarded the brunette just to come hug her calmed her enough that she could return the
hug and the kiss that followed. Besides, she thought, who in her right mind would turn
away Angel-kisses?
"Are you okay?" he asked, his lips just millimetres away from her earlobe, so
that she could hear him over the music. Buffy couldn't stop a slight shudder. Then she
remembered that she was somewhat mad at him - in a total immature and unfair way, sure,
because they could have been talking about the weather. "Who is she?"
The blank look in his face made her shuffle her mental feet and pray that Angel would
never know of her jealous tendencies. But, of course, he hadn't been around for more than
two centuries not to know when a girl was feeling threatened. "Tania?" he asked
amusedly.
Buffy looked behind him at the brunette but didn't find her. She tried to be inconspicuous
about it, but she heard Angel chuckling and he pointed to the dancefloor. There was
‘Tania’, swaying to the slow music in the arms of a blonde guy. “She wanted
me to buy a couple of drinks for her and her boyfriend, since they are both minors,”
he explained, putting a possessive arm around her waist.
“Oh.” Buffy looked at the couple on the floor. They looked so in love! Now she
felt completely dumb. Had she really believed that Angel would… She sighed. Yes, of
course she had. Buffy compared herself to the brunette. Tania had to be at least eighteen,
with a beautiful figure and her only problem at night was that she wasn’t legally
able to buy her own drinks. She looked at the man at her side, who was still smiling down
at her, and silently prayed that she would never act childishly enough to lose him.
Some seconds later Angel tugged at her hand. “Wanna dance?”
Buffy smiled, looked down at their entwined fingers and nodded. She didn’t know
what’d come next. She didn’t know how long this would last. But at least she
knew that they’d made a hell of a more beautiful sight than Tania and her partner.
***
fifteen minutes ago
***
“I don’t know.” Willow bit her lip. “We should wait for
her…”
“But Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill,” Xander begged. “It will start in 20 minutes and
if we don’t see it tonight, I’ll die.”
Willow rolled her eyes. Sometimes he was so melodramatic. “Sometimes you are so
melodramatic!” she echoed her thoughts. “You will not die and we will not leave
the Bronze until Buffy arrives.”
“They haven’t had that film for months.” He left his chair just to
sink down to his knees in front of her. “Please, my fair lady, you cannot make me
suffer through so much time.”
Willow sighed. Now she’d have the image of Xander kneeling to add to her fantasies.
How could she deny him anything? Then she remembered that he wanted to leave their best
friend on her own. “Xander, we promised we’d wait for her and we will. After
all, tonight is her night too.”
He patted her knee. “It’s your night, Wilster. Without you we would still
be deep in the unending abysm of E’s.”
Willow giggled.
Knowing he had her in a good mood, Xander took his chance and tugged slightly at
Willow’s skirt. She gasped, not at the surprise like Xander supposed - not
completely, at least - but because the material was so thin she could practically feel his
fingerprints against her thigh.
“You can rent the video later,” she managed reasonably, trying to forget that he
was touching her in a way that could seem intimate to a stranger. “I’ll
watch it with you!”
He shook his head. “It’s not the same and you know it. Besides, tonight’s
the special.” His eyes took a dreamy look. Willow automatically envied the movie.
“With interviews and behind the cameras and…” He pouted. “Willow, you
cannot say no.”
“But Buffy…”
“She’ll be alright! She’s the Slayer!”
“But I promised…”
“Pleeeeeeeeeease?”
It was unfair, Willow thought despairingly. Xander puppy-eyes and Xander fingertips were
too much for her to handle. “Alright, alright!”
Xander grinned. “Yes!” Then stood up and tugged her hand. “We still have 15
minutes to get to my house.” He took her pullover in one hand and threw it to her.
“Comeoncomeoncomeon, Wills. Hurry!”
Willow shook her head as she tried to put the pullover on even as Xander pulled her out of
the club. Buffy would be so mad when she came and didn’t find them. Oh well,
at least she could blame Xander and his addiction to everything Stars Wars.
She gave a last sweep to the crowded room in the hope of finding their blonde friend.
Instead, what she found was her boyfriend quietly standing at the bar. Willow looked at
the clueless Xander, still eager to get home.
Willow smiled, maybe Buffy wouldn’t be mad for too long.
The End
03/06/04
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